Frontsheet 4 Flashcards
Initial steps to consolidate Hitler’s position
- Reichstag Fire
27 Feb 1933
arrest van der Lubbe excuse to arrest communist opponents - Decree for the Protection of the State & the People
28 Feb 1933
10,000 communists arrested - General election
5 Mar 1933
44% vote Nazi - Enabling Act
23 Mar 1933
temporary power to create laws w/out Reichstag/President - Gestapo & local gov
26 Apr 1933
took over local gov/police
started replacing anti-Nazi teachers/professors
encouraged Germans report opponents/grumblers - Trade Unions banned
2 May 1933 - Law Against the Formation of New Parties
14 Jul 1933 - Night of the Long Knives
30 June 1934 - Death of Hindenburg
2 Aug 1934
took over office president/leader of army - Oath of Allegiance
20 Aug 1934
Removal of other parties
Repression KPD after Reichstag Fire
SPD outlawed Jun 1933
DNVP & Centre Party
voluntarily disband
July 1933
Centre signed concordat
Law Against the Formation of New Parties
14 Jul 1933
Trade Unions banned
2 May 1933
Centralisation of power
First Law for the Coordination of the Federal States
Mar 1933
state assemblies replaced w/ Nazi controlled
Second Law for the Coordination of the Federal States
Apr 1933
Reich Governor created to oversee state gov
& ensure central policies carried out
Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich
Jan 1934
Abolished state assemblies
Reich Governor not abolished
Reichsrat abolished
Feb 1934
Nazi intimidation & campaigns against local leaders
replaced with Nazis
Gauleiters were leaders of party at state level
role of different party & state officials never defined
constant rivalry & tension
between Gauleiters & other local leaders
Control of civil service
Nazis resented independent
many forced resign
& replaced by loyal Nazi members
Elimination of independent organisations
Local/national organisations dissolved
replaced w/ Nazi organisations
eg. trade unions/youth groups/women’s organisations
Restriction/repression of church/related groups
Night of the Long Knives
Overview
Purge of the SA
1000 arrested
84 killed
historians est. actually 200-400
Night of the Long Knives
Background - SA
SA terror crucial to rise of party
Membership grew to 3M by Jan 1934
SA leader Röhm & many members
radical & socialist
wanted ‘second revolution’
removal of conservative elites & army
Night of the Long Knives
Röhm & SA seen as problem
Middle class frightened by violence
Businessmen frightened by left views
Army/Hindenburg held contempt & refused to merge
Other Nazis
↳more right Nazis wanted consolidate power
not transform country
↳remove Röhm to increase own power
Hitler afraid Röhm trying take over
Night of the Long Knives
Causes
Uncontrolled violence of SA
↳embarrassment once Chancellor
↳threatened relations w/ Hindenburg
↳no longer need auxiliary police after Aug 1933
↳reputation of drinking/street brawling
damaged Hitler’s image of leadership
Rivalry between Hitler & Röhm
Pressure from army
↳loyal to Hindenburg
could remove Hitler from power
↳SA members threat to power
especially after summer 1934
SA stole weapons from army convoys
Pressure from conservative elites & other groups
↳threaten by violence & left views
↳17 June von Papen made speech
approved by Hindenburg
attacking Nazi excesses & SA violence
↳von Blomberg threatened resignation
Night of the Long Knives
Impact
SA threat neutralised
membership declined to 1.6M
Gained army support
Won public support
presented massacre as saving Germany
from threatened coup by SA
Complete control of army
Reduced threat of conservative elite
Von Papen under house arrest
others killed eg. Get. Schleicher
Characteristics of police state
No free elections
No free press
No opposition permitted
Potential enemies under surveillance
People live in fear of arrest
Harsh penalties imposed by state
How a police state was established
By 1934
anyone could be arrested
& imprisoned w/out trial
Opposition not done openly
fear of being caught & consequences
Large no. police forces
created rivalry & confusion
SS
Originally Hitler’s personal bodyguard
Led by Himmler
Carried out Night of the Long Knives
Controlled [camps]
240,000 member in 1939
RHSA
Reich Main Security Department
created 1939
Placed all party/police
security organisations
under Himmler’s control
SD
Set up to root out traitors within party
Led by Heydrich
