Hitler And The Nazis example essay topic

A totalitarian state is one in which a leader has complete political, social and cultural control over his / her subjects. The Nazi society, especially between the period of 1933-39, was very totalitarian in nature. Adolf Hitler had total control over every aspect of life in Germany, especially that of Jews, women and children. The use of clever propaganda persuaded Germans to support Hitler and have belief in his ideas, and fear made those who did not remain quiet about their opinions. In a totalitarian state, all decisions are made by one single leader - in the case of Nazi Germany, this leader was Adolf Hitler. He pronounced the way the existing society acted corrupt and immoral, and instead demanded total conformity from all Germans.

One of his main ideologies was that of the "Master Race" (Herrenvolk). This stated that not only were Germans superior to other races, but that because of this superiority, they had the right to rule over and get rid of other races. One race that Hitler hated, ruled over and exterminated were the Jews. After he came to power in 1933, Jews suffered in an appalling way.

They became known as "Sub-humans" (Unter menschen), and were dismissed from the public service and many other careers. They were only allowed to sit on seats that had been specially marked for them on buses, trains and park benches. Many shops refused to sell food to them, and chemists refused to provide them with medicine. All Jewish shops were marked with the yellow Star of David, and SA men stood out the front to try and put people off entering. Jews lost the right to be German citizens after the Nuremberg Laws were passed in 1935. Marriage between Jews and non-Jews was also forbidden.

Some rich Jews who could afford to leave Germany did so, but many could not, so they had to stay and suffer. Many Jews ended up in concentration camps, and eventually died. "Historians are still divided over whether Germans supported these Nazi actions or whether fear made them turn a blind eye. The fear of concentration camps was such that most felt compelled to remain silent despite the fact they did not approve of what was going on". (web) It is obvious that Hitler had complete control over the people of Germany, as is done in a totalitarian state.

Women in Nazi Germany were seen to have a very specific role - they were to stay at home and bring up children while their husbands worked. One of the earliest laws passed by Hitler was that of the "Law of Encouragement of Marriage". All newly married German couples received a government loan of 1000 marks, but every child the couple had meant 25% of that loan did not have to be payed back. Therefore, if the family had four children, the entire loan was cleared. However, it was not considered a problem in Nazi Germany if an unmarried women had a child. Unmarried women could, in fact, go to Lebensborn's, buildings set up by the Nazis, and be impregnated by a "racially pure" SS man.

The Lebensborn's were openly publicised, and had a white flag with a red dot in the middle out the front so people could identify them. Women's lives were controlled to the extreme. They were not allowed to wear make-up or trousers, dye or perm their hair, and they had to wear flat shoes. They were discouraged from dieting, as a slim figure was considered bad for childbirth. They were not allowed to smoke - not because of health reasons but because smoking was considered "non-German". In the Weimer Government there had been 100 000 female teachers, 3000 female doctors, and 13 000 female musicians, but after Hitler came to power, very few women remained in full-time work.

However, Hitler did not believe he discriminated against women. "In the German nations there has never been anything else than equality rights for women. Both sexes have their rights, their tasks, and these tasks were in the case of each equal in dignity and value, and therefore man and women were on an equality". (Hitler, 1935) But with all aspects of women's lives being controlled, there is no doubt about the fact that Germany was a totalitarian state.

As talked about on the website web education was seen to be very important in Nazi Germany. Children were the future, and Hitler wanted to turn them into loyal Nazis by the time they had reached adulthood. All teachers had to be examined by Nazi officials. They had to be careful about what they said, as children had been encouraged to tell authorities if their teacher said something that did not fit in with the Nazi ideology. School subjects were changed to benefit the Nazis - history was about the glory of Germany, biology was the study of races to "prove" Nazi superiority. Boys studied science, where they learnt about shooting, military aviation, bridge building, etc.

Girls, on the other hand, studied domestic science and eugenics, where they were taught to be a good mother and wife, and shown the characteristics to look for in a "perfect" husband. Physical education was an important part of schooling - students who failed fitness tests could actually be expelled from school. The way of education reinforces the fact that Hitler and the Nazis' had a totalitarian state in which everything was controlled. The Hitler Youth was an extension of the fact that Hitler believed that children were the future of Nazi Germany. The Hitler Youth was seen to be as important to a child as school. After Hitler came to power all other youth groups were abolished, and in 1936 the Hitler Youth became compulsory for all German children aged 10-18.

There were separate organisations for boys and girls. Boys were to be prepared for military service, and had to do "Military Athletics" (Wehrsport), which included marching, grenade throwing, trench digging, map reading, gas defence, how to get under barb wire, and pistol shooting. Girls were to be prepared for motherhood, and had to be able to run sixty metres in fourteen seconds, throw a ball twelve metres, complete a two hour march, swim 100 metres, and know how to make a bed! Children's lives were completely controlled, with school and the Hitler Youth both persuading them to be loyal to the Nazis. Propaganda - the art of persuading others that your side of the story is correct - was a very powerful tool in Nazi Germany, and was the reason many people followed and remained loyal to Hitler. Joseph Goebbels was the head of propaganda, and he had two main tasks - to make sure nobody in Germany could read or see anything that would damage the Nazis, and to ensure that the Nazi ideology was put across in the most persuasive way possible.

The Nazi party introduced a system of censorship, and, as talked about on the website web people could only read, see or hear what the Nazis wanted them to read, see and hear. This made their opposition extremely small, and only practised by a few people who would therefore be easily caught. In 1935, books that did not match the Nazis' ideal were burnt in public. The same approach was used towards films. Film production was controlled by the Nazis', and so all films concentrated on issues such as Jews, the greatness of Hitler, and the way of life for a "true" Nazi.

Tarzan films were banned as Nazis' disliked the fact that very little clothing was worn, especially by women. Propaganda contributed to the controlling of every aspect of German life. The Nazi state, ruled by Adolf Hitler, was very extreme in demanding total conformity by people. The lives of Jews, women, men and children were all controlled. Propaganda was used to persuade people that Hitler and his beliefs were right. All this contributes to the fact that the Nazi state was very totalitarian in nature.