Reasons or excuses? Not quibbling about semantics. I think people's behavior is usually somewhat predictable if you know what their motivations are, and fear is a primal motivator, as is self-preservation. And you are correct that the substance and structure of power is more important and predictive than any individuals and their personal beliefs involved.
I wonder how well you know the true history of the period, and if there is someone's agenda (programming) operative in your interpretations of that history? I came to my conclusions through hundreds of hours of reading of arcane, but firsthand, history of the era. The history taught in schools bears little resemblance to the experiences and opinions of many who lived through it, and the 'accepted' history bears ample evidence of being tampered with and filtered back out with an agenda attached.
I wonder how well you know the true history of the period, and if there is someone's agenda (programming) operative in your interpretations of that history? I came to my conclusions through hundreds of hours of reading of arcane, but firsthand, history of the era. The history taught in schools bears little resemblance to the experiences and opinions of many who lived through it, and the 'accepted' history bears ample evidence of being tampered with and filtered back out with an agenda attached.