Fascism Assignment | Online Homework Help
Directions: Answer the following questions in an essay of 8 -10 double-spaced pages. Be sure your essay has a good introduction and conclusion, and that you support your general statements with specific examples from James, Europe Reborn, Power Point slides #s 82-136 and the film Night and Fog. Try to write carefully, though points will not be taken away for spelling, punctuation, etc. The essay does not not require notes or citations. Write the essay in the same style you would for an in-class exam. Do not copy-and-paste or repeat sections of your Paper Assignment in the Final Exam. Address both questions listed below:
1. Analyze and reflect historically on the following quote from the philosopher Hannah Arendt (the quote was used as an epigram for the course syllabus):
In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses… believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true…. Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready… to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow…. (U)nder such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior… cleverness. (Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism [1951].)
2. Describe and assess the historical context of the Final Solution and its connection to Fascism. Your analysis should describe events in Europe between 1939 and 1945, and take into consideration the goals and actions of the main actors, including Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union. How was the Final Solution related to the rise of Fascism and the events and chronology of the war? How did occupied Europe cooperate or not with the Final Solution? How did the war and the Final Solution come to an end? How did the filmmaker Alain Resnais make sense of Fascism and the Holocaust in Night and Fog?
Your essay should have abundant details drawn from course materials — James, Europe Reborn, the Power Point images and the film Night and Fog. Be sure your essay has a good introduction and conclusion, and that you support your general statements with specific examples from the course materials
