Where Did Power Lie in the Third Reich?

... Where Did Power Lie in the Third Reich? " The essential political decisions were taken by a single individual, in this case by Hitler." (Jackel)! It has been said that at the heart of the power system of Nazi Germany there was a confusion of private Empires. This is true to some extent but overall power lay with Hitler. Hitler had ultimate power but how he exercised it is a different issue. The traditional view that Historians used which is also known as the, 'Intentionalist' theory was that Hitler was Master of the Third Reich, which was a totalitarian state. Other historians such like Mommsen and Brozat have said of this view to be too simplistic. They say the Nazi system was feudal, chaotic and polycratic. Mommsen describes Hitler as a 'weak dictator.' This school of thought is known as the 'Structuralist' theory. They counter attack the argument of the Third

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