The Nazi Regime

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The rise of the Nazi regime in Germany in the early part of the 20th century was an impressive, and nearly unforeseen incident that had long-lasting implications on the rest of the Western world. While the Nazi party was extreme in their ideologies, the circumstances in which they came to power were dire; Germany had been crippled by a massive depression and was being forced to pay reparations through the “Young Plan” which required Germany to pay the Allied forces “a series of annual payments extending until 1988”(Bullock, 160). The German people were left without any leadership in a time of disparity, but naturally, a strong leader filled this vacuum. Even though the actions of the Nazi party were extreme and unjustifiable, they needed to dig their country out of the massive debt that they had incurred as a result of World War I, and the Nazi party was able to revitalize Germany’s economy, and arm the nation in the process.

Immediately following the First World War, the Allied nations met at Versailles and, except for the United States, were unwavering in their decision to demand reparations from Germany (Briggs & Clavin, 205). The Treaty of Versailles and the Young Plan put an incredible amount of stress on the already withered German economy. The initial payment to the Allied nations was “a thousand million pounds of gold”, which meant a lot more repayment was yet to come. Forcing Germany to pay reparations led to anger and frustration among the German people, who had suffered enough through World War I; no one saw

the benefit of paying an absurd amount of reparations because they simply could not pay for the cost of the war. Reparations led to a vengeful feeling among the future leaders of Germany; the Nazi party. This ri...

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...was created so that nothing like World War II would happen again; and there are alliances such as NATO, which provide assistance in times of multinational conflicts. Although the United Nations is based on the League of Nations, there is participation by every country in the world to avoid another horrer like World War II. Today, the global community is so connected and dependent on each other, whether through monetary aid after a natural disaster, or the everyday activities of international trade, that if a regime of this intensity attempted to rise in the

Western world today, the rest of the international community would suppress it quickly and efficiently.

Works Cited

Briggs, Asa, and Patricia Clavin. Modern Europe, 1789 - Present. London: Pearson Longman, 2003. Print.

Bullock, Alan. Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives. New York: Vintage, 1993. Print.

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