Hitler’s Consolidation Of Power (March 1933-Aug 1934) Flashcards
When was Ernst Rohm murdered by 2 SS officers in the NOTLK?
30th June 1934
Who was the army (Wehrmacht) loyal to when Hitler came to power?
Hindenburg, not Hitler
How did Hitler view conventional German political parties?
As election machines with narrow, sectional interests (the interests of their party) rather than the interests of the whole nation
Which parties did Hitler believe could be in the Volksgemeinschaft and why?
Only the Nazi party as Hitler believed the Nazi party, even though a minority party, were made up of superior Germans who were committed to sacrificing on behalf of the German people (hence a sense of community in the Volksgemeinschaft)
How did Hitler going about creating a one party state?
. KPD had been effectively banned since the Reichstag fire and the communists who hadn’t been arrested or sent to concentrated camps had fled into exile
. SPD continued to voice opposition to the regime until it was outlawed as a threat to the Nazis on 22 June 1933
. DNVP (27 June) and centre party (5 July) dissolved themselves as they realised their days of political presence were numbered
. 14th July 1933 - Law against the Formation of New Parties outlawed all non-Nazi parties
How did the Weimar Republic not have centralised power?
It was a federal state - large numbers of powers were given to state governments e.g each state could control its own police force
How had Prussia been different to the rest of the German states in the Weimar Republic but how did this change under the Nazis?
. It compromised 60% of Germany and 50% of the population, meaning its state government could operate largely independently in the federal government, away from the central government part of a federal government
. Therefore, for the Nazis to be able to centralise power in Germany they needed Nazi-control in Prussia
. July 1932 - Prussian state government dismissed by Papen and a Reich commissioner was appointed to run the state, which was held by Goering in the Hitler cabinet
What were the laws passed from 1933-34 for Hitler to centralise power in Germany, making sure the central Nazi government could oversee and control the whole of Germany?
. 31st march 1933 - first law for the coordination of the federal states
. 7th April 1933 - second law for the coordination of the federal states
. 30th January 1934 - law for the reconstruction of the Reich
. 14th February 1934 - Reichsrat abolished
How was the nazi party organised at a local level?
. Gauleiters controlled local governments and many took over the roles of Reich governors (national leaders) within their areas
. Nazis initiated violent campaigns to remove political opponents from important government positions such as mayors, replacing them with Nazi party nominees
How important were the civil service in the second Reich (under the kaiser) and what were their beliefs?
. Civil servants were on the same level as soldiers
. Higher ranking civil servants mainly came from aristocracy (high class/social rank)
. Civil servants closely identified with the authorisation values of the second Reich
. They were mainly conservative-minded, rejecting the idea of democratic values in the Weimar Republic
This meant that many of them welcomed Hitler’s appointment
How did the civil servants misunderstand their role under the Nazis?
Civil servants misunderstood their extent of power under Nazi rule
. Believed the conservative ministers in the Hitler cabinet would restrain/contain the nazis from establishing radical power
. The civil service believed they would continue to serve the state in the same way that they previously did with the kaiser
- the role of the civil service was towards the state, not a political party.
. The civil servants failed to realise that the Nazis wouldn’t be bound by the rules of the civil service and they had much more radical intentions
How did the Nazis regard the civil service?
As an obstacle to the establishment of dictatorial power. Civil servants had to conform to Nazi beliefs and many didn’t, hence the need for the restoration of the professional civil service in 1933 to show the importance of conforming to Nazi rule and ideology in government
How did the Nazis coordinate and control the civil service when they rose to power?
. Many local officials forced to resign and replaced by Nazi party appointees (many of whom had no experience in government)
. SA placed party officials in government offices to ensure the civil servants were carrying out orders of the Nazis
Was the SA important to the Nazis at the onset of the regime gaining power in 1933?
Yes, they were the main instrument of terror to make a statement to the German population that the Nazis were in charge now, making sure they eliminated all political opposition and established complete control.
Useful period: Feb-June 1933
How did the SA gain importance at the start of the Nazi’s power?
February 1933 - SA and Stalhelm were merged into ‘auxiliary’ police, giving the activities of the SA legal authority as orders were given to the regular police not to interfere with SA activities
When did Hitler start to question the usefulness of the SA to the Nazi regime?
. When the SA violence against Jews and political components became uncoordinated and chaotic (clearly more ‘thuggish’)
. Nazi were worried that the thuggish nature of the SA would cause them to directly attack the state, when Nazis relied on these conservative forces such as the German army to maintain control at this time when he hadn’t completed established full dictatorial power.
