Hitler's rule between 1933 and 1939, please help

[Llanea]

hey guys, i've been reading up on Hitlers Rule because of research i need for my Extended essay, "The Nazis relied on fear to stay in power between 1933 and 1939. How far do you agree with this statement?" so far i have had little luck finding a vast amount of relevant information, and was wondering if anyone had any ideas? All input would be great, especially in debate style ;)

 

much appreciated

Llanea, :)

[Buffy]

While its not light reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Third-Reich/dp/1567311636/by William L. Shirer is the must read on the topic. I also recommend "Inside the Third Reich" http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Third-Reich-Albert-Speer/dp/0684829495/ by Albert Speer, which can be downright creepy to read because he exposes how easy it was even for a avowed technocrat to get wrapped up in Nazi ideology.

 

Now you wanted answers, not a reading list (although if you're writing a paper, those are the books to reference!), so the top-level answer is that the Nazi's were really good at *motivating* the German people with fantasies of superiority and good times to come. The "superiority" part came from creating an enemy out of the Jews, but the goal here (aside from getting rid of them permanently which was a separate issue), was not to instill fear but to make it clear that there were many "races" out there who not only were responsible for the previous decade's severe economic depression, but that they were genetically inferior, and thus the Germans should feel that they were destined to get what they had been denied for so long, including retribution for the "unfair" outcome of WWI.

 

It did instill fear on the part of the Jews and other minorities that were targeted, but this was *not* a requirement to remain in power. The Nazi party was very popular in the 30's and Hitler would have been repeatedly re-elected had he bothered with such niceties as democracy.

 

It is of course interesting to look at similar situations in recent history!

 

Scary but true,

Buffy

[Mercedes Benzene]

If you could possibly find this video (I had a hard time), I would very much suggest it. It's a fictional account of a true story where a teacher performed an experiment with his class to show how easy it would be for someone to gain a Nazi-like following.

 

"The Wave"

 

OR, as I just found out, it's also a book.

[Mercedes Benzene]

I would also suggest looking into the Milgram Experiment as reserach.

Happy huntings!

[Freddy]

I'm sorry but your title needs work. As has been pointed out Jews, homosexuals, communists, Gypsies, disabled persons, and dissenters feared the Nazis because they were excluded from society. During the period from 1933, when Hitler became Chancellor, to 1939, when Germany invaded Poland on September 1st starting war in Europe, an overwhelming majority of Germans came to support Hitler and his Nazis during that period. They fully supported his policies toward the Jews and his war against the Allies. Millions of young Germans joined the army to fight, while millions of women bore children for the Reich and worked in factories to supply Hitler's war machine. Hitler used fear when needed, but the vast majority followed along because they believed in Hitler. Buffy pointed out one of Shirer's works, here is another, The Nightmare Years 1930-1940 by William L. Shirer. Another study is Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen. John Toland's Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography is highly regarded.

[Llanea]

hey guys, firstly thanks for the help,

my course consists of Propeganda, fear, economic and social policies, manipulation of the constitution to come to power(reichstag and the enabeling act) and the weakness of the weimar. The idea of the essay is to use one of them and argue the point that it was the most prominant reason for the nazis and Hitler staying in power, it is however required to make the argumentative essay non-biased, so the others will also be included but not as prominanty, the first draft is due on friday so i won't be able to read all of the suggested reading but i will try to find the books around here ad will try to look at them.

Freddy, the title is what was suggested to me by my history teacher through a past paper on my chosen topic, and i don't know what you mean by work into it, if you could clarify it that would be great.

Once again, thank you guys so much for the help and please continue to suggest information, i need all the help i can get :lol:

 

Thanks again, Llanea

[Freddy]

During the time from 1918 to the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 when the Nazis began their drive to power during the following decade they used fear and violence to gain power. Later, they consolidated their power by eliminating rivals, the SA and enacting laws that helped them to gain and keep power. However, as far as the ordinary Germans Hitler and the Nazis were a big hit. Perhaps if you focus on the Nazis' struggle with their rivals you can show the use of fear in gaining complete political power in Germany. Or you could focus on Josef Goebbels and his Ministry of Propaganda. You could focus on the rise of the German Army during this period as a reason for Hitler's maintaining power.

[TheBigDog]

Are we implying that there was no fear of dissenting opinions in Nazi Germany? I would believe that the fear of reprisal and exclusion was very helpful in getting the "swing votes" of popular opinion.

 

Bill

[Llanea]

Nope, BD i am attempting to find valid evidence that the Nazis did rely on fear to get and to remain in power during the afformentioned time period, any help would be greatly appreciated.

By the way guys, if you know any quotes from historians or valid sources and can give me the name of the author as well as the exact quote i will...give everyone cookies! Seriously though if you remember any off the top of your head or have recently read them in a historicaly accurate book could you please email them and the information of where they were found that would be fantastic.

 

yours, Llanea. :doh: :D

[Llanea]

Nope, BD i am attempting to find valid evidence that the Nazis did rely on fear to get and to remain in power during the afformentioned time period, any help would be greatly appreciated.

