Araam: Totalitarianism

When Hitler came to power, it was through legal means. He didn't seize power that wasn't his. In fact, the position of chancellor was given to him. When he was finally in power though, he would use totalitarian methods in order to stay in power. Totalitarianism means a centralized government system in which a single party without opposition rules over political, economic, social, and cultural life. We can see the totalitarian methods in many things, such as his use of concentration camps for political opponents, or the anti-semitic methods he used, which would include propaganda and Kristallnacht. However, one of the methods he used that wasn't truly a totalitarian method was the Gestapo officers. My thesis is that Hitler would mainly use totalitarian methods in order to maintain his regime.

When Hitler became chancellor, he immediately started implementing the concentration camps. At first, this would be for political opponents, but it would eventually reach out and include his scapegoat, Jewish citizens. In order to maintain his regime, Hitler would have to make sure that no one spoke out against him, whether in criticism of his methods, or just opposing a move he wants to make. Therefore, this method would be particularly useful in maintaining his regime. This method is totalitarian because it meets the definition in the aspect of giving the Nazi party no opposition in terms of controlling political life. The latter use for the Jewish citizens would also fit this criterion because of the fact that this would limit opposition in terms of social, economic, and cultural life. They are limiting the Jews from practicing their culture, like when they took down the mosque in order to build a parking lot. They are limiting the Jews economically as shown through Kristallnacht, where the stormtroopers destroyed buildings and shops. They are limiting the Jews socially, because the Jews can't do the same things as other citizens. They are portrayed as evil in movies, and are therefore treated as if they were evil. Basically, Jews have been limited so as to not give the Nazis opposition when it comes to the Nazi's control. With this scapegoat, anything bad that happens can be blamed on the Jews, so as to keep the Nazi's with full power; 'the nazis didn't do anything wrong, it was the Jews' fault.'

Kristallnacht would show how far the Nazi government would easily go just to maintain control. After the assassination of an important Nazi politician, Joseph Goebbels asked permission for the stormtroopers to be released on the night of the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch. That night, they would attack all the Jews, and would destroy their property. This shows how easily the Nazis could and would attack anyone that they considered a threat in maintaining their regime. Because one person attacked the politician, all the others will be dealt with. This is similar to profiling in airports, with the bigger difference being that the passengers weren't beaten and then had their property destroyed. Not without compensation at least. By doing this, the Nazis also showed that they were the ones in control, as said above. If one person causes problems, all will pay the price.

However, there would be a non-totalitarian method used. Recently, it was found that the Gestapo police officers were a small group. 28 people to a whole town. It turned out that the officers dealt more with reports delivered by the neighbors. This isn't totalitarian, because totalitarian assumes that the government is imposing this limit and is getting rid of the opposition. This is not so in this case. In this case, the people are the ones watching each other. This was done because the people felt that the Nazi government was doing their job. If they needed the citizens to watch each other for suspicious behavior, it would be no problem. Thus, one aspect of the citizen's lives didn't require the use of totalitarian methods.

Overall, Hitler and the Nazi party would use totalitarianism to control the public and maintain their regime. However, it wasn't completely required. As shown, there were cases such as the Gestapo officers where the citizens were the ones controlling each other, and not the Nazis themselves. Therefore, totalitarianism was very important in maintaining the Nazis regime, but wasn't always used.