The question initially demands a definition of a “totalitarian” state. A nowadays generally accepted definition is described by George Orwell in his futuristic novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. It suggests a political system and society where there the individual basically does not exist; a single party controls every aspect of “life”. Every move, every step is watched with care; every opposition, possible resistance or incompatibility with the ideology of the party is tracked down by the police. Such fictional and absurd description sort of brought it to the point.

Orwell wrote this in the late 1940’s. Ten years later, historians in general saw the Nazi Regime as totalitarian. Nowadays this is not as widely accepted. The following paragraphs will show what relates to the Third Reich as totalitarian and what not.

Nazism emerged out of the post-World-War-One Weimar Republic. The NSDAP was initially a small party, largely located in the south of Germany. Yet within a few years time the party managed to establish itself and when Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, Germany was in fact a one-party state; which, in effect, controlled every aspect in the life of the Aryan. However was there really one party, or was it the role of Hitler himself that enabled such totalitarian conditions? Hitler announced himself “Führer” by combining the functions of chancellor and president after the death of Hindenburg in August 1934 combined the functions of Chancellor and President¹. Even more, he was also Commander-in-chief of all armed services. It is disputable if there was a one-party-state or more a sovereign one-man leadership. Nevertheless, all possibilities for liberal thinking vanished with the introduction of one government.

The Third Reich was most definitely a one-way government, yet how was it structured? How was it able to influence every aspect in the life of the German?

From a superficial point of view, the Nazi Regime appeared well organised and structured. However, Hitler himself rejected any document work and governmental issues. He was supposed to have believed that problems would be solved if no one interfered. This, for sure, could in effect not work out. In general, the Nazi Regime is now seen as confused. The question that naturally arises from this is how, then, was the Nazi Government able to stay in power? There are various reasons for this. For one, Hitler removed all internal (that is within the party) problems by deliberately encouraging interior competition. Secondly, opposition to the state was reduced by the mere fact that individual resistance groups were unable to unite against the common enemy (simply due to a lack of trust). Thirdly, and probably mainly, Hitler turned the Nazi Regime into a police state, often referred to as a “Terror State”.

The SS, short for “Schutz-Staffel”, developed into the mainstay of Nazi Government. Initially thought to be the elite bodyguard for Hitler, it developed from a minor section within the SA an identity and structure of its own under the new leadership of Himmler. Although the SS was, in a way, a party of its own, it was still under the supreme control of Hitler, inevitably linking it to the state. Himmler created the SD, the “Sicherheitsdienst”, as the Party’s own internal police force. Under Himmler’s control was also the “Gestapo”². The Gestapo was feared for its brutality, clearly demonstrated in the “Night of the Long Knives”³. The SS-Police-SD controlled by Himmler and answerable only by Hitler, emerged a powerful force within Nazi-Germany. It preserved Nazi Politics by brutal and repressive policies of law enforcement. Furthermore, the influence of the police, especially that of the SS, would extend. The “Waffen-SS” became the elite military fighting unit, the “Death Hand Units” ran the concentration camps⁴; as Nazi control increased due to conquest in the war, the power of the SS enhanced in a way that it became responsible for the “New Order”⁵. So, the entire police system functioned not only as internal security, but also evolved influence in economic and military matters. Inevitably, it was the key group in the Third Reich.

Naturally, a powerful police state will never be sufficient enough to guarantee nation-wide order. Before and after Hitler became Chancellor, the mighty propaganda machine played a vital role in the Nazi Party. Göbbels, Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda, commented, “It is not enough for the people to be more or less reconciled to our regime, to be persuaded to adopt a neutral attitude towards us, rather we want to work on people until they have capitulated to us, until they grasp ideologically what is happening…” The two important forms of delivering the messages were the radio and the press. The radio was a fairly new invention and in 1932, less than a quarter of the German households owned a wireless. As a result, the government made provisions for the production of a cheap set, the “Volksempfänger”⁶. Seven years later, approximately three-quarters owned a radio, as well as every café, factory, offices and other public places had a loudspeaker installed. The press was more difficult to seize control of - after all, there existed 4,700 official newspapers in Germany. The Nazis publisher — “Eher Verlag” — bought many, the Propaganda Ministry held a daily press conference, and the “Editor’s Law” finally made control over the press perfect. The propaganda areas extended onto film, music, literature and art. Most of these were used to portray the German culture, for example only German musicians were allowed to be played - music composed by Jews was forbidden. The Nazi Propaganda Machine was rendered perfect by social rituals. These included the “Heil Hitler” greeting, the Nazi salute, the “Horst Wessel”⁷ song and the different kinds of uniforms all linked to the regime. This was even more exploited by the various ritual festivals. Estimating the impact of Nazi Propaganda on the population is virtually impossible. It would be unfair to misjudge the people at that time, which were indoctrinated by the constant repetition of Nazi ideology, from our liberal point of view. At that time, it was easier to believe what was presented rather than risk personal freedom, threatened constantly by the police.

