Analysis Of the Significance Of Hitler’s Security System
In order to examine and evaluate the significance of Hitler’s security system, one must look at how large a role it played in achieving nazi goals, how deep and how far did the security system help to maintain Hitler’s ideal Germany. To guarantee his power, he addressed three important aims to accomplish under his dictatorship. He wanted to establish a strong, racial Germany by abolishing all the racial minorities such as Jews and all the potential oppositions. He also aimed at the Volk by deliberately censoring media and subconsciously overtaking people’s mind and precepts. These aims can be categorized into different groups: political control, economic power, social change, and racial purity. The security system was made up of different elements, including the SS, SA, Gestapo and propaganda, indoctrination, concentration camps.
Maybe propaganda (indoctrination) is the most important Guaranteeing political control, Hitler aimed to use his security system to turn Germany into a one-party dictatorship. After Hitler became chancellor of Germany in January 1933, he organized police power to enforce Nazi policies. Making use of the Reichstag Fire on the night of 27th February, he successfully removed 4000 communists with Goering’s Prussian police and persuaded his Cabinet to declare a state of emergency and end individual freedoms, including freedom of the press, speech, and assembly. Throughout the period, propaganda and censorship played an important role in welding together the political attitudes of the nation. The Nazi terror tactics reached a peak in the days after the Reichstag Fire. Hitler relied on the SA and the Gestapo to kill opponents of the Nazi Regime and arrest the thousands of political opponents including Socialists and trade union leaders.
By the middle of 1933, the Nazi party was the only political party, and nearly all organized opposition had been eliminated. This was significant because the SA and Gestapo had made the Nazi takeover and consolidation of power possible, it also assured the Nazi’s votes in the election by terror and using propaganda which led to the pass of the Enabling Act as the Nazis were allowed to campaign for the election. However, as the SA was interfering in the running of the country and the law courts, Hitler’s suspicion towards to the SA had grown over time. Hitler then allied with the army and sacrificed the SA. The SS was then the next solution that solved Hitler’s problems with the SA. Under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler, the SS slowly became a more powerful elite force. Hitler completed the last step in his consolidation of power by removing the SA leaders, using the SS. This happened on the 30th of June 1934, the ‘‘Night of the long knives’’, the SS broke into homes of Ernst Rohm and other leading figures in the SA and arrested them. 400 people were executed, this was undeniably significant as Hitler obliterated part of his security system – the SA to build up his further layer of the security system. Hitler then declared himself as the President of Germany and the Head of State and Commander of the Army. He was fundamentally in control of turning Germany into a totalitarian state which had achieved his aim. To keep all his opponent under of control, Hitler censored all the media so people couldn’t reach outside and so they believed that the Nazis is the only to trust. He forced everyone to own a radio at home and put on his ideas of dictatorship. And the Gestapo was in charge of secretly spying on people on phones and conversations so they could know who were the opponents and get rid of them. The long-term impact is everyone was so scared of the Nazis. So even there were opponents, they would not stand out.
Assessing the extent to which Hitler achieved his economic objectives will allow us to determine how significant the security system was. Hitler had promised to provide jobs to every class and improve the deficit finance. In order to do this, he had to eliminate political opposition to ensure he could implement whatever policy he felt he needed. Arguably the SS, Gestapo were less significant helping him achieve these aims because many farmers had voted for Hitler and agreed to put their fragmented interest organizations under united Nazi leadership even business owners and artisans gave way to his policies without resistance. This implies that force and intimidation were not required to allow for its economic plans to be implemented. However, propaganda was relatively significant because Hitler got the support and votes of the classes by promising jobs and banning socialism just through promoting his ideas on newspapers, radios, and films. He then even gave leading industrialists positions of power in the administration. As a result, industrialists were satisfied as they had destroyed the socialist parties and tamed the trade unions.
