FINAL PROJECT: POLITICAL SCIENCE Essay Example

Final Project: Political Science

First essay: What were the goals of the regimes of EITHER Stalin OR Hitler and how do you assess their impact on the respective populations?

The main goals of Hitler’s regime was to oppose the treaty of Versailles, to exterminate the Jews and to only allow “true” Germans to live in Germany, to nationalize large businesses and industries, and to institute a strong centralized. The Hitler’s regime accused socialists for accepting the terms and conditions of the treaty of Versailles and hence harming Germany’s economy (Brooman, 1985). The treaty of Versailles blamed Germany for starting the First World War and therefore, Germany had to pay for losses incurred during the war. Hitler was a good orator and he knew how to appeal to the general public by twisting facts and giving them something or somebody for Germany’s problems. Hitler also wanted to establish a totalitarian regime and to attain his goals; he was increasingly surrounded with individuals royal to him. These goals included Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Gobbels, and Hermann Goring. Joseph was appointed as the minister of Propaganda and was a personal friend to Hitler. In other words, Hitler wanted to spread his personal cult. Young individuals were shaped and coordinated towards Hitler’s ideology (Traynor, 1992). He made sure that all subjects, including Mathematics, Chemistry, Geography, History, and German language concentrated on military subjects as well as the glorification of the German heroes and the glorification of military service. Children were told that Germany was Hitler and Hitler was Germany. Hitler wanted to purify the Germany nation by getting rid of the Jews. He argued that Jews were inferior race and accused them of causing many problems that were increasingly facing Germany. To attain this goal, Hitler banned all Jews from most of public life. Specifically, they were banned from parks, cinemas, swimming pools. The marriage between non-Jews and Jews was prohibited and denied their citizenship. Moreover, they were compelled to wear the yellow Star of David. Hitler wanted to glorify Aryan race and Nazi Party. In one instance, Hitler was got angry when African American athletes defeated a significant number of Aryan champions and secured four gold medals. Communists, homosexuals, and Gypsies were also persecuted under the regime of Adolf Hitler since they were considered unfit and not loyal to Nazism ideology. The treaty of Versailles called Germany to pay both financial and territorial reparations for the damage that were caused in the course of the First World War, disarm it military. The treaty crippled Germany both morally and economically. One of the goals that drove the Nazi party was to prove the existence of the Aryan race. Hitler was of the opinion that Germans were in fact that Aryan race. To attain this goal, Hitler employed historic research with an aim of convincing the public that indeed Germans were that Aryan race. Specifically, Nazi party employed classic archaeology to prove the existence of the Aryan race. The Nazi party believed that any piece of Nordic culture and German existence on any foreign land, then that land belonged to the Germans. This theory was employed to justify the invasion of its neighboring countries such as Poland. Hitler believed that Poland belonged to the Germans and therefore it was his duty to reclaim the land back to the Germans. This claim was supported by the archaeological evidence that were increasingly found in Poland. Hitler was of the opinion that German people were in real sense the most pure race. Another goal of the Nazi party is to establish and strengthen Germany’s power and superiority as well as provide her maximum backing for conducting the war. Himmler and Adolf Hitler strongly wanted to minimize the population of Poland to a semi-illiterate mass whose chief role was to serve the Germany’s economic interests.

Second essay: Was the Great Terror of the 1930s simply a product of Stalin’s paranoia?

