What were the main characteristics of the Nazi state in Germany, 1933-1939?

From the time the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933 they imposed their ideology on German society. All aspects of society were placed under the control of the Nazis through their policy of co-ordination. Germany officially became known as the Third Reich and Hitler declared that the Third Reich would last for a thousand years. The Nazis used violence and intimidation to impose their policies as they strove to dominate German society.

Trade unions were banned in Nazi Germany and replaced by the Nazi Labour Front. Disagreements between employers and workers were arbitrated by the Nazis who imposed their decisions on both parties. The Nazi Labour Front played a prominent role in the Nuremburg Rallies and was an important aspect of German society from 1933-1939.

After the Nazis came to power the legal profession in Germany was purged of non-Nazis and new Nazi People Courts were established. The state police force was placed under the control of Heinrich Himmler (leader of the SS) and the SS and the Gestapo were used to hunt down opponents of the Nazi regime. These measures resulted in the Nazis gaining complete control the policing, legal and judicial system in Germany.

The Nazis made fundamental changes to the education system. History was re-written to fit Nazi ideology. Lessons concentrate on the origins of the Nazi Party and the history of the Aryan Race. Teaching in biology stressed the importance of racial purity. Religion phased out of schools. Physical training became an important aspect of education with an emphasis on building the Master Race. The Nazis ensured that their policies in education were implemented by purging teachers who did not support the Nazis. By changing the education system the Nazis hoped to indoctrinate young people as they moved through the education system.

This indoctrination of young people was continued through the establishment of the Hitler Youth and the League of German Maidens. Hitler Youth emphasised physical training and military drills for boys as the Nazis pushed their militarisation of German society. The Nazis wanted to create a way of channelling German boys into the armed forces. The League of German Maidens was used to indoctrinate German girls into their role as women in Nazi Germany. The emphasis for young girls was on children, church and kitchen demonstrating that women were to play a domestic role in Nazi Germany taking care of the home and the family.

Women in Nazi Germany were taught their role was as a good wife and mother and their place was in the home. The Nazis gave newly wed couples loans of 1000 marks to have children and if they had more than four children they didn’t have to repay he loan. Of course it was expected that women would only marry racially pure men. The role of women being confined to the home was confirmed when women were dismissed from the professions in 1934. By 1936 women were not allowed to be judges or sit on juries in the Nazi courts.

The use of propaganda was a major characteristic of Nazi Germany. The Nazi Minister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels used art, music, theatre, films, books, radio, educational materials, and the press to propagandise Nazi ideology. The objective of the Nazis was to ensure that nobody in Germany could read or see anything that was hostile or damaging to the Nazi Party. All journalists, writers, and artists were required to register with one of the Ministry for Propaganda to ensure that the Nazis controlled every aspect of the media. Films played an important role in disseminating racial anti-Semitism, portraying Jews as “subhuman” creatures infiltrating Aryan society.

The Nazis began organising the Nuremburg Rallies in 1927 but it was only after the Nazis came to power that the Nuremburg Rallies became an important part of German society. The Rallies were used to mobilise support for the Nazis and indoctrinate the members of the Nazi Party to impose Nazi ideology on German society. The propaganda of the Nuremburg Rallies became an important mechanism for disseminating Nazi ideology. The films of the Rallies made by Leni Riefenstahl were used as propaganda by the Nazis. The Rallies were also used to announce major changes in German society planned by the Nazis. The most significant of these was the announcement of the anti-Semitic Nuremburg Laws in 1935.

Anti-Semitism was one of the main characteristics of Nazi Germany. The Jews were one of the most persecuted sections of Nazi Germany. Hitler was virulently anti-Semitic and outlined his ideology in Mein Kampf. Once in power he planned to remove Jews from German society. The Nazis imposed the anti-Semitic Nuremburg Laws and drove Jews out of all sectors of German society. The Jews were initially confined into ghettos and subsequently in concentration camps where during World War Two the Nazis engaged in a policy of extermination of the Jewish race.

Between 1933-1939 the Nazis created a society in German based on the characteristics of Nazi ideology. The imposition of Nazi ideology was part of Hitler’s plan to create a thousand year Third Reich. The process of imposing Nazi ideology resulted in World War Two and the extermination of millions in Nazi concentration camps. The characteristics of the Nazi state survived until the end of World War Two but defeat in the war meant that Hitler’s thousand-year Third Reich last just twelve years.