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© Boardworks Ltd 2005 1 of 24

Hitler's Role in the Development

of the Nazi Regime

Nazi Germany

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

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What we will learn today

In this presentation you will learn:

1. How Hitler‟s image was created.

2. The reality which lay behind this image.

3. The effect of Hitler on the Nazi government, including:

a) the Führer Principle (Führerprinzip)

b) the Hitler Myth

c) how Hitler controlled ministers and departments

d) whether there was an„authoritarian anarchy‟

e) whether this chaos was intentional or not.


What do you think about Hitler?


1. Hitler’s Image:

The Führer Principle

and the Hitler Myth


A strong Germany?

From its formation in 1871, Germany had been dominated

by strong leaders striving for national unity and global

importance.

The democratic Weimar Republic, with its lack of strong

leadership and constant power struggles between

political parties, was seen as having failed to deal

effectively with Germany‟s 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.


The Führer Principle

The Führer Principle (Führerprinzip) was the belief that

Germany needed a strong, charismatic leader who could

unify and lead the people.

Hitler‟s 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, Hitler‟s lawyer, wrote that:

“Our constitution is the will of the führer…it was Hitler‟s

regime, Hitler‟s policy, Hitler‟s victory and Hitler‟s defeat –

nothing else.”

Photograph courtesy of the

Imperial War Museum, London.


Führer power

On the next slides you will see five statements on the

role of the führer from Ernst Huber, a constitutional

theorist of the Third Reich.

Which quote do you think best summarizes

what the führerprinzip meant to the Nazis?


The office of führer has developed

out of the National Socialist

movement. In its origins, it is not a

state office.

The führerprinzip


The position of the führer combines

in itself all sovereign power of the

Reich.

The führerprinzip


All public power in the state, as in

the movement, is derived from

führer power.

The führerprinzip


This is comprehensive and total

and embraces all spheres of

national life.

The führerprinzip


Führer power is not restricted by

safeguards and controls…but

rather it is free and independent,

exclusive and unlimited.

The führerprinzip


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 the

1930s and for crushing

threats from both the

Communists (following the

Reichstag Fire) and

extreme Nazism (in the

Night of the Long Knives).


Ian Kershaw, a respected historian of Nazi Germany, has

investigated the way in which the Hitler Myth was built up

to consolidate the Führer Principle.

In his view, the Nazis took power in 1933 because of

Hitler, not because of their ideology.

Analysis


Kershaw‟s view


2. The Reality:

How did the Führer

Principle and the Hitler

Myth affect government?


Control of departments and ministers

Hitler‟s 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, Goering‟s responsibilities for military

planning overlapped with the work of the Ministry of

Economics and the Reich Labour Service.


Some historians argue that Hitler created confusion on

purpose, believing that competition would bring the most

committed administrators to the fore – Social Darwinism.

Others think

that he

simply made

a pig‟s ear of

organizing

the state.

Was the chaos deliberate?


Hitler‟s staff


Was the chaos intentional?

The question of whether Hitler deliberately engineered

authoritarian anarchy for his own ends, is key to the

much 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


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 in

the Nazi state;

BOTH agree that Hitler was a central figure within it;

BUT beyond that there are essential differences of

interpretation.

Intentionalists and Structuralists


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 Hitler‟s

policies. He was also

indecisive and lazy in

some ways.

„Hitler was master in the

Third Reich‟ (Norman Rich)

„unwilling to take decisions,

frequently uncertain … in

some respects a weak

dictator‟ (Hans Mommsen)

Intentionalists and Structuralists


What do you know now?


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

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