A2 History Cw Investigation
A2- History coursework- investigation
To what extent did Hitler rely on coercion in maintaining power in Germany after 1933?
Hitler dictatorship of Germany lasted over a period of eleven years; an impressive achievement considering the reign of previous leaders in the years prior to him. Hitler’s ambitions were clear. He wanted to “end the cancer of democracy and to install the tightest authoritarian state leadership.”1 Hitler wanted everything under his control and in order for this to happen he had to ensure the security of himself as Fuhrer.
“The new regime made no bones about using coercion in many forms against its declared enemies”2 However, enemies were not the only group that were at threat from Hitler and his coercion policies. Hitler, unlike previous German rulers, realised that in order to secure his position he must have a wall of protection against any possible uprising in the country if he was to remain as the Chancellor of Germany. The SS was created by Hitler and expanded “into a nationwide organisation to hunt down enemies of the state.”3 Here Historian, Boxer, highlights the idea that the SS were created to wipe out any possible opposition to Nazi ideology a prime example of this being The Night Of The Long Knives. This saw Hitler wipe out his previous task force in 1934, as he feared they might “compromise his plan to suppress workers’ rights in exchange for German industry making the country war ready.”4 Hitler showed here that he was prepared to use physical coercion tactics on almost anyone including men he had worked closely with as “Rohm and dozens of SA leaders were summarily executed.”5 Had Hitler not have used coercion in this example then it could have been possible that the “radical ambitions of the SA, who kept longing for a real social revolution.”6 May have had enough strength to remove Hitler from power and begin a revolution of their own; therefore in this case coercion proved to be important to him and his challenge of
To what extent did Hitler rely on coercion in maintaining power in Germany after 1933?
Hitler dictatorship of Germany lasted over a period of eleven years; an impressive achievement considering the reign of previous leaders in the years prior to him. Hitler’s ambitions were clear. He wanted to “end the cancer of democracy and to install the tightest authoritarian state leadership.”1 Hitler wanted everything under his control and in order for this to happen he had to ensure the security of himself as Fuhrer.
“The new regime made no bones about using coercion in many forms against its declared enemies”2 However, enemies were not the only group that were at threat from Hitler and his coercion policies. Hitler, unlike previous German rulers, realised that in order to secure his position he must have a wall of protection against any possible uprising in the country if he was to remain as the Chancellor of Germany. The SS was created by Hitler and expanded “into a nationwide organisation to hunt down enemies of the state.”3 Here Historian, Boxer, highlights the idea that the SS were created to wipe out any possible opposition to Nazi ideology a prime example of this being The Night Of The Long Knives. This saw Hitler wipe out his previous task force in 1934, as he feared they might “compromise his plan to suppress workers’ rights in exchange for German industry making the country war ready.”4 Hitler showed here that he was prepared to use physical coercion tactics on almost anyone including men he had worked closely with as “Rohm and dozens of SA leaders were summarily executed.”5 Had Hitler not have used coercion in this example then it could have been possible that the “radical ambitions of the SA, who kept longing for a real social revolution.”6 May have had enough strength to remove Hitler from power and begin a revolution of their own; therefore in this case coercion proved to be important to him and his challenge of