Fascism In Germany And Italy Essay, Research Paper
Germany and Italy rose up under new leaders
with a new type of governing policy. However, the same policies that caused
growth lead to eventual collapse of these nations. Fascism grew because
of extreme nationalism, fear, and governmental control. It failed due to
absolute power by one man, its own aggressive nature, and lack of organization.
Hitler?s rise to power can be credited
for many reasons. Firstly, the Nazi?s gave the German middle class a reason
why they were having problems, and came up with a solution. As Hitler explained
it by using pseudo science, the Jews were the problem and there was only
one solution. Along with this he instituted mass propaganda against the
Jews and for the Aryan race. This went a long way to create the kind of
nationalism that Hitler was looking for. Soon most of Germany felt like
a strong and united people, willing to do anything for their state and
their leader. Those who were not, lived in constant fear of the Nazi?s.
The SS and the SA policed the streets and used excessive violence whenever
they felt it necessary. People were either happy to be with Hitler or afraid
to oppose him. Hitler had control. With this control Hitler made policies
that were actually very beneficial to the middle class. By eliminating
large corporations, creating a strong military and increasing industry
to equip the military Germany began to grow.
There were a lot of problems in Italy.
Mussolini used fascism in a very similar manner to Hitler. The way he saw
it, Italy was divided into two sections: the north and the south. The northern
part of Italy was industrialized while southern almost completely agricultural.
Thus, Mussolini wanted to unify the people to create one strong nation.
He went about this by using his own charisma and propaganda. He spoke of
the history of Rome and the strength of Italians. He created a military
and a police force to keep the people under control. Most, however, followed
him because they believed in what he said. In conquering Ethiopia Mussolini
was able to prove his own strength and the weakness of the League of Nations.
When he combined forces with Hitler, Italy took the final step in its own
progression.
Fascism had its faults as well. Through
its own aggressive nature both Italy and Germany followed the ideals of
fascism directly into war. It is hard to say if these countries might have
continued to grow if they had not tried to conquer. Another major problem
with Fascism was its reliance on one man. Hitler and Mussolini became the
only men who had the authority to make and decision. This caused great
problems within the sate. Problems were slowly dealt with during a time
were decisive quick reactions were needed. On top of this poor decisions
were made without any sort of counsel. There were no advisers to help these
two leaders. It seems that the fear that helped create the power contributed
to its downfall because no one would question the solutions the men came
up with. From this also spawned poor organization. For example Hitler,
who controlled all of the army, left no power to his generals. Therefore,
no one knew exactly what they could and couldn?t do. All of these thing
contributed to the fall of Fascism.