Hey I'm writing an essay for my Modern History class. I'm in year 12 so it's pretty important (year 12 is the final year of high school in Australia). We have to compare the use of a theme (I chose terror) between Stalin's Russia and Nazi Germany but we have to create our own question. My 'question' is "Evaluate the significance of terror under the Stalinist regime and Nazi Germany." I've structured my essay with two body paragraphs for each nation, one articulating how the use of terror had a positive impact and the other negative. I've completed the two on Russia and am now starting Germany. But other than the fact that they murdered millions of people (holocaust etc), I can't find a source that goes any deeper. What was the actual impact of that. For example Hitler's terror was effective in consolidating power which (depending on how you loo at it) was a positive impact of terror. Keep in my mind I cannot go past 1939 as we are only studying pre WWII.
Thanks heaps if you can help me out.
Hi - we as mods have approved this thread, because while this is a homework question, it is asking for clarification or resources, rather than the answer itself, which is fine according to our rules. This policy is further explained in this Rules Roundtable thread and this META Thread.
As a result, we'd also like to remind potential answerers to follow our rules on homework - please make sure that your answers focus appropriately on clarifications and detailing the resources that OP could be using.
Additionally, while users may be able to help you out with specifics relating to your question, we also have plenty of information on /r/AskHistorians on how to find and understand good sources in general. For instance, please check out our six-part series, "Finding and Understanding Sources", which has a wealth of information that may be useful for finding and understanding information for your essay.
I don't know what types of sources you are looking for, but Ian Kershaw's article, "The Persecution of the Jews and German Popular Opinion in the Third Reich" and Popular Opinion and Political Dissent in the Third Reich. Bavaria, 1933–45 both deal with the nature of German support for Hitler's government although not always regarding terror. Robert Gellately focuses on the Gestapo and denunciations. His early work especially, if you can get the articles, is worthwhile. The second two of Richard Evans' Third Reich trilogy also both have chapters on Nazi repression.
Remember, with any secondary source, it is beneficial to mine the bibliography for further works.