Monitored public opinion
eg. identifying & eliminating anyone who voted no in phlebitides
50,000 party officers by 1939
Gestapo
20,000 members
public believed agents were everywhere
Each street had block leader
reported back to Gestapo
Denunciations often based on personal grudges
Arrested people w/out explanation
used torture as interrogation method
Courts & justice system
Judges & lawyers conservative
rarely outright Nazi
1933 all professional associations of
judges & lawyers merged w/
League of National Socialist Lawyers
formed Front of German Law
People’s Court set up 1934
to deal w/ political crimes
↳judges Nazis
↳no jury & no right to appeal
↳by 1939 3400 tried
those pronounced guilty
increasingly sentenced to death
over 100 each year 1937-39
Concentration camps
First camp Dachau
created 1933
run by SA then SS after 1934
Not extermination camps
↳most in camps for a few months
↳prisoners mostly political
after 1936 regime began to focus on asocials
Prisoners forced to do hard labour
many beaten & tortured
became more brutal
& deaths increasingly common by 1939
Resistance by workers
Strikes continued despite trade union ban
1935 37 reported in areas eg. Rhineland
1937 250 reported
↳due to low wage/poor working conditions/increasing food prices
Absenteeism & deliberate sabotage of machinery
Resistance by workers
Effectiveness
Of 25,000 workers in 1935 strikes
4,000 imprisoned
17 min strike at Opal car factory 1936
7 leaders arrested
1938
legislation introduced severe punishment for ‘slackers’
114 workers arrested for absenteeism
Sabotage became criminal offence
1938-39 increasing prosecution
Resistance by KPD
Organised underground networks
in some industrial areas
Recruited members
Published illegal newspapers
Resistance by KPD
Effectiveness
All cells/networks
discovered & disbanded by Gestapo
Activity continued
& information spread by word of mouth
Aimed to survive regime
not overthrow it
Resistance by SPD
End of 1933
thousands of activists
killed or in ‘protective custody’
& leaders fled in exile
Schumacher organised creation of
cells of supporters
in factories from exile
eg. Berlin Red Patrol
Pamphlets smuggled into Germany
contained anti-Nazi propaganda
SPD agents produced ‘Sopade reports’
to inform leaders abroad of situation
Resistance by SPD
Effectiveness
Fear of exposure/arrest limited scope
Priority not to seriously challenge
but survive & prepare for role
when regime collapses
Resistance by Protestant Church
Pastors Emergency League created 1933
developed into Confessional Church 1934
led by pastors - not party members
refused to become part of
coordinated state church
aimed:
↳maintain independence/ideology
↳resist imposing ‘Aryan paragraph’
from Law for the Reconstruction of the Professional Civil Service
insisted any pastor converted from Judaism purged from church
Pastors spoke out in sermons about regime & ‘Nazified Christ’
many churches refused display swastika
mass demonstrations following arrest of 2 pastors
Martin Niemoller welcomed Hitler’s appointment
but opposed interference in church
↳anti-Semitic but opposed Aryan paragraph
↳arrest 1937 acquitted but quickly rearrested
sent to [camp] - repudiated anti-Semitic views
Resistance by Protestant Church
Effectiveness
Pastors had salaries stopped
& banned from teaching
By end 1937
over 700 pastors imprisoned
Most members confessional church
swore loyalty to Hitler
Resistance by Catholic Church
1937 Pope issued
‘With Burning Grief’
condemning Nazis
Von Galen (Archbishop of Munster)
issued pamphlets
& gave sermons disagreeing w/ atheist ideologists
19,000 Catholics supported him
in annual July church procession in Munster
Resistance by Catholic Church
Effectiveness
Increased repression
& more priests charged w/ ‘abuse of the pulpit’
Some individual priests opposed
but church preferred to maintain own position
Resistance by elites
Gen. Blomberg (defence minister)
& Gen. Fritsch (Commander-in-chief)
expressed doubts
after plan to annex Austria
& invade Czechoslovakia announced
↳Hitler purged from army & replace w/ more compliant generals
Late Sept 1938
army order prepare to invade Czechoslovakia
Gen. Beck (head of army) & other senior figures
plotted remove Hitler
↳abandoned when Britain/France allow take over of Sudetenland
Resistance by young people
Mid 1930s growing signs of disillusionment
