Government in Wartime 1939-1945 Flashcards
Social changes and escalation with war
Women were urged to take up work
SS took on more gov administration
Anyone who worked for government had to join Nazi party or lose their job
SS numbers went up from 240000 in 1939 to over 1 million in 1944 - SS ran their racial policy through expulsion, isolation and murder
13 military districts formed from German regions and Gauleiters made Reich Defence Commissioners ; ran civil defence, rationing and Volkssturm
What was the volkssturm
Nazi Home Guard founded in October 1944 as a last ditch defence made of boys, old men and girls
New Ministries?
Structure of government grew with short lived bodies being set up at all levels - each of the armed forces was given its own ministry to co-ordinate supplies, troops etc. this was coordinated by the new high commander of the armed forces - Wilhelm Keitel - EACH OF THE ARMED FORCES COMPETED FOR BIGGEST BUDGET THUS THANKLESS TASK
Ministerial council for Defence of the Reich?
Set up in August 1939 during the war and was supposed to co-ordinate domestic affairs to support the war effort - it was chaired by Göring and its members included Rudolf Hess (deputy fuhrer) and Keitel etc - this did not last long however, falling victims to Hitler’s dislike of group meetings as a way of governing among powerful officials - council was disbanded in November 1939
Problems of the Growing Reich
German army marched east and took over more and more living space - Lebensraum, land taken to provide Germans with farmland + natural resources - task of allocating land to Germans and running it as part of Germany became role of Reichsgau (regional governments)
Big problem in Poland where Hitler made it clear that that all poles should be used for hard Labour only and for them to be shot so they did not become a focus of resistance (the leaders)
How was Poland used?
As a dumping ground for all poles and undesirables from other parts of the Reich - treated as a colony called the General Government, administered by Hans Frank
Other parts of Poland were absorbed into third Reich and Germanised and over half a million ethnic germans went to Warthegau area of western Poland
Problems with Germany’s growth?
More land to govern and centralised government became harder - Gauleiters became increasingly powerful and from 1942 (British bombing) they were given control of civil defence, firefighting, rationing and rehousing
August 1943 - Decree for Total Implementation of Total War Mobilisation gave them control over local bureaucracy and over local business - not just other Nazis
When did Germany start losing control?
22nd June 1941 - Germany invades USSR with Germany fighting on 2 fronts and when USA joined the war it was even worse ; German forces overstretched and boys as young as 16 were conscripted
Rationing became tighter and the german people had been shielded from this shortage of fuel etc due to looting of Lebenrsaum but now this led to worse living conditions and with more men being lost, government was not as invincible as they thought and resistance grew
Cake shops and sweet shops banned due to total war as they did not contribute
When did Nazi Government collapse?
30th April 1945
