Hitler - A master of the Third Reich or 'in some respects' a weak dictator?

Discuss.

Discuss.

IMO:

A master of the Third Reich in terms of:

1. The penetration of an all-encompassing ideology through the constant re-assertion of Hitler as the ultimate Fuhrer, who apparently had greater legitimacy than any other previous leader of Germany.

2. Successful in brainwashing so many people.

3. Successful in that he knew what he wanted, he knew what was good for his aims, hence his rejection of classical totalitarian methods and an adoption of a more social darwinist approach to government whereby those with power and influence vied it out to gain a role of greater influence. This can be seen with Schact, Goering and Todt of the economy, all of whom increasingly sidelined each other and sought to erode each others power away.

4. Succeeded in killing 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of homosexuals, gypsies, trade unionists, jehovas witnesses', those with genetic disorders etc etc.

5. A truly charismatic speaker, would often hold peoples attention for up to 6 hours at a time.

6. Welfare provisions increased, infant mortaility dropped.

Weak in terms of:

1. Very disorganised system of government (although arguably this is what produced the good policies - people worked harder due to the competition), lack of a central collective forum for decision making, no coherent structure for administration - papers and documents often left unsigned for weeks etc.

2. It failed women. I think sometimes the extent to which women were failed by Nazism is often undermined or not realised due to the persecution of minorities. Thousands of women were dismissed from high ranking jobs - and some also sterilised, so ultimately many women lost any sense of purpose in society. Women had their privacy and dignity invaded by cruel methods of sterilisation. Psychological impact of this cannot really be fully appreciated.

3. Weak in that he relied on everyone else to think and innovate for him - used the best policies that arose out of conflict.

4. The idea of the Volksgemeinschaft/family as the basis for life and society was flawed due to the encouragement of of extra-marital sex resulting in illegitimate births, war meant women had to work, extremely fundamentally sexist values instillied in the home meant that many women suffered abuse from husbands and sons, DENUNCIATIONS. Hitler strived for a perfect master race, had a vision of Germany as an organic body, racially pure, urban/village residential areas with parks and greenery, one organic body linked together by a series of efficient autobahns..

all boils down to race.

Hitler ultimately weak in that he had to rely on, albeit a very powerful, propaganda machine to provide a facade and a scaffolding.