The role of the army in a political system is vital, since lack of support from the military would lead to domestic as well as foreign problems. Hitler, while combining the functions of the Chancellor and President, also declared himself Commander-in-Chief of all armed services. And as a matter of fact, the soldiers of the German army were obliged to swear an oath, not to the country, but to Hitler. Naturally, for the German soldier, bound to discipline and order by a long tradition, any future resistance would be considered as high treason. The army undoubtedly was a mainstay of the Nazi regime, in the false belief that it would maintain all the power it once possessed. Officers attempted to kill Hitler in 1944 when the war was going bad. The attempt failed. Even though it was a very brave act, the indecisive actions of that day reflected the confused state the army was in.

Various social groups and organisations, logically all connected or linked with the Nazi state, influenced the aspect of every German, no matter what age or sex. All of these, cleverly thought to indoctrinate the people, spread Nazism and propaganda supporting Hitler or the Third Reich throughout Germany.

Firstly, the workers. Hitler introduced a law that banned all labour unions or strikes of workers. Instead, a Nazi DAF⁸ was set up, obviously controlled by Nazis. Wages, working hours, stable rents and recreational provisions were organised by the Nazi KDF⁹.

Women were, from a feminine point of view, discriminated, to some extent similar like the ‘inferior’ races. The Nazis, on the other hand, claimed they would just treat them differently. The role of women in the Third Reich was simple and easy, in a chilling way named the “K, K, K”, meaning “Kinder, Kirche, Küche”¹⁰. Basically, the Aryan female had to be fit and healthy, was to look good in a natural way, cook well and have as many children as possible. There was even a policy, allowing any women with a double-figured number of children to have tea with Hitler.

Other than that, Hitler urged the importance on Germany’s youth. Hitler expressed his views concerning this in 1933, “When an opponent declares, ‘I will not come to your side’, I calmly say, ‘Your child belongs to us already … In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.” There were various youth organisations, which had a total number of members between ten and eighteen years of age of nearly ten million people in 1938! Amongst those were the “Hitlerjugend”¹¹ or “Deutsches Jungvolk”¹². Their main exercises consisted were of physical nature, to prepare them for war in every way and to indoctrinate them from an early stage onwards. Naturally, similar movements were made for girls. These were however brought up to be healthy and strong, in order to bear just as fit children.

Education, in general, was one of the major targets of the Nazis. One of the distinct branches within the Nazi Party was the Nazi Teacher’s League. The main subjects on education were physical education, history and biology. History was slightly altered to shine a good light on the ‘superior’ Aryan race and pushed strongly on the recent Nazi steps to power. Biology was more a less a ‘racial science’, it consisted mainly in describing distinguished features of ‘inferior’ races. Physical education, as already mentioned, was important to encourage competition, enforce discipline, and keep them healthy - in short, pre-war training. Special schools were provided for the (supposedly) most gifted and talented, these would be the future leaders of the Third Reich.

Germany was (and is) a mainly Christian country. A Majority of people are either Protestants or Catholics. It is therefore not difficult to determine the influence the church could have on the people, in particular the possible opposition it could provide to the Nazis. Hitler knew that he could not afford to attack the church during his voting campaigns, and hence compromised on a “Concordat” with the church, granting religious freedom. Hitler’s true feelings about the church were probably revealed during a private conversation in 1933: “One is either Christian or German. You can’t be both.” In reality, church officials who talked openly against Nazi politics were prosecuted, often sent to concentration camps, some of them even dying there. Even the religious schools were influenced. In effect, Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf”¹³ substituted the bible and the swastika replaced the cross.

Reviewing the structure of the party and the impact on society, it would not be untrue to define Nazi Germany as “totalitarian”. However, it can be criticised in two ways. First of all, although Germany was a one-party state, the Nazis did not have a unity or adequate organisation. Secondly, there was never a complete control over the economy, which would have been necessary to exercise full authority. Nevertheless, the Third Reich consisted of one party, maintained by a powerful police system and a public relation that controlled and influenced every aspect in the life of a German citizen.

¹ “Law concerning the Head of the State of the German Reich”

² Geheime Staatspolizei - Secret State Police

³ Night in which Hitler ordered the assassination of many, as he thought, that opposed him

⁴ Camps similar to prisons, not thought as extermination camps

⁵ The elimination of ‘inferior’ races on occupied territory

⁶ People’s Receiver

⁷ Named after a petty criminal who was made a martyr after dying in street riots

⁸ “Deutsche Arbeiter Front” - German Labour Front

⁹ “Kraft durch Freude” - Strength through Joy

¹⁰ children, church, kitchen

¹¹ Hitler Youth

¹² German Young People

¹³ My Struggle

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