Political inaction and governance failures Notes

Why does inaction matter?

1. When governments fail to respond to danger, discrimination, or rising extremism, problems grow until they become crises.
2. Inaction allows harmful ideas, violent groups, or discriminatory policies to spread unchecked.

How Does Inaction Destabilise Governments?

1. Governance failures and genocide

1. Genocide does not happen suddenly. It grows from:
   1. long-term prejudice
   2. weak or passive institutions
   3. leaders who allow or encourage hate
   4. a population that is silent, fearful, or complicit
2. When governments do not protect vulnerable groups or challenge extremist ideologies, violence becomes possible and then normalised.

2. Factors that led to the Holocaust

1. The Holocaust (1933–45) was the murder of six million Jewish people and millions of others by Nazi Germany.
2. It emerged from a combination of state inaction, extremist ideology, and widespread societal failures.
3. Key factors include:
   1. Deep-rooted antisemitism in Europe
   2. Weakness of the Weimar Republic, allowing extremist parties to rise
   3. Economic crisis (Great Depression) creating anger and scapegoating
   4. Political inaction by democratic leaders who underestimated Hitler
   5. Failure of other nations to challenge Nazi policies early on
   6. Normalization of discriminatory laws that gradually isolated Jews

3. The role of Hitler

1. Hitler was central in shaping Nazi ideology, goals, and methods:
   1. He promoted an extreme, racial worldview dividing people into “superior” and “inferior.”
   2. He pushed for the removal, segregation, and eventual extermination of Jews.
   3. He encouraged aggression, obedience, and violence within the Nazi Party.
   4. His personal beliefs shaped policies like the Nuremberg Laws and the Final Solution.

4. The role of the Nazi state

1. The Nazi government turned discrimination into official policy, then into systematic genocide.
2. How the state enabled it:
   1. Passed discriminatory laws excluding Jews from schools, jobs, public life.
   2. Created powerful institutions: SS, Gestapo, concentration camp system.
   3. Used propaganda to spread hate and portray Jews as a threat.
   4. Normalised violence (Kristallnacht, 1938).
   5. Coordinated deportations and mass murder across Europe.

5. The role of ordinary people

1. Genocide requires widespread participation or cooperation.
2. Ordinary people played roles as:
   1. bystanders who stayed silent
   2. bureaucrats who processed documents
   3. soldiers and police who obeyed orders
   4. neighbours who reported or excluded Jews
   5. workers who ran trains, factories, and offices
   6. beneficiaries who took over Jewish homes, shops, and possessions

6. The role of World War II

1. WWII created conditions that made genocide easier and faster:
   1. War gave the Nazis cover to hide mass murder.
   2. Military occupation provided control over millions of Jews in Eastern Europe.
   3. Chaos and lawlessness weakened resistance.
   4. Wartime propaganda intensified hatred and dehumanisation.
   5. The war economy created pressure to use forced labour and slave labour.

7. How political inaction destabilised governments and enabled genocide

1. In Weimar Germany, ignoring extremist movements helped the Nazis rise.
2. In Europe, failing to confront early aggression (e.g., remilitarising the Rhineland) strengthened Hitler.
3. International inaction: limited refugee policies, weak League of Nations responses, left Jews with few places to go.
4. Once genocide began, many governments hesitated to act or speak openly.

Summary: How Inaction Destabilises Governments and Enables Atrocities

1. Political inaction allows extremist groups to grow unchecked.
2. When leaders fail to protect minorities or challenge discrimination, hate becomes normalised.
3. The Holocaust developed gradually because institutions: courts, police, bureaucrats, foreign governments, failed to resist early warning signs.
4. Hitler’s role was central, but the Nazi state, ordinary citizens, wartime conditions, and global passivity made genocide possible.
5. The lesson: injustice grows when those with power choose not to act.

Case study

Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), 9–10 November 1938

• What happened?
  • A coordinated, state-supported attack across Germany and Austria.
  • Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues were smashed, burned, and looted.
  • Around 100 Jews were killed, 30,000 arrested, and sent to concentration camps.
  • Police were ordered not to intervene.
• Why was it a turning point?
  • Shift from discrimination to violence
    • Before 1938 → mostly laws and restrictions
    • After Kristallnacht → open, public violence became state policy
  • State endorsement of terror
    • Hitler and Goebbels approved the attacks.
    • Shows the Nazi state was no longer hiding its intentions.
  • Public reaction signalled opportunity
    • Many bystanders did nothing; some participated.
    • International condemnation was weak, reinforcing Nazi confidence.
  • Escalation toward genocide
    • Jewish people were fined for the damage done to them.
    • Mass arrests tested how quickly the regime could detain and transport large groups.