Germany booklet 5: Political and governmental change 1933-1945

Question 1

When was Hitler sworn into office as chancellor?

Answer 1

30th January 1933

Question 2

What were some of the most important limitations to Hitler’s position?

Answer 2

Institutions were suspicious of the NSDAP and might not co-operate e.g. the army and the civil service.
Hitler’s coalition government did not have a majority in the Reichstag which made it difficult to pass legislation

Question 3

Why were Von Papen and Hindenburg willing to work with Hitler?

Answer 3

They thought that he posed less of a threat than civil war or a communist coup.

Question 4

Why was Hitler appointed as chancellor?

Answer 4

He was popular with the people because he had a personal propaganda campaign that portrayed him as a ‘man of the people’
He won over the majority of the influential people in Germany and even charmed Hindenburg’s son.

Question 5

Outline the events of the Reichstag fire (not the aftermath

Answer 5

On 27th February the Reichstag was burned down, Marinus van der Lubbe was arrested near the scene in possession of incriminating evidence and was charged with treason

Question 6

What happened in the aftermath of the reichstag fire?

Answer 6

Were allowed to send in ss and police to arrest communists got emergency powers The majority of the public agreed that the government should be granted emergency powers. Over 4000 communists were arrested, beaten and some killed, reducing the power of the communists as political opposition/force.

Question 7

What happened in the March 1933 elections?

Answer 7

The Nazis gained almost 100 more seats (44%), while the communists decrease dramatically. Goebbels masterminded a strong anti-sematic and anti communists campaign,

Question 8

What was the enabling act?

Answer 8

Allowed the cabinet (Hitler) to introduce law without having to pass them through the reichstag or getting permission from approval. It effectively gave Hitler the power to rule by decree

Question 9

How did the Enabling act strengthen Hitler’s position?

Answer 9

It basically gave Hitler dictatorial powers - greater powers than a leader had had in Germany for a long time
Also it gained him support because he had to get a 2/3 majority to get the act passed.

Question 10

What was the night of the long knives?

Answer 10

30th June 1934 - The SA was eliminated as a political and military force once and for all

Question 11

Why did the night of the long knives happen?

Answer 11

The SA was beginning to become a bigger threat to Hitler and he needed to eliminate them in order to gain the loyalty of the army and the industrialists

Question 12

What were the three main methods used by the Nazis to consolidate power?

Answer 12

Compromise
Force and intimidation
Legal and constitutional methods (laws)

Question 13

What are three examples of compromise as a method to consolidate Nazi power?

Answer 13

Concordant with the catholic church in July 1933
Enabling act - compromise with Catholics and DNVP to get the act passed
Made very few changes to his cabinet - compromising for the conservative elites

Question 14

What are three examples of force and intimidation as a method of Nazi consolidation?

Answer 14

Night of the long knives - took out many SA members and Rohm
Reichstag fire - led to the arresting and sometimes killing of more than 4000 communists.
seizure and closure of trade union offices (1st May 1933)

Question 15

What are three examples of legal and constitutional as a method of Nazi consolidation?

Answer 15

Enabling act - march 1933 - basically gave him dictatorial powers
Law for the reconstruction of of the state - removal of state governments which were replaced by Reich governors
7 April - law for restoration of professional civil service - administration, courts, schools and universities purges of alien elements

Question 16

What were the 4 key Nazi ideas?

Answer 16

Ideology national socialism - socialism mostly dropped after the night of the long knives
racist ideology - superiority of the white northern european or ‘Aryan’ races
Revolved around an all powerful leader
harked back to traditional 19th century values f authoritarian government, social conservatism

Question 17

What is a prerogative state?

Answer 17

Hitler abandoned the rule of law and claimed that his authority was not based on the German constitution. Therefore Hitler has the right to do whatever he wanted.

Question 18

What was the polycratic regime?

Answer 18

The government was made up of a collection of organisations and offices, all overlapping and fighting for the same power, E.g. Hitler had 5 private offices

Question 19

What was cumulative radicalisation in terms of the nazi regime?

Answer 19

In order to please Hitler, the leading Nazis would come up with more and more radical ideas, resulting in a cumulative radicalisation.

Question 20

Who were the gauleiters?

Answer 20

They were the Nazi appointed leaders of the individual states put in place after the centralisation of power.

Question 21

What was the Fuhrerprinzip?

Answer 21

The leadership principle based on the notion that Hitler had a mystical relationship with the German people and that he alone understood their best interests - Hitler’s will was the defining principle of Nazi Germany

Question 22

Describe ‘working towards the fuhrer’

Answer 22

As Hitler’s will was the only true basis for Nazi policy, senior Nazis tried to spend as much time with him as possible in order to discover his will - access to Hitler was the key to power

Question 23

What was the centralisation of power?

Answer 23

The state governments’’ power was drastically reduced and much of the power went to the national government

Question 24

Describe Gleichschaltung in terms of Nazi Germany

Answer 24

Coordination, integration or bringing into line. The idea that the Nazis were making Germany more efficient and better organised

Question 25

Summarise Bormann’s powers

Answer 25

he was Hitler’s private secretary and was essentially the middle man between Hitler and the people during the war years. Due to his close relationship with Hitler, he was very powerful

Question 26

How did the Nazi party change in the war years?

Answer 26

The regime became more bureaucratic i.e. the party organised military matters such as supplies and evacuation. Bormann became leader of the Reich chancellery in May 1941. There were major clashes between Himmler and Bormann, arguably the two most powerful men in Germany after Hitler

Question 27

What was the Waffen SS?

Answer 27

The reserve force of the SS, numbering 14000 by 1938 and expanded to have 35 divisions by 1945, rivalling the power of the army, despite Hitler’s promise that the army would be the only military force in Germany