Was Nazi Germany (1933–1939) a Totalitarian State?
Definition of a Totalitarian State:
A government that controls all aspects of public and private life, including politics, society, economy, media, education, and personal beliefs. It uses fear, propaganda, and one-party rule to maintain power.
Political Control
Control Over Society
Legal System and the Courts
Between 1933 and 1939, Nazi Germany became a totalitarian state by:
A government that controls all aspects of public and private life, including politics, society, economy, media, education, and personal beliefs. It uses fear, propaganda, and one-party rule to maintain power.
Political Control
- Enabling Act (1933): Gave Hitler the power to make laws without Reichstag approval.
- No opposition allowed: All political parties except the Nazis were banned by July 1933.
- Reichstag became powerless: It met only to approve Nazi decisions.
- Hitler becomes Führer (1934): Combined roles of Chancellor and President—could not be removed legally.
- One-party dictatorship: No democratic elections or checks on Hitler’s power.
Control Over Society
Legal System and the Courts
- Judges had to swear loyalty to Hitler and join the Nazi Lawyers’ Association.
- Special courts like the People’s Court punished political opponents harshly.
- Fair trials disappeared—decisions often made to please the Nazi leadership.
- Gestapo (secret police): Arrested people without trial; encouraged people to report neighbours.
- SS (Schutzstaffel): Controlled police and concentration camps; used fear and violence.
- Concentration Camps: Held political enemies, Jews, and other “undesirables” from 1933 onwards.
- Nazi Teachers’ League: All teachers had to join and teach Nazi ideas.
- School curriculum changed:
- History: Glorified Germany and Hitler.
- Biology: Promoted racial theories and anti-Semitism.
- Textbooks rewritten to support Nazi ideology.
- Youth Groups:
- Hitler Youth (boys) and League of German Girls trained loyalty, military skills, and Nazi values.
- By 1939, over 8 million young people were members.
- Trade unions banned and replaced with the German Labour Front.
- Political opponents (communists, socialists, etc.) imprisoned or killed.
- Fear of arrest silenced criticism—people self-censored.
- Joseph Goebbels controlled newspapers, films, radio, and posters.
- Only Nazi-approved messages were allowed.
- Radios were cheap and widely distributed to spread Nazi ideas into every home.
- Public loudspeakers broadcast speeches in streets and workplaces.
Between 1933 and 1939, Nazi Germany became a totalitarian state by:
- Abolishing political freedom
- Using terror and propaganda,
- Controlling education, the legal system, and everyday life.
