How Did Adolf Hitler's Rise To Power

Adolf Hitler's Rise To Power

Edmund Burke once said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” World War 1 was a tragedy that affected the majority of European countries. It devastated cities, was responsible for the death of many men, and left countries in tremendous debt. One country hit the hardest was Germany. The Great War devastated it’s towns, and left many unemployed. It’s economy was weak, and the once great power was left powerless. In this massive confusion, one man took advantage of the disarray to assume power. On January 30th, 1933, evil assumed power in Germany, due to a weakened economy, people longing for a great, powerful leader, and a well, thought out approach to manipulate German citizens.

Hitler’s outlook on government came about due to his interest in certain philosophers. They included Paul de Lagarde, Houston Stewart, and Oswald Spengler. Each of these persons preached anti semitic ideals, as well as racist, nationalistic, and militaristic messages. Each of these characteristics can be seen in the way Hitler led while dictator, which shows he incorporated many of these ideas in his government (Sherratt, print). Hitler also utilized his military experience to his advantage. “Hitler used his military experience to win over the support of the general population, as well as winning the support of military leaders (Pellas, print).” He also put a lot of thought into the way he presented himself to the public. Hitler strived to be the most authentic German to ever live, which made these factors crucial for his message to gain support (Sherratt, print).“Hitler played on national resentments, feelings of revolt and the desire for strong leadership using all the most modern techniques of mass persuasion to present himself as Germany's redeemer and messianic saviour (Jewish Virtual Library,

By looking back at history, one probably is shocked that he was able to assume power. But the reality is, however, that in the state Germany was in after World War 1 allowed him to assume power effortlessly. Germany’s economy was devastated. The Treaty of Versailles placed Germans under harsh sanctions that no citizen saw coming. Thousands of citizens were out of work. People were praying for someone to be Germany’s savior. Frank Bajor is quoted saying “There is broad consensus in Germany and on an international level that Hitler and the Nazis represented a kind of greatest possible evil. At the same time this is a problem. The Nazi period and its ‘lessons’ are more and more treated with ritualized formulas, gestures of distance and stereotypes in which Hitler and the Nazis appear as a cabinet of horrors, as a moral counter-universe and opposite pole to the German present, having nothing to do with today’s Germany ( Eighty Years On, print).” What he is saying can be applied to any other country in the world today. Bajor is saying that by focusing on the past, we are not focused on identifying those who preach many of the same ideas Hitler did in today's society. By focusing on the past, and not looking at the present, many leaders are using the same factors Hitler used to take power. Countries have economies that are in horrible shape. Millions of people are without jobs. Countries at war. These factors cannot be