Hitler dissolved the trade unions. He justified this because he supposedly thought they were a breeding ground for communism. Really they were a threat to his regime because although many people as a group can bring down a leader like Hitler, people by themselves can not make such a difference. The trade union was like a cloud that could potential cause a flood on Hitler regime but as long as they dispersed this cloud to singular raindrops, it was less likely to rain at all. He replaced the trade unions with the Nazi run ‘Nazi Labour Front’. To please the public and justify the change. He had to tell the masses a believable story about communism, as it was a popular enemy, hence the convenient Reichstag fire plot. In addition it strengthened relationship with the church as communism wished to abolish religion. The Nazis liquidated the trade unions.
Hitler wanted to avoid confrontation with the church, which would have undermined the morality of the armed forces and the population was largely church going. Hitler was reluctant to make the people choose between the church and the state. The church and the Nazi policies are so indifferent that you could say the church was the antithesis of the Nazis. The church preaches ‘love thy neighbour’ this confronts the Nazi hatred for the Jews and disabled. In addition the church states the meek shall inherent the world but the Nazi believed only the fittest will survive. The church considered the Nazi a better option than the communists. They were the lesser of two evils; communism completely abolished the religions, so the church could never tolerate them. So they joined the Nazis to get rid of them and stop communism. The Vatican chief concern was preserving Catholic institutions and keeping catholic- Nazis or other wise within the fold of Catholicism. Maintaining religious institution clearly took priority over promoting Christian love, self-sacrifice and martyrdom. This helped Hitler to gain the totalitarian state because he needed to control all potential forms of opposition. The church was very powerful also the German people were deeply religious. The church could also be a disguise to spread propaganda; he now indoctrinated the people with both the state and the church. Hitler policies for the church were to; control, reduce the influence of the church and replace. Hitler summarised that it was easier to gain control of a divided church than one that was united over a common objective, this helped consolidate the power of the regime. Not all the churches and pastors would accept the new state control of the church and religion. Over 100 state pastors lead a protest. Hitler had to make an agreement, such as the Concordat. The Vatican recognised the new regime and promised that the church would not interfere with politics. Therefore Hitler agreed not to interfere with church business. This strengthened Hitler's control by enabling him to have the choice to tell the deeply religious German people that he and the regime had the church’s approval. In addition it allowed him to grow in public approval and give him time to establish his own form of church. Subsequently he dissolved the protocol of the Concordat act.
Hitler needed to thwart oppostion legally. So he decided to control the judiciary system. He appointed judges and lawyers who were Nazis. This gave Hitler the strength to instigate his rules and keep his party as legal as he wanted, as the rules were enforced by people he controlled. Special courts developed for political crimes, special Nazi judges ran these courts. They had no appeal. Hitler could put opposition to trial knowing they would be found guilty, this helped him to become a totalitarian dictator. Also in local government the Riechstat was abolished and Hitler made 42 Gauleiters who had the job of enforcing the Nazis policies in the provinces and cities. Giving Hitler total controls and influence on the whole of the Germany. This meant there would be no resistance, local government would definitely implement all his laws. Meaning his message would be spread efficiently. Also the spectrum of authority ended with 400,000 Blockleiters they were in charge of a block or street. Hitler had tight control over the people opinions and life. Before local government had the choice of discarding the central governments rules, they no longer had this choice. Hitler controlled the government all over the country. Also he controlled the media and church he used all this control and censorship. Hitler allowed the party to be able to survive in the event of his demise; well he tried to do this. Hitler kept himself and the party legal this was done to please external forces such as foreign countries. After his failed illegal attempts to power, he realised the only way was the legal way. This helped and strengthened his control over the nation because the people knew that he democratically gained power and was their choice. This fits exactly into the Fredrick description of totalitarian dictatorship. He controlled the people lives and church.
The people followed Hitler because of his use of terror. Hitler and other dictators use terror because it leaves deep scars on the survivors forever and shapes the rest of their lives. Leaving them afraid of being touched by the terror and fear not being conformists. Terror was used because it was expeditious. Hitler could simply get the Gestapo to drag someone out their house during the night and it would spread fear and horror among the people. He did this to gain total control over the people; this would strengthen his regime, as people would not rebel against the Nazis.
