Nazi Germany also referred to as the Third Reich was a term that Germany was called in 20th century. During this time, Adolf Hitler led the state very audaciously. Nazi Germany is recognized for its engagement with its association of the Holocaust, planned execution of the several Jews’ population, and generally high segregation concerning other racial backgrounds. Totalitarian is a term that is utilized to describe Hitler’s controlled state (Wolfson, 18, p. 14). A negative implication is inherent in the term totalitarian and is most regularly utilized when giving a description of any government that is domineering in nature and one leader or a small political party is governing it. In Hitler’s Germany, there were elements of a domineering state that included but not restricted to the utilization of censorship, suppression of any other perspective besides Nazi’s ideal, and the execution of strangely stern laws controlling the day-to-day lives of its subjects (Nicosia & Stokes, 2015, p. 16; Moore, 2019, p. 78). Following his ascension to power, Hitler formed a stanch totalitarian state. It could have appeared astonishing to the world because of its apparently inoffensive disguise of nationalism. The totalitarian state that was led by Hitler and his party became very critical to the achievements and sustainability of the regime that was characterized by limiting policies that affected not just the minority races but also even the Germans themselves.
After the World War I (WWI), a new type of regime arose in Europe because of the many losses experienced in the society at that time both socially and economically. Countries that experienced losses and instabilities desired for a change (Evans, 2018, p. 2). They needed leaders that could steer a regime change and have innovative prospects of the future as well as the answer that would bring life to the damaged economies. Hitler for instance, gained sizeable backup as he came with the notion of nationalism and reinstating the German pride considering the letdown by the Weimar Republic (Ellinas, 2015, p. 4). It was not until the time when Hitler was invited to become the Chancellor in 1933 that he considered a domineering position that was intended at forming a totalitarian, perfect state.
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It was critical to recognize the impacts of WWI for Germany in order to put Nazism in 20th century into perspective. Based on the Versailles agreement that were instituted by other European countries, Germany experienced serious persecutions for its engagement in the war. These comprised of the war guilt clause, military limitations and territorial damages. The Germans were also demanded to make payment for the losses from the war (Moore, 2019, p. 78). These damages led greatly to the Great Depression in Germany. The limitations that was experienced by Germany were inevitably able to give the impression that Germany could not stand on its feet again to become a stable nation. It was this exposure, these laws, this unbeatable debt, and irrefutable failure of the Weimar republic that motivated Hitler to come in and defend his people (Nolzen & Szejnmann, 2018, p. 17). However, he did this slowly. He started by demeaning the democratic regime, and ruined their legitimacy. Instead of being branded as counterproductive to the renewal of Germany, Hitler received support and developed a good public publicity stand for challenging those in authority that supposedly caused all those destructions to Germany. Geoff (2019, p. 11) explains that this dissatisfaction of German nationals gave the chance for Nazism. The citizens were discontented, and Hitler jumped in to power and spearheaded drastic transformations being convinced that he will be backed up.
Policies were passed to enforce sufferings on the inferior communities of people from racial backgrounds. The viewpoints of the Führer were utilized and they became applicable to the public. In 1935, the government founded the Nuremberg Laws, for instance, that disadvantaged Jews of citizenship and restricted them from marrying any German (Frosh, 2015). Hitler even advocated for abortions to the minority groups, and they were restricted to women that were termed as Aryan. The intention was to cleanse Germany racially and raise the Aryan population substantially. The hostility of the Germans against Jews was intensified with time. The Jews were forced to practice slavery while being confined in concentration camps, even though they were not the only ones that were targeted by the policies that Hitler instituted. The Germans were also victims of being stage managed under the Nazi’s regime in 20th century (Kowalczyk, 2019, p. 208). Their depictions of great hatred shows the manner through which State control challenged everybody including the Germans themselves, which could only be summarized as a totalitarian statehood.
The dominance of National Socialism in Germany in the period of 1933 to 1939 was witnessed after the failure of the Weimer Republic with democracy. This victory brought a turn of events to the nation so that the social and cultural life was redefined within the country. The one-party state came up with regulations and policies that eventually turned the perspectives of the community in issues like the role of women, education and media (Nicosia & Stokes, 2015, p. 16). With the laws and policies, women were restricted within the domains of their social and cultural liberties, education was highly valued so that the children were exposed to Nazi’s perspectives and the media was sternly printed adhering to Nazi criteria.
Under Nazi authority, boundaries were set on the juniors who were being ruled. This incorporated the female populace of Germany since Hitler was just interested in having a robust, patriarchal Aryan republic to be what was dominant in the New Germany. Consequently, the social as well as cultural lives of females were restricted based on low standards as they faced segregation in the society (Nolzen & Szejnmann, 2018, p. 17). In Hitler’s notion of battle, the female species were considered weaker vessels without a voice. Women, particularly those that had husbands faced discrimination in the jobs, since the men were preferred over the women. This caused about 800,000 women to quit the labor market between 1933 and 1935 (Nicosia & Stokes, 2015, p. 24). The regulations were intentionally formed to steer the married women to leave the workforce and to stay home and handle the chores and other domestic commitments. Even though their position was imbalanced in the Nazi state, women stood with the system as they felt that their role had shifted and with pleasure, they went back to the traditional position in the society (Lee, 2018, p. 18). They were contented to be the wives and mothers, redefining a new socio-cultural custom.
