The Extent to Which Germany was Transformed into a Totalitarian State Between 1933-1945
World War one had a massive effect on Germany. The monarch collapsed,
which led to the establishment of a democratic system which also
collapsed and the polycratic government of the Nazi party who Changed
the effects of the treaty of Versailles, and the course of history
sending it deep into another World War. This essay will talk about,
Hitler's polycratic and totalitarian leadership as the Fuhrer, and his
powerful control over a nation.
The definition of 'Totalitarian' will often contain the following
characteristics.
- The state is led by a dominating and often ruthless individual
presiding over a single political party or group, with no opposition
groups allowed. Although subordinates may have particular control over
certain areas, Totalitarian leaders know all and decide all.
- The people of the nation are subject to constant propaganda that
hails the leader and are subject to terror that is governed by use of
secret police. [1]
This definition matches the Nazi government extremely well. It would
be justified therefore to call Nazi Germany a totalitarian state, as
the German people were subjects of propaganda and fear sparked by the
secret police (Gestapo and SS). Most of the German people were loyal
to their Fuhrer, however many lived in fear of speaking out against
him (use of terror by secret police) and therefore feared the Fuhrer.
A Cartoon showing how the fear was made.
The Nazi Government came into power in January 1933, by July of that
same year, Hitler had banned rival political parties. Therefore
qualifying ...
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[1] Dennett and Dixon, key features of Modern History, 2000, Oxford
university press, Melbourne Australia. Page 246.
[2] Dennett and Dixon, Key Features of Modern History, 2000, Oxford
university press, Melbourne Australia. Page 259
[3] Dennett and Dixon, Key Features of Modern History, 2000, Oxford
university press, Melbourne Australia. Page 263 figure 10.30
[4] Dennett and Dixon, key features of Modern History, 2000, Oxford
university press, Melbourne Australia. Page 246. Figure 10.11
[5] (http://remember.org/guide/Facts.root.nazi.html)
[6] Dennett and Dixon, key features of Modern History, 2000, Oxford
university press, Melbourne Australia. Page 246. Figure 10.11
[7] Kitson, Alison. Germany 1858-1990, Hope, Terror and Revival, 2001,
Oxford University Press, Melbourne Australia. Page 213.
"Account for the changing political fortunes of the Nazi Party from November, 1923 until January, 1933."
The government of Nazi Germany greatly resembled the Party, the government in 1984. Both operated similarly and had similar aims. Anything either government did was an action for maintaining power. Both the Nazis and the Party maintained similar ideologies, controlled mass media, educated children in their beliefs, had a secret police force, and had forced labor camps. Both governments used each of these methods maintain power and control over the people.
Following the beginning of the Second World War, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union would start what would become two of the worst genocides in world history. These totalitarian governments would “welcome” people all across Europe into a new domain. A domain in which they would learn, in the utmost tragic manner, the astonishing capabilities that mankind possesses. Nazis and Soviets gradually acquired the ability to wipe millions of people from the face of the Earth. Throughout the war they would continue to kill millions of people, from both their home country and Europe. This was an effort to rid the Earth of people seen as unfit to live in their ideal society. These atrocities often went unacknowledged and forgotten by the rest of the world, leaving little hope for those who suffered. Yet optimism was not completely dead in the hearts of the few and the strong. Reading Man is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag by Janusz Bardach and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi help one capture this vivid sense of resistance toward the brutality of the German concentration and Soviet work camps. Both Bardach and Levi provide a commendable account of their long nightmarish experience including the impact it had on their lives and the lives of others. The willingness to survive was what drove these two men to achieve their goals and prevent their oppressors from achieving theirs. Even after surviving the camps, their mission continued on in hopes of spreading their story and preventing any future occurrence of such tragic events. “To have endurance to survive what left millions dead and millions more shattered in spirit is heroic enough. To gather the strength from that experience for a life devoted to caring for oth...
The Change of Nazis' Treatment of the Jews From 1939-45 Hitler and the Nazi party managed to kill six million Jews throughout Europe by the end of 1945. This systematic process of killing between the years 1939 and 1945 is known as the holocaust. There were five key issues that led to the Wansee conference that took place in 1942 before the Nazi's decided upon the "final solution to the Jewish problem. These events included the outbreak of World War II, Hitler's personal agenda against the Jewish population, the rise and power of the SS and the failures of other solutions put forward to "get rid" of the Jewish problem.
