To be a good
Prince one must accumulate a life time of knowledge and put it to use as
intended. This knowledge was made available to everyone as it was condensed
into a single book by Niccolo Machiavelli. In The Prince, by Machiavelli, the necessary attributes and actions
required to maintain a Princedom are outlined and explained. Several rulers put
Machiavelli’s ideals to good use over the centuries, but one Empire that failed
to do so was the Nazi Regime. As seen in Maus,
by Art Spiegelman, the Nazis failed to follow Machiavelli’s guidelines and as a
result quickly lost their power.
In,
The Prince, Machiavelli essentially
describes several basic rules on how to maintain a Princedom, and although the
Nazis did not call it a Princedom, their respective governments had
similarities. As his first rule Machiavelli explains that when invading a
foreign country it is important not to weaken and already weak state. To do so
would anger enough people to start a revolution, whereas if left alone the
people would live peaceable without causing trouble. When the Nazis moved into
a country they devastated the people especially the Jewish community. This
targeting of specific groups caused enough grief to turn the entire world
against the Nazis.
The
second mistake the Nazis made according to Machiavelli was that Hitler, the
leader of the Nazis, did not come to reside in the countries he conquered. By
coming to reside in a new province a leader would essentially make that
province invulnerable to outside forces. However, Hitler for the most part
remained in Germany allowing outside forces and the forces of provinces that
had been invaded, to retake the land from the Nazis. This mistake of not coming
to reside cost the Nazis many of the provinces that they worked so hard to
take.
Another
mistake made by the Nazis as seen in Maus,
and explained by Machiavelli, is the sending of troops into their conquered
provinces. Rather than sending troops who created tension with the town’s
residents, the Nazis instead should have setup colonies. A colony would have
avoided tensions between the soldiers and civilians and would have allowed the
Nazis to save more money for the war as a colony is self-sufficient. However,
instead the Nazis sent troops to bully the citizens of their provinces losing
the good will of the people.
Lastly,
for a new state to succeed it must have the good will of the people. The Nazis severely
messed up in this area as they sought to exterminate the people of their
conquered provinces. In, Maus, the
Jewish community was rounded up without discrimination and murdered on a
massive scale. This treatment of the Jewish community angered many people and
the angry people eventually welcomed other powers into their country to take
power from the Nazis. These mistakes cost the Nazis their empire as they fought
to keep control over their own provinces while being attacked by outside
forces.