The economy had started to grow slowly in late 1932 and the removal of the free trade unions made it easier for an industrialist to make profits. Further, he aimed to reduce unemployment which was six million in 1933 and build up the German armaments industry. He started off with a huge set of programmes, which included constructing hospitals, schools, and public buildings such as the Olympic Stadium. The construction of the autobahns, in particular, has created work for 80, 000 men. The German Rearmament also played a large role in the economic growth between 1933 and 1938. In 1933, 3. 5 billion marks were spent on tanks, aircraft and ships manufacturing, and by 1939 the figure was raised to 26 billion marks. This had provided millions of jobs for German workers.
Hitler’s last aim was to make Germany economically self-sufficient which was known as autarky. Here, Hitler’s security system appeared to be unsuccessful. This is because Hermann Göring, the creator of the Gestapo was appointed as the leader for the Four Year Plan. The Four Year Plan was proposed to speed up rearmament and make Germany self-sufficient to ensure it was ready for war. The measures he introduced, such as tighter controls on imports and subsidies for farmers to produce more food, were not successful. By the outbreak of World War Two, Germany was still importing 20 percent of its food and 33 percent of its raw materials. It certainly did not fulfill the ‘self-sufficient’ aim. In terms of significance, Hitler’s security system did not function as heavily in achieving his economic ambition comparatively speaking, to when they were needed to remove the political opponents.
To determine the further significance over Hitler’s security system, it is crucial to look into the impacts of social change. The young people are really important to the Nazis because they could brainwash them so that they would grow up accepting Nazi ideas without question. He wanted control over the teachers, control over the curriculum and to establish new schools. The Nazi Officials began inspecting schools, intimidating teacher to join the Nazi Party. All teachers were required to join the National Socialist Teachers’ League and swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler. By 1937, 97% had joined. Hitler’s security system is significant here because of the intimidation of the Gestapo and SS, teachers were under the control of the Nazis. However, indoctrination played an even larger role in achieving his aims. To be in control of the curriculum, teachers started every lesson started with Heil Hitler. The history of the rise of the Nazi Party and the injustices of the Treaty of Versailles were taught in History, Lebensraum was introduced in Geography. In addition, race study and Nazi ideology were created as a new subject to indoctrinate children with the concept of the superiority of the Aryan Race and anti-Semitism. Indoctrination had been incredibly significant as it brainwashed the children when they barely know anything. This had secured his future support, making sure when they’re loyal when they grow up. He then appointed the SS to establish new schools such as in 1933, the National Political Institutes of Education was created by the SS to train boys as future leaders. Boys were encouraged to join the Hitler Youth which was aiming to prepare Germans to be soldiers. Many boys were attracted to join because of the rules and the military-style uniform as they were influenced by the SS on newspaper. Propaganda had produced a significant impression on the Youth. All activities were centered on physical exercise as well as political indoctrination. There was a separate organization for girls which is called the League of German Maidens, its aim was to prepare German girls for future motherhood, their activities were mainly centered on sewing and cooking. Despite minor resistance groups, Hitler was able to control the youth and therefore his social policies were implemented to full effect. This indicates that the security system was significant in facilitating that process, especially with the establishment of new schools under the SS.
Assessing the extent to which Hitler achieved his master race will allow us to determine how significant the security system was. Hitler wanted to achieve the superiority of the Aryan Race and erase all the other racially or biologically inferior, many groups were targeted for persecution, including Slavs from Eastern Europe, gypsies, Soviet prisoners of war, homosexuals and disabled people but especially Jews. This is known as the Holocaust. Since 1934, the Anti-Jewish propaganda increased to build up the hatred in the people’s mind. The use of propaganda is significant because this has helped to develop persecution slowly by inputting Nazi ideas in the Germans’ mind. Of more significance, however, was the Nazi camp system designed to isolate the Jewish population. Germans deported Jews from all over occupied Europe to extermination camps in Poland, where they were systematically killed, and also to concentration camps, where they were drafted for forced labor-‘extermination through work. ’ In November 1938, after the pogrom against the Jew, approximately 30, 000 Jews were deported to concentration camps. Because of the advance of the Wehrmacht- German armed forces and the SS, more and more people were deported to the camps.
The SS was in charge of the concentration camps, which directly carried out the extermination of millions of people and rendered the effective regime of exhaustion of the inmates, thereby evidencing their importance in achieving Hitler’s objective.
