Were the Nazis Socialists?: Quick Facts

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Nazi parade features a banner proclaiming, “Death to Marxism.”The possibility of a peaceful Germany after World War I was precluded entirely by the terms of the Versailles Treaty and the intransigent hostility of France and England. Stripped of industries and sources of raw materials, and saddled with impossible reparations payments, Germany was split drastically between extremists of left and right. The government at Weimar was held responsible for the political and economic chaos, and its inability to placate internal and external enemies practically assured a radical turn in politics.

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