Analysis and Response Paper to “The Biology of the 2 nd Reich”

The rise of the 2nd Reich has brought fear to millions of people and multiple
countries. However, its motives were not as simple as to expand and dominate. It was
all about becoming the apex human race.

With the increasing prominence of secularism, multiple worldviews have grown

and developed. Among these is Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism is the theory that
humans follows the same Darwinian laws as plants and animals in that only the strong
will survive. Herbert Spencer, a well-known philosopher and biologist advocated Social
Darwinism and used it to justify the indifference and violence a race presents to
another.

The German elites revered Social Darwinism. This inevitably led to the start of
the World Wars. The Germans basically went on a power trip. They believed they were
the more powerful race so they ended up committing the acts they did based on Social
Darwinism. Despite Social Darwinism being an obviously horrible take on how human
races should see each other, the support it had was enough to light the flames for
supremacy in the Germans. Even though there are multiple countries around the world,
the Germans still upheld the theory and continued with the fighting fearlessly. Perhaps
the flames that grew so large blinded them of the inevitable. The European and
American powers during that period of history were already considerably powerful. With
the warring countries against Germany receiving help from these powers and the
continuous strategic blunders by the Germans, the wars ended and so was Social
Darwinism.

Both Reich’s were ambitious but the second one was far more so than the first.
Adolf Hitler was too ambitious. They already made a mistake by justifying their actions
in Africa as Social Darwinism and revealed their intent publicly. The mountain they had
to climb were as tall as they were numerous with the world so vast and all. It was
unfortunate that Social Darwinism was discredited too late. Although it is plausible that
the Germans wanted war in the first place, Social Darwinism still had a huge hand in the
influence of its people. With Adolf’s charismatic speeches on it, the people were led to
believe that they truly were the chosen ones, the apex human race. Too much blood
was shed through his ideals and it was this that was his bane in the end.

In a way, there is little truth to Social Darwinism. Mankind has continuously

adapted and evolved to become what we are today. The Neanderthals adapted to the
harsh winters of the Ice Age while the Homo Sapiens created organized societies.
When the two supposedly clashed, the Homo Sapiens ended up winning and further
improved their knowledge of the world around them throughout the years. Social
Darwinism however, ignores the many other capabilities of humans. We have values,
bonds, knowledge, and many others that would enable us to become the fittest without
having to trample on the less fortunate. All of us has the capacity to do good. The
Germans simply took the theory to the extreme.