Nazi German and Fascist Italian Foreign Policy

In both Italy and Germany between the two world wars of the 20th century, ideology, reinforced by charisma, functioned as the bridge between political power and the deliberate pursuit of war as an instrument of policy. For both Hitler and Mussolini, there appears to have been a certain urgency in their zeal to articulate their views publicly and thereby construct a foundation and rationale for their claims to political leadership.

The case of Germany illustrates the nexus of opportunism, ideology, and political instability. Hitler's Mein Kampf, written partly in the wake of the abortive Munich beer hall putsch, put Nazi ideology decisively on the record and

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35 "peace" speech in which Hitler pledged to observe the Versailles Treaty even while secretly rearming and ordering the occupation of the Rhineland: "Hitler's 'peace' proposals always and always would [sound fine], for he was a master propagandist. Actually . . . they were pure fraud." Kershaw also refers to Nazi "secular redemptionism soaked in pseudo-religious imagery," employed in the service of "long-term 'cosmic' and 'utopian' goals, and through offering legitimation for action undertaken against ideological and racial 'enemies of the State.'" Once ideological and racial enemies are declared to exist, and once there is an acceptance of the notion of Germany's and the Fuhrer's unique earthly mission, it is but a short step toward transformation of national consciousness toward entitlement to conquest and a war footing. Broszat chronicles the waves of arrests in 1933 and 1934 and the initial establishment of the camps, as well as the continued and expanding role of concentration camps throughout Hitler's regime, and he relates this to the state-of-seige mentality prevailing in the Third Reich. "For even in internal affairs," writes Broszat, "war was the element most characteristic of the National Socialist leadership: it wa
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3236
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)

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