| The
second work in a planned three-volume series (after 2004's
Coming of the Third Reich) this book starts with the Nazis'
complete assumption of power and creation of a one-party state
in 1933, and goes to September 1939 and the beginning of World
War II. In sharp detail, Evans shows how Hitler seized upon
his political victory and immediately began his plan for the
Nazi infiltration of every aspect of German society. The Nazi
propaganda blitz covered everything from local councils to
social clubs to all voluntary associations. And when propaganda
didn't work, coercion and fear did. At the behest of Hitler,
the brownshirts and SS (secret police) ruthlessly harassed,
beat, and murdered the Jews and Communists first, but later
targeted anyone who showed even the slightest criticism of
Nazi activities. Those Germans who disapproved of the Nazis
were mainly confined to acts of passive resistance to Hitler's
totalitarian rule. Nationalism proved to be the one issue
capable of galvanizing the nation, as the Nazis' growing power
helped to erase the shame and humiliation of the Treaty of
Versailles that closed World War I.
Over the course of the book, Evans shows how
everything Hitler did in this period was designed to prepare
the nation for a war--"a life and death struggle"--whose
aim was less geographical conquest than racial purity. Hitler's
main objective was "to remould the minds, spirits and
bodies of the German people to make them capable and worthy
of the role of the new master-race that awaited them."
Though Hitler did not work alone, Evans makes it clear that
he was the overwhelming driving force behind it all, including
policies regarding education, eugenics, and foreign affairs.
Well written and logically organized, The Third Reich in Power
is an impressive work of meticulous, readable history. --Shawn
Carkonen
All Customer Reviews
5 out of 5 - November 13, 2005
Continuing with the second volume of what is
undoubtedly destined to be an epic work for both historians
and the general public alike, Richard J. Evans explains how
Hitler transformed--or attempted to transform--Germany after
seizing control.
This work differs from predecessors because
it challenges the idea that the German people were mindlessly
accepting of Hitler's policies. He points out that when the
Nazi regime began, both the communists and social democrats
had received a third of the vote in the national elections
of that year. More however, he argues that a majority of the
German people themselves were reluctant to enter into another
war--correctly believing that it would not end in their favor.
Infighting allowed the Nazi's to go ahead with their own plans.
Partisan gridlock and the public's weariness of this coupled
with a desire for 'anybody' to do 'anything' to end it and
promises of economic rejuvenation gave the Nazi's an opening.
And they exploited it.
The Nazi's established a police state and warned
citizens that their every word was being watched. The Nazi
leadership was so determined to control the people that they
even tried to dictate personal grooming and consumer products.
Yet, Evans provides lots of documented information that this
part of the plan was not as successful. People (including
those who were members of the Nazi party) were resisting.
Constant political proselytizing by the government actually
turned many 'every day' Germans off.
He includes several chapters on the Nazi persecution
of the Jews and the German people's failure to help resist
this persecution. What could have deflated his own thesis
works here because Evans uses primary source reports of the
people who were there and did nothing. Evans explains how
the Gestapo, the Nazi's infamous police, was not composed
of party elite. The majority actually were career policeman.
They were everyday Germans who were enforcing compliance with
a state ideology their neighbors etc...did not particularly
care for.
Because this era already had many books previously
written about it, I was amazed by the wealth of information
and original research contained within this one volume. Evans's
research illustrates what happens to public and private life
when a fascist government assumes power and promises to make
everything better.
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