# Nazi Germany Paper Topic: Suggestions?



## Queen_Dopplepopolis (Jan 28, 2005)

I'm taking a course this semster of Nazi Germany - it explores the inspirations and practice of Naziism in Germany... it is not a class that focuses on WWII - it is mainly an exploration of the Nazi conscience...

I've got to write a fairly size-able paper on some aspect of Naziism and, though I am a History major, this course is pretty far off of my focus (pre-civil war America).

Just wondering if some of you WWII/Hitler buffs could suggest an interesting and exciting topic to write a paper on.

Much thanks to any that reply!


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## BiggusGeekus (Jan 28, 2005)

Possible topic: Stalingrad

Hitler's generals weren't thrilled with the idea of taking Stalingrad.  Hitler thought he could do it and managed to pull it off.  What he couldn't do was hold it.  The Germans and Russians threw literally millions of people into this meatgrinder of a military campaign and somewhere between one and two million people died.

Social history really isn't my bag, but you could easily examine Hitler's commitment to Stalingrad and examine the ego involved.  The movie "Enemy at the Gates" was based on Stalingrad, but it is from the Russian point of view (and there is some evidence that the main character was mythological so you probably don't want to do you paper on him).


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## Piratecat (Jan 28, 2005)

I'm interested in the psychological process of "groupmind" that turns people who are individually moral and ethical into groups of people who perpetrate horrendous atrocities. There's some fascinating insights about the human condition hidden in that subject, and plenty of material to work from.


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## nakia (Jan 28, 2005)

How about something on the Nazi's "myth-making"?  I saw something on the History Channel once about how the Nazi's tried to tie their social movement into Germanic/Norse myths and legends, further demonizing the Jews.  There was some popular movie that played with this idea as well, Raiders of something or other. . .  

Just an idea from a non-historian.  Hope it's helpful.  If you have to write a paper on philosophy, particularly John Dewey, I'm your guy.


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## Desdichado (Jan 28, 2005)

I doubt anyone would admit to being a Hitler buff...

I think an interesting topic would be Nazi science and military technology.  It's pretty spooky how close they came to developing The Bomb, for one thing.  I'd also agree with nakia; some of the stranger PR programs the Nazis went for based on pagan German mythology is interesting.  If I remember correctly, that's the brainchild of Himmler in particular.


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## Henry (Jan 28, 2005)

How about the origins of Naziism in 19th century Nationalism? Nationalism, not as we define the term in modern times, was Romantically more about the inherent superiority of a particular culture over all others, and culturally more about identification with the "nation-state." It directly contributed not only to World War I, but to the rise of Naziism afterward through its appeal to those same cultural "zeitgeists". It was nationalism that superceded the desire for a cosmopolitan culture the century prior.

Without the classical Nationalism, Naziism would not have been so encompassing as it did.



			
				Piratecat said:
			
		

> I'm interested in the psychological process of "groupmind" that turns people who are individually moral and ethical into groups of people who perpetrate horrendous atrocities




Nationalism "cranked up to Eleven" and fed through propaganda could indeed explain some of this. _"we're so much better than them that they're not even human."_

--and that's as far as I need to discuss it.


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## Henry (Jan 28, 2005)

nakia said:
			
		

> How about something on the Nazi's "myth-making"?  I saw something on the History Channel once about how the Nazi's tried to tie their social movement into Germanic/Norse myths and legends...




Research Himmler's SS if you want some wacked-out myth-making. 

I'm not a "Hitler Buff" but I'll watch the History Channel quite a bit. Nazi History is a fascinating subject.


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## Angcuru (Jan 28, 2005)

It seems to me that most of the things that have been mentioned revolve more around what occured under the Nazi regime than aspects of Naziism itself.


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## CarlZog (Jan 28, 2005)

Nazi economic policies and the economic turnaround the mid-1930s are often left behind in the search for why the German people fell under the spell of such a bizarrely evil regime.

Even Hitler knew, "It's the economy, stupid."

The Nazis were credited with bringing Germany out the worldwide depression to full employment. But how much their polices deserved that credit is up for debate, and much of the economy's strength seems to have been an unsustainable illusion fueled by the war machine.


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## fusangite (Jan 28, 2005)

Two possible ideas:

1. How public pressure succeeded in getting the handicapped exempted from the holocaust.
2. How the Nazis employed Norse paganism in public rituals.


