establishment of the nazi dictatorship

Question 1

When was Hitler appointed Chancellor?

Answer 1

January 30th, 1933.

Question 2

How many posts did the Nazi Party hold in cabinet?

Answer 2

Just 3 out of 12, reinforcing Papen’s idea that including the Nazis would not make any political changes.

Question 3

What right had Papen won himself?

Answer 3

The right to be present whenever Hitler met with Hindenburg.

Question 4

Who were the real decisions in cabinet taken by?

Answer 4

The non-Nazi majority, most of whom belonged to the old aristocratic elite.

Question 5

What was Hitler determined to do that Papen believed he’d never be able to do?

Answer 5

Hitler wanted to establish a Nazi dictatorship as soon as possible, but Papen believed he would not be able to dominate his own cabinet let alone become a dictator.

Question 6

What did Hitler do on the evening of January 30th 1933?

Answer 6

Stood on the balcony of the Reich Chancellery to review a torchlight procession by around 100,000 Nazi members making their way through the streets of Berlin.

Question 7

Who was the march on January 30th 1933 organised by and what was it supposed to show?

Answer 7

Nazi propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels.

It was supposed to show that Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor was not going to be a normal change of government.

Question 8

Why was the January 30th demonstration beneficial to Hitler?

Answer 8

It showed his personal triumph and of the victory of the Nazi movement.

Question 9

What did the Nazis mark January 30th as?

Answer 9

The start of their ‘National Revolution’.

Question 10

What did Hitler do to the SA once he was in power?

Answer 10

Used state resources to consolidate his power and rapidly expand the SA, since his Stormtroopers’ violence and terror were key when eliminating opposition.

Question 11

What was SA membership in January 1933?

Answer 11

500,000.

Question 12

What did SA membership grow to by 1934?

Answer 12

3 million.

Question 13

What happened to the SA activities once the Nazis came into power?

Answer 13

All their activities became legalised.

Question 14

What happened in late February 1933?

Answer 14

The SA and the Stahlhelm were merged, becoming recognised as ‘auxiliary police’.

Question 15

What orders were issued to regular police forces?

Answer 15

The forbiddance of interfering with SA activities.

Question 16

What enabled the Nazis to control the police?

Answer 16

That two Nazi members occupied key positions in the cabinet. Frick was Minister of the Interior and Goering was Minister of the Interior in Prussia.

Question 17

What was the ‘revolution from below’?

Answer 17

The SA unleashed a reign of terror against socialist and communist opponents.

Question 18

Who did the SA use their powers to carry out sustained assault against?

Answer 18

On trade union and KPD offices, as well as on the homes of left-wing politicians.

Question 19

What happened on February 5th 1933 and what were the consequences?

Answer 19

A young Nazi shot dead the SPD mayor of a small town in Prussia.

There weren’t any consequences as this crime, as well as many others, were ignore by the police.

Question 20

What happened when the SPD newspaper condemned the Nazi killings?

Answer 20

The paper was banned.

Question 21

What happened to thousands of communists, socialists and trade unionists?

Answer 21

They were rounded up and imprisoned in makeshift concentration camps set up in old factories or army barracks.

Question 22

When was the first permanent concentration camp established and what was it called?

Answer 22

On March 8th, Dachau concentration camp was established near Munich.
It became the model for later concentration camps.

Question 23

How many people did Dachau accomodate?

Answer 23

Over 5000 people.

Question 24

How many political prisoners had been arrested by the SA by July 1933 and where were they put?

Answer 24

29,789.
They were put in some 70 camps.

Question 25

What did the Nazis claim the correct terminology was for their arrests of political prisoners?

Answer 25

Taken into ‘protective custody’.

Question 26

What did Hitler persuade Hindenburg to do in March 1933?

Answer 26

Dissolve the Reichstag and call a new election.

Question 27

What did Hitler believe would happen in the March 1933 Reichstag election?

