3.12 The Establishment Of The Nazi Dictatorship Jan-March 1933 Flashcards
When does Hitler become chancellor of Germany?
30th Jan 1933
Who were the three Nazis in Hitler’s cabinet?
Hitler-chancellor
Wilhelmina Frick-minister without portfolio
Hermann Goering-minister of the interior of Prussia
What is the stahlhelm(steel helmets)?
A paramilitary organisation of ex-serviceman dedicated to the restoration of the monarchy and the revival of Germany as a military power
Had 500,000 members by 1930 biggest paramilitary organisations in Weimar Germany
Who was the leader of the Stahlhelm and when was his cooperation incorporated into the SA?
Franz Seldte
Joined Nazi party in April 1933
How many posts did the Nazis hold in the cabinet?
3/12
What was the reasoning of the Nazis only having 3 posts in the cabinet?
Reinforce Papen’s view that no fundamental political change would occur by including the Nazis
What Power did Franz Von Papen have in the cabinet?
Vice-chancellor
Minister-president of Prussia (Germanys largest state)
Had the right to be with Hitler whenever he met with Hindenburg
Why was Goering being the minister of the interior so crucial for the Nazis?
Because it allowed them to control the police
What demonstration happens when Hitler is elected chancellor?
100,000 torchlit procession arranged by Goebbels on the night he is appointed
What was limiting Hitler from having a doctorship
-didn’t have the army
-outnumbered 3:9 in cabinet
-can be removed by Hindenburg at any time
Who occupied the other notable positions in Hitler’s cabinet?
Defence minister:aristocratic army general Bloomberg
-leader of DNVP Alfred Hugenberg-minister for economics
-Freiherr Von Neurath foreign minister (appointed through Hindenburgs assistance because of his experience with foreign affairs)
-Franz Seldte(leader of Stalhelm) minister for labour
What is a minister without portfolio?
Minister with no specific responsibilities, involved in a lot of areas
When does Hitler dissolve the Reichstag and call of renew elections?
1st Feb1933
When does Hitler meet the senior army officers and assure them that the Nazis do not pose a threat to the army’s position as the most important institution in the state?
3rd Feb 1933(the fact he needed to do this shows how dangerous he was)
When is the Reichstag set of fire?
27th Feb 1933
When is the Decree for the protection of the people and the state?
28th Feb 1933
When is the election where the Nazis receive 43.9% just short of a majority?
5 March 1933
When do the Nazis begin taking over state governments?
6-7 March 1933
When is the first permanent concentration camp Dachau established?
8th March 1933
When is the ministry for public enlightenment and propaganda established?
13th March 1933
When is the enabling act passed?
2 March 1933
When did Hitler make the activities of the SA legal?
Late Feb 1933
How much did SA membership from from Jan 1933-Jan 1934 and why was this?
500,000-3 million
Because Hitler used state resources to expand the SA and consolidate his position as the SA were vital as their terror and violence helped in his struggle to eliminate opposition
When did the SA become recognised as?
‘Auxiliary police’
What is the auxiliary police mean?
trained to observe and report conditions requiring the services of the regular police
-orders to regular police to forbid them from interfering with SA activities
What did the SA do once their activities were made legal and they became ‘auxiliary police”
Started a ‘revolution from below’
-reign of terror against socialist and communist opponents
-sustained assault on trade unions and KPD offices as well as the homes of left wing oppositions
-broke up SPD and KPD meetings and the
-centre party and SPD had their newspapers banned(beginning of censorship) because the condemned the SA who killed a communist
During the SA’s reigns of terror where were the communists, socialists and trade unionists sent?
Concentration camps set up in old factories or army barracks
First permeant one in Dachau outside Munich with accommodations for over 5,000 people
By July 1933 26,789 political prisoners has been end arrested by the SA and taken into protective custody in 70 different camps
Why did the Nazis believe they could win outright in the election of March 5th?
SA terror tactics and the intensification of terror against opponents (SPD and KPD had been virtuoso driven underground by the terror tactics of the Nazis)
-key moment when young Dutch communist Marinus Van der Lubbe charged with setting fire to the Reichstag
When is the Reichstag fire?
