Franklin Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler: Leaders Ways Case Study

Introduction

Franklin Roosevelt and Adolph Hitler, although represented opposed political parties, had more things in common than it seems. They came to power simultaneously in 1933 and faced challenges of governing the countries weakened by World War 1 and its consequences. Both Germany and the United States needed new effective leadership to solve many post-war problems related to unemployment, banking, finance, agriculture, and foreign policy. This paper aims to reveal the cause of the problems faced by the United States and Germany as identified by their leaders in inaugural speeches and the ways Roosevelt and Hitler were planning to solve these problems to return prosperity to their countries.

The Cause of the Problems in the United States and Germany According to Roosevelt and Hitler

Both Roosevelt and Hitler acknowledged the post-war problems of their nations. Roosevelt spoke about the shrunken values, increased taxes, the decrease of paying ability of the country, reduction of income, ruined industries, and the lack of markets for farmers. Roosevelt claimed that the major cause of these problems was in the fact that “the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed, through their stubbornness and their incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated” (“Franklin D. Roosevelt,” 1933, para. 4).

Thus, he considered thoughtless economic policies to be the reason for the problems, which the United States faced after World War 1. He also stated that “practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men” meaning that these policies were not supported by the population (“Franklin D. Roosevelt,” 1933, para. 4). Thus, his new policies were expected to be appealing to Americans.

At the same time, Hitler focused on other issues. He appealed to German people claiming that there was no fault of the country at the start of the war and that their only desire was “to defend the Fatherland” (“Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation,” 1933, para. 2). He spoke about the impoverished and starving industrial proletariat and problems of the middle class. Moreover, peasants were also under threat.

Hitler claimed that Communism was to be blamed for the current problems of the country. He stated that “communism with its method of madness is making a powerful and insidious attack upon our dismayed and shattered nation. It seeks to poison and disrupt to hurl us into an epoch of chaos…” (“Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation,” 1933, para. 4). He also mentioned that 14 years of Marxism devastated Germany, and “one year of bolshevism would destroy her” (“Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation, 1933, para. 4). Consequently, he introduced changes in the country’s policies.

Ways to Deal with Problems

Despite the huge volume of the existing problems, both new leaders suggested the ways to deal with them to provide restoration and development of their countries. For example, Roosevelt considered unemployment to be a serious problem for the United States and claimed that putting people to work was the greatest primary task. One of the ways to resolve the problem was “by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war” (“Franklin D. Roosevelt,” 1933, para. 10). This approach was expected to make the use of natural resources more effectively.

Also, the new American President spoke about the lack of population balance in industrial centers and rural areas. Thus, people could be stimulated to work on the land, which was expected to contribute to the solution of the unemployment problem.

Hitler also defined unemployment as one of the leading problems in Germany of that period. He stated that “a concerted and all-embracing attack must be made on unemployment so that the German working class may be saved from ruin” (“Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation,” 1933, para. 12). He expected to overcome the problem of unemployment within the following four years.

He introduced “compulsory labor-service and the back-to-the-land policy” as the major principles of the suggested program” (“Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation,” 1933, para. 20). Moreover, he claimed that the National Government would reorganize the business sector, as well as fiscal and administrative systems. Finally, Hitler promised “the promotion of employment, the preservation of the farmer, as well as in the exploitation of individual initiative” as the necessary steps of the Government to return the country to prosperity (“Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation,” 1933, para. 22).

Conclusion

On the whole, both countries had similar economic problems. Moreover, Roosevelt and Hitler suggested similar ways of solving these problems. For example, both acknowledged that unemployment was a serious threat to economic development and was going to find a solution to this issue. Thus, both of them saw the leading role of the government in dealing with unemployment. Moreover, both Hitler and Roosevelt suggested that attention to the development of farming could contribute to counties’ prosperity and increase employment rates. I suppose that their vision is to attract supporters among the population because people were tired of war, economic problems, and ineffective leaders.

References

Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation. (1933). Web.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: First inaugural address. (1933). Web.