power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1 934 and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the offices and powers of the Chancellery and Presidency. A national referendum held 1 9 August 1 934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer( leader) of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitler ' s person and his word became above all laws. The government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitler ' s favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending and a mixed economy. Extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen( motorways). The return to economic stability boosted the regime ' s popularity. Racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples( the Nordic race) were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race and were therefore viewed as the master race. Millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitler ' s rule was ruthlessly suppressed. Members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. Christian churches were oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned. Education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed. Recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1 936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, and Hitler ' s hypnotic oratory to influence public opinion. The government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1 930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands, threatening war if they were not met. It seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1 938 and 1 939. Hitler made a non-aggression pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1 939, launching World War II in Europe. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1 940 and threatened the UK. Reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, or shot. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1 941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1 943. Large-scale aerial bombing of