Detachable Subdivision
"Rivne Professional College of
National University of Life
and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine"
One of the tasks of historical science is to teach future generations the mistakes that were made before them. In solving modern challenges facing humanity, we can turn to similar historical events, analyze them and draw appropriate conclusions. One of the key problems of the modern world is the rapid growth of right-wing forces in many corners of the planet (America, Europe, Asia). A similar trend, combined with the growth of economic, political and social crises, can lead to the revival of the fascist movement, despite the fact that the latter was dealt a crushing defeat in 1945. Given such probable perspective, it is worth turning to the history of Germany and determining how Nazism managed to win in this country (in a broad sense, Nazism is one of the branches of fascism, which is why we chose Germany as one of the examples).
On January 30, 1933, in Germany, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, as Reich Chancellor (Prime Minister). This event marked the beginning of Germany's transformation from a democratic to a totalitarian state and was one of the key steps towards the outbreak of World War II, one of the bloodiest wars in human history.
This decision was made by the political and economic elites, who counted on Adolf Hitler to be able to stabilize the economic and political situation in the country. However, the question arises, did the people support the Nazi Party and its leader? Yes. This is evidenced not only by the elections to the Reichstag (in July 1932, 37.8% votes were cast for the Nazi Party, in November 1932 – 33.6%, in March 1933 – 44.5%, in November 1933 – 92.1%), but also by the fact that the population did not rise up to fight against the establishment of a dictatorship. Why did the German population not only observe the establishment of a totalitarian regime neutrally, but also support these processes to a greater extent? Let us try to briefly outline the key factors.
1) Political instability
In the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), there were several political groups that fought among themselves. The prominent representatives of left-wing political thought were the Social Democrats and Communists (Social Democratic Party of Germany and Communist Party of Germany), who fought to improve the material situation and working conditions of workers.
German nationalists were represented in the Reichstag by the German People's Party and the German National People's Party. These parties were united by the fact that they acted in the interests of German industrialists, large landowners, and other businessmen.
Moderate in their political views were the Center Party and the German Democratic Party. The Center Party represented the interests of the German Catholic population, while the NDP stood for parliamentarism, broad democratic freedoms, and expanded freedoms for entrepreneurship.
The pursuit of their own party interests, constant changes of government, the adoption of laws in the interests of the upper classes of the population, and the inability to fulfill election promises have led to the German citizen's disappointment in these political forces as those that can solve Germany's problems.
2) Economic and social instability
Despite the development of industry, trade, and modernization of enterprises, key problems in the economy and social life of Germany were not solved. The German economy, despite the payment of reparations as a result of the defeat in World War I, was able to begin a gradual recovery only thanks to foreign investments and bank loans, which stopped flowing during the world economic crisis of 1929-1933, which brought the country's economy to the brink of disaster.
Political instability combined with economic problems directly affected the life of the average German. The country had a high unemployment rate, and a 10-hour workday was becoming the norm, not the exception. As for the population's wages, they gradually increased, but constant inflation leveled off the increase in income. In particular, in 1929, wages, taking into account inflationary processes, were able to rise by 21% from the pre-war level (1914). As a result of the rationalization law, enterprises laid off workers due to their replacement by machines that performed work faster and better, and peasants, as a result of agricultural reforms, received meager material assistance from the state for running their farms, compared to large Junker farms.
3) Propaganda and terror
Against the backdrop of the authorities' total inability to stabilize the situation within the country and the worsening economic situation, support for the radical National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany began to grow rapidly in the country.
Nazi propaganda and ideology were based on serving the German people, uniting all Germans in a single state, ensuring law, stability, and order, promises to repeal the Treaty of Versailles, anti-Marxism, and anti-Semitism.
Against the background of a difficult internal situation, being in the opposition allowed the NSRPN to mercilessly criticize the actions of the authorities and parties, further increasing its popularity, promising stability, order, bringing the economy out of the crisis, and the termination of the Treaty of Versailles. An important role in this propaganda was played by the figure of the party leader Adolf Hitler. The population already distrusted the former political forces, which in previous years had failed to eliminate the main problems of the economy and social sphere. In addition, the use of combat units allowed the party to pursue a policy of terror against its political opponents, intimidating or physically destroying them.
Having briefly analyzed the reasons for the Nazis coming to power in Germany, we can confidently say that the seeds of fascism can only develop on the basis of economic, political and social crises. During such periods, the population reacts especially sharply to the inaction or weak activity of the authorities and politicians and begins to support right-wing forces, which, having come to power thanks to the support of the elites and the people, resort to harsh methods to stabilize domestic life, however, by establishing a totalitarian or authoritarian regime. This must be taken into account both by politicians who often turn a blind eye to the economic and social problems in the country, and by an ordinary citizen, to whom the ideas of quickly and radically solving the problems of his country will seem the only true path, which will hide violence, the destruction of freedom, state interference in a person's personal life and even the outbreak of war.
Vladyslav KROTYUK,
history teacher
