How the Nazi's maintained power (1 Viewer)

[nayfin]

hey i have an assesment task soon and i was just wondering how i should set this essay out . should i jump right into the "fuhrer myth" and violence or should i put that later on . i guess im asking how would i structure this essay and with what info.

 

[Kujah]

Well there are 4 areas you might concentrate on:
- Crushing the threat of the SA and winning the confidence and "trust" of the army.
- The use of terror, repression and violence on opposition groups and on society in general in their acceptance of Nazism.
- The Fuhrer Myth and the clever use by Goebbels of propaganda to portray not only Hitler, but Nazism, as a saviour of Germany.
- Changes to society- arts, architecture, the role of women/youth/religion, the economy, political system, military and social outlooks etc.

By enforcing all these changes, the Nazis maintained power through the use of violence, and more importantly (in hindsight), the disillusionment of the German population who thought that Nazism would be a new and better chapter in their history in comparison to the "Weimar Republic" debacle.

 

[Zephyrio]

What Kujah said, but also how Hitler introduced a bunch of laws to basically destroy the Weimar Constitution (despite the fact that it was still *technically* in place until 1945 LOL)

 

[sajad07]

What Kujah said, but also how Hitler introduced a bunch of laws to basically destroy the Weimar Constitution (despite the fact that it was still *technically* in place until 1945 LOL)

Finish off with the scorched earth policy.

 

[Kujah]

What Kujah said, but also how Hitler introduced a bunch of laws to basically destroy the Weimar Constitution (despite the fact that it was still *technically* in place until 1945 LOL)

Especially the Enabling Act Hitler obtained and maintained power pretty much in a "legal" way if you consider the laws of the Weimar Republic at that time.

Finish off with the scorched earth policy.

Huh?

 

[-WaxingLyrical-]

Huh?

A scorched earth policy is a military tactic which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area.

In 1945, Adolf Hitler, desperately attempting to save Nazi Germany from the Allies and the Soviet Union, ordered Albert Speer, his armaments minister, to carry out the nationwide scorched earth policy, in what was termed the Nero Order. Speer refused the order and left Berlin.
The Australian government had a scorched earth policy as a worst case scenario during 1942. Due to the very real threat of invasion from Japan, the Australian government considered what land could be burnt and surrendered to possible Japanese invading forces.

sajad07 - That's irrelevant to how they maintained power.

 

[Kujah]

Yeah, I was confused about how that was relevant to the Nazi's maintenance of power

 

[ccc123]

*Gleichschaltung (sp?) (as Kujah said, reforming all facets of society and culture to conform to the state's interests.

*The Enabling Act 1933 (disbanded other political parties, effectively dissolved the Weimer constitution)

*Neutralising potential political threats from within (E.g Night of Long Knives)

*Propaganda (especially radio), terror and censorship (E.g Night of Broken Glass, all newspapers brought under control of Ministry of Propaganda)

*Hitler Youth organisations (focused on the indoctrination of the youth so they would actively support Nazi ideology).

*Hitler's personal skills (historian J. Joll discusses this at length)

*The atmosphere of disillusionment (both during and post depression, the people were desperate and turned to radicalism as a possible way out of the dire situation) Historians Allan Bullock and Willaim Shirer emphasise this as a key factor.

 

[nayfin]

thanks for the help guys.