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TheNazi termGleichschaltung (German pronunciation:[ˈɡlaɪçʃaltʊŋ]ⓘ), meaning "synchronization" or "coordination", was the process ofNazification by whichAdolf Hitler—leader of theNazi Party inGermany—established a system oftotalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society "from theeconomy andtrade associations to themedia,culture andeducation".[1][2]
Although theWeimar Constitution remained nominally in effect throughoutHitler's dictatorship, near total Nazification was achieved by 1935 with the resolutions approved during that year'sNuremberg Rally, fusing the symbols of the party and the state (seeFlag of Nazi Germany)[3] and depriving German Jews of their citizenship (seeNuremberg Laws). The tenets ofGleichschaltung, including the Nuremberg Laws, also applied toterritories occupied by the German Reich.
Gleichschaltung is a compound word that comes from the German wordsgleich (same) andSchaltung (circuit) and was derived from an electrical engineering term meaning that all switches are put on the same circuit allowing them all to be simultaneously activated with a master switch.[4] Its first use is credited toReich Justice MinisterFranz Gürtner.[5] It has been variously translated as "coordination",[6][7][8] "Nazification of state and society",[9] "synchronization",[5] and "bringing into line".[9] English texts often use the untranslated German word to convey its unique historical meaning. In their seminal work on National Socialist vernacular,Nazi-Deutsch/Nazi-German: An English Lexicon of the Language of the Third Reich, historians Robert Michael and Karin Doerr defineGleichschaltung as: "Consolidation. All of the GermanVolk's social, political, and cultural organizations to be controlled and run according to Nazi ideology and policy. All opposition to be eliminated."[10] This accords with the general description provided by historianJane Caplan, who characterized the term as "the coordination of German institutions into a cohesive, Nazified whole".[11][a]
The Nazis were able to putGleichschaltung into effect due to multiple legal measures enacted by the Reich government during the 19 months following 30 January 1933, whenAdolf Hitler becameChancellor of Germany.[12] These decrees, acts and laws built an edifice of apparent legality by which the organs of government, and the levers of political power, were brought under the control of the Nazis and Hitler.
When Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor on 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party held the leadership of only four of the 17 GermanLänder (states), i.e.,Anhalt,Oldenburg,Mecklenburg-Schwerin andThuringia. But the Nazis acted swiftly to eliminate any potential centers of opposition in the remaining states. Immediately after the Reichstag election of 5 March 1933, the central government began in earnest its campaign to take over the state governments it did not yet control, and within a very short period it achieved dominance over the administration in every state.
The pattern was in each case similar: pressure on the non-Nazi state governments to place a National Socialist in charge of the police; threatening demonstrations from SA and SS troops in the big cities; the symbolic raising of the swastika banner on town halls; the capitulation with hardly any resistance of the elected governments; the imposition of a Reich Commissar under the pretext of restoring order ... Despite the semblance of legality, the usurpation of the powers of theLänder by the Reich was a plain breach of the Constitution. Force and pressure by the Nazi organizations themselves—political blackmail—had been solely responsible for creating the 'unrest' that had prompted the alleged restorations of 'order'. The terms of the emergency decree of 28 February provided no justification since there was plainly no need for defence from any 'communist acts of violence endangering the state'. The only such acts were those of the Nazis themselves.[35]
Most coalition cabinets that the Nazis formed were with the participation of their conservative nationalist ally, theGerman National People's Party (DNVP). The "Law Against the Founding of New Parties" (14 July 1933) banned all parties except the Nazi Party. The DNVP members of the remaining coalition cabinets eventually either joined the Party or were replaced by Nazis, resulting in one-party government in all theLänder.[36]
The following table presents an overview of the process ofGleichschaltung as it was applied to the Nazification of the GermanLänder governments. While, strictly speaking,Gleichschaltung did not start until after the Nazi seizure of power at the Reich level at the end of January 1933, the table also presents earlier Nazi Party successes in infiltrating and taking charge of several German state administrations during 1930–1932. In most of these instances, they took the portfolio of the state interior ministries from which they controlled the police, installing Nazi adherents and purging opponents.
