Impact of Hitler's Rule: Political, Economic, and Social Transformations in Nazi Germany

Political Impact and the Consolidation of Power

On $30\,January\,1933$ , Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. At this time, although the Nazi Party held the Chancellorship, they were not in total control; only $3$ out of $11$ cabinet ministers were Nazis ($Hitler$, $Goering$, and $Frick$). The primary political rivals to the Nazi Party were the Communists ($KPD$). To secure a true majority in the Reichstag, Hitler called for a new election to be held in $March\,1933$. During the campaign, the Nazis utilized various tactics to manipulate the political landscape, including large-scale rallies, parades, and speeches, while simultaneously using violence against opposing parties and exercising control over the police and media.

The Reichstag Fire and the Suspension of Liberties

On $27\,February\,1933$, the Reichstag building was set on fire. $Marinus\,van\,der\,Lubbe$, a Dutch communist, was arrested at the scene. The Nazi Party utilized this event to claim a communist conspiracy was underway to overthrow the government.

Direct consequences included:

• The arrest of Communist Party members on charges of arson and attempted revolution.

• Hitler convinced President $Hindenburg$ to invoke $Article\,48$ of the Weimar Constitution, passing the Decree for the Protection of People and State.

• Civil liberties were suspended nationwide.

• Freedom of the press and the right to public assembly were abolished.

• The $SA$ specifically targeted communists and other political opponents for arrest, severely disrupting the $March\,1933$ election campaigns of rival parties.

The Enabling Act of $1933$

In the election of $5\,March\,1933$, the Nazi Party won $44\%$ of the vote. By forming a coalition with the small Nationalist Party, they achieved a majority (>50\%) in the Reichstag. Hitler then moved to pass the Enabling Act, which would grant him the power to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag or the President.

On $23\,March\,1933$, during the vote for the Act:

• $SS$ and $SA$ men surrounded the building to intimidate voters.

• Only Nazis and their supporters were permitted entry.

• The Act passed, effectively turning Hitler into a legal dictator.

• Subsequently, the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party were banned from participating in future elections.

Gleichschaltung: The Coordination of Society

Between $April$ and $July\,1933$, the process of Gleichschaltung (coordination) was implemented to bring all aspects of German life under Nazi control.

• $April\,1933$: A law was passed banning Jews from the civil service.

• $May\,1933$: Trade unions were abolished.

• $July\,1933$: A law was enacted banning all political parties, establishing Germany as a one-party state. Nazi officials took control of local governments in individual states, and opponents were either sent to concentration camps or forced to flee the country.

The Night of the Long Knives

By $June\,1934$, a power struggle emerged within the Nazi paramilitary forces. The $SA$ (Stormtroopers), led by $Ernst\,Rohm$, had grown to a massive size and remained fiercely loyal to $Rohm$. Nazi leaders and the German regular army viewed the $SA$ as a threat. $Rohm$ desired to merge the $SA$ with the army and supported radical policies such as taxing the elite and industrialists to aid the unemployed.

Hitler made a deal with the army: if the $SA$ leadership was removed, the army would pledge loyalty to him. On the Night of the Long Knives, the $SS$, led by $Heinrich\,Himmler$, arrested and executed $Rohm$ and approximately $400$ other men, including prominent $SA$ leaders and political opponents. Following this, the $SA$ was marginalized and placed under the command of the $SS$.

The Merger of Power and the Oath of Allegiance

Upon the death of President $Hindenburg$ in $August\,1934$, Hitler took the following steps to finalize his absolute rule:

• He merged the offices of Chancellor and President, proclaiming himself Fuehrer (Supreme Leader).

• He assumed the power to invoke $Article\,48$ and maintained control via the Enabling Act.

• He forced the German Army to swear a personal Oath of Allegiance to him personally, rather than to the constitution or the country.

• On $2\,August\,1934$, a plebiscite was held in which the German people were asked to approve his new powers.

