1. Powerful And Continuing Nationalism
The “Hitler Salute” is originally from the Roman Salute which was picked up
by Mussolini in Italy and later taken by Hitler. It became mandatory in
1926. It was a identifiable system for all German's that showed
commitment to their cause and to their leader Hitler. It is now universally
associated with Hitler’s Nazi Party.
2. Disdain For The Recognition Of Human Rights
The Nazi’s disdain for human rights is
apparent in the concentration camps. Those who
didn’t comply with the Nazis had to expect
discrimination, persecution, Imprisonment and
death. Brutal enforcement against dissidents and
so called “subhuman beings” was part of daily life
of the Nazi/Aryan system, common within the day
to day livings of the average German citizen.
People did not have the right to express their
beliefs about this situation, nor did they have the
right to many of their basic rights such as the
right of free speech, freedom of movement, and
the freedom of media.
3. Painting Jewish and Ethnic Minority’s As
Scapegoats
To increase support in Nazi Germany pre-WW2 the
Nazi political party needed to paint a public enemy for
the common people to focus their discontent and
problems on. This common enemy was the Jew's and
other unpopular ethnic minorities. Such as Gypsies,
blacks and Homosexuals. Through this they were able
to gather a strong patriotism and sense of
nationalism.
4. Military Supremacy
Hitler saw Nazi Germany as being at the
centre of Europe and as the great power of Europe,
the nation needed a strong military. In 1933, Hitler
ordered his army generals to prepare to increase the
size of the army to 300,000 men. He ordered the Air
Ministry to plan to build 1,000 war planes disguised
as passenger airplanes. For two years, the German
military expanded in secret, by March 1935, Hitler
felt strong enough to go public on Nazi Germany's
military expansion - which broke the terms of the
Versailles Treaty. There would be compulsory military
conscription in Nazi Germany and that the army
would be increased to 550,000 men. Hitler stated,
from even the 1920's, that he wanted "lebensraum"
(or living space) for the German people as a whole,
wherever they existed. Hitler felt that to be a strong
nation they would need a strong army in order to
expand and hold ground.
5. Rampant Sexism in Nazi Germany
A woman's role in Nazi Germany role was that they
should be good mothers bringing up children at home
while their husbands worked. From their earliest years,
girls were taught in their schools that all good German
women married at a young age to a proper German and
that the wife’s task was to keep a decent home for her
working husband and to have children. All women -
married or single – were told to have 4 children and
that the fathers of these children had to be "racially
pure“. Women were not expected to wear make-up or
trousers. The dyeing of hair was not allowed nor was
perms. Only flat shoes were expected to be worn.
Women were discouraged from slimming as this was
considered bad for child birth. Women were
encouraged to have a well built figure. As slim women,
so it was taught, would have problems in pregnancy.
Women were also discouraged from smoking, not
because it was linked to problems with pregnancies but
because it was considered non-German to do so. There
was tax reductions for woman that would have a large
family. Married women were excluded from civil
services and other professions. Employers were
encouraged to employ men opposed to women.
Abortion was restricted and birth control for Aryans
was condemned. They did it because of traditional
values, sexism, children and more jobs for men as
women filled their duties
6. Censorship of the Media
Censorship ensured that Germans could
only see what the Nazi hierarchy wanted people to
see, hear what they wanted them to hear and
read only what the Nazis deemed acceptable. The
Gestapo dealt with anyone who went outside of
these boundaries harshly and severely. Censorship
dominated the lives of the ordinary citizen in Nazi
Germany. With the Minister of Propaganda,
Joseph Goebbels creating a way to influence the
populous. Newspapers, radio and all forms of
media were put under the control of the Nazi
political party, censoring what could be heard seen
or read. Anything that insulted the Nazi political
party’s control of party or tried to usurp their
power was dealt with by the Gestapo.
