Schusterman - Totalitarianism to maintain his regime

Hitler faced his regime with an all-or-nothing approach. He either simply wanted all power or none of it. The constitution determined his methods, but not his goals, and once in power he planned on molding the state into the shape he held to be suitable (3). Through economic policies, propaganda, and control of education, Hitler used totalitarianism to maintain his regime.

At first, Hitler promised the German people that he would end unemployment, but he had no specific plan for doing so (2). As unemployment rates continued to decrease, the popularity of the Nazi party increased. Although totalitarianism was used by Hitler and the Nazi's, unemployment and poor conditions are what made the people ready for a single party state ruler, so they condoned this type of government for Germany. Once in power, Hitler implemented more plans such as abolishing all unearned, income, regarding all personal profit arising from war as treason, nationalizing all companies, and profit-sharing in large industries (2). This was a use of totalitarianism because all money made by everyone was intended to go to the country to make a better Germany, not a better individual. The money the Nazi's gained by doing this went to the armys' budget which was increased so much they couldn't even spend it all (2). Most of the hard-earned money of the citizens was going to the war effort and to run the country. Therefore, Hitler demanding this money was a direct way to carry out his ideas and run his regime. He also produced many new jobs through the re-armament, preparing for war. This would lead to more money for him as a result too.

Another important part of Hitler's totalitarianism was having Germany fully understand how he wanted the Nazi party to be represented. The Nazi's minister of propaganda, Goebbles, was in charge of doing this (3). The most important part of Nazi propaganda was expressing the Jews as scapegoats for all of the countries' problems (2). Mostly, they blamed the Jews for Bolshevism in Russia and then instilled fear in the citizens of Germany that the Jews would try to start it in Germany as well. By blaming this religious minority group, the Nazi's shadowed the rest of the bad things that they were doing while the rest of the country was caught up in anti-semitic feelings. This was a use of totalitarianism because even though Hitler did not need the support of the people to carry out what he was doing, he was still keeping them happy with answers so there would be no questioning of his other methods. When propaganda did not seem like enough to Hitler, events against the Jews started taking place. The Nuremburg Laws were put in place, shutting down all Jewish-owned stores, and books by Jewish authors were burned (2). These actions showed the people that the Jews were the criminals who deserved no respect. As Hitler looked like the galant leader who got Germany out of unemployment, everyone believed him no matter what he said. Even when a Jewish boy killed a German diplomat in France, and the Nazi's tore down over 1,000 temples and killed over 800 Jews, also known as Kristallnacht, the German people still believed Hitler when he said it was the Jews fault because they deserved it (2). Hitler used totalitarianism in this case because he knew that all he had to was get the trust of the people first, which he did by ending the economic crisis, and then they would forever confide in him. At this point in time, he could do whatever he wanted and to the German people it would appear to be the logical thing to do.

Hitler proved he had the trust and support of the people who lived through the poor conditions of the Weimar Government, so his next task in having total control was to brain wash the upcoming generation by controlling education. The Nazi's group of teachers, called the National Socialist Teacher's League, accounted for 97% of all teachers by 1937 (4). This way of teaching included a lot of physical education, biology emphasized ideas of racial genetics and ethnic classifications, and a lot of German literature was based on the military (4). These type of teachings were consistent with Hitler's ideas of Social Darwinism. He was trying to make the youth very strong and drive his ideals into their heads at a young age so when they grew up all they would know how to do was be loyal to Nazi Germany. It might seem that the young children might have been confused about transitioning schools and learning styles, but as 97% of students were doing it it seemed like the right thing to do. This idea goes along with what Hitler gave all citizens of Germany, which was a place to fit in, and if you didn't fit in, then you did not belong to the greater Germany he was trying to restore. When people did not fit in they became social outcasts, and the fear of this alone was enough for anyone in Germany during this time to make efforts to fit in.

In some ways this was an argument of how Hitler's methods gained support of the people, but truly he gained their support through totalitarianism. For every move Hitler made he had a way of making it seem like a good idea to the citizens at the time, and while they had jobs and were happy they had complete faith in him. Hitler did not need to have their support, because as a totalitarian he would have successfuly done these things anyways, but by hiding these things and not conveying the complete truth to the people he was directly maintaining his regime with the support of the people, all of which just made it easier for him to achieve his goals.

1 - Sourcework: The Crisis of 1923
2 - Nazi Video
3 - "All Power" For Hitler
4 - Nazi Rule in Germany, 1934-39