Homework 1 The Nazi Capture of Power-3
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103
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Political Science
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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PLS 103 Name:
Homework 1 The Nazi Capture of Power (2 points)
Due on Blackboard before class begins on Tuesday, Sept. 13, in .docx or .pdf file format.
This assignment has you analyze Hitler’s rise to power. His Nazi Party married fascist ideology to extreme
nationalist and racist identity. This is a topic of immense importance in itself, but it is also one that helps
you to understand several main themes of comparative political analysis. The assignment will: 1) solidify
your understanding of several introductory topics, 2) tie together the topics of political ideology and
political identity, and 3) provide a foundation for the coming topic of political institutions. Completion of the
assignment by the due date gives you 2 points of the semester’s 10 homework points. Late submissions
will receive half credit (1 point).
Instructions:
1. Read the short summary of the “Rise of the Nazi Party” that comes from the longer version of your
textbook. 2. Watch this 43-minute ABC News documentary:
Evil Rising
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=69F5YfKMitI
3. Answer on this page the following questions about the factors that led to Hitler’s seizure of power. Each
response should be three to five sentences long.
a. What impact do
ideas
and political ideology have in Hitler’s rise?
Ideas and political ideology played a large role in the rise of Hitler’s power. Hitler’s extremist ideas about
what a perfect country could be, confused many at first. However, Hitler’s idea of a unified ethnicity
contributed a lot to his political thought of how the country of Germany could become better. When Hitler
was able to acquire enough propaganda to convince people in his speeches that Jewish people were to
blame for the problems in Germany during the time, his mission became a lot more simple. Hitlers main
idea was his hatred for communism and social equality, he acted on this idea and political ideology by
rallying to destroy what he thought to be the problem which would be exterminating the Jewish ethnicities
and conquering Europe to create an Aryan race.
b. What is the impact of political
identity
, particularly nationalism?
The impact of nationalism that was had on Hitler’s rise to power was significant. Hitlers nationalism was
different from how we may view nationalism in the present day United States. Hitler wanted Germans to
feel united through their blood, he felt that the German “race” was the superior physique with blonde
features and more intellect. Hitler actually attracted people with this idea because the sense of
nationalism that was in most countries was dwindling in Germany post WWI. It was Hitler’s goal to bring a
sense of nationalism back to the country of Germany while still following his political agenda. Hitlers use
of nationalism was also one of the ways he was able to acquire so many followers because many
Germans who had lost their sense of nationalism, were now following Hitler’s propaganda of what would
make a better country.
c. Which individuals or social groups were motivated by their economic or political
interests
?
Many middle/working class individuals believed that Hitlers propaganda and ideology was a beneficial
view for themselves. Some German citizens knew that the extermination of the Jewish “race” would mean
more economic prosperity for themselves because they would be able to acquire things such as Jewish
business owners' stores, they would be able to take over the homes and property that were previously
owned by Jewish people. In many cases this would amplify the political power and money the German
people were able to make across the board. Another reason people felt so pushed towards following
Hitler’s political interest was because of the fear of persecution of being caught helping or defending a
Jewish person.
d. What weaknesses are apparent in the Weimar Republic’s
political institutions
?
Some of the weaknesses that were apparent in the political institution that Weimar Republicans held were
mainly around the inconsistency that the government was participating in at the time. Along with
inconsistency in their political institution, there was also much instability following the loss of power and
some territory in WWI. Many Germans also had a distrust for they political institution at the time as the
German Social Democrats ended up accepting the treaty of Versailles. The political party was abolished
by the Nazi party during Hitlers power.
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