9C: Nazi Control of Germany - YK Flashcards
What were three Nazi aims?
Nazis wanted a strong leader restoring military pride, they believed in superiority of ‘Aryan race’ and inferiority of ‘untermensch’ (Jews and other minorities), they wanted everyone’s complete loyalty to Hitler
How was the legal system used to control Germany?
Highest positions in police force only given to high-ranking Nazis, Nazis appointed all judges and sacked disloyal judges (opponents never got a fair trial)
How was propaganda used to control Germany?
Goebbels was head of Ministry for Enlightenment and Propaganda, in charge of what public knew/believed
Rallies: Nuremberg Rally happened every summer (‘34 700,000 attended), there were bands and marches and speeches
Books: All literature had to be approved by Goebbels, ‘33 large book burning of “unacceptable ideas”
Cinema: All films had to have a pro-Nazi message, foreign films heavily censored, newsreel before each film glorified Hitler and Nazi Germany
Radio: cheap radios produced so everyone could listen to propaganda, listening to BBC was capital crime, Goebbels placed speakers in streets and bars, speeches (mostly Hitler’s) constantly repeated
What measures were taken to persecute minorities (other than Jews)?
Homosexuality: illegal, books by gay authors banned, 50,000 arrested, 5,000+ in concentration camps
Romani (Gypsies): 5/6 living in Germany were killed
What laws were used to persecute Jews?
1935 Nuremberg Laws removed German citizenship from Jews and forbid them from marrying pure-blooded Germans
Why did Hitler persecute Jews?
Anti-semitism was common in Europe, and during Hitler’s poverty in Vienna he became obsessed with the high proportion of successful businesses run by Jews, he wanted a scapegoat to blame problems on
How was the Gestapo used to control Germany?
Secret police could arrest citizens and send them to camps without trial or explanation, unidentifiable so people were never sure if they were in privacy, many informers because they thought Gestapo would find out
How was the SS used to control Germany?
SS (paramilitary organisation completely loyal to Hitler) mostly crushed opposition and enacted racial polices, Death’s Head units ran camps and transportation to them, Waffen-SS fought with army
How was the concentration camp system used to control Germany?
Jews, socialists, communists, trade unionists, and critics ended up in camps, prisoners forced to do hard labour, very little food, harsh punishments (beatings, random executions)
How was the Berlin Olympics used as propaganda?
Goebbels built a new stadium to hold 100,000 people with most modern lighting and largest ever stopclock, visitors impressed by stadium but appalled by fanatical devotion to Hitler and presence of SS, Germany won the most medals but Jesse Owens (black American) won 4 medals and broke 11 records (very popular)
What was the relationship between the Nazis and the Churches?
1933 agreement made for Hitler not to affect Catholic Church in return for no political opposition, all Protestant Churches officially unified into one Reich Church but individuals still had personal loyalties, some leaders opposed Nazis e.g. Catholic Bishop Galen stopping extermination of disabled people through protest (his large following made silencing him risky)
What was Kristallnacht?
Nov ‘38 a young Jew killed a German diplomat in Paris, Nazis used this as excuse for violence, Jewish shops and workplaces smashed, 91 Jews murdered, hundreds of synagogues burned, 20,000 Jews sent to concentration camps
What opposition to Nazi rule was there?
Very little political opposition, Gestapo said 1,000 meetings were broken up, some sabotage of factories and railways, social opposition was more common, after ‘36 party officials reported that people had to be bullied to attended rallies and ‘radio wardens’ were used to force people to listen to Hitler’s speeches
