Emergence of Anti-Semitism in Germany Toward the End of the Weimar Republic
There were many different factors that resulted in anti-Semitism
emerging so strongly in Germany towards the end of the Weimar
Republic. These factors included the instability of the economy during
the reign of the Weimar Republic, the lingering anger over the way the
Weimar Republic Governing Body had so easily accepted the Treaty of
Versailles, and Germany's need for a great leader who would guide
Germans to triumph.
From the beginning the Weimar Republic was doomed, it being a republic
that had been born out of a military defeat. One that so few Germans
could accept.
It was beset with many problems, leading many Germans either to
withhold support from the Parliamentary Democracy or to seek actively
to destroy it.
The Republic had to deal with a weak economy plagued by high rates of
inflation and unemployment. Inflation was fuelled partly by the
enormous wartime debts that the Imperial Government had contracted
rather than raising taxes to finance the war. Instead of raising the
taxes they had preferred to rely on the short-term foreign loans. [1]
Inflation ruined many middle-class Germans, who saw their savings and
pensions wiped out. Unemployment was also high in the 1920s, hurting
millions of wage earners and their families.
Moreover, the loss of territories in the Treaty of Versailles impinged
negatively on the economy. Above all, the Reparations schedule and the
fear of having to meet the scheduled payments heightened the
inflation.
Their economic misery made these groups susceptible to the claims of
extremist political part...
... middle of paper ...
...Vermail, Germany in the 20th Century Praeger New York
[2] Richard Bessel Why did the Weimar Republic collapse? Weidenfield
and Nicholson London 1990
[3] Mary Fulbrook A Concise History of German, Cambridge Press 1989 Pg
155
[4] Michael Burleigh The Third Reich Hill and Wang 2001 pg 536
[5] Martin Kitchen Germany Cambridge Illustrated History, 1996 pg 228
[6] Mary Fulbrook A Concise History of Germany, Cambridge Press 1989
pg 160
[7] David Abraham The Collapse of the Weimar Republic Holmes and Meier
Publishing 1986
[8] R Lifton and E Markusen The Genocidal Mentality Macmillan London
1990, pg 248
[9] Theo Balderston, Economics and Politics in the Weimar Republic,
Cambridge University Press, 2002 pg 57
[10] F Fischer., From Kaiserreich to third Reich, Oxford University
Press, London. 1986
Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles imposed harsh penalties on Germany, which further weakened the government's legitimacy and fueled nationalist sentiments. Overall, the Weimar Republic's instability was a result of a complex interplay of factors, including political, economic, and social issues, as well as external pressures from the international community.
Gottfried, Ted, and Stephen Alcorn. Nazi Germany: The Face of Tyranny. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century, 2000. Print.
The Posing of Threats by the Political Right to the Weimar Republic in the Years 1919-25
The Left and Right at the Birth of Weimar Germany From the general chaos and unrest that followed the Kiel Mutiny in late 1918, the centre-left emerged to lead Germany into a new era of democracy. Philipp Scheidemann, a key figure in the moderate SDP, declared a Democratic Socialist Republic from a balcony in Berlin on 9th November 1918. However, the whole of Germany was not behind him, since simultaneously, and from a different Berlin balcony, Karl Liebknecht, leader of the communist Spartacists (KPD), declared a Soviet Republic.
Before the nineteenth century anti-Semitism was largely religious, based on the belief that the Jews were responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion. It was expressed later in the Middle Ages by persecutions and expulsions, economic restrictions and personal restrictions. After Jewish emancipation during the enlightenment, or later, religious anti-Semitism was slowly replaced in the nineteenth century by racial prejudice, stemming from the idea of Jews as a distinct race. In Germany theories of Aryan racial superiority and charges of Jewish domination in the economy and politics in addition with other anti-Jewish propaganda led to the rise of anti-Semitism. This growth in anti-Semitic belief led to Adolf Hitler’s rise to power and eventual extermination of nearly six million Jews in the holocaust of World War II.
Hostile to Semitism is a long way from another idea; its vicinity has discolored and molded history, from the earliest starting point of the Jewish faith, up until contemporary times. While anti-Semitism is majorly highlighted in new testament, one of the most incriminating event, in the New Testament, attested to the Jews, is the Jewish peoples responsibility for Jesus killing; Judas, a Jew, betrayed Jesus, leading to his crucifixion, Pontius Pilot, also a Jew, was the direct cause of the crucifixion of Jesus, and various other Jewish leaders were held responsible (New International Version Mark 14:43-46, Acts 27).
Six million innocent Jews died “simply because they were Jewish” (Whitcock, 30). The author Whitlock was referring to the Holocaust in the previous quote. The Holocaust, one of the most tragic events in the world, would have not been possible with anti- Semitic beliefs. Anti-Semitism has a deep history all the way back to the beginning of the Christian era and was spread with biased Nazi propaganda (“Nazi Propaganda”). The worst part of anti-Semitism was its effects.
