How effectively did the Nazis control Germany, 1933–45?
What was it like to live in Nazi Germany?
Hitler’s Germany was run on the following principles:
Hitler followed a policy of Gleichschaltung [forcible co-ordination, or literally, bringing into line/co-ordination] which turned Germany into a totalitarian state. It was the deliberate attempt to Nazify the life of Germany. As many aspects of life as possible were totally controlled by the government using a huge police force and the notorious Gestapo. It became dangerous to criticize or oppose the government in any way. The main features of the Nazi totalitarian state were:
Government and Administration
- Nazism was more than just a political movement; it was a way of life. All classes in society must be united to make Germany a greater nation again and restore national pride. It followed, therefore, that communists and other political groups would be eliminated.
- Great emphasis was laid on the ruthlessly efficient organization of all aspects of life under the central government in order to achieve greatness, with violence and terror if necessary. The state, therefore was supreme; the interests of the individual must be subordinated to the good of the state, that is a totalitarian state.
- Since it was likely that greatness could be achieved only by war, the entire state must be organized on a military footing.
- Mankind could be divided into two groups: Aryans and non-Aryans. The Aryans were Germans: ideally tall, blond and handsome; they were the master race, destined to rule the world. All the rest, such as Slavs, coloured people and particularly Jews, were inferior and were destined to become the slave races of the Germans.
Hitler followed a policy of Gleichschaltung [forcible co-ordination, or literally, bringing into line/co-ordination] which turned Germany into a totalitarian state. It was the deliberate attempt to Nazify the life of Germany. As many aspects of life as possible were totally controlled by the government using a huge police force and the notorious Gestapo. It became dangerous to criticize or oppose the government in any way. The main features of the Nazi totalitarian state were:
Government and Administration
- On 7 April 1933, he put Nazi officials in charge of the local governments which ran Germany’s provinces. The separate state parliaments still existed but lost all power. Most of their functions were taken off by a Nazi Special Commissioner appointed in each state by the Berlin government, who had complete power over all officials and affairs within his state. There were no more state, provincial or municipal elections.
- The civil service was purged. All Jews and other suspected ‘enemies of the state’ were removed until it was fully reliable.
- On 2 May, he closed down trade unions, confiscated their funds and arrested and put their leaders in prison. Trade unions were replaced by the German Labour Front to which all workers had to belong. The government dealt with all grievances and strikes were not allowed.
- On 14 July, he made a Law against the formation of new parties. The Nazi Party was the only party allowed to exist in Germany, other political parties were banned. Anyone trying to set up or run another party would be punished with three years of hard labour. In this way, Germany became a one-party state, just like Italy and the USSR.
Education and Youths
The education system was closely controlled so that children could be indoctrinated with Nazi opinions. [Indoctrination means getting people to believe in a set of ideas.] In Nazi Germany, education became merely a tool for the long-term survival of the Nazi system. Education was intended to indoctrinate its youths completely in the principles and ethos of National Socialism. School textbooks were often rewritten to fit in with Nazi theory, the most obvious examples being in history and biology, and to paint a good picture of the Nazis. History was distorted to fit in with Hitler’s views that great things could only be achieved by force. Human biology was dominated by the Nazi race theory.
Teachers had to belong to the German Teachers’ League and were made to put across Nazi ideas in their lessons. Teachers had to go on compulsory training courses during school holidays. If they expressed opinions which strayed from the party line, they might be reported to the Gestapo by children whose parents were convinced Nazis. As a result of such measures, German schoolchildren were not so much educated as indoctrinated.
The education system was closely controlled so that children could be indoctrinated with Nazi opinions. [Indoctrination means getting people to believe in a set of ideas.] In Nazi Germany, education became merely a tool for the long-term survival of the Nazi system. Education was intended to indoctrinate its youths completely in the principles and ethos of National Socialism. School textbooks were often rewritten to fit in with Nazi theory, the most obvious examples being in history and biology, and to paint a good picture of the Nazis. History was distorted to fit in with Hitler’s views that great things could only be achieved by force. Human biology was dominated by the Nazi race theory.
Teachers had to belong to the German Teachers’ League and were made to put across Nazi ideas in their lessons. Teachers had to go on compulsory training courses during school holidays. If they expressed opinions which strayed from the party line, they might be reported to the Gestapo by children whose parents were convinced Nazis. As a result of such measures, German schoolchildren were not so much educated as indoctrinated.
