Consolidation of Power Flashcards
Legal methods
- Subsequently, the Enabling Act was passed in March 1933, granting Hitler dictatorial powers and allowing him to legislate without the Reichstag’s consent. This act effectively dismantled the democratic Weimar Republic and established Hitler’s legal dictatorship.
- March 1933: Enabling Act is passed, concentration camps established for the politicians who opposed the new regime.
- March: many separate states (Länder) resigned unable to control SA violence, Nazis infiltrated them.
- April: By the Law of Restoration of Professional Civil Service of April 1933, non-Aryans were forced to retire.
- May: All trade Unions are dissolved, German Labour Front where workers could not negotiate over wages and conditions. Control over education.
- June: 22nd ban of the SPD
- July: 5th Concordat with the Pope, Germany becomes a one-party state as a result of the Law Against the Establishment of Parties of 14 July 1933
- Oct: Germany leaves the League of Nations, rearmament begins.
- Nov: Elections but only Nazi participated
- Dec: The law to Ensure the Unity of Party and State
12. Following Hindenburg’s death in August 1934, Hitler established himself as the supreme leader of Germany: the Führer
Richard J. Evans: Evans highlights the strategic use of legal measures, such as the Enabling Act, to dismantle democratic institutions and establish Hitler’s dictatorship. He states, “The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to bypass the Reichstag and rule by decree, effectively nullifying the democratic framework of the Weimar Republic and consolidating Nazi control” (Evans, “The Coming of the Third Reich”).
Use of force
- The Night of the Long Knives 30th June to 2nd July:
On 30th June 1934, Röhm (head of SA) and 85 other officers and political rivals were killed as a result of Hitler’s concerns that the violent and uncontrollable behaviour of the more radical part of SA can threaten his rule by calling for the second revolution to establish socialism and because the army was hostile to SA. Goebbels (head of
propaganda) helped to portray Hitler as the saviour of the country and allowed Himmler (head of SS) to assume dominance in Germany, while Hitler sought support from the army. - Concentration Camps:
The establishment of concentration camps, starting with Dachau in 1933, was a critical tool in maintaining control through terror. These camps were used to detain political prisoners, communists, socialists, trade unionists, and other perceived enemies of the state. The brutal conditions and systematic killings within the camps served as a stark warning against resistance to Nazi rule. - Reichstag Fire and the Enabling Act (1933):
Following the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933, the Nazis blamed the communists and used the event as a pretext to arrest thousands of political opponents. The Reichstag Fire Decree was issued, which suspended civil liberties and allowed for the detention of political adversaries without trial. - Gestapo (Secret State Police):
The Gestapo, established in 1933, was the secret police force tasked with identifying and eliminating opposition to the Nazi regime. The Gestapo operated with near-total impunity, using torture, arbitrary arrests, and extrajudicial killings to suppress dissent. The omnipresent threat of being reported to the Gestapo created a climate of fear that stifled opposition and ensured compliance among the population. - The SS (Schutzstaffel):
The SS, led by Heinrich Himmler, became a central instrument of terror and control. Initially Hitler’s personal bodyguards, the SS evolved into a powerful organization responsible for enforcing Nazi ideology, running concentration camps, and carrying out mass executions. The SS also conducted the infamous “Final Solution,” the systematic genocide of six million Jews during the Holocaust.
Richard J. Evans (structuralist): Evans notes that the use of force, particularly through the Night of the Long Knives, was crucial in consolidating Hitler’s power by eliminating internal party rivals and securing the loyalty of the military. He states, “The Night of the Long Knives removed the threat posed by the SA and secured the army’s support, which was essential for Hitler’s unchallenged control over the Nazi Party and the German state” (Evans, “The Coming of the Third Reich”).
Karl Bracher (Intentionalist): Focus on Central Authority: Bracher looks at how figures like Himmler, while powerful, operated within a system heavily influenced by Hitler’s overarching plans and intentions. Even the empowerment of Himmler is seen as a strategic move by Hitler to maintain control and eliminate threats.
Charismatic leadership
- Hitler’s devotion and commitment provided the German people with hope for a better future and fulfilled their emotional needs, he was portrayed as all-knowing and all-powerful.
Ian Kershaw: Kershaw emphasizes Hitler’s charismatic authority, which was rooted in personal loyalty and a quasi-religious belief in his mission. He states, “Hitler’s power rested in the first instance on personal loyalty, not governmental function - on a belief in his historic mission, his heroic qualities, his incomparable achievements. There was a quasi-religious strand to this belief” (Kershaw, “Hitler: A Biography”
Timothy Snyder: Snyder critiques the manipulative nature of Hitler’s charismatic leadership. He argues, “Hitler’s charisma was based on the exploitation of fears and prejudices, using demagoguery and propaganda to create a cult of personality that stifled dissent and promoted blind obedience” (Snyder, “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning”).
