German Viewpoints on Hitler during the Third Reich

Germany finally gained nationhood in 1871, but unfortunately, throughout the 20^th Century, Germany faced several challenges that threatened its success as a nation such as World Wars I and II, the rise and fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise to power of The Third Reich and Nazism.  Throughout these challenges, I was most fascinated by the way in which the German people viewed themselves and Hitler.  While the challenges proved to be very difficult for Germany, Germany is a strong country today that clearly has not allowed its past to define it. 

After WWI, when the Weimar Republic took over as the first democracy in Germany, unfortunately, the timing was not right since the country was struggling economically after having been defeated in the war.  Additionally, it was comprised of a staff “at its wits’ end” (Schulze, 197).  Following WWI, a civil war erupted in Germany over which party would have power (Schulze, 198).  

In addition to the negative circumstances at the onset of the Weimar Republic that led to its destruction, two other major events led to the end of the democracy.  The German populace saw their own democracy negatively because the leaders of the democracy agreed to the Treaty of Versailles, and the crash of the economy due to the rising inflation rate also happened during the Weimar Republic (Schulze, 203; Schulze, 210).  

Pictured above is the Treaty of Versailles.  The Treaty of Versailles was opposed by almost all Germans because of the extremely harsh demands in terms of demilitarization and economic demands.  Two German government representatives signed the treaty in 1919, and Germans began to associate the Treaty of Versailles with democracy. As noted by Schulze, "this was the soil in which Hitler's totalitarian  and aggressive regime was ultimately able to grow" (Schulze, 202) (1).

The people of Germany wanted change, and that change was Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. The beginning of Hitler’s regime began much like what I would have expected, with Hitler ruling through fear, killing his opponents or sending them to concentration camps (Schulze, 250). In addition, “a totalitarian dictatorship is not firmly established until it also controls the minds of the people” (Schulze, 250). To accomplish this, Hitler banned books and works of art completed by anyone who disagreed with him and ensured that he was in control of German culture.  Hitler went so far as to create a National Chamber of Culture complete with a minister of propaganda (Schulze, 252). Hitler was basically trying to control the way Germans saw both him and themselves as a nation.

Pictured above is Hitler making a public appearance. Clearly, the swastika propaganda was stamped throughout the area, and people were following his lead. Hitler had a way of manipulating his audiences by taking advantage of their despair following the Weimar Republic and promising them a better future (Schulze, 233) (2).

While Hitler seemed to rule through fear and control, one issue that I found particularly compelling from the reading was the way the people of Germany viewed Hitler and the fact that Hitler was actually popular among Germans for much of his time as chancellor. Hitler did make several productive changes to Germany and additionally, the extent of the Nazis' horrific crimes were not fully clear to the general population until after WWII (Schulze, 287).

Pictured above is one of the gas chambers at Auschwitz.  Gas chambers were one of The Third Reich's major methods of mass-killings in their "euthanasia program" (Schulze, 274). I was surprised to learn that Hitler not only killed Jews and people who disagreed with him, but he also killed "80,000 people with mental disabilities" (Schulze, 274) (3).

Hitler was a master manipulator who clearly had a “grip on people’s minds,” both the minds of the populace and the minds of German leaders and some foreign leaders (Schulze, 239).  He knew how to manipulate the populace into supporting him often using his “demagogic talent and charisma” (Schulze, 230).  In addition to charisma, though, he carefully planned reforms to keep several different groups of the population happy, which made people unlikely to start a revolution.  Hitler planned several celebrations and lavish events meant to appeal to the emotions of the citizens of Germany and to unite them such as “Potsdam Day” (Schulze, 257). 

Pictured above is a scene from one of the Nazi rallies. Hitler was known for having lavish light shows, with British Ambassador Nevile Henderson even commenting that one of the performances was "'both solemn and beautiful'" (Schulze, 257) (4).

Hitler appealed to many different groups of people such as blue-collar workers, retail merchants, and farmers (Schulze, 256). His beneficial reforms included vast job creation through the construction of the autobahn, improved working conditions, protective tariffs for farmers, and successful foreign affairs (Schulze, 256-7).  As he annexed countries, Germans viewed themselves as much stronger than other countries (Schulze, 265).  Hitler seemed to be trying to distract the general public from discovering his much more sinister plans of “establish[ing] a ‘superior race’ over the dead bodies of its ‘inferiors,’ and it was working (Schulze, 247).  In addition to appealing to adults, Hitler also indoctrinated children at a young age by having The Hitler Youth, a mandatory organization meant to help children “mature into soldiers of the people” and even having anti-Semitic children’s books (Schulze, 252).

