Kershaw/Hitler Myth

Abstract: A 5 page essay that reviews and discusses Ian Kershaw's 1987 text The Hitler Myth. Kershaw addresses the cultural and contextual circumstances that sustained the popularity of Hitler and the Nazi Party. The principle thesis of Kershaw's study is that it was not Hitler's personality, per se, or his radical Nazi ideology that were the principle factors in the popularity equation, but rather that the source of Hitler's power lay in the social and political values that were already existent at the time. By constructing the "Hitler myth," Nazi propagandists created the "Fuhrer cult" in order to achieve their political objectives and capitalized on the biases, prejudices and beliefs that were prevalent at that time. In so doing, they created a cultural phenomenon that managed to achieve national unity, where previously there had been only political, economic and social division. No additional sources cited.

Filename: khkerhit.rtf

Pages: 5

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Catagory:

Subcatagory: European History

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