Germany - Essay Help

[illuminate88]

hey I'm struggling to write essays for the following questions and was wondering if anyone could maybe help me out by giving me some essay plans and how I could start them? It'd be greatly appreciated as my half yearlys are coming up in a couple weeks and I want to give my essays in to my teacher for feedback asap!

1. Hitler came to power as a result of a lack of opposition. To what extent is this statement true?
2. To what extent was Nazi racial policy the key factor in the consolidation of Nazi power up in Germany up to 1939?
3. Assess the impact of the Nazi state on social and cultural life in Germany in the period 1933 to 1939?

[fantasticbeasts3]

hi, welcome to the forums! i hope AN will become a great place of support for you during your HSC year (and beyond!).

when you start writing an essay, read the question twice. pay attention to instruction words and anything that may limit what you're talking about. :-)

i'm currently out and don't have access to any of my Modern resources, so i can't give you any detailed essay plans, but i will give you some guidance on what to write about for each question, so here goes:

1. Hitler came to power as a result of a lack of opposition. To what extent is this statement true?
- to what extent: this can mean either analyse/evaluate.
- think about the circumstances in which Hitler came to power. how was Germany going economically? was their political situation a little bit unstable? Hitler didn't really come to power because of a lack of opposition - there were also a ton of other factors. make sure to argue this in your essay!

2. To what extent was Nazi racial policy the key factor in the consolidation of Nazi power up in Germany up to 1939?
- can't really help you with knowledge from the top of my head, sorry :-/

3. Assess the impact of the Nazi state on social and cultural life in Germany in the period 1933 to 1939?
(this was my favourite kind of question during the HSC hahah)
- assess: did Nazism have a large impact on social and cultural life, or not really?
- in terms of social and cultural life, what did the Nazis change, or what did they do? they restricted freedoms, they made it illegal to do a ton of things. you can even talk about racial policy here, and how it impacted on society as a whole - law against Jews marrying people who weren't Jews, banning businesses, etc. you can expand into propaganda as well.
- make sure to name drop a few things here: laws, quotes from historians, a ton of dates. detail is everything.
- another thing that comes to mind is music, art and religion, which you can talk about in this essay.

i hope this helps - best of luck with your half yearlies, you'll smash them!

fantasticbeasts :-)

[dancing phalanges]

hey I'm struggling to write essays for the following questions and was wondering if anyone could maybe help me out by giving me some essay plans and how I could start them? It'd be greatly appreciated as my half yearlys are coming up in a couple weeks and I want to give my essays in to my teacher for feedback asap!

1. Hitler came to power as a result of a lack of opposition. To what extent is this statement true?
2. To what extent was Nazi racial policy the key factor in the consolidation of Nazi power up in Germany up to 1939?
3. Assess the impact of the Nazi state on social and cultural life in Germany in the period 1933 to 1939?

Hey! It is always great to get a couple of perspectives so, in addition to FB3's great comments...

1. This is partially true. I would argue that Hitler did come to power as a result of a lack of opposition, mentioning how Bruning etc. swept him to power and underestimated him. However, I would also say that Hitler did not come to power because of a lack of opposition but rather because of the illegitimacy of his opposition. Refer to how Hitler's nationalistic appeal was well received while in contrast, the Weimar Republic (democracy) was looked down upon due to the T.O.V, other economic and political issues. For instance, look at how the W.R cut unemployment benefits post depression while Hitler promised hope. Hitler did not come to power because of a lack of opposition but rather the weaknesses of that opposition.

2. This is also partially true. Here I would discuss how racial policy crept into propaganda and thus influenced public perception of the Jewish people and thus gained their support for the Nazis. Bring up for example how the Nuremberg Laws legitimised persecution in the eyes of the public. These are the racial policies you could include:
April 1933
•   Boycotting of Jewish Businesses
•   The Law Against the Overcrowding of German Schools (expelled by 1938)
•   The Law for the Restoration of a Professional Public Service began removal of Jews from positions of Government.
•   Aryans only sporting clubs.
September 1935
•   Nuremberg Laws
July 1938
•    Jewish doctors removed
September 1938
•   Jewish lawyers removed
•   All Jews required to add names Sarah or Israel to their names and letter J stamped in red on passport.
November 1938
•   Kristallnacht
•   Jews were forbidden from attending movie theatres, the opera and concerts.
December 1938
•   Aryanisation of all Jewish Businesses
Look for the ones such as the forbidding of Jews from movie theatres etc. which demonstrate how racism filtered down into everyday life. To see its effectiveness, look at whether there was opposition to these policies. For instance, by Nov 1938 in Kristallnacht, the public actively participated while at the start the banning of Jewish businesses faced some opposition.

Other factors you could look into for this question is how the Nazi party transformed cultural and social life (Contraception banned 1941, Married women in civil services removed 1936, Concordat broken 1937, Nov 1933 Beauty of Labour, 1939 - Cross of Honour of the German Mother) and the role of terror and oppression eg. the S.S in forcing people into following the Nazis. Also finally look at the key steps in political consolidation of power in 1933-34 eg. Enabling Act and Reichstag Fire Decree.