Economic Recovery and Unemployment

When Hitler took power, the Great Depression had left over $5,000,000$ Germans unemployed. The Nazi government addressed this through several initiatives:

• Infrastructure and Public Works: Massive programs were launched to build roads, buildings, and a network of highways known as autobahns. The railway system was extended, and new public projects, such as the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, were constructed.

• Reich Labour Service ($RAD$): This organization sent men to work on public works and conservation projects.

• Financial Reform: Economics Minister $Hjalmar\,Schacht$ utilized deficit financing, borrowing money through loan bonds to fund work creation and stabilize the economy. These measures were highly welcomed by the public as unemployment rates plummeted.

Rearmament and the War Economy

In $1935$, Hitler introduced compulsory military conscription, which drastically reduced unemployment. Approximately $1.4\,million$ men were drafted into the army. This created a surge in demand for war materials, leading to job growth in coal mines, steel mills, and textile factories.

In $1936$, the Four-Year Plan was launched under the control of $Hermann\,Goering$ with the goal of making Germany Autarky (self-sufficient) and ready for war within four years. Regulations were enacted to:

• Bar imports, forcing the use of German products.

• Subsidize vital industries such as oil, steel, and explosives.

• Ban trade unions and place all labor under strict government control.

Living Standards and Big Industry

Big industrialists were the primary beneficiaries of Nazi economic policy. The massive spending on rearmament led to significant profit increases for companies like Siemens, Mercedes, and Volkswagen. These corporations made compulsory donations to the $NSDAP$, which further strengthened Nazi power.

Other groups had mixed results:

• Farmers: The Reich Entailed Farm Law prevented banks from seizing the land of farmers in debt, but because the state effectively owned the farms, many farmers remained poor.

• Middle Class: While those linked to rearmament thrived, small business owners struggled under the new economic conditions.

Working Conditions and the "German Work Front"

To maintain worker support, Hitler abolished trade unions and replaced them with the DAF (Deutsche Arbeitsfront or German Work Front). All workers were forced to join. Under the $DAF$:

• Strikes and collective bargaining were banned.

• Workers could not change jobs without permission.

• A wage freeze was imposed in $1935$, and social security benefits were reduced.

• By $1939$, workers were required to work up to $72$ hours per week.

To compensate for these hardships, the Strength through Joy ($KdF$) scheme was created to control leisure time and provide benefits like:

• Subsidized theater and cinema tickets.

• Discounted cruises on luxury liners (over $50\,million$ Germans participated by $1939$).

• The $KdF-Wagen$ (Volkswagen Beetle) savings plan, where workers saved $5\,Marks$ per week towards a car.

• The Beauty of Labour scheme, which funded factory improvements such as low-cost canteens, washing facilities, and noise reduction.

Social Impact: Role of Women

Under Nazi rule, the progress women had made during the Weimar Republic (such as the right to vote and legal equality) was reversed. Women were restricted to roles as mothers and spouses.

• Expectations: To bear children and serve Germany as wives. They were excluded from politics and discouraged from higher education.

• Employment: Women were generally only allowed to work in service roles for the party, such as cooks or nurses.

• League of German Girls ($BDM$): Young girls were trained in domestic tasks and ideological loyalty.

Education and the Hitler Youth

Youth were considered essential for the future of the Thousand-Year Reich. Control was exerted through:

• Teachers: All teachers were required to join the National Socialist Teachers' League and undergo training in Nazi ideology and physical education.

• Curriculum: Textbooks were rewritten to emphasize Nazi values and anti-semitism.

• The Hitler Youth: Founded in $1923$, membership grew from $1,000$ in its early years to $2.3\,million$ by $1933$. By $1936$, membership was compulsory for all Aryan youth aged $14$ to $18$. Boys received military training, while the $BDM$ taught girls to be the "mothers of future soldiers."

