conquering the outline

Well, it's 12:34 am, and I decided that maybe I should attempt to do something with my day...

...A potential outline it is! :)

Pandora on, check. Flash drive located, check. Notebook full of notes gathered, check. I'm ready.

Richard J. Evans' The Third Reich in Power profoundly influenced the way that I want to approach my topic. Although I still have a few key historians that I want to read (The Holy Reich by Steigmann-Gall being one), I think I might be ready to form some sort of hypothesis and very tentative game plan for where I specifically want this to go.

Some things I'm struggling with as I put this outline together:
a) how do I differentiate between Hitler himself as the dynamic leader of the Nazi movement and Party and eventually the German state and other leading Nazis' attitudes toward the subject? To what degree can one talk about the Nazis as a monolithic movement with one goal and one mind? Is it possible to talk about a relationship between the Third Reich and religion? Or is it too complex to even come to any conclusions? I almost think I need to focus almost entirely on Hitler - as the leader of the Party and of the state, his attitudes were crucial. Although other leading Nazis may have disagreed with him on the subject of religion, at the end of the day they all looked to him as Leader.
b) how do I make the Rallies center stage in this paper, and not just a big case study at the end? While I would like to come to my own conclusions independent of Evans and Stiegmann-Gall, I also want to make sure that this paper doesn't try to make too large of a claim for which I am not academically prepared. Is it okay to make the Rallies a case study? Or is there enough evidence about the mindset of planning and preparation that would offer me a clear look into a mindset free of propaganda and lies?

I. Intro/Hypothesis
A comparison of the Nuremberg Rally of 1934 and the Nuremberg Rally of 1935 offer a clear vision of the evolution of Nazi ideology, particularly in its official and unofficial stances toward Christianity. Whereas the 1934 Rally was preoccupied with religious symbolism, the 1935 Rally was preoccupied by preparation for war.

II. Hitler and the Church.
A. Protestantism and the German Christians
B. Catholicism
C. Racism's role in Christianity and Nazism [I am wondering if this and the next point couldn't be expanded into whole sections. The outline would then be something more along the lines of using the Rallies to shed light on the following topics: German Christianity (in the general sense) in the 1930s, racism, war, and the Cult of Hitler. Of course these topics were closely connected in Nazi ideology, which makes it difficult. For example, Christianity and racism were inseparable in Nazi ideology.]
D. The drive toward war
E. The reflection of all of this in the Rallies of '34 and '35. (?)

III. The Cult of Hitler
A. In this section I would like to explore the obvious attempt on the part of Hitler to emulate a messianic figure. Was this exploitation of the religious? An attempt to replace religion? Is it possible that Hitler had Christian sensibilities in his approach to leading Germany?
B. Response of masses to Hitler (as exemplified at the Rallies).
1. triumphal entry at '34 Rally

IV. Symbolism at the Rallies

A. Swastika
1. origins
2. presence and use at Rallies
B. SS symbol
C. War ensign
D. Eagle
E. music
F. film - churches and church bells

[side note - this section needs to do a better job of differentiating between the Rallies]

V. Conclusion

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On a random side note, here's an account of the rally of '36 that I found:
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/pt36dom.htm

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To be honest, I feel like this outline needs some serious work yet before I can even think about sending it to my advisor. It seems too small and too much like the paper I wrote for Worlds Fairs and Spectacles. Perhaps the note I made in II.C. would help with that. That remains to be seen. I think I will sleep on this and work on it in a few days.

I am currently working on reading Positive Christianity. Although it may prove to be one of the more depressing things I've ever read personally speaking, I think it may be very useful for understanding how ordinary German Christians viewed Hitler's position in regard to Protestantism.

More to come, I'm sure. :)