There were 3 instruments of terror in the Nazi hierarchy, the S.S otherwise known as the elite guard, The Gestapo and S.D. They often overlapped and confronted each other, this was instigate from Hitler’s opinion that this would result in the strongest follower emerging victorious. This strengthened Hitler's regime by making each of the organisation work hard to topple the others successes. The Gestapo was organised by Göring, who administrated two thirds of German controlled Prussian police. After purging regular police, he replaced them with Nazis. This strengthened Hitler's control over the people and the law, enabling him to arrest opposition and Jews. He added a small unit of his own; secret police or Gestapo. This strengthened the regime by giving it infiltration into people’s lives. The people did not no who the Gestapo was so they were always extra loyal to the regime; this is why it was so strong. Himmler expanded the Gestapo into the S.S.
The S.S was set up as a personal guard for Hitler and other important Nazis. Himmler ultimately developed it into a vast empire of terror. This helped Hitler to keep the people in check. This strengthened the regime by reducing the chance of rebellions. The S.S was built up from the most loyal and fanatic followers of Hitler. This was so they would be determined and less likely reveal their identity.
The S.D used intelligence and counterintelligence systems to pry into the lives of all Germans through the use of thousands of part time informers. Under Heydrich surveillance and terror were brought to murderous effectiveness. This reinforced the Nazi authority by giving the people another force to watch over their every action. Creating a state of fear, giving the Nazis a public perception of being omnipotent and omniscient. So the people stay loyal and thought they would be caught doing otherwise. Total control over the people was gained. After the purge of the S.A Heydrich began to build up dossiers on powerful officials as well as inconsequential nazi. Including Hitler himself, for blackmail purposes. A totalitarian would not have been influenced or blackmailed by lower officers. This would have weakened Hitler.
Concentration camps were used to imprison political enemies and later Jews and homosexuals. It was also intended to spread terror among the rest of the population, but also provide the Gestapo with a training ground. A way of conditioning them so that they would lose all familiar human emotions and attitudes, this would have helped the regime by spreading fear among the people and making the Gestapo ruthless and more terrifying to the people. Keeping them loyal to the regime. Hitler strengthened the regime at the Night of the Long Knives. Himmler’s ascendancy came after the purge of the S.A and Rohm. In 1933 Rohm’s troops numbered over 4 million men, aroused fears among the army leaders that they might replace the regular army. A power struggle bought Himmler and Göring together against Rohm. They told Hitler Rohm was plotting against him. On the Night of the long knives Rohm and several hundred of his men were killed. Hitler made much of the depraved morals of the men who were killed and the danger they posed to the state. The cabinet legalised this slaughter as a necessary measure for defence of the state. This gave the regime a step ahead to totalitarianism because it gained the loyalty of the army; they would fulfil one of the definitions of a totalitarian state. It strengthened the forces and let Hitler know he could commit mass murder and legalise it.
Individuals and groups were less likely to revolt. The general belief was if Hitler could destroy the S.A an armed force, he would be able to deal with opposition easily. People were too scared to oppose him. People knew being guilty did not need to be proven. Anyone could be arrested and imprisoned. People made sure they were loyal because the conception had been spread that the Gestapo had ‘eyes and ears everywhere’. This strengthened the regime be allowing it to manipulate the people as they were so loyal. The terror was very important to Hitler it kept the people in check and stopped opposition. With this he could methodically knock down all opponents by all means at his disposal.
The manipulation of the law was good with dealing with opposition. The regime needed to gain and hold onto the backing of the nation; this was done by indoctrinating the people. By persuading the public they are socially and economically better under the regime.