Resentment at increased discipline of HJ
Act of non-conformity
eg. allowing HJ/BDM members lapse
not attending weekly parades
humming banned turned at meetings
Nothing more than teenage rebelliousness
but regime view non-conformity as threat
Formation of cliques
some criminal/some political
Meuten gangs (political group)
flourished in old communist strongholds
Josef Goebbels
Head of the Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda
All forms of media
had to register to get work approved
Hoped to indoctrinate public
& achieve Gleichschaltung/Volksgemeinschaft
through propaganda/censorship
Propaganda
Newspapers
By end 1933
Nazis bought 27 daily newspapers
most important Völkischer Beobachter
News agencies that gave press information
merged into state-controlled organisations
Propaganda
Radio
Hitler/Goebbels believed spoken word
more impactful than written communication
Hitler made 50 broadcasts in 1933 alone
Loud speakers set up in town squares/factories
so everyone could hear important speeches
work stopped so everyone could listen
Goebbels promoted mass production & sale of cheap radios
by 1939 70% households owned radio
Apr 1934
all stations brought under control of
Reich Radio Company
Propaganda
Film
Goebbels personally approved
every film made in Germany after 1933
foreign films vetted for political/racial content
most American films banned
1933-45 over 1,000 feature films made in Germany
cinema audiences increased fourfold
14% approved films had political themes
↳leadership glorified
↳’Blood and soil’ common theme
↳Jews/communists demonised
↳films w/ anti-war messages banned
Propaganda
Parades & rallies
Used to display
order/discipline of party/regime
Made theatrical by wearing
uniforms & medals
carrying banners & singing party songs
Torchlight processions effective in capturing public’s attention
Ordinary people expected show support
by hanging swastika flag
block leaders report failure to Gestapo
Images manipulated & result of ‘stage management’
Nuremberg rally most important
propanganda event
up to 100,000 party members attended
event choreographed to produce most impact
Propaganda
Posters
Visually striking
to attract attention
to promote ideals & policies
Aimed at specific groups
helped indoctrination
Remained core method of promoting key themes
Propaganda
Art
Hitler believed only Aryans
capable of producing true art
Viewed ‘degenerate’ art of Weimar
unpatriotic & evidence of racial decline
Promoted art that glorified
healthy/strong/heroic
Propaganda
Book burning
May 1933
Nazi students led by SA
had bonfire of approx. 20,000 books
believed to be ‘un-German’
Replicated in 19 other uni towns
Reasons for burning inc.:
written by Jewish/Marist/Socialist authors
promoted birth control/feminism
Propaganda
Hitler Myth
Hitler presented as distinguished from other politicians
Portrayed as ‘man of the people’
Aimed to convince people
↳hard-working/tough/uncompromising
in defeating internal/external enemies
↳political genius responsible
for ‘national reawakening’ & saving nation from Weimar & shackles of ToV
↳strong & led nation w/ strength
compared to weak leadership of Weimar politicians
↳sacrificed own happiness to devote himself to his people
↳he was guardian of trad morality & justice
Propaganda
Hitler Myth
Reality
Allowed other Nazis to lead policy
& rarely involved himself
He surrounded himself w/ officials fighting to gain his attention
Supplied vague visions
& they turned it into detailed
& ensure implementation
(“working towards the Fürher”)
He avoided Berlin & discussion of policy
stayed up late & got out of bed around mid-day
spent most time eating/walking around country retreat
Speeches were long/rambling/often abstract
avoided specific detail
Officials had difficulty getting him to make decisions
Nazi idea of economic miracle
High output/investment/confidence/agricultural production
No unemployment
Stable currency
Self-sufficiency (autarky)
Hitler’s aims for the economy
Recovery from depression (short-term)
Long term:
Build economy ready for way (militarism)
All area of economy under state control (corporatism)
conflicts w/ popularity
Self-sufficiency (autarky)
conflicts w/ rearmament
Removal of Jewish people from all aspects of economy (Aryanisation)
conflicts w/ recovery
Hjalmar Schacht
Helped Nazi’s raise funds from industrialists
Mar 1933
