Notes on the Third Reich

Excerpt:

>An initiative Hitler undertook already in the period when Hindenburg was still head of state, and which had an anti-traditional character, was extending the Gleichschaltung also to the Länder, the individual regional entities that in their partial autonomy and sovereignty corresponded to the various kingdoms, principalities and free cities of the federation of which the Second Reich was composed, with Prussia enjoying a pre-eminent position among them. These were abolished one after another, and the individual Länder were integrated in the central government by taking on the character of Gaue, areas headed by functionaries of the Reich’s central government, who were no longer representatives of the corresponding communities.

>Prussia was the first to undergo this fate under the leadership, unfortunately, of von Papen, a Rightist. Even Hindenburg said nothing to oppose this development, which amounted to a policy of centralising and levelling. Once again the excuse given was the need of a total organisation of all forces with the goal being the maximisation of efficiency. Emphasis was placed on the fact that by this policy Germany had become, for the first time in its history, unified as a “nation” (in the sense of modern nationalism). From our point of view, however, the negative aspect of the initiative is clear, since the previous system of a superior central authority combined with a group of smaller political units that enjoyed partial autonomy had an organic and qualitative character, which is traditional in a superior sense. In this regard Germany had presented, among all the modern European nations, an outstanding example.

>>3315954
Just a note hitler himself didnt like aristocracy.

File: kaiser_wilhelm_ii_quote___view_of_hitler_by_yamalama1986-d898h3r.png (209KB, 975x503px) Image search: [Google]

209KB, 975x503px

>>3315986
I don't know if Hitler was against the very notion of aristocracy but as far as I know, he was definitely quite hostile to the old Prussian aristocrats. He perceived them to be the ones to blame for Germany's loss in the first war. You know, they brought the country into the thing, made a pig's ear of it and then surrendered at a time when Hitler believer Germany could have gone further. I remember reading how Wilhelm would write letters to Hitler in exile in the Netherlands and Hitler would just discard the things. But Wilhelm himself wasn't exactly fond of Hitler either, pic related.