Control and Opposition Flashcards
What is a Police State?
It is where those in power have TOTAL and ABSOLUTE control over its citizens
What can a Police State do?
Citizens are spied on
Terror used to ensure loyalty
Citizens can be jailed without a fair trial
What is the SD?
This was the intelligence within the SS led by Heydrich Himmler. It monitored Reich security
Who was Heinrich Himmler?
He became the SS leader in 1929 and was committed to the idea of racial purity
What areas did the SS take responsibility for?
Police, security, intelligence, and enforcing Nazi race rules
What was the Kripo?
Day to day police work. General work e.g. stop and search
What was the Gestapo?
This was the Nazis’ secret state police. They could do what they want and imprison anyone without trial. The 1936 Gestapo law placed them above the law.
What did the members of the SS have to be?
Racially pure and clean e.g. no alcoholics or homosexuals
What were the Nazi law courts?
They had Nazi judges without a defence lawyer nor a jury and defendants were simply accused and not allowed to defend themselves. 250,000 Germans had been sentenced to 600,000 years in prison.
What were the concentration camps?
They allowed Nazis to place opponents in ‘protective custody’ in them. First one was opened in March 1933 and those imprisoned had to endure extremely harsh conditions
What impact did the police state have in German lives?
Germans feared the Gestapo and worried that their neighbours would report them. The Nazis sought to create a people’s community (Volksgemeinschaft). The Nazis also believed in Clan responsibility
Was the Police state seen as successful?
In short, yes as nearly all opposition within Nazi Germant was crushed. People lived in constant fear
What is propaganda?
It is political advertising (sending messages). Its aim is to make a large number of people think what you want them to think
Who was Joseph Goebbels?
He control propaganda as he was the ‘Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda’. He established the Reich Chamber of Culture, it both promoted Nazi culture and halted what was deemed as harmful culture
How did the Nazis control the press?
Newspaper editors were all Aryan
Editor’s law meant all editors were held accountable for what went into their papers.
Goebbels controlled what was printed
How did the Nazis control the radio?
Mass produced radios called the people’s receiver were sold cheaply.
Loudspeakers were erected in streets, factories and cafes
How did the Nazis use rallies and campaigns?
An annual rally was held at Nuremburg, lasting a week. Brought together hundreds of thousands of people. Hitler’s birthday was also a rally
How did the Nazis control culture?
Whisper propaganda - planting false info by chain letters, children’s schoolbooks were rewritten.
‘Law against Malicious Gossip’ banned anti Nazi and Hitler jokes were punishable by death.
What is censorship?
Removing unsuitable information e.g. Jewish composers were banned such as Mendelssohn and Nahler and Jazz music was banned and films were censored
Where did opposition still lie in Nazi Germany?
Rural Protestant areas
Lower-middle classes
Urban working classes
The young
Reasons why German churches supported the Nazis
They preferred strong, authoritarian government
The Nazis said they supported the family and old fashioned values.
Disliked Judaism in theological grounds
What was the Concordat?
Hitler and the German Catholic Church signed it and it includes things like: freedom of the church to continue their services, pastoral rights of the ministry and in return the church agreed to stay out of politics and Hitler also used their support to get the Enablin Act through
How did Hitler control the Roman Catholicism church?
He stated a concerted attack on the catholic chirsh arresting priests who were suspected of being anti-Nazi. Catholic youth organisations were banned because many parents preferred to send their children to catholic youth instead of Hitler youth.
How did Cardinal Galen oppose the Nazis?
He publicly attacked Nazi policies as early as 1934 and in 1941 he revealed that the Nazis were secretly killing mentally and physically handicapped people
How did the Protestant church oppose the Nazis?
It was a collection of churches and made it easier to deal with and agreed with the Nazi emphasis on family life. The main church was Lutheran and Ludwigshafen Muller acted as a ‘Minister if Religion’ and went on to lead the German Christian church
What was the Confessional Church
They were ones who opposed the views of Muller. The most famous wee Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer were were arrested who opposing Hitler
How did Jehovah’s Witnesses oppose the Nazis?
They refused to live according to what the government said and most of them ended up in concentration camp,s
What was the German faith movement?
It’s where the Nazis set up their own church and based it on adulation of Hitler as a new god. The symbol was the swastika and the altar was to carry Mein Kapf
Who were the edelweiss Pirates?
They refused to join the Hitler Youth, go on mixed camping trips and dressed very casually. It was mainly working class boys and existed in different places with different names. They also gathered on street corners and committed acts of vandalism.
Who were the Meuten?
They were gangs of working class teens and young adults and were frequently attacked by the Nazis. They were similar to the Edelweiss Pirates, but coming from more organised and socialist or communist traditions.
What was Swing Youth?
They were 14-18 boys and girls, most of them middle or upper class students. They grow their hair long, danced to jazz music and welcomed Jews at their clubs. They opposed the National-Socialist ideology
What was the White Rose group?
One of the most famous youth movements founded by University students Hans and Sophie Scholl. Members openly campaigned against Hitler and the continuation of WW2. Scholl wrote a leaflet openly criticised the regime.
