3 - Nazis Flashcards
Leaders before Hitler
- Hermann Müller 1928-30 — leader of Grand Coalition but broke down due to disagreement about unemployment laws
- Heinrich Brüning 1930-32 = July 1930 Reichstag rejected a finance bill so he used Article 48 to override them and dissolved the Reichstag, inspiring Hitler and proved his idea of one party rule right as coalitions are unstable
- Papen May-Dec 1932 — cabinet of Barons (called an election in which allowed Hitler to have a majority = 37%)
- Von Schleicher Dec 1932-Jan 33 — Tried and failed to appoint Nazi Gregor Strasser
Hitler consolidating power
Terror and Violence
- The Reichstag Fire – February 27 1933 = Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch communist, was blamed — Holodomor 32-33 - fire proved brutality of soviets = UN estimates that 7 to 10 million died
- March 5 1933 – election opponents were intimidated.
- May 1 1933 – May Day Holiday = international Labour Day — 2nd May trade union offices were seized, all unions incorporated into the new German labour front (DAF)
- The Night of the Long Knives – 30 June 1934 — purged the SA — the excuse given was the Röhm Putsch — between 300 - 400 dead
- June 1933 – Kopenick Blood Week – 500 SPD members were brutally tortured by the SS, SA, and Gestapo, which resulted in 23 dying between June 21 and 26 June. — June 22 the SPD was dissolved as a party.
Hitler consolidated power
Lawful legislation
- The Enabling Act — March 1933 – passed 441 votes to 94 as only the SPD voted against it – SA and SS surrounded the building and intimate deputies
- Decree of the Reich President for the protection of the Nation and State – 28 February 1933 – passed by Hindenburg — led to first concentration camp: Dachau, housed 30,000 communists in the 3 months from opening. Vs by 1934 only 3,000 - as released - intimidation. — worked 57% of sources to Gestapo were from the general population.
- Law Against the Formation of New Parties — July 14 1933
- The Reichstag voluntarily dissolved on October 14 1933 — other parties banned — November 1933 election = 92.11% Nazi
Hitler consolidated power
Gleichschaltung (coordination)
- Joseph Goebbels = head of the Propaganda Ministry
- September 1933 - Propaganda Minister Goebbels created the Reich Culture Chamber — coordinated the arts to one message = controlled arts, music, theatre, press, radio, literature, and films. – e.g. Jewish composers like Mendelssohn were banned
- The Hiter Youth — dates back to 1922, compulsory in 1934, 2.3 million members in 1933
- Gauleiter = 31 March 1933 the Law for the Coordination of the Lander was passed — state parliaments lacked autonomy
Hitler consolidated power
Concessions to groups
- June employment laws 1933 = New Deal — Trustees of Labour were set up by the The Work Order Act to supervise workers welfare
- KdF holidays created in Nov 1933 by the DAF – 1938 over 10 million taken
- the Concordat on July 5 1933 prevented Catholic organisations from being political – de facto banning the Z party.
- Potsdam Day = March 21 1933 — obeying Hindenburg - popular with Junkers and the army (so was the Knight of the Long Knives as they didn’t like the barbaric SA)
— popular concessions = Membership to the party grew to 3 million between 1933 and 1935.
Nature of Hitler’s dictatorship
- The cabinet only met 12 times in 1935 vs. 72 in 1933
- Lived in the Eagles Nest in the Bavarian Alps, and rarely visited Berlin
- Himmler was head of SS, Gestapo, inner party security (RSHA), state security, police (Orpo)
- Walter Darré was Agriculture Minister and only met with Hitler twice vs. Goring who met with him daily
- However, he was trusted as he held this position from ‘33-‘42 + was trusted to successfully implement the Blood and Soil programme
- Hitler created chaos - social Darrwinism - which resulted in competition towards achieving the Führer’s will vs. Cumulative radicalisation
- Economics minister, Schacht, resigned due to Goring’s Four Year plan overriding him.
- Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934 and Hitler became the Führer but previously Hitler followed the bureaucratic system - e.g. Potsdam Day - March 21 1933
Anti-Jewish laws previously
Anti-Jewish laws previously
Boycott of Jewish shops = 1st April 1933 - stopped after one day
Law of Restoration of the Civil Service - April 1933 - removed 5% of the service as they were Jewish
In their 25-point party program published in 1920, Nazi Party members publicly declared their intention to segregate Jews from “Aryan” society and to abrogate their political, legal, and civil rights.
In April 1933, German law restricted the number of Jewish students at German schools and universities.
Use of propaganda
Volksgemeinschaft
Women
Women: NSV only women’s group
Mother’s cross = B-4, S-6, G-8
4 children in 5 years = don’t re-pay marriage loan of 600 RM (introduced in 1933)
Lebensborn programme included state funded brothels (for SS soldiers on Eastern front) = 11,000 children born as a result
Better healthcare as a result - infant mortality dropped by 1.1% from ‘33-‘36 - however, the birth rate dropped to 1.77 in 1935 from 2.45 in 1920.
Kinder, Küche, und Kirche = children, kitchen, church - traditional roles
Use of properganda
Volksgemeinschaft
Children + rural
Children: Hitler Youth membership 1934 = 3.5 million –> 1938 = 7.1 million –> complusory in 1939
Reich Ministry of Education controlled education, National Socilat Teacher’s league covered 97% of teachers
Rural: Farmers benefited from the Blood and Soil programme
Nuremberg laws
Nuremburg Laws 1935 = The Reich Citizenship Law + The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor
- Jews became subjects and not citizens
- illegal for Germans and Jews to be married, so forced divorce occured
- the definition of “Jew” defined in the Nuremberg Laws was used/relied upon in later anti-Semitic laws
