This essay will attempt to prove that by the end of 1934 Adolf Hitler's Nazi party had begun a campaign, which could have ultimately turned Germany into a totalitarian state. .
Hitler became Fuhrer in 1934 and from there he continued his policy of Gleischaltung or co-ordination, which had begun, with the co-ordination of German political parties in 1933. Gleischaltung was the policy of turning Germany into a totalitarian state, where all aspects of life where controlled/manipulated by the Fuhrer. Gleischaltung was in essence:.
"the elimination of those institution and structures of the Weimar Republic that no longer served a useful purpose in a National Socialist Germany and the disciplining and co-ordination of those that were indispensable." - Gordon A. Craig - "Gleischaltung".
The SS where heavily involved in the policy of Gleischaltung as it was their duty to see that the Third Reich prevailed where the old Reich had failed . In 1933 Hitler began laying the foundations of his totalitarian state. However Nazi Germany was never a true totalitarian state, it took until 1944 to fully co-ordinate the army, although in the first year of Nazi government, the army budget increased so much they were unable to spend all of it . It could also be argued that the Nazi hierarchy was never truly co-ordinated. Add to this the fact that the SS almost superseded Gleischaltung, we discover that the foundation of the Nazi totalitarian state where not as solid as they appeared to be.
The "Fuhrer principle" (Fuhrer prinzip) was an idea Hitler laid out in 'Mein Kampf'. The idea behind the principle was to create one single person who could carry out the combined will of the state. At the start Hitler's position as Fuhrer was in political terms the merging of the offices of President (head of state) and Chancellor (head of government). However by the end of 1934 the Fuhrer was much more. He was in sole control of everything and everyone in the Reich, whose word was law.
