Drawing similarities between then and now with the propaganda machines of world powers got me wondering how the masses felt about the general state of things.
Would today's American disposition of anger and frustration be akin to Nazi Germany or considerably different?
Obviously Germans embraced Hitler and his rhetoric but what sentiments did they have about their government and nation before his rise to power?
Are we setting up an environment today that may be conducive to bringing about another Hitler?
Most Germans, while not totally averse to the victories that Hitler had accomplished, Rhineland, Austria ,Sudetenland, and eventually all of Czechoslovakia, were totally against another shooting war. Most people seem to agree that even Hitler wasn't quite trying to start a world war and did not believe that Britain and France would intervene on Poland's behalf. The propaganda that we see today, while different in certain respects has some of the same undertones but with different audiences. One must take into context the audience, pre 1939 Germans for the most part all agreed on two things 1.) They had been stabbed in the back in 1918 and 2.) The treaty of versailles was criminal and unfair to Germany. That audience was very gullible to going along with the rhetoric of pre WWII Germany, which was about peace but undoing versailles, even though Hitler was more than prepared to wage war. The American public today has had one unifying event, which though unifying was not shared (shared in the sense of national suffering because of that event) that would be 9/11. 9/11 was able to rile the masses to a general cause, but only temporarily, you could call Iraq Bush 43's Russia. What would bring about another Hitler? 1.) a depression on par with the great depression 2.) A group with very strong national identity 3.) A technologically advanced nation 4.) an ethnic or religious group within that nation that has been persecuted for centuries 5.) the right political climate in the rest of the world.
The time leading up to Hitler's Nazi Germany was very bitter for most civilians. This was because: The crushing defeat from World War 1 demoralized the hearts for many Germans, the signing of Treaty of Versailles in 1919 was a great shame for German civilians as they were internationally recognized as the 'losers' of the war. Furthermore, the Weimar Republic was forced to heavily print money to meet the monetary demands stated in the Treaty of Versailles. As a result of this mass printing of money, the German economy collapsed as their currency became increasingly worthless over time. Hence, Hyperinflation swept through the country in 1923 and ordinary civilians suffered from lack of essential needs such as food and water.
Briefly after the Hyperinflation in 1923, the USA agreed to supply Germany with a loan of money known as the Dawes Plan in 1924. The USA supplied Germany with another loan of money known as the Young Plan to revive the German economy and to compromise and collect war debt reparations for the Triple Entente in 1929. Things started to get better for German citizens.
However, the Wall Street Crashed occured shortly after the Young Plan was released. This forced the Americans to withdraw the Young Plan and Germany's economy worsened, again. Hitler capitalized on the situation because, remember: In times of crisis, citizens easily turn to extremist ideas. Hitler made promises to improve the economy, his Nazi party was great at producing propaganda, which won him even more public support. He gave inspiring speeches and raised the morale of the German population by discussing German Superiority.
Therefore to answer your question, indeed the citizens were displeased with the government's actions but they had hope in Hitler that he will resume Germany back into their former glory as people saw him as the paramount leader to show the world the superiority in Germans.