Gov + opposition to 1945 Flashcards

1
Q

Nazi Ideology - two key ideas

A
- Supremacy of the state
. total loyalty to state
- Superiority of Aryan race
. hierarchy of races: Jews at the bottom
. those actually living on the land - 'Blut und Boden' (blood and soil) - were the purest Aryans
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2
Q

Ideological Principles of Nazism

A

. Volksgemeinschaft: racially superior Aryans making up a loyal, national community
. Anti-Semitism
. Anti-feminism: women limited to child bearing
. Social Darwinism
. Lebensraum: entitled to ‘living space’ for nation
. Anti-Communism and anti-Democracy
. Fuhrerprinzip: strong leader necessary for greatness

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3
Q

Propaganda

A

. Believed regular exposure to Nazi ideas in public would help masses identify w its aims
. Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda set up under control of Goebbels
. Job was to spread Nazi ideology through media etc

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4
Q

Propaganda from 1934

A

. Furhrerprinzip reinforced: celebrations on Hitler’s birthday and ‘Heil Hitler’ salute, official greeting
. Policies discouraged women from working
. Only policy of ‘Lebensraum’ had to wait, but from start militarism was applauded + rearmament began

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5
Q

Contradictory ideology

A

. ‘Blut und Boden’ to emphasise racial qualities of rural workers but they received v little state aid
. Taught women that their place was in the home, but war drove them back to work in factories

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6
Q

Totalitarian Regime

A

. Hitler’s power unfettered by president or Reichstag
. His authority within party + as leader unchallenged
. Cabinet of loyal ministers to help execute policy
. In Lander, Nazi-appointed Reich governors ruled to Hitler’s command

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7
Q

Polycratic System

A

. Hitler superimposed his party structure on top of existing state structure, creating confusion between overlapping + competing officials + agencies
. Sometimes he let ministers compete w each other
. May have been a product of circumstance or deliberately done to suit H’s ideology: struggle
. He preferred only to intervene when it suited him

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8
Q

Hitler’s Personality

A

. Lazy + uninterested in routine gov business
. Preferred to give speeches rather than listen
. Accessing him was an issue: he preferred to spend time in his mountain retreat in Bavaria
. Sometimes signed gov papers without reading them
. Subordinates ‘worked towards the Fuhrer’, carrying out policies they believed he’d like

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9
Q

Hitler and Meetings

A

. After 1934 he played little part in ministerial meetings
. 1933: 72 cabinet meetings
. 1937: 6 and 1938: 1, ceased altogether after that
. So Hitler rarely involved in formulation of policy
. Ministers drew up proposals and either sought H directly or Head of Chancellery Hans Heinrich Lammers

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10
Q

SS

A

. Replaced SA as main terror agency
. Auxiliary police force to deal w political enemies + create ‘racial community’
. Himmler headed it and Gestapo in 1934

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11
Q

The Gestapo

A

. The most important security agency in the state
. Rooted out political enemies
. From 1936, given power to interpret law as it saw fit

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12
Q

Himmler

A

. Also controlled SD (security police), headed by Reinhard Heydrich - collected intelligence
. Chief of Police in 1936: establishing strong central control over whole security apparatus of state + linking party and state agencies

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13
Q

The Law

A

. Reich Main Security Department: set up in 1939 to oversee all security agencies
. No independent judiciary
. Under 1933 Civil Service Law: judges who disagreed w Nazism dismissed
. Lawyers had to be members of Nazi Lawyers Association + law interpreted to the ‘will of the Fuhrer’

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14
Q

Forms of Repression

A
. Mild censorship
. Intimidation
. Loss of job/status
. Arbitrary arrest + imprisonment
. Confinement in concentration camp
. Execution
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15
Q

Concentration Camp

A

. The first ones weren’t extermination camps but brutal places of re-education
. Prisoners forced to work for hrs on meagre rations
. 1933-39: around 225,000 Germans convicted of political crimes + a further 162,000 placed in ‘protective custody’ in police without trial

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16
Q

Gleichschaltung

A

. Eliminated institutions for opposition
. Only Church + army retained sufficient independence to challenge the regime
. Mild protest liable to harsh punishment + lots of police informers

17
Q

Low Level Opposition

A

. Reading banned lit, listening to banned music, tuning into foreign news broadcasts
. Protecting Jews + other ‘enemies of the state’
. Refusing to join Nazi organisations or contribute to campaigns
. Supporting non-Nazi churches + organisation

