Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler, all from different political beliefs felt as though they each needed to complete control over the state, and they would have stopped at nothing in order to achieve their goals and fulfill their own idea of a utopic state. This paper will cover each of the three men’s rise to power, as well as their social, political and economic policies that helped them achieve rank as head of the state. The paper will start off by focusing on Stalin’s rise to power, his political policies and public perception, and how his means of political authority negatively affected the state. The paper will then switch focuses and concentrate on Mussolini and his rise to power and how Mussolini’s fascist beliefs impacted the Italian economic, social, and political sectors. Lastly, the paper will then focus on Hitler and the rise of the Nazi regime.
Out of all the wars that the world has gone through, none has been more devastating as World War II. Although the definite origin or cause of this World War II can be argued over, some of the most popular reason till today remains the Appeasement, anger over Treaty of Versailles, the failure of peace efforts after World War I, the rise of Fascism, the goals of Hitler. Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. Almost immediately he began secretly building up Germany's army and weapons. In 1934 he increased the size of the army, began building warships and created a German air force.
Hitler expressed that Germans were superior and all other races were irrelevant. Germany expressed this belief towards the United States And Jewish civilians. He enforced this belief once he first started his rule. Thus, resulted foreign policy. In his foreign policy, it stated to destroy the Treaty of Versailles, which was what Germany had to adhere to due to their defeat in World War II.
Explain how the Nazi Party came to power, despite setbacks, by 1934. The rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party came to prominence by a facilitated series of events and factors which subsequently saw the collapse of democracy and marked the introduction of the dictatorial rule. Although cautious of the drastic nature of the Nazi movement, the role of the conservative elites and the subversive elements of the Weimar Constitution played a key role in appointing Hitler as chancellor in 1933, signifying decisively the collapse of the democratic system. The Reichstag fire of 1933 further served as a symbolic display of the failure of democracy, the consequences of which would catalyse a campaign against communism and flag the way for Nazi electoral success at the March elections. With the Nazi Party now firmly rooted in the political scene, Hitler sought to combine his power through the implementation of the Enabling Act; this law would effectively abolish any trace of power held by the Reichstag and the president.
General von schleicher stopped supporting von papen and decided he himself should become chancellor, this triggered of a power struggle between von schleicher nd von papen, which ended with them handing power to Hitler. Hitler was made Chancellor in 1933 after von Papen persuades Hindenburg. Von Papen thought that as long as there were a limited number of Nazis in the cabinet then Hitler could be controlled. Von Papen was wrong. Another thing was there was the weakness of the Weimar government, which played its part.
One of the factors that possibly made Germany seem very much like an autocracy is the power the Kaiser had to dissolve the Reichstag ant to appoint a Chancellor of his choice. In all of these situations the Kaiser held supreme power and he needed no democratic authorisation – what he said was the final decision. It appeared the Kaiser used his power in order to shape the German government, an example of this is in 1900 when he appointed von Bulow as Chancellor in the hope that he could exercise power of the decisions he made. However, when von Bulow tried to assert how own authority following the, what could be considered, disastrous Daily Telegraph he was forced to hand in his resignation because he had lost the support, he initially had, of the Kaiser. This is an example of a strong autocratic element within the constitution.
The Nazi party now forced to think tactically and with the burning of the Reichstag building through a communist Hitler was able to blame the extremist party for the beginning of a revolution and with President Hindenburg's approval he arrested the ‘enemies of the state’. With this fortunate accident, the ‘missing’ SPD party and the agreement with Zentrum Hitler was able to get his two thirds majority to pass the Enabling Act which entitled him to pass laws without parliamentary approval. Although on the surface Hitler seemed to have a lot of control, this was not complete, due to the fact that President Hindenburg could over rule him and perhaps even terminate him as chancellor. This power, however, led to multiple sudden adjustments to Germany, after becoming a one party state by July 1933, through making the SPD party and all other competitors illegal, he continued to set loose on Germany’s very powerful and threatening trade unions. Trade unions posed a strong threat to the NSDAP due to their power in Germany, considering their support for the SPD and even KPD.
Dulffer argue that holocaust was above all due to Hitler, “but to recognize that this is not to free from blame the hundreds thousands of others who were involved in carrying out the Holocaust”Dulffer. Goldhagen says that "hitlers ideal was broadly shared by germany”goldhagen. The bureaucracy was involved and had massive collaborations with the SS, the civil service, army, and the business corporations. This depressed Jews of their rights and property, isolated them, and killed them. The army was also
Hitler achieved Nazi Germany’s single party state through the various stages of his accession to power. His first step in accession to power was through decrees; the “Emergency Decree”, suspended various parts of the constitution and “Enabling Act” for the “removal of the distress of people and state” the power to rule disregarding the constitution in order to deal with the problems confronting the nation this allowed Hitler to become a dictator. 1933 trade unions were abolished, to win the support of the working class and to control the organisation of labour. The ‘law against the Formation of New Parties’ declared that the Nazi’s were the only political party. 1934 all state parliaments were disbanded and power was transferred to the Reichstag.
Assess the significance of the “Night of the Long Knives” The Night of the Long Knives is significant, because it can be seen as the event that shut down Hitler’s opposition from both sides, through forcibly removing the Conservative elite and the SA as a political threat, while simultaneously gaining the armies support. The event in itself set a bad precedence for Nazi rule and can be seen as the beginning of the Nazi terror state. However, it is suggested Hitler’s removal of the SA, was necessary to stop revolution, on the other hand, it could be said the Night of the Long Knives was Hitler’s way of taking complete control of Germany. One effect of the Night of the Long Knives is its significance in the rise of the SS, led by Himmler, from its minimal standing as an extension of the SA, to independence. Bullock says that: “Himmler’s SS were now given their independence of the SA, and placed directly under Hitler’s orders with Himmler as SS Reichsfuehrer”# this source suggests that Himmler and the SS only became powerful through Hitler’s direction.