Using these four passages and your own knowledge, assess the view that the most important element in maintaining Hitler’s regime in power between 1933 and 1945 was the consent of the German people.
It is arguable that the most important element with regards to the maintenance of Hitler’s regime was the consent of the German people between 1933 and 1945. Other significant factors and elements like the use of terror and propaganda to repress the German population are important aspects of Nazi Germany; however, this essay will argue that the consent – whether apathetic or enthusiastic – was ultimately the most important element that propped up Hitler and his Third Reich. It is simplistic and incorrect to paint Nazi Germany as a completely totalitarian state in which the government extended their reach into every aspect of society, so the support lent to the Nazis was crucial when establishing an authoritarian dictatorship. Hitler and the Nazis could only rule Germany so long as an overwhelming majority of people supported him and the party. This was crucial to the maintenance of the Third Reich.
Hitler’s regime could have only existed and survived with significant support from the German population, and this support came in the form of consent and co-operation from many Germans between 1933 and 1945 to varying degrees. Certainly, Eric Johnson asserts that whilst many Germans fell under the banner of at least one of the targeted groups by the Nazi regime, they still lent their support and loyalty to the Nazis and supported its policies voluntarily and even with enthusiasm.1 He also makes the point that the German people and their consensual support for the Nazis ‘made the Nazi crimes against humanity possible’, suggesting a strong sense of complicity on the behalf of ordinary Germans with regards to the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis. This argument by Johnson that many Germans consciously supported the Nazis and their policies, and effectively maintained...