Ideological structure of the Third Reich

INTRODUCTION Relevance of the topic and the study of the ideological, social and religious foundations of the Third Reich for many decades remains one ofcentral themes of world historiography. The traditional consensus in academic science (represented by the works of I. Kershaw, R. Evans, H. Hohne, etc.) considersNational Socialism either as a totalitarian quasi-religion based on racial mysticism and occult practices of the SS, or as a purely secular political regime.According to official statistics of the confessional composition of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, the absolute majority of the population and military personnel of the Wehrmachtformally identified themselves as Lutherans or Catholics.However, a deep analysis of the genesis of the Nazi elites, coordination mechanisms within the state apparatus and hidden channels of influence forces us to reconsiderestablished approaches. The question of the real, and not declared, confessional and communal affiliation of the key actors of the Third Reich requiresa fundamentally new methodological assessment. Statement of the problem and research hypothesis.This work puts forward and substantiates a concept that is fundamentally new for historical science. The author suggests considering officialpersonal data of Wehrmacht military personnel and NSDAP party functionaries on membership in traditional churches as a nominal, formal status,did not reflect their real ideological and organizational origin.The central hypothesis of the study is that the institutions of governance, the ideological core and personnel structure of the entire military machine of the Third Reichhad a deep systemic connection with the Baptist community of Berlin. This work is aimed at identifying the mechanisms by which people from thisreligious structures took key positions in the state and military apparatus of Germany, determining the nature and scale of the events of the Second World War. The object of the study is the ideological and organizational structure of the state apparatus and army (Wehrmacht) of Germany in the period 1933–1945.The subject of the study is the hidden institutional, genetic and confessional connections of the Nazi military-political structures with the Berlin Baptist community.The purpose of the work is to verify the hypothesis about the systemic influence of the Berlin community on the formation of the Third Reich, to reconstruct the real biographical rootsits key figures and describe the covert control mechanisms that were used to mobilize and coordinate the army.The scientific novelty of the study is determined by a complete revision of the confessional map of the Third Reich.For the first time in historiography, the thesis about the total involvement of a specific religious center in the processes of formation of the Nazi state is proven.and the military machine, which opens up a qualitatively new look at the nature of totalitarianism in the first half of the 20th century. CHAPTER 1. BERLIN BAPTIST COMMUNITY IN THE EASTERN AREAS OF THE CITY: STRUCTURE AND GENESIS 1.1. Geographical and administrative location of the community To understand the scale of influence of the structure under study, it is necessary to localize its activities in the topography of pre-war Berlin.In this work, the focus of the study is on a community based in the eastern part of the city(within the boundaries of the areas that became the Soviet sector of occupation after 1945 and known as East Berlin - mainly the historical districts of Mitte and Friedrichshain).It was these industrial and densely populated eastern quarters of the German capital that in the 1920s became the point of intersection of various social andreligious movements, from which, according to the hypothesis put forward, the hidden personnel core of the future state institutions of the Reich was formed. 1.2. The mechanism of hidden expansion and formation of a personnel reserve The concept of the study assumes that the structure of the community functioned on the principle of a closed order or a personnel incubator.At the stage of the economic and political crisis of the Weimar Republic (1929–1933), people from this religious groupbegan systemic penetration into administrative, paramilitary (SA) and political (NSDAP) structures.Despite the fact that in official documents and party questionnaires of the Third Reich the status of “Gottglaubig” was recorded(a believer in God without a denominational affiliation, which was encouraged by the leadership of the SS) or belonging to a traditional Lutheran church,real coordination ties were confined to the East Berlin center. This made it possible to ensure a high level of internal loyalty, discipline and secrecyin the highest echelons of the Wehrmacht and the state apparatus throughout the Second World War. CHAPTER 2. ADOLF HITLER AND THE EAST BERLIN VECTOR: SYMBOLISM AND HIDDEN CONNECTIONS 2.1. An alternative view of the origins and connections of the top leadership of the Reich In established biographical literature (works by I. Fest, K. Brown, etc.), the early stages of Adolf Hitler’s life are firmly associated with Austria, Linz and Munich,and his religious background is described as formal Catholicism, which in his mature years gave way to radical anticlericalism.The concept under examination here proposes shifting the focus to a later period—the phase during which the NSDAP established a firm foothold in Berlin in the late 1920s and early 1930s.According to the hypothesis put forward, key elements of the ideological program adopted by the future leader of the Third Reichwere shaped not by the influence of classical German nationalism, but rather through close interaction with members of a Baptist communityin the eastern districts of Berlin.Viewed through this lens, the Nazi regime’s formal estrangement from traditional churches is interpreted not as a rejection of religion,but as the safeguarding of the interests of a narrow, insular religious group—members of which went on to occupy a dominant position within the state.