chapter 13 - hitlers consolidation of power, march 1933 to august 1934

Question 1

laws passed to centralise power in 1933-34

31st march 1933

Answer 1

first law for the coordination of the federal states dissolved existing state assemblies and replaced them with nazi dominated assemblies

Question 2

laws passed to centralise power in 1933-34

7th april 1933

Answer 2

the second law for the coordination of the federal states created the new post of reich governor (rg) to oversee the government of each state (prussia was excluded as it already had a reich commissioner). these new rgs were accountable to the minister of the interior and responsible for ensuring that state governments followed the policies laid down by central government

Question 3

laws passed to centralise power in 1933-34

30th january 1934

Answer 3

the law for the reconstruction of the reich took the centralisation process a stage further. state assemblies were abolished and the governments of the states were formally subordinated to the government of the reich. this meant that the posts of rgs had now become redundant but hitler did not abolish the posts. rivalry and tension between state governments and the rgs continued in coming years

Question 4

laws passed to centralise power in 1933-34

14th february 1934

Answer 4

the reichsrat was abolished. this was the parliamentary assembly to which the state assemblies sent delegates. since the state assemblies no longer existed, it was a logical next step to abolish the reichsrat

Question 5

gauleiters

Answer 5

a nazi party leader at regional or state level. the nazi political organisation had leaders at both national and regional levels, gauleiters were therefore the second ranking nazi political officials

they wanted to control local government and many of them took over the roles of the reich governors within their areas

Question 6

gleichschaltung - the trade unions

Answer 6

1 - germany organised labour was hostile to nazism
2- the depression had weakened their members, and they still believed that they could work with the nazis
3 - they wanted to provide the framework for development in the post-nazi era
4 - trade union premises became occupied by the sa and the sis, union funds were confiscated and many were arrested and sent to early concentration camps
5 - independent trade unions were banned, and in their place all german workers organisations were absorbed into the german labour front (daf) which ended up having 22 million members
6 - by the end of 1933, the power of the german labour movement had been decisively broken

Question 7

gleichschaltung - the trade unions

Answer 7

1 - germany organised labour was hostile to nazism
2- the depression had weakened their members, and they still believed that they could work with the nazis
3 - they wanted to provide the framework for development in the post-nazi era
4 - trade union premises became occupied by the sa and the sis, union funds were confiscated and many were arrested and sent to early concentration camps
5 - independent trade unions were banned, and in their place all german workers organisations were absorbed into the german labour front (daf) which ended up having 22 million members
6 - by the end of 1933, the power of the german labour movement had been decisively broken

Question 8

gleichschaltung - the civil service

Answer 8

1 - under the kaiser, civil servants enjoyed a status on par with that of soldiers
2 - many in the civil service had welcomed hitlers appointment in 1933, but on a misunderstanding
3 - they believed that the civil service would be able to continue the same way as under the kaiser
4 - however , the nazis regarding the civil service as an obstacle to exercise their dictatorial power
5 - many local officials were forced to resign and were replaced by nazi party appointees
6 - the nazi sa also began to place party officials in government offices to ensure that civil servants were carrying out the orders of the regime

Question 9

20th july 1933 -

Answer 9

the catholic church signed the concordat with hitler. the catholic church agreed that not to oppose the political and social aims of the nazi party.
pope pius xi hoped that the concordat would allow the catholic church in germany to operate free from any interference

Question 10

how did hitler and the nazis prevent a threat from other political parties once the other parties were disbanded?

Answer 10

14th july 1933
law against the formation of new parties outlawed all none nazi political parties

Question 11

what was the first step of hitlers consolidation of power

Answer 11

to achieve gleichschaltung
meaning bringing into line or coordination