Hitler's compromises
Subtitle: coercion and consensus in Nazi Germany
By: Nathan Stoltzfus
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 415
ISBN-13: 9780300217506
Subjects: Politics and government; German National characteristics; National socialism; Social aspects; Social conditions; Political and social views
Description: History has focused on Hitler's use of charisma and terror, asserting that the dictator made few concessions to maintain power. Nathan Stoltzfus, the award-winning author of Resistance of Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Germany, challenges this notion, assessing the surprisingly frequent tactical compromises Hitler made in order to preempt hostility and win the German people's complete fealty. As part of his strategy to secure a "1,000-year Reich," Hitler sought to convince the German people to believe in Nazism so they would perpetuate it permanently and actively shun those who were out of step with society. When widespread public dissent occurred at home-which most often happened when policies conflicted with popular traditions or encroached on private life-Hitler made careful calculations and acted strategically to maintain his popular image. Extending from the 1920s to the regime's collapse, this revealing history makes a powerful and original argument that will inspire a major rethinking of Hitler's rule.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-396) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : Working toward a National Nazi Community; title: The Strategy of Hitler's "Legal Course" to Power: Limiting Force to Maximize Its Effect; title: Contested Mobilizations: Bishops versus Nazis in the Battle for the People; title: Germany's Confessional Divide and the Struggle for Catholic Youth; title: Street Demonstrations: Toward Using the Leader's Tactics; title: Führer Power and the 1938 Military Conspiracy against Hitler; title: Challenges on the Home Front: Nazi Leadership and "Euthanasia"; title: "The People Know Where to Find the Leadership's Soft Spot": Air Raid Evacuations, Popular Protest, and Hitler's Soft Strategies; title: Germany's Rosenstrasse and the Fate of Mixed Marriages; title: Conclusion; title: Afterword on Historical Research: Back to the "Top Down?"