Richard Bessel’s article stresses the political structure of Weimar Germany as the cause of its failure. Its structure was flawed in numerous ways, all of which contributed to its inevitable failure. First of all, the problems within Germany due to the First World War were massive. This caused economic, political and social problems which first had to be dealt with by the new Weimar government. The loss of the war had left Germany with huge reparations to pay, and massive destruction to repair. In order to gain the capital needed to finance efforts to rebuild, and repay the Allies, the economy had to be brought back to its prewar levels. This was not an easy task.
In 1933, Europe was going through a major change and not just the countries as a whole, but the minorities such as the Jews as well. In Germany Adolf Hitler, who was the leader of the National Socialist Workers Society (also known as the Nazi Party), was elected chancellor on January 30, 1933. On July 14, 1933, only 7 months after Hitler’s election, the Nazi Party became the only legal political party in Germany. Any known rebels would later be severely punished. Hitler was a very persuasive speaker, which made it easy for him to blame the Jews for many things. He began by blaming Jews for the economy crash that had happened in Europe at the time. Jews were fine on their financial ends and striving in business. Also at the time The Black Death was occurring. Many Europeans were dying for unexplained reasons whereas the Jews seemed to be healthier. These two factors made it very easy for Hitler to convince the German people that Jews were the center of their problems. He later moved on to other minorities as well claiming that the only good race was the Aryan race. Hitler even published a newspaper called the Der Strümer in which he would publish cartoons making funny of Jews and print at the bottom “Jews are our misfortune”. Things were changing in Germany under Hitler’s rule and not in a good way.
The main reason was that people were discomposed that Germany had lost a war and most of the people blame for the defeat. On the other hand, during 1929-1933, the worldwide Great Depression, which impacted Germany, and there was no leader of Weimar could solve the economic problem.
Exploring the Reasons Behind Public's Discontent with the Weimar Government There were a number of reasons why the German people were unhappy with the Weimar government. One of the main reasons for this was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The result of this was that Germany has to take the war guilt, Germany had to pay reparations of 6,600 million marks to the allies in particular France, Germany lost its colonies, it lost its air force & tanks, and its soldiers were restricted to 100,000. The Ruhr was demilitarised. Also they lost their colonies and its land was cut up such as the Polish Corridor and Alsace Lorraine.
Currently people know what anti-Semitism is and how it affected our history in events such as the Holocaust and Inquisition, but how many people know if anti-Semitism exists in the modern world? Even if people do know this, can they answer where and why? Why do people often avoid learning about other people’s cultures and beliefs? According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary anti-Semitism is, “Hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.” Anti-Semitism has existed in the world since the time of the ancient Roman Empire, and has been evident in events such as the Inquisition and Holocaust. It has been such a large topic of controversy that even William Shakespeare, a famous English poet, wrote a play called Merchant of Venice on the topic. If we know about anti-Semitism in the past then why do we not know about it in the present?
...After we consider all these points mentioned we begin to see how everything worked and connected to form one huge disaster for Germany. We start to see how all these things played a part, the reparations led to unemployment that led to no money that led to overprinting of money. How the huge consequence of the reparations led to the unsuccessful paying of it leading to the French invasion of the Ruhr which led to strikes and therefore no products to trade with. How the unstable Weimar government led to extremist parties that damaged the economy further and brought inflation to its highest. The effects were probably the worst, the starvation coupled with the disease epidemic that killed people off and the worthless tonnes of paper notes roaming around the nation. It all in all was a very bad time in Germany one that they always found it hard to recover from.
The main purpose of the book was to emphasize how far fear of Hitler’s power, motivation to create a powerful Germany, and loyalty to the cause took Germany during the Third Reich. During the Third Reich, Germany was able to successfully conquer all of Eastern Europe and many parts of Western Europe, mainly by incentive. Because of the peoples’ desires and aspirations to succeed, civilians and soldiers alike were equally willing to sacrifice luxuries and accept harsh realities for the fate of their country. Without that driving force, the Germans would have given up on Hitler and Nazism, believing their plan of a powerful Germany...
MODERN HISTORY – RESEARCH ESSAY “To what extent was Nazi Germany a Totalitarian state in the period from 1934 to 1939?” The extent to which Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state can be classed as a substantial amount. With Hitler as Fuhrer and his ministers in control of most aspects of German social, political, legal, economical, and cultural life during the years 1934 to 1939, they mastered complete control and dictation upon Germany. In modern history, there have been some governments, which have successfully, and others unsuccessfully carried out a totalitarian state. A totalitarian state is one in which a single ideology is existent and addresses all aspects of life and outlines means to attain the final goal, government is run by a single mass party through which the people are mobilized to muster energy and support.