Hitler's 'thousand-year Reich' lasted barely longer than twelve brief and inglorious years, and yet had an impact on millions of ordinary lives scarcely comparable with any other episode in modern European history.
Nazi Germany examines the origins and development of Nazism, the establishment of the dictatorship and the impact on Germany's economy, society and culture of the regime's single-minded drive towards war and genocide. The view from above, reflected in the movement's ideology, policy and legislation is complemented by the many, often conflicting, views from below, as described in the reports smuggled out of Germany by Socialist dissidents or overheard by the regime's spies and policemen. Tim Kirk depicts a society divided, where most were initially wary of Hitler and sceptical about his party and its promises, and where even enthusiastic admirers quickly became disgruntled; but where the majority complied and few were inclined to oppose or resist the regime, or its brutalities, until disillusionment set in and the prospect of defeat was imminent.
Approachable and authoritative, this is an essential introduction to one of the most significant periods in German, and modern European, history.
Autorentext
TIM KIRK is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Inhalt
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Origins and Development of Nazism
The Nazi Dictatorship
Nazism and the Economy
The Myth of the 'National Community': German Society Under Nazism
Culture, Leisure and Propaganda
Consensus and Opposition in the Third Reich
Reproduction, the Family and Racial Hygiene
Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust
Foreign Policy and the Second World War
Conclusion
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index.