Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933.
How did he change the nation of Germany?
What policies did he implement?
In 1934, Adolf Hitler combined the offices of president and chancellor into one position
and gave himself the title Fuhrer.
He proclaimed that the Weimar Republic, the old government, no longer existed, and announced
the creation of The Third Reich.
The new government then began Nazifying Germany.
The Nazi Party held huge bonfires at which books by Jewish and non-German authors were
burned.
These events, which were organized by Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, were
typically led off by torch-lit parades.
Through Goebbels’ strict policies, the Nazi Party controlled every aspect of German culture.
For example, all persons who worked in certain fields, such as teaching, were required to
join the Nazi Party.
All art and literature, the press, radio, and films were controlled to serve Hitler’s
regime.
The manuscript of every book or play had to be submitted to the Propaganda Ministry before
it could be approved for publication or production.
Hitler emphasized that winning over and training the youth in the service of the state was
the most important function of German schools.
Every level of school from kindergarten, up through university was Nazified.
Textbooks were rewritten to fit the beliefs of Nazi ideology, including false scientific
theories which portrayed Germans as a master race.
The main emphasis of Nazi education came via the Hitler Youth.
From the age of 6, up through the age of 18, boys and girls were organized into various
levels of the Hitler Youth.
As part of the program, children participated in camping, sports, classes in Nazi Ideology,
and soldiering.
Children went on long hikes, practiced drills, and played war games.
By 1938, almost 8,000,000 children had participated in the Hitler Youth.
Despite the Treaty of Versailles, which stated that Germany could only have a 100,000 man
army, Hitler began rebuilding the German military.
As part of their training in the Hitler Youth and other organizations such as the Labor
Service, young men practiced military drills and marksmanship.
Also, the Nazi government would routinely train 100,000 soldiers before sending them
home, only to bring in 100,000 more.
In 1935, Hitler increased the size of the German army to 300,000 men.
Despite the open defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations failed to
intervene, noting that the buildup had a positive impact on Germany’s economy by reducing
unemployment.
Hitler’s government also introduced the League of Air Sports, a social flying club
where pilots practiced aerial maneuvers and dogfighting tactics.
This was a clever way to train pilots without having an air force.
As Hitler’s grip on Germany tightened, the last of his critics were eliminated in a string
of murders that came to be known as the Night of Long Knives.
Over a three day span in the summer of 1934, up to 300 political opponents were assassinated
by the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the Gestapo (Hitler’s secret police).
The murders solidified Hitler’s control of Germany and silenced any remaining opposition.