Question: Define “totalitarianism” and access the extent to which it was achieved in Hitler´s Germany.
Adolf Hitler was a German politician who became the country’s Chancellor from 1933 to 1945; he was also the leader of the National Socialist German Workers ' Party. This party, also known as the Nazi Party, is known for its racists ideals and for being responsible for the Holocaust, a genocide that killed about 11 million people. Germany was considered a totalitarian state at the time, which means that its government had full and total authority over all and controlled nearly all aspects of people 's lives. This regime could be identified by the following six aspects: a guiding ideology, a single political party and organized terror; also,
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Hitler created the Law of the Protection of the People and State, which banned communists and socialists from the elections. What this meant was that there were less voters for the other parties and more for the National Socialist German Workers ' Party. Later on, he banned all political parties except the National Socialists. In the end, separate state parliaments still existed, but had no power; most were removed from their jobs. By doing this, Hitler made sure he was the most powerful and latter on, only political leader. Hence, he controlled Germany and the German …show more content…
Radio, newspapers, magazines, books, theatre, films, music and art were all supervised by the Minister of Propaganda, who filtered what he wanted or not to be shown to the public. Education systems were also closely controlled; textbooks were rewritten and teachers closely watched. Any kind of religious, social and political group had to dissolve and then regroup with new Nazi policies; for example, no jews allowed. By controlling all propaganda and communication, the government could influence and manipulate people’s views, thoughts and even actions. This contributed to the formation of a totalitarian state in Germany.
The final step to creating a totalitarian state was gun control in the country. To complicate the process of having a gun, a new law was created that demanded its registration. Also, the gun owner needed a separate permit for the weapon, ammunition, gun use, etc. By complicating the process of owning and using a gun, Hitler prevented people from buying them, which meant that they couldn’t use firearms against him. This was one more of the many ways he controlled the
Adolf Hitler made many changes making Germany dystopian, such as creating a new government. Even though Hitler was thought to be Germany’s hero, he was dictator. He had controlled the country by having SS troops all over the country. He also killed anyone who did not agree with him or the Nazi Party. Before becoming the Leader of Germany, Adolf hitler had a vision for Germany that he thought would be great that would led them into utopia.
Trade unions were abolished and he had their leaders arrested. Hitler made it a law to follow and support Natzism, so anyone that went against it was committing a crime. Because it was the only party in Germany, it was a almost a forced religion. It was Natzism or nothing. Hitler would set up people's courts where judges have to swear an oath of loyalty to Natzism.
Adolf Hitler rose to power as chancellor of Germany in 1933 and eventually its leader in 1934 with the intension of establishing a state adhering to totalitarian ideas (“Germany: Establishment of the Nazi Dictatorship”). Book burnings were the precedent for “Hitler's attempts to control the minds of the German people” (Zebrowski). This quality is, in fact, a key attribute of a totalitarian state. To accomplish the formation of totalitarianism, “Germans were fed Nazi ideology” while various forms of media or means of communication to the masses were heavily censored ("Impact of Nazi Rule"). As a result, the government under the Nazi Party employed radio broadcasts and newspapers as means of dictating the opinions of the German society (“Book Burning”).
Hitler had power over everyone. Adolf Hitler gained his power by promising that he was going to end reparations, create a German empire and by breaking the Versailles Treaty. He also used a lot of propaganda to gain power. He developed a lot of hate towards Jewish people. Members of the Nazi organization were responsible for the Holocaust because they followed Hitler’s will and manipulated people.
Hitler promised revenge against those he claimed had done this to the German people. Hitler was able to use propaganda to motivate the German people to follow him. The citizens of Germany gladly gave Hitler control of their lives for the promise of security and wealth. Once incremental control was relinquished to Hitler, his government took large steps and then total control over German
Totaliarism is a system in which individuals govern without the support of the people tightly control over peoples lives and do not allow any opposing viewpoints. For an example Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were both the leaders of a totalitarian government during world war two. Both had complete and total control over there countries by silence any type of opposing view. Even though both individuals were leaders in Totalitarian government, it was not the purest form of a totalitarian system because both couldn’t entirely remove all the critics for the government. In the Totaltarism system the government would have three features.
