Hitler Speech- April 12, 1921

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Adolf Hitler Speech- April 12, 1921

3 Substainative points:
“We are already a colony of the outside world.” Hitler displays the opinions of many Germans when he says that Germany no longer had the ability to work for itself. Not only were they subjected to the conditions of Versailles without input, but those conditions have allowed the suppression of their entire work force. “The product of Germany’s work thus belonged, not to our nation, but to her foreign creditors,” shows the angry sentiments of Germans towards the other European nations- an anger that would only grow towards an outburst of war.

“‘ Christian capitalism’ is already as good as destroyed, the international Jewish Stock Exchange capital gains in proportion as the other loses ground.” Hitler is attempting to rallying the majority of German people- people who were Christian- by helping them push off the blame of the failure of their economy. This was a targeted outlet for Hitler to chose because of the prominent anti- semitism already in Europe and because of the blame that the German people desperately wanted to rid themselves of (after the Treaty of Versailles expected them to accept all of the blame from WWI).
“There are only two possibilities: either victory of the Aryan or annihilation of the Aryan and the victory of the Jew.” Hitler views democracy as a Jewish idea and that it is not something that belongs in Germany. When discussing political ideas, he sees democracy as the “destruction of Aryan leadership,” and hence with its association with Judaism he rejects it.
2 questions:
If the reparations against Germany after the Treaty of Versailles weren’t as harsh, would the stability of the country have allowed an over powerful leader such as Hitler?
Hitler’s idea of “National Socialism” seems to bring together the right and the left, of which he condemns both initially, capitalizing on the state- promoting ideas of each. However, he also states that one should not associate with the party of compromises. He is not attempting to compromise between the two, yet the aspects that he wants to incorporate are key aspects from each. To what extent did this appeal to the public affiliated with these parties because of his use of their past ideas, and to what extent was this viewed as a purely unique idea?
1 interesting point:
This entire speech is Hitler taking the anger of the German people and focusing it on specific aspects of society. Yes, there was prevalent anti- semitism in Europe and there certainly was hatred for the creators of the Treaty of Versailles, but what made Hitler’s propaganda so powerful in his speeches was his ability to rally a people to only focus on those aspects of pure emotion. The German population was highly educated, and yet through all the trouble of the times and his personal abilities he was able to override that sensibility and key in on their frustrations with the treatment of Germany..

6 thoughts on “Hitler Speech- April 12, 1921”

  1. One question I have regarding his statements about Jews is whether or not Hitler and the NSDAP truly believed that the Jews were bringing harm upon Germany, if they were simply using the Jews as scapegoats for Germany’s problems, or a combination of both…?

  2. With regard to your first question, I think that when analyzing and considering Hitler’s rise to power and his reign, it goes without saying that such an appalling situation most likely would not have been able to occur in any other circumstances other than the physical and mental state of Germany at the time. The Treaty of Versailles had detrimental effects on Germany and crippled its society. Hitler, like any other dictator, realized how weak and desperate was and foresaw an opportunity to act in accord with his ambitions and aspirations.

  3. Also going on your first question, there were treaties that Germany was involved in after the Treaty of Versailles to help repair the relationship between them and the rest of the world. That clearly shows how crippling the treaty was. There really was no way that Germany could be saved from the crippling effects and that gave Hitler exactly what he needed. He was so inspired that I don’t think anything short of reversing the Treaty of Versailles would have stopped Germany’s rise.

  4. Really interesting how the treaty set these people back so far. Hitler said it himself: they are a colony of the outside world. When you put world history in this perspective, it is very easy to see how the end of WWI the main contributer to the beginning of WWII.

  5. Hi! I’m a history student studying the intentionalist and structuralist interpretations of the holocaust, and I was just wondering whether anyone knew what this speech was for? Is it a rally speech? An address to Nazi party members? A public stunt?
    It’d really help me in terms of source analysis and evaluation! Thanks!

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