The Importance Of Adding Nuance In Your Answer

Let’s briefly cover off the importance of nuance.

When answering questions, always be aware that you should try to add nuance. Nuance means that rather than making a sweeping generalisation……..’The Nazis were very popular’...... you add detail to an answer to make it a more accurate reflection of what happened or what the situation was.

When evaluating the popularity of the Nazis (i.e. the public willingly consented to be ruled by them as opposed to they were afraid of them) it’s important to understand that their popularity, as with all governments, changed over time. They were not universally popular in 1932 but as unemployment came down, incomes rose and lost territories were reconquered, there seems little doubt that Hitler in particular, became popular with increasing numbers of Germans as compared to the 33-37% who supported them in 1932. But the key point is you can’t generalise and say they were popular or unpopular - it depends on what period of time you are analysing. In early 1945, with Germany in ruins, were they popular? It was highly unlikely, as SD reports indicated. In late 1938 having retaken the Sudetenland and unemployment hugely reduced……….yes, probably they were quite popular, with most people either supportive or reasonably supportive towards them, to the extent that the majority of the population might well have voted for them in a free and fair election (although none was ever held).

Secondly the depth and breadth of their support depended on multiple factors:

• male vs female (men and women voted in equal numbers for them)
• geography (more popular in the countryside than in urban areas)
• class (not as popular with the working class who were working longer hours, for less money each year, as they were with the middle class
• religious views (Protestants were much more supportive than Catholics)

Thirdly, to really wow the examiners, you could go even further by suggesting that popularity of the Nazis and of Hitler himself may have diverged i.e. support for the Nazis might not have increased as much as support for Hitler personally as people blamed the problems Germany had in both the 1930s and during the war, more on the corruption and incomptence of party officials, rather than Hitler himself.