chapter 4 nazi germany Flashcards
nazi germany 1933-1939
When did the Reichstag Fire happen?
27th February, 1933.
Who was involved with the Reichstag Fire
A Dutch communist called Marinus van der Lubbe was accused of starting the arson attack.
What were the results of the Reichstag Fire?
❖Van der Lubbe was put on trial and executed.
❖4,000 communists were arrested.
❖Hitler persuaded President von Hindenburg to declare a state of emergency and use Article 48.
❖Hitler issued the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State which ended people’s civil rights.
❖Hitler announced a new general election for 5th March, 1933.
❖Hitler was able to use this increase in his powers to attack his greatest rival, the Communist Party.
Why was the Reichstag Fire important?
The Reichstag Fire enabled Hitler to persuade President Hindenburg that communists were a danger to the country.
❖Hitler was able to rule using decrees through Article 48 and he used that power to end people’s civil rights. This meant he had increased his powers.
❖It meant Hitler could introduce measures that banned leading communists from taking part in the upcoming election campaign.
❖This was important because Hitler at this point still did not have the seats in the Reichstag he needed to form a majority.
What was the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State?
The Decree for the Protection of the People and the State allowed Hitler to suspend the civil rights of all citizens. The decree also removed all restraints on police investigations which meant people could be arrested and imprisoned without evidence.
When was the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State signed?
28th February, 1933.
What were the results of the March 1933 general election?
The Nazi Party increased the number of seats it held in the Reichstag to 288.
What was the Enabling Act?
The Enabling Act was a law that enabled Hitler and the Nazis to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag for a period of four years.
When was the Enabling Act passed to get Hitler into power?
23rd March, 1933.
What were the results of the Enabling Act for Hitler’s power?
Hitler used the power of the Enabling Act to create his dictatorship by removing any opposition from other political parties, trade unions, local government and the army.
What did Hitler do to create a dictatorship
Hitler consolidated his power by creating a dictatorship. He used the Reichstag Fire to gain the power he needed to be able to pass the Enabling Act in March 1933. This law enabled him to remove all groups, institutions or organisations that could oppose him.
How did Hitler control the trade unions in his dictatorship?
❖He banned all independent trade unions on 2nd May, 1933 and replaced them with the Nazi German Labour Front to control the workers.
❖Workers could no longer complain about pay and conditions or go on strike.
❖Trade union leaders were thrown in jail.
What did Hitler do to the role of president in his dictatorship?
When President von Hindenburg died on 2nd August, 1934, Hitler declared himself Germany’s Führer. It was a role that combined the powers of the chancellor and the president.
What did Hitler do to create a dictatorship?
❖He used the Reichstag Fire to gain emergency powers under the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State which suspended all civil rights.
❖He used this power to attack his rivals, the Communist Party.
❖After the March 1933 election, he gained the support of the Centre Party and the German National People’s Party to achieve a 2/3 majority in the Reichstag so he could pass the Enabling Act.
❖Nazi officials were put in charge of all local government on 7th April, 1933.
❖All independent trade unions were banned and replaced with the Nazi German Labour Front on 2nd May, 1933.
❖The ‘Law against the Formation of the New Parties’ was passed on 14th July, 1933 which made all political parties illegal except the Nazi Party.
❖In January 1934, all local governments were taken over (regional Länder parliaments were abolished) and Hitler appointed governors to run them instead.
❖During the Night of Long Knives, on 30th June, 1934, Hitler had the SS murder possible rivals in the SA.
❖When President von Hindenburg died on 2nd August, 1934, Hitler declared himself Germany’s Führer, a role that combined the powers of the chancellor and the president.
❖The army then swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler.
What was the Night of the Long Knives?
The Night of the Long Knives was the deliberate and organised murder of Nazi and SA leaders that the Führer believed posed a threat to his position. The killings were carried out by the SS.
When was the Night of the Long Knives?
The Night of the Long Knives began on 30th June, 1934 and continued until 2nd July.
Why did the Night of the Long Knives happen?
❖Ernst Röhm had become too powerful with 3 million SA loyal to him. Röhm was a potential rival to Hitler’s position.
❖Röhm was very critical of Hitler’s policies of working with rich businessmen and the army. He wanted the Nazi Party to focus on socialist policies to support the working classes, not on policies which would benefit the businessmen.
❖Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich, the leaders of the SS, disliked Röhm and wanted to undermine him. They resented the influence Röhm had over the party, so they told Hitler that Röhm was plotting to seize power.
❖The German Army saw the SA as a threat because they believed the SA wanted to take over the army, which was a much smaller force of only 100,000 soldiers.
What were the results of the Night of the Long Knives?
❖Approximately 400 people close to Hitler, who had been regarded as a threat, were now dead.
❖The SS, led by Himmler, emerged more powerful and they, along with Gestapo, now formed the basis of the police state.
❖The SA was never again a leading force.
❖Hitler got away with having his opposition openly murdered. This established a pattern for the Nazi dictatorship.
What was the structure of the Nazi police state?
❖The SS, or Schutzstaffel - German for ‘protection squad’ - who ran the secret police and the concentration camps.
❖The Gestapo, or Secret State Police, that dealt with any opposition to the Nazis or the government.
❖The SD, or Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers, which was Nazi Germany’s security service. It spied on opponents and critics of the Nazis.
❖The concentration camps, which were used as prisons for anyone who opposed the Nazis or did something the Nazis disliked.
❖The legal system, which included the judges, courts and lawyers.
What was the Gestapo’s purpose?
❖It spied on German citizens.
❖It prosecuted anyone who spoke out against the Nazi regime.
❖It created fear. Germans were terrified of the Gestapo because they did not know who its members were.
How did the Nazis deal with religion and the Protestant Church?
Initially, the Protestant church worked with the Nazis. Some members that opposed the Nazis set up the Pastors’ Emergency League in 1933. Those that worked with the Nazis created the Reich Church in 1936, led by Ludwig Müller.
What was the concordat?
The concordat was an agreement between the pope and Hitler, signed in July 1933. It stated that the Nazi Party and the Catholic Church would not interfere with one another’s policies or spheres.
