History

The Appeal of the Tyrant We National Socialists must hold unflinchingly to our aim of foreign policy," once explained a young Adolf Hitler, "to secure for the German people the land and soil to which they are entitled." No sooner had Europe picked up the pieces from the bloodbath that was the First World War than extremists swept to power across Europe in the wake of the Great Depression. After watching the excerpt from Triumph of the Will, for this week's First Take post to identify and discuss what you see as the major appeal of Hitler to the youths in the film. What do you think made anti-democratic leaders like Hitler appealing, not just in Germany but elsewhere? Main Prompt America's Homefront The basic events of World War II are likely no mystery, from the attack on Pearl Harbor that forced America into the war to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended it. The experience in America during WWII is something that tends to get far less attention. This week we read about many of the domestic effects of America's entrance into, and eventual victory, in World War II. For this week's Main post, pick and least two major changes some or all Americans experienced as a result of World War II. Discuss how the war brought about those changes and close with your own sense of how much the experience of World War II fundamentally changed America domestically, if at all.