This brutal approach to the opposition would quickly quell any political uprising against the Nazi Party. There were no attempts to overthrow the Nazi government; and rarely was there was any form of public demonstration to the regime. Resistance also may not have been openly displayed because Germany appeared to be restoring itself to a powerful nation. The Nazi Party advertised the success it had achieved at increasing Germany’s prosperity.
Germany was still recovering from the aftermath of the war and had suffered heavily as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. Opposition to the treaty was to be seen in the majority of the German population. Hitler’s plan to overturn Versailles won him mass support; he soon became an icon for Germany’s greatness. It soon became apparent that Hitler was planning for rearmament and ultimately war in Europe; fuelled by the hatred of the Treaty of Versailles this policy quickly gained support for Hitler. The Nazi Party encouraged people to embrace the idea of extreme nationalism; National Socialism soon became the only permissible ideology in Germany. Hitler was immensely popular in Germany; it is suggested that this popularity stems from the fact that he was portrayed as a heroic figurehead of Germany and that it was not necessarily Hitler’s personality that increased his popularity. Hitler’s popularity remained for almost a decade after he assumed his position of chancellor. (Bessel, Life in the Third Reich; p 41) This image of Hitler assisted the attempts that the government made to control German life.
Nazism soon dominated every corner of life. Various social establishments were formed by the government; most people would have belonged to some form of Nazi organisation. Workers lost their rights at work and trade unions were banned; the Nazi Party provided a replacement scheme with the Nazi Labour Front. The State even went as far as to organise leisure time for German workers, providing them with a variety of leisure activities; usually these events would encourage Hitler’s views with a twist of Nazi propaganda. Hitler believed that people’s views could be influenced using an education system; especially the views of children. Hitler introduced a Nazi curriculum to schools; indoctrinating the future generations of Germany with Nazism. All teachers had to be vetted by local Nazi officials to ensure that they were going to promote National Socialism within their teaching practises. Textbooks were rewritten to conform to the Nazi standard and children were taught Nazi beliefs in their academic subjects. All children were encouraged to join Nazi youth organisations; the movement was planned to guarantee the prosperity of Nazism in later generations.
The government attempt at social control became resented by the German population; people recognised the attempts to lure people in to the Nazis desired way of life. Nazi policy towards religion wasn’t welcomed by the German people. Hitler had previously signed a Concordat with Rome agreeing that he would not try to take over the Catholic Church although the Protestant Church was reformed; the clergy having first been approved by the Nazi Party. Underground resistance to Nazi doctrine existed, some anti-Nazi propaganda appeared and there were certainly instances of people refusing to co-operate with the party. The fear of the Gestapo and the terror they inflicted would make people cautious against resisting Nazi rule. There was very little opposition to National Socialism, although resistance did exist; for these people, the Nazis developed a policy of intimidation. Resistance would have been dampened by the fears of the consequence for opposing the Nazi’s rule. (Wolfson & Laver, Years of Change; p 215)
Resistance remained against the effort to control people’s lives, so it can be argued that the Nazi Party never gained complete social control over the German people.
Hitler promoted the ideology of Social Darwinism, and that the Aryan was the most superior of all races, Hitler believed that the Jews were a counter-race and after he became Chancellor began the process of segregating Jews in Germany. Anti-Semitism was indoctrinated into the German population, Aryans were encouraged to breed; in attempt to mould the ideal German to Hitler’s specifications. This human standardisation could be seen as totalitarian in principle. Jews had severe restrictions placed against them. Before long Jews were being sent to concentration camps. Fischer suggests that Nazi Germany should be considered as a totalitarian racial state as the political doctrine the regime enforced institutionalised racism and used totalitarian means to accomplish its aims. (Fischer, Nazi Germany, p 294)
The Government set guidelines defining the Nazi ideal of German family life; women were advised upon how many children to have and were generally encouraged to stay at home and raise a family. Men over the age of eighteen were forced to work in the Labour Service for six months, after which they went into the army for two years. Conscription was introduced for all Germans in 1935. Hitler’s attempt to shape life in the Third Reich can be seen as an effort to gain social control over his subjects and the mass mobilization of the German population can be taken as a key principal of totalitarian rule.