Youth Movements
The education system was supplemented by the Hitler Youth which all boys had to join at 14; girls joined the League of German Maidens. They all learnt that ‘the Fuhrer is always right’ and that their first duty was to obey him. They were even encouraged to betray their parents to the Gestapo and many did so. Outside school, young people had to belong to youth organisations which taught them loyalty to Hitler and trained them in military skills. Girls and boys were also strongly encouraged to join the five organisations of the Hitler Youth Movement. This was divided into different sections according to age.
The education system was supplemented by the Hitler Youth which all boys had to join at 14; girls joined the League of German Maidens. They all learnt that ‘the Fuhrer is always right’ and that their first duty was to obey him. They were even encouraged to betray their parents to the Gestapo and many did so. Outside school, young people had to belong to youth organisations which taught them loyalty to Hitler and trained them in military skills. Girls and boys were also strongly encouraged to join the five organisations of the Hitler Youth Movement. This was divided into different sections according to age.
By 1939, some eight million young Germans belonged to the Hitler Youth Movement. Those who did not join found it difficult to go on to university or even to get a job when they left school. The Hitler Youth was another way of making young people believe what the Nazis wanted them to believe. Older boys also did a lot of physical exercises, to prepare them for military service in the German army while girls were prepared for their domestic tasks. Every year, Hitler Youth members had to go to training camps where they learnt how to read maps, did sports and gymnastics, and were taught Nazi ideas. Camp training was taken very seriously.
Propaganda and the Mass Media
All communications were controlled by the Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Dr Josef Goebbels. Goebbels’ job was to make the Germans believe in Nazi ideas and to be loyal to Hitler and the Party. Radio, newspapers, magazines, books, theatre, films, music and art were all supervised. Goebbels’ job was to see that newspapers, magazines, films and the radio all hammered home the same simple message – that Adolf Hitler was Germany’s savior, a superman who could do no wrong. Goebbels propaganda was brilliantly convincing.
All communications were controlled by the Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Dr Josef Goebbels. Goebbels’ job was to make the Germans believe in Nazi ideas and to be loyal to Hitler and the Party. Radio, newspapers, magazines, books, theatre, films, music and art were all supervised. Goebbels’ job was to see that newspapers, magazines, films and the radio all hammered home the same simple message – that Adolf Hitler was Germany’s savior, a superman who could do no wrong. Goebbels propaganda was brilliantly convincing.
First, Goebbels made sure that newspapers printed only stories favourable to the government. Every morning, the editors of Berlin’s newspapers had to go to the Propaganda Ministry where he told them what news to print and what the headlines should be. Newspapers which printed stories he had not approved were closed down.
All Germany’s radio stations were under Goebbels’ control, so he used the radio to hammer the Nazi message home. He encouraged people to listen to the radio by producing cheap radio sets which most people could afford. To make sure that people heard the radio when they were not at home, Goebbels had loudspeaker pillars built in the streets, and ordered all cafes to have their radios turned on for important programmes. Goebbels’ most spectacular form of propaganda was the mass rally. The most famous of the mass rallies were held in August each year at Nuremberg. A Nuremberg rally lasted a whole week and was held in four specially built arenas outside the town. Every event was staged to perfection. |
Goebbels also had to use censorship to stop other ideas from spreading. Censorship means to ban information or entertainment which the government thinks is harmful. Every kind of information and entertainment was censored. Jazz music was not allowed at dances because it had its origins among the black people of America. Films were censored for all sorts of reasons. Students were encouraged to censor books written by Jews or communists by burning them. In 1933, students in Berlin destroyed 20,000 books in a bonfire outside the University of Berlin. By the end of 1934, about 4000 books were on the forbidden list because they were ‘un-German’.
It was impossible to perform the plays of Bertolt Brecht (a communist or the music of Felix Mendelssohn and Gustav Mahler (they were Jewish). Writers, artists and scholars were harassed until it became impossible to express any opinion which did not fit in with the Nazi system. By these methods, public opinion could be moulded and mass support assured. People could not even say things against the Nazis in private. Complaining about the government was against the law. Anti-Nazi jokes were forbidden and the penalty for anti-Nazi jokes was death.
