The economic collapse in 1928 left the United States close to ruin. Jobs didn’t come easily, and when they did, workers often found themselves over worked, under paid, and without viable options for social and economic upward mobility. The same can be said for Nazi Germany. Suffering both from the crushing debt accumulated after the First World War and the global effects of the American economic collapse, the German people found themselves in a similar situation to the Americans.… Read the rest here
Tag Archives: Roosevelt
Political Leadership
The desire to make such historical comparisons is especially evident when examining the political systems of systems of Europe and the United States in the period surrounding World War II. Yoram Gorlizki and Hans Mommsen’s article “The Political (Dis)Orders of Stalinism and National Socialism” and Wolfgang Schivelbusch’s book Three New Deals make comparisons between the political systems of Hitler, Stalin and Roosevelt.
Both the pieces look at the leadership qualities of Hitler and compare them to another notable leader during the same time.… Read the rest here
A Crisis of Leadership
Gorlizki and Mommsen along with Schivelbusch present information regarding the political rise and eventual control of the Nazi Party in Germany under Hitler, and the Communist Party in the USSR under Stalin. Mommsen and Gorlizki conclude that, in addition to a variety of economic, agricultural, and social reasons, Stalin and his party maintained control over its subordinates so well through the “centralized and institutionally integrated party”1 which essentially formed the core of the state. Gorlizki and Mommsen go on to discuss the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany, and they contend that “the state
and ideology relied to a far greater extent for what coherence they had on the
cult of the Fuhrer.”… Read the rest here
Commonalities vs. Sameness
In Three New Deals, author Wolfganf Schivelbusch argues how three powerful states were all led by common ideals leading up to WWII. This is not to confuse with ‘same’ ideals in any sense. While these terms may seem alike, Schivelbusch clearly states there is a difference. He argues that while the United States, Germany, and Italy had common features the three cannot be considered identical in any way. It is difficult to place the United States, a democratic society, in the same category as two authoritative countries, but Schivelbusch continues to explain how they represent one another while being different at the same time.… Read the rest here