Controlling the German People

How successfully did the Nazis control the German people?

Historians debate the extent to which the Nazis were able to control the German people.

How did the Nazis successfully control the German people?

There were 10 main reasons why the Nazis could be considered successful at controlling the German people.

• ❖ They used propaganda and censorship to create genuine support for the Nazi regime. As a result, many people were happy to follow their rules. People enthusiastically attended rallies, and decorated their homes with swastikas and portraits of Hitler.
• ❖ They took over the judicial system, ensuring that the police and courts were loyal to Nazi ideals. As a result, people had no legal ways in which to challenge Nazi laws.
• ❖ They banned all other political parties, and destroyed all internal opposition within their own party with the Night of the Long Knives. This meant that there was no democratic way to challenge them.
• ❖ They used force to deal with those who tried to oppose the regime. This included the use of concentration camps, public executions and, later, death camps.
• ❖ They used terror to ensure people were too afraid to attempt any opposition. The Gestapo created a constant atmosphere of fear, and encouraged people to inform upon each other.
• ❖ Their economic policies and their focus on workers, such as the reduction of unemployment and the Strength Through Joy Programme, encouraged loyalty.
• ❖ Those who closely followed the Nazi ideals for society were rewarded - such as the 'Mother's Cross', awarded to Aryan women who bore lots of children.
• ❖ Those who did not fit into Nazi ideals - such as disabled people or the Jews - were punished through sterilisation, persecution, imprisonment, and death.
• ❖ They ensured young people were loyal to the regime through their control of the education system, and through the Hitler Youth.
• ❖ Some argue that the Nazis were able to establish a totalitarian regime where they had complete control of all aspects of people's lives.

How did the Nazis fail to control the German people?

There are 7 main reasons why the Nazi failed to have complete control over the German people.

• ❖ There were many who took part in passive resistance towards the regime: for example, by refusing to give the Nazi salute or by being deliberately late for work.
• ❖ There were also instances of active resistance against the regime, such as the von Stauffenberg bomb plot.
• ❖ The impact of the Gestapo was exaggerated, as they were in fact understaffed, and not able to control the population in the way Nazi propaganda led people to believe.
• ❖ The fact that attendance of the Hitler Youth had to be made compulsory in 1936 suggests that many young people did not support the regime. There were also many youth opposition groups, such as the Edelweiss Pirates.
• ❖ Many challenged the Nazi control of culture: for example, by listening to western music and wearing western-style clothes. The Swing Youth used this type of resistance.
• ❖ They were unable to take control of people's religious lives. The Reich Church was not successful, and many prominent religious figures spoke out against the Nazi regime.
• ❖ Some argue that the existence of resistance suggests that the Nazis were unable to establish a totalitarian regime.