It was impossible to perform the plays of Bertolt Brecht (a communist or the music of Felix Mendelssohn and Gustav Mahler (they were Jewish). Writers, artists and scholars were harassed until it became impossible to express any opinion which did not fit in with the Nazi system. By these methods, public opinion could be moulded and mass support assured. People could not even say things against the Nazis in private. Complaining about the government was against the law. Anti-Nazi jokes were forbidden and the penalty for anti-Nazi jokes was death.
The Economy
The economic life of the country was closely organised. Although the Nazis (unlike the Bolsheviks) had no special economic ideas, they did have two main aims: to remove unemployment and to make Germany self-sufficient by boosting exports and reducing imports (known as autarky). Nazi policies involved:
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Religion
Germany was a Christian country. Most Germans were Protestants though there were also many Roman Catholics. Hitler did not trust the Christian churches because he feared that they had too much influence over the people. He did not like the idea that people were more loyal to the churches than they were to him. He brought religion under state control since the churches were a possible source of opposition. He tried therefore, to bring the churches more under the control of the government, albeit cautiously with Protestants and Roman Catholics. He was very successful in doing this with the Protestant churches. Since a majority of Germans belonged to one or other of the various Protestant groups, Hitler tried to organise them into a ‘Reich Church’. He created a new state Church with a Nazi bishop in charge, Ludwig Muller. Some German Christians saw how Nazism was in many ways the opposite of Christianity and they condemned it as the enemy of their faith. |
The opposing group, the Bekennende Kirche (Confessing Church) upheld Lutheranism and rejected Nazi distortions was led by Martin Niemoller, who had refused to join the Nazi State Church. Niemoller protested to Hitler about government interference and openly opposed many aspects of Nazism and about his treatment of the Jews. In the final sermon he was allowed to preach, he told his followers, ‘we must obey God rather than man.’ Many pastors supported the Confessing Church and in 1934, claimed they represented the true Lutheran Church of Germany. Again the Nazis were completely ruthless – Niemoller and over 800 other pastors were sent to concentration camps. Hundreds more were arrested later because they refused to give up their beliefs and the rest were forced to swear an oath of obedience to the Fuhrer.
With the Roman Catholics, he was less successful. This was partly because the Roman Catholic Church was an organisation with branches all over the world and therefore, more difficult to control. In 1933, Hitler signed an agreement (known as a Concordat) with the Pope in which he promised not to interfere with German Catholics in any way; in return they agreed to dissolve the Catholic Centre Party and take no further part in politics. But relations soon became strained when the government broke the Concordat by dissolving the Catholic Youth League because it rivaled the Hitler Youth. Catholics protested their schools were closed down. By 1937, Catholics were completely disillusioned with the Nazis and Pope Pius XI issued an Encyclical (a letter to be read out in all Roman Catholic churches in Germany) in which he condemned the Nazi government for being ‘hostile to Christ and His Church.’ Hitler was unimpressed, however, and thousands of priests and nuns were arrested and sent to concentration camps. However, many German Roman Catholics seemed fairly happy with the Nazi regime.
Police State
Germany was a police state. The Nazi Party had millions of members and many thousands of officials. It was organized very carefully so that every German citizen could be kept under their control, even if they were not members.
With the Roman Catholics, he was less successful. This was partly because the Roman Catholic Church was an organisation with branches all over the world and therefore, more difficult to control. In 1933, Hitler signed an agreement (known as a Concordat) with the Pope in which he promised not to interfere with German Catholics in any way; in return they agreed to dissolve the Catholic Centre Party and take no further part in politics. But relations soon became strained when the government broke the Concordat by dissolving the Catholic Youth League because it rivaled the Hitler Youth. Catholics protested their schools were closed down. By 1937, Catholics were completely disillusioned with the Nazis and Pope Pius XI issued an Encyclical (a letter to be read out in all Roman Catholic churches in Germany) in which he condemned the Nazi government for being ‘hostile to Christ and His Church.’ Hitler was unimpressed, however, and thousands of priests and nuns were arrested and sent to concentration camps. However, many German Roman Catholics seemed fairly happy with the Nazi regime.
Police State
Germany was a police state. The Nazi Party had millions of members and many thousands of officials. It was organized very carefully so that every German citizen could be kept under their control, even if they were not members.