More than 50 years have passed, but Stalin’s Great purge of the 1930 is still remembered. The number of lives lost, imprisonments, deportation and arrests witnessed during this era is impossible to measure (Shatz, 1984). The great purge of 1930s grew out of his paranoia as well as his desire to be absolute dictatorial and autocrat. It is out of his paranoia that Stalin murdered his rival, Sergey Kirov and he employed it as a pretext to arrest and imprisoned thousands of his opponents. A significant number of churches were closed and its religious leaders imprisoned. In spite of the fact that Stalin’s paranoia played a critical role in the great purge of 1930s, other factors also played an important role. Specifically, the outcome of the Congress of Victors and economic reasons were equally important. His paranoia seemed to emanate from the Communist Party itself. Stalin’s paranoia led him to strongly believe that a significant number of his friends were no longer loyal to him or trustworthy. He responded by getting all the people he believed were not trustworthy and whom he perceived as posing a threat to himself. In other words, Stalin strongly believed that he harbored a significant number of enemies within his circle and he saw it fit to eradicate them. His anxiousness and paranoia were also increased by past events. Prominent people within the Community Party had lost their status and they included Bukharin, Zinoviev, and Trotsky. Stalin too believed that his power could soon be taken away. Equally important, Stalin had a negative attitude towards old communists who had been important members prior to the occurrence of civil war (Levytsky, 1974). According to Stalin, the old communists were aware of how he rose to power. Therefore, he believed these people were his enemies and they could soon assassinate him. Yagoda Genrick, second in command of the OGPU also played a critical role in fueling Stalin’s paranoia. Specifically, Yagoda gathered evidence that seem to indicate that a significant number of communist officials were increasingly questioning the motives and wisdom behind Stalin’s policies. Apart from Stalin’s paranoia, other factors also played a critical role in fueling the Great purge of 1930s. Firstly, in spite of the fact that the Congress of Victor was intended to commemorate the economic attainments that was spearheaded by Stalin’s effort, it surprisingly brought different results. For instance, the Congress overwhelmingly voted to the central committee and Kirov came out on top as opposed to Stalin and this greatly infuriated Stalin and increased his paranoia. While Kirov managed at least 1,200 votes, Stalin only managed 927 votes (Prisco III, 1980). The outcome clearly demonstrated that Kirov was more popular than Stalin, something that did not go down well with Stalin. After the vote, some members persuaded Kirov to stand as General Secretary. In spite of the fact that Kirov declined to stand as General Secretary, Stalin discovered the plan and this added to his suspicions that the party was increasingly becoming against him and therefore, he had no option, but to purge the party. Economic factors also played a critical role in fueling the Great purge of 1930s. The Five-Year plans were not successful and it brought a broad range of economic problems. Stalin saw this as an opportunity to divert the economic woes to his political enemies. He strongly believed that his political enemies were secretly and deliberately sabotaging the country’s economy and he wanted to make sure that no failure emanated from his policies. He arrested and imprisoned all people he suspected were sabotaging the economy and he used the prisoners to provide slave labor so that the economy could be stabilized once again (Prisco III, 1980). He tried agricultural officials by accusing them of sabotaging the economy and not doing enough to salvage the economy. After Kirov defeated him following the Congress of Victors, Stalin made sure that he kept Kirov out of Moscow and insisted that he should supervise the local-party in Leningrad. He also ordered the murder of Riutin Mikhail, whom he accused of spreading a document that shed bad light on Stalin. However, this order was rejected by the senior Communists who held the opinion that it was wrong for Stalin to prosecute people simply because they opposed Party policies.

Conclusively, while I believe Stalin’s paranoia played a critical role in fueling the Great purge of 1930s, other factors such as economic woes and the outcome of the Congress of Victors were equally important. Because of his paranoia, he strongly believed a significant number of the Communist Party was not trustworthy and therefore he hatched a plan to eradicate them. In other words, his paranoia made him to eradicate anyone who dared stood his way.

Third essay: Why were young people such a focal point of Nazi policies? How did they attempt to mould the next generation?

Hitler strongly believed that young people were the future of Germany and therefore, he took drastic measures aimed at controlling the youth and ensure that they are line with Nazi policies. He appointed Bernard Rust as the Nazi Minister of Education (Walsh, 1986). Specialist schools were established while teachers and curriculum were controlled. Hitler wanted to create young Nazis. Young people were taught Nazi policies. For instance, they were told that all Jews are aliens in Germany and Aryans are true Germans. Moreover, the youth were taught that sports exists to make an individual bold, agile and strong and as such, a young German must be hard as Krupps, tough as a leather, and swift as a greyhound to assist create a “Master Race”. In order to attain these goals, Hitler teachers were compelled to join the Nazi Teachers league and they persuaded to push Nazi ideals in classrooms. Before joining the Nazi Teachers league, teachers had to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler. Learning materials, including textbooks had to be rewritten to be in line with Nazi’s views and Mein Kampf was read in learning institutions. Since Hitler wanted young people who were healthy, teachers had to spend 15% of the school day to teacher students and pupils on sports and other co-curricular activities. Young boys were adequately prepared for the army and this ensured that Hitler had a steady supply of soldiers to fulfill his ambitions of making Germany a strong force (McDonough, 2014). Young girls were taught cookery and needlework and this was in line with Nazi’s views and ideals. The teachers had to introduce a new subject referred to as “race science” and students and pupils had to learn that Aryan was a superior race and Jews belong to the inferior race. In other words, students and pupils were taught how to measure their skulls and categorize people into races. Math lessons encompassed plotting the routes of bombs and History entailed the evils of communism and the evils of the Treaty of Versailles. Since Hitler wanted to young people’s disposal time, they were compelled to join Hitler youth while all other youths were banned with immediate effect. At the age of 10, young boys were compelled to join German Young People while at the age of between 14 and 18 they were to join Hitler Youth (Reynoldson, 1996). Moreover, young boys had to enjoy comradeship and went on summer camps. On the other hand, young girls had to join Young Girls at the age of 10. Young girls at the age of between 14 and 18 had to join League of German Maidens. They needed less military training and they concentrated on motherhood. These Nazi policies were successful since many youths joined the Hitler youth. However, these policies faced some resistance. For instance, some young people openly challenged Nazi ideas by playing their own music, including swing and Jazz, growing hair long and wearing their choice of clothes.

Fourth essay: How did Hitler turn a fringe right wing party into a the largest political party in Germany by the early 1930s?

