Two most important European leaders from the recent past and presidents of America and Germany are Franklin D. Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler, who both dealt with the consequences of the World War I as well as with the Great Depression during the 1930s.
Franklin D. Roosevelt has in his speech from 1933 declared the greatest issues the American society and country was facing. The main issues addressed were increased taxes and debt, lack of income, frozen exchange and trade without the available markets along with the unemployment. He has defined “only material things” (Roosevelt, 1933, par. 2) as the core issues. Besides already mentioned issues are also the decreased national values, governmental issues of income, lack of market for farmers and loss of savings (Roosevelt, 1933). On the other side the speech on new German president Adolf Hitler from the same year addressed the main problems of no unity, no honor and no freedom of the German nation. Similar issue of unemployment was mentioned with the “millions of the industrial proletariat are unemployed and starving, the whole of the middle class and the small artisans have been impoverished” (Hitler, 1933. Par. 3). In the Hitler speech (1933) one of the biggest threats addressed is also communism.
One of the core problems in both countries was unemployment and both were addressed in both speeches. Roosevelt’s proposal for dealing with the unemployment was the government recruiting (Roosevelt, 1933, par. 10). With the government employment, he envisioned various projects which could stimulate and organize the country’s natural resources. On the other side the Germany has revealed the plan to overcome the unemployment rates with the help of the government plan with the “compulsory labor-service and the back-to-the-land policy” (Hitler, 1933, par. 18) along with the obligatory social duties (Hitler, 1933). Further on, the promotion of the preservation of farmers was addressed (Hitler, 1933).
Banking, finance in general and the economy were referred as the main problems of both countries. In the banking area in America the stability of the national currency as well as issues of supervising the investments as well as credits (Roosevelt, 1993). On the general improvement of the national economy the special measures with the immediate assistance to states has been guaranteed (Roosevelt, 1933, par. 13). In German “the National Government intends to solve the problem of the reorganization of trade and commerce with two four-year plans” (Hitler, 1933, par. 9-11) with rescuing the farmers and tackling the unemployment. The economy based on the president of Germany could be improved with the “unity and co-operation” (Hitler, 1933, par. 7). The reorganization was envisioned in Germany and hence “the National Government will couple with this tremendous task of reorganizing business life a reorganization of the administrative and fiscal systems of the Reich, of the Federal States, and the Communes” (Hitler, 1933, par. 16).
Further on, the foreign policy is mostly addressed through the international relations and trade, which are based on the healthy economy. The policy of the new American president was seemed to be based on the “policy of the good neighbor” (Roosevelt, 1933, par. 16), which would be based on the respecting the obligations as well as the rights of others with taking the interdependence into an account. In Germany the foreign policy will be dealt with considering the “restoration of freedom” (Hitler, 1933, par. 21) to the German nation built on the equality.
References
Adolph, Hitler. (1993). Berlin: Proclamation to the German Nation. Retrieved from
http://www.hitler.org/speeches/02-01-33.html.
Roosevelt, D. Franklin. (1933). First Inaugural Address. Retrieved from
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres49.html.