Propaganda is the deliberate attempt by the few to influence the attitudes and action of the many, by manipulation of symbolic communication. Hitler did this through all forms of media. He made the people see his films on propaganda; they read the books and bought the papers. There was no resistance to the indoctrination because it was everywhere. Hitler placed great importance on indoctrinating young people to national socialist ideas. Schools were adorned with Nazi pictures and swastikas. Teachers were members of a special Nazi organisation called the German Teacher’s League. Textbooks were written in praise of the Fuhrer and his ideology. This strengthened the regime, as they taught the youth, who would grow up loving and idolising the Nazi, as it would be all they have ever read. This created lifeblood of loyal soldiers and supporters. Children from the age of six were encouraged to join one of the many Nazi youth groups. When a boy was 14 he could join the Hitler youth where he would encounter further indoctrinating and get ready to join the army. This creates a young growing arm of indoctrinated soldiers. This would have strengthened the regime immensely. Also Nazis were trying to weed out the influence of the church once had. Instead of church groups there were Nazi youth meetings. The control over schools the church lost but the children had to do a mandatory prayer each day at school. The Nazi used the technology like radios to spread their propaganda, this was effective in achieving totalitarianism is because the message could be spread wider at one time. Huge propaganda rallies could be filmed, giving the people patriotism this would improve their social life. As they were part of a community. This cemented the regime because if the people were in a tight community the people would feel compelled to tell on those not conforming to the Nazi ideology. As they were so close they would find out quicker. The longer the people were happy the harder they would work making the regime stronger.
In addition the Nazi started job programs, so people were no longer unemployed. When people have jobs and money they complain less. Also when the Nazi could not find everyone jobs they blamed it on the Jews. Nazi propaganda helped the regime because normally people would not have worked in the poor conditions but the propaganda ‘glorified the dignity of work’ from the Hitler economy by Silverman. This masked the brutal reality of the economic miracle.
Jospeh Goebbels ‘Reich Minster of popular Enlightenment and Propaganda’. This was responsible for instituting and defining the ministry’s propaganda apparatus such as T.V books etc. it was Goebbel who enthusiastically assisted Leni Riefenstall in the making of ‘triumph of the will’. This was the figurehead of the Nazi film propaganda. Aesthetically speaking, no visual narrative, musical or icongraphic medium was left untapped. The Olympics were a big spectacle for the propaganda and it proved to the German people that the Nazi were the best as they won the overall title. This helped the regime as they could now proclaim they were better than and superior to everyone else. Not every source of propaganda worked because it became like a cup of tea. You can only put so much sugar into tea before it becomes saturated. People knew when something was propaganda and showed up so no one could accuse them of being traitors, but they subsequently left after their appearance was noted because everything was the same. This showed the fear people had of being sent to the concentration camps. Whilst people had jobs they enjoyed the propaganda as it made films and marches creating a community. Hitler used the family to build his indoctrination. Parents always want to do the best they can for their children, so that meant joining groups and going to Hitler youth, this was exactly what they did. This made it easy for Hitler to have total control as he was controlling the education and the future of the children. Like Orwell says ‘who ever controls the past controls the present, who ever controls the present controls the future’. Hitler held all the keys to time; this helped him because he could compare the Nazis to other great empires.
Hitler was a totalitarian dictator, with the Enabling Act he had no opposition, the rubber stamp parliament, he had the Gestapo as a secret police and he had the media. He was able to terrorise, manipulate and control the lives of the German people, through this he gained power and totalitarian status.
In Hitler’s Germany there were many characteristics of a totalitarian state. The government ran and censored the media. Most forms of media could potentially be interfered with or heavily censored. This removes freedom of speech, therefore enabling the government to influence popular opinions via fallacious new messages of propaganda.
Propaganda within Nazi Germany was highly successful. The Nazis realised the necessity of using radios and newspapers as a means of indoctrinating the masses. Also they knew the level of control these mediums held over the unsuspecting population. They used their mediums to show Hitler and the party had overwhelming support and control. This strengthened the regime as it made the people part of a community and those who did not fit the community stood out like a Hitler in a synagogue.
In essence Germany under Hitler was a very good example of what a totalitarian state is. People did not question the establishments decisions, it was popular conception that if you did such a thing like confronting the establishment, you would be imprisoned or worse something like the Night of the long Knives would happen to you. This belief; the terror aloud Hitler to get total control over the people and their lives. This lead to hysteria, the people either knew the state was corrupt or was too afraid to tell anyone. This is a true totalitarian state. As Hitler orchestrated it, he is and was a totalitarian dictator.