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## Acquana (Jan 28, 2005)

Something mostly on-topic that probably won't be done by everyone else: maybe an examination on the scientific (technological, medical, whatev) that was taken by other countries after the war was over.  Cuz there was a lot.  A lot of the medical stuff being a moral conundrum: is it okay to use information taken from the Nazi concentration camps?  

Admittedly, I could come up with other ideas, but I'd have to talk to my friend who's a fan of researching the Nazi regime.


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## Enkhidu (Jan 28, 2005)

Queen_Dopplepopolis said:
			
		

> I'm taking a course this semster of Nazi Germany - it explores the inspirations and practice of Naziism in Germany... it is not a class that focuses on WWII - it is mainly an exploration of the Nazi conscience...
> 
> I've got to write a fairly size-able paper on some aspect of Naziism and, though I am a History major, this course is pretty far off of my focus (pre-civil war America).
> 
> ...




I'd focus on Nazi propoganda, and how Goebbels worked the proganda machine into overdrive. From what I can tell, Goebbels was the first to use mass media on thatlevel.


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## Torm (Jan 28, 2005)

A few aspects of the time leading up to WWII that I have found interesting, and might make good paper fodder:

1. Hitler in his youth. Probably we would have had someone else leading the same sort of Nazi regime - it was a widespread movement, after all - but it is interesting to look at what could have happened if Hitler hadn't had his cancer-struck mother treated (improperly, although the doctor had no way of knowing what the experimental treatments were really doing) by a Jewish doctor, or if he had been accepted to the Vienna School of Art and Architecture. How would other possible leaders of the Reich handled things differently? Would they have done as well as they did? Would they have won?

2. Luftwaffen. Germany had a pretty advanced (for the time) jet engine program. The details surrounding why that superiority never saw effective use in the war are pretty interesting stuff.

3. Nationalisms clashing. I may get flamed by someone for this, and I promise to any Jews reading this that I mean no disrespect (I have a great deal of respect for your beliefs and culture, and took two years of Hebrew at college in the pursuit of more knowledge of it), but it has always seemed to me that there is a paper or two in this: Before and especially after World War I, Germany and the areas of the former Holy Roman Empire saw relatively large numbers of Jews, who were either already wealthy or soon became so, moving into them.

Poor after the war, many Germans found themselves increasingly forced to pay Jewish doctors, lawyers, landlords, etc, for things they had to have. The Jewish belief system has, as you are probably aware, at its core the belief that they are G-d's chosen people - a very nationalist view, and indeed, Jews everywhere today are considered citizens of Israel, regardless of where they live. It had to be a little grating for the poor German worker who not only had to scrape to pay his landlord, but who also knew (or thought he did, or was being told in his church) that landlord regarded him and his family as unworthy of G-d's love, or some such. As people generally do of people they resent, the Germans began to demonize the Jews in their communities. They enhanced their own renewed sense of nationalism with the idea that they were a 'Master Race' - a "superior" people - and the notion that Jews were an especially inferior, unworthy race. I know there were a lot of other factors involved, but it has always seemed to be that this was an almost intentional, horrible irony - adding insult to injury, so to speak.

4. Gay Germany. The inconsistent treatment of homosexuals in Nazi Germany is pretty interesting, too. Many were rounded up and placed in camps, and forced to wear pink stars analogous to the yellow ones Jews were made to wear. And yet, one of Hitler's most commendated military units was one made up entirely of gays....

I don't know that I'd call myself a "Hitler Buff", either, but I have read a good bit about him and Germany leading up to WWII. Being of primarily German descent, I was pretty concerned with whether or not that meant I was automatically nuts for a little while, while I was in high school.


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## Torm (Jan 28, 2005)

Oh, one other thing - since you said the class isn't specifically about WWII era stuff, but about the Nazi conscience, maybe a _contemporary_ study would be in order? Naziism is unfortunately not dead. There are still problems with it in Germany, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, the U.S., and many other places. There are even IRC (internet relay chat, if you're unfamiliar) channels dedicated to chat for people who want to "restore the Reich" - you could even potentially safely interview a _present day_ Nazi there.


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## The Shaman (Jan 28, 2005)

Werewolves.

No, not shapeshifters. Werewolves were Germans who engaged in sabotage and terrorism against the occupation forces in Germany after the war was over.

More specifically, to what extent did Nazi ideology inspire the actions of the Werewolves? Were the Werewolves motivated by National Socialism, or just plain old national pride? Were Nazis in positions of among the leadership of the Werewolves, or was this a grass-roots phenomenon?

The subject has some interesting implications for current events in southwest Asia.