7. Obsession with National Security
As the Reichstag building burned down, Hitler
immediately declared that it was the signal for a
communist takeover of the nation. Hitler knew that if
he was to convince President Hindenburg to give him
emergency powers - as stated in the Weimar
Constitution - he had to play on the old president's fear
of communism, because of the old President’s fear for
National Security he was able to come to power.
People were employed in each street, in each building
complex etc. with the sole purpose of keeping an eye
on others in their 'area' and reporting them to the
authorities if they believed that something was amiss
or was a threat to their power. All the Nazis’ major
opponents were killed, exiled or put in prison by the
Gestapo and sentenced to the Concentration camps.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
The greatest threat to Hitler was religion- a belief stronger than Nazism. Hitler tried to make a peace
with the churches claiming that he was catholic on some occasions. Many Christians refused to accept
Nazi ideas and some died for their beliefs. Others were prepared to accept Nazi ideas, especially when
Hitler set up a Reich Church. The swastika and the cross were put side by side. This shows how they
were finally at peace and had come to an agreement. Hitler used Christian vocabulary. He talked about
the blessing of the almighty and how the Christian beliefs would become pillars of the new state. He
handed out deeply religious stories to the press, especially the church papers. It was reported, for
example, the he showed his tattered Bible to some deaconesses and declared that he drew from the
strength for his great work from the word of God.
9. Protection Of Corporate Power
In Nazi Germany the split of power in the economic system is balanced towards the powerful
and wealthy. The Nazi party needed the support of the high class in their rise towards power
and by creating economic rules that cater towards the wealthy and powerful they were able
to acquire this and keep it. The goal of Germany’s economic was to make several poor
country’s rely upon Nazi Germany for trade, providing Germany with a constant influx of
goods and a stable economy pre-war.
10. Labor Power Is Suppressed
The Gestapo secret police of Nazi Germany was very effective at not only quelling any
possible threat to their power, but inspiring fear so that these kind of things would not start.
This prevented many uprisings of the worker class. In addition to this unions were not
allowed due to the power that they had in uniting the working class as a single power
towards the government. There were state-run labor groups however they were highly
censored and controlled by the government.
11. Disdain for Intellectual’s And The Arts
In Nazi Germany any art that was not approved of by
the Third Reich was either destroyed or not allowed.
According to Hitler true art was “Artists who are able to
impress upon the State of the German people the
cultural stamp of the Germanic race... in their origin and
in the picture which they present they are the
expressions of the soul and the ideals of the
community." The artist’s were required to create art
that portrayed the German’s in either glorified war
scenes, or anything that painted the Nazi’s cause as
honorable and just. Art was largely used as a form of
propaganda.
http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/ARTS/ARTREICH.HTM
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
The Nazi party set up a secret police
force called the Schutzstaffel abbreviated
SS. The SS was made for personal
protection of Adolf Hitler. As such, the SS
had a lead role in the “Final Solution”, the
extermination of the Jewish and other
inferior races, killing approximately 12
million people. The SS had almost
unlimited power in Nazi Germany to
accomplish whatever it is they felt that
they needed to do, killing and kidnapping
countless people. The average citizen
looked over this offense in the name of
patriotism which was mainly a result of
the strong propaganda of the time.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
In Nazi Germany Cronyism was used to great effect to satisfy the politically powerful and
wealthy. By electing people to high-ranking positions in his army/political structure Hitler was
able to get the support of many, ensuring that there was little opposition to his power. With
most Fascist and Totalitarian nations there was also a unfair distribution of wealth to the
select few, giving funds for extravagant projects and etc.
14. Fraudulent Elections
In Nazi Germany due to the enabling act there was almost 0 fairness in the political system.
The enabling act allowed the Nazi party and Hitler to be the single totalalitarian power, and
allowed him to move away from the Weimar Constitution. Hitler then systematically
destroyed all opposition to his political party , the communist party and other key opponents
were banned from the political system. The other political party’s were firmly encouraged to
disband. With these events Nazi Germany became a single party state, with complete control
over the voting process and who led the country.
