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Natalie Mifflin
Mr. Hawkins
Modern World History-P, Period 2
16 March 2016
Inquiry Question #1: Nazi Demographics Compared to Racist Groups Today
History has a way of repeating itself. After World War One, Adolf Hitler began to make
bold political moves within what would one day become the Nazi Party. The Nazi Party drew
enough people that it made up the majority of the German government. Although people from
both genders and every class joined the Nazi Party, young men in the lower middle class mostly
identified the party. One can easily draw parallels between the Nazi Partys demographics and
major racist groups today based on current circumstances, class, and social norms.
To first understand why the Nazi Party was identified with young men of the lower
middle class, one must first look at the reasons why people would join the Nazi Party. After the
Great War, Germany had to rebuild entire war-stuck cities and their economy, which could no
longer rely on the military to keep money cycling. The economy was horrible because, labor
unions were forcing up wage rates, and a spiraling rise in wages and prices appeared.
Germans were accumulating debts. (Website 1) The increasing wages and prices drove the
German currency to become less powerful, therefore making it harder for the country to pay its
debts. The citizens were living in poverty and inflation was making it even harder for families to
buy every day essentials. With the military disbanded because of the Treaty of Versailles, in
September 1928 Germany had 650,000 unemployed and by 1929 three million had lost
their jobs. (Website 1). There were not enough good paying jobs to keep people from starving.
The citizens of Germany began to get restless because conditions were not improving since the

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end of the war. His [Hitlers] party had the appeal of being young and on the move. Many
unemployed young men and a variety of malcontents joined his movement. (Website 1)
Hitler was able to attract people who believed he was able to produce more jobs for people as
well as decrease the poverty rate so more people would have access to food. People were
desperate and looking for change so they could begin a new life, where they could provide for
their family and Hitlers promises brought them hope that they had not had for a long time.
Adolf Hitler was able to connect with people and their situations like many other political
leaders could not. As the depression in Germany went on, the previously strong social
barriers between rich and poor were relaxed and National Socialist elite often included
young and poorly educated dropouts, just like Hitler himself. (Website 2) The growing
number of people who were joining the Nazi Party were drawn from people who saw Hitlers life
as a rags to riches story where he came from poor conditions, like much of Germany was in at
the time, and brought himself to become a charismatic leader that could relieve them of some of
their economic troubles. To not only give people jobs but claim to restore Germany to its former
greatness was a goal that Hitler was spreading quickly throughout the country when the
government failed to accomplish the same goals. Mostly men joined the Nazi Party because,
the Nazis shared with the Italian fascists the view of women as housewives and mothers,
and only changed course when women were needed for work in factories and officers.
(Website 2) Women were probably offended by this view and therefore did not support the Nazi
group as much as the men did. The country must have rejoiced for the day when there were so
many jobs that needed to be filled, even women had to take jobs in factories and offices. As the
Nazi Party gained power, Many people believed that Germany was becoming more open
and equal, but the well educated classes held most of their advantages and the poor and

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lower middle class made little progress. (Website 2) The lower and middle class were
holding onto the hope the Nazi Party would help them even more as time went on. In the years
since the Great War, Germanys economy was always getting worse until the Nazi Party took
over and made improvements, no matter how small they may have been.
One of the things that most racist groups have in common is their ability to attract people
who feel they are losing some amount of control over their lives. In fact, There are so many
teens and young adults who arent making it and who desperately want to feel powerful
and successful; they cant do it in any middle class sense of the word, so they gain a sense of
dominance, control, and power by assaulting vulnerable victims. (Website 3) Young adults
who are just beginning to see what the world is like can feel out of place or feel like they have no
control over things changing around them. The easiest way one might feel in power is to do
something that they can control, which might be verbally or physically hurting someone else that
other people will not defend. In the 21st century, they [young adults or teenagers] spend hour
after hour on the Internet visiting hate websites, where they can not only get propaganda,
but also find like-minded individuals, whereas [before the Internet] they would have felt
like loners. (Website 3) Today, we have the Internet, but back in the early to mid 1900s
Germany, there was anti-Semitic propaganda spread everywhere by hate groups and the Nazi
Party. No one had to go far to find another person who was discriminatory towards Jews so it
was fashionable for the middle class to be anti-Semitic, much like joining a racist group today
might encourage growing hatred. Discovery news said that, at the peak of Klan membership
in the 20s, many racist ideas were culturally acceptable and it wasnt uncommon for
mainstream middle class people to join. (Website 3) Like the Nazi Party and racist groups in
the 1920s, it was popular within the middle class to discriminate against certain groups of

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people. Whether it is peer pressure that leads people to join racist groups or not, there are many
other factors that could lead people to have extreme ideas towards a vulnerable group of people.
Current situations, class, and social norms are three similar factors that drive people to
join racist groups with similar ideas to the Nazi Party. Sadly, many people are born during a time
when ridicule against one group of people is acceptable and do not stand a chance to make their
own decisions on the matter. Being born into a family with strong racist ideas and being
surrounded by like-minded people is a dangerous combination for a new generation who is still
forming their own opinions on serious subjects. It is likely that the lower middle class feels most
threatened when tragedy strikes because they do not have to lose much, in comparison to the
upper class, to lose everything they have. There is much to learn from history and from seeing
the rise of the Nazi Party, people can see how many factors could cause groups that are racially
biased.

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