Essay The third Reich

Submitted By katypoop1
Words: 702
Pages: 3
Open Document
Where did power lie in the Third Reich ?
This essay will look at different interpretations from the different views of intentionalist and structuralist types of historians on the debate of Hitler as a weak or strong dictator. It will also analyse the role of the SS and other police agencies, the role of the Army and of the Nazi political party and its members.
Power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events. It implies complete control over both the political and the financial systems.
Debate focuses on” whether the terrible events of the third Reich are chiefly to be explained through the personality, ideology and will of Hitler or whether the dictator himself was not at least in part a prisoner of forces of which he was the instrument rather than the creator, and whose dynamic swept him too along in its momentum.” Ian Kershaw
Hitler retained a total level of authority inside the government, and supreme power was concentrated, at least in theory in his hands. Access to the Führer became the most important thing for government to proceed, and ministers who did not have access to him quickly fell from authority. Obviously the competence of this ruler to govern such a massive country was limited by many factors, especially by the information he received and the people who carried out his direct orders. Many have said however that he was not able to exercise the level of actual control of the country that his personal authority implies. This argument is part of the continuous debate between the "Intentionalists", who believed that Hitler was a strong dictator who was in control and had a clear premeditated path towards the atrocities committed during his rule, and "Structuralists" who see Hitler as a weak dictator who does as others tell him, is not interested in details and plays along events as they develop. The argument revolves around whether or not Hitler had a clear plan of policies to follow, and whether he was able to put this into practice. Norman Rich is a traditional intentionalist and this is clearly stated in his work: “the point cannot be stressed too strongly: Hitler was master in the Third Reich”. On the other hand, Hans Mommsen, a convinced structuralist, looks in his work at a Hitler “unwilling to take decisions, frequently uncertain, exclusively concerned with upholding his prestige and personal authority, influenced by the strongest fashion by his current entourage, in some aspects a weak dictator”.
Hitler ended the use of independent heads of departments with their own authority, replacing them with dependant secretaries with no authority to do what he told them and no more. For example, he never had the support of a war minister or Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, assuming
Show More

Related Documents: Essay The third Reich

Essay about The Fall of The Third Reich

Matthew Pronyshyn Mr. Everitt EAE3U 1 June 2014 The Fall of The Third Reich: How Hitler did Nazi it coming The Third Reich, (Nazi Germany) is the name given to Germany during the period of 1933 to 1945, under the reign of Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers’ Party (commonly known as the Nazi Party). The fall of Nazi Germany, because Hitler caused World War II for his desire to eagerly conquer Europe, also marked the end of the war on the 10th of May in 1945. During his 12-year…

Words 1196 - Pages 5

The Rise and fall of the Third Reich Essay

The Rise and fall of the Third Reich Ingrid Sanders Democracy in Trouble Times The Rise and fall of the Third Reich Introduction: At the beginning of 1930, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party exploited widespread and deep-seated discontent in Germany to attract popular and political support. Form 1929 onwards, the worldwide economic depression provoked hyperinflation, social unrest and mass unemployment, to which Hitler offered scapegoat such as the Jews. The democratic…

Words 1023 - Pages 5

How Did Heinrich Himmler's Impact On The Third Reich

The next man in line to Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler. The second most powerful man in Nazi Germany, and perhaps the most evil. What was his impact on the Third Reich? Let’s find out. First off who is Heinrich Himmler? He was born on October 7, 1900 in Munich, Germany. During WWI Himmler served as a clerk. After the war Himmler attended a University in Munich. While at the university Heinrich showed a lot of interest in militant politics. After Himmler left the university he joined the Nazi Party…

Words 428 - Pages 2

he art of Anti-Semitic propaganda films during the rise and fall of the Third Reich Essay

The art of Anti-Semitic propaganda films during the rise and fall of the Third Reich MALS 4470: Art/Culture: History & Context Arlan Ponder University of Denver University College 03/23/2013 Instructor: Leigh Holden Ponder-ii Thesis: The Third Reich’s Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, which was led by Dr. Joseph Goebbels, successfully mastered the art of using propaganda films to promote anti-Semitism during the reign of the Nazi Party in Germany. Ponder-1 Introduction…

Words 3678 - Pages 15

Robert Reich Why The Rich Are Getting Richer Analysis

everyone else for your problems.” Robert Reich, who wrote the essay “Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer,” would unquestionably disagree with Mr. Cain on this matter. Reich mentions in his essay that the reasons for not having jobs are the fault of outsourcing jobs overseas, advanced technology, and competition with each other and with the global web. He first divides American workers into three different working classifications, or boats as Reich metaphorically puts it. The three boats…

Words 1379 - Pages 6

Weimar Republic Essay

and the Third Reich) Both the legacies of the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich can be seen by many as factors which could have initially prevented Adenauer’s chancellorship from being a success due to the scepticism many had over a new democratic system and the effects of the Nazi reign. After the end of the First World War in 1918, the Germans themselves saw a defeat of the monarchy and the introduction of a new democracy, similar to what was being created in 1949, after the Third Reich’s…

Words 322 - Pages 2

Essay on American Economy

Maria Acevedo Mr. Treviño WRC 1013.009 22 February 2012 “Those Afloat” Regarding the American economy, Robert Reich and Barbara Eichenreich both illustrate how educated people have an advantage over the ones who have not pursued a career. These individuals provide ideas or jobs for uncultured people. People with a career and a job have the opportunity to receive a variety of benefits, including, having the opportunity for others to do their jobs. The authors above mention how people who have taken…

Words 880 - Pages 4

Essay on Adolf Hitler: Schutzstaffel Protection Squadrons

SS timeline 1925 Adolf Hitler, set up the SS (Schutzstaffel, Protection Squadrons). January 20, 1929 Hitler appoints Heinrich Himmler as the Reich leader of the SS. January 1933 The Nazis obtain control of the German state with the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor, marking the beginning of the Third Reich. Summer 1934 Hitler announces that the SS is an independent organization as a reward for its role in murdering Ernst Röhm and the top leadership of the SA. Summer 1934 Hitler authorizes…

Words 356 - Pages 2

Guida Diehl A New Type Of Women

The Author Guida Diehl was the founder and leader of the Newland Movement, which pre-dated the Nazi Party by at least six years. She came from a nationalist and anti-Semitic family, and only joined the Nazi Party in August 1930. Following the advice of Adolf Stocker, who hated Jews and supported the emancipation of unmarried women, she attended social-work school and later worked as a teacher of social work in Frankfurt. Diehl constantly preached a spiritualist, quasi-Christian, and nationalist…

Words 1806 - Pages 8

Ursula Mahlendorf's Use Of Propaganda In Germany

From the accounts of Ursula Mahlendorf, we learn the true extent of Nazi domestic propaganda in Germany throughout the reign of the Third Reich. This is evident based on Mahlendorf's account of the language in which describes Adolf Hitler. According to Mahlendorf, Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda, was instrumental in keeping the morale high of the war efforts and Nazi rule. When the "fronts receded back to Germany's borders during the course of 1943-1944," Gobbels said on the loudspeaker…

Words 311 - Pages 2