made President of Reichsbank
resigned 1939
Aug 1934
made Economics Minister
resigned 1937
Supported anti-Nazi resistance
sent to [camp] 1945
The New Plan 1933-37
Unemployment
Jobs created through public works schemes
gov investment increased threefold 1933-36
↳unemployment falling pre-1933
policy reduced faster
2M 1935
↳stats excluded married women/Jews
Employed building autobahns
success exaggerated in propaganda
↳only 125,000 employed at once
building slowed 1938
↳few owned cars
Reich Labour Service (RAD)
created 1935
men 19-25 sent to do 6 months labours
↳involved 400,000 men
Conscription reintroduced
broke ToV
↳removed 1.8M men from labour force
The New Plan 1933-37
Industrial output
58% fall 1929-33
Public works programmes
Grant/subsidies for businesses
↳even Jewish department store Bertie’s received until 1938
State control of wages & prices
Suspended all public debt repayments
Industrial production increased 60% 1933-36
GNP increased 40%
Food shortages/rising prices/lower standard of living
↳people started to become disillusioned
The New Plan 1933-37
Agriculture
Tax relief for farmers
tariffs on food imports
Created Reich Food Estate
planned production & delivered subsidies
Laws guaranteed farmers
security from eviction
1929-39 output increased 20%
1933-38 farmers income increased 41%
Self-sufficient in bread/grain/potatoes/sugar/meat by 1939
Increased output led to
labour shortages
food consumption fell c 5% per person
The New Plan 1933-37
Trade
Exports fell 61% 1929-33
Exports grew as economy recovered
Imports remained higher
led to shortage foreign currency
& balance of trade deficit
Imposed control of imports
gov prioritised goods
eg. raw cotton imports forbidden - metal encouraged
relied on imports eg. rubber
Bilateral trade agreement
w/ Romania & Hungary
Germany import food/raw materials
but paid in Reichsmarks
↳increased demand for goods
& supply of foreign currency
The New Plan 1933-37
Rearmament
By 1935
Hitler ordered faster pace
had to borrow money & control inflation
Gov issued Mefo Bills
could be converted into Reichsmarks
in 5 yrs w/ 4% interest
1937 - 12B marks of bills issued
allowed immediate/secret rearmament
Gov incentives for private industry
to produce armaments
increased jobs & output
expenditure increased 70%
↳firms used up resources
that could be used for consumer goods
known as choice between “guns or butter”
Turing point in economic policy
1936
Propaganda declared
‘battle for work’ done
Hitler wanted expansion of rearmament
Hitler wanted full mobilisation for war by 1940
to achieve Lebensraum
Four Year Plan
Göring
Gov control of labour/prices/raw materials
/foreign currency
↳wages rose - so did prices
↳workers had compulsory contribution to DAF taken
↳had divert resources away to consumer goods
to avoid resentment
↳2/3 self-sufficiency in raw materials
Gov set production targets for private companies
failed led to denial of raw materials/closure
↳Göring not meet explosives target
target 223,000t
produced 45,000t 1938 (1936 = 18,000t)
Establish state owned industrial plants
Increased output essential products
eg. iron/steel/chemicals
shortage of workers by 1939
in some industries - hampered increase
Encouraged R&D in production of ersatz goods
to replace need for imports
eg. artificial rubber/extraction oil from coal
Increased grants for fertilisers/machinery
to increased agricultural output/replace imports
↳virtually self-sufficient in production food
except fats by 1939
↳consumption of food declined
eg. meat/fruits/eggs
Propaganda encouraged all help achieve autarky
↳scrape metal collected from homes/fences/railing/iron lampposts
to be melted down
↳HJ coordinated collection pots/pans
↳Gestapo reported resentment at sacrifices
Relations with industrial elites
Hitler reassured
socialist elements suppressed initially
eg. banning trade unions
Revival of economy helped businesses thrive
4 yr plan led to increased to increased profits
IG. Farben profits increased
71M (1935) -> 240M (1940)
Many business leaders
not welcome state intervention
eg. wished access cheaper/higher quality
imported iron ore
↳Göring overcame by creating
‘Hermann Göring Steelworks’
nationalised control of iron ore/coal mining/smelting process
Small businesses squeezed out by big
coal/steel dominated economy
Aims for workers
Volksgemeinschaft
needed ordinary people
