Author: Kai Chitose
Image/Typography/Proofreading: Follow the Trail
The full text is about 4300 words and takes about 12 minutes.
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During the Battle of the Salient on January 4, 1945, the famous American general George Barton made the following assessment of his German opponents in his diary: "They (the Germans) are colder and hungrier than us, but they still fight fiercely, and we may still lose this war." ”
Two months later, on March 10, in the face of a fierce German counterattack in Hungary, the commander of the Third Ukrainian Front, Tolbukhin, also panicked and sent a telegram to Stalin: "The enemy's offensive is too fierce, please allow me to abandon my position and retreat to the other side of the Danube to reorganize the defenses!" ”
Apparently, both the Allies in the West and the Soviets in the East were amazed at the German army that was still fighting feverishly until 1945, when the Third Reich was about to collapse.
What kind of spirit is sustaining the Germans in their senseless resistance? To find out this truth, we have to delve into what "Ecstasy" the Nazis and their mouthpieces poured into the Germans during their time in power.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > "unite our core - Aryan national community"</h1>
As early as 1937, before the outbreak of the Second World War, the national leader of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, in a speech to a specially screened group of Wehrmacht officers on the role of the secret police in the war, made it clear: "In a possible war, in addition to land, sea and air, there will be a fourth battlefield, that is, 'inside Germany', in addition to externally, the internal purge of some ethnic minorities and 'hostile forces' in the country is also the top priority in the war." ”
On the outside, Heinrich Himmler is a scumbag
With the gradual loss of control of The Airspace over Europe by Germany and the strategic bombing of Germany by the Allied Air Forces, internal purge and external fronts have in fact gradually merged, and from the first "visit" of the Royal Air Force to Germany itself in 1945, German civilians can no longer act as spectators of the war and ignore things, on the contrary, they are gradually drawn into the center of the tide of war.
This was an experience that the Germans had never experienced before, even in the First World War, leaving aside the Russian invasion of East Prussia in August 1914 and the French attack on Alsace, german civilians were largely unaware that the war would pose an immediate threat to their lives, and the panic they showed and the distrust and doubts they showed had a huge impact on Nazi rule.
Therefore, the Nazis also became more radical in order to strengthen control, and how to ensure that most Germans could maintain the recognition and support of the state system in the war became the top priority of the Nazis, unlike the previous big moves in ideological social transformation, Hitler and the Top Brass of the Nazi Party emphasized more on the "equality" and "foreign threat" theory in nationalism in the war, trying to dilute the loyalty of the people to parties, groups, religions and even families, and create a "elimination of class contradictions and enthusiasm for war" Of Germany.
To this end, the Nazis proposed a completely new concept: "the unbreakable Aryan national community" (wehrhafte Volksgemeinschaft).
Nazi propaganda poster, the German soldier in the picture can be said to be very masculine
It has to be admitted that the concept of the "Aryan National Community" provided the core impetus for the integration and mobilization of German soldiers and civilians in World War II.
From a social psychological point of view, the birth of this idea can be traced back to the nationalism of old Germany before the First World War, which had an impact on German society even more than the anti-Semitism and racism advocated by the Nazis.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="19" > the idea of "Aryan national community" to bundle patriotism</h1>
Even young Germans who came into society in the 1920s with little knowledge of the First World War (most of them were born between 1900 and 1910) who knew little about the First World War were indoctrinated by their parents and society with the old German nationalist values and guided their thinking and actions during the Second World War.
Most of these nationalists were not supporters of Nazi ideology; instead, they would scoff at Nazi extremes, but they would cheer for the "diplomatic victory" of the Third Reich, and from marching into rhineland to German-Austrian annexation, Hitler's trampling of the Treaty of Versailles not only made Nationaler Sozialismus smile, but also inspired nationalists.
If the Germans who entered society in 1920 were not enthusiastic about the Nazis, and the young Germans who were doubly influenced by Nazism and nationalism were more enthusiastic about giving everything to improve their personal values in this national war, Hitler and Goebbels and others found that as long as they catered to the will of the people, whatever the Nazis did, they would be supported and forgiven.
