National Socialism. How much resistance to the Nazi regime was there in Germany?

Abstract or Introduction

Germany under the regime of Hitler and the Nazis was without a doubt the darkest period of German history. But although the number was small, some Germans indeed tried to resist National Socialism. This essay will deal with this minority of Germans. It aims to answer the question of how much resistance there really was in Germany. Because even though the resistance was small, and they were unable to overthrow Hitler’s regime, it is still a relevant topic to discuss and historians have not settled on one opinion yet.

The essay will foremost deal with the question of what forms of resistance there were and what impact they had. But to answer these questions, the essay will start with the question “What is resistance?”, as this is not an easy term to define. The main part of the essay deals with the different forms of resistance which will be analysed by giving examples of people and groups who represented individual forms of resistance. The essay will focus only on the most important forms and events as not all of them can be covered in the size of the essay. The last point will deal with the importance of resistance to the Nazi regime and what impact it had, which is also connected to the question, why the resistance was not bigger.