After being appointed the German Chancellor at the beginning of 1993, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party quickly gained momentum and became the dominant force in the German government. The ministry of Propaganda (MOP) was created by Hitler with an aim of controlling national media networks so that he could face little resistance (Child, Hodge & Taylor, 1993). A broad range of films were produced by the MOP to help with his cementing of power. Some of these films encompass “Triumph of Will”. The film portrayed Adolf Hitler giving numerous emotional, powerful, and effective speeches to huge crowds. The MOP also created children’s literature, radio broadcasts, posters, and new publications carrying propaganda messages with an aim of fostering loyalty to Hitler and demonizing Germany’s enemies. To effectively manage propaganda and make it a powerful tool, Adolf Hitler appointed Dr. Goebbels to head the Ministry of Propaganda. Dr. Goebbels was an experienced orator just like Hitler who knew how to employ various forms of propaganda for a specific purpose. Under the leadership of Dr. Goebbels, the Propaganda docket attained a remarkable level of success. He delivered propaganda message via films, radios, and print materials to spread the Nazi message to the German people. Adolf Hitler quickly the darling of many people and the German people trusted and admired him than any other man.

The MOP played a critical role during the Second World War. Specifically, the role of the Ministry of Propaganda was to increase support for the war effort and to maintain the public morale. Propaganda messages promised victory to the German people and demonizing German enemies. The Germany military succeeded in conquering all major powers it faced between 1839 and 1940 (Stout, 2011). In spite of the fact that Russia and Great Britain maintained their resistance, the Germany military had an upper hand. Propaganda lost its effectiveness when Germany was attacked in the West by Great Britain and the United States and counterattacked in the East by the Russians. The German people increasingly started to realize that the messages that were being given to them by the MOP were not entirely accurate. Propaganda lost a great deal of credibility and respect when Germany 6^th Army was badly defeated in February 1943 and the fall of Stalingrad. After the Propaganda docket reported the fall of Stalingrad, the German people were in a state of shock because the ministry had presented the campaign as though the German Army was winning the war. The German public increasingly started ignoring every piece of propaganda that was being produced by the MOP. Adolf Hitler also used propaganda to boost and maintain the morale of Germany Army. German military training grounds were filled with anti-Soviet and anti-western propaganda with an aim of fostering solidarity in the ranks and instilling a hatred for Britons and Americans.

The Propaganda docket effectively controlled the German entertainment and media with an aim of cementing Hitler’s power in Germany. Dr. Goebbels was faithful servant and a close friend of Adolf Hitler. He was also as an influential member of the Nazi party. He successfully organizing public protests and rallies in support of Hitler and denouncing Germany’s enemies. The following figure is one of the posters used by the MOP. The poster, created by Dr. Goebbels depicts a Nazi sword killing a snake. The sword passes through the red Star of King David and the red words coming from the snake include civil war, terror, prostitution, corruption, Young Plan, Dawes pact, Locarno, inflation, betrayal, lies, Marxism, war guilty, unemployment, Versailles, and usury just to mention but a few. This poster was aimed at portraying the Jews people as corrupt and inhumane.

Films and radio became a critical propaganda tool during the First and Second World War. One year before the rise of Adolf Hitler (1932), the Germany national radio was nationalized. Soon after Hitler assumed power in 1993, the radio increasingly became under strict state control. A cheap radio referred to as the “Volksemplanger” was produced in 1933 and sold to millions of Germans. Through this cheap raid, the German public was able to access numerous speeches delivered by Adolf Hitler (Schrager, 2013). Dr. Goebbels berated the predecessors to the Nazi party for failing to comprehend the significance of mass media and radio and credited the radio as an easy and effectively way of distracting the German public from problems associated with the life and the nation as a whole. Both Hitler and Dr. Goebbels loved film and they used it to influence the masses and to cement the power of the Nazi party. Most of the films produced during the reign of Hitler were connected to politics. The Nazi party suppressed composers and artists who failed to conform to Nazi ideology. Jazz musicians were suppressed by the government because they were viewed as undesirable. A broad range of songs and poetry was written about Hitler and everything good was associated with him. Numerous children books were produced aimed at promoting obedience and loyalty to Hitler. Conclusively, the Nazi party succeeded in using film and radio to cement its power. Specifically, Adolf Hitler heavily relied on a broad range of films and cheap radio to disseminate information to the German public, boosting the morale of German people and soldiers, and help cement his power.

References

Brooman, J. (1985). Hitler’s Germany. New York: Longman

Child, J., Hodge, T., & Taylor, D. (1993). Understanding History. Oxford: Heinemann

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Levytsky, B. (1974). The Stalinist terror in the thirties: Documentation from the Soviet Press.

Stanford: Hoover Institution

McDonough, F. (2014). Hitler and the rise of the Nazi Party. London: Routledge

Prisco III, S. (1980). An introduction to psychohistory: Theories and case studies. Lanham, MD:

University Press of America

Reynoldson, F. (1996). Weimer and Nazi Germany. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Shatz, M. (1984). Stalin, the Great Purge, and Russian History: A new look at the “New Class”.

Pittsburg, PA: University of Pittsburg

Schrager, L. (2013). How did the use of propaganda affect the development of Nazi Germany as

a single party?. Portland State University, 2013

Stout, M. (2011). The effectiveness of Nazi propaganda during World War II. Eastern Michigan

Traynor, J. (1992). Europe 1890-1990. 1991. Walton-on-Thames: Nelson

Walsh, B. (1986). Modern World History. London: John Murray