Both Nazis and Communists (specifically under Stalin) sought to indoctrinate the people, to make them think in a way that aligned with the regimes. One way of doing this was through divide and rule tactics, setting people against each other to make it more difficult for them to unite and overthrow the government. As part of this strategy, scapegoats were created to take the rap for seemingly intractable problems.
In Nazi Germany, the Jews were blamed for everything, from the German defeat in World War One to the Great Depression. In the Soviet Union, so-called kulaks, or prosperous peasants, were blamed for the failures of collectivization. In the factories too, the regime was always on the hunt for so-called wreckers and saboteurs, who were used as convenient fall guys for problems with industrialization. No wonder that people became more suspicious in such a toxic environment of paranoia and delusion.
Contrary to popular belief, the actual number of government agents in both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union was relatively small. But that was mainly because the respective regimes could count on people turning in suspected traitors and settling scores with their neighbors. Nazism and Communism changed the way that people felt towards each other. These ideologies created a pervading air of distrust, encouraging citizens to see each other as a potential threat. Instead, they were to look towards the government to protect them.
Despite being ostensibly communitarian ideologies, Nazism and Communism fostered an attitude of everyone looking out for themselves. Real community spirit was a danger to these regimes, as there could be no civil society to speak of, no independent source of moral values and guidance. The propaganda message was always the same: there were enemies everywhere; you can only trust the government.
Whatever their personal feelings, individuals had to become hard-hearted to live in such societies. The majority of Germans showed utter indifference to the plight of the Jews, or indeed any of the other groups persecuted by the Nazis. And citizens of the Soviet Union literally looked the other way while corpses piled up in the street due to famines. Wracked by fear and desperate to survive, most people just put their heads down and tried to live their lives as best they could. One overriding change that Nazism and Communism inflicted was that for most people living under these regimes, morality became a luxury they could ill afford.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
How much did Nazi and Communist regimes succeed in changing the people over whom they ruled?
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