Exploring the Scope of German Resistance in 1939
Homework type: History essay
Added: today at 9:49
Summary:
Discover the varied forms and impact of German resistance in 1939, exploring political, social, and religious efforts against Nazi rule before WWII.
The Extent of German Resistance in 1939
The year 1939 marks a critical juncture in German history, a moment perched on the precipice of the Second World War. By this point, the Nazi regime had entrenched itself firmly in all facets of German life. Adolf Hitler and his cohorts, through an intricate web of laws, propaganda, and terror, wielded near-absolute power. Political opponents had been silenced, the machinery of repression—spearheaded by institutions such as the Gestapo and SS—operated with ruthless efficiency, and German society had been enveloped in surveillance and fear. Yet, beneath the omnipresent shadow of totalitarianism, traces of dissent and defiance continued to flicker, if faintly.
Understanding the nature and scope of resistance within Germany in 1939 is vital for grasping not only opposition to Nazism but also the broader dynamics of complicity, conformity, and courage under dictatorship. ‘Resistance’ in this context wore many guises—ranging from concerted political action to the subtle, everyday acts of civil disobedience; from pamphlets smuggled in pockets to prayers uttered in defiance. The ‘extent’ of this resistance concerns not just its presence or absence, but its diversity, impact, and depth.
This essay will argue that, though large-scale united opposition to Hitler’s rule was effectively smothered by 1939, there was nonetheless a patchwork of determined, albeit fragmented, resistance efforts that persisted across political, religious, social, and generational lines. These efforts were typically defensive—aimed more at survival and symbolic protest than outright revolt—and offer a nuanced portrait of dissent on the eve of war.
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I. Political Resistance: Parties Driven Underground
A. The Social Democratic Party (SPD)
Prior to the Nazi ascendancy in 1933, the SPD held a position as the largest democratic party in Germany, dedicated to gradual reform and upholding legality. In March 1933, in what would be one of its most significant and valiant stands, SPD members in the Reichstag were the only ones to vote against the Enabling Act—a law granting Hitler dictatorial powers. The gesture was courageous but ultimately futile as the party was soon outlawed, its leaders arrested, and its infrastructure shattered.Afterwards, the SPD’s resistance assumed an underground form. Secret circles emerged in factories and cities, dispersing leaflets, propagating illegal newsletters, and maintaining tenuous networks of solidarity. Activities were stunted by the constant threat of exposure; the Gestapo’s relentless pursuit led to frequent arrests, while the party’s traditional aversion to clandestine tactics hampered the building of robust underground networks. For many, the central aim was survival—preserving what few resources and members remained for a future they hoped would materialise after the regime’s inevitable collapse.
B. The Communist Party (KPD)
The KPD boasted a history of clandestine activity even before 1933. Yet, within months of Hitler taking power, its leaders faced the wrath of the regime: many ended up in concentration camps or fled abroad. Like the SPD, the KPD sought to maintain underground networks, especially in industrial heartlands like the Ruhr, distributing anti-Nazi literature and reaching out to radicalised workers. Industrial sabotage and subversive action were discussed but rarely implemented, as infiltration by regime informers made operations perilous.By 1939, Communist resistance, battered by relentless persecution, had dwindled into scattered, isolated pockets primarily focused on survival rather than active defiance. Mutual mistrust and bitter ideological differences further hindered cooperation between the SPD and KPD, preventing the emergence of a broader anti-Nazi front.
C. Inherent Limitations
The Gestapo’s omnipresence and the regime’s strategy of divide and rule made coordinated political resistance impractical. Both the SPD and KPD, stripped of legal means and beset by internal divisions, could do little more than keep the spark of opposition alive, awaiting more favourable conditions.---
II. Workers and Industrial Resistance
A. Transformation of Labour
Independent trade unions—the backbone of working-class power—were swiftly dissolved after 1933, their assets seized and their leaders imprisoned. In their place, the German Labour Front (DAF) emerged, orchestrated by the Nazis to funnel worker grievances into harmless, state-sanctioned channels. The regime’s rhetoric of a ‘people’s community’ (Volksgemeinschaft) was also designed to supplant class identities with the illusion of social harmony.B. Forms of Worker Dissent
Despite this, not all German workers acquiesced. In the late 1930s, scattered strikes and slowdowns dotted the industrial map. Causes included wage disputes, benefit cuts, long working hours, and hazardous conditions—matters exacerbated by the regime’s preparations for war. Yet any open protest was fraught with risk: even a whisper of dissent could result in imprisonment or worse.More widespread, albeit quieter, forms of resistance surfaced: ‘grumbling’, absenteeism, deliberate slowing of work (‘go-slow’), or feigning illness. While these acts rarely threatened the system, their cumulative effect hinted at latent resentment and the limitations of Nazi social engineering.
