German nationalism that began to

develop before World War II was a major

motivation behind many individuals who
joined the Nazi Party. Adolf Hitler, the
leader of the Nazi Party, used his
profound oratory skills to manipulate the
German people into following his
regimes propaganda. The people were
looking for something to improve the
economic situation caused by the
depression. The Nazi Party had a great
propensity to purvey mythical
nationalist beliefs; in 1933, they began
deliberately blaming the Jewish
population for the economic disparity in
Germany (van Evera, pg. 8). The fact
that the Jewish population was targeted
as scapegoats would now be seen as
blatant prohibited discrimination;
however, the Nazis persuasively
qualified their argument. The Nazis told
people to blame the Jews because many
Jewish citizens were still wealthy while
everyone else was monetarily suffering,

using economic inequalities to agitate

relations between groups. This began to
fuel the anti-semitism that the Nazi
Party endorsed. Another reason to
blame the Jewish, as advertised by the
Nazi party, was their collective refusal to
fight in World War I, argued to have
caused ergonomic depression in
Germany. In a state of ubiquitous
anxiety, the once disjointed Germans
unified under a government that
provided comfort and security, a new
state that would take control and help
Germany become a rising hegemonic
power. This newfound nationalism was
built around a common enemy: the
Jewish people. The people were blinded
by these newly instilled nationalist
beliefs, coerced by their superiors to
believe that the Nazi way was the right
way. The government was telling the
people to represent and preserve
national interest first and foremost.
Simultaneously, the people were told

that the Jewish citizens were threatening

this national security. Some
perpetrators knew exactly what evil they
were doing during the Holocaust; on the
other hand, other individuals were just
nationalistic pawns of the Nazi Party
that were so programmed to operate for
the state and its interests. The binary
dichotomy of victim and perpetrator is
problematic because these traditional,
distint roles assume that one cannot
overlap the other. The Holocaust
happened in large part because an overpowering government took advantage of
a weak people who just wanted to be
provided with directon during a time of
disparity. The people followed their
government whole-heartedly because
their faith in their previous government,
the government where they had lost
their possessions and valuables, had
been compromised.

Economic growth was a strong

motivation to join the Nazi Party. The
decision to identify with a political party
is based on their ability to define and
provide for the publics needs and if the
positive incentives outweigh the costs
(Anheier, 2000). Due to the widespread
suffering caused by the Great
Depression, the political and
socioeconomic climate of Germany was
ripe for a new government to take
direction and rebuild its states power.
The people were looking for someone to
blame, a way to recover and a way to
forge ahead from the economic crisis at
hand. Throughout history, states have
pursued either moral imperialism or
economic science as means to move
forward and gain political and economic
power (Sytsma, 2002). Regardless of the
campaign chosen, a sacrifice needs to be
made: the observance of strict moral
imperialism is often superficial because
humans are by nature conscious of their

position or rank in relation to others; on

the other hand, economic science is
usually motivated by erroneous or
purely disordered desires that reduce
the significance of moral decisions and
protecting humanity. The promise of new
wealth by the Nazi Party was responding
to the peoples demands. They wanted
to expand their power across other
territories, eventually looking to achieve
world domination. Many but not all
individuals were blinded by the
economic incentive to affiliate
themselves with a rising power.