Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

nazis; the nazi dictatorship > hitler's consolidation of power; 1933-34 > Flashcards

hitler's consolidation of power; 1933-34 Flashcards

1
Q

When was Ernst Rohm executed?

A

On June 30th 1934 at Stadelheim prison in Munich.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Where and why were Rohm and other SA members arrested?

A

At a lakeside hotel in part of a wide-spread purge of the SA as it had outlived its usefulness and was becoming an embarrassment.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What did Hitler order for Rohm’s death? What was Rohm’s response?

A

That a revolver be left in his cell and he commit suicide.

Rohm’s response was that if he were to be killed ‘let Adolf do it himself’, refusing to commit suicide.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

When had the Enabling Act been passed and what did it do?

A

At the end of March 1933.

It had given dictatorial powers to to Hitler’s government.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What were some of the last political and constitutional limitations on Hitler’s power?

A
  • Hindenburg was President, meaning he had final say in constitutional matters
  • The army was loyal to Hindenburg, not Hitler as Chancellor
  • There were a number of independent parties, such as the SPD who were prepared to openly voice their opposition
  • Most German states were under control of other parties, despite the Nazis having power of Prussia
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What did the period between March 1933 and August 1934 see?

A

The Nazis removing the remaining obstacles to their exercise of dictatorial power.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What was the meaning of coming to power in January 1933 for Hitler and his Nazi Party?

A

The beginning of a national socialist revolution.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What did the beginning of a national socialist revolution mean for Hitler?

A

The conquest of political power.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How did Hitler view conventional political parties?

A

With contempt, seeing them as election machines which represented narrow, sectional interests rather than the interests of the nation.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What did Hitler claim that the Nazi Party was of the entire German people?

A

The ‘racial core’. He believed it was made up of the superior Germans despite being a minority.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What did the Nazi Volksgemeinshaft mean for Hitler?

A

That there could be no parties other than the Nazi Party.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

By what time had the Nazis succeeded in making Germany a one-party state?

A

By July 1933.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What happened to the KPD after the Reichstag Fire?

A

They were effectively banned and most of the communists who hadn’t been arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps had fled.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Which party stood up to Hitler in the Reichstag debate on the Enabling Act and what did this mean for them?

A

The SPD, and they continued to voice its opposition to the regime.

They were outlawed as a ‘party hostile to the nation and the state’ on June 22nd 1933.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Which two political parties dissolved themselves after realising their days were numbered? When did this happen?

A

The DNVP on 27th June 1933.
The Centre Party on 5th July 1933.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What law was passed on 14th July 1933?

A

The Law against the Formation of New Parties, outlawing all non-Nazi political parties.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What did it mean for the Weimar .
Republic to be a federal state?

A

A large number of powers were devolved to state governments, with each state controlling its own police force, for example.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

How much territory and population did Prussia cover?

A

60% of territory.
50% of population.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What did the size of Prussia mean for its government?

A

It could operate largely independently of the central government.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What did Papen do to the Prussian state government in July 1932?

A

He had dismissed it and a Reich Commissioner had been appointed to run the state.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Who held the position of Prussian Reich Commissioner in Hitler’s cabinet after January 1933? What did this do?

A

Hermann Goering.

It paved the way for the centralisation of power within the whole Reich.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What did the Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich mean?

A

It took the centralisation process a step further, state assemblies were abolished and the governments of states were formally subordinated to the government of the Reich.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

When was the Reichsrat abolished?

A

14th February, 1934.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What were State level Nazi leaders known as?

A

Gauleiters.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What did Gauleiters want to do?

A

Control local government, with many taking over the roles of Reich Governors in their local areas.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

What did the Nazis do to oust political opponents from local positions and replace them with Nazi members?

A

They instituted violent campaigns.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

What was the status of civil servants under the Kaiser?

A

They were almost on par with that of soldiers. The higher ranks of the Civil Service were almost always recruited from the aristocracy.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

What views did most higher ranks of the civil servants have?

A

Conservative-minded ones, closely identifying with the authoritarian values of the Second Empire.

They would not embrace the democratic views of the Weimar Republic, with many welcoming Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

What did the higher-ranked civil servants believe would happen with Hitler’s appointment?

A

That the more conservative ministers in Hitler’s cabinet would restrain the Nazis and allow the Civil Service to continue serving the state in the same way it had done in the reign of the Kaiser.

30
Q

What did the civil servants fail to understand about the Nazis?

A

That they would not be bound by the rules and regulations that civil servants had to follow.

31
Q

How did the Nazis regard the Civil Service?

A

As an obstacle to their exercise of dictatorial power.

32
Q

What were many local officials forced to do?

A

Resign and be replaced by Nazi Party appointees, most of whom had no experience in government.

33
Q

What did the Nazis start to do to ensure that civil servants were carrying out the orders of the regime?

A

Started placing Party officials in government offices.

34
Q

What was the Nazis’ main instrument of terror and violence in January 1933?

A

The SA.

35
Q

What was one of the immediate results of the Nazis coming to power?

A

SA membership grew from around 500,000 in January 1933 to around 3 million a year later.

36
Q

What was another result regarding the SA when the Nazis came to power?

A

All their activities gained legal authority.

37
Q

What was merged in February 1933 and what did they become known as?

A

The SA and the Stahlhelm, the largest paramilitary organisation in Weimar Germany.