3. Look at the formation of the Hitler Youth firstly. Then how the Nazis transformed the lives of women (to provide Aryan children for the future race). Also 100% look at propaganda and its influence on literature, films etc. FB3 covered this well so I'll leave it there!

Hope that helped

[illuminate88]

Hey! It is always great to get a couple of perspectives so, in addition to FB3's great comments...

1. This is partially true. I would argue that Hitler did come to power as a result of a lack of opposition, mentioning how Bruning etc. swept him to power and underestimated him. However, I would also say that Hitler did not come to power because of a lack of opposition but rather because of the illegitimacy of his opposition. Refer to how Hitler's nationalistic appeal was well received while in contrast, the Weimar Republic (democracy) was looked down upon due to the T.O.V, other economic and political issues. For instance, look at how the W.R cut unemployment benefits post depression while Hitler promised hope. Hitler did not come to power because of a lack of opposition but rather the weaknesses of that opposition.

2. This is also partially true. Here I would discuss how racial policy crept into propaganda and thus influenced public perception of the Jewish people and thus gained their support for the Nazis. Bring up for example how the Nuremberg Laws legitimised persecution in the eyes of the public. These are the racial policies you could include:
April 1933
•   Boycotting of Jewish Businesses
•   The Law Against the Overcrowding of German Schools (expelled by 1938)
•   The Law for the Restoration of a Professional Public Service began removal of Jews from positions of Government.
•   Aryans only sporting clubs.
September 1935
•   Nuremberg Laws
July 1938
•    Jewish doctors removed
September 1938
•   Jewish lawyers removed
•   All Jews required to add names Sarah or Israel to their names and letter J stamped in red on passport.
November 1938
•   Kristallnacht
•   Jews were forbidden from attending movie theatres, the opera and concerts.
December 1938
•   Aryanisation of all Jewish Businesses
Look for the ones such as the forbidding of Jews from movie theatres etc. which demonstrate how racism filtered down into everyday life. To see its effectiveness, look at whether there was opposition to these policies. For instance, by Nov 1938 in Kristallnacht, the public actively participated while at the start the banning of Jewish businesses faced some opposition.

Other factors you could look into for this question is how the Nazi party transformed cultural and social life (Contraception banned 1941, Married women in civil services removed 1936, Concordat broken 1937, Nov 1933 Beauty of Labour, 1939 - Cross of Honour of the German Mother) and the role of terror and oppression eg. the S.S in forcing people into following the Nazis. Also finally look at the key steps in political consolidation of power in 1933-34 eg. Enabling Act and Reichstag Fire Decree.

3. Look at the formation of the Hitler Youth firstly. Then how the Nazis transformed the lives of women (to provide Aryan children for the future race). Also 100% look at propaganda and its influence on literature, films etc. FB3 covered this well so I'll leave it there!

Hope that helped

super helpful! thank you so much 

[illuminate88]

hi, welcome to the forums! i hope AN will become a great place of support for you during your HSC year (and beyond!).

when you start writing an essay, read the question twice. pay attention to instruction words and anything that may limit what you're talking about. :-)

i'm currently out and don't have access to any of my Modern resources, so i can't give you any detailed essay plans, but i will give you some guidance on what to write about for each question, so here goes:

1. Hitler came to power as a result of a lack of opposition. To what extent is this statement true?
- to what extent: this can mean either analyse/evaluate.
- think about the circumstances in which Hitler came to power. how was Germany going economically? was their political situation a little bit unstable? Hitler didn't really come to power because of a lack of opposition - there were also a ton of other factors. make sure to argue this in your essay!

2. To what extent was Nazi racial policy the key factor in the consolidation of Nazi power up in Germany up to 1939?
- can't really help you with knowledge from the top of my head, sorry :-/

3. Assess the impact of the Nazi state on social and cultural life in Germany in the period 1933 to 1939?
(this was my favourite kind of question during the HSC hahah)
- assess: did Nazism have a large impact on social and cultural life, or not really?
- in terms of social and cultural life, what did the Nazis change, or what did they do? they restricted freedoms, they made it illegal to do a ton of things. you can even talk about racial policy here, and how it impacted on society as a whole - law against Jews marrying people who weren't Jews, banning businesses, etc. you can expand into propaganda as well.
- make sure to name drop a few things here: laws, quotes from historians, a ton of dates. detail is everything.
- another thing that comes to mind is music, art and religion, which you can talk about in this essay.

i hope this helps - best of luck with your half yearlies, you'll smash them!

fantasticbeasts :-)

thank you so much!

[elysepopplewell]

Fantastic Beasts and Dancing Phalanges you are incredible <3

[fantasticbeasts3]

Fantastic Beasts and Dancing Phalanges you are incredible <3

glad i could be of help! <3