Getty - The Fura maintained his regime through smiles!

Hitler used totalitarianism to a great extent to maintain his regime, and he did so through propaganda, concentration camps, and economic benefits for the people.

Hitler pointed fingers at the people who were in positions of wealth and in the government before he came into power, saying that they were the culprits of Germany's problems. Most of these people were Jews, and so this created a large movement of propaganda against the Jews. Though some may say that this racial feeling was always there (limited jobs of Jews in the past), it does not dispute the fact that the propaganda against the Jews exponentially increased during the time that Hitler was in power. Once Hitler had the people on his side, they would do anything he wanted. The Nazi party was the picture of structure and sustenance that the people were searching for, in the propaganda that was presented to them. In reality, the party was quite chaotic (film notes). But, it was enough that they appeared to have order that led the people into a false sense of security, thus the purpose of their propaganda.

Hitler explored the idea of putting down the Jews and making the Germans feel superior to all. This use of propaganda provided a feeling of pride that the Germans had lost for some time. The people latched on right away, and were proud to be "pure German" (film notes) and held pageants called "Night of the Amazons" to portray women "as God made them". All of these things were feel-good propaganda angles that Hitler gave to the people. Why would they dispute their new-found pride? It might be said that the Jews were just put down because of past disputes, but the new laws made against the Jews were undeniably racist and put the Jews lower on the social ladder to make the Germans feel better. One example was the Jews could not marry Germans (film notes). Goebbuls was the minister of propaganda for the Nazi party, and he initiated Kristallnacht due to the assassination of a Nazi by a Jew (film notes). This "night of broken glass" was when many people broke into Jewish homes, broke things, and killed 800 Jews. This catastrophic event was met with no sympathy (film notes). The people were too afraid to show any outrage to the event. Hitlers continuously feeds the people "happiness" and pride to make them believe in him and his cause, no matter how dangerous the circumstances become.

Hitler used concentration camps to make sure that he stayed in power. He had to make sure that he didn't have any competition when trying to get into power. He started off, legally, as the Chancellor and moved up to president when Hindenburg died (film notes). He then started putting communists and socialists into concentration camps to keep himself in power, as a start. Later, he would use them for people that were "misbehaving" in the country, usually Jews or other related ethnic groups. The concentration camps conveyed a message to the people: follow the Fura. This was not a direct message, but it was either one agreed with the type of government in charge, or something could happen. This instillment of fear allowed for Hitler to do what he wanted. Since he had made no promises, the people could only expect great things from Hitler. Right?

Another way that Hitler maintained his regime was through the economic benefits that he provided for the people. Before, people were starving, unemployed, stripped of their pride, and screaming at the government to do something about it (belk notes). Now that Hitler was in power, everything had changed. They were fed, jobs were coming back, their pride was being boosted (mentioned earlier), and the government was giving structure to the chaos that had existed before. The people did not want to lose what they had gained from the Nazi party, so they took their economic gains and held them close as they watched the terrible circumstances unfold. In order for the people to continue to hold on to what they had, they used denunciations (film notes). This was where someone could claim that another person was being "suspicious" or had too many Jewish friends. Whatever the claim was, that person could be denunciated and put to death. It may seem that this was out of Hitler's power, but it only fueled people's belief in the cause. Since it did not hinder his power, Hitler was becoming stronger than ever. The people didn't have to be scared, they could scare themselves. Hitler fed the right things to them, and then they gave back what he wanted: obedience.

Hitler used propaganda, concentration camps, and economic gains to maintain his regime. He provided false security in which the people fell into, and then were too caught up in their own good things to go against what was happening. It may be said that the people felt that they had no other choice: it was either they follow or they die. Hitler perfectly brainwashed the people to the point where they did not realize that they had more power than the government. That they outnumbered him and his forces. They even made false accusations of their neighbors, like the Salem Witch trials, that were illogical. This simply made themselves look better so that they themselves would not be accused. They turned a blind eye to the situation so that they wouldn't have to give up what they had. And why should they? The party was so organized, and the concentration camps were just LOVELY. Who is brainwashed now?