Spacing Throughout Standard 12 Eng 101 Rasmussen

Kude Dixon

ENG101: English Composition I

March 22, 2020

The Downfall of Hitler

Thesis: What about the fall of Adolf Hitler? Couldn’t it be the best thing that ever happened to humanity?

Many will argue that this was more of a benefit more than a loss to Europe, Germany, Soviet Russia and all the interested parties. I would argue that Hitler’s fall negatively affected the Nazi’s only. Keep in mind his long term friend also a mentor, Benito Mussolini, was already dead. This was a relief to the Germans especially the Jews and other tribes targeted by the Nazis. In fact upon his death he criticized his soldiers despite their struggle and loyalty even when they were sure of a defeat. He worked with the same army for a total of twelve years including the five years he was in power, any normal man would hate such a man. According to my point of view was a coward during his last moments of life. He chose to act like a sheep dressed in a wolf’s skin. Many were still afraid of him but he decided to reconcile defeat contrary to his words “I will fight to my last breath as long as I have a soldier.” He killed himself after he heard of how his fellow dictator Mussolini was captured and hanged upside down then thrown into the gutter. He shot himself together with his wife Eva Braun.

During Hitler’s reign he brought depression among the Germans. When the American banks called off foreign loans, Europe was affected, Germany was affected the most. These loans funded German industries. This led to the collapse of most of these industries. The industries lost finances the decided to lower their production quantities. Automatically this means minimization of production cost, this could only happen if they laid-off workers. This happened, many individuals lost their jobs and unemployment levels shot up high. This leads people to spend less, hence prices drop to increase demand but since the situation is at its worst, the demand falls. This leads to industries losing finances further, then minimize production costs more hence laying off more staff. This reduces money in supply in the economy, people spend less more, prices even drop further finally demand falls. In this situation, the country’s economy is at its worst. This is when depression among the citizens kicks in.

When Hitler was made the Chancellor the period 1929- 1930 the number of unemployed individuals rose from 1.4 million to 2 million. This was a third of the population in Germany. This raised the government’s expenditure which included unemployment insurance plus other benefits. People began to lose trust in democracy forcing them to opt for solutions that are looking to extreme parties on both sides, the communists and Nazis. All these happenings were as a result of Hitler either directly or indirectly. The loans from American banks were from the agreement of the Dawes plan from the basis of Weimar’s economic recovery trying to solve hyperinflation that had hit the region. The agreement together with the Treaty of Versailles was broken by Hitler’s actions.

There was growth in support of the Nazis. This was a result of extremism. As a result of unemployment, hunger, depression and desperation, citizens began sorting for simple solutions by joining the available political parties at the time. There were two parties at the time; Nazis and the communists. Communists were popular and won the majority seats in the Reichstag but this was an advantage to the Nazis. This was only the beginning. The Nazis became popular bit by bit since they got support from wealthy businessmen and the middle-class. The wealthy were threatened by the fact that communists were taking over the country whereas the middle-class felt the need for democracy hence wanted a strong government. The Nazis based their campaigns in rural areas contrary to the communists who majored in the main cities. The Germans believed that Adolf Hitler was Germany’s savior so they supported the Nazis. The Nationalists blamed the Treaty of Versailles to have caused depression in the country hence supporting the Nazis. Finally the Nazis had an upper hand in the country. Given the authority, whatever they did was beyond evil.

Upon the death of Hitler, for once there was peace in the whole of Europe. Germany was the only country holding back the peace of Europe, as soon as Hitler was conquered, Europe was calm. This meant an end to the Nazis, the Red flag army returned home, the Soviet army took over Berlin giving the Jews freedom. When the Nazis were in power, they threatened, harassed and maimed the Jews. During war there were so many casualties; in Germany 4 million civilians and 3 million soldiers died, 6 million Jews, in Soviet Russia 7 million soldiers and 16 million civilians died. Were it not for betrayal, the Soviets would never have conquered Hitler and taken over Berlin. This was hardcore.

His death stopped dictatorship in Germany. After Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933, his main aim was to become a dictator. In order to achieve this, he needed more support from the Reichstag. So he wanted more seats, this would grant him the power to make changes anyhow as he pleased without the approval of the Reichstag. He advised the current president, Hindenburg to call for Reichstag elections. He ended up being a Fuhrer. This lasted for four years. Hitler banned all other political parties apart from Nazis hence there was no opposition. Hitler later ordered 400 kills to get rid of any opposition in the Nazis. This pleased the wealthy in society and the army. After the death of Hindenburg, Hitler automated himself as the president, commander in chief and chancellor. This neutralized any opposition in the army.

All these prove that Hitler’s fall was not in vain. On his rule, the dictatorship would have ruled Germany and its neighboring countries up to date. Some countries would have adapted this kind of rule. The freeing of the Jews was facilitated by his death. Jewish tribe would have been extinct because of the Nazis. Germany would have the worst economy in the whole of Europe, maybe even the whole world.

Work Cited

Bendix, John. “Facing Hitler: German Responses to’Downfall’.” German Politics and Society 25.1 (2007): 70-89.

Gilbert, Christopher J. “Playing with Hitler: Downfall and its ludic uptake.” Critical Studies in Media Communication 30.5 (2013): 407-424.

Haase, Christine. “Ready for his close-up? Representing Hitler in Der Untergang (Downfall, 2004).” Studies in European Cinema 3.3 (2007): 189-199.

Schwabach, Aaron. “Reclaiming copyright from the outside in: What the Downfall Hitler meme means for transformative works, fair use, and Parody.” Buff. Intell. Prop. LJ 8 (2012): 1.

SEE BELOW INSTRUCTIONS

The guidelines and requirements for this assignment are:

Remember to apply the concepts you’re learning in the course, including elements of grammar, punctuation, thesis development, and other skills.

Length: This assignment should be a minimum of 4 pages (800 words). You should aim for at least 6 double-spaced pages (1,250 words), excluding the Works Cited page.

Header: Include a header in the upper left-hand corner of your writing assignment with the following information:

• Your first and last name
• Course Title (Composition I)
• Assignment name (Research Paper)
• Current Date

Format:

• Double-spacing throughout
• Standard 12 point font (Arial, TimesNewRoman, Calibri)
• Title, centered after heading
• 1” margins on all sides
• Save the file using one of the following extensions: .docx, .doc, .rtf, or .txt

Underline your thesis statement in the introductory paragraph.