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## tarchon (Jan 29, 2005)

"Hitler: Powergamer or Munchkin?"


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## johnsemlak (Jan 29, 2005)

BiggusGeekus said:
			
		

> Possible topic: Stalingrad
> 
> Hitler thought he could do it and managed to pull it off.



Ahem.  I believe you'll find that he nearly took it, they never controlled the whole city.

It may seem like a minor point but where I live saying Stalingrad was 'taken' would be heretical.


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## johnsemlak (Jan 29, 2005)

Drang Nach Ostern: What drove Hitler to attack the USSR, was it based on a historical desire for Germany to attack it's eastern neighbors a la Barbarossa or was it more to do with modern geopolitics?

The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact--lot's of good stuff there.

You could also study how various nations that feel under Nazi Germany's influence aided the Nazis in their repressions.

A flip side would be to study the counter Nazi movements--people who resisted the Nazi ideology.


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## Darkness (Jan 29, 2005)

Post deleted. Don't start political arguments, please.

If you have questions or comments, e-mail me.


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## BiggusGeekus (Jan 29, 2005)

johnsemlak said:
			
		

> It may seem like a minor point but where I live saying Stalingrad was 'taken' would be heretical.





Gotcha.  I understand.


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## Jakar (Jan 29, 2005)

I was always interested in the Nuremburg Trials after the war, and the arguement that they were not responsible because they were only following orders.  It really went inot the whole "collectivised guilt" thing as well.


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## Turanil (Jan 29, 2005)

Well, it's a most tricky subject, but one interesting thing is how Nazism presented itself through heavy symbolism and mythology. The tricky part is all the alledged occult practices of Nazis, where it may only be possible that the Nazis just saw how easier it is to "enthrall the masses" with mythology and symbolism than logic and rational arguments (especially as they didn't have anything rationale to say).

I would suggest this URL:  Hitler and the Occult just to begin search (not as sole source for the paper!).

Well, I found it an interesting read, as I search some material to help me design some nazi occultists in my next d20 CoC campaign. However, it should be noted that the subject of nazis and the occult is based on more legends than facts, so it may be difficult to write a paper that would be very accurate. On the other hand, if you play Cthulhu or similar games, you could find later a RPG use for this.


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## FreeTheSlaves (Jan 30, 2005)

Ummm... I didn't really read all the posts above  

An interesting angle to look at Nazism was their use of runes, insignia and symbolism.

I know Himmler was the leader in this department and he borrowed heavily from various european cultures. It dots the entire movement from featuring in Goebels propaganda to markings of the various 'named' divisions.

I understand that much of it was gobbledegook but there was a bit of rhyme to reason and above all it had to be stiking to the eye.


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## the Jester (Jan 30, 2005)

One interesting topic would be the moral code behind Nazi eugenics.  After all, they were interested in "improving" the species, right?  That's arguably a laudable, moral goal.


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## alsih2o (Jan 31, 2005)

A look at those that "got away" and the facts and wild rumors and speculation that followed might be an interesting insight into what happened.


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## SpringPlum (Jan 31, 2005)

If you can focus on a more contemporary topic, then you could research the deniers--those who maintain that the Holocaust is just a hoax.  A good focal point would be John Sack's _Inside the Bunker_.

Inside the Bunker by John Sack

Also many countries have laws that prohibit people from disputing that any aspect of the Holocaust happened.  Would make for an interesting paper.


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## Storminator (Feb 1, 2005)

Life insurance.

Think about it.

Why were all the death camps in Poland?

PS


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## der_kluge (Feb 1, 2005)

Turanil beat me to it.  A paper on Naziism and the occult would be interesting.


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## AGGEMAM (Feb 1, 2005)

Since you have American History as a major, you could tie links between jewish genocide (the holocaust) and the native american genocide.

Especially the way that public opinion was built up to condone such attrocity in either country.


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## Queen_Dopplepopolis (Feb 1, 2005)

The Occult/Nazi topic is a VERY popular topic in class.  One too many History Channel shows on it... hoping for something a little less "done."

A link between the Native Americans and Jews, while interesting, doesn't tie quite close enough to Nazism and the Nazi conscience... but, a cool idea for a future class.


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## Evilhalfling (Feb 3, 2005)

DO NOT : compare the people who worked (and died) in the World Trade Center to Nazi's who ran the death trains.  You will be in a world of hurt.  

The radio called the nazi (echimiller?)  notorious, but from what I remember he was notorious for running away and being caught in Argentina.  

