Popularity arguments
Terror state:
Terror was most definitely present in Nazi Germany, but there is a debate as to the
pervasiveness of terror. Firstly there is the argument that terror is aimed at certain people who
are seen as enemies to the Nazi regime:
SPD and KPD deputies in the Reichstag were arrested and brutalised in the wake of the
Reichstag fire, the Gestapo made over 10,000 arrests after the fire, and could boast of
effectively destroying all communist opposition by 1945.
In June 1933 the SPD is banned, 3000 of its members are arrested and hundreds are
murdered.
The trade union movement is subject to violent assault.
1935, 5000 convicted of high treason and 23,000 inmates were classed as political
prisoners.
All of this serves to disorientate, demoralise and essentially destroy any organised, powerful left
wing opposition.
Terror is most definitely key in the early years of the consolidation of power, whilst the political
opposition was still present:
One key example being the intimidation used to pass the enabling law, where the SS
surrounded the Opera house shouting “sign the decree or else blood and murder”.
Once the left is effectively destroyed, with camps full of political prisoners, at around
1937, terror and repression begins to be aimed at ordinary members of society that don’t
fit into Nazism, otherwise known as ‘asocials’:
Between 10,000 and 15,000 homosexuals imprisoned and those in camps were made to
wear pink triangles.
Of the 20,000 gypsies deported to Auschwitz in December 1942, 11,000 were murdered.
Atmosphere of terror.
Terror is not something that is used against the whole population.
What Richard Evans would argue is that the culture of brutality adopted by the Nazi regime
creates an atmosphere of fear. Although the terror is not directly aimed at the ordinary German
they are nevertheless fearful, although terror was not all pervasive, fear was.
Germans could be sent to concentration camps for ‘malicious gossip’ such as saying things as
simple as “the Nazis restrict people’s freedoms” or “anti-Semitism is a shame on German
culture”.
In 1933, 3700 people arrested for malicious gossip although this is a small percentage
of the population, the Nazis are able to portray the image that they are all seeing, and
thus stopping people from speaking out against the regime.
The Gestapo were seen to be omnipresent due to their attendance at every major event
in the 1930’s, and thus a myth developed that there was a member at every street
corner. However, there was not physically enough of them for that to be possible, there
were only 32,000 Gestapo officials, in the city of Essen there were only 43 officials, yet
had a population of 65,000.
Terror itself was popular
There is also an argument to suggest that the terror in itself was popular.
As a result of propaganda some people bought into ideas such as the ‘stab in the back’ myth,
and thus were genuinely against Jews and communists. Events such as the Reichstag fire, which
were cleverly manipulated to over exaggerate the threat of Bolshevik revolution only served to
reinforce these prejudices. Consequently, there were some in German society that believed it
was necessary to have the strong hand of Nazi rule to save the German people from the
communist and Jewish threat. The idea of the threat of communism can also provide reasoning
to the cooperation of non-socialist parties in the passing of the Enabling Law i.e. the Centre
Party.
One of the peaks in Hitler’s popularity was after the night of the long knives.
This genuine belief from some of the people that there was a need for terror to save the
German people is reinforced, and strongly argued by Gellately, by the sheer numbers of
Terror state:
Terror was most definitely present in Nazi Germany, but there is a debate as to the
pervasiveness of terror. Firstly there is the argument that terror is aimed at certain people who
are seen as enemies to the Nazi regime:
SPD and KPD deputies in the Reichstag were arrested and brutalised in the wake of the
Reichstag fire, the Gestapo made over 10,000 arrests after the fire, and could boast of
effectively destroying all communist opposition by 1945.
In June 1933 the SPD is banned, 3000 of its members are arrested and hundreds are
murdered.
The trade union movement is subject to violent assault.
1935, 5000 convicted of high treason and 23,000 inmates were classed as political
prisoners.
All of this serves to disorientate, demoralise and essentially destroy any organised, powerful left
wing opposition.
Terror is most definitely key in the early years of the consolidation of power, whilst the political
opposition was still present:
One key example being the intimidation used to pass the enabling law, where the SS
surrounded the Opera house shouting “sign the decree or else blood and murder”.
Once the left is effectively destroyed, with camps full of political prisoners, at around
1937, terror and repression begins to be aimed at ordinary members of society that don’t
fit into Nazism, otherwise known as ‘asocials’:
Between 10,000 and 15,000 homosexuals imprisoned and those in camps were made to
wear pink triangles.
Of the 20,000 gypsies deported to Auschwitz in December 1942, 11,000 were murdered.
Atmosphere of terror.
Terror is not something that is used against the whole population.
What Richard Evans would argue is that the culture of brutality adopted by the Nazi regime
creates an atmosphere of fear. Although the terror is not directly aimed at the ordinary German
they are nevertheless fearful, although terror was not all pervasive, fear was.
Germans could be sent to concentration camps for ‘malicious gossip’ such as saying things as
simple as “the Nazis restrict people’s freedoms” or “anti-Semitism is a shame on German
culture”.
In 1933, 3700 people arrested for malicious gossip although this is a small percentage
of the population, the Nazis are able to portray the image that they are all seeing, and
thus stopping people from speaking out against the regime.
The Gestapo were seen to be omnipresent due to their attendance at every major event
in the 1930’s, and thus a myth developed that there was a member at every street
corner. However, there was not physically enough of them for that to be possible, there
were only 32,000 Gestapo officials, in the city of Essen there were only 43 officials, yet
had a population of 65,000.
Terror itself was popular
There is also an argument to suggest that the terror in itself was popular.
As a result of propaganda some people bought into ideas such as the ‘stab in the back’ myth,
and thus were genuinely against Jews and communists. Events such as the Reichstag fire, which
were cleverly manipulated to over exaggerate the threat of Bolshevik revolution only served to
reinforce these prejudices. Consequently, there were some in German society that believed it
was necessary to have the strong hand of Nazi rule to save the German people from the
communist and Jewish threat. The idea of the threat of communism can also provide reasoning
to the cooperation of non-socialist parties in the passing of the Enabling Law i.e. the Centre
Party.
One of the peaks in Hitler’s popularity was after the night of the long knives.
This genuine belief from some of the people that there was a need for terror to save the
German people is reinforced, and strongly argued by Gellately, by the sheer numbers of