C. Constraints
Such gestures remained sporadic and uncoordinated, orchestrated by individuals or small groups rather than any significant labour movement. Fear of devastating reprisals and the loss of independent unions rendered collective defiance untenable.---
III. Religious Resistance
A. Protestant Christianity
The Protestant church, deeply entwined with German identity, initially held hopes of coexisting with Nazism. However, as the regime sought to subjugate religious life to its purposes—replacing the cross with the swastika, marginalising ‘non-Aryan’ clergy—opposition coalesced. The Confessional Church, led by figures like Martin Niemöller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, rallied in defence of church autonomy and doctrine. Their resistance included petitions, sermons, and occasional public protests.These actions provoked state retaliation: pastors were monitored, intimidated, and, in many cases, interned. Yet outright confrontation with Nazism was rare; the movement's primary concern was religious freedom rather than political revolution.
B. Catholic Christianity
The Roman Catholic Church secured a Concordat with the Nazis in 1933, safeguarding some institutional rights in exchange for political neutrality. However, by the late 1930s, this fragile peace had eroded: Catholic newspapers were suppressed, organisations dissolved, and priests increasingly targeted. Pope Pius XI’s 1937 encyclical *Mit brennender Sorge* (‘With burning concern’), smuggled into Germany and read from pulpits, issued a searing critique of Nazi ideology—the regime responded with intensified persecution.Individual acts of clerical defiance, such as Father Bernhard Lichtenberg’s public prayers for Jews, demonstrated moral courage, but the Church refrained from organised political action, prioritising defence of its own communities.
C. Scope and Limits
Religious resistance in 1939 wielded little direct influence over Nazi power. Both Protestant and Catholic leaders focused narrowly on safeguarding their faith and autonomy, their opposition more spiritual than political in its thrust.---
IV. Youth and Cultural Dissent
A. The Regimentation of Youth
The Nazi regime invested concerted effort in capturing the minds and loyalties of young Germans. Programmes such as the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls were made compulsory, combining military drilling, ideological indoctrination, and social activities designed to cement loyalty.B. Embryonic Resistance
By the late 1930s, however, evidence emerged of mounting disillusionment. Some young people shirked meetings, mocked the bombastic style of official events, or gravitated towards banned ‘decadent’ music like Anglo-American jazz—a form of protest immortalised by the so-called ‘Swing Youth’ gatherings in cities such as Hamburg and Berlin.Anti-Nazi youth movements like the White Rose, led famously later by Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans, had not yet coalesced in 1939 but would become important during the war. At this stage, youth resistance was mostly cultural—gestures of nonconformity and mild defiance—rather than overtly political.
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V. Elite and Military Resistance
A. Conservative Misgivings
Some senior military and conservative elites regarded Hitler with suspicion, alarmed by his impulsive foreign policy and disregard for tradition. In private, officers such as Ludwig Beck and Johannes Popitz voiced doubts about the wisdom of embarking upon war, but discontent rarely translated into action.B. Obstacles to Opposition
The pervasive climate of surveillance, combined with compulsory oaths of loyalty and fear of reprisal, ensured that elite resistance in 1939 amounted to private grumbling rather than organised conspiracy. Only later, as the war turned against Germany, would these circles muster the resolve for direct action—most famously in the July Plot of 1944.---
VI. Factors Limiting Resistance in 1939
A. Fear and Repression
The regime’s resort to terror—concentration camps, executions, exile—functioned as a chilling deterrent. The Gestapo’s network of informants ensured that few could risk open dissent.B. Propaganda and Social Manipulation
Nazi mastery of the media and its championing of unity under Volksgemeinschaft helped suppress class and political loyalties. Mass rallies, radio broadcasts, and youth events soaked the population in nationalist fervour and fear.C. Fragmentation of Opposition
Groups opposed to Nazism remained divided by ideology, suspicion, and isolation—especially after years of repression. Mutual distrust between SPD and KPD, and between secular and religious actors, stymied unity.D. Survival and Pragmatism
For most, survival took precedence. Many hoped the regime would collapse under its own contradictions or feared that protest would expose themselves and their loved ones to mortal danger. Some, recalling the chaos of the Weimar years, saw Hitler’s rule as preferable to instability.---
Conclusion
The landscape of German resistance in 1939 resembled a scatter of small islands rather than a single, unbroken front. Political opposition, battered by terror and fragmentation, lingered in the shadows. Religious institutions resisted in defence of faith rather than democracy. Worker protest was limited, fragmented, and mostly passive; youth and elite resistance, still in its infancy, rarely transcended isolated acts of nonconformity or private misgivings.Whether considering covert pamphlets, whispered criticisms, or silent acts of spiritual defiance, what stands out is the diversity of resistance—yet also its defensive, survival-oriented quality at this stage. Only later, as the war revealed the hollowness of Nazi promises and the extent of its crimes, would resistance efforts grow bolder and more unified.
Studying this era exposes the extraordinary pressures of life under dictatorship—the explosions of courage, the daily calculations of risk, and the tragedy of missed possibilities. In charting the nuance of German resistance in 1939, we recognise both the limitations imposed by totalitarianism and the enduring human appetite for dignity and dissent, even in the harshest of times.
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