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* It is difficult for historians to assess public opinion, the same applies when trying to figure the popularity of the Nazi regime between 1933-1939. * Research has been based on two important sources:
-Firstly, they used records from Gestapo and SD, the information of which was coordinated and organized by 3000 Nazi officials and who produced analytical reports.
-SOPADE records have always been used by historians, among these records were monthly reports from contacts travelling or working secretly underground. * Many groups of people saw good initiative in the Nazi party, this was mainly because of the poor state of affairs of Germany at the moment which made it much easier for the Nazis to influence the masses positively. The Nazis favored for many accomplishments such as:
-Starting a German economic recovery by creating more jobs for the German people even though there might not have been a great recovery in German economy the people saw otherwise, as they benefited a lot from the restoration of employment.
-The Nazi party brought stability both in economic matters but also politically, and many Germans especially the middle class were very comforted by these actions since they were afraid of the rise of communism.
-Socially the Nazis also brought prosperity in the eyes of some, for example many youngsters enjoyed to be part of the Hitler Youth were they planned and participated in fun activities with their friends, as for the adults the KDF and SDA had a broad positive impact, as it made people feel that the government had good intentions and knew the people problems and anxieties. * These might all be a quite delusive factor which kept the German peoples spirit up but that was not enough for the Nazis. They had control over all means of communication which they used for propaganda in a very successful way. * They portrayed Hitler as a very effective leader and glorified him as a savior. * Presented the Nazi regime and its Volksgemeinschaft as a force which would get Germany back on its feet after the difficult Weimar years. * They highly supported German nationalism ideals. * The Nazis influenced Germany with a regime built out of intimidation and surveillance of their people. (1) Civil rights and freedoms were lost and changed in the interest of the Third Reich. (2)German judgmental system was manipulated by the Nazis and put under their control (3)People who they believed did not belong with the German people were send either to prison or concentration camps The Nazis created a successfully controlled environment of fear which forced people into submission, and they made sure everyone knew that opposition towards the Nazis meant pain and suffering or even death. * Despite the fearful regime, some people did form opposition against the Nazis, but the threat was very limited. Communist have proven to be the main threat as they were characterized as the only way of liberating Germany from fascism. The Church also was another sort of opposition as it taught different ideals and values than those of the Nazis and its popes and priests had the freedom to express the word of the Church. * It is obvious thought that there never was a very organized revolution against the Third Reich during 1933 - 1939. People were afraid of the consequence which actually was exactly how the Nazis wanted people to think, so that they could have control over them. The regime enjoyed increasing popular support over the years but this did not let their guard down.
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