How did German attitudes contribute to the atmosphere before world war II?

Answer 1

The attitudes of people at the start of the war was that they couldn't wait to join, towards the end of the war the people were getting sick of the death, and the conditions that came with war. People wanted it to end and also women wanted changes to the way they were treated within society. They wanted to be recognised for what they could do, rather than being viewed as being a slave to their emotions. They wanted the patriarchal manner in which they were treated altered and strove to achieve this form differing perpectives.

Their emerged a growing tide of racist ideology and a shift in the balance of power within what we know to be the "West." This aggitation stemmed form the perceived threat of being isolated and losing world status that Britain had been accustomed to. The British were no longer the leaders of the industrial age. Germany and America became the leaders of what became known as the "second industrial revolution" that came to surpass Britain's dominance on the world stage. The production techniques had improved and those countries Britain - Germany and America had invested huge amounts of money in research and development, rather it was the financial constainsts that gave rise to Britain's innability to invest in technological techniques improving upon what was already in existence, that saw their demise. Therefore Britain was unable to compete with the emerging superpowers ( Germany, America) who both were busy building up their sea power and aircraft production. The idea of the nation state being "born" and with it the notion of territorial protectionism.

Nationalistic themes within the European landscape became domininant and they rested upon ideological theories such as Neo Darwianism and genetics the idea of the fittest of the fittest will survive, and that man evolved over time giving rise to the notion of hybredity. The white man at the top and going down the evolutionary scale until you find the black man at the bottom, all other races in between.

Facism took off in Italy and Germany under Mussilini and Hilter. In sapin you the thinking was of turning the clock back to an age where the Church and God were dominant. The ordinary person was viewed as in need of moral rejuventation and the church and the monarch especially the Catholic Church were to be the beacon of moralistic education. The world was seen as satanic and in need of purging.

Proto facism took hold those who wanted to reach over the heads of electiod governments and hold power resting upon the idea of blood line and tradition of a countries people was the key all others were irrelevant. In some ways those who are proto facists seek to their own agenda up front.

In Britain there was the idea that political parties could offer the masses direction. Conservatism held that the family, tradtional values and a sence of community responsibility was the way forward. In order to remain a dominant construct as what it mean to be Conservative and a viable party they realised that they could not be too severe with their doctrine in relation to tradition after all if you are a party wanting to stay in power and rule and protect your people then you need to appeal to them on all froms even if this means compromising on some of your ideals, and of course Britain historically has been a country where different nationalities reside together and there are a whole host of tradtions cultural ties and values within that too not just what it means to be British.

Whislt the labour party attracted mass support from the working classes earlier on during its formation. labour compromised on their ideals for they realised that the world was changing and with the emergence of globalisation the labour party needed to change too. The labour party no longer accepted mass strikes and picket lines they had to adopt a more proffessional stance and wanted to appear to all sections of society not just the tradional working class minors or dockers. As we know Thatcherism, one branch of conservatism moved away from accepting union domination in politics. Our society was one that relied heavily on capitalism and investment.

Thatcherism placed a lot of emphasis on the way the strcuture of British society developed and moved forward. No longer was Britain to be a centre for production per se but Britain became the World's financial centre and a service commuinty for the globe. Therefore, traditional jobs went coal mining the dockyards and heavy industrial processes curtailed, such as the steel industry for example. It became cheaper to import iron, steel and coal from abroad than to upgrade our industries at home.

Workers were effected in ways never seen before. The job for life mentality dissapeared, workers could expect to be placed on contracts, where work could be found, and along side this there was mass unemploymet. The new methods of working did not aspire to employers accepting or recognising trade unions membership in trade unions fell and thus traditional lablour unions suppport dropped.

This is why labour had to move with the time and professionalise themselves and this is why clause four of the labour party manefesto was dropped. Unions and union support has been affected by the way we are now employed and there has been a growth in legislation to protect people and the minimum wage has been introuced to alleviate the exploitation of working class people who perhaps work partime to fit around their families preominately; women who are carers, single mothers with child care responsibilities.

These are some ways in which attitudes have been shaped following the first world war and beyond it in or modern world But you must also bear in mind that there are otherways too, we can talk about political philosophy of war and social consequenies of war we can also debate Immigration trends and Demographics. There are a host of ways to structure an answer to the question asked.

Glen Marson 07 March 2008 @ 17.00pm

Answer 2

They were bitter that their weak economy caused poor living conditions. Many were also bitter about their loss in World War 1, which they thought had resulted from betrayal of the Army by the government. This bitterness lent itself easily to social unrest.

Answer 3

The civilian German people couldn't face the powerful German army. But what the German people thought about the Nazi party is a mystery.