Yes I atttend CU, but not in Boulder.


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## d20Dwarf (Feb 4, 2005)

The most interesting paper I wrote in my class on Nazi Germany was about the White Rose, which is as beautiful a story as any to come from that time period. That class changed me in a lot of ways, and a part of that was my study of the White Rose. Check it out if you get a chance, and write your paper on it if it catches your fancy. (Yes, I'm being purposefully enigmatic. )

Also, don't do all this "compare Nazis to X" stuff, you can get enough of that on the internet...talk about being "done!"  It's a very unique time, and there's enough fodder there to explore for a lifetime without going outside Germany.


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## tarchon (Feb 4, 2005)

The role of ideology in the reification of nation and ethnicity.


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## reveal (Feb 4, 2005)

I would suggest doing a paper that really delves in to how Hitler even had the ability to come to power. The Treaty of Versailles, which effectively ended World War 1 and was signed by every member of the Allies except for the US (Woodrow Wilson understood how destructive it would be to Germany), essentially sent Germany spiralling into economic chaos for years.

3 years later, Hitler would try to completely take over the German political system (the Beer Hall Pusch) and fail. He would go to prison where he wrote his manifesto Mein Kampf. Once he got out, he would use his new found fame to whip a disenchanted and broken German public in to a nationalistic, and extremely jingoistic, fervor.

So the question remains: Would Hitler have been able to come in to power if it were not for the Treaty of Versailles? Would the people have accepted him so readily? 

It's an interesting topic to me because it exemplifies how the non-forward thinking of a few people can have such harsh consequences on future generations.

"But, Sir George, if you sign this, it will mean turmoil for Germany for decades."
"I don't care! I want my revenge now!"


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## johnsemlak (Feb 5, 2005)

Hey, Max Schmeling just died.  He was a Boxer who fought Joe Louis twice during the Nazi era, winning once and loosing (badly) once.  

A good essay would be on the Nazi's (ultimately failed) attempt to use Schmelingas a propaganda tool, and Schmeling's own resistance to the Nazi ideology.  Schmeling was anything but a Nazi; he hid Jews from persecution and remained friends with Joe Louis until his death.

Read more here
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/boxing/comment/0,10145,1406526,00.html

There's more info in this NYTimes article, but you'll need registration to read it probably:
http://nytimes.com/2005/02/05/sports/othersports/05schmeling.html?pagewanted=all&position=


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## Kelleris (Feb 5, 2005)

In a recent historiography class I wrote a short review of the _Historikerstreit_ - the feud of German historians in the 80s.  The crux of the problem was how much political ideology in Germany had actually changed.  It's a pretty interesting debate because it covers a great deal of territory in the area and has the underlying theme of "how much survived."

As far as an "exploration of the Nazi conscious"*, one of the major bones of contention in the _Historikerstreit_ was whether or not the Nazis were a break with the German past (you know, "Goethe and genocide, Beethoven and gas chambers, Kant and jackboots").  I'll go ahead and attach the paper if you're curious.


* - Because "the Nazi conscience" would be an ethical paper.


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## reanjr (Feb 5, 2005)

Queen_Dopplepopolis said:
			
		

> I'm taking a course this semster of Nazi Germany - it explores the inspirations and practice of Naziism in Germany... it is not a class that focuses on WWII - it is mainly an exploration of the Nazi conscience...
> 
> I've got to write a fairly size-able paper on some aspect of Naziism and, though I am a History major, this course is pretty far off of my focus (pre-civil war America).
> 
> ...




How about the influence of Germanic Mythology upon the Nazis, especially the SS.  Theosophist influence might be another decent one, though you'd have to sift through a lot of New Age alien abduction stories to get any real info.


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## reanjr (Feb 5, 2005)

nakia said:
			
		

> How about something on the Nazi's "myth-making"?  I saw something on the History Channel once about how the Nazi's tried to tie their social movement into Germanic/Norse myths and legends, further demonizing the Jews.  There was some popular movie that played with this idea as well, Raiders of something or other. . .
> 
> Just an idea from a non-historian.  Hope it's helpful.  If you have to write a paper on philosophy, particularly John Dewey, I'm your guy.




I don't recall the Germanic Myth affecting the view on Jews.  I'm pretty sure that came from Theosophy which stated that the lost people of Atlantis eventually migrated throughout the world.  The Hindu Aryans were the closest to pure Atlantean left, while the Jews were the newest, most debased race.  The Nazis took Theosophy and its ideas of vril (a divine substance that could make men gods) and aryan race and mixed it with Germanic myth, changing it so that the Germans (actually the Nordic ancestors) were the aryans.