Pictured above are The Hitler Youth. While boys had to attend the Hitler Youth beginning in 1940, girls also had to attend a corresponding camp called Association of German Girls (Schulze, 258) (5).

While Hitler appealed to the citizens of Germany, behind the scenes, his goals were much more malevolent as he was eradicating the European Jewish population at an extremely alarming rate.  Even up until WWII, people were still unclear on Hitler’s true motives.  For instance, many thought he was waging war to undo the Treaty of Versailles when really his main concern was racial purity and eventual world domination (Schulze, 273).  Although Germans may not have known the extent of Hitler’s destruction, according to Schulze, they “had to have some suspicions of what was occurring” but in a sense looked the other way resorting to “habitual defense mechanisms and fallacious justifications” (Schulze, 275).  Finding out about all of the atrocities that were committed in “unfiltered form” only made Germans’ post-war repairs more difficult as they felt their morals had been destroyed and likely viewed themselves in a negative light for not being more aware (Schulze, 287).

While after WWI, Germans suffered from mass-hunger, after WWII, Germans not only suffered from hunger, but many were also living in areas that were ravaged by the war (Schulze, 286).  The United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union split Germany into zones, and it seemed that Germany was once again unable to develop a sense of national identity considering they were being controlled by outsiders and the country was divided (Schulze, 288).  The German people became indifferent to their nation for a time being and their main goal was on survival (Schulze, 287).

Pictured above is a map of the zone boundaries laid out after WWII.  Germany still had some sense of unity as it was supposed to be "a single economic unit" and each German had to go through a "'de-Nazification' process" (Schulze, 289).  However, since each area had different policies, it was hard to create overall unity within the country (6).

Overall, through a mixture of fear tactics, eliminating anyone who disagreed, and gaining the support of the people through manipulation, Hitler was able to commit horrendous atrocities in Germany and across Europe for nearly 12 years beginning in 1933 when he was appointed chancellor and ending in 1945 when he committed suicide after defeat was imminent (Schulze, 243; Schulze, 280-1). Before committing suicide, Hitler fought as hard as he could even if it meant "Germany's complete annihilation (Schulze, 285).  It was evident that Hitler had no loyalty toward the German people, despite the fact that many supported him for a time, and was only focused on his own goals of world dominance.

Word Count: 974

Image sources:

1:http://www.wadardbooks.co.uk/acatalog/12671T.jpg 

2:http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5552a896ecad04a932fbd880-809-607/hitler-26.jpg

3:http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/communpedia/images/0/00/Auschwitz_gas_chamber.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20101121040303

4:http://www.ottens.co.uk/gatehouse/user/files/Cathedral%20of%20Light%20by%20Albert%20Speer.jpg

5:http://www.war.ee/images/ww2_zone_images/hitlerjugend_20130218_11-59-18/20130218_12-22-24.jpg

6:http://www.newworker.org/peet_john/divided.jpg

The Role of The People in the Quest for German Identity

Until the nineteenth century, the “German nation existed solely on the plane of language and culture” (Schulze 90). Germany faced many challenges in becoming a nation, most of which stemmed from the rest of Europe objecting since at the time any major development in one country impacted the other countries as well.  Despite its challenges, in 1871 Germany became a united nation.  Along the way, a national identity evolved within the people of Germany, and this national identity and subsequent protesting played a role in its journey toward unification.

Contextualizing this political time period within the broader time period, it is no surprise that people began to make demands of their government after the birth of the Enlightenment Period, a time that reinforced ideas that were sparked by Martin Luther such as having a voice for oneself and using that voice to fight for what one believed in (Schulze 93).

Laukhard, who had served in the French army, noted that the French had such a strong army because of “a warm love of their country that Germans do not know, because as Germans they have no country” (Schulze 101).  While Germans had no country at the time, several events with the French pushed German citizens to feel a sense of unprecedented nationalism.