forgo personal freedoms & give labour
Gleischaltung
tries to trade unions/left parties
most not vote NSDAP
↳made biggest threat to Gleichscaltung
Rearmament
needed workers
so could not be ignored
German Labour Front
Role
DAF
est. 6 May 1933
leader Robert Ley
Took over role trade unions
Membership not compulsory
↳only official body representing workers
Main aim increased production to support rearmament
DAF
Differences to trade unions
Included employees & employers
worked in interest of employers/state
Gave workers no role
in bargaining wages
Had propaganda department
spread ideology through working class
Built up business empire
inc. banks/travel&housing associations/construction companies
By 1936 ove 35M members
By 1939 44,500 paid employees
Strength through Joy
Aims
KdF
Subgroup DAF
organised leisure time
∴ more productive/efficient at work
Encouraged workers see bigger picture
Volksgemeinschaft
Leave no time for non-Nazi coordinated activities
main aim indoctrination
Bring together people from across country
bring into Volksgemeinschaft
Encourage participation in sport
employed youth requ. 2hr PE a week
rearmament
Encourage competition/ambition
competition for apprentices
improves skill/standard of work
KdF
Membership
KdF wardens in every workplace
w/ >20 people
7,000 paid employees
Membership automatic w/ DAF
KdF
Popularity
Offered opportunities not available before
helped gain support for regime
Gap between propaganda/reality
tickets for cruises/holidays
too expensive for working class
10% cruise passengers working class
littler mixing between classes
despite Volksgemeinschaft
The Beauty of Labour
SdA
Department of KdF
devoted to improving working conditions
Aim
make workers work harder/more productive
Encouraged
better washing facilities in factories
canteens provide hot nutritious food
Resulted 34,000 companies
improve facilities by 1938
↳workers had to bear costs
& build/decorate in own time for no extra pay
Aims towards youth
Indoctrinate
so they were:
ready to serve nation
completely committed to Nazi values
Obedient to Nazis/Führer
All organisations Nazified
Methods of indoctrination of youth
Creation of youth movements
Hitler Youth created 1926
↳after 1933 all groups banned/taken over by HJ (except Catholic church’s)
↳1936
Law for the Incorporation of German Youth
gave HJ status official education movement
& banned Catholic groups
↳1939 membership compulsory
↳boys prepared for future as soldiers
& asked swear oath of allegiance to Führer
↳Jan 1933 60,000 members
1939 9M members
↳initially well received
late 1930s enthusiasm waned
poor attendance at weekly parades
became more rigid/bureaucratic
League of German Girls
↳aimed prepare girls to be housewives/mothers
↳membership compulsory 1939
↳many found liberating
doing things mothers not allowed to
↳racial awareness important element
Jutta Rüdiger (leader)
told girls responsible for
ensuring partner carried German blood
↳after 1934 up to age 25
expected do yrs work on land/domestic service
made compulsory 1939
city girls tried avoiding
Methods of indoctrinating children
Control of schools
1933
Law for the Reconstruction of the Professional Civil Service
dismissed politically unreliable/Jewish teachers
Teachers pressured into National Socialist Teachers’ League
many happily joined
Textbooks vetted & rewritten
From 1935
Ministry of Education
issued directives on what’s taught
by 1938 directives covered every yr & most subjects
Curriculum to inculcate
PE - prepare for military service & practice military drills
German - study trad stories to instil shared heritage (‘German consciousness’)
Biology - discussion race/heredity emphasised survival of the fittest
Geography - develop Lebensraum ‘blood & soil’ racial superiority ideas
Methods of indoctrinating youth
Control of universities
Less importance in academics
stressed importance of PE/political indoctrination
Attendance decreased 1933-39
↳10% female students
↳1.5% Jewish
Access rationed & selected on political reliability
Law for the Reconstruction of the Professional Civil Service
dismissed 1,200 staff on racial/political grounds
All teachers made sign
Declaration in Support of Hitler and the National Socialist State
Students had to join
German Students League
25% managed not join
Students forced complete
4 months labour service
& 2 months in SA camps
