5. Hitler's Role in the Development of the Nazi Party
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Transcript of 5. Hitler's Role in the Development of the Nazi Party
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Hitler's Role in the Development
of the Nazi Regime
Nazi Germany
For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Startedpresentation.
This icon indicates the slide contains activities created in Flash. These activities are not editable.
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What we will learn today
In this presentation you will learn:
1. How Hitlers image was created.
2. The reality which lay behind this image.
3. The effect of Hitler on the Nazi government, including:
a) the Fhrer Principle (Fhrerprinzip)
b) the Hitler Myth
c) how Hitler controlled ministers and departments
d)whether there was anauthoritarian anarchye) whether this chaos was intentional or not.
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What do you think about Hitler?
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1. Hitlers Image:
The Fhrer Principleand the Hitler Myth
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A strong Germany?
From its formation in 1871, Germany had been dominated
by strong leaders striving for national unity and globalimportance.
The democratic Weimar Republic, with its lack of strong
leadership and constant power struggles betweenpolitical parties, was seen as having failed to deal
effectively with Germanys post-war problems.
By 1932, the Weimar political system had been discredited.
Many Germans felt that the only way to turn this situation
around was to have one strong leader, prepared to take
personal responsibility for running the country.
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The Fhrer Principle
The Fhrer Principle (Fhrerprinzip) was the belief that
Germany needed a strong, charismatic leader who could
unify and lead the people.
Hitlers power came to be regarded as
something above and beyond that of a
normal head of state.No matter who you were in the Nazi
party or whatever your job in the state,
you were answerable to Hitler.
Hans Franck, Hitlers lawyer, wrote that:
Our constitution is the will of the fhrerit was Hitlers
regime, Hitlers policy, Hitlers victory and Hitlers defeat
nothing else.
Photograph courtesy of the
Imperial War Museum, London.
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Fhrer power
On the next slides you will see five statements on the
role of the fhrer from Ernst Huber, a constitutionaltheorist of the Third Reich.
Which quote do you think best summarizeswhat the fhrerprinzip meant to the Nazis?
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The office of fhrer has developed
out of the National Socialist
movement. In its origins, it is not a
state office.
The fhrerprinzip
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The position of the fhrer combines
in itself all sovereign power of the
Reich.
The fhrerprinzip
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All public power in the state, as in
the movement, is derived from
fhrer power.
The fhrerprinzip
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This is comprehensive and total
and embraces all spheres of
national life.
The fhrerprinzip
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Fhrer power is not restricted by
safeguards and controlsbut
rather it is free and independent,
exclusive and unlimited.
The fhrerprinzip
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The Hitler Myth
The Hitler Myth presented Hitler as an almost godlike
figure to a German population eager for strong leadership.
He was depicted as being
solely responsible for the
economic miracle of the1930s and for crushing
threats from both the
Communists (following the
Reichstag Fire) andextreme Nazism (in the
Night of the Long Knives).
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Ian Kershaw, a respected historian of Nazi Germany, has
investigated the way in which the Hitler Myth was built upto consolidate the Fhrer Principle.
In his view, the Nazis took power in 1933 because of
Hitler, not because of their ideology.
Analysis
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Kershaws view
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2. The Reality:
How did the FhrerPrinciple and the Hitler
Myth affect government?
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Control of departments and ministers
Hitlers direct circle consisted of about 70 key figures.
These people were rewarded primarily for their loyalty.
Their talent was a secondary consideration.
Many of their jobs overlapped, leading to confusion and
competition.
For example, Goerings responsibilities for militaryplanning overlapped with the work of the Ministry of
Economics and the Reich Labour Service.
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Some historians argue that Hitler created confusion on
purpose, believing that competition would bring the most
committed administrators to the foreSocial Darwinism.
Others think
that he
simply madea pigs ear of
organizing
the state.
Was the chaos deliberate?
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Hitlers staff
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Was the chaos intentional?
The question of whether Hitler deliberately engineered
authoritarian anarchy for his own ends, is key to themuch bigger and more serious issue of how to account for
the terrible events of the Third Reich.
Were they chiefly down to:
a) the personality, ideology and the will of Hitler(so Hitler was 'Master of the Third Reich')
b) the political culture of the German people
(so Hitler was a 'Weak dictator')?
Why do you think that this is such an important
question for historians to answer?
OR
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Historians who think that Hitler intentionally created a
chaotic system of government are called intentionalists.Historians who think that the chaos came about by an
unintentional series of events are called structuralists.
BOTH accept that there was a certain degree of chaos inthe Nazi state;
BOTH agree that Hitler was a central figure within it;
BUT beyond that there are essential differences of
interpretation.
Intentionalists and Structuralists
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Intentionalists Structuralists
Key argument: Key argument:
Key quote: Key quote:
Hitler deliberately created
political chaos, partly to
divide and rule and partly
believing that Social
Darwinism would lead to the
best people triumphing.
Political chaos was an
unwelcome legacy of the
past which shaped Hitlers
policies. He was also
indecisive and lazy in
some ways.
Hitler was master in theThird Reich (Norman Rich)
unwilling to take decisions,frequently uncertain in
some respects a weak
dictator (Hans Mommsen)
Intentionalists and Structuralists
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What do you know now?
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1. What is the essential difference between the
Intentionalists and the Structuralists?
2. How do you think each group got its name?
3. Which argument do you find most convincing and
why?
Discussion point