The Third Reich: (Seminar Studies)

Since publication of the first edition in 1982, David Williamson's The Third Reich has become established as one of the most successful books in the Seminar Studies in History series. The author draws on up-to-date scholarship to guide students through the maze of historical controversies concerning the Third Reich and to offer a comprehensive analysis of the key issues of the period. In a clear and accessible manner, the new edition provides chapters that: introduce readers to the historiography of the Third Reich analyse the reasons for Hitler's rise to power look at how the Nazi regime consolidated it's grip on power during the period March 1933- August 1934 explain how Nazi Germany was governed and discuss to what extent Hitler can be viewed as a 'weak dictator' analyse Hitler's economic, foreign and social policies in both war and peace up to 1945, as well as the development of Nazi racial and eugenic policies. The analysis of these themes is backed up with an increased selection of documents, which enable students to discuss the key issues more fully. Providing a concise but comprehensive account of the origins, course and downfall of the Third Reich, this new edition of an already classic text will be an invaluable introduction to the subject for students.

Table of Contents:
CONTENTS Introduction to the Series Acknowledgements Chronology Who’s Who Glossary Maps PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. THE HISTORICAL DEBATE Can the Third Reich be ‘Historicised’? PART TWO: ANALYSIS 2. THE ORIGINS AND RISE OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM The Ideological Roots The Bismarckian Reich: An Incubator of National Socialism? The German Revolution, 1918–19: A Turning Point that did not Turn? Adolf Hitler and the Formation of the NSDAP, 1919–24 The Renaissance of the Nazi Party, 1925–30 Nazi Voters, 1930–32 The Road to Power, September 1930–January 1933 3. THE LEGAL REVOLUTION AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF POWER, 1933–34 The Dissolution of the Reichstag and the Election of 5 March 1933 The ‘Revolution from Below’ and the Enabling Act The Process of Gleichschaltung The Churches The Defeat of the Second Revolution 4. STATE, PARTY AND FÜHRER: THE GOVERNMENT OF NAZI GERMANY, 1933–39 Ministries and ‘Supreme Reich Authorities’, 1933–38 Himmler and the SS State The Centralisation of the Reich The Civil Service The Party The Role of Hitler 5. THE ECONOMY, 1933–39 Work Creation and Economic Recovery, 1933–35 Agriculture The Mittelstand Schacht and the Financing of German Rearmament The Four Year Plan Industrialists and the Four Year Plan: winners and losers Rearmament and the German Economy, 1936–39 6. THE PEOPLE’S COMMUNITY: GERMAN SOCIETY AND THE THIRD REICH, 1933–39 The Work of the Reich Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda Education and Youth The Peasantry Women and the Family p; Nazi Health and Eugenic Policies The ‘Asocials’ and Homosexuals Gypsies, Part-Africans and the Slav Minorities The Jews The Germans and the Jews 8. FOREIGN POLICY, 1933–39 Hitler’s Priorities, 1933–37 The Anschluss The Destruction of Czechoslovakia The Polish Crisis and the Outbreak of War 9. GERMANY, EUROPE AND THE WORLD, 1939–45 The British Problem, 1940–41 The Decision to Attack Soviet Russia From European to World War, 1941–45 Europe under German Occupation, 1939–44 ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ and Settlement Policies in Eastern Europe The Holocaust 10. THE HOME FRONT, 1939–45 Disintegration of the Führer State The Increasing Power of the Political Party and the SS The War Economy Food Supplies and Rationing Solving the Labour Crisis in the War Industries The Impact of War on the German People, 1942–45 The End of the Hitler Regime Postscript to the Third Reich: The Doenitz Government 11. THE GERMAN OPPOSITION Resistance and Resistenz Opposition from the Churches Opposition on the Left The Challenge of Youth Culture Resistance by the Military and Conservative Elites The Road to 20 July 1944 Why was there no German Revolution in 1945? PART THREE: ASSESSMENT 12. THE THIRD REICH IN RETROSPECT Hitler’s Rise to Power The Nazi regime How 'modern'as the Third Reich The Legacy of Nazi Germany PART FOUR: DOCUMENTS nbsp; Guide to Further Reading References Index

About the Author :
David G. Williamson has written extensively on modern German and European history. Among his recent publications are Poland Betrayed: The Nazi Soviet Invasions of 1939 (Pen and Sword, 2009) and, also in the Seminar Studies series, Bismarck and Germany, 3rd edition (2010). Formerly head of history at Highgate School, he is now a writer and freelance lecturer.