They became known as the ‘auxiliary police’.

38
Q

What orders were issued to the regular police regarding the auxiliary police?

A

That they were forbidden from interfering with SA activities.

39
Q

What was the negatives of the SA violence for Hiter?

A

It was usually unplanned, uncoordinated and piecemeal, but during the period of February to June 1933 Hitler was prepared to go along with it.

40
Q

What did Hitler’s speech in July 1933 warn?

A

That the SA could become the target for Nazi violence and terror, though he did not act on this for a further 11 months.

41
Q

What did Hitler declare after the Law against Formation of New Parties in July 1933?

A

That the Nazi revolution was over. He had acquired dictatorial powers, all other parties had been removed and the process of Gleichschaltung had been completed.

42
Q

Who was leader of the SA?

A

Ernst Rohm.

43
Q

What did Ernst Rohm believe about the Nazi revolution when Hitler declared it over?

A

That it was far from complete and the SA were determined to continue with their violence until achieving the Second Revolution.

44
Q

What was a main priority of Rohm’s?

A

For the SA to become the nucleus of new national militia that would eventually absorb and replace the existing army.

45
Q

What was the combined SA and Stahlhelm membership?

A

4.5 million, already vastly outnumbering that of the army.

46
Q

What had happened to the role of the SA since the summer of 1933?

A

It had declined and in August 1933 they had lost their status as ‘auxiliary police’ and were subject to stricter regulations over their power to arrest.

47
Q

What was the only institution with the power to remove Hitler from office by summer 1933?

A

The army.

48
Q

Who was the army loyal to?

A

President Hindenburg, not Hitler, meaning it was not a Nazified institution.

49
Q

What were the ambitions of the SA and Rohm regarded as by the army leaders?

A

A major threat.

50
Q

What had SA units begun to do by summer of 1934?

A

Stopping army convoys and confiscating weapons and supplies.

51
Q

How did pressure regarding the SA increase on Hitler on June 17th 1934?

A

Papen had made a major speech where he criticised Nazi excesses, calling an end to terror.

He also called for Hitler to clamp down on the SA’s demand for a Second Revolution.

His speech had Hindenburg’s approval which heightened the pressure upon Hitler.

52
Q

What did Blomberg threaten to do with Hindenburg’s support?

A

Declare martial law and give the army power to deal with the SA.

53
Q

What did Hitler order in June 1934?

A

He knew he could not delay taking action against the SA any longer, and declared a ruthless purge on the SA on June 30th 1934, known as the Night of the Long Knives.

54
Q

How many were executed and arrested on the Night of the Long Knives?

A

84 executed, another 1000 or more arrested.

55
Q

Who were the main victims of the Night of the Long Knives?

A

Rohm and other SA leaders, but Hitler took the opportunity to eliminate other opponents.

56
Q

What other big victims of the Night of the Long Knives were there?

A
  • General Schleicher
  • Gregor Strasser
  • Gustav von Kahr, who’d had a key role in suppressing the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923
57
Q

What happened to Papen after the Night of the Long Knives?

A

Many of his staff were executed but he was spared death, and instead placed upon house arrest.

Whatever powers he still had were destroyed.

58
Q

What did Hitler say when he addressed the Night of the Long Knives to the Reichstag on July 13th?

A
  • That he accepted full responsibility for the executions.
  • That he was acting as ‘supreme judge’ of the German people and had been compelled to act in order to save the country from an SA coup
59
Q

Who’s support did Hitler gain after the Night of the Long Knives?

A

The army’s and public support for his decisive actions.

60
Q

What happened to SA membership after June 1934?

A

It declined to 1.6 million members and had lost its political power without Rohm as leader.

61
Q

Who controlled the terror machine after June 1934?

A

The SS, but in a much more systematic and controlled manner than the SA had done.

62
Q

What happened to Hindenburg in the summer of 1934?

A

He became bedridden, dying of lung cancer.

63
Q

What became a matter of urgency for Hitler upon the news that Hindenburg was dying? Why?

A

Who was going to succeed him as President.

Whoever was President would prevent Hitler from having absolute power, as the army owed allegiance to them and not to the Chancellor.

64
Q

What did Hitler aim to do with the roles of President and Chancellor?

A

Merge them to make him the undeniable head of government and the State.

65
Q

What did Hindenburg express in his political will?

A

His preference for a restoration of the monarchy.

66
Q

What had Hindenburgs concerns over the SA before his death caused him to consider?

A

Handing power to the army and dismissing Hitler.

67
Q

What was the trigger for Hitler to launch the purge upon the SA?

A

That once Hindenburg had died he would not be able to count on the army’s support if he had not brought the SA under control.

With the SA threat removed, army leaders and Blomberg had no objection to Hitler succeeding Hindenburg as President.

68
Q

When did Hindenburg die and what happened within an hour of his death?

A

2nd August 1934, and the announcement that the role of President and Chancellor would be merged together.

69
Q

What did the officers and soldiers of the army do on the day of Hindenburg’s death?

A

Take an oath of allegiance to Hitler.

70
Q

What was held on 19th August 1934?

A

A plebiscite to get the German people’s seal of approval on Hitler’s appointment as Fuhrer.

71
Q

What was the result of the August 19th Plebiscite?

A

89.9% of the voters had approved, with a surprising 10.1% having the courage to vote no.

nazis; the nazi dictatorship (7 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions