How far do you agree with the view that in the years

1933-39, Hitler was a weak dictator

Source 5 states, Hitler can be said to have been a weak dictator. Much historical
debate surrounds the view of whether he can be considered a powerful leader. He
was arguably dependent on his own popularity, with his indecisiveness and
government inaction being a consequence of this. The chaotic structure of the Nazi
Party also illustrates the weaknesses he faced as a dictator. However, as shown in
Source 6, Hitler was a central figure and thus can be considered a strong leader.
His personal popularity can be seen as a strength, with absolute loyalty from those
around him. There is also the alternative view that everyone in Germany was
working towards the Fuhrer, which is reiterated in Source 4.
It was known that Hitler had a reluctance to make decisions, highlighted in source 6,
stating quite obviously that Hitler often refused to make decisions and removed
himself from day to day decisions of government. It was argued that Hitler was a
lazy person and didnt want to be involved in government business, backed up by
source 5 in which not much help in the practical business of selecting goals,
reaching decisions and making policy. It has been shown that he liked to live a
bohemian lifestyle, spending a lot of his time watching films in the Bavarian hills,
rarely dealing with government matters, apart from some areas like foreign policy
that interested him, like the reoccupation of the Rhineland.
It has been suggested that Hitler was dependent upon his own popularity, as shown
by Source 5. The fact that he had become so involved and fixed on his relationship
with the people meant he was reluctant to make decisions that might damage his
popularity, stated in Source 6. This is arguably why he expressed such little interest
in government, fearing a policy he made would turn the German people against him.
His own Hitler Myth actually made him less powerful, as he became obsessed with
the adoration of Germans. Therefore, this made him a weak dictator, who was more
concerned with popularity than actually making polices to make Germany better.
The way the government run was chaos at times, which Hitler could not control.
Source 6 shows that he gave those men who were close to him conflicting
responsibilities. Hitler was seen to be unwilling to create a regulated and ordered
system, with a lack of direction. This resulted in the radicalisation of policy, and saw
him have a less significant role because of how government structures operated.
Hitlers failure to control resulted in a state of near anarchy and can be seen in the
economy. Hitler allowed confusion and chaos to take place in many types of
government, especially the economy, when there were conflicting powers between
Schacht and Goring regarding the Four Year Plan. It has been suggested that Hitler
would avoid regulating and interfering in disputes, due to him believing in social
Darwinism. Therefore, he allowed these issues to develop, suggesting that the
contrasting view of divide and rule may not be apparent.

On the other hand, it can be argued that Hitler was the central figure of the Third
Reich, as stated in Source 6. Although there was a chaotic structure, this was
deliberate on Hitlers part in order to gain a central role in Germany. His policy of
divide and rule meant that he would make final decisions after setting two people
against each other, giving him a sense of power and being the only head of them
and having absolute rule. Hitler was able to dominate and overrule those below him
by creating tensions between party officials. Intentionalists therefore argue that this
chaos experienced amongst the government was all part of Hitlers plan to have a
full consolidation of power, whereby no one could over throw him. Furthermore, this
central role in Germany can explain why he had removed himself from day-to-day
decisions of government which is shown in Source 6. It resulted in him being able to
make decisions without the time consuming and confusing process of bureaucratic
consultation Therefore it can be argued that his government inaction was actually a
source of power, distancing himself from the restrictions of politics and that Hitler
was seen as a godly figure who was too big for meeting and government business,
showing his enormous power.
There is an alternative view shown in Source 4 that it is the duty of everyone to try to
work towards the Fuhrer along the lines he would wish. Working towards the Fuhrer
suggests that everyone in Germany interpreted Hitlers will in their own way, and
sought to all achieve this individually. Hitlers wish to remove the Jews meant that
people interpreted this in different ways. If you were living next to a Jew, then you
would report them to the authorities. However, these ideas became ever more
radicalised, as it made possible the process by which his personal ideological
obsessions became translated into attainable reality. People would try to come up
with a more radical idea than the one before, resulting in a final extreme idea, which
Hitler never declined. Where the removal of Jews began with literally moving them
from Germany soon radicalised to the Final Solution. Arguably this was a powerful
way to govern Germany, where Hitler would never have to take the blame for
anything as other people had come up with the ideas. However, it could be
considered a rather lazy way of ruling a country and does not show a strong
dictatorship. Hitlers will was much generalised and not specific, therefore it was
difficult to understand what he wanted.
In conclusion, although Hitler is popularly perceived to be a powerful leader, he can
be considered to have been a weak dictator. His lazy personality weakened his
position, meaning he was not involved in many areas of German politics where he
should have been. It was because of his dependence on popularity that led him to
not making these policy decisions, which further illustrates how he had many
weaknesses. This popularity he held can therefore be seen as a weakness to his
power whereby he became obsessed by his own Hitler myth. Although he was
arguably a central figure in Germany, there is a lot to suggest that the chaotic
structure was not intentional and was actually a result of lack of control. Hitler did not
really have absolute power, where others would often make decisions and thus
overall can be seen as a weak dictator.