6 Führer Power and War of Extermination
With the assertion of his will and the dissolution of all institutional barriers Hitler was able to realize his »world-view« step by step. This view not only coincided with the aims of the traditionally power-hungry military and commercial elites. It was also greeted with loyalty and support by German society as a whole – as long as Hitler’s war met with success and promised »Lebensraum« as well as an enhancement of social amenities. The fact that Hitler directed the war not only outwardly, but also inwardly against minorities and elements »foreign to the community« and aimed it at the exploitation, deportation and extermination of whole groups of peoples was accepted with a mixture of moral indifference and readiness to conform.