Goebbels: "Water can carry a boat, or it can overturn a boat." ”
The Wehrmacht, which once held itself in high esteem, also had to make changes in this tide of public opinion. One of the most representative is the fusion of officers.
As "Aryan Community" propaganda and war intensified, the professional skills of officers were not worth mentioning in "support for the authority of the state, nation, and leaders."
For this reason, the professional character of the wehrmacht's military elite was fundamentally changed, the proportion of junker aristocratic descendants and Weimar officers declined rapidly, groups from the lower classes formed the new skeleton of the Third Reich officer corps, these young officers loyal to the Führer loyal to the Nazi Party, most of them did indeed hit the last bullet and would rather die, but as Karl Lorenz, commander of the Panzergrenadier Division of the "Großdeutsche", said in September 1944: "The quality of the newly added officers and men is uneven, Although they were enthusiastic and would not hesitate to carry out orders, they lacked basic tactical skills, which led to a high casualty rate in our unit. ”
By 1945, Germany's once-proud officer corps had become a professional class brainwashed by political thought.
In the early decades of the 20th century, human society was constantly hurt by rampant nationalism
Some historical sociologists in the United States therefore simply argue that in 1940, a report from Thuringia concluded that the deep-seated hostility of the German people to the Treaty of Versailles was serving Nazi propaganda. This shows that the proliferation of "national chauvinism" (as Americans call it) that emerged after the collapse of the German Empire in 1918 played a very important role in the rise of the Nazis. ”
However, it would be a mistake to assume that the Treaty of Versailles provoked the anger and vengeance of the German people because of its harshness.
In fact, compared to other peace treaties of the 19th and 20th centuries (especially the Treaty of Paris signed by Germany and France in 1871), the "suffering" caused by the Treaty of Versailles to the Germans can only be said to be debatable, and it is precisely the nationalist sentiment that prevailed after the end of the War that became uncontrollable with the rapid development of popular democracy after 1919.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="32" > Nazi propaganda</h1>
In addition, the Nazi propaganda cannot be ignored.
In 1939 Himmler and Goebbels stressed the need to "pay special attention to propaganda in public places, such as bars, public transport, squares and other places of entertainment, in order to edify the patriotic fervor of the people." "
The heads of propaganda work had to ensure uniformity of action, and after training in the "patriotic course", they began to use the legend of the "knife stabbed in the back" proposed by Ludendorff, a former quartermaster general of the German Empire in the 1920s and 30s, to link the "trick" of the negative elements in the country with the defeat of Germany in the First World War, emphasizing the importance of "one heart" public opinion for domestic stability and the victory of the war.
The fanaticism of "fighting the whole nation together" was ignited from the first days of the war and burned all over Germany, and Air Marshal Hermann Göring appealed to the Bosig factory in Rheinmetall berlin a few days after the invasion of Poland: "I appeal to you, every man, every woman, regardless of origin, and now we are all fighting on the front line!" It is not a certain person or a class that has been attacked, it is a war against the entire German people. ”
Propaganda posters depicting the front line closely related to the rear
In addition, the military has also played an important role in propaganda efforts.
In April 1939, the Wehrmacht reached an agreement with the Propaganda Department to establish a propaganda office controlled by the military, which would collect propaganda materials on the wartime front and send them back to the office for processing, and even arrange for some outstanding "heroes" from the front to return to China to publicize, these "heroes" were not "themselves", but actors invited by the Propaganda Department.
As in the photographs of many knights of the Iron Cross in the official newspapers of the Third Reich, they were not played by professional actors in military uniforms.
For example, the citizens of Berlin had seen Heinrich Schuler, who had participated in the battles of France in Kiev and the Caucasus, in January 1945, telling his legendary story to a group of children, but later sources showed that the winner of the Iron Cross of the Oak Leaf Was killed in Poland at the same time, and it is clear that the Schuler who appeared in Berlin at the same time was not himself, but an actor arranged by the Propaganda Department.
