Volksgemeinschaft is a German expression meaning "people's community." It was most famously an attempt by the National Socialist German Workers' Party to establish a national community within Germany, based on pseudo-scientific racial terms. Though the idea existed as early as the First World War, it is generally accepted as National Socialist terminology. There is an on-going debate among historians as to whether a Volksgemeinschaft was or was not successfully established between 1933 and 1945. This is a notably controversial topic of debate for obvious ethical and political reasons, and is made difficult by the ambiguous language employed by Hitler and the Nazis when talking about the Volksgemeinschaft.
Description
From the early years of Hitler's rule, the arts, media, education and youth activities, and many other areas of social interaction were all controlled by or absorbed into Nazi-controlled Reich organisations, and aimed to realise the Nazi dream of a Volksgemeinschaft. The envisioned people's community was a purely German, national community that was dedicated to the state and war;
class struggleClass struggle is the active expression of class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, leading ideologists of communism, wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle".Marx's notion of class has...
was to be condemned, rather those controlling
private propertyPrivate property is the tangible and intangible things owned by individuals or firms over which their owners have exclusive and absolute legal rights, and can only be transferred with the owner's consent. Private property can take the form of real estate, homes, factories, automobiles, capital,...
could be allowed to maintain their property only as long as it benefited the common society. In order to create this community the Nazis wanted to have all other groups such as religion, clubs and family to submit to the state. This process of Nazification of all aspects of German life is commonly referred to as
GleichschaltungGleichschaltung , meaning "coordination", "making the same", "bringing into line", is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control over the individual, and tight coordination over all aspects of society and commerce. The historian...
.
Propaganda
In order to control information and
propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
, institutional controls were placed on the entertainment and communications industries. Hitler authorized the establishment of the Reich Chamber of Culture and appointed
Joseph GoebbelsPaul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reichsminister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945...
as Minister of Propaganda. The Reich Chamber of Culture consisted of seven divisions: music, theatre, literature, radio broadcasting, the press, visual arts, and film. The Chamber of Culture was not only established to keep 'undesirables' such as
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s and other minorities out, but also to fully integrate
NazismNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
with artists and entertainers who wanted a change in the structure of their professions.
All German newspapers were brought under the control of the Eher Verlag, the Nazi publishing house where propaganda articles were pre-written for the newspapers to use. Buildings in Germany were meant to last a thousand years and were built to represent medieval themes. Outdoor theatre emphasized the theme of “Blut und Boden” (blood and soil) and re-enforced the kinship between modern Germans and ancient Greeks. Music was guided by biological theory represented in the Nordic traits of
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
,
Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas...
, and
Joseph Haydn Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer. He was one of the most important, prolific and prominent composers of the classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these genres...
. Film in
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
glorified the party, Hitler, and martyrdom for
NazismNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
.
Children and youth
In their desire to establish a total state, the Nazis understood the importance of “selling” their ideology to the youth. To accomplish this, Hitler established Nazi youth groups.
Young boys aged from six to ten years old participated in the
PimpfenThe Pimpfen were the youngest subsection of the Hitler Youth, prevalent in Nazi Germany from 1933-1945, when the Allied Victory in the Second World War brought down the Nazi regime. The Pimpfen contained members of the Hitler Youth movement between the ages of six and ten....
, similar to the cub scouts. Boys aged ten to fourteen years old participated in the
Deutsches JungvolkThe Deutsches Jungvolk was a subdivision of the Hitler Youth for boys aged 10 to 14. It reinforced the National Socialist view of aryan ideals and transmitted the Nazi idea of the Volksgemeinschaft...
, and boys fourteen to eighteen years old participated in the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth). The two older groups fostered military values and virtues, such as duty, obedience, honor, courage, strength, and ruthlessness. Uniforms and regular military drills were supplemented by ceremonies honoring the war dead. Most importantly, the Hitler Youth did their utmost to indoctrinate the youth of Germany with the ideological values of Nazism. Youth leaders bore into the youth a sense of fervent patriotism and utter devotion to Hitler. By 1939, when membership in the Hitler Youth became compulsory, each new member of the Jungvolk was required to take an oath to the
FührerThe word Führer is 'leader' or 'guide' in the German language, derived from the verb , a cognate of the Old English words faran and fær and the Modern English words derived from the older terms such as now mostly used in compounds such as wayfarer and sea-faring...
swearing total allegiance.
Young girls were also a part of the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany. Girls age ten to fourteen were members of the
JungmädelbundThe Jungmädelbund was the section of the Hitler Youth for girls between the ages of 10 and 14.It is called Jungmädelbund in German, and commonly abbreviated in period and contemporary historical writings as JM...
, while girls fourteen to eighteen belonged to the Bund Deutscher Mädel. Hitler youth girls were indoctrinated in the principles of service, regimentation, obedience, and discipline. Girls were taught to be dutiful wives and mothers. Members of the Bund Deutscher Mädel were educated in the skills needed for domestic chores, nursing, and hygiene.
Daily life in Nazi Germany was manipulated from the beginning of Nazi rule.
PropagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
dominated popular culture and entertainment.
Anti-intellectualismAnti-intellectualism describes a sentiment of hostility towards, or mistrust of, intellectuals and intellectual pursuits. This may be expressed in various ways, such as attacks on the merits of science, education, art, or literature....
was used to prevent the people from thinking and feeding into their strong sense of national and military pride. Finally, Hitler and the party realized the possibilities of controlling Germany’s youth as a means of continuing the
ReichReich is a German loanword cognate with the English reign, but used most often to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is " sovereign state." It is also cognate with the Latin word and the Scandinavian rike/rige, , , ; as found in bishopric...
, and ensuring total control over a future "Greater Germany".