Gleichschaltung

The German word Gleichschaltung {{Audio|De-Gleichschaltung-pronunciation.ogg|listen}} (literally "synchronising", synchronization) is used in a political sense to describe the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control over the individual, and tight coordination over all aspects of society and commerce. Another possible translation may be "to make equal". One goal of this politics was to enforce a specific way of doctrine and thinking to everybody, eliminating individualism. The term itself is a typical Nazi euphemism.

Philology

This compound word is better comprehended by those who speak other languages by listing its predecessory uses in German. The word gleich in German means alike, equal, or the same; schaltung means something like switching. The word Gleichschaltung had two uses in German for physical, rather than political, meanings:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• A locking clutch; manual clutches on cars usually do not press the plates one against each other, so they lose about three percent of power; some race cars use locking clutches in which the driven plate travels at the same speed as that connected to the engine; hence it wears out faster.
• A certain means of wiring an alternating current electrical generator, and AC electric motors, so that when the generator is made to turn at a given speed, or even turned a certain angle, each motor connected to it will also turn at that speed, or to the same angle. This is the meaning which is most commonly referred to to explain this word: the political party is considered the generator, and every member of a professional group or society is considered a motor wired to it.

However because of the Nazi associations of the term, its use for these physical meanings has largely been abandoned after the war.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~