To What Extent Did Nazi Germany Establish a Totalitarian State in the Years 1933 and 1939 free essay sample

To What Extent Did Nazi Germany Establish a TotaBokeyar Year 12 – Modern History Research Essay To what extent did the Nazis succeed in establishing a totalitarian state in Germany in the years between 1933 and 1939? The Nazis succeeded to a great degree in establishing a totalitarian state in Germany in the years between 1933 and 1939. A Totalitarian state is defined as a government that subordinates the individual to the state and strictly controls all aspects of life by coercive measures. A Totalitarian state aims to establish complete: political -social/economic and cultural control over their people. Fascism is a type of right-wing totalitarianism which places importance on the subordination of individuals to advance the interests of the state. It is important for totalitarian states to have a charismatic leader. This makes it easier for the party he stands for to gain power. The Nazis came as close as possible to becoming a totalitarian state in Germany. They operated under a policy of gleichschaltung which was controlling every aspect of the entire German populous. The totalitarian state of Germany was successful to the extent that they deterred any opposition from gaining momentum and promoted official ideology. They gained full control of political, social/economic and cultural power over their people. There were only a few minor factors that would stop it being completely totalitarian. One of these factors being that due to Germany not being self-sufficient it couldn’t function without the help of other countries who provided Germany resources. Another factor was that only a majority of the German populations approved of Hitler as their leader. In order for Germany to be considered a completely successful totalitarian state they must force all people to support them. The Nazi party failed to do this. Political Germany was dominated by one political party, the Nazi party. They established power with only 44% percent of the nation’s vote. The commitment to make decisions centralised and loyal to one leader (Hitler) strengthened the Nazis grip on a totalitarianism society. Hitler was focused on power gradually through 1933 and 1934. He did this in part by ordering Goeringâ€℠¢s SS and SA to launch assaults on any anti-Nazi parties. In February 1933 Communists were wrongly accused of starting a fire at the Reichstag that was seen as a signal for communist insurrection. Leading up to the elections in March 1933, thousands of communist officials were arrested under Hitler’s orders, In addition to this all communist and socialist newspapers were banned. Following the elections finishing Hitler transferred all the power that the Reichstag had to himself. He did this by excluding and arresting all communist deputies and made arrangements with the other parties. This then gave him the power to effectively overturn the German/Weimar constitution. When the Reichstag met, the communists did not dare attend. All 81 of the communist members of the Reichstag were expelled. All other MP’s were intimidated into giving Hitler the supreme powers to make and suspend laws. All major positions of power were now Nazi party members. The unions were replaced by the German labour front and opponents were imprisoned. Every single political party was abolished except for the Nazis. Germany had become a one party state. In a plebiscite held in November 1933 the results showed that 96. 3% of the population supported Hitler. It was in 1934 that Hitler began to turn on rivals within his party. The SA, led by Rohm, was considered too radical, ill-disciplined and working class by Hitler. Within the SA there were 3million members who believed Hitler owed them a debt for helping him in gaining power. They wanted a socialist programme to be implemented. It was believed by Hitler that if he did this, he would lose the support of the industrialists. The German army resented the SA and wanted them disbanded. Hitler made a deal with the army. This deal was that the army would support him if he eventually disbanded from the SA and began a policy of rearmament. On the 30th of June 1934 Rohm was found murdered along with 400 other â€Å"brown shirt leaders. This night is referred to as the night of long knives. The army along with the SS were now loyal to Hitler. On August 2nd 1934 Hindenburg died. This then gave Hitler the opportunity, which he took, to declare himself Fuhrer. The role of the Fuhrer was President, Chancellor and Commander in Chief all in one. All soldiers took an oath of allegiance to him personally. A plebiscite approved of this with 88. 93% of the vote. Th e Weimar Republic was over and the Third Reich about to begin. All media was controlled by the Nazis. Newspapers, radio stations, films obeyed and said what the Nazis told them to. A number of rallies were put on to emphasise just how strong Nazi Germany was. Goebbels was in charge of this and was also very successful. He was able to persuade people into believing that Hitler and the Nazis were right. All Nazi view points on everything were always emphasized. Groups opposing the Nazis such as socialist, communists, liberals, democrats, Jews and other group were targeted by the Nazis. All books were censored, over 2500 authors banned and many books burnt on the streets. Propaganda manipulated Hitler’s image very carefully so that he would be portrayed as a kind, hardworking man with simple tasks. The SS and Gestapo (secret police) acting under the orders of Himmler, made terror a regular occurrence and a matter of state policy. Any sort of opponents were beaten and regularly thrown into concentration camps. The power of the German police was considerable. The Gestapo were given unlimited powers. Any judges that did not support Nazi views were removed. There was an atmosphere of fear in Germany. The public were encouraged to report to police about their neighbours if they showed any signs of suspicious behaviour. German begun to turn into a law abiding country. Social/economic – one factor that contributed to Nazi totalitarianism was convincing the nation that the society that they had been living in was