158. The "Third Reich" was a …

Answer options

1. Dictatorship.
2. Democracy.
3. Monarchy.
4. Council republic.

Explanation

The "Third Reich" (1933–1945) was a National Socialist, totalitarian one-party dictatorship (Führerstaat). Formally the Weimar Constitution remained in force, but it was effectively neutralized by the Reichstag Fire Decree (28 Feb 1933) and the Enabling Act (24 Mar 1933); fundamental rights were suspended and both separation of powers and the rule of law were dismantled (Gleichschaltung). Plebiscites and elections served only as a plebiscitary façade, not genuine democratic decision-making. Germany had no monarchy after 1918; a council republic refers to the short-lived revolutionary experiments of 1918/19 (e.g., in Bavaria), not to the Nazi regime.