Nazi Germany as a Totalitarian State Essay

The Totalitarian Aspects of Nazi Germany The government of Nazi Germany was a fascist, totalitarian state. They ruled in Germany ever since Hitler became chancellor in 1933, to 1945. Totalitarianism was a form of government in which the state involves itself in all facts of society, including the daily life of its citizens. It penetrates and controls all aspects of public and private life, through the state's use of propaganda, terror and technology.

In The Nazi Seizure of Power by William Sheridan Allen, the author is able to show the reader the support building strategy used by the Nazi party in Northeim and surrounding areas. Allen's thesis is that Nazi party was able to succeed the village of Northeim and else where because they were able to reach out the lower and middle class. Since these classes held the majority of the population, the Nazi party discovered what they wanted from government officials and then used that to persuade these classes to vote for them. To give you a background of the village of Northeim is vital to the understanding of how this party could have come in and take over the political scene so quickly.

Hitler’s rise to power was the result of many factors, but Hitler’s ability to take advantage of Germany’s poor leadership and economical and political conditions was the most significant factor. His ability to manipulate the media and the German public whilst taking advantage of Germany’s poor leadership resulted in both the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler and the nazi party. During the early 1920s, Germany was struggling with economic instability and political uncertainty. Germany, after being defeated in the Great War, was forced to sign the unforgiving treaty of Versailles, which the Weimar Republic was held responsible for. This brought forward feelings of fear, anger and

The Change of the Treatment of the Nazis from 1939-1945 On January 20th 1942 an important meeting took place where fifteen high-ranking Nazi party and governmental leaders gathered for an important meeting that lasted around 90 minutes. The meeting was known as the wannsee conference and the purpose was to discuss "the final solution". This involved many different strategies to help get rid of the Jews in Europe. After the conference the number of killings in the streets increased, deportation and mass murders escalated within a month of the conference taking place, all centers were ready for murder.

Germany was believed to be the cause of World War one, which made other European countries want to severely hurt Germany’s military and economy so that Germany couldn’t achieve future aggressions. The peace treaty called the Treaty of Versailles did just that. On June 28, 1919, the major powers in Europe, other than Germany, negotiated Germany’s punishment for the war. Germany’s military was limited to 100,000 men, they lost many of their colonies, they were forced to disarm their troops from the Rhineland, and worst of all they were forced to pay for all of the destruction caused by the war, which totaled to about 40 billion dollars. The Treaty of Versailles crushed Germany; they were weak and desperate, until Nazi Germany came to power.

World War II began in 1939, ignited by Germany invading Poland. A reoccurring theme throughout WWII and its controversy lies in the political system behind many countries. The totalitarian form of government began with the reign of Joseph Stalin, the dictator of The Soviet Union, and Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany. A totalitarian government is known as a society that is run by a dictator, but not all dictatorships are from a totalitarian government (4.). Those living in a totalitarian society have little to no freedom and are controlled by the government. Another word to refer to the totalitarian government system is the word fascism. During World War II, there were many countries ruled by fascist propaganda, the most known being Russia, ruled by Joseph Stalin; and Germany, ruled by Adolf Hitler. These were not the only totalitarian countries during this time; there was also Iran, ruled by Reza Pahlavi; Poland, ruled by Antonio de Oliveira Salzar; and Hungary, ruled by Ferenc Szálasi (5.). Each of these countries played a different part in the Second World War. Despite the strictness in the totalitarian government, you could find totalitarianism and fascism on both sides of the war, there is even speculation over the United States of America giving into a fascist attitude. The totalitarian government system had a large impact on the world during the Second World War because of its strict and harsh treatment of individuals. Totalitarian governments were thought of as

The Holocaust is most well-known for the organized and inhumane extermination of more than six million Jews. The death total of the Jews is this most staggering; however, other groups such as Gypsies, Poles, Russians, political groups, Jehovah’s witnesses, and homosexuals were targeted as well (Holocaust Encyclopedia: Introduction to the Holocaust). The initial idea of persecuting select groups of people began with Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. In January 1930, Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany after winning over its people with powerful and moving speeches. From this point forward, it was a goal for both Hitler and his Nazi Party to rid the world of deemed “inferior” groups of people (Holocaust Encyclopedia: Timeline

Hitler as a Totalitarian Dictator Before I begin to answer the question, "to what extent was Hitler a totalitarian dictator", I must first expand on the meanings of these two widely used political terms. In the "Reader's Digest Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary", the definition of totalitarian dictator is as follows: "Totalitarian (adjective). Of, pertaining to, régime which permits no rival loyalties or parties and arrogates to itself all rights including those normally belonging to individuals. "