Propaganda
Propaganda:
1. in 1933, Hitler established aReich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by Goebbles, who was skillful and used radio, film torchlight processions, mass meetings and mass propaganda to convey the idea of “Hitler over Germany” and Hitler’s infallibility.
2. Hitler’s self-promotion from charisma and oratory skills, who held powerful speeches
3. The Eternal Jew(1940), directed by Fritz Hippler, portrayed Jews as wandering cultural parasites, consumed by sex and money.
4. The newspaper Der Stürmer(The Attacker), printed cartoons that used antisemitic caricatures to depict Jews
5. By 1935, 1,600 newspapers were closed; By 1939, 69% of newspapers were directly owned by the Nazis.
6. Reich Broadcasting Corporation: 9 million radios were sold cheaply so that most Germans could afford one and thus be indoctrinated. These “People’s Receivers” could only be tuned to the Nazi station. By 1939, 70 per cent of households owned one of them
7. Sports eventswere held to allow people to be either spectators or participants in mass activities. The Strength Through Joy (KdF) movement organised many of these. Berlin hostedthe Olympics of 1936, which the Nazis used as an opportunity to showcase the success of the regime and to demonstrate the superiority of theAryanrace.
- Richard J. Evans: Evans discusses the strategic use of propaganda to create the “Hitler myth” and galvanize support for the Nazi Party. He states, “The Nazi propaganda machine, orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels, was instrumental in creating a charismatic image of Hitler and spreading the Nazi ideology, which played a crucial role in consolidating power” (Evans, “The Coming of the Third Reich”
Nature, extent and
treatment of opposition
Opposition:
Mcdough estimated that less than 1% of Germans engaged in opposition:
1. Individuals listened to American jazz, joined the Swing movement or Edelweiss Pirates, anti-Nazi jokes, some socialists anti-Nazi leaflets and slogans, emigration, joining SPD (operated from Prague), Berlin Red Patrol, Hanover Socialist Front.
2. November 1939 a socialist (Georg Elser) bomb in a beer hall where Hitler spoke.
4. Judges who refused to administer “Nazi” justice, churchmen (Bishop Galen, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer (spoke against Nazis)). Kreisau Circle (home of Helmut von Moltke) where aristocrats, lawyers, SPD politicians (Julius Leber, Bonhoeffer) discussed how to remove Hitler.
5. 1940 - 1944 6 attempts on Hilter by army officers
6. July Bomb of 1944, 5000 officers executed, Nazi’s intelligence agency (the Abwehr) was rife with resitance workers. The September Plot (1938): nitiated by senior officers including General Ludwig Beck and Colonel Hans Oster. The plot aimed to arrest Hitler and prevent the outbreak of war over Czechoslovakia.
7. The White Rose formed by the students of the Munich University operated in 1942 but caught by Gestapo in 1943, lead by Sophie and Hans Scholl, spread truth about treatment of Jews and Slavs + spread anti-Nazi leaflets and graphiti
8. Opposition increased in wartime. 1933-1939, 225,000 germans were convicted of political crimes and a further 162,000 were placed in “protective custody” in prison without a trial.
9. The army and churhces provided best opportunities for opposition. July 1938, Ludwig Beck (Nazi member) contended that a war against Czechoslovakia, France and Britain would end in Germany’s defeat and urged Hitler to postpone his plans for aggression until Germany was strong enough for such a war. Beck’s plan and 1944 July Bomb were the most serious moment for the regime
Gestapo:
1. In 1933 Goering estbalished Gestapo = a secret police, a division of SS led by Himmler
2. Induce fear, discourage resistance, repress opposition
3. At one was comprised of 30,000 men
Other repressive measures:
1. Structured repression
2. All-seeing secret police image
3. encouraged informants
4. imprisonments
5. concentration camps
6. assassinations
Richard J. Evans: highlightes that individual acts of defiance, such as refusing to salute, spreading anti-Nazi jokes, or listening to foreign radio broadcasts, were widespread. These acts, while small and often anonymous, represented a form of everyday resistance against the regime. “Even under intense surveillance and threat of severe punishment, numerous individuals found ways to express their dissent, showing that opposition existed at all levels of society” (Kershaw, “Hitler: A Biography”).
