Terror In Germany During The 1930's

Words: 1459
Pages: 6
Open Document
During the 1930's, the Nationalist Socialists experienced great popularity, evidence to this fact would be the elections and as Gellately states, 'there was much popular support'. This played a huge part in maintaining the power Hitler held in Germany. However, it would be foolish to assume the Nazis thrived off popularity alone and there were no other factors which contributed to the maintenance of their power.
Terror and Coercion played different for different sects of society, for example for Jews and Communists, terror played a huge role in their lives for the duration of Nazi power. This was because they were deemed undesirables to society and threats to the “sense of community and order”. However for many Germans it was more of a tool for them to protect …show more content…
This is totally different to the view of Evans who states that ‘the Third Reich was fear.' There were many misconceptions within Germany surrounding terror; firstly, the role of the Gestapo has been greatly exaggerated, ‘the Gestapo was merely one institution among many.' This view would suggest that while the terror was certainly there it wasn't such an important role in Hitler’s Germany dictatorship but maybe other factors such as popularity were just as important.

Richard Evans states that “Everything that happened in the Third Reich took place in a pervasive atmosphere of fear and terror and indeed became far more intense towards the end”. This is very much the opposite to that of Johnson’s interpretation as he states that the population were fairly happy to go along with the terror and coercion. This was as it benefited them and meant that they no longer had to deal with issues which had engulfed them in previous years. Issues such as mass unemployment, abject poverty and low morale had plagued the Weimer Government, therefore as Hitler had removed these problems he struggled little to gain support and power of the people. Gellately’s view is also similar such as the ones
Show More

Related Documents: Terror In Germany During The 1930's

The German people supported Hitler more than they opposed him Essay

some may argue that they only supported Hitler due to being forced. Terror and propaganda played big roles in ensuring people never resisted the Nazi regime and many historians would argue that the German people never actively support Hitler they were just afraid to speak out against the Nazi regime. On the other hand you could argue that 1934-39 is when people supported Hitler the most, due to foreign and economic policy. Terror and propaganda were never needed because the German people were witnessing…

Words 1336 - Pages 6

The Black Plague Essay

Holocaust was essentially the systematic persecution and elimination of European Jews by the Nazi Germany and its allies. The Holocaust occurred between 1933 and 1945. In the year 1933, the Number of Jews that lived in the 21 countries that Germany would eventually occupy during WW II Was something like nine million Jews. Statistics now show that two out of every three European Jews Had died during the Holocaust by 1945. While Jews were Nazi Germany’s primary target for this ‘Ethnic cleansing’…

Words 1130 - Pages 5

Examples Of Totalitarianism

(Kallis 31). A regime can also gain support from state terror as if people do not obey and take up the ideology the state will make sure they are punished (Griffin 26). The person prosecuted can serve as a scapegoat. Others who observe this process will be scared not to obey the state (Arendt…

Words 1389 - Pages 6

Tims Paper

Every Day Life under Stalin Tim Dobb 1/17/13 Hello my name is David Mcfudge, I am now 63, I am going to tell you what life was like under Stalin’s control, now let’s begin: Life for Russians in the 1930's was difficult. Housing was not easy to find and it nearly always involved living with a number of other families. Finding everyday goods was also very difficult. A great deal of attention was paid to heavy industry, but very little attention was paid to producing household goods or food. The…

Words 1224 - Pages 5

How Effectively Did Hitler Establish And Consolidate Nazi Authority

1918 accepting the terms making Germany a republic – seen as betrayers to the German army Furherprinzip - A leadership principle of a one-party state led by one leader. Public’s needs sacrificed for the greater good. Lebensraum - Living space – expansion into Poland, Ukraine and Russia to obtain the raw materials needed for continental supremacy Greater Germany – A superpower to compete with the USA and British Empire Grossdeutsche - Big Germany including Austria, Prussia, and…

Words 6780 - Pages 28

History Topic Revision Sheet on Life in Nazi Germany Essay

History Topic Revision Sheet – Life in Nazi Germany Methods of control Ideal Nazi Germany: Strong, racial and Volk To achieve this, Hitler uses: a) Terror 1) The SS Formed in 1925 Stands for Schutz-Staffel (protection squad) Responsible for the Night of the Long Knives in 1934 – purged all SA Led by Himmler SS men had to be Aryan, fit, physically perfect, highly trained and loyal to Hitler Main terror organization after the Night of the Long Knives Terrorized and intimidated Germans into obedience…

Words 2699 - Pages 11

California Gold Rush

independent miners becoming employed by mining companies Mining continued through the 1850’s and peaked by 1852 Estimated that during the gold rush two billion dollars worth of gold had been mined from the California hills (The Gold Rush of 1849, 2014) Lasting Effects Cont’d Settlers continued to flock to California throughout the remainder of the decade despite most of the gold being gone By the end of the 1850’s, the population of the state was estimated to be at 380,000 people up from 1,000 at…

Words 3075 - Pages 13

Essay on Jewish Populations in Poland and Germany During the Holocasut

23, all Jews were ordered to wear a Star of David arm band. On February 8, 1940, the Lodz Ghetto was formed. On October 12, the Warsaw Ghetto was formed. On March 1, 1941, Himmilar ordered a camp at Birkenau to be built, named Auschwitz. June 22, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, quickly capturing the rest of Poland. In October, Operation Reinhard was devised. January 20, 1942. Wannsee Conference is held. July 19, Operation Rheinhard begins, in which almost two million Jews were exterminated in two…

Words 2611 - Pages 11

Holocaust: Nazi Germany and Google Images Essay example

from the Greek language. Due to the traumatic events that occurred in 1945, this word will now forever be associated with a horrible meaning: the mass murder of some six million European Jews and other targeted minorities, by the German Nazi regime during WWII. German society between 1918 and 1933 was rich in Jewish culture after the Weimar Republic granted ‘full civil rights’ to the Jewish population. They were part of the first cabinet formed in the new Republic and helped draft the Weimar Constitution…

Words 3150 - Pages 13

Great Depression Research Paper

March 1936. The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression) in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s.[1] It was the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century, and is used in the 21st century as an example of how far the world's economy can decline.[2] The depression originated in the United States,…

Words 7222 - Pages 29