immoral, beyond reform and corrupt. It gave the impression of an alternative society where all these current wrongs would be addressed. The Nazis came into power as the working and middle classes had suffered through enormous economic hardships that had been brought on by the Great Depression that occurred in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. This meant that they had a large following and popular support from all middle classes that were seeking to maintain the political and economic status quo. Nazi Totalitarian Ideology demanded total conformity by the people. Propaganda (controlled by Goebbels) supported this. Information was organised through control of radio and press. Cinemas and papers had to show pictures glorifying the Nazi movement. Education/schools were also used as a means of communication and control. Boy’s 10-18years old were sent to Hitler Youth, Girls 10-18 years old were sent to Hitler Maidens. School textbooks were re- written along Nazi lines. University professors were required to wear Swastikas amp; take an oath of allegiance to Hitler. Resources were monopolised by the state to try and control all aspects of public amp; private life. Labour Unions were abolished by decree on July 14 1933 and the Labour Front was set up. Employees were now forbidden to strike. The National Labour Law of Jan 20, 1934 allowed the state to exert direct control over all businesses employing more than 20 persons. Thus all employees amp; employers were under the direct control of the Nazi Government. Unemployment dropped from 6m in 1932 to 1m in 1936 due to conscription, large infrastructure projects and Jews and married women being forced out of jobs thus creating vacancies. A key economic factor which prevented the Nazi party from establishing complete totalitarian state was the fact that Germany was not fully self-sufficient. It continued to rely on other countries supplying it with important raw materials to assist Germanys industry. It was later considered a fact in Germany’s aggression towards opposing countries in the lead up to World War II. Cultural Germany’s culture was encouraged but only with certain elements. Any book that was considered to be unsuitable for the German public was burnt. The Nazis believed that the German Aryans were the superior race. The Aryan race had blue eyes and blonde hair. They especially hated Negroes and Jewish people. In September 1935 the Nuremburg Laws were passed which deprived Jews of German citizenship and forbade them from marrying Aryans. Children were taught during school to dislike these races. Conditions gradually got worse amp; worse for Jews (e. g. property confiscated, liberty deprived, safety endangered). Attacks on not only them but their property were always encouraged, such as the crystal night in 1938 where as many as 91 Jews were murdered during the brutal attacks. A further 30,000 were arrested and imprisoned into concentration camps around Germany. These attacks left the streets of Germany covered with broken glass from the windows of the Jewish owned buildings, synagogues and stores. Thousands of people left Germany and those that stayed were exposed to the final solution. The Nazi party were atheists but they still needed to come to terms with the churches of Germany. A concordat with the Pope (1933) gave the Catholics the freedom of worship, although the Nazis still interfered with Church teachings. The Protestants were subjected to close state control. Hitler appointed Pastor Ludwig Muller, a protestant, the Evangelical Bishop of the German Reich. Muller them amended all Christian teachings so that they could be in line with the Nazi ideals. If any Protestants openly protested or did not follow were sent to concentrations camps. Numerous brave leaders such as Bonheoffer and Meimaller spoke out against the Nazis. Due to these actions they were imprisoned and executed. The Nazi party also persecuted the undesirables. Anybody who they thought threatened the purity of the Aryan race whether it is gypsies, mentally ill or homosexuals. In 1939 a programme of euthanasia was introduced. Over 5000 children were killed and 71, 000 adults all under this programme. The majority of the German population approved of Hitler. This is a reason as to why Nazi Germany did not fully succeed in becoming a totalitarian state. True totalitarian states, as stated in the introduction, the people are forced to support the government no matter what. While in charge his government restored national pride and provided jobs. The brutality and force of the government wasn’t hidden from the public but instead was accepted by most. The propaganda constantly told them that the strength and force of power was necessary and the majority of the German public either accepted it, were unaffected by it personally or were just too scared to object it. The Nazi party had stressed how important the virtues of obedience and loyalty are. The rights of the German nation came before the rights of an individual. In summation, the Nazis did not fully succeed in establishing a totalitarian state in Germany in the years 1933 and 1939. They did however come as close as they could get. They deterred any opposition parties from gaining momentum and also outlawed them. They promoted ideology constantly. They gained nearly all control of political, social/economic and cultural power in Germany. Total control is what a totalitarian state is. They were not considered a fully totalitarian state as they still relied on other countries providing them with certain raw materials and were exposed to outside economic influences. Also, the fact that Nazi Germanys own population actually supported the Nazi party and were not forced or coerced to also showed that the state was not strictly totalitarian as per the definition. Bibliography: The Holocaust A Guide for Teachers 1990 gary. [emailprotected] com) http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Nazi_germany http://www. history. co. uk/explore-history/ww2/nazi-germany. html http://www. jewishvirtuallibrary. org/jsource/Holocaust/naziregime. html http://alphahistory. com/nazigermany/ Dennett, Bruce. Nixon, Stephen. Key Features of Modern History. N. p. : Oxford UP, 2013. Print.