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It should also be noted, that there isn't a binary between "not a Nazi" and "would enthusiastically murder innocent people". The Nazi party absolutely included "moderates" who, while having genuine anti-Semitic sentiments and other bigoted views, [[EvenEvilHasStandards were genuinely repulsed by the worst atrocities of the Nazis]]. That is not to excuse their evil and their participation in a criminal regime, but human morality is complex and rarely BlackAndWhite. For instance, [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica before]] and during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar there were many people who [[FairForItsDay genuinely believed]] Black slaves deserved to be free (and for altruistic reasons, not [[PragmaticVillainy economical or political ones]]), but most of them still held opinions that we would consider extremely racist today, or at least very condescending.
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It should also be noted, that there isn't a binary between "not a Nazi" and "would enthusiastically murder innocent people". The Nazi party absolutely included "moderates" who, while having genuine anti-Semitic sentiments and other bigoted views, [[EvenEvilHasStandards were genuinely repulsed by the worst atrocities of the Nazis]]. That is not to excuse their evil and their participation in a criminal regime, but human morality is complex and rarely BlackAndWhite.[[BlackAndWhiteMorality Black and White]]. For instance, [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica before]] and during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar there were many people who [[FairForItsDay genuinely believed]] Black slaves deserved to be free (and for altruistic reasons, not [[PragmaticVillainy economical or political ones]]), but most of them still held opinions that we would consider extremely racist today, or at least very condescending.
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There is also the fact that the 30s and 40s were the first decades of mass-media. An era of sound newsreels, widespread radio broadcasts and information, and the decades of sound cinema. This corresponded with the 12 years of the mercifully-cut-short 1000 year reich. Related to this is that the Nazis were highly media-savvy and they quickly embraced the emerging mass media spectacles. The general public of the Western world exposed to newsreels were highly familiar with images from Nazi {{Book Burning}}s, rallies, the Berlin Olympics. Even before UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Hitler and the Nazis were highly visible figures. As such, the Nazis both before and after the war disseminated the most widely seen visual images of German culture for the movie-going audience. More refined members of the public knew of German philosophy and high culture, they may also have been familiar with the Weimar avant-garde of the 20s (many of whose key representatives became exiles who worked in America), but these were far less widely seen and experienced than the images of Nazi Germany. World War II merely magnified that and set in stone. The rise of sound cinema also played a key role in the development of English and especially American English as the global language; that, coupled with the hegemony of Hollywood, further aided in solidifying this trope in the common perception of what Germany was and is.
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There is also the fact that the 30s and 40s were the first decades of mass-media. An era of sound newsreels, widespread radio broadcasts and information, and the decades of sound cinema. This corresponded with the 12 years of the mercifully-cut-short 1000 year reich. Related to this is that the Nazis were highly media-savvy and they quickly embraced the emerging mass media spectacles. The general public of the Western world exposed to newsreels were highly familiar with images from Nazi {{Book Burning}}s, rallies, the Berlin Olympics. This also worked within Germany itself, portraying the Nazi party as being so powerful virtually all Germans supported it, to demoralize the opposition into silence and inaction. Even before UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Hitler and the Nazis were highly visible figures. As such, the Nazis both before and after the war disseminated the most widely seen visual images of German culture for the movie-going audience. More refined members of the public knew of German philosophy and high culture, they may also have been familiar with the Weimar avant-garde of the 20s (many of whose key representatives became exiles who worked in America), but these were far less widely seen and experienced than the images of Nazi Germany. World War II merely magnified that and set in stone. The rise of sound cinema also played a key role in the development of English and especially American English as the global language; that, coupled with the hegemony of Hollywood, further aided in solidifying this trope in the common perception of what Germany was and is. It didn't help that the Nazis were, well, ''[[ShapedLikeItself Nazis]]'' and weren't keen on the whole "freedom of speech" thing. If a German spoke out against Hitler or the party, he or she could get in serious trouble. You couldn't walk into Hitler's office and pound on his desk and say "cancel the Holocaust" right now. [[note]]For that matter, trying this trick even in a democratic society like the USA is an excellent way of getting shot for trespassing into the White House[[/note]]. Silencing the opposition this way is a classic trick in totalitarian states to project the image (both abroad and internally) that the leader/party is uncontested in power and everyone is on their side.