Ian Kershaw: Kershaw notes how the Nazi regime systematically dismantled opposition through legal and extralegal means. He describes how the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act were used to suppress political rivals, arresting communists and socialists, and eventually banning all political parties except the Nazi Party (Evans, “The Coming of the Third Reich”).
Impact of the success
and/or failure of foreign
policy
Foreign Policy:
1. The Remilitarisation of the Rhineland in March 1936:
- lack of international intervention
- If there were reaction from the French soldiers, German troops were ordered to retreat
- German morale was boosted
- LoN did not make any claims condemning the occupation; German Olympics of 1936 were interpreted as a sign of peace and cooperation
2. The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939:
- Hitler, Mussolini, Franco to overthrow the elected Spanish democratic government
- Hitler believed that Germany’s involvement will be beneficial in 3 ways:
1. test military, practice military techniques, Luftwaffe, and intelligence gathering
2. Improving relations with Mussolini
3. Secure Spain as an ally for the future war, however, Spain remained neutral in WW2
- No internation from Britain and France, yet Britain favoured Germany’s and Italy’s intervention out of the fear of Spain becoming a puppet for far-left socialists
3. Rome-Berlin Axis October 1936:
- formalised the partnership in the Spanish Civil War
- Recognised Britain, France, and Russia as common enemies
- Concern from LoN
4. Anti-Comintern Pact November 1936
- Germany, Italy, Japan of mutual support and opposition towards communism
5. Hossbach Memorandum in November 1937:
- Goering and military commanders to discuss the policy of Lebensraum. Ned for an Anschluss with German-dense Austria and the invasion of Czechoslovakia
- In the following months, he removed cautious generals and diplomats such as Naurath (Foreign Minister) and Blomberg (War Minister)
- Secret Meeting so no international reaction
6. Anschluss with Austria in March 1938
- Germans were received with great enthusiasm by both Asutrian-Nazis and a big fraction of the population because people were thankful for the restabilisation of domestic affairs
- More territory, raw materials, personal prestige for Hitler
- No international opposition (Policy of Appeasement to stall the beginning of the war) because of 7 million Germans living in Austria, and the held plebiscite which made the Anschluss official, legal, and desirable,
7. Sudetenland crisis September 1938:
- Territory in the western Czechoslovakia with 3.5 million Germans who were suppressed by the government
- Czechoslovakia was created by the ToV, had alliance with France and USSR, with democratically elected government
- Raw materials, expansion of Germany, strengthening the morale
- Munich Agreement of September 1938 and the policy of appeasement ensured that Hitler understood the extent to which the Allies would not intervene
8. Invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939
- Prestige; however, showed the Allies his true war intentions
9. Pact of Steel 1939 with Italy
1. Declaration of trust and cooperation
2. “Secret Supplement Protocol” = a military and economic union between the nations
- Security for Hitler on Mussolini in the future war,
10. Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939:
- 10-year non-aggression pact between Germany and USSR
11. Invasion of Poland on September 1st 1939 justifying it by the Polish Government discriminating Germans:
- to expand Lebensraum
- regain territories lost by ToV
- gain strategic resources like the Polish Corridor, which gave Germans access to the sea
12. Allies declaring war on Hitler on September 3rd
- Was aware that the invasion of Poland will result in the declaration of war
- or unsure if it will come due to the policy of Appeasement
In the long-term Richard J. Evans and Timothy Snyder: Snyder critiques Hitler’s foreign policy for creating long-term instability and leading to catastrophic outcomes. He argues, “While initially successful such as the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the Anschluss with Austria, bolstered his image and strengthened his regime, Hitler’s aggressive foreign policies ultimately provoked widespread conflict and led to the devastation of Germany, demonstrating the destructive consequences of his expansionist agenda” (Snyder, “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning”).
Overy also notes that while the economy was heavily militarized, it was not fully geared for a prolonged conflict
Alan Bullock:
Military and Economic Preparations: Bullock emphasizes the extensive military buildup and economic mobilization under Hitler’s regime, including the implementation of the Four-Year Plan and the rapid rearmament program. He highlights the significant strides made in developing the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, and mechanized units like the Panzer divisions. “Hitler’s rearmament program was central to his foreign policy and his aim of overturning the post-World War I international order”
Aims and impact of domestic economic, political, cultural and social policies
Social Policies:
1. Youth:
-All teachers were forced to join the National Socialist Teachers’ League (NSLB) which aimed to: Ensure conformity in their presentation of the Nazi ideology to the youth and control the teachers
- Students learned subjects like history (greatness of the past, “evil legacy of the Weimar”), biology, “Germanics” and “Eugenics” (Arian superiority) which aimed to teach different aspect of Nazi qualities. Noakes and Pridham noted that history was historically taught conservatively in Germany
- The Adolf Hitler Schools emphasised physical exercises, race purity & obedience.
