Totalitarianism In Nazi Germany

If one were to glance at Germany during September 1939 it would not unreasonable to assume that the country had become a totalitarian state under the Nazi Regime. That was not, however, the case. Nazi Germany, although projecting the appearance of all the efficiency and organisation of a totalitarian government was only successful in controlling some aspects of German life. The basic concept of the totalitarian state was best expressed in Mussolini's well-known phrase, "all within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state". The state is the master, and the individual the servant. A totalitarian state permits only one centralised government and it does not tolerate parties of differing opinions. It is a state in which the

Not even the army was under his complete control, many objecting to Hitler’s new regime. Hitler also tried to control the youth through the educational system and extracurricular clubs. He was again met with much opposition. There were, however, two areas in which he was able to exert total control over, they were the media and legal system. Hitler never quite possessed the total control over the German state that would be required for 1939 Germany to be considered a totalitarian state.

A totalitarian state is one in which there is no form of opposition. The Nazi regime faced opposition in the form of differing political parties, the church, political rebels, and even in parts of the army. While 1933 did see the establishment of Hitler’s one party state, several resistance groups arose from the remnants of the political parties originally disbanded by the Nazi’s. Hitler found the most political resistance in Germany’s largest non-Nazi political group, the Social Democratic Party. Although the Social Democratic Party was declared illegal May 1933, the party leadership relocated to Prague, and by late 1933 the party had 3,000

Despite Hitler’s best attempts, he lacked the control required to create a totalitarian state. Hitler is quoted as saying, “He who owns the youth gains the future”. Hitler knew that controlling the youth was the key to creating the “1,000 year Reich”. The Nazi Regime needed people to carry on the Nazi flag. This led to Hitler’s attempt at indoctrinating the German youth into Nazism. The Nazi regime took control of the education system, and Hitler changed many subjects to comply with Nazi ideology. Teachers were given the option to join Nazi controlled organisations or be fired. The subject of Biology was used to highlight ideas of racial superiority. Physical Education was given more importance, a new subject called “Rassenkunde” (Racial Studies) was introduced, and even the subject of Maths was changed to be more in line with Nazi ideology. Hitler created military academies called Napolas were children between the ages of 13 and 14 were trained. This allowed Hitler to exorcise complete control over the German education system. Hitler also created “Hitler Youth” for young boys, and the . “German League of Maidens” for young women. These were organisations created to indoctrinate the German youth into the ways of Nazism. Yet not every child was involved in the “Hitler Youth”, by 1936 only 60% of boys had joined, this means that 40%