Hitler had a very traditional view of the role of German women. This was that they should be a wife and mother. There was resentment towards working women in the early 1930s, since this was seen as keeping men out of jobs. Hitler was alarmed at the falling birth rate. He offered tempting financial incentives for married couples to have at least four children. You got a ‘Gold Cross’ for having eight children and were given a privileged seat at Nazi meetings. This was encouraged using posters, radiobroadcasts and newsreels. It was also reinforced in schools. With all these encouragements the birth rate increased from 15 per thousand in 1933 to 20 per thousand in 1939.
Hitler wanted to crush the German Communist Party. In 1933 he called for an election to accomplish an overall Nazi majority in the Reichstag. On 27 February the Reichstag building burnt down. The Communists were blamed and he thought the fire was the beginning of the Communist uprising. The Nazis arrested the Communists. This was popular with the anti-communists because they did not have to worry about them taking over. The middle class were especially happy about this as it meant the Communists could not affect their businesses and properties.
It was big business that really benefited from Nazis rule. The big companies no longer had to worry about troublesome trade unions and strikes. Companies such as chemical giant IG Farben gained huge government contracts to make explosives, fertilisers and even artificial oil from coal.
Hitler brought much pride and power back to Germany during the 1930s after the destruction of the Treaty of Versailles. Germans thought they were now on an equal footing with the other great powers. In 1933, Hitler started rearming Germany and up to 1939 managed to reintroduce conscription, send troops into the Rhineland, and take over Austria and the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia. He also managed to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia and the whole of Poland. This gave more security to Germanys economy and make her a more powerful and respected country which restored the German citizens pride in their own country.
Another reason for Germans continuing to support Hitler was the fear of the consequences if they criticised him and the Nazis. The concentration camps were the background to German fear. They were the ultimate sanction against their own people. The first concentration camps were established in 1933. These camps were usually located in isolated rural areas and run by SS Death’s Head units. Prisoners were forced to do hard labour, food was limited and they suffered harsh discipline. Jews, Communists, trade unionists, churchmen and anyone else brave enough to criticise the nazis ended up there. The police and courts also helped to prop up the Nazi dictatorship. The best available jobs in the police force were given to the high-ranking Nazis. They were told to ignore crimes committed by Nazi agents. The Nazis also controlled magistrates, judges and the courts; therefore anyone who opposed Nazism never really got a fair trail. The Gestapo which was the secret state police was the force which was most feared by German citizens. Under the command of Reinhard Heydrich, Gestapo agents had sweeping powers. They could arrest citizens on suspicion and send them to concentration camps without a trial or even explanation. Also all government employees had to join the Nazi party otherwise they lost their jobs.
One of the many reasons why opposition to Hitler was so limited was due to the work of Dr Joesph Goebbels, who was the Minister for Enlightenment and Propaganda. Throughout the 1930s he managed to control the pulse of public opinion and decided what the German public should and should not hear. Goebbels organised rallies, marches, torchlit processions and meetings. The best example of his work was the Nuremberg rally, which took place every summer. This showed the German People the power of the state and convinced them that every other German fully supported the Nazis.
Goebbels also had control of the media. No books could be published without his permission. He organised a high-profile ‘book burning’. Nazi students came together publicly to burn any books that included ideas unacceptable to the Nazis.
Artists suffered under Goebbels, they were not allowed to print anything including anti-nazi ideas. He controlled the newspapers closely. They were not allowed to print anti-Nazi ideas. Jewish editors and journalists lost their work and anti-Nazi newspapers closed down. The papers were then found to be boring and fewer copies were sold. The cinema was closely controlled. All films had to promote a pro-Nazi message. Goebbels censored all foreign films coming into Germany. He covered Germany in posters advertising Hitler’s successes and the Nazis attacking their opponents.
In conclusion, Hitler gave many benefits to Germany and her people. He gave back pride, territory, employment and general order in Germany. The benefits over powered the negatives of his rule. German people were desperate for some organisation and help and Hitler and the Nazis produced this. Hitler was trusted by the German public and he did accomplish more good than bad.