At first, the German sense of nationalism seemed to come from their disdain for France.  Around 1806, The Confederation of Rhine adopted many French institutions, but soon Germans began to dislike the control that French had and resented the fact that their government was allowing it to happen, which sparked the beginning of the national movement (Schulze 104).  

Above is a map of the Confederation of Rhine, which consisted of all German nations except Prussia and Austria (Schulze 104). (1)

Years later, in 1813, when there was a call to arms by Prussia, Germany took on the cause as a “people’s war,” strengthening Germany's senses of nationalism, and many people were willing to contribute however they could in the fight against Napoleon (Schulze 106).    

Pictured above is Napoleon, who "crowned himself 'Emperor of the French'" in1804 (Schulze 98). (2)

Once Napoleon accepted defeat in 1814, those who had pushed for German nationalism expected a united Germany, but unfortunately, the rest of Europe did not want a united Germany because they wanted to use Germany as a "playing field to balance their own interests" (Schulze 110).  Consequently university students became enraged, burning anti-nationalistic books, and even killing an anti-revolutionist writer (Schluze 110-111).   These university students also represented themselves with the colors black, red, and gold, the current colors of the German flag, inspired by the uniforms of the volunteer corps many of them served in (Schulze 110). In addition to those protests, citizens also protested and supported nationalism through written texts, pamphlets and flyers, works of scholarship, speeches, and even a choral festival (Schulze 120-1). 

Pictured above is August von Kotzebue, the German anti-nationalist writer who was killed by Carl Sand, the first political murder in Germany in 500 years (Schulze, 111). (3)

The government tried to suppress the nationalist movement, but some rulers knew deep down that they would not be able to contain it.  Austrian chancellor, Klemens Prince Metternich chronicled in his diary, “My most secret thought is that the old Europe has reached the beginning of the end” (Schulze 111). As the nationalist movement evolved and gained momentum, the authorities cracked down even further, wanting to prevent anything akin to the French revolution from occurring in Germany.  This suppression drove a "wedge" between the people and the state (Schulze 118).

In 1840, the nationalist movement gained even more momentum because the French desired to expand its borders toward German territory, and once again, the German people did not feel that their government was acting strongly enough, which ignited widespread protests (Schulze 119).  The German nationalist movement seemed to be at its peak in 1848 when another French king was overthrown. Schulze noted, "There was fighting in the streets in virtually every German territorial capital" (Schulze 123).

Pictured above is a scene from the German Revolution of 1848.  It is evident that by this point the national movement was extremely strong and the German national identity was widespread.  As pictured, during this time, "the black, red, and gold flag of the national movement was hoisted almost everywhere in Germany" (Schulze 124). (4)

The German people were by no means solely responsible for Germany gaining nationhood, and the founding of Germany as a nation had a lot to do with Otto von Bismarck’s leadership. Ironically, Bismarck was disliked by the national movement, which he used to his advantage so that he could catch everyone off guard with his plan.  It is evident, however that the push from the people made a difference. For instance, since rulers were afraid of a massive revolution, in many cases they eventually cooperated with citizens.  For example, in 1848 Frederick William IV withdrew troops and called a national assembly to “placate the populace” (Schulze 124).  Additionally, the Southern German governments “could see no viable path other than joining the North German Confederation, on whatever terms might be offered” because they faced so much patriotism and pressure from the populace (Schulze 145).

Pictured above is Otto von Bismarck, a conservative Prussian prime minster under whose leadership Germany was unified (Schulze, 138). (5)

As noted by Schulze, “German unification by no means came about solely on orders from above, from the ruling princes and their governments, but also as a result of clamor from below, from the forces of the liberal, middle-class national movement” (Schulze 145).  The German people demanded a unified nation, and in the end, they got one.

Word Count: 773

Picture Sources

(1) http://www.napoleonguide.com/images/confedrhine_fron.jpg 

(2) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Jacques-Louis_David_-_The_Emperor_Napoleon_in_His_Study_at_the_Tuileries_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg 

(3) http://www.preussenchronik.de/bilder/190_August_von_Kotzebue.jpeg 

(4) http://orig14.deviantart.net/e6a2/f/2010/355/7/1/german_revolution_1848_by_arminius1871-d35cd2s.jpg

(5) http://i.onthisday.com/otto-von-bismarck-200.jpg