1.1 Political and Governmental Change - Nazi Dictatorship Flashcards
Revision
When was the Reichstag fire?
27 Feb 1933
Who did the Nazis say was responsible for the Reichstag fire?
Van de Lubbe - young dutch communist
What did the Reichstag Fire mean the Nazis could do?
stir anti-communist propaganda
gain financial support from industrialists fears of communism
Hindenburg declared a state of emergency - govern by decree
What law did Hitler pass in the state of emergency after the Reichstag fire?
Decree for the Protection of the People and the State
What was the outcome of the 5 March 1933 election?
Nazis - 288 seats
DNVP - 52 - coalition to have Nazis in power
communists - 81 - banned from taking their seats
When was the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State?
28 February 1933
What did the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State do?
legal to arrest political opponents
take people into ‘protective custody’ without a trial
censor the media eg. ban opposition newspapers
When did the Reichstag reopen and what was it like?
21 March 1933
ceremony with Hitler and Hindenburg under old Empire flags and the swastika
When was the Enabling Act passed?
24 March 1933
What was the outcome of the vote for the Enabling Act?
444 for
84 against (SPD)
When was the Enabling Act renewed?
1937
What did the Enabling Act do?
Hitler could pass laws without the Reichstag
When was the SPD banned?
22 June 1933
When were all other partied banned, to make Germany a one-party state?
14 July 1933
When did Hindenburg die?
2 August 1934
What new role did Hitler create for himself after Hindenburg died?
combined President and Chancellor to Fuehrer
How did Hitler legally become Fuehrer?
confirmed by plebiscite 19 August 1934
When was the Night of the Long Knives?
30 June 1934
Why did the Night of the Long Knives happen?
SA was seen as brutal and unpopular
Rohm was becoming increasingly critical of Hitler
What happened in the Night of the Long Knives?
Rohm and senior SA officers shot
several hundred people murdered by SS over next few days eg. Von Schleicher
SA continued operating but very reduced
What was the hierarchy in place across the dictatorship?
Fuehrerprinzip
strict hierarchy
every level had someone in charge
all worked towards the Fuehrer
How many laws did the Reichstag pass 1934 - 45?
7
What did the Law for Civil Service do?
Nazi opponents could be removed from the Civil Service
When was the Law for Civil Service?
7 April 1933
What is an example of an old ministry that remained?
foreign ministry
What are 2 examples of new ministries set up by Hitler?
Bureau Rippentrop - overlapped with foreign ministry and favoured
Reich Propaganda Ministry - headed by Goebbels
What did Hitler do to try and stop opposition in his government?
abolished cabinet meetings
When was the Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich?
30 January 1934
What did the Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich do?
transferred Landers power to the federal government - centralised state and unified administration
How were the regions of Germany run?
centralised state
Gauleiters and Civil Service took over - conflict with each other
What happened to the Gestapo in 1936?
taken over by Himmler’s SS
What did the Gestapo do before WW2 started?
ran concentration camps
initially for political opponents
What were all government employees forced to do in WW2?
join the Nazi party
What did the SS do during WW2?
took over some administration
ran ‘racial policy’ - non-Germans expelled, isolated, forced labour or murdered
What was the change in numbers of SS?
1939: 240,000
1944: over 1 million
What was set up in the government at the beginning of WW2?
new ministries
eg. each armed forces to coordinate supplies, troops, etc.
When was the Ministerial Council for the Defence of the Reich set up?
30 August 1939
What did the Ministerial Council for the Defence of the Reich do?
coordinate domestic affairs to support the war effort
When and why was the Ministerial Council for the Defence of the Reich disbanded?
November 1939
Hitler did not like group meetings
What did the SS do as the German army marched East?
cleared the ‘undesireables’ from the land for Lebensraum
How was the country divided in WW2?
13 military districts,
own RVK organised home front activities eg. rationing, Volkssturm (Homeguard)
What had to be set up as the German army took Lebensraum?
11 Reichsgau (Regional governments)
What did the Reichsgau do?
allocate land to incoming Germans
ran area as part of Germany
How were the Poles viewed?
untrustworthy - used for hard labour only, leaders shot to prevent organised resistance forming
What happened to Southern Poland?
‘colony’ - dumping ground for undesireables
What happened to the rest of Poland?
absorbed into Third Reich and Germanised
500,000 Germans moved to Warthegau,
500,000 Polish deported East
How did the Gauleiters become increasingly powerful?
1942 - British bombing - coordinated civil defence
Aug 1944 - Decree for the Implementation of Total War mobilisation - gave control over local bureaucracy
When did Hitler commit suicide?
30 April 1945
When did Goebbels commit suicide?
1 May 1945
When was Germany’s final surrender?
7 May 1945
