4.4 Churches Flashcards
Why was the coordinating of churches into the Volksgemeinschaft difficult?
- Coordinating the churches into the volksgemeinschaft posed serious challenged for the Nazi regime since the Germans were divided by faith
Give a reason for why is was so difficult to coordinate the churches
- Religious loyalties were deep-rooted in some communities which was an obstacle for the Nazi aim of making the Fuhrer the focus of loyalty for all Germans
How did the Nazis proceed with dealing with the churches?
The Nazis proceeded cautiously in dealing with the churches, especially with the Roman Catholic Church
What were many protestants beliefs?
- anti-semetic and vigorously anti-communist
What was the Nazis own pressure group and how many members did they have?
- The Nazi pressure group was called the German Christians, operating within the German Church, with large membership (600,000) and strict adherence to Nazi ideology
in 1933, what had the Nazis coordinated the Present church into?
- The had coordinated the protestant church into a centralised Reich Church under Nazi control
Who was in control of the Reich church?
- Ludwig Muller, A Nazi, was appointed Reich Bishop
What did the Reich church adopt?
- They adopted the Aryan paragraph that dismissed pastors who had converted from Judaism
What was the Reich church reorganised on?
- The reich church was reorganised of the Fuhrerprinzip
What was the Fuhrerprinzip?
- The Führer Principle required everyone in Nazi Germany to accept that Hitler had all the solutions to Germany’s problems and that whatever he said had to be right
What did the Aryan paragraph prompt?
- The Aryan paragraph prompted a breakaway, in September 1933 by a group of dissident pastors, led by Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer who established the confessional church
Who established the confessional church?
- Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in September 1933
What was the support like for the confessional church?
- Support was patchy but the Gestapo reported that ‘farming people seem to want to celebrate their church festivals in the traditional form
What did the Nazi regime try to do to stop the support for the confessional church?
- The Nazi regime tried to weaken the Confessional Church by repression
When were church schools abolished and what did it grant the Nazis?
- The church schools were abolished in 1938-39 and it gave the Nazis full control over the education system
What did the regime launch to persuade party members to renounce their church membership?
- They launched a Church succession campaign to persuade party members to renounce their church membership
What successes did the Church Succession campaign have? (2 points)
- By 1939, 5% of the population were listed as ‘god believers’, those who retained some faith renounced the Christian churches
- Priests and pastors were forbidden from playing any part in the Nazi Party
Where the Roman Catholics or Protestants harder for the Nazis to coordinate?
- The Roman Catholic Church was harder to coordinate into the volksgemeinschaft
Why was the Roman Catholic Church harder to coordinate?
- The Roman Catholic Church was harder to coordinate because of their long tradition of independence from the state and their loyalty to the Pope
Why was the Roman Catholic Church harder to coordinate?
- The Roman Catholic Church was harder to coordinate because of their long tradition of independence from the state and their loyalty to the Pope
What did the Roman Catholic Church wish to avoid with the regime?
- The Roman Catholic Church wished to avoid conflict with the regime
What was the 1933 concordat?
- it was an agreement between the nazi regime and the Pope under which each side agreed not to interfere in each other’s affairs
Did the Nazis honour the concordat? did catholics protest?
- The Nazis did not honour the concordat but there were only sporadic protests from Catholics
in 1935-6 which person spoke out against the regime
- Cardinal Galen
