Heinrich von Treitschke espoused that it was of no consequence what you thought about anything, just as long as you obeyed German law. Germany's tradition also produced Friedrich Nietzsche who preached the coming of a master race and the superman who would conquer, impose a glorified state, and purify the master race. Finally, German legends were full of heroes and heroines like Hagen, Siegfried, and Brunhild, who were so superbly depicted in Richard Wagner's opera, the Nibelungenlied. Heroes such as those, inspired Germans including Hitler, to think of themselves as larger than life and capable of bringing great glory to Germany through both life and death (Thomas, Landry, Bruch, Richard Wagner on the Web). Stevens 3 In addition to German philosophers and artists, Germany, more than any other state in Europe, had a history of militarism that ran deep. Great warriors like Frederick III inspired the creation of 18th and 19th century Prussia, laying the roots of 20th century Germany. The Prussian state was put together on the design of conquest and was lead by a cruelly disciplined army and a narrow bureaucracy that strictly followed commands without question. The classic picture of the Nazi soldier following traditional values with his fellow soldiers was born in this Prussian past that was always highly militaristic, conventional, and hungry for conflict (Frederick of Prussia). With this aggressive past, it was inevitable that Anti-Semitism "hatred towards the Jews "would be rooted deep in German culture for centuries. Hitler was not the origin of this prejudice. Jews were looked down upon for many reasons. They were often bankers or held positions that dealt with money. Their customs made them stand out from other Germans and many Germans believed that Jews had more devotion to their religion than to their state. The Jews religion was alien to the German's, which was predominantly Christian.
