A political concept sown from the seeds of despair, Nazism presented a

profound force for change Germany between 1933-45, playing a

detrimental role in shaping German society. Nazi ideology provided the
foundation upon which the Nazis established policy that fundamentally
restructured Germany, such a radical restructuring that had not been
attempted before and the likes of which we have not seen again. The
Nazis Volksgemeinschaft ideology, their vision of a peoples
community to which only pure Germans belonged, suppressed
peoples personal lives, most directly impacting on women and the
youth. The Nazis economic ideology wehrwirtschaft, which translates
to military economy drove economic policy, as the Party prepared
the nation for war. But perhaps the most radical transformation
occurred in the political sphere and the lives of minority groups.
Nazism had originally been perceived as a way out of the mire, a force
for positive change, but it soon became the pathway to the abyss of
destruction.
The extent to which Nazism worked as a force for change between
1933-45, is seen in its shaping of the German political sphere. The
democratic principles forced upon Germany in the aftermath of World
War 1 were exploited, as the Nazis moved swiftly to establish a
totalitarian state. They vented the pains of the German military defeat
on the November Criminals, feeling as though the army had the
strength to continue and had been betrayed from within, they desired
revenge for this betrayal. This desire for revenge drove this idea of
fuhrerprinzip, the idea that Germany needed a strong authoritarian
leader who would emerge, unchallenged by the restraints of
democracy and lead the nation through the mire and make Germany
great again. The Nazi movement despised democracy, it was a foreign
concept forced upon them by the Treaty of Versailles, and although
they had gained power legally, they had no intentions of continuing to
operate within the restraints of democracy. In order to facilitate this
fuhrerprinzip and rid Germany of democracy the party need to
introduce legislation that would allow them to bypass parliament,
undermining the core democratic principles. The Reichstag fire on the
27th of February 1933 allowed them to do this, playing on the fear a
communist conspiracy the party arrested 3,500 communists, including
members of parliament and on the 6th of March the KPD (communist
party) was banned. Furthermore, the party passed The Law for the
Protection of People and State which suspended civil liberties and
marked the beginning of a totalitarian state. When the new parliament
met in March of 1933, Hitlers stranglehold on Germany tightened, as
he proposed the Enabling Act which would, for all purposes, eliminate
the need for democracy in Germany. He claimed the state needed
autonomous powers to face issues confronting the state. The passage
of the Enabling Act was secured, gaining support from the middle

class parties, in particular the ZP and eradicated the need for political
parties in Germany. The Nazis had systematically, playing on the fear
of the citizens, disabled the political system. This gradual seizure gave
the movement momentum, allowing the Party to legislate for its
ideological concepts, and saw Nazism work as a force for change,
reconfiguring the nation from the ground up.

When the Nazis came to power in 1933 the nation was still tarnished
by the economic turmoil that stemmed from the Great Depression. The
regime, while seemingly freeing the nation from the manacles of this
economic downturn, only created long term barriers. The Nazis
economic ideology, known as the wehrwirtschaft or military
economy saw economic policy manufactured with the goal of
preparing the nation for war. The main element of this ideology was
the idea of autarky, self-sufficiency in food and raw materials to be
ready for war by 1940. By 1936, Hjlamar Schachts New Plan created
with the endeavor of solving this raw material crisis was perceived as
having failed resulting in the Nazi parties most influential intervention
into the economy. Many aspects of the economy and consequently
society were influenced by the Four year Plan. Big businesses,
particularly those geared towards rearmament and the production of
raw materials such as Chemical giant I.G Farben saw profits rise to
astronomical levels, benefitting greatly from the Nazis economic
policy. However, the much heralded new dawn for small businesses
did not come to pass, instead large business began to dominate,
significantly decreasing the profitability of small business. Farmers,
who made up a major portion of those who voted for the Nazis, also
benefitted from the Nazi economic policy. The Hereditary farm law saw
farms up to 308 acres become hereditary. Furthermore, this focus on
rearmament sparked major economic recovery, the most impressive
aspect of which was the significant decrease in unemployment of over
6 million from 1933 to 1938. These drastic falls were known as the
economic miracle is not an accurate reflection of the economic
circumstances at the time. This drastic fall in unemployment can be
attributed primarily to conscription, the rearmament push and state
aided job creation schemes. It is now recognized that the use of public
works money to create jobs artificially creates long-term economic
issues, most notably inflation. Furthermore, women and Jews, had been
dismissed from the work place and were not reflected in these figures.
Nazism was a force for change in Germany as the economy was
engineered to reflect there desire for war, and the supposed economic
miracle provided only transient comfort, having a detrimental impact
on the nations long term economic prospects.

