In the history of World War II, a central characteristic feature of the kind of war effort that Germany undertook is often discussed which is concerned with the prolonged war effort by the nation that continued until May 1945. The Nazi rule in Germany had a significant role in the long-drawn effort of the nation to fight for victory in World War II. In an analysis of the war strategy adopted by Germany for the ultimate victory in the War, it will be seen that the Nazi leadership and its ideology had a great impact on the soldiers as well as the war efforts. One of the most remarkable aspects of the German war efforts has been that it kept going until May 1945 when it surrendered to the pressures of the Allied force. It is often questioned why the force did not make a surrender when it began to feel the ultimate failure. An investigation into this pertinent question based on German history and its participation in World War II makes it clear that the Nazi rule has had such an important effect on the lives of the people as well as the policies of the government. Therefore, in an understanding of the impact of the Nazi rule and leadership on the people, it is pertinent to deal with the question of why the German war effort continued until May 1945. The wider understanding of the various aspects of the German participation in the War also necessitates the analysis of the effect of Allied bombing on German morale, cohesion, and resistance and the reasons for the little resonance in the people on the plot to kill Hitler in July 1944. It is also important, in this background, to comprehend the driving force behind ordinary German civilians and soldiers in persisting to follow the orders of the regime until April-May 1945, the reason for no German revolution taking place in 1945 following the failure of the country in the war, the role of the Holocaust in intensifying German resistance, the reasons for the destructiveness of the regime to continue until the end, and the reasons for the salvage of the home front from a collapse in the war. Such a profound investigation makes it clear that the impact of the Nazi regime had been such that the civilians and the soldiers were greatly confident and trustful in the regime and its teachings. Therefore, the Nazi history, together with Hitler’s rise to power, his establishment of a dictatorship, the persecution of the Jews culminating in the Holocaust, and Germany’s commencement of World War II can provide a clear understanding of the issue.
The Nazi regime had a great influence on the civilians and from the time when Hitler came to be appointed the chancellor of Germany in 193. More importantly, the party’s program which was announced in 1920was followed greatly all through its activities. This had great relevance to the policies of the nation which were strictly followed by the civilians. Of the twenty-five points in the program, the following five had immense value to the nation’s development. “We demand the unification of all Germans in the Greater Germany, on the basis of the right of a self-determination of peoples. We demand equality of rights for the German people in respect to the other nations; abrogation of the peace treaties of Versailles and Saint Germain. We demand land and territory for the sustenance of our people, and the colonisation of our surplus population. Only a member of the race can be a citizen. A member of the race can only be one who is of German blood, without consideration of creed. Consequently no Jew can be a member of the race…. We demand abolition of the mercenary troops and formation of a national army.” All these points suggest that the people of the nation had been heavily backed up by the regime which excluded the Jews from their protection. The regime followed a policy of uniting all social classes and regions of Germany behind Hitler which turned out to be in favor of the Third Reich rapidly becoming a police state. Hitler’s intensive policy of synchronization, forcing organizations, political parties, and state governments into line with Nazi goals and placing them under Nazi leadership had great implications for the long-term strategies of the party. Every aspect of human life had come under the direct influence of his leadership and it resulted also in the development of national pride which was central to the morale, coherence, and resistance of the nation even while the worst remained to be expected. “Culture, the economy, education, and law came under greater Nazi control. Trade unions were abolished and workers, employees, and employers were forced into Nazi organizations… According to the Nazi party’s leadership principle, authority flowed down from above and absolute obedience towards one’s superior was expected at each level of the Nazi hierarchy. Hitler was master of the Third Reich.” This suggests an answer to the pertinent questions addressed in this essay. The pride and great feeling of the citizens for the nation could no longer surrender to any physical threat and they extended full support to the efforts of the regime to continue war efforts until May 1945.
The fall of Berlin in the year 1945 has had great implications in the history of Germany. Once a proud city, Berlin had become the most hellish place in late 1944 and the early months of 1945. The civilians of the city were gradually starving to death in horrific conditions that included a relentless bombing campaign by the Allied air forces. That is to say, there was a great effect of the Allied bombing on the German people in their way of life, but it failed to affect the morale, cohesion, and resistance of the people who were strongly molded by the teachings of the regime. It could be seen that Berlin was day by day being reduced to smoking rubble and the people suffered heavily. “Even so, the German penchant for black humour was painfully evident during the Christmas season of 1944 when Berliners were heard to quip, ”Be practical: give a coffin.” Before the war ended there would not be sufficient coffins available to bury those killed in Berlin. As the city’s inhabitants struggled merely to survive another day, it was already clear to virtually everyone but a vain, delusional Hitler that the war was irrevocably lost… Attempts by his field commanders to impose a measure of reality upon Hitler were rebuffed by his insistence that the situation was not as dire as they made out. To the bitter end, neither Hitler nor the detested head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, whom he foolishly placed in command of an army group defending the Vistula River in Poland, believed the grim estimates of the German field commanders. Privately, however, even Hitler realized the war was lost, but he scorned any notion of surrender as heresy. ”We may go down,” he told an aide, ”but we will take a world with us.” There was no ultimate harm done to the morale of the people and they still stood united and continued their resistance.