The Gestapo
The Nazi Party had many ways of controlling the lives and influencing the thoughts of the German people. Party officials were everywhere: at work, at school, at university. Even at home, people were carefully watched. By listening to the local gossip, and even by listening at keyholes, informers could find out who were the grumblers, critics and petty criminals and report them to their superiors in the party. This meant getting into trouble with the police for the Nazi Party controlled the police force of Germany. There was also the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei – Secret State Police) and the SS.
The Gestapo was a branch of the SS, and it had the power to do exactly it liked. All dictators risk being overthrown by their opponents. Dictators therefore need large police forces to protect them. For this reason, a dictatorship is often called a police state. The most important job of any police force is to investigate crimes and then to catch the people who have committed them. The police in Nazi Germany were different: their job was to arrest people before they committed crimes. Their method was simple: all local police units had to draw up lists of people who might be ‘Enemies of the State’. They gave these lists to the Gestapo. The Gestapo had spies everywhere – in shops, in factories, in blocks of flats, even in schools. A word against Hitler or the Nazis meant instant arrest.
Thousands of people disappeared behind the barbed-wire fences of special prisons called concentration camps introduced by Hitler in 1933. Many were never heard of again. (The main ones before 1939 were Dachau near Munich, Buchenwald near Weimar and Sachsenhausen near Berlin.) All opposition was ruthlessly sought out by the police, helped by the SS and the Gestapo. Opponents of Hitler were arrested (without a fair trial), killed or imprisoned. Some went to concentration camps, forced labour camps which were set up in different parts of Germany. They housed ‘political’ prisoners – Communists, Social Democrats, Catholic priests, Protestant pastors and above all, Jews. The Gestapo and the SS struck terror into the hearts of opponents of the Nazis. Many Jews, democrats and other opponents fled the country.
There was no further genuine elections after 1933, so it is not possible to know how much support Hitler actually had. There is little doubt that large numbers of ordinary Germans continued to give Hitler their enthusiastic support. The Fuhrer seemed to be building a strong and prosperous new Germany out of the ruins of the old one. What did freedom to vote for somebody different matter if you had a job and felt that your country was recovering at least from the shame of defeat in 1918?
In these ways Hitler did his best to establish in Germany a totalitarian dictatorship where the government controlled every aspect of people’s lives. A totalitarian dictatorship is where the dictator has control over every aspect of people’s lives. Totalitarian governments control the press, cinema and radio. They indoctrinate people through propaganda. They used education to make sure that children believe what the government wants them to believe. They try to control all aspects of their people’s lives, even what they do in their free time.
The Nazi Party had many ways of controlling the lives and influencing the thoughts of the German people. Party officials were everywhere: at work, at school, at university. Even at home, people were carefully watched. By listening to the local gossip, and even by listening at keyholes, informers could find out who were the grumblers, critics and petty criminals and report them to their superiors in the party. This meant getting into trouble with the police for the Nazi Party controlled the police force of Germany. There was also the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei – Secret State Police) and the SS.
The Gestapo was a branch of the SS, and it had the power to do exactly it liked. All dictators risk being overthrown by their opponents. Dictators therefore need large police forces to protect them. For this reason, a dictatorship is often called a police state. The most important job of any police force is to investigate crimes and then to catch the people who have committed them. The police in Nazi Germany were different: their job was to arrest people before they committed crimes. Their method was simple: all local police units had to draw up lists of people who might be ‘Enemies of the State’. They gave these lists to the Gestapo. The Gestapo had spies everywhere – in shops, in factories, in blocks of flats, even in schools. A word against Hitler or the Nazis meant instant arrest.
Thousands of people disappeared behind the barbed-wire fences of special prisons called concentration camps introduced by Hitler in 1933. Many were never heard of again. (The main ones before 1939 were Dachau near Munich, Buchenwald near Weimar and Sachsenhausen near Berlin.) All opposition was ruthlessly sought out by the police, helped by the SS and the Gestapo. Opponents of Hitler were arrested (without a fair trial), killed or imprisoned. Some went to concentration camps, forced labour camps which were set up in different parts of Germany. They housed ‘political’ prisoners – Communists, Social Democrats, Catholic priests, Protestant pastors and above all, Jews. The Gestapo and the SS struck terror into the hearts of opponents of the Nazis. Many Jews, democrats and other opponents fled the country.
