“The Third Reich in Power”, by Richard J. Evans

941 pages, Penguin, ISBN-13: 978-1594200748

The Third Reich in Power is the second book in “The Third Reich Trilogy”, a series of narrative history books by the British historian Richard J. Evans that covers the rise and collapse of Nazi Germany in detail with a focus on the internal politics and the decision-making process. Evans deftly distills decades of research from English and German sources, mainly secondary but some primary too, in this masterful account of the years 1933-1939 in Germany. In the preceding volume, The Coming of the Third Reich, Evans described the conditions that led to the rise of Nazism up to 1933; The Third Reich in Power deftly picks-up where the preceding one ends. In some ways, both books can be read separately; if you’ve forgotten some of the finer points of the first volume, Evans provides a helpful summary of it in this volume, as well as footnote references to that work (if you’re inclined to flip back and forth ‘tween the two). Describing how the Nazis implemented their policies in this period and how the German public reacted to it is a massive subject, and in many ways summarizing this work does a disservice to it. Instead, it’s perhaps better to focus on the themes that emerge.

First, Evans shows that various policies were willingly embraced by the German public in many ways, but only up to a point. This is clear on certain things like policing and justice, schools and industry. Cops stood by while SA men beat up Jews, teachers taught anti-Semitic works to their students, and workers and business owners all benefited from Nazi arms production; however, Evans also carefully distinguishes between these public manifestations of support and some unintended consequences, namely, the individual’s retreat into a focus on job security, enjoying vacations thanks to Strength Through Joy, and sharing their reservations and doubts in private with loved ones at home. Germans did support the regime, but only so far. So, despite what you might think from years of watching enthusiastic Sieg Heil!-ing Germans in documentaries (and there were those, no doubt), Evans shows that the Nazis failed to get complete, whole-hearted support from everyone. The Third Reich aimed to be a totalitarian society, but didn’t quite achieve that. There’s a timeless and, I have to say, heartening lesson here about how humans frustrate the totalitarian’s desire for total control.

Second, it becomes clear that the Third Reich was focused on war…and not just a European war, or just a war for Lebensraum (living space) in the east, either; these were first steps toward what Hitler really wanted: Germany’s global domination. I think it’s helpful to understand Hitler’s desire for autarchy (economic independence), as it informed much of his foreign policy thinking and even some of his wartime decisions later. The Third Reich’s leaders were motivated, and constantly hamstrung, by a lack of workers and raw materials as they prepared for war. Their solution: take these resources by force, as loot (among other things, the corruption and looting that went on, from the top down, as an adjunct of Nazi policy is a sub-theme). We start to see this in Austria and Czechoslovakia, and it’s easy to make the connection to later developments like slave labor and oil-seeking enterprises like Case Blue. From all this arises one of the essential contradictions of German war planning (such as it was): wanting autarchy, and using war to get it, but never having enough material resources to fight this ever-expanding war successfully. The German war effort was flawed by this fundamental problem as soon as it began, and we see the origins of it here.

Third, while the Germans cheered Hitler’s early foreign policy successes (the Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakia), this was partly from a sense of relief that war had been avoided. While the Nazis sought war (Hitler very clearly so by mid-1939), the German people deeply wanted to avoid it. This perhaps reveals the biggest gap between the Nazis and their own people. Again, Evans shows us that Nazi power had its limits; not everyone was a convert eagerly goose-stepping his or her way over the cliff.

Fourth, Evans argues quite convincingly that the Nazi state was a modern one, not a traditional conservative one or even a reactionary one. This difference is clear when comparing the Nazi regime to other European dictatorships of the time. Nazi modernity manifested in a number of ways (it’s easy to point to synthetic fuel, ballistic missiles and jet aircraft here), but perhaps clearest and most central to the Nazi political state is the party’s desire for a racial utopia. Evans carefully shows how the Jews were excluded from German society step-by-step, and also picks apart the fundamental contradictions of Nazi policy, as shown most clearly in the Nuremburg Laws. Ultimately, the Nazi definition of Jewishness was in the eye of the beholder, and in the end this was defined as much by religious practice as it was by race. The German pursuit of a perfect society built on a new man and woman was flawed from the beginning.

Evans is a clear writer, and he ably pulls together narrative, analysis and quotes to keep this history informative, lively and ever-human. Typical sources include reports from Social Democratic spies, who sent their observations back to the politicians in exile. Ironically, perhaps, Gestapo reports on the public mood, and the work to be done in molding public opinion further, provide abundant source material for the historian (Evans is even witty at times, which helps break the tension). He also has a patient manner in describing these things, sort of like that ideal history teacher you wish you always had. At the same time, the book tends to be thematic and not a straightforward chronology, so this may pose a challenge to some readers, as it was to me at times. Accordingly, some familiarity with events in the 1930s will be helpful before diving into this account.