Another relatable factor that can be understood in parallel to this idea has been that the plot to kill Hitler in July 1944 found little resonance in the population. Hitler had done everything in favor of the people to keep them united and work for the nation. His followers were very much confident in their leader’s ability and they did not get affected by the plot attempting to kill Hitler. Therefore, the action of the people not to be frustrated by the attempts to kill their leader can be understood as a natural result of the training and teaching. “By July, 1944, Adolf Hitler had become a difficult target for assassination. He was distrustful of nearly everyone around him and spent very little time in Berlin. The Gestapo knew that plotters were working to take over the government and were on the case. It is suspected by many historians that Henrich Himmler, head of the SS and the Gestapo, knew more about the plot to kill Hitler than he let on and did little about it. However, since Himmler committed suicide in May, 1945, the truth of what he knew will never be known… Over 5,000 people were eventually arrested by the Gestapo. More than 200 of those were executed. Some of the people arrested had nothing to do with the plot, but were either in the wrong place at the wrong time or were on the Gestapo’s watch list for another reason entirely. The search for conspirators continued well into 1945, even as Germany collapsed as allied forces advanced on Berlin from east and west. Executions took place until the very last days of the Third Reich.”
One of the prominent forces for the growth of a strong feeling of cohesion that places the people in a position to sacrifice their interests for the interest of the nation has been the meaningful exhortations by national leaders. Goebbel’s total war speech which was given on 18 February 1943 can be comprehended as one of such influences on the people. “We are all children of our people, forged together by this most critical hour of our national history. We swear to you, we swear to the front, we swear to the FĂĽhrer, that we will together mould the homeland into a force on which the FĂĽhrer and his fighting soldiers can rely on absolutely and blindly. We promise to do all in our life and work that is necessary for victory. We will fill our hearts with the political passion, with the ever-burning fire, that blazed during the great struggles of the party and the state… The great crises and upsets of national life show who the true men, and also the true women, are…If ever we have loyally and unshakably believed in victory, it is in this hour of national reflection and contemplation. We see it before us, we need only reach for it. We must resolve to subordinate everything to it. That is the duty of the hour. Let the slogan be: Now, people rise up and let the storm break loose!” Such captivating speeches had a significant contribution to make in the development of a great feeling in the life of the people who were strong in their alliance to the regime. Thus, it may be noted that the ordinary German civilians and soldiers continued to follow the orders of the regime until April-May 1945 and they had been motivated toward a great feeling of the superiority of their nation.
One of the expected conditions of the results of World War II on Germany has been a revolution that bridges the gap between the haves and the have-nots. In fact, in Germany, the objective conditions for the revolution have been ripe from the time of the first imperialist war. It is also clarified that the German workers have ever established their insurmountable determination to resist. There had been several people expecting the ultimate revolution in Germany in 1945. “The task today is to constitute the indispensable instrument of the revolution—the German Section of the Fourth International, the party that would sweep aside the discredited, crime-splotched Social Democratic and Stalinist Parties and lead the German proletariat to victory. That day of historical vengeance must and will come. Then, the great people of Germany whose true national traits and contributions to mankind’s progress and culture remain second to none, will, under the leadership of the working class, unfold all their colossal creative powers. They will make their greatest contributions in the coming German revolution, and Germany will take her rightful place among the Socialist United States of Europe.” However, it has been a historical fact that nothing of that kind ever happened and this needs to be related to the great influence of the Nazi regime even after it came down from power. This situation also suggests why the German war efforts continued to be in swing until May 1945.
Therefore, it can be comprehended that the influence of the regime in Germany during World War II was a great factor behind the nation’s long-drawn struggle against the allied forces. It has great significance in the understanding of pertinent questions such as why the average German civilians and soldiers continue to follow the orders of the regime until April-May 1945, why there was no German revolution in 1945, or why the destructiveness of the regime continued until the end and why the home front never collapsed. The role of the holocaust in the German resistance has also been significant as it is the feeling of a superior power which was provided by the persecution of the Jews etc that drove the spirits of the regime forward. The same feeling of dominance and pride helped the regime never to fall and it continued to be destructive until its end.
Works Cited
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D’este, Carlo. Berlin: the downfall 1945 by Antony Beevor: ‘The Fall of Berlin 1945’: The Final Days of the Third Reich. Independent. 2007. Web.
The Plot To Kill Hitler, July 20, 1944. Matt’s Today in History. 2006. Web.
Goebbels, Joseph. Nation, Rise Up, and Let the Storm Break Loose. German Propaganda Archive. 2005. Web.
Wright, John G. The Rising German Revolution: Its Enemies, Betrayers and Vilifiers. Fourth International. 2005. Web.