Gleichschaltung+in+Nazi+Germany

Hitler's Germany When most people think of Hitler, a few key ideas pop immediately into their heads; the holocaust, a funny mustache, and Nazi Germany. Countless video games, movies, and works of literature have been set in this locale because of its historical significance. And each one portrays Nazi Germany in its own way. But in nearly every adaption, Germany under Hitler's rule is seen as totalitarian state where Hitler and the Nazis are in charge of almost all aspects of life. And this was mostly the case in the real world. Using propaganda, terror, and a legal process called Gleichschaltung, Hitler effectively controlled and organized his Nazi state. After gaining power and becoming chancellor of Germany in 1933, Hitler wasted no time in reorganizing Germany. He passed the Enabling Act in March of 1933 which would “effectively do away with parliamentary procedure and... would instead transfer full powers to the chancellor and his government”i. This essentially made whatever Hitler wanted to do from that point forward legal. He exercised this new found power and began to consolidate the German government by taking away the “largely self-governing federal states”ii “ability to act in any way except as agents of the Reich”iii, and instead put them under the control of the Ministry of Interior through a bill in 1934.iv This put Hitler in command of all aspects of German government and made him a true totalitarian leader, where his word was law throughout the entire country. Gleichschaltung, or “ the process by which all organizations and associations existing in society were nazified”v had already begun. And it was all done legally thanks to the Enabling Act. But gleichschaltung and Hitler's thirst for unification in Germany wasn't limited to just the confines of his own government. The Nazi party aimed to have “unlimited authority of the central parliament over the whole Reich”vi and to achieve that goal it was obvious they couldn't allow other political parties to compete with them. The communists a clear threat to Nazism, and even before Hitler had the majority necessary to pass the Enabling Act, he found a way to dismantle the communist party through the Reichstag fire of 1933. At the time the fire in the German parliament was blamed on a Dutch communist, and it was concluded that the action was the beginning of an attempted workers rebellionvii. To this day there is no definitive answer about whether or not this explanation had any merit, or if it was simply a Nazi plot, but in any case, Hitler quelled the “uprising” by presenting the “Decree for the Protection of the People and the State”, which “stripped citizens of their constitutional liberties and allowed the Nazi government to arrest communist leaders”viii. Once that pesky party was taken care of, most other political organizations began to see the writing on the wall and voluntarily disbandedix. Soon there were no more parties left, and the Nazi party became the only legal political organization in Germany. It became punishable by law to try and create or join a new onex. This was coupled with a decree signed by President Hindenberg which “allowed for the arrest of anyone suspected of maliciously criticizing the government”xi. These measures insured Germany became a one-party state controlled entirely by the Nazi elite. Political unification of the country had therefore been achieved. For the average citizen living in Nazi Germany, gleichschaltung meant much more than just political and governmental unification. Aspects of daily life began to be influenced, starting from a very young age. There were many youth clubs prior to the rise of Nazism in Germany, but after Hitler rose to power, “All existing youth organizations were then taken over by the Hitler Youth and the other Nazi bodies”xii. And because “Hitler Youths must obey all commands issued by any Nazi Party leader”xiii, children were taught to follow orders their whole life. This made it easier down the road to convince the population to go along with Hitler. And the kids weren't the only ones who found their organizations under new leadership once Hitler rose to power. Trade unions were seen as threat due to their huge membership numbers and ties to socialism, so naturally they didn't last long under the Nazi regime. In 1933 “independent trade unions were then banned and in their place all German workers' organizations were absorbed into the German Labour Front”xiv which was controlled by the Nazi party. Even professional associations like those composed of lawyers were dumped into a national, nazi-sponsored lawyer association that could be easily regulatedxv. This began happening all over the place, until “the Nazis took over almost every organization and leisure club in the whole country”xvi. This prevented any separate group from even beginning to think about rivaling the Nazis in terms of size or mind share. One of the best tools that Hitler had at his disposal to help control the population without using violence was propaganda. It helped do everything from helping to bolster the war effort to comparing Hitler to Christxvii. It was “designed to make it difficult to distinguish between nationalism and the radical and revolutionary implications of the Nazi racialist ideology”xviii. This effort to sway the minds of German citizens was headed up by Joseph Goebbels, the minister for propagandaxix. Although it was difficult to predict a poster or a pamphlets success, the sheer amount of propaganda helped make it effectivexx. From Hitler's rise to power on, it was essential in manipulating public perception to fit the Nazi parties needs. It's impossible to determine exactly what is 'commonly believed' about the level of control that Hitler had over Nazi Germany, and therefore I can't agree that Hitler had less control than most people think. But it is certain that he did attempt to control and organize almost all aspects of life and government under his rule, using propaganda, gleichschaltung, and terror to achieve his goals. Whenever we see Nazi Germany portrayed today, it's typically presented as a dystopia-esque state where you can't speak out against the government without fear of extreme consequences, and that's essentially what it was. Almost an anthesis to the freedom and democracy allowed in America. Everything from state governments to youth bowling leagues underwent nazification of some kind, making Hitler's control of his state at least effective enough to frighten me into appreciating the freedoms I have in my life. iLayton, Geoff. //The Third Reich 1933-45//. London: Hodder Murray, 2005. p. 11 iiIbid p. 13 iii"GERMANY: Death of the States." //TIME//. N.p., 12 Feb. 1934. . ivLayton p. 13 vFeuchtwanger, Edgar. "Nazi Gleichschaltung." //History on the Web//. . viHitler, Adolf, and Anton Drexler. //The Program of the NSDAP//. 24 Feb. 1920. Print. viiLayton p. 10 viiiCummings, Denis. "On This Day: Nazis Ban All Other Political Parties." //Finding Dulcinea//. 14 July 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. . ixLayton p. 15 xCummings xiGavin, Phillip. "The Rise of Adolf Hitler." //The History Place//. N.p., 1996. Web. . Phillip Gavin maintains the site “The History Place” and has written books such as “World War II in Europe” about the subject. xii Feuchtwanger p.2 xiii Gavin “Hitler Youth- Rise to Power”  xiv Layton pp.14 xvFeutchwanger p. 2 xviScheck, Raffael. "Establishing a Dictatorship: The Stabilization of Nazi Power." //Colby University//. . Raffael Scheck is a history professor at Colby College. xvii http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/posters/dove.jpg xviii Feutchwanger p.2 xixScheck xxhttp://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/ww2era.htm