A comprehensive and eye-opening examination of Hitler’s regime, revealing the numerous strategic compromises he made in order to manage dissent

History has focused on Hitler’s use of charisma and terror, asserting that the dictator made few concessions to maintain power. Nathan Stoltzfus, the award-winning author of Resistance of Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Germany, challenges this notion, assessing the surprisingly frequent tactical compromises Hitler made in order to preempt hostility and win the German people’s complete fealty.
 
As part of his strategy to secure a “1,000-year Reich,” Hitler sought to convince the German people to believe in Nazism so they would perpetuate it permanently and actively shun those who were out of step with society. When widespread public dissent occurred at home—which most often happened when policies conflicted with popular traditions or encroached on private life—Hitler made careful calculations and acted strategically to maintain his popular image. Extending from the 1920s to the regime’s collapse, this revealing history makes a powerful and original argument that will inspire a major rethinking of Hitler’s rule.

"“An in-depth examination of the tactical compromises Hitler made in order to consolidate power . . . A lucid work of historical argumentation that succeeds in establishing compromise as a crucial instrument in Hitler's political arsenal.”—Kirkus Reviews" - Kirkus Reviews

"“A masterful examination of Hitler’s real responsibility.”—Choice" - Choice

"“Stoltzfus demonstrates that by pretending to be moderate at key points, Hitler worked to enlist Germans to fulfill his mission of building a New Order, a sobering reminder about the threat posed to any democratic society by a crafty demagogue.”—Jacob Heilbrunn, World War II Magazine" - World War II Magazine

"“Indispensable reading for students of the period.”—Open Letters Monthly" - Open Letters Monthly

"“Stoltzfus has elaborated a new perspective on the politics of the Nazi regime.”—Winnipeg Free Press" - Winnipeg Free Press

"“This is an impressive book, which will be of much interest and benefit to scholars and students of German history.”—German Studies Review" - German Studies Review

"“A sophisticated and nuanced account of the Third Reich. . . . An impressive book, which will be of much interest and benefit to scholars and students of German history.”—European History Quarterly" - European History Quarterly

"In the end . . . Hitler's Compromises is an exceptionally well-written, cogently argued, and innovative study that recasts our understanding of the Third Reich."—Eric Kurlander, Journal of Modern History

  - Journal of Modern History

"A significant and highly original contribution to the scholarly literature on the history of the Third Reich."—Holocaust and Genocide Studies - Holocaust and Genocide Studies

"“Though it deals with some
of the darkest events of the twentieth century, Hitler’s Compromises is ultimately a hopeful book, highlighting
how there is political space for dissent, however limited, in even the harshest of dictatorships”— Ian Sinclair, Peace News" - Peace News