establishment of Hitlers dictatorship C6

Question 1

what were Hitlers views on the elimination of political opposition

Answer 1

• as chancellor, Hitler was not in complete control
• president Hindenburg could have easily replaced him
• Germany was also a democracy so Hitler could only make laws with the Reichstag’s approval and over half of the Reichstag didn’t belong to the Nazi party
• Hitler quickly moved to increase his power and establish complete control in Germany

Question 2

what happened in February 1933

Answer 2

• Hitler called a new election for march 1933, hoping to get a majority
• he now had greater influence over newspapers and radio stations
• he used his control of the police to intimidate voters and beat up oppositions

Question 3

what happened on 27 February 1933

Answer 3

• a week before voting day, the Reichstag burned down
• Hitler blamed it on a communist plot to take over Germany

Question 4

what happened on 28 February 1933

Answer 4

• Hitler asked president Hindenburg to pass an emergency ‘protection law’, giving Hitler the power to deal with Germany’s problems
• because of the Reichstag fire and apparent communist plot Hindenburg agreed

Question 5

what happened in March 1933

Answer 5

• the new law, ‘the decree for the protection of people and the state’, banned leading communists from taking part in the election campaign
• 4 thousand communists were jailed and their newspapers banned
• in the election on 5 March, the Nazis got more votes than ever, but still not the majority

Question 6

what happened on 23 March 1933

Answer 6

• centre politicians joined the Nazis, Hitler now had the majority
• many centre politicians were bullied into passing the ‘enabling act’ - he could make laws without approval of the rest of the Reichstag

Question 7

what happened on 7 April 1933

Answer 7

• Nazis were put in place of all local government, councils and the police
• the Gestapo was formed
• the first concentration camp for political prisoners was opened in Dachau, southern Germany

Question 8

what happened on 2 May 1933

Answer 8

• Hitler banned all trade unions

Question 9

what happened on 14 July 1933

Answer 9

• Hitler banned all political parties except the Nazis
• the ‘law against the formation of new parties’ banned the establishment of new ones
• Germany was now a 1 party state

Question 10

what happened on 2 August 1933

Answer 10

• Hitler murdered his opponents in the SA during the night of the long knives in June 1934
• when Hindenburg dies, Hitler immediately took over as president while remaining as chancellor
• he made the army swear an oath of loyalty to him, and not the country
• Hitler decided to be called der Fuhrer- the leader

Question 11

how was the SA a threat to Hitler

Answer 11

• despite now being in control of Germany, Hitler still felt that he had rivals for power within the Nazi party- and wanted to remove them
• the most dangerous threat came from the SA, the very group that helped Hitler achieve power

Question 12

how did the SA go from a help to a hinderance

Answer 12

• had protected Hitler from harm and beaten up opponents
• many SA members were violent thugs who wanted well paid jobs as a reward now that Hitler was in power
• Their leader was Ernst Rohm. Hitler worried that Rohm was becoming to powerful. the SA already had more members than the German army
• Rohm wanted to combine the SA and the German army and control both himself
• this alarmed Hitler and the army leaders, Hitler needed to keep the army leaders happy: he would need to get back the land Germany lost in the TOV

Question 13

what was the date of the night of the long knives

Answer 13

• 30 June 1934

Question 14

describe the events of the night of the long knives

Answer 14

• Hitler arranged a meeting at a hotel in Bavaria, southern Germany, with SA leaders on 30 June 1934
• shortly before dawn, Hitler and as assassination squad from the SS stormed into the hotel and arrested Rohm and other SA leaders. they were later shot dead
• over the next few days around 400 political opponents were executed, including the ex-Chancellor von Schleicher

Question 15

what were the impacts of the night of the long knives

Answer 15

• rivals dead: - many of those who Hitler regarded as a threat were now dead, including Rohm and all the leading Nazis who didn’t agree with Hitler
• rise of the SS: - the SS lead by Heinrich Himmler, was now responsible for Hitler security, not the SA. along with the Gestapo, the SS now formed the basis of the ‘police state’. the SA remained however was never again a major force
• rule of murderer:- Hitler did not hide what he had done. his acts established murder as a method of the Nazi government