By the way guys, if you know any quotes from historians or valid sources and can give me the name of the author as well as the exact quote i will...give everyone cookies! Seriously though if you remember any off the top of your head or have recently read them in a historicaly accurate book could you please email them and the information of where they were found that would be fantastic.

 

yours, Llanea. :) :D

[InfiniteNow]

Well, who can resist the temptation of a cookie? :xparty:

 

 

September 1939 Quote from Nazi newspaper, Der Stürmer, published by Julius Streicher - "The Jewish people ought to be exterminated root and branch. Then the plague of pests would have disappeared in Poland at one stroke."

 

I'd say that last one may have been a source of fear for some...

[HydrogenBond]

Hitler didn't rely as much on fear as ego inflating propaganda. The fear was only against those who resisted or to induce the hate and rage in the German people needed to fuel a killing war machine. But the majority were pulled in by a sense of pride and nationalism. The Nazi youth were Hilter's favorate. They really believed in him because he was so effective at pulling the wool over their eyes.

[Freddy]

Here is a quote from the link below:

 

"On November 11, 1933, the anniversary of the Armistice of 1918, Hitler spoke of the "honor" that Germany had lost with that armistice. President Hindenburg that day addressed the nation by radio, and he told the nation to "support with me and the Reich Chancellor [Hitler] the principle of equal rights and peace with honor." "With the help of God," he concluded, " Germany will maintain its unity."

 

The next day a plebiscite was held across Germany, designed to underscore the legitimacy of Hitler's government. Ninety-six percent of the voting public cast their ballots. Ninety-two percent voted their approval of the single list of National Socialists and a handful of Nationalists to fill parliament. Some intimidation may have been involved in the voting, but it is estimated that overall the vote was a genuine expression of support for Hitler's government."

Hitler takes Power

 

That is what I have been trying to get across, the vast majority of Germans supported Hitler. Once his rivals, Communist and Socialist leaders, SA, and dissenters had been dealt with the Nazis were very popular with Germans. I have known several people from Germany, who were children/teens during Nazi rule. When I asked about their feelings toward Hitler their reply was that during that time they supported him and the Nazis. It was only later after the war that they realized how evil his treatment of Jews and others had been and how his war led to the destruction of Germany and much of Europe.

[TheBigDog]

I cannot help but be impressed with the sources you guys have found to answer Llanea's request. Hitler may have received the near unanimous support of the German people in 1933, but there was more to his rule than demonizing the Jews. I recall that youths were encouraged to turn in their parents if they overheard them speaking in disagreement with Hitler's policy, and that such youths were held up as public heroes of the Reich. Nationalism may have been strong, and "positive" propaganda many have been used as the carrot in trying to keep the German people in line, but make no mistake, there was a stick as well, and the "secret police" were not shy about using it. Don't forget that.

 

It seems that even after all this time Hitler's propaganda may still be working.

 

Bill

[HydrogenBond]

The use of fear by Hitler, can be understood with an analogy. What Hitler had done was create strong feelings of racism and nationalism. The Nazi's became like a school of sharks, at the top of the food chain, swimming in the ocean of their imagination. To get the sharks stoked for war, he used fear to create human "chum" to whip them into a feeding frenzy. (I use the term chum for analogy, it not meant to be derogatory).

 

Another analogy is the bully in the playground. Most bullies may be large but they are also insecure. They will tend to target the outcast (without allies), the weak and passive. Typically someone who is unable or unwilling to fight back. By bullying such students, the bully will send a ripple of fear to other students. Their fear becomes a scent that attracts the bully extending his confidence at intimidation.

 

The Nazi's first targeted the Jews who were passive and easy to bully. He then led the army against the Poles, who were a peaceful people not equipted for war. The playground bully gained confidence due to the esculating fear. The bully eventually tries to intimidate everyone on the playground, until finally someone hits him back, i.e., England.

[Llanea]

Thanks just what i was looking for ;)

[charles brough]

hey guys, i've been reading up on Hitlers Rule because of research i need for my Extended essay, "The Nazis relied on fear to stay in power between 1933 and 1939. How far do you agree with this statement?" so far i have had little luck finding a vast amount of relevant information, and was wondering if anyone had any ideas? All input would be great, especially in debate style

 

much appreciated

Llanea, :o :shrug:

The statement makes no sense at all. He relied on resentment over the excessive reparations imposed on Germany after their defeat in WWI. He also relied upon Western "white man's burden" racial superiority thinking, the eugenics research conducted by American firms in Germany and Henry Fords articles on the Jewish conspiracy as well as the Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion. He relied on "might is right" coming from evolution and depended upon western advertising in his (Gobbel's) propaganda mastery.

 

I have lived some in Germany and it was a very patriarchal society. There was a strong masculine bond between men. Hitler developed it to a mastery. Then men were caught up in a mesmerizing military enthusiasm that is hard if not impossible for us here to understand. Even boys in school studied and waved their Nazi flags with intensity. He built such enthusiasm that he was able to make his "socialism" work so well he almost made Germany into a single commune.