Nazis considered more important than academics
Aims towards women
Increase birth rate
Establish trad role
↳Regime discouraged women holding jobs
slogan ‘Kinder, Küche, Kirche’
Policy towards women
Propaganda raised status housewives/mothers
portrayed ‘new women’ degenerate/un-German
1933
women dismissed from senior civil service roles/medical profession
1936
banned from being judges/lawyers/teachers
Offered 600 marks loan if left work
& married Aryan man
repayment reduced by 1/4 for every child had
Maternity services/childcare improved
Taxes lowered for couples w/ children
Birth control discouraged
& abortions severely restricted
‘Mother’s Cross’ given to those ‘donated’ baby to Führer
Bronze=4/5 Silver=6/7 Gold=8+
From 1935
Lebensborn programme paired
unmarried women (that could prove Aryan background)
w/ SS officers to get pregnant
c. 8,000 children born
‘undesirable’ women forced sterilisation
Encouraged healthy lifestyle
Nazi organisation for women
German Women’s League (DFW)
coordinated women’s groups
domestic science department
advised on cooking/healthy eating
The National Socialist Women’s Organisation (NS-F)
select elite organisation
promoted ‘love life, marriage, family, blood and race’
The Reich Mother’s Service (RMD)
branch DFW
trained women to understand importance of motherhood
Who may have supported policy towards women
Middle class
probably suffered from restriction
Many happy to stay at home
than work long hours
Nazi ideas extreme views
of conservative organisation/Catholic Church
before Nazis came to power
no significant change until after 1939
Policies towards women
Impact
1933-39
birth rate increased
14 babies per 1000 women -> 21
Marriages increased
516,000 (1932) -> 740,000 (1934)
Only 10% university students
Divorce rate increased from 1938
DFW had 6M members by 1939
70% not party of NSDAP
1.7M trained by RMD
Marriage/birth increases may be due to
prosperity not specific policy
Workers shortage meant
after 1937
expected to do ‘duty year’ of work
Religious background
58% Protestant
32% Catholic
Catholicism stronger organisation
Reasons policy towards churches may not be straight forward
Germany Christian nation
Christianity presented powerful rival set of belief
Churches independent/well organised/influential bodies
Common ground between Nazis & church
Policy towards Catholic Church
Initial agreement
1933
signed concordat
Nazis not interfere w/ church
& church not involved in politics
Catholic trade union voluntarily disbanded
Policy towards Catholic Church
Breakdown of agreement
Hitler increasingly dictated policy
Leading Catholics killed in
Night of the Long Knives
Catholic organisations shut down
& priests watched by Gestapo
Policy towards Catholic
Opposition
Initially not opposed
1935-36 individual priests expressed criticism
Catholic newspapers censored & meetings restricted
1937 Pope issues
‘With Burning Grief’
declaring Nazis hostile to Christ
Von Galen used sermons to protest euthanasia of disabled
Retaliation - schools/organisation closed down
200 priests arrested on sex charges
Did not mount organised resistance as a whole
By 1939 lost influence
particularly among youth & most believed in Hitler myth
older Catholics privately retained support for Church
Policy towards Protestant Church
Areas of agreement
Anti-Semitism
Anti-communism
Regime turned 450th anniversary of
Martin Luther’s birthday into mass celebration
Policy towards Protestant Church
The Reich Church
1933
Hitler pressured all to unite into ‘Reich Church’
Adopted Ayran paragraph
& removed 18 non-Aryan ministers
Some pastors wore Nazi uniforms
Policy towards the Protestant Church
Resistance
Ministers led by Niemöller & Bonhoeffer
set up ‘Confessional Church’
based on bible not Nazi ideas
↳over 6,000 ministers joined
only 2,000 left in Reich Church
↳800 ministers arrested inc. Niemöller
Nazis abolished church schools
& party members not allowed hold position in Church
But 1939 Protestant population fell to 54%
Policy towards the Protestant Church
The German Faith Movement
Nazis tried introduce own religion
Involved pagan style worship of nature/the seasons/Hitler
Not receive much support
Policy towards religion sects
Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to join army/support Nazis
many sent to [camps]
Salvation Army, Christian Scientists & 7th Day Adventists
suppressed
