4.1.4 Life in Nazi Germany
Completion requirements
4.1.4 Life in Nazi Germany
Auschwitz-Birkenau, now a memorial museum in Poland, was the site of a concentration camp where an estimated two million people were put to their death. © Courtesy http://www.upthebanner.com
When you think about Nazi Germany, what images come into your mind?
- Adolf Hitler and his mesmerizing speeches?
- Nazi rallies where thousands raised their arms in salute to the Führer, calling out "Heil Hitler"?
- Tanks rumbling across recognized borders?
- Military expansion leading to world war?
- Concentration camps where millions were put to death?
Many atrocities were committed by the Nazis whose fascist ideology and totalitarian practices led to war and untold suffering. But what did they believe? How were they able to take control of a liberal democratic nation filled with reasoning people and convince them to persecute people according to race, ability, and gender orientation? How were they able to convince a nation that their race was superior to all others and deserved to rule all neighbouring lands? How were they able to organize the people to go into battle for the second time in just over twenty years?
Although we know that life for Jews and other members of persecuted minorities was tragic, what was life like for the average German?
Hitler was not unique in his hatred of the Treaty of Versailles or his belief that the Jews were to blame for most of Germany's problems. He drew from history and folklore to rekindle the pride of Germans in their history, which gave them hope for the future. Ethnocentrism, or the idea that certain races were superior to others, was common in Great Britain and United States at that time, so the idea that the German or Aryan people were part of a superior class of people was not at all new.
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Read "The Program of the Nazi Party" on page 176 and "Lives of Aryan Germans" on pages 191-192 in your text, Perspectives on Ideology
As you read, consider the characteristics and themes of ideologies
represented by the Nazi Party including their:
Also consider how the ideology deals with the themes introduced in Unit One: nation, class, race, relationship to the environment, gender, and religion.
- belief in the nature of human beings,
- how society should be structured,
- how they interpreted history, and their vision for the future.
Also consider how the ideology deals with the themes introduced in Unit One: nation, class, race, relationship to the environment, gender, and religion.
The Corporate Economy
Remember, fascism is a political ideology but it does not have a set of economic ideas. The Nazi economy combined elements of individualism and collectivism but it was hardly liberal. Its domestic economy was aimed completely towards the goals of the government, including eliminating unemployment, increasing military production, and increasing consumer goods to raise the standard of living for the lower and middle classes. Trade unions were banned to eliminate labour unrest, but workers had no way to improve working conditions.Although the Nazis believed in the ownership of private property, it was conditional upon how that property was used. If corporations and their owners put personal profit ahead of achieving national goals, their factories could be nationalized. Individuals and corporations were allowed to own private property, but they were controlled by the state. Government regulations, subsidies, quotas, tariffs, and a complex taxation system meant that companies that followed Nazi rule were rewarded while others ran the risk of losing everything, including their lives.
For example:
- Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche, and Ford all used prisoners of war to work in their factories.
- Krupps and Bayer had production plants in Auschwitz (the huge concentration camp).
- Hugo Boss designed and manufactured the SS uniform.
"I want everyone to keep what he has earned subject to the principle that the good of the community takes priority over that of the individual. But the State should retain control; every owner should feel himself to be an agent of the State-. The Third Reich will always retain the right to control property owners."
Adolf Hitler
Techniques of Dictatorship to Maintain Control:
- Controlled Participation through extensive local, regional, and national party organizations, groups and mass rallies. Therefore citizens (supporters) feel as if they 'belong'. Establishment of professional, cultural, and youth groups that support the leader, often with forced participation.
- The use of force and terror used as a weapon to ensure citizens follow the government and do not rebel. This includes the presence of secret police to promote a climate of fear and distrust.
- Indoctrination through the use of propaganda and control of the education system from an early age. Total control of all forms of media ensure only the government's message is communicated to the people. Widespread use of censorship.
- Redirection of popular discontent towards scapegoats or people the government claims is to blame for all of the country's problems. This directs the people's anger and blame for problems onto another group away from the government.
What techniques of dictatorship are reflected in the propaganda poster?
Nazi Poster included the caption "War employment of the Hitler Youth".
As you read, take notes on the following:
- What ideas are presented about the rejection of liberalism?
- What values and beliefs lie behind the ideology of fascism?
- What techniques of dictatorship did Hitler and the Nazis use to gain control?