- The Napolas focused on military discipline and leadership.
- Hitler Youth→ Militaristic activities, sports, and physical activities.Sax and Kuntz have said that, under Nazism, children “were duller and stupider, though healthier, individuals.”
- League of German Maidens→ Domestic, “women like” chores and activities.
- By 1935 nearly 60% of the 10-18 year olds had joined, though the movements were only compulsory in 1939.
Geoffrey Pridham: Pridham discusses how social policies, including youth organizations like the Hitler Youth, were used to integrate young people into the Nazi ideology and promote social cohesion. “The integration of youth into the Nazi framework through organizations like the Hitler Youth was a strategic move to ensure the future loyalty of the German population”
Timothy Snyder: Snyder critiques the manipulative and indoctrinatory nature of Nazi social policies, particularly their impact on education and youth. “The indoctrination of youth through organizations like the Hitler Youth and the manipulation of education to serve Nazi ideology were aimed at creating a generation loyal to the regime, but at the cost of intellectual freedom and critical thinking” (Snyder, “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning”).
2. Workers: - May 1933 trade unions abolished, german labour front DAF was created not to fight for the better workers' rights but to keep them in order and increase the production - Beauty of Labour: ensured that facilities, meals, and workplaces were to good standards - Strength Through Joy KdF provided leisure activities such as theatres and sports; however, the state now controlled people's activities outside the workplace. Thus, Robert Ley claimed that it brought "sense of solidarity required by the Volksgemeinschaft" - The Council of Trusts: opposite of class struggle, disputes between employers and employees were not resolved but create the sense of harmony
Economic Policies:
1. Reduce unemployment: War production (the four Year Plan in 1936) workers hired in factories, building railroads (connecting East and West and used in the war), construction of Autobahn, schools, hospitals. Youth Labour Service: initially voluntary but later compulsory for males from 19-25, allowed for indoctrination. Conscription provided employment in 1935 for all 18-25 year olds serving in the army, going against ToV.
Achievements: 1933 unemployment was 6 million and by 1939 Germany suffered a labour shortage; The Armed forces grew from 100,000 in 1933 to 1,400,000 in 1939.
Failures: victims of civil purges,were not accounted for when calculating unemployment figures, Adam Tooze: “4 million out of work in 1935”
2. Strong economy to support the ideology of Lebensraum:
The New Plan by Schacht 1934:
- All peasant debts of 12 billion marks were suspended between march and october 1933,
- German imports outweighed exports, leading to a fall in foreign reserves and gold, and the accumulation of debt, so implemented fiscalisaiton of imports
- Bilateral agreements: Especially with Balkan states, which were the main suppliers of German raw materials
- Mefo Bills: acted as government bonds that could be claimed with interest after 5 years, which aimed to disguise rearmament, increase the expenditure on it and prevent inflation
Successes:
- Bilateral Agreements allowed the import of more raw materials and increased Germany’s influence over the Balkans
- Mefo bills funded ½ of Germany’s rearmament between 1933-38.
Failures:
- Import shortage of consumer goods
- Gov. debt because of rearmament
- Hence, Schacht proposed to increase exports but Hitler fired him and replaced by Goering in 1936
The Four Year Plan 1936:
-Prioritised German rearmament and self-sufficiency in food and industrial production (key industries during the war).
- The government increased control over imports, labour, raw materials, and prices. It also created targets that the private sector had to meet.
- Mason argued that rearmament hindered by having to supply both military and consumer goods, making Germany less prepared for war
Successes:
- In 1932, military spending accounted for 1% of Germany’s GDP, yet by 1940 military spending reached 38% of Germany’s GDP.
- Guns vs Butter: The economic investment in war production came at the opportunity cost of the production of consumer goods, especially food.
Blitzkrieg (1939-41)
- Anschluss and invasion of Czechoslovakia had supplied Germany with economic resources (labour and raw material); however, overlapping authorities of the government as “personal fiefdoms” that prevented political and economic policies from running smoothly, Germany was pushed into a war of attrition, which it was not able to sustain.
Economy under Albert Spear: Minister of armaments and war production (42-45)
- Spear restructured the economy, and mobilised to a total war. 3x more weapons in 1944 than 1941. Overy stated that Speer was a figure of authority that allowed the economy to become more efficient.
