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German Propaganda In World War One

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The thought of losing a war when German propaganda was at it's highest point (Nardo) seemed almost impossible. When news arrived to the people of Germany that the army was retreating many people were astonished. A mutual feeling of betrayal was developing fast across Germany and someone needed to pay. Germany had not been united in many years, before World War One it had been part of the Holy Roman Empire but with the collapse of the empire it had been broken into many separate states. Under the Nazi leadership, Germany had felt restored; like the so called ¨golden¨ days when it was a strong militaristic state, such as Prussia, many felt the strong leadership was what Germany had needed, yet almost as fast as the Empire had grown it had …show more content…

German propaganda was at its highest point during defeat and many military and political leaders blamed the defeat of Germany on crooked politicians, bankers, Communists, and Jews. To make matters worse many Germans were angered due to three major factors. The first of these factors was that after Germany was forced to give up some of its best land in the North which was rich in natural resources such as coal, iron, and most of its best oil fields as punishment for its role in World War One. Another factor that upset many Germans was that it was separated from Austria, its main ally in World War One, who had joined Germany to form one country. The last rule that the Allied Powers, a group of countries united to defeat Germany made up of Great Britain, United States, France, Russia and Italy,(¨Shirer¨) imposed on Germany was that it set up a Republic style government called the Weimer Republic. The Weimer Republic at first was hated by many Germans because of economic problems the country faced because the German nation was required to pay penalties to any country that it had caused damage to in the war. As a result to a weak government many small political parties were formed hoping to get elected to impose reform in the government. Some of these parties included the German workers party, the Democratic German party and the German Republic party. Of all of these parties the German Republic party, the government set up by the Allies, was the most popular. In 1919 the German Working party, which had originally stated as a group of unemployed soldiers, gained a new member an Austrian man and ex soldier in World War One, Adolf Hitler. Hitler took control of the German Workers party by his emotional and mesmerizing speeches. Hitler encouraged militarism, national pride, and commitment to the Volk, a ¨pure¨ German race. Hitler also strongly expressed antisemitism which had

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