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Topic:

Germany, the Nazi Regime, and Racism

Essay Instructions:

*2000 word essay

What is race?
Understand what is meant by the statement that race is a social construct
Know what Stuart Hall meant by arguing that race is a floating signifier
Appreciate the significance of Du Bois pivotal work on the Philadelphia Negro

Race as colonialism speaking
Understand the arguments made by Mamdani (2020) and by Wolfe (2016) about the role of colonialism in the social constructions of race
Appreciate the critique by Hobson (2021) that most accounts of modernity and globalisation are Eurocentric
Recognise the complex ways in which colonialism developed through private enterprise as well as state action

Race and the Atlantic slave trade
Critically evaluate the ways in which the Atlantic slave trade was racialised
Understand the consequences of abolition.
Be aware of how racial science developed during the debate over the abolition of slavery and became dominant afterwards

Race, empire and science
Understand the ways in which colonialism engendered the development of racial formations
Be aware of the ways that 'racial knowledge' circulated through popular culture (McClintock 1995) and literature (Said 1978).
Consider the development of racial science and eugenics.

WW2 the “Great Race War”
Understand what Bauman (1989) called the Nazi paradox whereby the Nazis were very pro-modern in their methods but very anti-modern in their values
To appreciate the role of various academic disciplines and sciences in the Nazi project as well as their mystical and occult beliefs
Recognise the post-war problems facing the Allies who held many of the same beliefs about race and eugenics as the Nazis

Fanon and the post-war invention of anti-racism
Be aware of the attempts made by the Allies to rebuild a new order after WW2 by establishing the UN and making a declaration of Human Rights
Be mindful of the flaws in prosecuting the Nazis as criminals rather than looking at the racial politics behind their project
Recognise the distinctive contribution made by Frantz Fanon to the theory and practice of anti-colonialism

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Social Sciences
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Social sciences
Germany was considered one of the most racist countries in the world during World War I and World War II. Nazi Germany was previously known as the German Reich, which lasted for ten years from 1933 and was later changed to Greater German Reich, which lasted for two years from 1943. It was governed under a dictatorship when it was taken over by the Nazi party, spearheaded by their leader, Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany was believed to be the successors of the early Holy Roman Empire, which lasted from the eighth century to the early 1800s. The Germans saw themselves as the master race, a pure race that was superior to the other races, and this notion led Germany to declare the second World War.
Since the early 1930s, Nazi Germany made extreme territory requests that resulted in battles and war if the opposite party did not bow to their requests. When Germany conquered Austria, several good examples were they took Anschluss territory to be their own in 1938. In the span of that year, they acquired Sudetenland territory in Czechoslovakia when they demanded it. The following year, they made Slovak states Moravia and Bohemia, a protectorate of Germany in the Czech lands. In 1939, they attacked Poland after they signed the non-aggression pact that was agreed upon with the Soviet Union, which is the present Russia. After acquiring these territories with brutal force, they would utilize labor and raw materials to their selfish goals and ambitions.
Germany and its allies, the Axis powers, had significant control of Europe by 1941. This was when Germany and the Axis powers decided to launch World War II, which was successful when they first attacked the Soviet Union. Still, after the Soviet Union partnered with the United States to form the Allies, the resurgence fought against the Axis to end World War II in 1945. The Axis powers comprised Germany, Japan, and Italy. They previously went by Rome-Berlin Axis, and they were a military coalition formed to overthrow other governments of states that they deemed inferior. They battled against the Allies forces during World War II. The term Axis came to be when the initial members Italy and Germany, came together to have the rest of the European states revolve around their rule and territories. Benito Mussolini declared the decision. The initiative was followed by the agreement of the Anti-Comintern Pact, which joined Japan into the Axis power. Hungary and Spain would soon join the Axis after signing their respective acts to Nazi Germany.
According to Hobson (2021), one must know the historical association between Europe and modernity. He argued that most accounts of modernity and globalization are not Eurocentric. If one can conceive modernity as a singularity, not European origin, then modernity need not entail Eurocentrism. Eurocentric is centered especially on Europeans, which focuses on understanding the world in terms of European standards and experiences. The term Eurocentric when applied historically, can be used as a reference of an apologetic stance that is biased towards European colonialism (McClintock, 1995).
Modernity is often taken for granted that it emerged in Europe and spread across the world. The association between modernity and Eurocentric relates to crucial topics such as capitalism and market, religion and politics, and Democracy. There is economic inequality in our world today, and it is because of the historical processes that have been there. Colonialism has shaped inequality in the society we live in. Colonialism has affected the economic development of various communities and the affected societies that were colonized (Said, 1978).
Nazi Germany's brutality was due to their cruel racial profiling. In the early 1500s, the word race was used to identify a set of people that had a common group connection or kinship. In the 17th century, race was defined by enlightened European philosophers who based their meaning on rationality, secular reasoning, and scientific study, which was different from the 15th century based on religious understanding. Naturalists and philosophers changed the perspective of race and slavery and spread the new concept to other people in different parts of the world (Dirks, 1992). This new belief evolved and thrived in the 18th century when philosophers sensitized those natural laws that controlled the world and how people should live. They assisted in destroying the traditional belief that white people were superior and more intelligent than races that were not white, like the black race, which was oppressed for centuries.
However, the German population began questioning people of different races, classes, and ethnicity as a danger to their economic well-being and social status. Charles Darwin's cousin, Galton Francis, a mathematician, wanted to create a solution to the white population that believed the people of different races posed a danger to them. He adapted his cousin's concept of natural selection and thought that it could not work on human beings as it did on nature. The theory did not apply to humans because the fittest humans were not the ones that survived.
Galton created the word eugenics to better the concept of race to remove the ill perceiving of other races. In 1883, Galton defined eugenics as a science dedicated to developing and improving natural qualities. He saw the decline of genius as the reason for the misconception of race. Galton birthed eugenics, and his philosophies were continued and bettered by other intellectual philosophers that understood his concept and wanted to battle racial discrimination in terms of intelligence and hereditary.
In Germany, the regime and leadership during World War I and World War II was against the acceptance of other races as they saw their German race as superior to others. It was initiated by Adolf Hitler, a corporal in the German army, when he formed the National Socialist German Workers' Party, which, if translated to German, would result in the short form Nazi from the word 'Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei.' It was the cornerstone of the Nazi ideology of racial science, which believed that only one of German blood could be considered a citizen and given the right to run for office or vote (Rau, 2013). It also entitled them to receive good food, land, and job opportunities. The population that lacked German blood was denied these benefits and rights and was not considered citizens.
The government was in charge of all the industries, and land capitalists profited from their selfish interests (Kuck, 2013). It gave birth to communist parties that sorted to share the wealth fairly, but the Nazis blamed the communists, liberals, Jews, and pacifists for the economic crisis that hit Germany. Hitler's fame rose, and he de...
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