Analysis Of Defying Hitler

People of today abhor the doings of the Nazis. It is widely accepted that what they have done was a terrible deed. However, the Nazis, and Adolf Hitler, were not always looked down upon as badly as today. The people of Germany feared the Nazis, however, the people of Germany did not resist the Nazis coming into power in the early 1900s. Rather, they joined in with the Nazis due to them promising the people of Germany that they would make Germany a great place again. Sebastian Haffner, author of Defying Hitler, was living during the Nazi’s rise to power. Haffner was not for the Nazi party, and people of today would hope they would be the same. However, considering the circumstances the people of Germany faced, there is no doubt to why Nazism was appealing. In addition, would the Nazis have risen to power if the circumstances were different? At the end of the first world war, Germany was forced to pay billions of dollars in reparations. That was the catalyst that led …show more content…
Haffner states that the events contain a “colossal emptiness and lack of meaning.” However, they still serve a purpose. Hitler was training the people to become cheerful and jubilant in the face of nothing, and during that process the “people began to enjoy doing so.” The people at first joined due to fear, but they grew to appreciate it and did it more to not appear rude. Using this method, the Nazis were successful in enticing people to join their side, and that is what they did. According to Haffner, the people of Germany mainly only sided with the Nazis due to fear. Haffner stated that “hundreds of thousands, who had up until then been opponents, joined the Nazi Party.” Haffner has cited fear as the main reason why they had all of a sudden joined the Nazis. They “join the thugs to avoid being beaten up” due to the fact that in the past the Nazis have persecuted or killed their opponents, namely the