| Key: | Entered into a coalition government led by a non-Nazi | Formed a coalition government led by a Nazi | Formed an all-Nazi government |
| Nazi seizure of power in theLänder[37] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Länder | Date | Event |
| Thuringia | 23 January 1930 | First Nazi enters a coalition cabinet withWilhelm Frick appointed Minister of the Interior and Public Education |
| 26 August 1932 | Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under Minister-PresidentFritz Sauckel | |
| Brunswick | 1 October 1930 | Nazis enter coalition cabinet withAnton Franzen appointed Minister of the Interior and Public Education |
| 9 May 1933 | All Nazi cabinet formed under Minister-PresidentDietrich Klagges | |
| Mecklenburg-Strelitz | 8 April 1932 | Nazis enter coalition cabinet withFritz Stichtenoth appointedStaatsrat (State Councillor) |
| 29 May 1933 | All-Nazi cabinet formed under Minister of StateFritz Stichtenoth | |
| Anhalt | 21 May 1932 | First Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed underMinister-PresidentAlfred Freyberg |
| Oldenburg | 16 June 1932 | First all-Nazi cabinet formed under Minister-PresidentCarl Röver |
| Mecklenburg-Schwerin | 13 July 1932 | All-Nazi cabinet formed under Minister-PresidentWalter Granzow |
| Prussia | 30 January 1933 | Nazis enter coalition cabinet formed underReichskommissarFranz von Papen;Hermann Göring becomes Minister of the Interior |
| 11 April 1933 | Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under Minister-President Hermann Göring | |
| Lippe | 7 February 1933 | Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under Chairman of theLandespräsidien (State Presidency)Ernst Krappe |
| Hamburg | 8 March 1933 | Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under Senate President andBürgermeisterCarl Vincent Krogmann |
| Schaumburg-Lippe | 8 March 1933 | Appointment ofReichskommissarKurt Matthaei; on 1 April, an all-Nazi cabinet formed under State CouncillorHans-Joachim Riecke |
| Bavaria | 10 March 1933 | All-Nazi cabinet formed underReichskommissarFranz Ritter von Epp |
| Saxony | 10 March 1933 | Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed underReichskommissarManfred Freiherr von Killinger |
| Baden | 10 March 1933 | All-Nazi cabinet formed underReichskommissarRobert Heinrich Wagner |
| Lübeck | 11 March 1933 | Appointment ofReichskommissarFriedrich Völtzer; on 31 May,Otto-Heinrich Drechsler named Senate President andBürgermeister |
| Hesse | 13 March 1933 | All-Nazi cabinet formed underStaatspräsidentFerdinand Werner |
| Württemberg | 15 March 1933 | Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under Minister-PresidentWilhelm Murr |
| Bremen | 18 March 1933 | All-Nazi cabinet formed under Senate President and actingBürgermeisterRichard Markert |
One of the most critical steps towardsGleichschaltung of German society was the introduction of the "Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda" underJoseph Goebbels in March 1933 and the subsequent steps the Propaganda Ministry took to assume complete control of the press and all means of social communication. This included oversight of newspapers, magazines, films, books, public meetings and ceremonies, foreign press relations, theater, art and music, radio, and television.[38] To this end, Goebbels said:
[T]he secret of propaganda [is to] permeate the person it aims to grasp, without his even noticing that he is being permeated.Of course propaganda has a purpose, but the purpose must be concealed with such cleverness and virtuosity that the person on whom this purpose is to be carried out doesn't notice it at all.[39]
This was also the purpose of "co-ordination": to ensure that every aspect of the lives of German citizens was permeated with the ideas and prejudices of the Nazis. From March to July 1933 and continuing afterward, the Nazi Party systematically eliminated or co-opted non-Nazi organizations that could potentially influence people. Those critical of Hitler and the Nazis were suppressed, intimidated, or murdered.[12]
Every national voluntary association, and every local club, was brought under Nazi control, from industrial and agricultural pressure groups to sports associations, football clubs, male voice choirs, women's organizations—in short, the whole fabric of associational life was Nazified. Rival, politically oriented clubs or societies were merged into a single Nazi body. Existing leaders of voluntary associations were either unceremoniously ousted, or knuckled under of their own accord. Many organizations expelled leftish or liberal members and declared their allegiance to the new state and its institutions. The whole process ... went on all over Germany. ... By the end, virtually the only non-Nazi associations left were the army and the Churches with their lay organizations.[40]
For example, in 1934, the government founded theDeutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (German Reich League for Bodily Exercise), later theNationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, as the official sports governing body. All other German sport associations gradually lost their freedom and were co-opted into it.[41] Besides sports, another more important part of the "co-ordination" effort was the purging of the civil service, both at the Federal and state level. Top Federal civil servants—the State Secretaries—were largely replaced if they were not sympathetic to the Nazi program, as were the equivalent bureaucrats in the states, but Nazification took place at every level. Civil servants rushed to join the Nazi Party, fearing they would lose their jobs if they did not. At the local level, mayors and councils were terrorized by Nazi stormtroopers of theSA andSS into resigning or following orders to replace officials and workers at local public institutions who were Jewish or belonged to other political parties.[42]
