At its core, totalitarianism refers to the leadership where the government has complete control and power over its citizens, including their private life. Following World War 1, there was a lot of questioning by citizens on whether the government could improve their lives. As a result, totalitarian governments appeared particularly in Europe and Asia. Under Adolf Hitler, Germany was devastated by the consequences of World War 1, specifically the Treaty of Versailles.
Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, which imposed strict reparations on the country. Some of the impacts included reducing its military, giving up land and colonies, and paying reparations for World War 1. The reparations required a total sum of 33 billion dollars paid in annual installments of 2.5 billion gold marks (Roselli, 2014). The economy of Germany also forced Hitler to result in totalitarianism. Following the reparations and inflation, Germany’s economy was crumbling. When Hitler joined the Nazi party, he gained popularity from closely associated government officials and propaganda. Consequently, Hitler ended democracy and resulted in totalitarianism by outlawing communism and other political parties and going contrary to the Versailles Treaty by rebuilding the army and expanding Germany’s colonies.
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The Great Depression in the U.S. also significantly contributed to totalitarianism in Germany in that international trade became limited to protect foreign industries from competition. Consequently, their monetary and resource supplies became limited within the country, such that Germany was forced to get high-interest loans from the U.S. to buy American goods (James, 2017). Also, Germans were angered by the Versailles Treaty's punitive measures, and Hitler turned to totalitarianism to restore the country as a global economic power. There was also the belief that Germans were a superior race and therefore directed their problems to the Jews.
References
James, H. (2017). Banks and the Era of Totalitarianism: Banking in Nazi Germany. Enterprise in the Period of Fascism in Europe , 14.
Roselli, A. (2014). War Reparations and Hyperinflation in Germany. In Money and Trade Wars in Interwar Europe (pp. 3-21). Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137327000_1