It's important to know Hitler wasn't actually ''voted'' in power, at least not in the way most democracies work. He became chancellor when the (arguably senile) President Hindeburg appointed him to the job in 1932. The Nazi party never achieved more than 44% of the seats in the ''Reichstag'' even after ''insane'' amounts of voter intimidation and other undemocratic tricks. An alarming number to be sure, but not enough to have total power, and certainly not enough to amend the Weimar constitution. What sealed the deal was the Nazis making deals with other parties who saw the Nazis as the lesser evil [[RedScare against]] the [[DirtyCommunists communists]]. The Reichstag fire in 1933 was blamed on the communists and the Reichstag (the assembly, not the building) voted to ban the communist party, removing opposition to the Nazis. While it was definitely a case of arson, it's still not clear if the Nazis pulled a FalseFlagOperation and blamed it on the communists, or if it was caused [[NotMeThisTime by another group]] and the Nazis [[LetNoCrisisGoToWaste used the opportunity]] [[note]]For what it's worth, 4 of the 5 guys that were charged with arson were acquitted, the other was executed, but posthumaly pardoned in 2008[[/note]]. In 1934, shortly before Hindenburg died, the Nazis and their coalition partners made sure that the office of President would be merged with the Chancellorship, making Hitler ''Fuhrer'' and making it impossible to remove it from office short of his death. That was basically it for democracy, and it effectively sealed the fate of Germany until 1945. It needs to be kept in mind, again, that we have the benefit of hindsight, but at the time Hitler was careful to hide his megalomania and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity project a good image]]. His rhetoric, although disgusting to us today, [[ValuesDissonance would not necessarily have been]] ''that'' far-fetched to audiences of the time, even in other western countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Canada, who had fascist and semi-fascist groups of their own. There was not anything special about the German people that made them more prone to falling to fascism, and under different circumstances the same could have happened in countries that would become the Allies in [=WW2=]. In fact Germany under the Weimar Republic was surprisingly diverse politically.
It should also be noted, that there isn't a binary between "not a Nazi" and "would enthusiastically murder innocent people". The Nazi party absolutely included "moderates" who, while having genuine anti-Semitic sentiments and other bigoted views, [[EvenEvilHasStandards were genuinely repulsed by the worst atrocities of the Nazis]]. That is not to excuse their evil and their participation in a criminal regime, but human morality is complex and rarely BlackAndWhite. For instance, [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica before]] and during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar there were many people who [[FairForItsDay genuinely believed]] Black slaves deserved to be free (and for altruistic reasons, not [[PragmaticVillainy economical or political ones]]), but most of them still held opinions that we would consider extremely racist today, or at least very condescending.