TheGleichschaltung also included the formation of various organizations with compulsory membership for segments of the population, particularly the youth of Germany. Boys first served as apprentices in thePimpfen (cubs), beginning at the age of six, and at age ten, entered theDeutsches Jungvolk (Young German Boys) and served there until joining theHitler Youth proper at age fourteen. Boys remained there until age eighteen, at which time they entered into theArbeitsdienst (Labor Service) and thearmed forces.[43] Girls became part of theJungmädel (Young Maidens) at age ten and at age fourteen were enrolled in theBund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Maidens). At eighteen,BDM members generally went to the eastern territory for theirPflichtdienst, orLandjahr, a year of labor on a farm. By 1940, membership in the Hitler Youth numbered some eight million.[44]
TheGerman trade union movement had a long history, dating to the mid-nineteenth-century. At the time of theWeimar Republic, its largest grouping was theGeneral German Trade Union Federation (ADGB). This was an umbrella organization that was formed in July 1919 and was originally composed of 52 unions with about 8 million workers. It was generally affiliated with theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) and was on the left of the political spectrum. In March 1920, it was instrumental in calling ageneral strike that led to the collapse of the right-wingKapp Putsch that attempted to overthrow the republic. It was led from January 1921 byTheodor Leipart. Following theeconomic downturn of 1929, the resulting sharp rise in unemployment caused a large drop-off in membership but, by 1932, it still represented an estimated 3.5 million workers in some 30 unions.[45]
When the Nazis came to power at the end of January 1933, there was some sentiment for ageneral strike by SPD politicians and trade unionists, but the national leadership was wary of such an action in the face of the worst unemployment crisis the nation had experienced. Though there were some sporadic isolated incidents, no general policy of resistance was undertaken.[46] The Nazis embarked on a policy of violence and intimidation against all their opponents, including the SPD-affiliated trade unions. In an effort to safeguard his organization and its members, Leipart declared the ADBG politically "neutral" within weeks of the Nazis coming to power.[47] Meanwhile, Party leaders convinced conservative elements among the police, the judiciary, prison administrators and civil servants that suppression of the labor movement was justified.[48]
Following the Nazi gains in theReichstag election of 5 March 1933, violent episodes increased in intensity, withSA stormtroopers ransacking trade union offices, assaulting staff, destroying furniture and equipment, stealing funds and burning documents. By 25 March, union offices in some 45 towns throughout the Reich had been attacked. At this point, the trade unions began to distance themselves from the SPD in an attempt to seek an accommodation with the regime.[49] On 28 April, the ADGB agreed to move toward unification with the conservative Christian and the bourgeois liberal trade union groups, to form a single national labor organization in the new Nazi state. Leipart also supported the announcement by Goebbels that May Day would be celebrated as a public holiday for the first time, a long-sought goal of the labor movement. But any efforts at reconciliation on the unions' part proved futile, as the Nazis had already begun to plot a complete takeover of the trade union movement, as demonstrated by Goebbels's diary entry of 17 April:
On 1 May we shall arrange May Day as a grandiose demonstration of the German people's will. On 2 May the trade union offices will be occupied. Coordination in this area too. There might possibly be a row for a few days, but then they will belong to us. We must make no allowances anymore. ... Once the trade unions are in our hands the other parties and organizations will not be able to hold out for much longer.[50]
Accordingly, 1 May 1933 was declared the Day of National Labor, a day of parades, speeches and propaganda displays to celebrate the unity of the German labor movement with the nation, featuring SA military bands, swastika flags and fireworks. It culminated with a huge rally and speech by Hitler atBerlin Tempelhof Airport that was attended by over one million people. Many workers, particularly those in state employment, were compelled to participate by threats of dismissal for not attending. The next day, as Goebbels had indicated, the German labor movement was crushed under a wave of unprecedented violence at the hands of SA andSS troops. All SPD-supported trade union offices were occupied, their newspapers and periodicals were discontinued, their banks and credit unions were closed, and their assets were confiscated and turned over to theNational Socialist Factory Cell Organization. Leipart and other union leaders were taken into "protective custody" and sent to concentration camps. Violence was inflicted on many and, in the most brutal incident, four union officials were beaten to death inDuisburg.[51]
