ABSTRACT

Since publication of the first edition in 1982, David Williamson's The Third Reich has become established as one of the most successful books in the Seminar Studies in History series.  The author draws on up-to-date scholarship to guide students through the maze of historical controversies concerning the Third Reich and to offer a comprehensive analysis of the key issues of the period.  In a clear and accessible manner, the new edition provides chapters that:

  • introduce readers to the historiography of the Third Reich
  • analyse the reasons for Hitler's rise to power
  • look at how the Nazi regime consolidated it's grip on power during the period March 1933- August 1934
  • explain how Nazi Germany was governed and discuss to what extent Hitler can be viewed as a 'weak dictator'
  • analyse Hitler's economic, foreign and social policies in both war and peace up to 1945, as well as the development of Nazi racial and eugenic policies.

The analysis of these themes is backed up with an increased selection of documents, which enable students to discuss the key issues more fully.  Providing a concise but comprehensive account of the origins, course and downfall of the Third Reich, this new edition of an already classic text will be an invaluable introduction to the subject for students.  

part |2 pages

PART ONE INTRODUCTION

chapter 1|4 pages

THE HISTORICAL DEBATE

part |2 pages

PART TWO ANALYSIS

part |2 pages

PART THREE ASSESSMENT

chapter 12|6 pages

THE THIRD REICH IN RETROSPECT

part |1 pages

PART FOUR DOCUMENTS

chapter 1|1 pages

The nature of fascism

chapter 3|3 pages

The party programme

chapter 4|1 pages

Hitler’s powers as an orator

chapter 6|1 pages

Hitler as saviour

chapter 11|1 pages

Papen warns Hitler on 17 June 1934

chapter 13|1 pages

‘Working towards the Führer’

chapter 14|2 pages

A British view of Hitler

chapter 19|1 pages

A Nazi history syllabus

chapter 20|1 pages

The League of German Girls

chapter 22|1 pages

Population statistics

chapter 24|1 pages

‘Do-it-yourself ’ wage bargaining

chapter 25|1 pages

Labour relations and the Gestapo

chapter 30|1 pages

Hitler and the Jews

chapter 33|2 pages

The Hossbach Memorandum

chapter 36|1 pages

The Einsatzgruppen

chapter 38|1 pages

Resettlement policies in Poland

chapter 39|1 pages

Hitler’s racial priorities

chapter 43|1 pages

The strains of war on the family

chapter 44|1 pages

The Swing Movement

chapter 46|1 pages

Individual acts of opposition