The order and purpose of the Gestapo were to dehumanize, torture, and massacre the Jewish people. There were many factors that made the holocaust as horrible as it was. The modernized use of machines and chemical to kill. The Gestapo and the SS were the enforcers of the camp and it seemed that they could do anything with no repercussions. In Elie Wiesel’s Night, he and his father are at the mercy of their captors, but most importantly the Gestapo.
While he dictated, the culture of Germany was changed. Hitler wanted to make the population all think and be one certain way. To make this happen he made, “ Musical performances, movies, and other cultural public activities...all meant to make German’s brains exactly like the Nazi, eliminating any other thought of anti-government”(1). By controlling what people watched and read, Hitler brainwashed Germans to think positively of him and the Nazi’s. The population was not able to freely read or watch any sort of literature or other arts.
To start off, Hitler made changes in the country. When Hitler was released from prison, he took over the government. Furthermore, a dictatorship is a civilized area being run by a person who controls and gives no liberty to citizens. Hitler thought by doing this he could make Germany a better place, but instead he started a war. Also, he planned a group called the Nazis who would kill Jews and take over the world.
Hitler was a demagogue that obtained power over the German people by promising them to create a future powerful Germany comprised of a perfect Aryan race and a unified people. To do this, Hitler had to put carry out the Final Solution, save the Germans from their dreadful economy of unemployment, and free them of the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. In document six, we see that during the 1920’s in Germany, there was a great economic failure which mainly affected the middle class. Throughout this economic recession, “savings of a lifetime and small fortunes melted into a few [pennies].”
The Third Reich, referring to Hitler’s reign and Germany being under Nazi rule between the years 1933-1945, is often referred to as a totalitarian state. A totalitarian state is a system of government in which all power is centralized and does not allow any rival authorities, and the state controls every corner of individual lives with absolute power. Nazi Germany has been referred to as an excellent example of this type of government. This essay will analyse five aspects of Nazi Germany to determine whether it truly exhibited the totalitarian style of government.
The weaknesses faced by the Weimar Republic was known which also enabled Hitler to exploit the weaknesses of the left and the moderates. Appearing to be the strong leader and withholding the communication skills needed to lead a country, he was able to gain the votes he needed (Orlow 'Modern Germany ' p.185). There were violent strikes in the streets, back and forth fighting, rioting. People were killed and the people of Germany, who feared Communism and despise chaos, sided with the “volkishe” parties, who promised to establish law and order. The people of Germany thought rather than having thousands die it would be better to have law and order and break a few heads than to live with that chaos.
Nazism significantly impacted the propaganda, terror and repression in a time of the abolition of the Weimar and rising of Hitler. The German civilization was greatly affected German people from 1933-1939 making the ideology of Nazism change most facets of life. The underlying nature of the anti semitic and nationalist theme amongst the media was a supplement to a large portions of society 's initial views. By the 30th of January 1933, Hitler had been appointed Chancellor. The intentions to commit to the ‘Final Solution’ was obvious when he used propaganda, terror and repression in order to influence and persuade his actions, therefore justifying it to himself and others he took authority over.
Hitler had a view for a ‘Greater Germany’, a different Germany to the economically broken and struggling one in the 1930’s. Since his views seemed so outstanding for the country at the time, both party officials and ordinary Germans attempted to make this ‘dream’ become a reality, which involved persecuting the Jews within the country as well as those that Germany had power over. This was a genocide. Because of this, Nazi officials had high attempts to impress Hitler by imposing laws, coming up with ideas such as organising rallies to discriminate them further, pogroms, etc. just to gain some recognition from him. For example, Kristallnacht in 1938 was carried out by Goebbels, which could possibly have been done just to
In the late 1920’s, the Nazi party had little success but in 1933, Hitler and the Nazis came to power. Hitler was the leader of a small right-wing party with very extremist ideas. Within a couple of years this party was in control of Germany. The factors that caused Hitler’s success for the rise of Nazism has been studied ever since. Hitler’s organisation skills and personal traits helped to bring the Naizs into power.