- Though the economy was more organised, Germany was not able to withstand the Allies’ attacks
Richard J. Evans: Evans acknowledges the significant reduction in unemployment and the stabilization of the German economy under Nazi policies. He notes that the public works programs and rearmament significantly reduced unemployment and restored economic stability. "The regime's success in reducing unemployment from six million in 1933 to virtually zero by 1939 was a major factor in its popularity and consolidation of power" (Evans, "The Coming of the Third Reich")
Tim Mason:
Tim Mason is a notable historian who has examined the concept of hidden unemployment in Nazi Germany. In his works, he discusses how the Nazi regime’s employment statistics were manipulated to present a more favorable picture of economic recovery and employment than was actually the case.
- Achieve autarky, so Germany did not depend on other countries
Impact of policies on
women and minorities
- Women:
-Nazi propaganda: duties of the women were as mothers, housewives supporting their husbands, and community organisers.
-Abortion made illegal unless eradication of “genetic defects” + increase in maternity benefits + income tax allowance for dependent childre were raised and large families enjoyed concessions of school fees and railway fares.
-Lebensborn encouraged unmarried women with good racial credentials to become pregnant, with selected SS men as the fathers.
-Legislation and propaganda to remove women from workplaces to battle male unemployment (the Law for the Reduction of Unemployment of June 1933,)
-Marriage loans provided Just over half an average year’s earnings.
- Only 10 per cent of university entrants were female until a shortage of professional and technical experts in the later 1930s led to a relaxation of policy
- Rearmament plans in 1936: women were once more drawn back into factories.
- Family values while promoting independent youth who place party above their families;- Minorities:
Church:- 1933 Concordat with the Pope
- Germans Christians created the Reich Church which attempted to reconcile the Catholic Church with the Nazi Church
- Could not attack the Church as they feared loosing support of German Catholics
- Propaganda of sexual abuse and pederasty to lure young people away from the Church
- However, the nazification of the Church failed as Catholicism remained popular
- Ian Kershaw: the Church did not attack Nazism because it shared some of its beliefs such as the opposition to Marxism and authoritarian state (conservative beliefs)
Minorities (homosexuals, people with disabilities, Roma/Sinti, homeless) - Sterilisation
- Demonisation
- Social exclusions
- Euthanasia
- Concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen
Jews: - Gestapo relied of Cultural Denunciation involving the general public to find those undesirable to the German state.
- Kristallnacht on 9-10 November 1938: Jewish stores, homes, schools, hospitals were ransacked, 7,000 businesses destroyed, 267 synagogues, and 30,000 jewish men arrested
- The Nuremberg Law in 1935: Jewish people were prosecuted legally
- 1938: Men had to have Israel and women Sarah as parts of their names
- 1941 had to wear the Star of David
- Holocaust, ghettoes established: 6 million Jewish people were killed
- Minorities:
Authoritarian control and
the extent to which it was
achieved
Never achieved “blind obedience” as the regime was based on a number
of compromises
* The chaotic government left a confusion of authority, while waging a
war meant that obedience to the dictates of Nazi ideology sometimes had
to be overlooked.
* Comparatively little opposition in Nazi Germany, but it never
disappeared completely
* Compromises with the Churches and the position of women, Euthanasia
project abandoned, and the persecution of minorities often veiled in
secrecy implying that the mass of the population had not been reconciled
to Nazi ideas.
Ian Kershaw: Kershaw provides a nuanced view, arguing that while the Nazi regime appeared stable, its control was more fragile and reliant on continuous suppression of dissent. “The outward appearance of stability in Nazi Germany belied a more fragile control that depended heavily on the continuous use of repression and propaganda”
Robert Gellately: Gellately argues that the Nazi regime enjoyed significant popular support, which was crucial for its consolidation of power. He suggests that the regime’s combination of propaganda, economic recovery, and repressive measures garnered substantial backing from the German populace. “The Nazi regime’s ability to secure popular support, evidenced by public enthusiasm and cooperation with state policies, was a key element in achieving and maintaining authoritarian control”
Structuralist: Mommsen, Kershaw, Jeremy Noakes, Evans, and Broszat—the Third Reich was no a powerful totalitarian state and despite the authority of the Führer never being questioned, the policies and decisions
were a matter of guesswork and chaotic due to Hitler’s neglect
According to Alan Bullock, the Third Reich was an authoritarian state where power was centralized under Hitler’s leadership. The regime relied on charismatic authority, terror, repression, and a complex bureaucratic structure to maintain control and implement its totalitarian ambitions.
* Intentionalists: Bracher and Hugh Trevor-Roper suggest the overlapping of interests was deliberate and that Hitler was a powerful integrating figure at the centre of the government, the rivalries reinforced
Hitler’s position and power, Hitler took praise for the effective policies and blamed others for the ineffective ones.
