ABSTRACT
One of the peculiar features of the Third Reich was the degree to which it continued to use existing institutions. There was no wholesale revolution of the state administrative structure, for example, nor any thorough purge of its officialdom; and the army remained a largely autonomous organisation during the regime's first five years. In large measure, this pattern reflected the simple. fact that the Nazis had no detailed plans for fundamental revolution. Indeed, the foundation and evolution of the Nazi state were characterised by a long succession of improvisations. Without a state monolith in the Stalinist mould, the Nazis relied for the maintenance of their authority on the spreading tentacles of party organisation and, above all, the police. The label 'police state' is a singularly appropriate one for the Third Reich. It was not only that the police were used to sustain the Nazi hold on power; they were also used to pursue the regime's special policies, including those on settlement and race.