Two days later, other non-SPD-aligned union amalgamations, such as the conservativeGerman National Association of Commercial Employees and the liberalHirsch-Dunckersche Gewerkvereine [de], placed themselves under the Action Committee for the Protection of German Labor, headed byRobert Ley, theStabschef (chief of staff) of the Nazi Party organization. The last remaining union umbrella agency, the Christian-orientedDeutscher Gewerkschaftsbund [de] was absorbed at the end of June.[52] Throughout this process, there were no strikes, no demonstrations and no protests. Even the Nazis were surprised. The most highly organized and powerful trade union movement in Europe offered no resistance and disappeared virtually overnight.[53]
In its place, theGerman Labor Front (German:Deutsche Arbeitsfront or DAF), a Nazi Party organization led by Ley, was established on 10 May. Its goal was coordination of the entire labor force under Nazi leadership. On 19 May, the government enacted theLaw on the Trustees of Labor that decreed an end to collective bargaining. It establishedTrustees of Labour, who were appointed by Hitler and charged with regulating labor contracts and maintaining labor peace. Since their decisions were legally binding, strikes were effectively outlawed.[54]
An all-embracing recreational organization for workers, calledKraft durch Freude ("Strength Through Joy"), was set up under the auspices of the German Labor Front.[55] Hobbies were regimented and all private clubs, whether chess, football, or woodworking, were brought under the control of Strength Through Joy, which also provided vacation trips, skiing, swimming, concerts, and ocean cruises. Some 43 million Germans enjoyed trips via the Strength Through Joy initiative. This effort inspired the idea of Germans acquiring automobiles and the construction of theAutobahn. It was the largest of the many organizations the Nazis established and a propaganda success.[56] Workers were also brought in line with the party through activities such as theReichsberufswettkampf, a national vocational competition.[57] Many unemployed people were also drafted into theReich Labor Service, where they were given uniforms and tools and put to work; the disappearance of unemployed people from the streets contributed to the perception that the Nazis were improving Germany's economic conditions.[58]
HistorianClaudia Koonz explains that the wordGleichschaltung stems from the arena ofelectricity, where it refers to converting power fromalternating current todirect current, which is called "rectification" in English; the wordGleichschaltung translates literally as "phasing". Used in its sociopolitical sense,Gleichschaltung has no equivalent in any other language. The Nazis also used other similar terms, such asAusschaltung, which constituted the removal or "switching off" of anyone who stained or soiled the German nation.[59] This seemingly clinical terminology captured both the mechanical and biological meaning for members of German society; as one German citizen visiting London explained, "It means the same stream will flow through the ethnic body politic [Volkskörper]."[60]
Former University ofDresden professor of romance languagesViktor Klemperer—dismissed from his post for being Jewish in 1935—collected a list of terms Nazis employed in everyday speech, which he discussed in his book,LTI – Lingua Tertii Imperii, published in English asThe Language of the Third Reich. In this work, Klemperer contends that the Nazis made the German language itself a servant to their ideology through its repetitive use, eventually permeating its people's very "flesh and blood".[61] For instance, if it was sunny and pleasant, it was "Hitler weather", or if one failed to comply with Nazi ideals of racial and socialconformity, they were "switched off."[62] While the state imposed top-down coordination, many Germans simultaneously engaged in bottom-up alignment of the individual type, known asSelbstgleichschaltung.[2]
When the blatant emphasis on racial hatred of others seemed to reach an impasse in the school system, through radio broadcasts, or on film reels, the overseers of NaziGleichschaltung propaganda switched to strategies that focused more on togetherness and the "we-consciousness" of the collective Volk, but the mandates of Nazi "coordination" remained: pay homage to the Führer, expel all foreigners, sacrifice for the German people, and welcome future challenges.[63] While greater German social and economic unity was produced through the regime'sGleichschaltung initiatives, it was at the expense of individuality and to the social detriment of any nonconformist;[64] worse, it contributed to and reinforced the social and racial exclusion of anyone National Socialist doctrine deemed an enemy.[65] The NaziGleichschaltung or "synchronization" of German society—along with a series of Nazi legislation[66]—was part and parcel to Jewish economic disenfranchisement, the violence against political opposition, the creation of concentration camps, the Nuremberg Laws, the establishment of a racialVolksgemeinschaft, the seeking ofLebensraum, and the violentmass destruction of human life deemed somehow less valuable by the National Socialist government of Germany.[67][68]
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