Ideology and its application.

Ideology

The of the Führerprinzip sees each organization as a hierarchy of leaders, where every leader (Führer, in German) has absolute in his own area, demands absolute obedience from those below him and answers only to his superiors. The supreme leader, , answered to no one. has argued that Hitler saw himself as an incarnation of , and as the living law itself. The Führerprinzip paralleled the functionality of military organizations, which continue to use a similar authority structure today. The justification for the civil use of the Führerprinzip was that unquestioning obedience to superiors supposedly produced order and prosperity in which those deemed 'worthy' would share.

This principle became the law of the and the and was later transferred onto the whole society. Appointed mayors replaced elected local governments. The Nazis suppressed associations and unions with elected leaders, putting in their place mandatory associations with appointed leaders. The authorities allowed private to keep their internal organization, but with a simple renaming from to Führerprinzip. In practice, the selection of unsuitable candidates often led to and commonly to an inability to formulate coherent policy. noted that many Nazi officials dreaded making decisions in Hitler's absence. Rules tended to become verbal rather than written; leaders with initiative who flouted regulations and carved out their own spheres of influence might receive praise and promotion rather than censure.

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Application

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Application

During the post- , Nazi war criminals – and, later, – attempted to use the Führerprinzip as a means to evade responsibility for war crimes: "I only did what I was told". Eichmann explicitly declared having abandoned his conscience in order to "do his job" and follow the orders. In , concluded that, aside from a desire for improving his career, Eichmann showed no trace of or psychological damage. She called him the embodiment of the "banality of evil," as he appeared at his trial to have an ordinary and common personality, displaying neither guilt nor hatred, denying any form of responsibility. Eichmann argued he was simply "doing his job", which was supposed to be in accordance with 's . She suggested that this most strikingly discredits the idea that the Nazi criminals were manifestly psychopathic and different from common people. (Many concluded from this and similar observations that even the most ordinary of people can commit horrendous crimes if placed in the right situation, and given the correct incentives, but Arendt disagreed with this interpretation – as Eichmann justified himself with the Führerprinzip. Arendt argued that children , while adults adhere to an ideology).

Volksgemeinschaft

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Volksgemeinschaft is a for "people's community". It was an attempt by the to establish a of unified mind, will and spirit. It could only be achieved by gaining control of all aspects of cultural and social life (). Theatre, literature, the press and children's activities were all controlled by the . The people's community was visioned by Nazis are purely German, classless national community that was dedicated to the state and war.

In order to control information and , institutional controls were placed on the entertainment and communications industries. authorized the establishment of the Reich Chamber of Culture and appointed as . The consisted of seven divisions: music, theatre, literature, radio broadcasting, the press, visual arts, and film. The Chamber of Culture was not only established to keep 'undesirables' such as and other minorities out, but also to fully integrate with artists and entertainers who wanted a change in the structure of their professions.

All German newspapers were brought under the control of the , the Nazi publishing house where propaganda articles were pre-written for the newspapers to use. Buildings in Germany were meant to last a thousand years and were built to represent medieval themes. Outdoor theatre emphasized the theme of “Blut und Boden” (blood and soil) and re-enforced the kinship between modern and . Music was guided by biological theory represented in the traits of , , and . Film in glorified the party, Hitler, and martyrdom for .

In their desire to establish a total state, the Nazis understood the importance of “selling” their ideology to the youth. To accomplish this, Hitler established Nazi youth groups. Boys age ten to fourteen years old participated in the , and boys fourteen to eighteen years old participated in the (Hitler Youth). Both groups fostered military values and virtues, such as duty, obedience, honor, courage, strength, and ruthlessness. Uniforms and regular military drills were supplemented by ceremonies honoring the war dead. Most importantly, the Hitler Youth did their utmost to indoctrinate the youth of Germany with the ideological values of . Youth leaders bore into the youth a sense of fervent patriotism and utter devotion to Hitler. By , when membership in the Hitler Youth became compulsory, each new member of the Jungvolk was required to take an oath to the swearing total allegiance.

Young girls were also a part of the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany. Girls age ten to fourteen were members of the , while girls fourteen to eighteen belonged to the . Hitler youth girls were indoctrinated in the principles of service, regimentation, obedience, and discipline. Girls were taught to be dutiful wives and mothers. Members of the Bund Deutscher Mädel were educated in the skills needed for domestic chores, nursing, and hygiene.

Daily life in Nazi Germany was manipulated from the beginning of Nazi rule. dominated popular culture and entertainment. was used to prevent the people from thinking and feeding into their strong sense of national and military pride. Finally, Hitler and the party realized the possibilities of controlling Germany’s youth as a means of continuing the , and ensuring total control over a future generation