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## reanjr (Feb 5, 2005)

Joshua Dyal said:
			
		

> I doubt anyone would admit to being a Hitler buff...
> 
> I think an interesting topic would be Nazi science and military technology.  It's pretty spooky how close they came to developing The Bomb, for one thing.  I'd also agree with nakia; some of the stranger PR programs the Nazis went for based on pagan German mythology is interesting.  If I remember correctly, that's the brainchild of Himmler in particular.




I watch the Hitler... I mean HISTORY channel all the time.  I've even seen Triumph of the Will (WWII era nazi propaganda film shown in German theatres throughout the war).  I'd say I've gotta at least be kind of a Hitler buff.  I'll admit it.


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## reanjr (Feb 5, 2005)

Acquana said:
			
		

> Something mostly on-topic that probably won't be done by everyone else: maybe an examination on the scientific (technological, medical, whatev) that was taken by other countries after the war was over.  Cuz there was a lot.  A lot of the medical stuff being a moral conundrum: is it okay to use information taken from the Nazi concentration camps?
> 
> Admittedly, I could come up with other ideas, but I'd have to talk to my friend who's a fan of researching the Nazi regime.




Offtopic:
On that same line of thinking, Operation Paperclip, which was America's program to bring the Nazi doctors who performed all the "questionable" research over to America to work for the government, rather than try them for crimes against humanity.


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## reanjr (Feb 5, 2005)

the Jester said:
			
		

> One interesting topic would be the moral code behind Nazi eugenics.  After all, they were interested in "improving" the species, right?  That's arguably a laudable, moral goal.




At the time before WWII ended, eugenics was simply accepted by the world wide scientific community as necessary for mankind's well-being.  US presidents supported it.  Many nobel laureates were for it.  Most educated people inclined to think about agreed that eugenics was a good idea.

Then we found the concentration camps and eugenics became bad PR.


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## Queen_Dopplepopolis (Feb 5, 2005)

reanjr said:
			
		

> At the time before WWII ended, eugenics was simply accepted by the world wide scientific community as necessary for mankind's well-being.  US presidents supported it.  Many nobel laureates were for it.  Most educated people inclined to think about agreed that eugenics was a good idea.
> 
> Then we found the concentration camps and eugenics became bad PR.



 There was a time with eugenics was simply a term for "breeding well" - the smart, attractive, and healthy marrying/breeding with the smart, attractive, and healthy.

However, I am really interested in "Operation Paperclip" ... cool idea reanjr!  Thanks for all your input!


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## Queen_Dopplepopolis (Apr 7, 2005)

*raises this thread from the dead*

I have decided to write my paper for this class on nazi medicine - focusing on the willingness (or lack thereof) of non-German doctors to use findings discovered by the Nazis... don't have a thesis, yet.  Just a question.

I'm, by no means, asking anyone to do my research for me (in fact, I love researching), just wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a couple good books or articles on the subject.


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## Torm (Apr 7, 2005)

When Medicine Went Mad by Arthur Caplan

The Nazi War On Cancer by Robert Proctor

I hope those help.


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## Torm (Apr 7, 2005)

This may be useful, too - both for itself, and for the list of references in the notes at the bottom.


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## Orblivia (Apr 7, 2005)

double post


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## Orblivia (Apr 7, 2005)

Queen_Dopplepopolis said:
			
		

> I'm taking a course this semster of Nazi Germany - it explores the inspirations and practice of Naziism in Germany... it is not a class that focuses on WWII - it is mainly an exploration of the Nazi conscience...
> 
> I've got to write a fairly size-able paper on some aspect of Naziism and, though I am a History major, this course is pretty far off of my focus (pre-civil war America).
> 
> ...




I would consider how economics played a large role in the rise of the Nazi Party. You then open yourself up to going back to 1890 up to the early 1930s. Lots to work with. Feel free to email me (I am a history teacher and MA on 20th century history)  creiddylad@gmail.com

I would be happy to help


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## Torm (Apr 7, 2005)

Orblivia said:
			
		

> (I am a history teacher and MA on 20th century history)



*F* - double post, plus did not read instructions properly, did not read all provided materials.


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## BOZ (Apr 7, 2005)

there's plenty of science, medical and otherwise, that the nazis developed with unscrupulous methods (or sometime legitimately) that the rest of the world later benefitted from.  computers for one thing, as i understand.


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