Gleichshaltung Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

The German word gleichshaltung (meaning “synchronization” or “coordination”) originally referred to the campaign by the National Socialists (Nazis) during the 1930s to have the Nazi party take complete control of the German state through the creation of a cult of personality around the party leader, Adolf Hitler. The ultimate goal was the establishment of a single, unified political state under the control of the dominant party. The Nazis undermined, outlawed, or replaced potential rival groups, including other political parties, trade unions, civic organizations, and the media. They also created parallel party structures that eventually superseded existing political bodies or agencies.

Central to Gleichshaltung was the notion that the “leader” represented the will of the people. All political, economic, and social power flowed through that leader into the institutions and structures established or captured by the party. Consequently, existent systems of checks and balances were eliminated or circumvented. Opponents of the process were identified as enemies of the state and subject to persecution and punishment. Within two years of their assumption of power, the Nazis had gained control over all major German institutions, with the exception of the Catholic Church. Gleichshaltung subsequently came to mean any effort by a political grouping to displace the state and install a monolithic, totalitarian single-party system.

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