Gleichschaltung in the context of "Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany"

The Führerprinzip (German pronunciation: [ˈfyːʀɐpʀɪnˌtsiːp] , Leader Principle) was the basis of executive authority in the government of Nazi Germany. It placed Adolf Hitler's word above all written law, and meant that government policies, decisions, and officials all served to realize his will. In practice, the Führerprinzip gave Hitler supreme power over the ideology and policies of his political party; this form of personal dictatorship was a basic characteristic of Nazism. The state itself received "political authority" from Hitler, and the Führerprinzip stipulated that only what the Führer "commands, allows, or does not allow is our conscience," with party leaders pledging "eternal allegiance to Adolf Hitler."

According to Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess, the Nazi German political system meant "unconditional authority downwards, and responsibility upwards." At each level of the pyramidal power structure the sub-leader, or Unterführer, was subordinate to the superior leader, and responsible to him for all successes and failures. "As early as July 1921," Hitler proclaimed the Führerprinzip as the "law of the Nazi Party," and in Mein Kampf he said the principle would govern the new Reich. At the Bamberg Conference on 14 February 1926, Hitler invoked the Führerprinzip to assert his power, and affirmed his total authority over Nazi administrators at the party membership meeting in Munich on 2 August 1928.

The German Labour Front (German: Deutsche Arbeitsfront, pronounced [ˌdɔʏtʃə ˈʔaʁbaɪtsfʁɔnt]; DAF) was the national labour organization of the Nazi Party, which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany during the process of Gleichschaltung or Nazification.

The Galactic Empire, also known simply as the Empire, is a fictional autocracy featured in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the 1977 film Star Wars, it is the main antagonistic faction of the original trilogy, which also includes The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). An oppressive dictatorship with a complicated bureaucracy, the Galactic Empire seeks the rule and social control of every planet and civilization within the galaxy, based on anthropocentrism, nationalisation, state terrorism, power projection, and threat of lethal force.

The Galactic Empire's rise was not a violent takeover by force, but rather a consolidating unprecedented and unchecked power in the Chancellor via a calculated Gleichschaltung-like dismantling of the galaxy's most powerful institutions by undermining the public's faith in these institutions, rewriting constitutional foundations, controlling the Jedi Council, weakening the Galactic Senate, court packing the Supreme Court and the appointment of loyal Governors. At its peak, the Galactic Empire sprawls over much of the known Star Wars galaxy, which consists of millions of habitable star systems and billions more fringe colonies, shipyards, fortress worlds, and outer territories. The Empire's origins are depicted in the prequel film Revenge of the Sith (2005), where it replaces the Galactic Republic at the end of the Clone Wars orchestrated by the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, Palpatine. Palpatine is also secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who masterminds the war to destroy the Jedi and restore the Sith to power.

The Nuremberg rallies (German: Reichsparteitag (German pronunciation), meaning 'Reich Party Congress') were a series of celebratory events coordinated by the Nazi Party and held in the German city of Nuremberg from 1923 to 1938. The first nationwide party convention took place in Munich in January 1923, but the location was shifted to Nuremberg that September. The rallies usually occurred in late August or September, lasting several days to a week. They played a central role in Nazi propaganda, using mass parades, "military rituals", speeches, concerts, and varied stagecraft methods to project the image of a strong and united Germany under Nazi leadership.

The rallies became a national event following Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933, and were thereafter held annually. Once the Nazi dictatorship was firmly established, party propagandists began filming the rallies for a national, and international, audience. Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl produced several films, including Triumph of the Will (1934) and The Victory of Faith (1933), at the rally grounds in Nuremberg. The 1938 rally celebrated the Anschluss—Germany's annexation of Austria—which occurred earlier that year.