There was no further genuine elections after 1933, so it is not possible to know how much support Hitler actually had. There is little doubt that large numbers of ordinary Germans continued to give Hitler their enthusiastic support. The Fuhrer seemed to be building a strong and prosperous new Germany out of the ruins of the old one. What did freedom to vote for somebody different matter if you had a job and felt that your country was recovering at least from the shame of defeat in 1918?
In these ways Hitler did his best to establish in Germany a totalitarian dictatorship where the government controlled every aspect of people’s lives. A totalitarian dictatorship is where the dictator has control over every aspect of people’s lives. Totalitarian governments control the press, cinema and radio. They indoctrinate people through propaganda. They used education to make sure that children believe what the government wants them to believe. They try to control all aspects of their people’s lives, even what they do in their free time.
Summary of Hitler's Policies
Foreign Affairs
1. Hitler’s arrival in power in January 1933 caused a great wave of enthusiasm and anticipation after the weak and indecisive governments of the Weimar Republic. Hitler seemed to offer promise of action and a great new Germany. He took care to foster this enthusiasm by military parades, torchlight processions and fireworks displays, the most famous of which were the great rallies held every year in Nuremberg, which seemed to appeal to the masses.
2. Hitler was successful in eliminating unemployment. This was probably the most important reason for his popularity with the masses. He had provided what the unemployed had been demanding in their 1932 marches: work and bread (Arbeit und Brot). Now that they were in work, these people were able to buy more goods. This, in its turn, helped to provide work for others. When he came to power, the unemployment figure still stood at over six million but as early as July 1935, it had dropped to under two million and by 1939, it disappeared completely.
How was this achieved?
3. Care was taken to keep the support of workers once it had been gained by the provisions of jobs. This was important because the abolition of trade unions still rankled with many of them. The Strength through Joy organization (Kraft durch Freude) provided benefits such as subsidized holidays in Germany and abroad, crusises, ski-ing holidays, cheap theatre and concert tickets and convalescent homes. Other benefits were holidays with pay and the control of rents.
4. Wealthy industrialists and businessmen were delighted with Hitler and the Nazis in spite of the government’s interference with their industries, partly because they now felt safe from a communist revolution and were pleased to be rid of trade union which had constantly pestered them with demands for shorter working hours and increased wages. In addition, there was promise of great profits from the public works schemes, rearmament and the orders which the government placed with them.
5. Farmers though not impressed at first, gradually warmed towards the Nazis as soon as it became clear that they were in a specially favoured position in the state because of the avowed Nazi aims of self-sufficiency in food production. Prices of agricultural produce were fixed so that they were assured of a reasonable profit. Farms were declared to be hereditary estates. This mean that a farmed could not be forced to sell or mortgage his farm to pay off his debts and was welcomed by many farmers who were heavily in debt as a result of the financial crisis.
6. Hitler gained the support of the Reichwehr which was crucial if he was to feel secure in power. The Reichwehr was one organization which could remove him by force. Yet by the summer of 1934, Hitler had won it over:
7. Hitler’s anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish) policy was popular with many Germans to begin with. The Jews in Germany (just over half a million) were used by Hitler as scapegoats for everything – the humiliation at Versailles, the depression, unemployment and communism – and claimed that there was a world Jewish plot. Lots of Germans were in such a desperate situation that they were prepared to accept the propaganda about the Jews and were not sorry to see thousands of them removed from their jobs as lawyers, doctors, teachers and journalists. The campaign was given legal status by the Nuremburg Laws (1935).
8. Hitler’s foreign policy was a brilliant success. With each successive triumph, more and more Germans began to think of him as infallible.
Domestic Affairs
There are conflicting views about this.
Foreign Affairs
1. Hitler’s arrival in power in January 1933 caused a great wave of enthusiasm and anticipation after the weak and indecisive governments of the Weimar Republic. Hitler seemed to offer promise of action and a great new Germany. He took care to foster this enthusiasm by military parades, torchlight processions and fireworks displays, the most famous of which were the great rallies held every year in Nuremberg, which seemed to appeal to the masses.