Persecution of Minorities

The Nazi regime sought to maintain the "purity" of the Aryan race by targeting those they labeled "undesirables" or "social parasites":

• Handicapped and Disabled: Viewed as a threat to the race, they were targeted through eugenics. Between $1934$ and $1945$, over $300,000$ people were forcefully sterilized. (seen as burdens as money would be wasted on them)

• Additionally, $5,000$ disabled babies/children were killed, and $72,000$ mentally ill patients were gassed in chambers until public outcry halted the exterminations.

• Gypsies, Homosexuals, and Asocials: Groups such as homeless people, alcoholics, prostitutes, and beggars were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

Persecution of Jews

Hitler used the Jews as a scapegoat for all of Germany's problems, including the defeat in $WWI$, the Treaty of Versailles, hyperinflation, and the Great Depression. The persecution was systematic:

• $April\,1933$: National boycott of Jewish businesses.

• $1934$: Jewish shops were marked with the Star of David or "Juden." Germans were forbidden from entering.

• $1935$: Nuremberg Laws: Jews were stripped of German citizenship, lost civil and political rights, and were banned from marrying "pure-blooded" Germans.

• $November\,1938$: Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht): Following the shooting of a Nazi diplomat in Paris, state-sponsored terror led to the destruction of thousands of Jewish shops, homes, and synagogues. Over $20,000$ Jews were arrested, and the Jewish community was fined $1\,billion\,Reichsmarks$ for the damage.

• $1939-1945$: The Holocaust: In $1942$, the "Final Solution" was implemented. Jews were forced into overcrowded ghettos, used as slave labor, and eventually sent to death camps. By $1945$, an estimated $6,000,000$ Jews (roughly $\frac{1}{3}$ of the global Jewish population) had been killed.

Methods of Control: The SS and the Gestapo

To ensure total control and eliminate opposition, the Nazi state relied on fear and violence:

• The SS (Schutzstaffel): Led by $Heinrich\,Himmler$, this elite force of "pure Aryans" served as Hitler's bodyguards and were responsible for internal security. Sub-units included the Death's Head Units (who ran concentration camps and carried out exterminations) and the Waffen SS (the party's paramilitary army).

• The Gestapo (Secret State Police): Also led by $Himmler$, the Gestapo had unlimited power to arrest and detain people without trial. They utilized a massive network of ordinary citizens as informers to find "political enemies." This created a climate of fear where a simple remark, such as comparing Hitler unfavorably to Mussolini, could lead to immediate arrest.

• The Legal System: Hitler abolished trial by jury and forced all judges to join the Nazi-controlled National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law. The police force became an arm of the $SS$.

Propaganda and Censorship

$Joseph\,Goebbels$, Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, aimed to win over the hearts and minds of Germans while suppressing dissent.

• Reich Chamber of Commerce ($1933$): Controlled all art, literature, music, radio, and film. Membership was mandatory for any creator.

• Censorship: Any work hostile to Nazism was banned. Editors were monitored, and public book burnings were held to destroy "unacceptable" literature.

• Mass Media: Cheap radios were produced so all Germans could hear Hitler's speeches. Listening to foreign stations carried harsh penalties.

• Spectacle: Rallies and marches were held to display the power of the state.

Resistance and Opposition

Despite the risks, various groups resisted Nazi rule:

• Political Opposition: Socialists and communists continued to operate underground, organizing strikes and sabotaging equipment.

• Military Resistance: Many aristocratic officers were concerned by Hitler's aggressive policies. This culminated in the $July\,1944\,Bomb\,Plot$, an attempt to assassinate Hitler which ultimately failed.

• Religious Opposition: While the Nazis were cautious about closing churches, many clergy members criticized the regime. Roughly $400$ Catholic priests were imprisoned in the Dachau Concentration Camp.

• Youth Groups:

  • The White Rose: Students at the University of Munich who secretly distributed leaflets detailing Nazi atrocities.

  • The Edelweiss Pirates: Working-class teenagers who mocked the Nazis and physically fought members of the Hitler Youth.