Gleichschaltung
Gleichschaltung (literally "
synchronising", synchronization) 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. Another possible translation is "making equal". The historian
Richard Evans offered "coordination" in his most recent work on Nazi Germany. One goal of this policy was to eliminate
individualism by forcing everybody to adhere to a specific doctrine and way of thinking.
The
Nazi party's desire for total control required the elimination of all other forms of influence. The period from 1933 to around 1937 was characterized by the systematic elimination of non-Nazi organizations that could potentially influence people, such as
trade unions and
political parties. Those critical of Hitler's agenda, especially his close ties with the industry were suppressed or intimidated. The regime also assailed the influence of the
churches, for example by instituting the
Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs under
Hanns Kerrl. Organizations that the administration could not eliminate, such as schools, came under its direct control.
The
Gleichschaltung also included the formation of various organisations with compulsory membership for segments of the population, in particular the youth. Boys served as apprentices in the
Hitlerjugend ("Hitler Youth") beginning at the age of six, and at age 10, entered the
Jungvolk ("Young Folk") and served there until entering the Hitler Youth proper at age 14. Boys remained there until age 18, at which time they entered into the
Arbeitsdienst ("Labor Service") and the armed forces. Girls became part of the
Jungmädel ("Young Maidens") at age 10, and at age 14 were enrolled in the
Bund Deutscher Mädel ("League of German Maidens"). Girls remained in the BDM until age 21 and, upon reaching the age of 18, were sent to serve their
Landjahr — a year of labor on a farm. In 1938, membership of the Hitler Youth numbered just under 8 million.
For workers, an all-embracing recreational organization called
Kraft durch Freude ("Strength through Joy") was set up. In Nazi Germany, even hobbies were regimented; all private clubs (whether they be for chess, football, or woodworking) were brought under the control of KdF and, in turn, the Nazi Party. The
Kraft durch Freude organization provided vacation trips (skiing, swimming, concerts, ocean cruises, and so forth). With some 25 million members, KdF was the largest of the many organizations established by the Nazis.
In a more specific sense,
Gleichschaltung refers to the legal measures taken by the government during the first months following
January 30,
1933, when
Adolf Hitler became
Chancellor of Germany. In this sense, the term was used by the Nazis themselves.#One day after the
Reichstag fire on
February 27,
1933, the increasingly
senile President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg, acting at Hitler's request, issued the
Reichstag Fire Decree. This decree suspended most
human rights provided for by the 1919
constitution of the
Weimar Republic and thus allowed for the arrest of political adversaries, mostly
Communists, and for general terrorizing by the
Sturmabteilung (SA) to intimidate the voters before the upcoming election.#In this atmosphere the
Reichstag general election of
March 5,
1933 took place. These yielded only a slim majority for Hitler's
coalition government and no majority for Hitler's own
Nazi party.#When the newly-elected
Reichstag first convened on
March 23,
1933, (not including the Communist delegates, since their party had already been banned by that time) it passed the
Enabling Act (
Ermächtigungsgesetz), transferring all legislative powers to the Nazi government and, in effect, abolishing the remainder of the Weimar constitution as a whole. Soon afterwards the government banned the
Social Democratic party, which had voted against the Act, while the other parties chose to dissolve themselves to avoid arrests and
concentration camp imprisonment.# The "First
Gleichschaltung Law" (
Erstes Gleichschaltungsgesetz) (
March 31,
1933) gave the governments of the
Länder the same legislative powers that the
Reich government had received through the Enabling Act.# A "Second
Gleichschaltung Law" (
Zweites Gleichschaltungsgesetz) (
April 7,
1933) deployed one
Reichsstatthalter (
proconsul) in each
state, apart from
Prussia. These officers were supposed to act as local
presidents in each state, appointing the governments. For
Prussia, which comprised the vast majority of Germany anyway, Hitler reserved these rights for himself.# The trade union association ADGB (
Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund) was shattered on
May 2,
1933 (the day after
Labor Day), when
SA and NSBO (
Nationalsozialistische Betriebszellenorganisation) units occupied union facilities and ADGB leaders were imprisoned. Other important associations were forced to merge with the
German Labor Front (
Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF)) in the following months.# The
Gesetz gegen die Neubildung von Parteien ("Law against the establishment of political parties") (
July 14,
1933) forbade any creation of new political parties.# The
Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reiches ("Law concerning the reconstruction of the
Reich") (
January 30,
1934) abandoned the concept of a federal republic. Instead, the political institutions of the
Länder were practically abolished altogether, passing all powers to the central government. A law dated
February 14,
1934 dissolved the
Reichsrat, the representation of the
Länder at the federal level.# In the summer of 1934, Hitler instructed the
SS to kill
Ernst Röhm and other leaders of the Nazi party's
SA, former Chancellor
Kurt von Schleicher and several aides to former Chancellor
Franz von Papen in the so-called
Night of the Long Knives (
June 30,
1934/
July 1,
1934). These measures received retrospective sanction in a special one-article
Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defense (Gesetz über Maßnahmen der Staatsnotwehr) (
July 3,
1934).# At nine o'clock in the morning of
August 2,
1934,
Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg died at the age of 86. Three hours before, the government had issued a law to take effect the day of his death; this prescribed that the office of the
Reichspräsident should be
united with that of the
Reichskanzler and that the competencies of the former should be transferred to the
"Führer und Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler", as the law stated. Hitler henceforth demanded the use of that title. Thus the last
separation of powers was abolished.Following the
Reichswehr purge of 1938, Hitler could be described as the absolute dictator of Germany until his suicide in 1945.
Gleichschaltung, as a
compound word, is better comprehended by those who speak other languages by listing its predecessory uses in German. The word
gleich in German means
alike,
equal, or
the same;
schaltung means something like
switching. The word Gleichschaltung had two uses in German for physical, rather than political, meanings:
# A locking
clutch; manual clutches on cars usually do not press the plates one against each other, so they lose about three percent of power; some race cars use locking clutches in which the driven plate travels at the same speed as that connected to the engine; hence it wears out faster. # A certain means of wiring an
alternating current electrical generator, and AC electric motors, so that when the generator is made to turn at a given speed, or even turned a certain angle, each motor connected to it will also turn at that speed, or to the same angle. This is the meaning which is most commonly referred to explain this word: the political party is considered the generator, and every member of a professional group or society is considered a motor wired to it. See
selsyn.
However, because of the Nazi associations of the term, its use for these physical meanings has largely been abandoned since the war.
* Karl Kroeschell,
Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte 3 (seit 1650), 2nd ed. 1989, ISBN 3-531-22139-6
* Karl Kroeschell,
Rechtsgeschichte Deutschlands im 20. Jahrhundert, 1992, ISBN 3-8252-1681-0
*
Lebendiges virtuelles Museum Online: Die Errichtung des Einparteienstaats 1933
*
Enabling Act*
Adolf Hitler*
Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defense*
Nazi Germany*
Reichstag Fire Decree*
Totalitarianism
