History

‘The Nazi regime enjoyed broad consent brought about by popular policies’
How far do you agree with this opinion?

The Nazi regime consolidated its power in stages during the period 1933 to 1939. The regime won support for its anti-communist stance and because it was the legitimate government of the day. Propaganda, foreign policy success, the economic recovery of Germany from the Great Depression, as well as Nazism’s promise to create an ordered society for the majority of Germans appealed to the vast majority of the German population, who had been traumatised by the 1929-32 economic crises. The extent to which consent was based on terror and repression and how far it was the result of shared values, propaganda and indoctrination can be seen by evaluating own knowledge combined with the sources.

To begin evaluating the consent Nazi’s enjoyed, popular policies must first be addressed. It would appear that the Nazi’s policies were very popular. Many German people had suffered during the First World War and the Depression, so welcomed Hitler's economic policies with open arms. There was full employment, new public works and ordinary workers even had the opportunity to purchase a car to drive on the new autobahns. The Nazis set up the SdA (Beauty of Work) to help Germans see that work was good, and that everyone who could work should. Combined with SdA, KdF (Strength through Joy) proved popular incentives. Other successful policies included support for agriculture, aggressive foreign policy and an anti-communist policy which proved welcome after the Depression. Anti-Semitism was also very popular, especially with German’s who got the Jew’s jobs. The Hitler Youth was popular with children and their parents, however this is questionable as when it was made compulsory to join in 1936, only 60% of children actually did so. Although all of these policies proved popular in creating broad consent for the Nazi’s [as highlighted in the 25 Point Plan], it was ultimately the Gestapo and the concentration on the traditional family that ensured consent was upheld.

The Nazi Police State was to ensure that everybody did as they were told - or paid the price. The Nazi Police were controlled by Heinrich Himmler and his feared secret police - the Gestapo - did as it pleased in Nazi Germany. As nearly 17 million people had not voted for either the Nazis or the Nationalist in March 1933, a large and visible police force was required to keep this sizeable group under observation and control. In Nazi Germany the police were allowed to arrest people on suspicion that they were about to do wrong. This gave the police huge powers. All local police units had to draw up a list of people in their locality who might be suspected of being "Enemies of the State". Source AA says “the regime sent along undercover agents disguised as tourists to spy on participants”. This suggests that the Third Reich was built upon terror and backed up by advanced systems of surveillance and censorship. It was also supported by a propaganda machine which effectively upheld the Hitler Myth. Many possibly found it easier to believe than to question. The terror system, even though it inspired fear and loathing, ensured that opposition was dangerous and difficult to organise. This suggests that although Nazism may appear to have broad consent, the fact that opposition to the regime cannot be seen does not present an accurate portrayal of the actual degree of consent.

In May 1933, Robert Ley was given the task of forming the Labour Front (DAF), the only union organization allowed in the Third Reich. Wages were now decided by the Labour Front and compulsory deductions made for income tax, and for its Strength through Joy programme. Ley ordered the building of two new cruise-liners that were used to take German workers on foreign holidays. In 1938 an estimated 180,000 people went on cruises to places such as Maderia and the Norwegian fjords. Others were given free holidays in Germany. The Strength through Joy programme also built sports facilities, paid for theatre visits and financially supported travelling cabaret groups. It also subsidized the development of the People's Car, the Volkswagen. Although the German worker paid for these benefits through compulsory deductions, the image of people being given holidays and subsidized entertainment was of great propaganda value to the Nazi government. Strength through Joy is the predominant basis for all three sources. Source AA shows workers felt increasingly cowed by spies, informers and constant political interference, as source Y shows where it says “political problems were mostly ignored in the lecture events”. There was discontent of workers, as shown in source Z. They grumbled quietly or were silently apathetic. Very few had the courage to make the ‘quantum leap’ required to chance attitude and behaviour and resist. Many simply kept their heads down and Strength through Joy and Beauty of Labour “performed the functions of control and pacification”.

Source Y presents a wholly successful view of consent through Strength through Joy “It has long been overlooked that advancement in the Third Reich did not only occur symbolically”. The source shows the decreasing class barrier between the working class and the middle class. It suggests that consent was largely broad across the working class “the regime skilfully nurtured the yearning of the labour force for middle class status and lifestyle”. Although this source shows that the Nazi’s apparent attempt at bringing social classes together worked, source Z shows there was still a barrier; [the working class had] “no understanding of any ideal”. Source Y predominantly shows the stabilisation of the regime whereas source Z hides the disarray from the working class. The best gains were made by those associated with the rearmament boom, especially skilled workers, or those with little trade union tradition were enthusiasts or became converted to the regime.

After analysing all the sources, it is clear to see that the Nazi’s aim to create a people’s community – a volkgemeinschaft was little more than a propaganda ploy. The DAF, under Ley replaced Germany’s free trade unions and was principally aimed to win over working class support for the regime and an attempt to put Nazi socialism into practice. However, Beauty through Labour did not bring improvements in factory improvements. KdF was undoubtedly popular due to workers taking advantage of cheap luxuries to compete with the middle class. However, the VW car was never produced, if only for the party elite, and having 330,000 investors for the factories, in 1940 they were switched to war production. The terror system, even though it inspired fear and loathing, ensured that opposition was dangerous and difficult to organise. The ability of the Gestapo to operate outside the law, the absence of any real redress and the sheer brutality of life in the concentration camps were highly effective in discouraging potential opponents. Participation also encouraged cooperation and a dependency on the regime. Much of what was done was undeniably unpopular. Economic recovery and the destruction of the Treaty of Versailles won Hitler support from all classes. The Nazi’s tapped into a number of middle class prejudices, which meant their policies had a broad measure of consent until the war – the round up of decadence, homosexual, gypsies and vagrants all appealed to those Germans who believed in family values and the traditional virtues of cleanliness, discipline and loyalty.