Adolf Hitler and the Rise of Nazi Ideology Essay

Adolf Hitler and the Rise of Nazi Ideology - Essay Example Anti-Semitism and the idea of white supremacy were not new ideas in the 1920s and 1930s. Hitler’s tortuous ideology about a superior â€Å"Aryan† race in need of living space and liberation from corrupting non-Aryan, i.e. Jewish, influences tapped into ideas that had been around for many decades, if not centuries. The German nation felt a sense of disillusionment and betrayal after losing the 1914-18 War and was looking for a reason why their soldiers had failed to win the war. The ruling elite of the old German Empire had largely survived into the years of the Weimar Republic and therefore they were not held in great respect by the German people. Hitler’s theories of a betrayed superior race, facing a common enemy in the â€Å"Jew†, tapped into that feeling of betrayal and made sense to many disillusioned and impoverished Germans, often from the lower middle classes. Hitler’s attempt to overthrow the government of the Weimar Republic in 1923 – an act of treason – therefore did not damage him in the eyes of many Germans but added to his credibility and hero status. Germans were in desperate need of a leader figure – a fà ¼hrer – and Hitler’s charismatic approach made sense to the masses who were not looking for intellectual debates but seemingly longed for explanations why their once great nation was at its knees. A scapegoat for all evils was needed and found in the â€Å"Jew†. Germany’s old ruling (then still often identical with aristocratic) classes looked upon Hitler and his organizations of brown shirts (SA) and SS and the party wing, the NSDAP, with disdain and the belief that they would be able to contain and control them.