The Germans, as the strongest and fittest, were destined to rule, while the weak and racially adulterated Jews were doomed to extinction. Hitler began to restrict the Jews with legislation and terror, which entailed burning books written by Jews, removing Jews from their professions and public schools, confiscating their businesses and property and excluding them from public events. The most infamous of the anti-Jewish legislation were the Nuremberg Laws, enacted on September 15, 1935. They formed the legal basis for the Jews' exclusion from German society and the progressively restrictive Jewish policies of the
However structuralists have argued that mass political movements in Germany were on the rise and did in fact influence politics. The power the Kaiser has was overwhelming because he didnt have to answer to neither the reichstag or the bundesrat, he ultimately has complete utter control over domestic and foreign policy. This would suggest that Wilhelmine Germany was an authoritarian state under the kaisers rule, but many historians such as Wehler suggested his own version of the argument which states that Wilhelmine Germany was in fact shaped by the elites (junkers) and the army which simply controlled the Kaiser from the shadows. In this essay i will discuss these interpretations offering the view that Wilhelmine Germany was an 'authoritarian' state under the rule of elites and ultimately the kaiser. Kaiser Wilhem II was an unpredictable, intelligent man with a poor judgement, hardly the kind of person you would give almost unchallenged political powers.
Whether Wilhelmine Germany was an autocratic state from 1900-1914 is a subject debated amongst many. An autocracy is often defined as a state where the political power is concentrated in one leader, or a very small élite, who have control over every aspect of policy making; be it social, political, military or economic. It is essentially a dictatorial and undemocratic state. Germany in 1900 is seen as very autocratic, with the Kaiser holding divine power over Germany. However, structuralists have argued that towards the end of this period, and the start of the War in 1914, the Kaisers power was being slowly degraded from mass political movements (particularly socialist,) which would suggest that the authoritarian nature of Germany was not entrenched and subject to change from below.
Several attempts from both the left and right sides of government tried to imbue the nationalistic beliefs that were embodied in Germany before they were destroyed by their humiliating defeat in WW1. These include the Spartacist uprising, the Kapp Putsch and the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. The disillusionment felt by the people and their need to restore pride in their nation influenced many factors that led to the failure of the democracy, and to the rise of the Nazi political party and its leader Adolf Hitler. In hindsight, a mixture of political, social and economic issues, combined with nationalistic goals give grounds to the reason that nationalism mainly brought about the fall of the democracy of the Weimar Republic in Germany. By the outbreak of WW1 in August 1914, Germany was well established as a major and prominent world power.
Therefore abstaining Hitler from having a grand design to put into effect. They deem Hitler to be more of an opportunist than a mastermind and that the eradication of the Jews became a convenient division of Hitler’s charming of the Jewish population. Extreme structuralists tend to believe that that Holocaust was initiated by the German bureaucracy, with Hitler having no place in its inception. They believe he merely capitalized on what would became an opportune occurrence for his winning over of the population. While Structuralists with a more passive view would believe that although effort was made by the Nazis to eventually remove all Jews from Europe, mass genocide was merely a last resort.
General von schleicher stopped supporting von papen and decided he himself should become chancellor, this triggered of a power struggle between von schleicher nd von papen, which ended with them handing power to Hitler. Hitler was made Chancellor in 1933 after von Papen persuades Hindenburg. Von Papen thought that as long as there were a limited number of Nazis in the cabinet then Hitler could be controlled. Von Papen was wrong. Another thing was there was the weakness of the Weimar government, which played its part.
Finally, it is necessary to consider the role which Hitler himself played in the Nazi regime, and the underlying debate as to whether or not the development of the nature of Nazi government was planned or accidental. Having considered these factors it is then necessary to see how this affected the nature of Nazi rule. The nature of Nazi government was profoundly influenced by Hitler’s leadership of the Party prior to the seizure of power in 1933. This was characterised by what Max Weber called the concept of ‘charismatic leadership’. Hitler’s authority was derived from his personal qualities as opposed to being vested in the office which he held.
Assess the significance of the “Night of the Long Knives” The Night of the Long Knives is significant, because it can be seen as the event that shut down Hitler’s opposition from both sides, through forcibly removing the Conservative elite and the SA as a political threat, while simultaneously gaining the armies support. The event in itself set a bad precedence for Nazi rule and can be seen as the beginning of the Nazi terror state. However, it is suggested Hitler’s removal of the SA, was necessary to stop revolution, on the other hand, it could be said the Night of the Long Knives was Hitler’s way of taking complete control of Germany. One effect of the Night of the Long Knives is its significance in the rise of the SS, led by Himmler, from its minimal standing as an extension of the SA, to independence. Bullock says that: “Himmler’s SS were now given their independence of the SA, and placed directly under Hitler’s orders with Himmler as SS Reichsfuehrer”# this source suggests that Himmler and the SS only became powerful through Hitler’s direction.
Persecution to Genocide: 1933-42 Nazi ideas about the Jews The Jews were a race bent on world domination. The Jews would resort to any means for their objectives, including hiding behind communism. There was an existence of a ‘Jewish Bolshevik conspiracy’ to take over the world. Jews conspired to win control of Germany’s financial institutions. The Jews, acting for World Jewry, had done all they could to bring about defeat in WW1.
Hitler achieved Nazi Germany’s single party state through the various stages of his accession to power. His first step in accession to power was through decrees; the “Emergency Decree”, suspended various parts of the constitution and “Enabling Act” for the “removal of the distress of people and state” the power to rule disregarding the constitution in order to deal with the problems confronting the nation this allowed Hitler to become a dictator. 1933 trade unions were abolished, to win the support of the working class and to control the organisation of labour. The ‘law against the Formation of New Parties’ declared that the Nazi’s were the only political party. 1934 all state parliaments were disbanded and power was transferred to the Reichstag.