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..