Someone may agree with this statement by saying that the Nazis failed to control many key individuals in the Church. For example over 700 Protestant priests were arrested in 1935 for condemning neo-pagan teaching in schools. This consequently shows how despite the efforts of the Nazis neo-pagan teachings where still a part of school teachings. Furthermore they failed to punish Bishop Galen in 1941 when he publicly protested against euthanasia. This therefore made the Nazis seem weak and fickle, and therefore encouraged other bishops and priests to continue in their catholic teachings. Furthermore the role of individuals such as Martin Niemoeller played a huge part in the failure of control. As Niemoeller was able to form the Confessional Church. The confessional church opposed the Nazification of German Protestant churches. This once again could be seen as the Nazis being weak and unable to control the German Churches.
Another way in which someone may disagree with this statement is by saying that the Nazis signed a Concordat with the German Churches in July 1933. This was a hugely successful attempt in controlling German Churches as it stopped the involvement of the church in politics. Furthermore it weakened their influence on the German people. Pope Pius XI hoped that the Concordat would allow the Catholic Church in Germany to operate free from any interference. This therefore meant that the church had to conform to the Nazis in order to protect and restrict the Nazification of Catholicism in Germany. However as Hitler had just became Chancellor it meant he had to power to control certain aspects, which the Church once controlled. For example schools and youth organisations. Catholic schools were not subjected to the level of propaganda that state schools were, therefore Nazis believed that this would lead people to oppose them. Consequently, schools were taken out of control of the church, despite the pope’s protests to Hitler. As the church had signed the concordat there was nothing they could do and their influence began to diminish.
Furthermore someone may also agree by saying that the Nazis failed to control the actions of the Pope due to their abuse of the agreed concordat. In 1937, Pope Pius XI was so concerned about the anti-Catholic activities of the Nazi regime that he wrote ‘With burning anxiety’ (Mit brennender Sorge) that was issued by the Vatican on March 14th 1937. It was read out to congregations in Catholic churches on March 21st 1937. ‘With burning anxiety’ criticised the Nazi government’s persecution of the Catholic Church. Pius XI criticised the state for putting ideological beliefs before Christian ones. Priests in Germany were warned not to criticise Hitler or the Nazi regime. However, individual priests did make a stand against the government and between 1939 and 1943, 693 Catholic priests were arrested and tried for “oppositional activity”. This consequently shows a lack of control by the Nazis.
Finally, someone may disagree as the Churches welcomed the Nazi stance on Communism and the Weimar Republic. This consequently meant that the Churches created few obstacles to Nazi policies for the most part were seen as compliant. This can be supported by the fact that the German Churches throughout the years 1933-1945 did not openly riot or go against the Nazi’s on a mass scale and instead attempted to support them in many ways.
To conclude it is difficult to calculate the general level of success for numerous reasons. First and foremost from 1935 onwards Nazi tactics developed into a kind of war of attrition with the Churches. This may indicate the difficulty faced by the Nazi regime in knowing how to deal with the German Churches. Catholics had become alarmed, soon after signing the Concordat, when Catholic minister, Erich Klausener was murdered in 1934, with the banning of crucifixes in schools in 1935 and the increasing pagan ideology of Nazi radicals. Likewise the banning of Catholic youth groups in 1936 and the publication of ‘With Burning Concern’ in 1937 showed elements of tension. However the Nazi’s successfully managed to control politics without the influence of the churches therefore showing how they controlled the German churches successfully.