To What Extent Did the Nazi Regime Face Serious Opposition
Within Germany During the Years 1939–45?

Note: One of my duties in the various places where I teach is to show students how to write essays – something most young people are not nowadays taught to do. What I like to do in class is to choose a question at random, discuss possible approaches, and then dictate an answer one paragraph at a time. Some of these answers are very short. Some are just notes. Some amount to small dissertations. In this latter case, the students take turns at looking on-line for the information we decide is needed. It they cannot find it, I show them how to change the structure of what has already been written, or to strike out in a new direction.

It is a “writing masterclass” approach that makes use of my own strengths, and is often a welcome alternative to formal teaching. It fills up a long morning session. Everyone learns something, and the more attentive will improve their final grades by at least one step.

Here is an example of the finished product. Do not take it as a statement of personal opinion. It is an answer produced for a specific question, and it bears in mind what a possibly unknown examiner will appreciate, and what can be written to incorporate the sources found in class. SIG

PS – If anyone wants to engage my services as a teacher of these skills, please click on the image to the left. Though they are my niche subjects, Greek and Latin are not my exclusive focus as a teacher. I do much else besides.

“To what extent did the Nazi regime face serious opposition within Germany during the years 1939–45?”

With the spectacular but limited exception of the 1944 Bomb Plot, there was almost no serious opposition inside Germany to the Nazi regime during the Second World War. The Gestapo steadily tightened its grip, and people were well aware that even grumbling in public could lead to arrest, followed by imprisonment, torture, or death. However, to understand fully why opposition remained so limited during the war years, it is necessary to look back to the period before 1939. The relative popularity of the regime in the 1930s, combined with its consolidation of power, created conditions in which resistance during the war was both dangerous and, for many, unnecessary or unattractive.

Before 1939, the Nazi regime had succeeded in building a significant degree of popular support. This support rested on several factors. First, the regime appeared to have restored order after the instability of the Weimar years. The political violence and economic chaos of the early 1920s had been replaced by a strong, centralised state. Secondly, economic recovery under the Nazis was widely perceived as successful. Unemployment fell sharply, public works projects expanded, and rearmament created jobs. While this recovery had structural weaknesses, it gave the impression that Hitler had solved the problems of the Depression.

In addition, the regime achieved major foreign policy successes that enhanced its popularity. The remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936, the Anschluss with Austria in 1938, and the acquisition of the Sudetenland later that year were all presented as peaceful revisions of the Treaty of Versailles. These events were widely supported within Germany, as they appeared to restore national pride without provoking war. By 1939, many Germans saw Hitler not as a dictator imposed upon them, but as a leader who had revived the nation.

At the same time, the regime had dismantled organised opposition. Political parties were banned, trade unions were replaced by the German Labour Front, and potential opponents were imprisoned or driven into exile. The police state, supported by the Gestapo and SS, ensured that dissent was difficult to organise and dangerous to express. By the outbreak of war, therefore, the Nazi regime combined popular support with effective repression. This combination helps to explain why opposition during the war remained limited.

This being so, there was resistance, though it was fragmented and generally ineffective.

One important source of opposition came from the churches, particularly the Catholic Church. The most notable figure was Clemens von Galen, the Catholic Archbishop of Münster. In 1941, von Galen delivered sermons denouncing the Nazi euthanasia programme, under which tens of thousands of mentally disabled people were being killed. By August 1941, around 70,000 had died. Von Galen’s protests did not end the killings, but they forced the regime to proceed more cautiously and in greater secrecy. The government did not arrest him, largely because of his popularity and the risk of provoking unrest among Catholics.

However, this episode also illustrates the limits of opposition. Von Galen criticised a specific policy rather than the regime itself, and the killings continued in secret. The fact that the regime could adjust its methods without abandoning its objectives suggests that opposition, even when visible, did not fundamentally threaten its power.

A more direct form of resistance emerged among students in the White Rose group at Munich University. Inspired in part by moral and religious opposition, they distributed leaflets condemning the regime and calling for resistance. Their activities were quickly discovered, and their leaders, including Hans and Sophie Scholl, were executed in 1943. The group’s impact was minimal, and its rapid suppression demonstrates the effectiveness of the Nazi security apparatus.

There was also resistance among sections of the youth. The Edelweiss Pirates rejected the discipline of the Hitler Youth and engaged in acts of defiance, including daubing anti-Nazi slogans, sheltering deserters, and occasionally attacking officials. In Cologne, members of the group killed the local Gestapo chief in 1944. The regime responded by publicly hanging twelve members. While these acts show that opposition existed, they remained localised and lacked coordination or wider support.

Opposition within the Protestant Church was more limited and often divided, though figures such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer stand out. Bonhoeffer opposed the regime on theological and moral grounds and became involved in the wider resistance movement. He participated in the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and was executed in 1945. His case highlights the willingness of some individuals to resist, but also the risks involved and the limited scale of such resistance.

The most serious opposition came from within the German elite, particularly the army. The Kreisau Circle and other groups of officers and intellectuals sought to plan for a post-Nazi Germany. Their efforts culminated in the July 1944 Bomb Plot, in which Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler. This was the closest the regime came to being overthrown from within. However, the plot failed, and the consequences were severe. Around 5,000 people were executed, including many with only indirect connections to the conspiracy.

Despite the seriousness of this attempt, it came very late in the war and lacked broad support. It did not represent a mass movement but rather a limited conspiracy among elites. Its failure further demonstrated the regime’s ability to survive even significant challenges.

The wider context of the war also helps to explain the limited extent of opposition. Between 1939 and 1942, Germany experienced rapid military success. Poland, France, and much of Europe were conquered, and Hitler appeared to be a victorious leader. This reinforced the popularity he had built in the 1930s. In such circumstances, there was little incentive for most Germans to oppose the regime. Even those who had reservations might hesitate to act against a government that seemed to be winning.

After 1942, as the war turned against Germany, opposition might have been expected to increase. However, the Allies’ demand for unconditional surrender reduced the incentive for resistance. In 1918, the removal of the Kaiser had been seen as a way of securing better peace terms. In the Second World War, there was no such possibility. Many Germans believed that defeat would lead to severe consequences regardless of who was in power. This made the risks of resistance appear less worthwhile.

In conclusion, while the Nazi regime did face opposition within Germany between 1939 and 1945, this opposition was limited in scale, fragmented in nature, and largely ineffective. The regime’s popularity in the years before 1939, combined with its success in eliminating organised opposition and establishing a powerful system of repression, meant that resistance during the war was both dangerous and unattractive to most people. Even when opposition did occur, it rarely posed a serious threat to the regime. The Nazi state remained secure until its eventual collapse under the pressure of military defeat, rather than internal resistance.

 

 

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