Civilization #54: The German Will to Power

What explains the rise of Adolf Hitler? In this talk to his Beijing high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains that Hitler was a manifestation of the German obsession with the unity of will. After the humiliating defeat of World War I and amidst the economic turmoil of the Weimar Republic, Germans sought salvation and redemption in their civilization, especially the music of Richard Wagner and the philosophy of Frederick Nietzsche. They longed for an "ubermensch" to emerge, and Hitler rose to the occasion.