Download To what extend did Hitler establish a totalitarian state? Stepan

To what extend did Hitler establish a totalitarian state?
Stepan Nazaretyan
In this essay I am going to analyse whether Hitler established a totalitarian state and if he did,
then to what extend the Third Reich was totalitarian. I will look at the period when the Third
Reich existed under Hitler; these are the years between 1933, when Hitler was appointed as
Chancellor of Germany and 1945, when he committed a suicide and the Third Reich
collapsed. I am going to consider Hitler’s actions against the criteria of a totalitarian state,
suggested by Carl Friedrich in his book “Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy”. According
to him, a totalitarian state must have the following seven characteristics: dictatorship, cult,
ideology, terror, control of media and cultural activity, propaganda and centralized economy.
The first feature of a totalitarian state – a single-party dictatorship - was achieved by Hitler in
the first two years after he was appointed as Chancellor. The process of Gleichschaltung or
coordination allowed Hitler to become the supreme leader of the Nazi state. After Hitler’s
attempt to get the majority of the votes in 1933 elections failed, he made the Reichstag (under
the pressure and terror of his Storm Troopers) to vote for the “enabling will” which allowed
him to change the Constitution. The first step against his political rivals was the
establishment of Dachau, the first concentration camp for political prisoners. This shows that
Hitler certainly was not willing to collaborate with other parties, as Hitler famously said in
one of his speeches: “Is it truly German to have 16 parties in the Reichstag?” In June, Social
Democrats were abolished, whilst other parties dissolved themselves and the final step to
secure the one-party state was the passing of the “Law against the Formation of New Parties”.
On one hand, all the evidence points to the fact that by 14th of July 1933 Hitler established a
one-party state. Step-by-step other parties were either abolished or dissolved, so these seem
to be an undeniable fact that Hitler established a single-party state. However some other
arguments also must be taken into account. Hitler had to go for compromises with some other
leading forces in the German society. The concordat signed between the Nazi party and the
Catholic Church points to the fact, that Hitler could not outlaw all structures and had to go to
a compromise with them. Another factor was the enemy within the Nazi party. Though
NSDAP became the only legal party, this did not stop a split inside it. That’s the reason why
in August 1934, Hitler ordered the murder of senior members of SA, which became known as
the “Night of Long Knives”. All these factors point to the fact, that on official level Hitler
established a single-party state, however there was a split inside the Nazi party itself.
Another aspect of a totalitarian state is a cult of a leader, in this case of Hitler. After the death
of Hindenburg, Hitler combined his position in Party and in the Government, essentially
dissolving the office of president. He combined the position of a Chancellor and a President
into Fuhrer who had “all sovereign power of the Reich”. Then Hitler made a greeting “Heil
Hitler!” an obligatory, so soon many Germans started to look at Hitler as a god-like figure.
Robert Ley, a politician in Nazi party, illustrates this, by saying: “Yes, you who called us
godless, we found our faith in Adolf Hitler and through him found God once again”. This
clearly shows what a strong personality cult was achieved by Hitler. According, to Ian
Kershaw, Germans became victims to an “uncritical deification of Hitler”. They believed that
for any misfortunes that happened it was not Hitler to blame, but the “corrupt Nazi party”.
Though, most of the German people were influenced by Hitler’s cult, there still were people
who resisted it. For example, Catholic clergy publicized another form of greeting: “Gruess