Josef Goebbels was responsible for the propaganda that the Nazi party forced upon Germany; Hitler believed that if he controlled what people read and heard through the media that he himself would have the ability to control people's ideas. Goebbels controlled every aspect of the media in Germany and swiftly set to persuade the German nation towards the views of the Nazi party. The Reich Chamber of Commerce was set up in 1933 to ensure that every media source produced was promoting National Socialism. The Nazi Party authorised membership to the Reich Chamber so had complete control of the media. This practise of censorship meant that only Nazism was promoted through the media. The propaganda campaign was used to advertise Hitler’s policies and encouraged people to embrace his ideas. Books that contradicted the Nazi regime were burnt in public; films that were made discriminated against the and promoted the Nazi ideology of Aryan supremacy and the greatness of Hitler. (Hayes, Themes in Modern European History; p 287) Loud speakers appeared in the streets so that nobody would miss the Fuhrer’s speeches. Rallies were organised to demonstrate the might of Nazi Germany, using Germany’s greatness as a way to win support of the Nazi Party. Goebbels’ propaganda made use of people’s fear of the German economy failing and the fear of a communist takeover. Unemployment was at its highest when Hitler became Chancellor; the media portrayed the success of the Nazi Party at restoring the German economy. The fact that had so much power is indicative of how important Hitler thought it was to ensure that the people were either won over or intimidated into accepting Nazi rule. Totalitarian regimes mobilize and make use of mass political participation; Goebbels propaganda campaign led to increased support of the Nazi party so can be taken as to be success at monopolizing communications within Germany.
It is debatable as to what extent the Nazi Party directed Germany’s economy. Although the party did have control over Germany’s economy, it was never really headed in any particular direction. Hitler didn’t particularly take any special interest in the German economy; his primary concern was that the country was ready for war. The intention was to create a self-sufficient Germany, envisioning an economy built on state socialism. By increasing employment and by improving Germany’s industrial capabilities; it was believed that the economic plan would be adequate for when Germany went to war. (; The Nazis and the German Economy) The Nazi Party soon lost control of Germany’s economy; the rearmament was successful but hadn’t taken in to consequence the cost of mobilizing the entire country for war. Germany’s economy soon began to fail; most of the money used in rebuilding Germany’s strength came from loans from within the country. The economic policy adopted in the Third Reich displayed the characteristics of a centrally-planned economy; yet it can be argued that the Nazi’s never had complete control of the economy therefore the state can be taken as being ineffective in this aspect of totalitarianism.
Hitler’s leadership style has been scrutinized and is often perceived as a lazy dictatorship, and that he was content to not get involved with the details of government unless it suited him. (Wolfson & Laver, Years of Change; p 211) Germany existed of a number of competing bureaucracies, the idea that Hitler encouraged administration systems that may compete against his own power gives the impression that compete control within the government was never gained.
It can then be concluded that the Third Reich was intentionally attempting to enforce totalitarian rule over the German people. The effectiveness of Hitler’s totalitarianism can be argued with the fact that they never achieved complete control over the German population. Hitler appears to have been aiming for totalitarian rule in Germany, although never succeeded in achieving complete efficiency in the characteristics of a totalitarian state.
Bibliography
Books
Michael Burleigh, The Third Reich, A New History,
(Macmillan, 2000) pp 149-214
Klaus P Fischer, Nazi Germany,
(Constable, 1995) pp 259-263, 294-340.
Paul Hayes, Themes in Modern European History 1890-1945,
(Routledge, 1992) pp 38-45.
Eric Johnson, The Nazi Terror, Gestapo, Jews & Ordinary Germans,
(John Murray, 2000) pp 161-194, 253-301.
Ian Kershaw, Hitler and the Germans,
Life in the Third Reich ed. Richard Bessel
(Oxford University Press, 1987) pp 41-42.
Robert Wolfson and John Laver, Years of Change, European History
1890-1990, 3rd edition,
(Hodder and Stoughton, 2001) pp 35-57.
WWW
History Learning Site, ‘Nazi Germany’ [http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk], June 2002.
