ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the conversion of Germany from a falling democracy into a totalitarian dictatorship, initially through a ‘legal revolution’ but eventually more radical policies based on race and implementation of the Volksgemeinschaft. Immediately after his appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, Hitler gave priority to strengthening the base of his political power in Germany. This involved a process which the Nazis called the ‘legal revolution’, whereby the constitution of the Weimar Republic was used against itself – to end the multi-party system and set up a dictatorship. Racial theory was the core of Nazi ideology, expressing itself positively as the Aryan ‘master race’ and negatively in the form of extreme anti-Semitism. The main publicist of Nazi principles was Joseph Goebbels, Minister for People’s Enlightenment and Propaganda. The traditional historical view is that the Nazi dictatorship was efficient and tightly organised, with Hitler in total control.
