‘The Nazi regime succeeded in maintaining the morale of the German people
throughout the war’. Assess the validity of this view.
In the beginning of the war, it can be argued that the Nazi regime was successful in maintaining
morale of the German people, even during the hardships of Allied bombings and Total War. This can
be seen through this influence of propaganda and the cult that Hitler built around him. However, it
must be noted that morale wasn't maintained throughout the war, rather was only evident at the start.
This is because towards the end of the war, Germany started facing more defeats that became
noticeable to the people; making all myths and propaganda crumble.
It can be said that the Nazi regime was successful in maintaining morale because of Blitzkrieg. These
were small and relatively easy victories that were exploited by the propaganda machine. Such
victories gave the illusion that Germany was going to eventually win the war, therefore becoming a
cause of celebration. Morale was certainly maintained because the war was away from sight, leading
to fewer casualties. This indicates that the civilian population wasn't affected by the atrocities of war,
making way for high morale.For example, there were quick victories in Poland September 1939,
Norway and Sweden April 1940. Through these successes, the nation was able to demonstrate its
strength, emphasising the spoils of war. For instance, the Nazi’s brought home art, gold and silk;
which indicated that the war was more of a benefit rather than a loss. This helped maintain morale
because it appeared that Germany was finally stepping back up on its feet after the humiliation of
World War One. The victories by Blitzkrieg were also taken advantage of through the propaganda
machine, as directed by Goebbels. Hitler was presented as the military genius who was responsible
for these victories, with his speeches broadcasted over the radio. In this, Hitler made nine major
speeches were made between January 1940 and June 1941. This means that Blitzkrieg allowed the
regime to maintain optimism within the public sphere.
This argument that the Nazis were successful in maintaining the morale of Germany is further
strengthened by the fact that even when the war was becoming increasingly difficult, ordinary people
still showed support. Allied blanket bombings between 1942 to 1945 had devastating consequences
like in 1943 43 cities were bombed, destroying houses and lives. However, despite this, SD reports
show that people were remarkably composed and that their spirits had not been broken which is
significant because it shows that Nazis were successful in maintaining morale. They did so by making
people increasingly busy at work so that people did not have the time to even think about losing hope.
They fact that there was a production miracle during this period is vital in understanding the extent to
which morale had been maintained because productivity gains of 200% in aircrafts and 250% in tanks
can only be achieved if the population put in their all since it is incredibly difficult work thus suggesting
that they still truly believed in the war effort. However, this argument is made weak because of the fact
that the regime became increasingly repressive even against “defeatist” jokes as the war went on thus
suggesting that the Nazis had not been successful in maintaining morale considering that they had to
resort to violence and intimidation.
The rationing system, introduced in August 1939, perfectly captures the extent to which the Nazis
succeeded in maintaining morale during the war because it shows the trend in morale over the period.
Initially, the Nazis were very successful in maintaining morale because the rationing system was very
effective to the point where 2⁄3 of the population actually ate better thus showing that even though
they had gone to war in September 1939, they were doing very well and so were pleased it. However,
as the war dragged on especially after the US joined in December 1941, the Nazis proved less
successful in maintaining morale because whereas before the population did not feel anything but the
positive effects of war, now the war was being brought closer to them. The fact that they were now
being deprived of ordinary things like food and clothing proved very difficult for ordinary people as
shown by the increases in black market activity and malnutrition thus showcasing the fact that the
Nazis were not successful in maintaining morale because they were not able to sustain a basic
, standard of living for the public which inevitably leads to war weariness. However, this can be
countered by the fact that Germans were very nationalistic and they did not see the sacrifices
negative but rather for the greater good so actually the worsening of rationing increased morale
especially when the Nazis created propaganda campaigns like eintopf and collecting scrap metal.
This therefore shows that the Nazis were very successful in maintaining morale because they were
able to turn suffering into an honorable thing and exploited the german culture of nationalism to their
advantage.
While the Nazis may have been very successful in maintaining morale in the beginning of the war,
after the turning of the tide with Germany’s loss in the Battle of Stalingrad (February 1943) the regime
could not possibly keep morale high. This is because the public were deceived throughout the war
that they were doing well so when they received letters from soldiers about the horrendous conditions
and their impending loss, they were in utter shock. This battle was significant because it was not only
the turning point in the war but it was also of morale because they could no longer trust the regime.
The fact that the regime had lied to them meant that propaganda now had a weaker effect because
the Hitler myth was starting to unravel as were official reports about the war and so the Nazis could
not rely on their favoured way of keeping morale high. This failure of the regime in maintaining morale
during and after the middle period of the war is further proven by the fact that the Nazis censored
soldiers’ letters home which shows how even the nazis realised there was a crisis in morale to the
point where they implemented such drastic measures to try to keep people from finding out the truth
and losing even more morale.
However, the above argument may be countered by the fact that morale had largely been maintained
because after Goebbels announced Total War in February 1943, they was widespread support for it.
This is significant because it shows that while it may have appeared as though people were starting to
lose morale, in reality the Nazis had never lost the ability to inject morale into society because they
were able to always take advantage of the situation and of people’s emotions. This can be seen by
the fact that the only complaint people had was that it should have been announced earlier thus
showcasing that the Nazis were successful in maintaining morale considering that people were
prepared to suffer and work extremely hard towards the war effort even on lower wages and longer
and harsher working conditions. On the other hand, this argument is somewhat weak because while it
is true that the Nazis were able to keep morale high, this was to a limited extent because the reason
why many people worked towards the war effort was not because their morale was high but because
they had no choice. They did not want to risk their lives or get thrown into concentration camps so
they went along with it silently thus suggesting that the Nazis were not successful in maintaining
morale they were just good at scaring people into following orders.
In conclusion, it is clear that the Nazis were very successful in maintaining morale.
