Did Hitler succeed in creating a Volksgemeinschaft?

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To what extend do you consider that Hitler and the Nazis had achieved their aim of social revolution and unity (Volksgemeinschaft) by 1939?

Hitler had a vision- he wanted to use his power to create Volksgemeinschaft, what he called the ‘all pure’ German nation. Hitler interpreted the social revolution as an uncontaminated ‘Aryan’ nation working together for the benefit of the German people and ultimately achieving total national economic self-sufficiency; otherwise known as autarky. Hitler and the Nazis knew that they would have to radically change the system of the country under previous leadership of the Weimar Republic- extinguishing “outsiders” and establishing one social class. However, not all of these ideals were “new” to the country, their philosophy regarding some respects to Volksgemeinschaft were not revolutionary. Nazism was a society of the extreme right, and revolutions are normally associated with left-wing political parties. Debates have been raised on this matter; Pro-Nazi revolution historian David Schoenbaum has argued that “Nazism was a powerful and original force in German culture”. He acknowledged that the Third Reich perceived many of the conventional changes one links with an embryonic industrial society, also claiming that “the Nazis effectively anticipated an image of a society without the associated class differences”. The Nazi citizens quoted about themselves, “United like no other in recent German history, a society of opportunities for young and old.” Nazism was a close culture, but in saying this we are also admitting that getting rid of the “impure bloods”, or Gemeinschaftsunfahig, to create complete Volksgemeinschaft was wrong and takes away morality from the ‘close’ people. Another Nazi historian, Hiden, agrees with this view- “The persecution of hundreds of thousands of Germans by the Hitler regime serves to illustrate that the dissent and nonconformity must have been widespread.” This statement goes as far in saying that civil unrest did arise in Nazi Germany, therefore a successful social revolution had not been fully accomplished.

Starting a social revolution involves creating a new way of life for the people. Hitler’s plans for world domination began in his book “Mein Kamp”. It was in this that he expressed his plans to alter the German Youth. They were to be completely converted into Volksgenossen- Aryan children. Young Germans were to be brought up as good National Socialists and become loyal followers of Hitler.

“In our eyes the German Youth of the future must be slim and

Slender, swift as the greyhound, tough as leather and hard as

Krupp steel.”

A. Hitler

From the moment Hitler became the leader of the Nazi Party he realised the importance of educating, hence controlling, young Germans according to Nazi ideals. It was the young who would become the future leaders and army of Nazi Germany and the Aryan masters of Europe. A revolutionary idea incorporated by the Nazis was to change the structure of the schooling system- in this way, Hitler would manage to convey his message to every child as schooling was compulsory. A portrait of Adolf Hitler hung in every classroom and Nazi teachers used every subject to promote Nazi doctrines. As the boys were to be the soldiers of the nation in future years, military skills were taught and more time was devoted to physical education and less to studying. The future role of the girls was to be good mothers and be the perfect housekeeper and wife for the working men. Their lessons were based around looking after the home and family. Biology lessons were used to teach Nazi racial ideas i.e. no mixing of Aryan blood, and History also emphasised Nazi themes of racial struggle as well as German Heroes. Hitler believed that to be a “proper” Nazi, people had to follow Nazism and not other faiths. Hitler was the Fuhrer, or leader, of the ‘Nazi religion’ and to ensure that the Youth agreed with this, he abolished Religious Education lessons and Nazi ideals were taught instead. Special Nazi schools were also created such as the Adolf Hitler School and ‘Napolas’- army cadet academies. Every child aspired to gain admission to these and this helped to establish the Nazi policies even more on the students who excelled. The Nazification of schools was effective as pupils were educated in such a politically biased manner that most of the Youth wholeheartedly put their trust in Nazism.

“We do not need intellectual leaders who create new ideas, because the super-imposing leader of all desires of youth is Adolf Hitler.”

Baldur von Shirach, Leader of the Hitler Youth movement.

The Nazis realised that they had to control children’s’ lives out of school as well to maintain total support, hence creating total Volksgemeinschaft. A method used to do this was the creation of the Hitler Youth (Hitler Jugend). By 1936, every child had to be a member of this society and all other youth groups were banned- this implying that the minds of the children could not be affected by other influences, therefore resulting in success for the revolution. Uniforms were issued and children received political, military and racial instruction- exercising Nazi ideals. Patriotism and the Fuhrer cult were evoked in songs and poems and Propaganda was constant towards the Youth- rallies, theatre productions, radio stations and comics such as ‘Jung Welt’ were all used to indoctrinate the young. Fun activities such as hiking expeditions helped to keep the children interested, and they grew to love Hitler. The Nazis managed to enforce their principles of the social revolution on the children at Hitler Youth Camps- emphasis was placed on competitiveness and achievement and children were rewarded for sports and vocational competitions with prizes.

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“Live Faithfully, Fight Bravely, Die Laughing!”

Hitler Youth motto for boys.

“Be Faithful, Be Pure, Be German.”

Hitler Youth motto for girls.

 

However, not all Youth were to accept the Nazi rules. Certain Swing Groups, who were influenced by American Culture which was seen in Germany before the depression, were a small threat to Hitler. The Nazis considered the people to be “criminals”- they were mainly middle to upper-class who had money and were anti-politics. Also, more popular and rebellious Youth groups were created. The Edelweiss Pirates were estimated to have had 2,000 members by 1939. They had ...

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