Question: To what extent did Hitler use Totalitarianism to maintain his regime.
Although the Nazi Empire was known as a dictatorship mainly due to the idolization of Adolf Hitler but what was les commonly known was how Hitler actually ruled inside the country. Along with his cabinet members Hitler also ised many sub-groups to enforce his rise to power such as the secret police, extreme politicians involved with propoganda and racial laws. Yes Hitler ruled under a dictatorship but his rein included many totalitarian aspects.
One of Hitler's sub-groups was the secret police. The secret police were used as the hard hand of the Nazi regime for they were brought in to control. Once Hitler and the Nazi regime decided that jews were to be social outcasts and no longer considered Germans, the secret police were able to step in and remove the problem. Although they couldn't exactly wipe out the jewish people, imprisoning them proved to be the next best alternative. Now this was extremely racist and prejudice. Had the world payed attention to Germany they would have seen these extreme actions taking place and could ahve stepped in but due to its reputation after WW1 Germany was genearally overlooked by the rest of the world. Also due to this extreme racism one major event occurred involving the secret police. Due to the conditions for jews in Germany, one jew decided to act upon his rage and killed a German ambassador while in france. This resulted in extreme anger of the Nazi regime and the releasing of the secret police to act fueled by this anger. As the secret police released this rage they sought out and killed many innocent jews in order to make an example of the tru raw power of the nazis. this was known as Kristallnacht. This act not only implemented nazi power but also showed the yerning for power and the installation of fear within the citizens.
Kristallnacht also presented another one of the totalitarian aspects: politicians dealing with propoganda. In his cabinet Hitler had his minister of propoganda, Goebbels. Due to the nazi's hatred of jews, Goebbels created many posters and other propoganda in order to persuade other Germans to dissociate the jews. This ties back to Kristallnacht in two ways: 1. Goebbels released the secret police and 2. they both promoted the despise of the jewish. Again these racist ideals spread and grew stronger. Though they were extremely cruel and harsh racial remarks, etc. the common diea of dislike began uniting the German citizens. It seems as though their unity played along with Hitler's plan to achieve ultimate control due to their willingness and consent (even if it came out of fear.)
Racial laws also played an important role in the totalitarian aspects. So far we've discussed that the nazi regime has used force and propoganda to reduce as much jewish recognition as possible, so now we can discuss racial laws such as the Nuremburg Laws. One of the most known laws was the restriction on marriage. The law stated that Germans could not marry non-german citizens, aka jews. Although this follows along with Hitlers ideas and methods of how to gain power but it almost makes on wonder: is it too far? Is it too controversial? Just because Hitler wanted a better Germany and thought ridding it of the jews would improve it, altering the ability to care for someone/marry someone seems a bit too far only because that is messing with human emotion rather than how matters previously dealt with the implementation of change: propoganda.
In conclusion Hitler's dictatorship contained totalitarian aspects that helped him rise to power. Some aspects instilled fear, some used the power of persuasion and some implemented the cold, hard clutches of fate killing parts of the human heart.
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I forgot to include my sources. All facts came from Belk notes, the video, as well as source 4 (the last source we had to print from dropbox...is that source 4, well its the dropbox source either way!)
ReplyDeleteAdam, I noticed that all your examples of totalitarianism are of Hitler persecuting Jews. While you cite good evidence and provide good analysis, I think you neglected to mention one important aspect. Were the people of Germany not supportive of Hitler while he did these things? I believe the reason Hitler was able to attack the Jewish faith so militantly while he was in power is because Germans supported these acts of punishment, at least in the beginning of Hitler's reign. After the end of WWI and the failure of the Weimar Republic, many Germans were still looking for answers. Why did our country lose the war? Why do we have to pay ALL war reparations? The people of Germany were looking for someone to blame for all their troubles. Hitler's powerful and captivating speeches and strong Anti-Semitism were coupled to gain support. Hitler told Germans that Jews were responsible for all the struggle and sorrow families were facing. He blamed them for everything, and the people of Germany quickly followed suit. As Hitler gained political power, he began to publicly persecute Jews through use of secret police, the Nuremberg Laws, and various other ways, as you mentioned. Each new method he found of torturing and humiliating Jews was worse than the last, yet because Germans were so ready for change and so desperate for a scapegoat for their problems they went along with Hitler's notions...at least until he had gone too far. By the time most Germans realized how inhumanely the Nazis were treating people of the Jewish faith, it was too late. As the lady in the video said, Hitler had gained too much power, and even if you disagreed with his ways, what could you do? If you spoke out against him, you would have been punished severely.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post--all the methods you listed were totalitarian. But in any case, I think it's important to note that the people of Germany created the conditions that allowed Hitler to come to power and also supported him through his persecution of the Jews.
I agree with you that the secret police was a way Hitler used totalitarianism, but I disagree with when you said, "Once Hitler and the Nazi regime decided that jews were to be social outcasts and no longer considered Germans, the secret police were able to step in and remove the problem." This isn't necessarily true because the first part of that process was denunciations, for the most part. The secret police did justify a denunciation as enough legal evidence to put a Jew in jail even if it was made up, the denunciations were still a part of that cycle nevertheless. Also, I agree with you that Kristallnacht did create fear in the people of how powerful the Nazi's were, but I think that was a secondary accomplishment. I think their main reason for doing that was because they believed the Jews deserved it and it was their fault. This justification alone shows how badly they treated this religious minority group. You also question if it was too harsh for Hitler to restrict German-Jew marriages, but isn't that what a true totalitarian would do? Even though that does seem absurd, I think it does show that he was a totalitarian because he made these rediculous laws and no one stopped him. All in all, I think you brought up some good points, it was just a little off topic at times.
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