Hitlers Germany:

Consolidation and maintenance of power:

Hitler was detached from decision making and other administrative power, he went with the flow.

  • illusion from the image of the all powerful dictator.

  • Jan 30th 1933: he was appointed chancellor.

Reichstag: parliament

  • fire: Feb 27th someone burned the reichstag to the ground (most suspected party: the Nazi party), the nazis took advantage of this

Dealing with opposition:

From the left: working class 45% of german population

  • Supported the SPD (social democrats) and KPD (communist party) before 1933.

  • SPD: 1 million members in 1933, 4 million members with the trade unions, many leaders were excluded and operated the party from there, waiting for the fall of the nazi regime.

  • KPD: 89 KPD organizations in Berlin factories (1939). 10,000 arrested after the reichtstag fire, which forced them to operate in small underground cells.

Church opposition:

  • protests were limited but 693 priests were arrested (1939-1943) for opposition

    • Protests against removing crucifixes in schools by portraits of hitler (Rhineland 1937, Bavaria 1941). The nazis backed down

    • Protestant resistance: pastor niemöller resisted the creation of the reich church (1933), he was later arrested.

    • Cardinal von Galen preached a sermon in 1941 against the secret euthanasia programme

Army:

  • many officers supported the nazi rearmament, but not foreign policy.

  • 1938: Ludwig beck, the chief of staff, planned to stop hitler during studeten crisis- plot failed

Foreign policy:

  • Amp Taylor: Hitler had no precise goals (expansionism & opportunism)

  • Hugh treycr-roper: Hitler had clear goals since the start (as seen in the mein Kampf)

  • Richard J. Evans: Argues that Hitler's policies evolved over time, influenced by changing circumstances and pressures both domestically and internationally. This suggests a complex interplay between ideological motivations and practical considerations that shaped his decisions.