Germany Before Hitler
Modern Germany was created in 1871 under Otto von Bismarck, but it was built in a way that left democracy weak from the start. Germany had a parliament, yet real power remained with the Kaiser, the army, and the senior officials around them. The military enjoyed special prestige, and values like obedience, hierarchy, and discipline shaped public life far beyond the barracks.
Bismarck also helped create a habit of ruling by exclusion. Catholics, Socialists, and other groups were treated as dangers inside the nation rather than normal political opponents. These campaigns did not destroy their enemies, but they did divide society deeply and taught many Germans to think of politics as a struggle against internal foes.
At the same time, nationalism grew more aggressive. Minority groups such as Poles and Danes faced pressure to become more German, while antisemitism changed from older religious prejudice into a racial idea that claimed Jews were a separate and dangerous people. These beliefs were strengthened by writers, activists, and public figures who dressed hatred in the language of science and national survival.
By the years before 1914, radical nationalism had moved closer to the center of public life. Groups like the Pan-German League called for expansion, racial unity, and a stronger state. They attacked parliamentary debate as weakness and increasingly imagined politics as a struggle between races and nations in which only force would decide the outcome.
Full summary available in the Readsome app
