By 1934 antisemitism and German nationalism were popular concepts. And by this year, the Reich Ministry for Education and Science had obtained control of education (source 4).These two things go hand in hand. New methods in education promoted antisemitic beliefs as well as nationalism which caused these concepts to spread even more. Because they were being instilled in the country's youth, these ideas would remain for years to come as the new generations took over. Hitler recognized the strength he had in the children of his country, which most leaders would overlook. He continuously preached to his people that he would create a Great Germany that would become and remain a vast empire (notes). This is a prime example of how he planned to support and maintain his regime. To create a healthy and united nation, Hitler made sure that physical education, ethnic classification, racial genetics, history, and German literature were promoted in the classroom. Topics covered emphasize the superiority of Germans over Jews which instilled a sense of pride in students (4). The changes Hitler made in education put into action his plan to create a lasting regime. These changes were successful to an extent. German children got involved in politics through use of youth movements supported by the Nazis (4). It seems that Hitler may have instituted a strong empire if it would have lasted through WWII. However there were many flaws in Nazi education methods. Academic standards hit a decline while Hitler Youth encountered difficulties as well. Their growth was too rapid with poor leadership which lead to hardships (4). It seems that education, along with many other aspects of the Nazi party, were very unorganized which hurt its success. If the problems were given more attention, its success may have been greater.
Hitler attempted to build a lasting regime by forcing his vision on the youth. While his methods seemed successful in its early days, education hit a decline in later times. We will never know what may have been since the Nazi regime never made it past the war, but Hitler used intelligent methods in attempting to support his regime in the present and build a stable regime forthe future.
I agree that Hitler's control over education in Germany was a huge political stategy in building and maintaining his regime. Your strongest statement was, "Because they were being instilled in the country's youth, these ideas would remain for years to come as the new generations took over." Instilling his ideas in children would make his ideas not only last throughout his rein and lifetime, but long after he had been replaced as German ruler. This was the biggest move Hitler could make to solidify his ideas and keep his mission alive. The only flaw was that he gave the German people a reason to question his methods and some of those methods tarnished his image. The event of Kristallnacht was one of those. It was so extreme that it made people question Hitler even if they were too scared to speak up then. Future generations of opposition groups would be able to hold this tarnished image above the heads of devoted Nazis and make them question their loyalty.
ReplyDeleteNeely, I thought your post was very good and had a lot of strong points. I agree with you when you say that the emphasis was put on the youth in order to make Germany last longer. I think this was a major reason Hitler focused on the youth of Germany. He knew that those children would grow up and if he could make them grow up believing in his ideologies then his empire would continue. But you did not talk about the subject areas in which he taught his ideologies. He used German to teach the students to think more militaristicly, biology to teach racial genetics against the jews, and history was manipulated so that Germany looked to be the victim. If you would have included this I think your post would have been stronger. But overall good job Neely!
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