Social and Economic Policies of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
When the Nazi regime came into power in 1933 it sought to change the German society to fit the Nazi ideology and to create Adolf Hitler's super European state and master race. Over eight years the Nazis, through their social and economic policies, pulled Germany from the depths of the depression and turned it into a world superpower.
For Hitler to be able to succeed in his quests to create his European superpower, Hitler firstly need all Germans to be united as one. To create this unity the Nazis sought to create The Volksgemeinschaft or The People's Community. This was a society where all racially pure Germans were equal and free of class barriers and social conflict. Everyone displayed their loyalty to the nation, its leader and each other and put the national interest above self-interest; people saw their own lives as less important than their contribution to Germany itself. Individual liberties such as the right to think differently from others would be valued less than loyalty to the German people, to Hitler and Germany, "Volk, Fuhrer und Vaterland."" The concept of the Volksgemeinschaft was taken from the trenches of world war one where a sense of national unity replaced class division. This concept appealed to many Germans after the political and social divisions of the Weimar Republic. The success of the Volksgemeinschaft was limited. People lived in much more isolation than before. This was partly because of fear and partly because there were no group activities allowed that were not connected with the Nazi regime. This meant that people often had lives based on the individual rather than on social groups with a shared interest. However many German people did liked what was the Volksgemeinschaft - after all, they at least had jobs and money in their pocket.
1. "[The Volksgemeinschaft] satisfied the hopes and expectations of millions of the German people-.