27th Feb 1933
How does Hitler president Hindenburg to pass the riechstag fire decree (Decree for protection of the people and the state) and what did it do?
Played on Hindenburg’s fear of communism and manipulated him by making a revolution appear imminent
-suspended civil rights:
-freedom of speech
-freedom of press
-right to assembly
-constitutional protection
-freedom of privacy
Gave hitler emergency powers
What did Hitler use his emergency powers from the Reichstag fire decree to do?
Reduce opposition
-arrest communists, ban their newspapers, disrupt their organisation
-government had power to take over state governments in they refused to act against the political opponents of the Nazis
How did the Nazis justify the full scale assault on communists after the Reichstag fire decree?
Through propaganda they claimed Germany was on the brink of a ‘German Bolshevik revolution’
What did the judges, police and civil servants do with the Nazi reign of terror?
As they were conservative and nationalist in their political sympathies they were willing to give legal sanction to the Nazi’s reign of terror
When was the March election 1933
5 March 1933
Why did the Nazis think they would get a majority in the March 1033 election?
-SA controlled the streets and many of the Nazis opponents had been locked up
-offices or SPD and KPD were smashed up and their funds were confiscated
-impossible for the left to hold meetings
-Nazi propaganda flooded German society
What happened in the March 1933 election
Nazis: 43.9% (short or a majority
DNVP: 8%
KPD:12.3%
SPD: 18.25%
Non Nazi parties 64% however Hitler had a Reichstag majority with his DNVP coalition
When was the first proper concentration camp created for communists and political prisoners
8th March-Dachau
What would the enabling act allow Hitler to do?
Pass laws without the the approval of the Reichstag and reference to the president for a period of four years-asked Hindenburg to pass this by decree initially but he refused so it went to the Reichstag
What % of the Reichstag did Hitler need to pass the enabling act?
2/3 or 66%
Who were the SS?
Hitler’s personal bodyguard created in 1926
Himler took charge of the SS in 1929
After Hitler took power the SS grew rapidly and its role expanded to become the main Nazi organisation involved in identification, arrest and detention of political prisoners
How did the Nazis get 2/3 of the Reichstag to pass the enabling act?
Nazis have: 43.9%(in favour)
DNVP have 8%(willing to collaborate and vote in favour)
Communists deputies couldn’t take their seats
Centre party assured that Hitler would not use his powers without first consulting Hindenburg and that Hitler wouldn’t interfere with Catholic schools
-only SPD deputies vote against the law
How many vote in favour and against the enabling act?
444 in favour
94 against
109 absent
When does Hitler meet with leafing industrialists to reassure them that the Nazi regime would not attack large capitalist enterprises and to get their financial funding?
20th Feb 1933
When does Goebbels take office in the new ministry of propaganda?
13th March 1933
Was the enabling act meant to be temporary or permanent?
Temporary (4 years)
What happens on the 1st of April 1933?
-boycott of Jewish shops
-Nazi propaganda hails it as a widespread show of patriotism but many boycott it
What did the enabling act do to Hitler’s dictatorship?
Legally legitimised it
What was the Gleichschatung?
Meant forcing into line, was the process through which the Nazis attempted to control and coordinate all aspects of German society.
It was Hitler’s intention that there should be no organisations standing between the state and the individual
Individuals would have no private space in which they could think or act independently of the regime
What had Hitler began within two months of becoming chancellor?
The process of Gleichschaltung
What limited Hitler’s power after the enabling act?
He didn’t control the army and they could remove him from power
Why did Hitler meet the army officers on the 3rd of Feb?
Aristocratic officers worried about the implications of the Nazis and the talk of national revolution
On the 20th Feb how much did Hitler get from leading industrialists to help with his election?
And why?
3 million Reichmarks
Because big business would benefit from an anti communist gov and the business men would help revitalise the economy
When is there is there a huge increase in Nazi party membership?
1st May
Unsure why
Propaganda?
Job security?
Personal gain?
Nazi converts?
What is referred to as the pact of 1933?
Which Hitler, the army leaders and the big business agreed to cooperate
There was no formal written agreement but it was clear that Hitler needed their support and consequently left these institutions largely untouched by the process of Gleichschaltung