2. Hitler was successful in eliminating unemployment. This was probably the most important reason for his popularity with the masses. He had provided what the unemployed had been demanding in their 1932 marches: work and bread (Arbeit und Brot). Now that they were in work, these people were able to buy more goods. This, in its turn, helped to provide work for others. When he came to power, the unemployment figure still stood at over six million but as early as July 1935, it had dropped to under two million and by 1939, it disappeared completely.
How was this achieved?
- The public works schemes provided thousands of extra jobs. Many built a network of fine new roads, called Autobahns, across Germany. Hitler’s programme of road building was one of the ways in which he tried to solve Germany’s economic problems. Road building provided jobs for a large number of people.
- A large party bureaucracy was set up now that the Nazi Party was expanding so rapidly, providing thousands of extra jobs.
- There were purges of Jews and anti-Nazis from the civil service and many other jobs connected with law, teaching, journalist, broadcasting, the theatre and music, leaving large numbers of vacancies. Women were also forced out of their jobs after Hitler came into power.
- Hitler planned to make Germany a strong and independent country and that meant building up the size and strength of the army. Conscription was reintroduced in March 1935. Hitler took many men into his growing army. The army quickly grew from 100000 men in 1933 to 1.4 million in 1939, thus reducing the unemployment rate.
- The most important reason for the fall in unemployment during these years was rearmament. Rearmament began in 1934 and gradually speeded up. It led to a greater demand for armaments. 46 million marks were spent on weapons and equipment, so thousands more were given work in factories making tools of war – tanks and aeroplanes.
- Hitler also employed people to reclaim waste land and pull down slums in the cities.
3. Care was taken to keep the support of workers once it had been gained by the provisions of jobs. This was important because the abolition of trade unions still rankled with many of them. The Strength through Joy organization (Kraft durch Freude) provided benefits such as subsidized holidays in Germany and abroad, crusises, ski-ing holidays, cheap theatre and concert tickets and convalescent homes. Other benefits were holidays with pay and the control of rents.
4. Wealthy industrialists and businessmen were delighted with Hitler and the Nazis in spite of the government’s interference with their industries, partly because they now felt safe from a communist revolution and were pleased to be rid of trade union which had constantly pestered them with demands for shorter working hours and increased wages. In addition, there was promise of great profits from the public works schemes, rearmament and the orders which the government placed with them.
5. Farmers though not impressed at first, gradually warmed towards the Nazis as soon as it became clear that they were in a specially favoured position in the state because of the avowed Nazi aims of self-sufficiency in food production. Prices of agricultural produce were fixed so that they were assured of a reasonable profit. Farms were declared to be hereditary estates. This mean that a farmed could not be forced to sell or mortgage his farm to pay off his debts and was welcomed by many farmers who were heavily in debt as a result of the financial crisis.
6. Hitler gained the support of the Reichwehr which was crucial if he was to feel secure in power. The Reichwehr was one organization which could remove him by force. Yet by the summer of 1934, Hitler had won it over:
- The officer class was well-disposed towards Hitler because of his declared aim of setting aside the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty by rearmament and expansion of the army to its full strength.
- There had been a steady infiltration of National Socialists in the lower ranks and this was beginning to work through to the lower officer classes.
- The army leaders were greatly impressed by Hitler’s handling of the troublesome SA in the notorious strength Rohm Purge (Night of the Long Knives) of 30 June 1934.
7. Hitler’s anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish) policy was popular with many Germans to begin with. The Jews in Germany (just over half a million) were used by Hitler as scapegoats for everything – the humiliation at Versailles, the depression, unemployment and communism – and claimed that there was a world Jewish plot. Lots of Germans were in such a desperate situation that they were prepared to accept the propaganda about the Jews and were not sorry to see thousands of them removed from their jobs as lawyers, doctors, teachers and journalists. The campaign was given legal status by the Nuremburg Laws (1935).
8. Hitler’s foreign policy was a brilliant success. With each successive triumph, more and more Germans began to think of him as infallible.
Domestic Affairs
There are conflicting views about this.
- One school of thought claims that the Nazis were extremely successful and provided many benefits of the sort mentioned. If only Hitler had managed to keep out of war, all would have been well and his Third Reich might have lasted a thousand years (as he boasted it would).
- The other view is that Hitler’s policies were superficially successful and could not stand the test of time; even the superficial was achieved by methods unacceptable in a modern civilized society.