The utilization of misinformation through magazines and newspapers under the motto ‘Kinder, Kuche and Kirche’ (meaning children, kitchen, and sanctuary) thrived. The slogan of ‘Kinder, Kuche and Kirche’ reinforced the idea that women were to be restricted to concentrate on family and being mothers (Kowalczyk, 2019, p. 212). Hitler and Goebbels had intended that the women take care of their homes and help in raising up good children to the society since every child that a woman brought to the world was a process of fighting for the nation. This was motivated by the prizes that were assigned to mothers, with bronze being given to those who bore 4 children, silver for those who bore 7 and gold for those that bore above 8 (Moore, 2019, p. 84). Thus, the women were appreciated in a social framework if they only gave birth and took care of their children and were loyal as wives. Generally, the Nazi state greatly influenced the social and cultural lives of women in German through the restrictions and policies that were constituted.
The Nazi government from 1933 to 1939 also influenced the education framework of German besides the social and cultural perspectives. Before the Nazis took over authority, Germany celebrated one of the most admired education systems globally. This was changed after 1933 since the person in charge of the ministry of Education, Bernhard Rust endeavored to make education reflect the culture and values held by Germany and to encourage the operations of the Nazi state (Kowalczyk, 2019, p. 218). Girls went to different schools from the boys, which exposed them to different subjects that reflected their future roles in the community and to the state. Girls were exposed to domestic courses and with little math and science content, while the boys engaged into more comprehensive content of math and science. Even though girls and boys were exposed to differing levels education wise, the science of the races was a compulsory subject to all the students (Nolzen & Szejnmann, 2018, p. 17). The students acquired knowledge on the causes and impacts of all racial and genetic challenges and the magnitude of blood purity. This was intentionally reinforced to create the dominance of the Aryan race in the mentality of the German rights when were still young. This greatly influenced their social and cultural interactions among various people from different racial backgrounds as it formed a social hierarchy among the individuals.
The books in the education system were revised to particularly reinforce Nazi paradigms like nationalism and militarism and the forthcoming of National Socialism. The renewed education framework was also revised to motivate detestation towards the German Jewish race and to encourage the New Germany (Nadel, 2015, p. 2). Consequently, religious education was eliminated from the curriculum. In unity, there was the Adolf Hitler schools where chosen learners were exposed to a specified programme that incorporated political and racial trainings (Nicosia & Stokes, 2015, p. 26). Finally, it is determined that the social and cultural life between 1933 and 1938 changed greatly because of the Nazi state transforming the education framework.
After the Nazis became in charge of the region, many of the media platforms became a place of propagating the ideal of the party. In his totalitarian state, Hitler’s propaganda were focused to regulate the media and to show to the public how the cultural and social life was supposed to be. Principally, the media was to spur hatred and dread over the Jews by showing them to be enemies of the state and to motivate the ideals of ‘volksgemeinschaft’ (people’s community) as well as National Socialism (Nicosia & Stokes, 2015, p. 33). Through the regulated mass media, Hitler was speculated as a typical, sensible and sober leader that promoted the interests of the country beyond his. Rosenfeld (2019) indicates that the portrayal of Hitler was easier especially at a time when he was viewed as one who saved the Germans following the persecutions and disgraces of the loss in the First World War (p. 90). Three kinds of media were very impactful and in one dimension regulated the social and cultural potentials of the citizens. Such platforms included the radio, film and the generally the press.
The Editorial Law of 1933 needed newspaper publishers and reports to adhere to policies and were supposed to register and enrolled in the Reich press chamber. All news stories were provided using one avenue, the German New Bureau. This eventually constrained the independence of social and cultural demonstration within the Nazi society. The state also gave rise to the People’s Radio that was reasonable but missed the determinations to take newscasts from other nations (Moore, 2019, p. 88). Through this platform, all of Hitler’s communications were shared to the German citizens. In addition, entertainment and music were utilized as ways of propagating Nazi’s ideals, putting restrictions on the music arts. Film was also another platform for pushing ideologies as all the German filmmakers were needed to be part of the Reich chamber of film and their films were to be permitted (Kowalczyk, 2019, p. 220). The many films that were produced displayed the Jews as rogues and enemies that caused fear among the people and were against their community. It is evident that the regulation of the media by the Nazi government influenced the entertainment arena and the channels for social expression.
In conclusion, Germany, with the leading of Hitler was a very expressive model of a totalitarian state that sought for restoration. The regime most probably would not have remained relevant without the extremist control that they showed over the individuals. The occupants of Germany were not hesitant to surrender to the decisions of the leader. Any antagonism to the regime from any person or group would automatically make them the enemy that attracted equal punishment or even death. Thus, Nazism prevailed through propagating misleading ideals, making polices that supported their legitimacy as a regime. The Nazi regime also used terror effectively, to completely control the subjects to agree to whatever they wanted.
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