Differences in the sources arise from the purpose, Fritz Wiedemann wrote Source C as memoirs looking back at events from his perspective. Source A is a speech that is justifying the lack of written orders. Source A is not very aggressive which suggests that at the meeting many of the people were on the same wavelength as himself and is possibly a motivational speech.
Both source show that Hitler took a passive approach to his leadership and Source C show that he left people to make key decisions, while source A shows that the people were brainwashed into thinking that this passive approach was beneficial as when you worked along the Fuhrer’s lines you will “one day have the finest reward”
2.Hitler being the master of the third Reich meant that he was fully in control of events and circumstances in Nazi Germany, a typical totaltalirian dictator, the counter view to this was that he was a “weak dictator”. I believe the counter argument is true and most of the sources seem to suggest this as well.
Source B, which is from a Nazi lawyer commenting on the nature of Hitler’s power sets him up as the master of the third reich. In the source he explicably states “The position of Fuhrer combines in itself all power in the Reich” and “Fuhrer power is comprehensive and total”. Other evidence to support this is his early years in the party, he organised many things, including party structure.
On the other hand, most evidence seems to support the fact that as time when on Hitler became more of a mascot for the Nazi party as opposed to an active leader. Even early on key events were not necessarily his own such as the Reichstag fire or Kristalnacht, even though he agreed to them. This idea is supported by Source A and D which states that you have to work ideas towards the fuhrer, to “please the great one”.
Although it is clear that Hitler was not in full control of every aspect of the German state, there does seem to still be a contradiction in the sources about what type of dictator he was. Source A seems to suggest that although he was a “weak” dictator ie, he did not take an active approach to his dictatorship, it still seems to suggest that he was in control but simply left others to decide, and to a certain extent Source D agrees with this. Source C and some of Source D seems to suggest he was just lazy, “man who does not decide” and “he disliked the study of documents”.
The view that Hitler was “master of the third Reich” is a complex one, as it depends on how you define master. It is clear to see that Hitler was not the “Big Brother” dictator his propaganda team tried to create, but this propaganda did create fear and respect for him, that meant he did not necessarily need to be the most active dictator and still be master.