The Aims and the Results of the Attempts by the Nazi Regime to Transform German Society
Gesink, Indira. "Fascism, Nazism and Road to WWII." World Civilizations II. Baldwin Wallace University. Marting Hall, Berea. 3 April 2014. Class lecture.
Nazism possess the core features of totalitarianism, however has a few differences which distinguishes it. Totalitarianism, by the Friedrich-Brzezinski definition, is when the government establishes complete control over all aspects of the state,maintaining the complete control of laws and over what people can say, think and do. Nazi Germany satisfies most of this criteria, as they had a one party system without political opposition. Moreover, they had a single unchallenged leader, in Hitler, to whom the entire nation conformed to. Furthermore, the party had nearly complete control over the country, controlling what people thought through propaganda and censorship, as well as what people could do through fear and terror. However, there are
During Adolf Hitler’s reign of terror in Germany, he had tried to form a totalitarian society based on hate, and in the end of it all, it did not survive. “The Government ran and censored the media. All forms of communication were liable to interference from above and could, and were, heavily censored. This removes freedom of speech, therefore enabling the government to influence popular opinion via propaganda and false news
It was during the 1920’s to the 1940’s that totalitarian control over the state escalated into full dictatorships, with the wills of the people being manipulated into a set of beliefs that would promote the fascist state and “doctrines”.
Fulbrook, Mary. A Concise History of Germany. 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print.
The extent to which Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state can be classed as to a substantial amount. With Hitler as Fuhrer and his ministers in control of most aspects of German social, political, legal, economical, and cultural life during the years 1934 to 1939, they mastered complete control and dictation upon Germany.
Within Nazi government, Hitler acted as the final source of authority, which serves as evidence against the notion that Hitler was ‘weak’. Having consolidated power by 1934 Hitler was, at least theoretically, omnipotent, being Chancellor, Head of State and “supreme judge of the nation”. However, the notion that Nazi government systematically pursued the clear objectives of the Fuhrer is challenged by the reality of Nazi government structure. It has been widely accepted by historians that the Nazi State was a chaotic collection of rival power blocs. Mommsen’s explanation that this was the result of Hitler’s apathy towards government a...
Historians are often divided into categories in regard to dealing with Nazi Germany foreign policy and its relation to Hitler: 'intentionalist', and 'structuralist'. The intentionalist interpretation focuses on Hitler's own steerage of Nazi foreign policy in accordance with a clear, concise 'programme' planned long in advance. The 'structuralist' approach puts forth the idea that Hitler seized opportunities as they came, radicalizing the foreign policies of the Nazi regime in response. Structuralists reject the idea of a specific Hitlerian ideological 'programme', and instead argue for an emphasis on expansion no clear aims or objectives, and radicalized with the dynamism of the Nazi movement. With Nazi ideology and circumstances in Germany after World War I influencing Nazi foreign policy, the general goals this foreign policy prescribed to included revision of Versailles, the attainment of Lebensraum, or 'living space', and German racial domination. These foreign policy goals are seen through an examination of the actions the Nazi government took in response to events as they happened while in power, and also through Hitler's own ideology expressed in his writings such as Mein Kempf. This synthesis of ideology and social structure in Germany as the determinants of foreign policy therefore can be most appropriately approached by attributing Nazi foreign policy to a combination as both 'intentionalist' and 'structuralist' aims. Nazi foreign policy radicalized with their successes and was affected by Hitler pragmatically seizing opportunities to increase Nazi power, but also was based on early a consistent ideological programme espoused by Hitler from early on.
...ies through laws, policies, and campaigns enabled Adolf Hitler to charismatically lead the German nation as a totalitarian dictator, and control German life under the state. All aspects of Hitler’s governance provided an element of a totalitarian state from political principles to personal lives. During the years of The Third Reich, Hitler essentially remained the unchallenged Fuhrer of Nazi Germany and established a totalitarian state.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. Kitchen, Martin. A History of Modern Germany: 1800-2000. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. Sprout, Otto.