Hitler and his Third Reich?

Question

If Hitler had enough power and influence to transform a ruined Germany into a dictatorship, why didn't he also establish a monarchy as well? He called his new regime the Third "Reich", which basically means Third "Empire". Shouldn't he have made himself the Emperor of his new German Empire as well? It just seems like this is something that any egotistical and power-hungry man would have done.

Answer 1

This is a really good question.

As it was said above there WAS an Emperor of Germany, the Kaiser. When Hitler took over the Kaiser was still alive, (he was in exile in Holland, and there was a political party dedicated to bringing back the monarchy). The Kaiser didn't die until June 4, 1941. His son Crown Prince Wilhelm would have been next in line for the throne and he didn't die until the 1950s. For Hitler to have declared himself Kaiser while the REAL Kaiser was still living in Holland would have made Hitler look stupid. It also would have had political consequences.

For one thing it would have had important implications regarding who took over after Hitler. All the Nazis wanted to be the 2nd Furher of the Reich, and Hitler played them off against each other in order to stay in power. At one time Hess was the unofficial #2, then it was Goering, then it was Himler. The guy who finally took over after Hitler shot himself was Grand Admiral Doenitz. Not having an official sucessor meant that Hitler could play the other Nazis against each other, promising each of them that they would be the one when the time came. (Sort of like a really cute cheerleader who has four or five guys who want to take her to the prom.) This was a key element of Hitler's hold on power. If each of the key Nazis thought they would be the Furher when Hitler died, they wouldn't stage a coup and take over. If any of them knew that someone else was going to get the job, they would be a lot more likely to try something.

Had Hitler officially become Kaiser he would have had to have been succeded by a son, which would have meant marriage and a family; and his public image was careful crafted around Hitler as a single man, totally devoted to the Reich. (That was one reason Eva Braun was always kept in the shadows.)

Also it would have made Hitler look like he was part of the old nobility, and not a friend of the workers and the poor. One of Napoleon's biggest mistakes was when he had himself crowned Emperor. When Napoleon became Emperor didn't GET anything (he already had all the power) but he LOST the support of all the people who had supported him because they though he was an anti-monarchist reformer. He also lost the support of the Catholic Church because of the way he did the ceremony... but that's another story. In any case becoming Emperor didn't gain Napoleon anything an he lost support because of it. Hiter didn't want to make the same mistake.

Kudos for having one of the best question's I've ever seen on Yahoo Answers though. You're thinking!

Answer 2

Hitler lost all respect for monarchies first when Wilhelm II abdicated as Kaiser and fled Germany for Holland. Next when he was in power Hitler visited Italy and met the Italian King and Queen he was disgusted by the weakness of the King (He was incredibly short I believe, just a little over 5-feet tall.) When he returned to Germany he raised the pensions of the Social Democratic leaders that had forced Wilhelm to Abdicate.
Hitler also declared the NSDAP to be a revolutionary movement and restoring the monarchy would have appeared conservative or reactionary both of which were an anathema to the Nazi movement.

Answer 3

Fuhrer means Chief, or Leader. So already, the title Hitler gave himself already precluded his losing of power. In the context of Nazi Germany, it really means dictator for life.
The title of Kaiser (Emperor) already existed in German history, for the medieval and renaissance emperors, but it would have been a strange claim to make. An interesting title to hold, to be sure, but Hitler's image was more that of a leader, someone the Germans could trust to bring them to victory. Image is a fragile thing in politics, not something you want to play with lightly. Hitler already wielded all the power he wanted. Why risk it by having the people doubt his sanity?

Answer 4

That is not what he was. He was a guy out for revenge. He wanted to have revenge for WW1. He fought during WW1, and was shocked that Germany had lost. So when he took power, he tried to get the land that Germany had lost because of the Versailles Treaty, then he sought for revenge against the countries that had defeated his country. He did not set up a monarchy because this was a "ME" situation. He wanted to have power, and only him. And he never had children. Plus monarchies had basically been destoryed during WW1. They really did not exist afterword, they just were figures that did nothing.

Answer 5

Hitler was the chancellor of Germany appointed by president Hindenburg but Hindenburg was 85 years old or so and drank heavily so Hitler used Hindenburg as a scape goat for many of his early power grabs. the people need a leader to deal with economic crisis ( the Great depression was world wide) and war reparations, Germany felt oppressed by the Versailles treaty is as Hitler made wild speeches about German superiority they took pride and followed him blindly. thats super simplified of course

Answer 6

he WAS the dictator of germany. he was like a monarch or an emperor, he had total and complete power of germany during the third reich

Answer 7

this is basically a rely of names, he prefered to call himself "Führer" meaning "chief", and interior the Nazi propaganda he had a lots greater place than what an emperor may be. He replaced into an rather much non secular discern in this propaganda and he had absolute capacity, corresponding to Stalin interior the U.S.. confident, "Reich" potential "empire", i ask your self why the German be conscious is often utilized in English. the version to a monarchy replaced into that he did not descent from any bloodline of rulers and that he did not get babies to proceed this way of bloodline. As I wrote till now, interior the way he replaced into rather much worshipped he replaced into extra desirable than an emperor. Germany replaced right into a monarchy with emperors (and that replaced into additionally stated as Reich, it replaced into the 2d Reich) till 1918, and there replaced into by no potential this way of character cult for those emperors because it replaced into for Hitler.

Answer 8

Hitler was trying to exterminate the Jews civilization and take over the world then he wold make a kingdom that is what I think

Answer 9

well he sort of did, only he saw himself as a military man more than a monarch. Why do you suppose he called it the THIRD reich