This resource illustrates how Spartan images and ideas were venerated by the Nazi regime and subsequently assimilated into the Third Reich. Roche explores the history and personal effects from the implementation of these ancient ideas. Furthermore, we are offered first-hand testimony of cadets, at age 10 until they became army officers from both the Royal Prussian Cadet-Schools and the Napolas which educated the top selected students and future of the Third Reich. From this preface, the Spartan paradigm was considered a critical period for Prusso-German military commanders, and that Spartan youths were the ultimate role-model, in terms of heroism and self-sacrifice, during these years. There are two noteworthy features is that the Nazi regime also presented the Spartans as “the most Germanic and racially pure” of all the Greeks in line with their Aryan nationalism and the invaluable testimony from the survivors of the diminishing years of the third Reich who were exposed to the Nazi regime education methods and

On February 1, 1933, the war-torn people of a nation that had been beaten down, spat upon, and thrown into economic turmoil anxiously awaited deliverance by their new savior: Adolf Hitler. On this night in history, two days after being appointed chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler gave his Proclamation to the German Nation not only to thousands of fervent supporters in Berlin, but also to the millions of desperate citizens who tuned in their radios at home. This was the beginning of a new era for Germany: their chance to reestablish themselves as a proud, powerful nation that would not let a surrender fourteen years prior to spell their eternal defeat. It is peculiar though how, in retrospect, Adolf Hitler is viewed almost unanimously as one of humanity’s most nefarious faces – the “antichrist” incarnate – while less than a century ago, he was dubbed precisely the antithesis. In examining both the text of Hitler’s Proclamation to the German Nation as well as the visual and auditory elements of the event captured on video, it becomes apparent how Hitler’s phenomenal use of rhetorical appeals and clear sense of purpose birthed an ideology that would aim to restore glory to Germany – at any cost whatsoever.

Starving. You are starving. According to Germany during the Great Depression you would have been out of work and hungry for many years now. You take your trillion marks down to the corner store, wait in line, claw and fight your way for the last couple of items and then find out when you get to the cashier that due to the ever growing inflation your trillions of marks won’t be enough for a single loaf of bread, as is life in Germany in the late 20’s and early 30’s. According to Commanding Heights: The German Inflation most people especially the young have grown up in these terrible conditions were it was more cost effective to take the German marks and burn and use them as wallpaper than as actual money. Around this time you hear about a

Nazi Germany: A Totalitarian State? The purpose of this essay is to explain whether Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state or not. Totalitarian state means when all aspects of life within a country are under the total control of a person or group, this is often referred to as a dictator. The aspects of life in Nazi Germany that I am going to examine are young people, women, the church, employment, leisure time, propaganda and censorship.

The reasons for the rise of the Nazi Dictatorship of the 1930’s and 40’s have been a topic much debated upon by historians for decades. Arguably the most prominent theory is the idea of a “Sonderweg” or special path taken by Germany that “deviates from the normal path to modernity… the British way, the first and therefore classical model.” There is ample evidence of a “Sonderweg” throughout Wilhelmine/Bismarckian Germany, from the lack of a real democracy in 1871 to attempts to repress threats through policies such as Kulturkampf and the anti-Socialist laws. There is also evidence in Weimar Germany, such as the structural weaknesses of the constitution, for example proportional representation and Article 48. There is, however, evidence

Two totalitarian regimes which are both political systems and influenced society significantly are Communism and Nazism. They influenced and changed people’s rights, their views on things and people in general. Communism and Nazism are the two totalitarian systems I’m going to talk about. They were spread in different areas, but both of them caused big consequences. Communism started in Russian and spread around in Eastern Europe and Nazism started in Germany and spread in that area. People have gone through many bad times when those two totalitarian systems were in power, but we can’t always say that people’s lives were better before they were in power.

The leaders of the Nazi party made it one of the most infamous groups to lead a nation in history. The horrible things done under their rule and with their stamp of approval has made the term Nazi one of the worst possible. The amazing thing about the Nazi party is that many of the main aspects of their ideology existed in Germany even before they formed or came to power. Some of the major aspects of Nazi ideology such as antisemitism, the desire to expand the German empire, and the belief in the strength of the Aryan race existed in Germany years before Adolf Hitler was a name anyone in Germany would recognize.