Chapter 14 - The Terror State Flashcards
What was the police system like under Hitler
Under the Weimar Republic individual state authorities controlled the police. The Nazis didn’t abolish these separate police forces but created a system of part controlled political police forces answerable to Hitler. This created confusion and competition between the various police forces and between the men who controlled them. The forces that existed were the SS, the SD, the SA and the Gestapo
Who were the SS
They were Hitlers bodyguard. After the night of long knives they became the main Nazi party organisation involved in arresting political prisoners. By 1936 the SS controlled the entire third Reich police system. The SS operated in a far more systematic way in comparison to the SA. SS conc camp guards were deliberately brutalised to remove any feelings of humanity they might feel towards prisoners. Himmler intended the SS to be disciplined, racially pure and obedient
Who were the SD
They were established in 1931 as the internal security service of the Nazi party. It was set up to investigate claims that the party had been infiltrated by its political enemies. The SD was led by Reinhard Heydrich. After 1933 there role was intelligence gathering. They would monitor who voted no in plebiscites and to report these to Hitler. By 1939 the SD had 50k officers a sign of how important its role was. The SD worked independently of the Gestapo which was a state organisation. This led to some confusion between the 2 organisations.
Who were the Gestapo
The Gestapo (secret state police) was originally set up in Prussia alone but under the Nazi regime its operations were extended to cover the whole country. They had a reputation for being all knowing. Germans believed that the Gestapo were everywhere but in 1939 they only had 20k members. Most of their agents were office based and they were generally not members of the Nazi party. They depended on info supplied by informers. The Gestapo was successful in instilling an atmosphere of fear and suspicion.
What were the courts and justice system like
Judges were generally very conservative but few belonged to the Nazi party in Jan 1933. Hitler merged the various professional associations of judges and lawyers with the league of national socialist lawyers. It was made clear to judges and lawyers that their career prospects depended on doing the regimes bidding. New courts were introduced in 1933 and the people’s court in April 1934 was set up to run alongside the court system. The courts had Nazi judges and there were no juries and defendants had no rights of appeal. These measures were backed by threats from the SA and SS forcing judges and lawyers into line
How did the SPD attempt to resist the Nazis
SPD activists campaigned openly for the election campaign in March 1933 and suffered SA violence as a result. SPD deputies defied the SA and SS intimidation to vote against the enabling act in the Reichstag. By the end of 1933 thousands of SPD activists were murdered or placed in custody and the SPD leadership had fled into exile. Some SPD members established small secret cells of supporters in factories.
How did the KPD attempt to resist the Nazis
The KPD was devastated by a wave of repression unleashed upon communists in Germany after Hitler came to power. They were the first party to be banned and their leader Ernst Thalmann was arrested. The KPD established underground networks in some German industrial centres. Revolutionary unions were set up in Berlin and Hamburg to recruit members and publish newspapers these were later bro,e up by the Gestapo.
How did workers attempt to resist the Nazis
In sept 1935 37 strikes were reported in the Rhineland, Silesia and Wurttemberg. In 1937 a total of 250 strikes were recorded most of these strikes were reactions to poor working conditions or low wages. Of the 25k workers who participated in strikes in 1935 4000 spent short times in prison. Absenteeism was often a reaction against the pressure to work longer hours and this caused new labour regulations to be introduced laying penalties for slackers. Some workers also damaged their own equipment so the regime made this a criminal offence
How did the Protestant church attempt to resist the Nazis
Pastors who were not members of the Nazi party refused to to accept being part of a ‘coordinated’ Reich church for 3 reasons. They were trying to protect the independence of the Protestant church, they were resisting the attempt to impose the Aryan paragraph on the church and they were trying to defend orthodox Lutheran theology. During 1934 there was a growing struggle between the confessional church and the Nazi regime. Many churches refused to display swastika flags and when two confessional church bishops were arrested there were mass demonstrations in their support. Dissenting pastors had their salaries stopped, were banned from teaching in schools and many were arrested. By 1937 700 were arrested. The confessional church didn’t for, full opposition to the regime. The majority of its members professed their loyalty to Hitler.
How did the Roman Catholic Church attempt to resist the Nazis
The Catholic Church was more united, centralised and had more of a tradition of independence from the state. When the privileges granted to the Catholic Church in the concordat 1933 came under attack the church found itself at odds with the regime. In 1937 the Pope issued the papal encyclical ‘with burning grief’ against the background of mounting pressure on the Catholic Church in Germany. It condemned Nazi hatred upon the church. The document was secretly printed and distributed by messengers and read out by nearly every church in March 1937. The arrest of one priest led to noisy public demonstrations at his trial.
How did young people attempt to resist the Nazis
By the mid 1930s there were growing signs of disillusionment with the official movements among young people in the Hitler youth. This was partly because membership was made compulsory in 1936 and partly because of the growing regimentation in youth movements. Increasingly in the late 1930s the response of many young people was to opt out from the BDM (league of German girls) or Hitler youth. Those who did attend sometimes hummed banned tunes. Some young people formed cliques or gangs to show their independence
How did the elites attempt to resist the Nazis
The regime consolidated its power in 1933 by an alliance with the army, big businesses and conservative politicians. The conservative elites broadly shared Hitlers aims for Germany even if they disapproved of his methods. Both the civil service and army had a strong tradition of serving the state therefore the number of those who opposed was very small. Opposition began in 1938 when it was felt that they were being led into an unprepared war. In Nov 1937 Hitler outlined his thoughts to senior army commanders and leading Nazis e.g Goering making it clear that he envisaged a union with Austria and an invasion of Czechoslovakia in this meeting General Blomberg and General Fritsch expressed their doubts to Hitler. Within 3 months Hitler purged them both from the army. In Sept 1938 Hitler ordered the army to prepare plans for an invasion of Czechoslovakia. The imminent threat of war prompted General Beck and other senior army figures to plot to remove Hitler from power. The plan depended on Britain and France making the threat of war credible. An envoy was sent to the two countries but they wouldn’t risk war and Germany were allowed to peacefully take Sudetenland.
What methods of propaganda were used
Goebbels used newspapers, radio, film, parades and spectacles and other forms of propaganda to control Germany
How were newspapers used to control propaganda
- Socialist and communist newspapers were closed using the powers of the decree for the protection of the people and state
- The Nazis began to buy up more newspapers by the end of the year they had acquired 27 daily newspapers
- News agencies that supplied the press with info were all merged into a state controlled organisation making newspaper bland and conformist
How were radios used to control propaganda
- Radio broadcasts gave Hitler the opportunity to talk directly to German people and in 1933 alone made over 50 broadcasts. Loudspeakers were setup in town squares so everyone could hear important speeches sirens would also go off when he made speeches
- Goebbels promoted the mass production and sale of cheap radio sets which resulted in 70% of German households possessing a radio set by 1939
- Goebbels dismissed 13% of staff working in radio
- In 1934 all radio stations were brought under control of the Reich radio company
