2. How did the Nazis Keep Control of Germany? Flashcards
How does the political system of modern democracies prevent tyranny and dictatorship?
They ensure that the powers are separated
What doesn’t one person or group have control of in modern democracies?
No one person or group has control over all three branches of government
3 branches of government
Executive (government)
Legislature (law-making)
Judiciary (law-enforcing)
What law took away all civil liberties in Nazi Germany?
The Law for the Protection of the People
What removed democratic law making in Nazi Germany?
The Enabling Act
What did the Fuhrer Prinzip do?
It subjected all past and future laws to the will of the fuhrer
How was law applied in Nazi Germany?
In an arbitrary and inconsistent way
Arbitrary
Based on random choice
Police in Nazi Germany
Policing controlled by Nazis and police loyal to Hitler, not the German people
6 methods of Nazi control
Gestapo
SS
SD
Camps
Informers
Police and courts
Gestapo
State secret police
Role of the Gestapo
Find and report anyone who was anti-Nazi
How many Gestapo were recruited in Nazi Germany?
160,000
Powers of the Gestapo
Powers to arrest without trial, to torture and to send to concentration camps
What reputation did the Gestapo develop?
A reputation of being all-knowing even though they were a small organisation in reality
Impact of the Gestapo on German civilians
Civilians always afraid as they believed the Gestapo were everywhere
Who controlled the SS?
Himmler
Who were the SS?
Hitler’s personal bodyguards
Only people recruited to SS
Physically strong, pure aryans
SS’ loyalty to Hitler
Fiercely loyal
Powers of the SS
Had powers to search and arrest without trial
How did the SS act?
In a very systematic way
Not afraid to use violence or murder
Who were the SD?
A branch of the SS
Main aim of the SD
To discover actual and potential enemies, and to make sure they were removed
Who did the SD attract?
Many processional and highly trained people such as lawyers
What did the SD maintain?
Pro-Nazi public opinion
Who was the SD staffed by?
Amateurs
When were concentration camps first used in Germany?
In 1933
Who were concentration camps prisons for?
Prisons for “enemies of the state”
Examples of enemies of the state
Political opponents
Gypsies
Those who refused to conform
What were concentration camps used for?
Torture
Questioning
Hard labour
By the late 1930s, who ran the concentration camps?
The “death’s head” arm of the SS
Who were informers?
“Block wardens” in charge of Nazi loyalty in local areas
Duties of informers
Go check how loyal people were to Nazi regime E.g. whether they saluted, hung Nazi flags etc
Who did judges swear an oath to?
An oath of loyalty to Hitler
Examples of crimes punishable by death
Sexual relationships with Jews
Listening to anti-Nazi radio
Habitual (constant) criminality
Lawyers and judges in the Nazi party by January 1933
Few judges and lawyers belonged to the Nazi Party by January 1933
What aspect of lawyers and judges was a problem for the Nazis?
Their long tradition of freedom from political interference
Why did Hitler want to get lawyers and judges to join the Nazi Party?
Because the actions of the SS and SA were illegal and he didn’t want them to be punished
How did lawyers treat the SS?
Many prosecutions against the SS were begun by lawyers who were determined to uphold the law
What event made Hitler angry with the Supreme Court?
When they acquitted (freed from trial) all but one of the defendants of the Reichstag fire trial
Court set up by the Nazis in 1933
Special Courts
Court set up in 1934 by the Nazis
People’s Court
Purpose of the Special Courts and People’s Court
To run alongside the existing court system and deal with political crime
Judges of the Special Courts and People’s Court
Three Nazi judges and 2 professional judges
What did the Front of German Law 1933 make clear to judges and lawyers?
It made it clear to them that their career prospects depended on their compliance to the Nazi regime
Two factors that made judges and lawyers comply with Nazi regime
Front of German Law 1933
SS/SA threats
Due to Hitler’s actions by 1934, what power did the justice system have over the Nazi’s use of terror?
Justice system had no power to interfere with the Nazi’s use of terror