It's important to know Hitler wasn't actually ''voted'' in power, at least not in the way most democracies work. He became chancellor when the (arguably senile) President Hindeburg appointed him to the job in 1932. The Nazi party never achieved more than 44% of the seats in the ''Reichstag'' even after ''insane'' amounts of voter intimidation and other undemocratic tricks. An alarming number to be sure, but not enough to have total power, and certainly not enough to amend the Weimar constitution. What sealed the deal was the Nazis making deals with other parties who saw the Nazis as the lesser evil [[RedScare against]] the [[DirtyCommunists communists]]. The Reichstag fire in 1933 was blamed on the communists and the Reichstag (the assembly, not the building) voted to ban the communist party, removing opposition to the Nazis. While it was definitely a case of arson, it's still not clear if the Nazis pulled a FalseFlagOperation and blamed it on the communists, or if it was caused [[NotMeThisTime by another group]] and the Nazis [[LetNoCrisisGoToWaste used the opportunity]] [[note]]For what it's worth, 4 of the 5 guys that were charged with arson were acquitted, the other was executed, but posthumaly pardoned in 2008[[/note]]. In 1934, shortly before Hindenburg died, the Nazis and their coalition partners made sure that the office of President would be merged with the Chancellorship, making Hitler ''Fuhrer'' and making it impossible to remove it from office short of his death. That was basically it for democracy, and it effectively sealed the fate of Germany until 1945. It needs to be kept in mind, again, that we have the benefit of hindsight, but at the time Hitler was careful to hide his megalomania and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity project a good image]]. His rhetoric, although disgusting to us today, [[ValuesDissonance would not necessarily have been]] ''that'' far-fetched to audiences of the time, even in other western countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Canada, who had fascist and semi-fascist groups of their own. There was not anything special about the German people that made them more prone to falling to fascism, and under different circumstances the same could have happened in countries that would become the Allies in [=WW2=]. In fact Germany under the Weimar Republic was surprisingly diverse politically.
It should also be noted, that there isn't a binary between "not a Nazi" and "would enthusiastically murder innocent people". The Nazi party absolutely included "moderates" who, while having genuine anti-Semitic sentiments and other bigoted views, [[EvenEvilHasStandards were genuinely repulsed by the worst atrocities of the Nazis]]. That is not to excuse their evil and their participation in a criminal regime, but human morality is complex and rarely BlackAndWhite. For instance, [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica before]] and during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar there were many people who [[FairForItsDay genuinely believed]] Black slaves deserved to be free (and for altruistic reasons, not [[PragmaticVillainy economical or political ones]]), but most of them still held opinions that we would consider extremely racist today, or at least very condescending.
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This may have to do with the Nazis being so much more infamous than any other Fascists — mainly because of all the countries they invaded (Spain was neutral in [=WWII=], and Italy ''tried'' a bunch of invasions, but [[Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers wasn't very good at it]]) and, of course, being responsible for UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust — Israel, Poland, Romania, Russia, and other such countries have ''[[FinalSolution very]]'' [[FinalSolution good reason]] to not let Germany live down its actions in [=WWII=]. This may also have to do with the fact that Germany was the main threat in [=WWII=], despite not killing a whole lot more people than Japan. Or perhaps because, unlike other Axis nations, where only the leadership were tried for war crimes following the war, the official policy of the Allies was to assign [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denazification#Responsibility_and_collective_guilt collective guilt]] to the German people for [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust Nazi atrocities]]. This has, incidentally, worked ''very'' well, and the German educational system is seen as an excellent example of how to get a country to recognize and come to terms with the nastier parts of its history (it is compulsory for all Germans to learn about [=WWII=] and the Holocaust), something Japan has been pretty bad at. Accordingly, this Trope is generally a BerserkButton for modern Germans.
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This may have to do with the Nazis being so much more infamous than any other Fascists — mainly because of all the countries they invaded (Spain was neutral in [=WWII=], and Italy ''tried'' a bunch of invasions, but [[Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers wasn't very good at it]]) and, of course, being responsible for UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust — Israel, Poland, Romania, Russia, and other such countries have ''[[FinalSolution very]]'' [[FinalSolution good reason]] to not let Germany live down its actions in [=WWII=]. This may also have to do with the fact that Germany was the main threat in [=WWII=], despite not killing a whole lot more people than Japan. Or perhaps because, unlike other Axis nations, where only the leadership were tried for war crimes following the war, the official policy of the Allies was to assign [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denazification#Responsibility_and_collective_guilt collective guilt]] to the German people for [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust Nazi atrocities]]. This has, incidentally, worked ''very'' well, and the German educational system is seen as an excellent example of how to get a country to recognize and come to terms with the nastier parts of its history (it is compulsory for all Germans to learn about [=WWII=] and the Holocaust), something Japan has and Italy have been pretty bad at. Accordingly, this Trope is generally a BerserkButton for modern Germans.