The Nazis concept of a Volksgemeinschaft, the Nazis take on a peoples

community drove some major changes in the personal lives of
Germans. The Volksgemeinschaft process had a profound role on the
lives of German youth. Particular focus was placed on the
indoctrination of the youth, with Hitler commenting, he who owns the
youth, owns the future. They needed to gain the support of the next
generation who would fight for them in war and endeavoured to
imprint other concepts of Volksgemeinschaft such as gender roles on
the youth. They set about doing this through the restructuring of the
education system and establishment of youth organizations that
endeavored to produce loyal and obedient puppets of the regime.
Youth organizations such as Hitler youth (est. 1926) were used to
indoctrinate the youth with ideological concepts and physically prepare
males for lives in the military by providing activities such as hiking,
climbing and quasi-military drills. This was seen as the primary role of
males in society and was reinforced in the educational system. The
Nazis reconstructed the educational syllabus to aid in this preparation
for war, girls were taught things seen as consistent with their role,
knitting, sowing and domestic skills. While males were taught maths,
science and emphasis was placed on physical activity, with the aim of
preparing them for the military. This persistent indoctrination had
major ramifications on the educational system of the nation, the once
well recognized system had been dismantled and replaced with
ruthless indoctrination institutions. This Volksgemeinschaft process saw
the roles of women, which had been propelled during the Weimar
period, fundamentally reconfigured. The role of women during the
Third Reich was seen as one entrenched in the domestic sphere,
focusing on caring for their husband and childbearing. This was clearly
the view of Hitler who comments, her world is her husband, her
family, her children and home. The Volksgemeinschaft process is a
reflection of the extent to which Nazism was a force for change in
Germany as the personal lives of Germans were fundamentally
restructured.
Another aspect of this Volksgemeinschaft process that saw Nazism
work as a force for change within Germany was this ideology of a
pure Aryan race. In order to build and preserve this Aryan master race
as well as build the army in anticipation for war, the Nazis
implemented policy encouraging Aryan women to have multitudes of
children. Incentives such as 10,000 mark marriage loans were given
out, of which was paid off at the birth of a child, meaning that after 4
children these loans were seen as being repaid. The Mother Cross was
another incentive, with the idea of being saluted by Hitler Youth
presenting an attractive prospect to some. Nazi ideology saw women
programmed by the regime as reproduction machines to facilitate their

view of the Aryan race and to prepare for war, ultimately hindering the
path to gender equality. The Nazis desire to preserve a master race,
drove lebensraum, the process of imperialism with the objective of
giving Germany more living space. Additionally, when the Nazis came
to power in 1933 they set about removing impurities to this Aryan
master race, which lead to the persecution of minority groups more
specifically the Jews. The Party used propaganda to produce a constant
flow of anti-Semitic material that saw the Jews become targets for
venting national frustrations, worsening the situation for German Jews.
To remove the Jews perceived threat to the nations Volksgemeinschaft
and racial strength, the party implemented the Nuremburg Laws of
1935, which banned interracial marriage and stripped Jews of their
German citizenship, endeavoring to free Germany of Jews. The
cumulative radicalization of the Partys anti-Semitic ideology saw a
series of extermination camps opened in 1942 opened in German
occupied Poland, Jews from across Europe were transported to these
camps, killing 6 million Jews between 1933-45. Furthermore, the party
embarked on euthanasia and sterilisation programs, which
exterminated 275000 physically and mentally disabled Germans by
1945, who were seen as a threat to the master race. The Nazis
ideology concerning a master race was a major force for change in
Germany objectifying women as reproduction machines and lead to
one of the darkest moments in humanity, the holocaust.
It is undisputable that Nazism was a force for change between 193345. The ideological concepts that stemmed from Nazism bought on the
fundamental restructuring of the nation. The Nazis desire revenge for
the humiliating terms of the treaty of Versailles drove a radical
restructuring of the economy with the objective of achieving autarky
and facilitating rearmament and conscription. Elements of society were
redesigned in preparation for war, youth organizations were replaced
with ruthless brainwashing institutions that saw Nazi ideology instilled
into German culture for years to come while women were objectified by
the regime, ultimately hindering the path to equality. But perhaps the
most radical transformation occurred in the lives of minority groups,
fuelled by the vision of a racially pure, Aryan master race. The partys
desire to preserve the master race drove lebensraum, which resulted in
the attack of Poland that sparked World War 2 and the most brutal and
horrific example of genocide in history, the holocaust. Nazism
undoubtedly was a force for change in Germany between 1933-45,
what had originally been perceived by Germans as a solution to the
nations dire circumstances, spiraled the nation into the depths of
despair.