Answer 27

That the Nazis would win an outright majority, which would strengthen his position.

Question 28

What had happened to the KPD and the SPD by the time the election had taken place?

Answer 28

They had virtually been driven underground by the atmosphere of terror and intimidation generated by the Nazis.

Question 29

When was the Reichstag fire?

Answer 29

February 27th 1933.

Question 30

Who was arrested and charged with causing the Reichstag fire?

Answer 30

A young Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe.

Question 31

What suspicions were there around the Nazis and the Reichstag fire?

Answer 31

That they had purposefully set this plot up in order to justify introducing repressive measures, but there is no definitive evidence of this.

Question 32

What did the Nazis claim the Reichstag fire was apart of and what did they do about this?

Answer 32

A communist plot to start a revolution in Germany. They used it as an excuse to justify the immediate suspension of civil liberties.

Question 33

What did Hitler persuade Hindenburg to sign after the Reichstag fire?

Answer 33

A decree giving him ‘emergency powers’, called the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State.

Question 34

What did the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State do?

Answer 34

It suspended important civil and political rights that had been guaranteed under the Weimar Constitution.

The police were given more powers to arrest, and detain without charge, those determined to be a threat to state security.
They also gained increased powers to enter and search private properties, while the government could censor publications.

Question 35

What were the powers of the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State used for in practice?

Answer 35

• To arrest communists and socialists
• To ban their newspapers
• To disrupt organisations

Question 36

What could the central government do if state governments refused to act against the Nazis’ political opponents?

Answer 36

They could take over the state governments.

Question 37

How many communists had the police arrested in two weeks after being given increased powers?

Answer 37

10,000, including most of the leaders.

Question 38

What happened to those handing out leaflets for the SPD and the KPD during the March 1933 election?

Answer 38

They were liable to be arrested

Question 39

What happened with Nazi propaganda during the March 1933 election?

Answer 39

The country was flooded with Nazi leaflets, posters, radio broadcasts, election rallies and parades.

Question 40

How did the Nazis do in the March 1933 elections?

Answer 40

Not very well considering they effectively banned their opponents from campaigning and having the states resources at their disposal.

They received 43.9% of the vote, but this still meant that with their DNVP allies they had majority.

Question 41

Where was the first meeting of the new Reichstag held?

Answer 41

In the Kroll Opera House on March 23rd 1933.

Question 42

What was Hitler’s sole objective at the first meeting of the new Reichstag?

Answer 42

To secure the necessary 2/3 majority for his Enabling Act.

Question 43

What was Hitler’s Enabling Act?

Answer 43

A law that would allow him to make laws without the approval of the Reichstag and without reference to the President, for a period of 4 years.

Question 44

What was the SS?

Answer 44

Hitler’s personal bodyguard, created in 1926.

Question 45

Who had taken charge of the SS in 1929?

Answer 45

Heinrich Himmler.

Question 46

When was the Enabling Act passed?

Answer 46

March 24th, 1933.

Question 47

Why did the Enabling Act require 2/3 of the Reichstag majority?

Answer 47

Because it was a law that changed the constitution, so it needed a majority to be legally enforceable.

Question 48

How did Hitler win the Centre Party’s support in passing the Enabling Act?

Answer 48

He assured them that he would not use his powers without first consulting Hindenburg.

Question 49

What did Gleichschaltung mean?

Answer 49

Forcing into line, and was the process in which the Nazis attempted to control all aspects of German society.

Question 50

Who were the only force that could remove Hitler from power?

Answer 50

The army.

Question 51

What did Hitler tell the army’s senior officers on February 3rd 1933?

Answer 51

He outlined his plans for rearmament.
He also made sure to reassure them that he would not undermine the army’s role as the most important institution in the state.

Question 52

How much money did Hitler receive from leading industrialists to support the Nazi election campaign on February 20th?

Answer 52

3 million Reichmarks.