Major Heinrich Schuler, who died in Poland in early 1945, appeared in Berlin at the same time to tell the story of the fighting for the citizens
"People have seen a front-line officer telling his story in a movie theater queue, shopping in a department store, on a bus, in restaurants and bars, and even in an air raid shelter. Almost no one realizes that this is a deliberately orchestrated propaganda move. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="44" > the role of fear</h1>
At the same time as the Nazis were painstakingly propagating propaganda at home, many Germans who had lived through the First World War had vivid memories of the war, the Red Revolution, and inflation, and were therefore uninterested in the war.
This phenomenon was quite dissatisfied with the Nazi top brass, and in early October 1939, Ritter von Loeb reported to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Walter von Brauchitsch: "Some of the population was in a bad mood and had no enthusiasm, and everyone felt that war was unnecessary." ”
This phenomenon is not difficult to explain, in fact, before the invasion of Poland in 1939, too many veterans who participated in the First World War refused to return to serve in the Wehrmacht, and regarding the lack of enthusiasm of these people, the High Command of the Army (OKH) explained, "The war-weary attitude shown by veterans stems more from reason than from the enthusiasm of young people, and in addition, veterans have experienced lessons that, despite extraordinary efforts, they cannot avoid the humiliation of the country, which has dampened the enthusiasm to participate in the war. Even if they had taken to heart the obedience, sacrifice, and battle that the Prussian spirit emphasized, the means by which they could be more motivated to fight could only be "fear." ”
Out of fear that the homeland was in danger and convinced that "the legitimate international status of the Greater German Reich must be defended", the collective will to win at any cost formed the basis for the self-mobilization of German society.
In this process, the workers became soldiers, the soldiers became workers, fought for the country to the death, made their own contribution to the war, and so on, and a series of national "self-spiritual mobilization" did indeed transcend the boundaries of gender, religion, class and generation, and made the whole of German society committed to a "war preparation competition".
It is important to note that the Nazis did not exert extreme propaganda in the course of the 1939-1940 war, but merely "cleverly" exploited the prevailing German nationalism.
Another poster depicting "Military and Civilian Unity"
Similarly, in the last two years of the war, as the gap between the progress of the war described by the Nazi propaganda departments and what the people saw through their daily experiences became wider and wider, the propaganda department's mobilization of the officers and men at the front to "fight to the death" and the propaganda of the people in the rear also took advantage of their concern for the peril of the nation and the state: "The enemy's goal is to destroy our country. In this battle for survival, we either win or die. ”
Frisner, commander of Army Group South Ukraine, who was fighting on the Eastern Front, instilled this idea in his units in July 1944, stating: "The duty of every soldier is to passionately pour all his strength into fighting for his country." "
The Allies on the Western Front also believed that the Germans' strong will to fight stemmed from this "fear."
By 1944/45, although few people believed that Germany could still win the war, most people continued to fight for various reasons at the same time.
On the one hand, many hoped that their deathly battle would exhaust the Allies and sit at the negotiating table to fight for better living space for Germany; on the other hand, the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) mentioned that the Germans were convinced that unconditional surrender would mean not only the beginning of the total destruction of Germany, but also the beginning of their "annihilation as a nation".
It was out of the fear of "annihilation" that the Nazi diehards fought until the very end.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="58" > postscript</h1>
It is true that the Nazis used various means to lead the Germans to the bottomless abyss of the Second World War, but in the final analysis, it was the nationalist trend prevailing in German society that gave the Nazis the soil to breed, allowing Hitler and others to peddle the "Aryan National Community", "Eliminate Class Differentiation" and "Equality for All" and other heding reds that seemed to be able to lead the country to prosperity and rejuvenation, and to deceive the people who had lost their minds due to fanaticism to slide into the abyss of war.
And those dissidents, except for some lucky ones, were either tied to the chariot along with the trend, or they had already become nazi ghosts under the knife, and more than seven million Germans had lost their lives because of this becoming Nazi cannon fodder.