Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union: A Comparison and Contrast

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union: A Comparison and Contrast In comparing and contrasting the governments of Nazi German and the Soviet Union one has to research the political ideology of both Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin and the types of governments they both headed. Adolph Hitler leaned towards Mussolinis Fascism whereas Joseph Stalin leaned toward Totalitarianism Totalitarianism Totalitarianism are hierarchies that are dominated by a single political party and usually one political leader and is a form of government in which the state monopolizes all the resources in an effort to control all areas of both private and public life. This is done through the use of misinformation, fear, and technology. Totalitarianism rejects the existing government as being corrupt, immoral, and beyond fixing and as a result the paint a picture in which these wrongs are to be corrected and then provide plans and programs to implement a new government. These ideologies which are carried out by propaganda campaigns then demand total obedience from the people. Fascism The Fascism movement began in 1919 in Italy and Europe and was an authoritarian political movement that happened after World War One due to the social and political changes of the time as well as due to the spread of socialism and Communism. Fascism derived its name from the fasces which was ancient symbol of Roman authority which was pictured as a bundle of rods and an ax. The early Fascist movement was a combination of right and left wing ideas that put an emphasizes on production, elitism, the need for a strong leader, anti-socialism, and nationalism. Similarities The role of the leaders was the most striking similarity in the political structure of both systems with Hitler in Germany and Stalin in Russia. Both leaders influence was so great that historians find it complicated to separate the system from the man in referring to Stalins Russia and Hitlers Germany. Both systems were not only headed by a single person, they were also dominated by a single party, with the Nazis in Germany and the Communist in the Soviet Union. Both were also driven by an ideology, fascism in Germany and communism in the Soviet Union. Differences In Germany the status of the Hitler sect of Nazism was much more consequential. In a sense the Hitler sect was Nazism. It is hard to imagine the Nazi Party without Hitler this being because of Hitlers personality. It has been observed that Hitlers leadership style lead to Nazisms inability to reproduce itself in a methodical way and to its irrationality. Hitler was completely avoided established patterns and procedures for work, when asked how a party member should progress up the ladder to become, say, a regional chief, and his answer was that the individual should show his suitability by simply seizing the post, i.e. by proving himself in action. In this way he expected a shapeless Nazi movement to evolve by a process of natural selection by choosing those he thought most worthy of loyalty to him. The Hitler administration lacked a rational order which the ultimate result would be its downfall due radicalization in conditions of administrative chaos. In Ian Kershaws words, Hitlers leadership was utterly incompatible with a rational decision-making process, or with a coherent, unified administration and the attainment of limited goals . . . its self-destructive capacity unmistakable, its eventual demise certain. (Working Towards the FÃ ¼hrer. Reflections on the Nature of the Hitler Dictatorship . ) The greater threat to all of humanity was Nazi Germany, ironically it was the Soviet Union that liberated Eastern Europe and was the main force that defeated Nazi Germany, and as a result saved Europe and the world from the Nazism. . even though it was unintentionally, the Soviets saved the Baltic nations, the Poles, the Ukrainians, the Czechs, and others, from an intended Nazi genocide. This was not an attempt to be a total physical annihilation, as with the Jews, but just disappearance of these groups. Stalin was not interested in supporting Jews in thier fight against Germany. Stalin, Molotov and others almost always rejected the mention of Jews as specific groups of victims when talking about crimes of the Wehrmacht or the Germans in general. Even with his anti-semitic views, this should not diminish the role played by Stalin and the Soviet Union as the major force that brought about the defeat and surrender of Nazi Germany whose goals was the goal of annihilating the Jewish peop le. With Germanys defeatm lives of untold millions of Jews was saved. Conclusion Even though both regimes wanted a Superior Race Nazi Germanny wanted a total annilatization of undesirables where the Soviet Union wanted the undesirables out of the land. Nazi Germany was willing to commite genocide to obtain their goals of a racially pure nation. Both were gulity of millions of innocent people. References: Grobman, G. M. (1990). Nazi Fascism and the Modern Totalitarian State. In Remember.org [A Cybrary of the Holocaust]. Retrieved December 2, 2009, from http://remember.org/guide/Facts.root.nazi.htmlJames, H. (2003). The Twentieth Century in an Iron Cage: Modernization and Rationalization. In Europe Reborn: A History, 1914 2000Great Britain: Pearson/Longman. Bauer, Y. (n.d. ). On Comparisons between Nazi Germany and the Soviet regime. In Memorial Service [A politically independent organization that apart sets with the causes and consequences of Nazism and its crimes. ]. Retrieved December 2, 2009, from http://www.gedenkdienst.or.at/fileadmin/user_upload/yehuda_bauer_-_23_august.pdf Thomas A Idinopulos. (2000). How Yehuda Bauers critique of Holocaust thinking has changed my mind. Journal of Ecumenical Studies,37(3/4),444-454. Retrieved December 2, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID:103770793). Kershaw, I. (1993, July). Working Towards the FÃ ¼hrer. Reflections on the Nature of the Hitler Dictatorship . Contemporary European History, 2(2), 103-118.

