Nazi Germany as an Example of a Totalitarian State - Essay Example

States have moved from totalitarianism to becoming democratic, showing their concern for the people and embracing human rights and freedoms. Totalitarianism was not an unusual practice in Europe in the 20th century, and Nazi Germany serves as an example of a totalitarian state that existed in the first half of the 20th century (Paxton and Julie 286).

European history exhibits myriad totalitarian practices before, during, and after the first half of the 20th century. In this respect, Nazi Germany became part of the totalitarian history in Europe. This followed the appointment of Adolf Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany on the 30th of January, 1933 (Paxton and Julie 317). Hitler and his party consolidated political power in Germany and controlled every aspect of people’s lives. As a result, Nazi Germany was not necessarily an anomaly in history, since there had been other totalitarian rulers before Hitler.

For instance, the Tsar's government in Russia had centralized political power and authority even before Hitler was appointed as Germany’s chancellor. While totalitarian practices were not new in the history of Europe, Hitler had taken his rule to another step. Hitler’s form of leadership took totalitarian rules and practices to an extremely high end. He not only controlled the lives of the people in Germany but also destroyed political institutions and eliminated all aspects of opposition in his leadership.

The cultural, social, economic, religious, and political face of Germany critically changed over the years of Hitler’s rule (Paxton and Julie 342). Consequently, the impact of Germany’s history on that of Europe remains alive to date. The cultural and social aspects of Germany were not spared by Hitler’s rule, and Nazi Germany critically reshaped these aspects. For instance, homosexual rights groups were restricted in the year 1933, Jehovah's witnesses were massively arrested from the year 1936, habitual criminals were arrested and punished from 1937 onwards, employment of Jews was banned in the year 1938, and Jewish businesses were sold to Aryans (Paxton and Julie 359).

These among other activities characterized the kind of life that people lived in Germany, following the Third Reich. The Nazi German regime during Hitler’s time was an extreme thought of Europeans’ take on totalitarian history. In conclusion, past events in Germany’s history have shaped what it is today.