The Third Reich 1025the same time, the Nazis encouraged children to denounce their parents
for being disloyal to the fatherland, and the party sponsored “Aryan breed
ing” programs outside the family.) Vicarious participation in Nazi cere
monies and rituals also helped augment a sense of national identity.
Hitler implemented the Nazi “leadership principle/’ which he defined
as a “doctrine of conflict.” He applied a strategy of “divide and rule” to
the higher echelons of government, such as the three chancelleries that
replaced the cabinet. He tolerated and even encouraged open competition
between his most trusted subordinates and between branches of govern
ment. Those who enjoyed Hitler’s confidence ruthlessly and aggressively
carved out personal fiefdoms. Unlike Stalin, who watched over even the
most minor details with obsessive care, the Fuhrer provided little supervi
sion to government agencies. Occasionally something would catch Hitler’s
attention and brief, frenzied activity would follow. But he missed meetings,
worked irregular hours, and was often disorganized. Hitler valued personal
loyalty far more than efficiency.
The “doctrine of conflict” adversely affected the economic goals Hitler
set for the state. The army and the air force quarreled over resources, the
S.S. and the police over jurisdiction. The Four-Year Plan launched in 1936
under Goring’s direction illustrated the functioning of the Nazi state.
Hitler wanted to stimulate economic development, above all in industries
necessary for rearmament: steel, iron, and synthetic fuel and rubber. Goring
spent much time warring with other branches of government. Further
more, industrialists resisted state intervention in their businesses. The
Four-Year Plan failed to achieve its lofty goals.
Hitler had to confront the daunting challenge of unemployment. Although
he knew or cared very little about economics, Hitler correctly determined
that the rapid rearmament of Germany would help create jobs. Food short
ages remained severe until 1936, but public works projects helped reduce
unemployment and inflation. Big industrial concerns prospered, particu
larly those manufacturing war materials. The German gross national prod
uct rose by 81 percent, in part because of state direction of the economy.
Hitler bragged that he had wrought an economic miracle. Millions of Ger
mans believed him. An ordinary German woman wrote in her diary, “One
feels absolutely insignificant in the face of the greatness, the truthfulness
and the openness of such a man.”
More consumer goods, such as radios, reached the consumer market,
contributing to a sense of optimism about material conditions of life. The
Labor Front organized cut-rate Nazi vacations. Some families of modest
means who had never had the opportunity to travel took cruises in the
Baltic Sea or even in the Mediterranean Sea. Hitler named this program
“Strength Through Joy,” taking the idea from Mussolini’s after-work pro
gram of recreational trips in Italy. However, production of Hitler’s planned
low-cost “Volkswagen,” or “people’s car,” was postponed because factories
were needed for military production.