History as We Leave It :: History Historical Essays

History as We Leave It Literary description always opens onto another scene set, so to speak, "behind" the this-worldly things it purports to depict. --- Michel Beaujour, "Some Paradoxes of Description" When I was very young, my grandmother told me that my great, great grandfather came to northern Minnesota in the 1890s and settled the small town we lived in, Askov. She said that he was a very brave pioneer who tread across unknown territory, and no one had ever lived on that land before. I pictured my ancestors arriving here and finding nothing but animals that they had to fight away — like they were the only people around for miles until other people came to join them. Until they arrived, Minnesota was a land untouched, unconquered and uncivilized. I never heard of Indians, or that they had once inhabited the land — even my teachers hardly mentioned them in elementary school. I thought they were just fictitious characters on Saturday morning cartoons until I eventually learned that they were real and once inhabited the land. As illustrated in the story that my grandma told me, how we tell our stories have an impact on the history we leave; how we talk about the Nativ e Americans (or fail to talk about them) influences history and how we leave it. The most raw accounts of how people tell their stories is in personal letters where they feel free to use their own words and thoughts, thinking that their words have little effect on the ones reading them or the world around them. Consider the excerpt from a letter written by Sophie Bost, a white settler in Minnesota during the Minnesota Uprising in 1862: And then there are these Indians! I would really like to know where they are after all the scare they’ve given us! [. . .] I dreamed night before last that my children were butchered before my eyes [. . .] and I had taken them into my bed and was sleeping with an arm under each one, [as comfortable] as though I had been massacred myself. [italics mine] (Bowen 214) The words â€Å"butchered† and â€Å"massacred† show the fear she carried about Indians and exasperation about how she and her husband were going to protect their children. I do not doubt that living in those times must have been terrifying for anybody. In other words, Indians could just as easily have used the words â€Å"butchered† and â€Å"massacred† to describe white attacks upon them.

“Invictus” by William E. Henley and “Anthem“ by Ayn Rand Essay

The poem â€Å"Invictus† by William E. Henley, and the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, both have common themes that discuss the importance of individuality in each society are forbid and belief of the unspeakable word ego and the word I should be eliminated from the vocabulary in a effort to eradicated the true â€Å"evil† are present as individualism. One of the common themes between Rand’s novel, and Henley’s poem is that, both of the main characters of these pieces are determined to be nothing less than what they were made to be which is unconquerable. A quote from Anthem that supports this theme is, â€Å"They (the Golden one) looked strait into our Equality 7-2521 eyes and they held our head high and they answered: â€Å"the unconquered.†(p.56). From this quote, the Golden one proves to think that Equality 7-2521 is an unconquerable being, because of this determination, as well as will-power with all his doings. In Invictus, the protagonist does not see himself to be overcome by anything, but to always be able to rise against his challengers. As the author states in Invictus , we thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul. The leading character explains in this quote how he is invincible, and that this gift was given to him, so therefore it cannot be taken away. I can relate this to Anthem , by recapping what happened to Equality 7-2521in his past experiences with the transgressor got burned alive, which made him steadily directed and immovable, such as in â€Å"Invictus†. Also, in both Anthem and â€Å"Invictus†, the protagonists of the story and poem, went through physical pain, which I also believe has a lot of emotional pain involved as well. In Anthem Equality 7-2521 states this excerpt, â€Å"They tore our clothes from our body, they threw us down upon our knees and they tied our hands to the iron post. The first blow of the lash felt as if our spine had been cut in two.† (p.64). From this quote we can gather that Equality 7-2521 had physical pain from the lashes, but also emotional pain behind the reasoning of the abuse. I believe that this had a hug Individuality, this word is what makes a person who they are. It can be molded into whatever one chooses it to be. It also puts you in control of yourself and guides you through your existence. Being individualized is what makes us human. We are not all the same. In the novel Anthem, the thought of individuality is a constant theme throughout the book. The main character, Equality believes he is cursed by being an individual, at first. Many similarities can be found between the novel Anthem and the poem â€Å"Invictus. Invictus is Latin word for Unconquered. Another character, Liberty, will begin to call Equality unconquered in the novel. She believes he is unconquered because his appearance to her is different. She believes that because he is different that he will not be held down by the conformity surrounding him, therefore unconquered. â€Å"Your eyes are as flame, but our brothers have neither hope nor fire. Your mouth is cut of granite, but our brothers are soft and humble. Your head is high, but our brothers cringe. You walk, but our brothers crawl.† his poem â€Å"Invictus†, â€Å"Out of the night that covers me, Balck as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.† These two quotes alone depict individuality very well and are similar in the message in ANTHEM AND THE POAM INVICTUS. Towards the end of the novel I think that Equality will tell the reader of how he will no longer live for anyone but himself and those that he loves and love him. â€Å"It is my mind which thinks, and the judgment of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect.† â€Å"I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others.† These quotes are very similar to the last two line of â€Å"Invictus.† They read â€Å"I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.

Essay on Mr. Rochester versus The Man - 1538 Words

Mr. Rochester vs. The Man Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte and Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys are novels with an obvious connection, however, this connection is not definite one. The main male character’s name in Jane Eyre is Mr. Rochester who has a very mysterious history in the Caribbean while The Man in Wide Sargasso Sea moves to the Caribbean after living in England for his entire life. Jean Rhys never states that the two men are the same, but the similarities between the two lead the reader to believe it is so. Jane Eyre (1847) is about a young woman named Jane Eyre who is hired as a governess at Mr. Rochester’s estate, Thornfield, to take care of Adele, a young girl he adopted. When Jane arrives at Thornfield and begins†¦show more content†¦I shall have to leave you in this room with this gentleman, for an hour, or perhaps two hours; you will sponge the blood as I do when it returns: if he feels faint, you will put the glass of water on that stand to his lips, and you salts to his nose. You will not speak to him in any pretext-and- Richard-it will be at the peril of your life if you speak to her: open your lips-agitate yourself-and I’ll not answer for the consequences. (Bronte, 212) This causes Jane to ponder Mr. Rochester’s mysterious ways, but obeys her superior and does not ask Mr. Mason anything. Soon after Mason is gone, Jane and Rochester stroll in the orchard, and Rochester tells Jane a hypothetical story about a young man who commits a capital error (Bronte, 212) in a foreign country and proceeds to lead a life of dissipation in an effort to obtain relief. 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