8.3 How effectively did the Nazis control Germany, 1933-45?

Question 1

What was the response of the churches to Nazi rule? [4 marker]

Answer 1

1. The churches were horrified by some of much of the Nazi Party’s ideology
2. Catholic Church spoke out against the Nazi euthanasia programme
3. Many helped Jewish people and others escape Germany
4. A confessing church was set up that opposed the Nazi take-over of the churches

Question 2

What role did the SS play in controlling the Nazi state? [4 marks]

Answer 2

1. Led by Heinrich Himmler
2. Personal bodyguard to Hitler
3. Could arrest and detain people without trial
4. Was responsible for running concentration camps and implemeted the Final Solution

Question 3

What role did the Gestapo play in controlling the Nazi state? [4 marker]

Answer 3

1. Led by Goering
2. Was the secret state police
3. Spied on the German population
4. Could arrest and detain people without trial

Question 4

Describe how the courts and judges were changed under Nazi rule [4 marker]

Answer 4

1. All judges had to take an oath of loyalty to Hitler
2. Jewish judges and lawyers sacked
3. Minimum age for death penalty reduced to 16
4. Telling anti-Nazi jokes carried the death penalty

Question 5

What were the concentration camps? [4 marker]

Answer 5

1. Large scale prisons for opponents of the Nazi regime
2. ‘Undesirables’ were sent there - people such as the gay, beggars and gypsies
3. The camps were used for the extermination of the Jews during the Final Solution
4. At first, people were sent there to be taught how to be a ‘proper’ German - follow the Nazi regime etc

Question 6

How did the Nazis use culture and mass media to control the people? [4 marker]

Answer 6

1. Cheap radios were made available and were in 70% of households by 1939. These were unable to recieve foreign broadcasts and encouraged people to listen and be influenced by Hitler’s speeches and the Nazi messages
2. Hitler launched the annual Nuremburg rallies, which were attended by hundreds of thousands. This created a sense of belonging to the Nazi movement

Question 7

Why did Kristallnacht occur? [6 marker]

Answer 7

1. Kristallnacht was part of an ongoing and relentless plan to persecute the Jews. Ever since 1933 had seen persecution of the Jews. This included the Nuremburg Laws in 1935, which removed German cictizenship from Jewish people
2. It was part of Hitler’s anti-Jewish propaganda to turn the German people in favour of his policies. Hitler knew that his anti-Jewish message was popular with many of his supporters but especially the working class. He wanted as much support as possible for the Nazi Party and saw Kristallnacht as a way to achieve this