18
Q

Organised Public Opposition

A

. Anti-Nazi leaflets or writing slogans in public places
. Underground SPD groups: Berlin Red Patrol, the Hanover Socialist Front
. Underground KPD cells (Berlin, Mannheim, Hamburg)
- The Rote Kapelle (Red Orchestra) gathered info to send to USSR - broken up in 1942
. Some communist assassination attempts of Hitler
. Some judges refused to administer ‘Nazi’ justice
- 1.3mil sent to camps + 300,000 left Germany 1933-9: shows extent of opposition

19
Q

Protestant Opposition

A

. Martin Niemoller’s breakaway ‘Confessional Church’
- Closely surveilled + Niemoller put in a camp 1937-45
. Around 800 other pastors incarcerated March 1937

20
Q

Catholic Opposition

A

. Nazis closed schools, youth groups + newspapers
. Pope’s encyclical ‘With burning anxiety’ March 1937 . Harsh press campaign against priests, monks + nuns
. 100s of catholic clerics sent to camps
. Individual clergyman > institution as a whole
. Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer campaigned against Nuremburg Laws 1935 + joined underground resistance to gather info on Nazi crimes

21
Q

Army Opposition

A

. Disapproved of rearmament rate, growth of SS, + Hitler’s plans for rapid expansion in East
. Army Commander in Chief Werner von Fritsch + General von Blomberg (War Minister), criticised Hitler’s war plans 1937
. 1938: B accused of marrying former prostitute + dismissed, F accused of being gay + dismissed
. Resignation or dismissal of 16 generals followed
. 44 more transferred

22
Q

Hitler and Army

A

. 1938: Hitler combined Supreme Commander with political role of War Minister
. Changed name of War Ministry into the ‘High Command of the Armed Forces (OKW)

23
Q

Effect of war on Government

A

. Armaments Ministry set up, structures overlapped
. Meetings became places for Hitler to rant > formal decision making
. Hitler pre-occupied w foreign affairs
. Didn’t attend Wannsee Conference in 1942 which led to Holocaust - Heydrich attended
. Ambiguous discussion abt ‘final solution’

24
Q

Hitler and final years of war

A

. 1943-Nov 1944: Hitler withdrew to his military HQ ‘Wolf’s Lair’ at Rastenburg in East Prussia
. Jan-May 1945: isolated in Furhrerbunker in Berlin
. Bormann given free rein to make decisions himself during this period

25
Q

Youth Opposition in War time

A

. ‘Swing’ clubs in major cities: dressed in British and American style clothing + listened to jazz
. Oct 1942: 17yr old Hasso Schutzendorf sent to concentration camps for Americanised lifestyle
- Had his head shaved + beaten w an iron bar

26
Q

Edelweiss Pirates

A

. Working class who hiked and attacked Hitler youth
. Some became actively involved in resistance
. In Cologne, eg, the ‘Navajos’ sheltered army deserters + prisoners who’d escaped camps
. Killed head of Cologne Gestapo, those responsible were executed Nov 1944

27
Q

White Rose

A

. Uni youth opposition in Munich uni 1941
. Hans and Sophie Scholl
. Distributed pamphlets + attacked Nazi policy towards Jews + Poles
. 1943: painted anti-Nazi slogans on public buildings
. Members caught + Scholl siblings executed

28
Q

Wartime Opposition - Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A

. 1939: involved w German Army counter-intelligence service Abwehr, within: secret group working to overthrow Hitler
. ‘Operation 7’ got Jews out of Germany + made contact w British gov to ask for peace if Hitler could be overthrown
. Imprisoned + died at Flossenburg camp

29
Q

Wartime Opposition - Church

A

. 1941: Bishop August von Galen Condemned Nazi policy of euthanasia + put pressure on regime
. Priests + churchmen helped rescue Jews
. Kreisau circle included Jesuits + laymen
. From 1940 Nazis placed priests in special barracks at Dachau: 2720 inmates, 95% Catholic, 1034 died

30
Q

Army wartime opposition

A

. Many officers in Kreisau Circle, met on estate of Helmut von Moltke
- planned for post Nazi Germany, broken up by Gestapo in Jan 1944
. Abwehr rife w resistance: Admiral Canaris, the head leaked info + protected Jews
. Abwehr absorbed in SS 1944: resistance suspected

31
Q

Assassination attempts

A

. General Beck organised several attempts on Hitler’s life June 1940-July 1944
. July Bomb plot 20th July: Count von Stauffenberg, Beck + others executed after
- Nearly 5000 suspected opponents killed afterwards