Nationalism In Germany

According to Document 2 “In the period following the end of World War 1, Germany experianced a disastrous perioid of inflation. The German governemnts method of financing the war by borrowing heavily and printing large quantities of unbacked currency began th inflationary spiral. This lead to political violence.” The german economy was in ruins at the time, one us dollar was equivilant to 4,200,000,000,000 German marks at one point. This helped Hitler Rise to power because the people felt that their economy was very very weak because of the government, and they wanted a new upgraded government.

Throughout the 1930s, countries who were upset over the outcome of World War I started to take aggression toward the other countries who had oppressed them through the Treaty Of Versailles. When Germany was defeated they became embarrassed and wanted to prove their superiority to other countries. However, Germany was in severe debt from World War I. As they struggled through financial ruin, many citizens were frustrated with the situation they faced and were extremely unhappy. This allowed the Nazi party and Hitler to rise to political power in Germany. Hitler was determined to restore glory to Germany and enact revenge on the countries that embarrassed them.

The ever increasing penalties of consequence for Germany greatly increased their anger and their cause to restore their pride. Before the start of World War One Germany already had a great military size and a booming economy to back it up, resulting in Germany being the number one power in Europe at the time. The people’s pride in their nation grew at a ever steading rate, however there was a dark side. Germany also wanted to show the rest of Europe what they could do. Seeing a great opportunity with Austria-Hungary and Serbia along with Russia backing Serbia up went to at war each other, Germany lept for it, eager for blood.

It didn’t prevent an independent West Germany, but rather it fastened Allied plans to set up the state. It also led to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty

The Reformation: The protestant reformation changed the world due to the fact the it opened up the world to the probability of individualism and gave them the fuel to keep the idea alive till it became a more solid practice. Martin Luther was the one that metaphorically threw a wrench in the Catholic Church's machine of exploitation that they used to drain the peasants of their funds, he did this by releasing his 95 thesis document and releasing in out into the public. one of the statements was *" This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy," which in term meant that it is not the word/action of the clergy that makes you worthy of gods light, you

( Doc 5 ) Otto von Bismarck’s speech about how he would do anything to unify Germany shown the influence that nationalism brings. Otto said he considered absolutism and constitutionalism the best forms of government instead of dictatorship. He was an opponent of nationalism and he realized that

Hyperinflation became so grave that it became more economically viable for German citizens to burn German Marks to fuel their furnaces instead of buying real fuel, as four trillion German marks were equivalent to one U.S. dollar (Doc. 6-7). These economic troubles did not stay contained in Germany, for Germany consistently defaulted on its payments to countries relying on German reparations to keep their economy afloat, resulting in many other large European countries falling into extreme debt (Doc. 6). The Treaty of Versailles had no plan to preserve the economy of Europe (Doc. 3), rather only a very flimsy idea to make Germany fix everything, showing once again that its impacts did far more harm than good on the overall economic and political stability of Europe. The Treaty of Versailles also had no plan to stabilize the newly created countries of Europe or make Germany and its allies “into good neighbors” (Doc. 3, 8), all of which led to extreme instability and unpredictability in Europe, as well as the German government itself, a mistake which paved the way for the rise of Hitler and the Nazi

Nationalism is a powerful force that unifies large groups of people based on commonalities such as ethnicity or religion. There are numerous examples of nationalistic forces throughout the 20th century, such as rationing and the home front that took place in WWI, the Red Army and the CCP of the Interwar Years, and ultranationalistic Nazi Germany and Japan in WWII. Nationalism is the driving force behind many of the world’s greatest accomplishments and atrocities and it helped to shape the world in the 20th century because it contributed to the WWI effort, set the stage for WWII, and caused two significant atrocities during the second World War. WWI displays nationalism in the way that home countries drew support for the war effort and rationed food for their soldiers. During the WWI effort,

This even started the chemical industry in America which has been dubbed “America’s second industrial revolution” by many (LINK). This not only damaged Germany’s war time industry but destroyed its post war industry as there was little to no need for German products after the war as most countries had found new suppliers or developed the industry themselves during the war. With the absence of the strong German industry, Germany had no economy to bear the burden of the expensive war and the political and social unrest of the Weimar

Weimar Republic seemed to have made a hopeless mess of handling the situation. They were already struggling due to the consequences Germany had to face after the end of World War One in 1919. Germany had lost land and their army had to be cut down to 100,000 men only which meant that many ex-soldiers who had fought in World War One were unemployed. They were angry with Weimar Constitution for accepting defeat and were eager to get back their revenge. And now Weimar Republic's policies had given too much power to the President, the States and the army which weakened the Reichstag as well as dividing them into different groups.

As a product of the Revolutions of 1848, European sentiment towards Nationalism grew extensively among the middle and lower classes. European ethnic groups and nations desired a self-determined state that represented their group and culture. As a result, both Germany and Italy would experience unification movements within several decades. By 1871, the Italian states would be unified under the Italian tricolour flag; and in the same year, the German states would become integrated into Germany under Wilhelm I of Prussia. Nationalism is both a political and social system in which the nation-state is of utmost importance -- in which nation-states act in their own self-interest and are of full sovereignty.

Germany was faced with problems that both countries were facing, like the decline in

Nationalism was closely tied to liberalism in that exponentials of both ideologies demanded far reaching political change that threatened the state system of Central Europe. Nationalism is the belief that one’s greatest loyalty should not be to a king or empire but to a nation of people who share a common culture language and history .Nationalism touched nearly every country in Europe in the first half of the 19thCentuary but it was not until after 1848 that it really began to At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, representatives from all the allies who had defeated Napoleon Austria, Russia, Prussia and Great Britain came together to try and provide a long term peace plan for Europe. They hoped that by settling the issues that had arouse during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars that they could stop Europe being shaken by further Revolutions.

Germany was then manipulated by the victorious Great Powers of Europe to promote their own private matters. “Austria wanted Germany weak and divided; Britain wished to see a strong Prussia to thwart a future resurgent France; Russia desired for itself the parts of Poland not yet seized by Germany or Austria.” (Stanley L. Brue, 2007, p. 205) After resolving the conflict with Napoleon, Patriotism and Nationalistic pride cultivated in Germany. Many Germans demanded unification and constitutional reforms however; the nation wouldn’t be unified for half a century. And when they finally were it was only briefly, after the unfavorable circumstances of losing World War One. “In 1815 the Holy Alliance of Prussia, Austria, and Russia was organized to strike down a revolution where ever it might threaten.

The ultimate goal of the Nazi State in regards to the economy was to achieve autarky. According to Hitler, the German nation must be able to sustain itself, as well as be able to defend itself. These two principles, autarky and rearmament, rely on each other and are thus inseparable. To reach autarky, the economy would have to be turned into a war economy in the short-term, and lebensraum would be required in the long-term. The process by which autarky was pursued defined the economic policies of the NSDAP.