Essentially, violence in its chaotic form was rising from the SA and made the Nazi party seem like a bit of a mess in controlling Germany. The SA became a bad image for the Nazis and the Nazis didn’f want to alienate the elitist support they needed to keep themselves in power.
When did Hitler declare that the legal revolution was over?
After the passing of the law against the formation of new parties
. Hitler had acquired dictatorial powers
. All parties had been banned or dissolved themselves
How had Hitler won the support of the German army?
Ensured that he would restore the army to its former glory by breaking the ‘shackles’ of the TOV, limiting the army to 100k men
How did Hitler win over the support of German businessmen who funded his rise to power?
Promised to get rid of the trade unions and Marxist agitators that threatened the interests of these conservative elite businessmen
Why did the average German citizen have a problem with the SA?
their gangster like behaviour:
. Extorting money from local shop owners
. Driving around in fancy cars, showing off
. Getting drunk
. Beating people up for fun
How were the SA a threat to the conservative elite that Hitler relied on to maintain power now that the Nazi revolution was over?
. Arrogant SA, led by Rohm, wanted a people’s army to replace the traditional Germany army
- this directly conflicted with the traditional Germany army
. The SA’s talk of a second revolution made them sound like Marxists themselves, worrying the Nazi businessmen supporting Hitler
How did Rohm and the SA want to go further after the Nazi legal revolution was deemed over?
Desired a ‘second revolution’ to destroy Jews, communists, churches, military.
The SA became very radical and were critical of the Nazi policy of cooperation with the elites
Why did SA members become dissilusioned and restless with the Nazis?
. August 1933 - lost their role as ‘auxiliary police’ and were under stricter regulations on their powers to make arrests
. November 1933 election campaign didn’t require SA violence and intimidation as there was only one party now
. The SA were wondering where the socialist part of the NSDAP had gone that promised a revolution from below (reforms to help workers and equal distribution of German wealth)
The SA had no outlet for their violence now and they turned to drunken brawls, making them do more harm than good to the Nazi party
How big were the SA and Stahlhelm combined by January 1934?
4.5 million members
How did von Papen exacerbate tensions between the SA and the German army?
June 17th 1934: Papen delivers speech at Marburg university
. Mentioned rowdy SA behaviour and the excessive control of the Nazis such as strict press censorship
. Papen warned of the threat of Rohm’s potential second revolution
The crowd cheered Papen and it seemed as though support for the Nazis was waning because of the SA’s brutality, forcing hitler to swiftly act against the SA in the NOTLK
The fact that the speech was radio broadcasted, despite Goebbels trying to censor it, allowed Hindenburg to hear it, which would have worried him as he had always been sceptical of the Nazi regime
Who was Edgar Julius Jung and was he successful in opposing the Nazi regime?
. Primarily Papen’s speechwriter for the Marburg uni speech
. Opposed national socialism
. Part of a resistance cell that warned German people before they were going to be arrested by the Nazis
. Wrote the Marburg uni speech but only showed it to Papen before he arrived so that he couldn’t tweak the message as Jung had written it in a way that would have damaged the Nazi’s reputation
When did it become absolutely clear to Hitler that he had to purge the SA?
June 21st 1934: 4 days after the Marburg speech, Hitler visits Hindenburg who tells him that the SA problem must be resolved or Hindenburg would use his presidential power to have Blomberg declare martial law, where the German army would take over the country and deal with the SA problem themselves
- Hitler needed the loyalty of the army to consolidate power so couldn’t risk martial law
- martial law would dismiss Hitler from office and hand power over to the army
How did Hitler reassure the German army (Reichswehr) that the SA wouldn’t be a threat to their authority?
February 1934 - meeting attended by Rohm and Blomberg where Hitler informed Rohm that the SA wouldn’t serve a military role in Germany but would be limited to certain political functions, with the Germany army being the main military presence in Germany
Hitler did this to keep the loyalty of the army on his side who he needed to establish complete power after Hindenburg’s death, making sure he hasn’t made enemies with the conservative elites
How did Rohm respond to the February 1934 meeting with Hitler and Blomberg in private?
Privately called Hitler a traitor. Rohm was completely loyal to Hitler in public but became disillusioned in private, increasingly becoming frustrated with Hitler reducing the influence of the SA.
The Gestapo’s secret surveillance system kept a file on Rohm and picked up on these comments, revealing to Hitler that Rohm wasn’t loyal and giving even more reason to purge the SA soon as they became more and more of a threat
How did the German army leaders see the SA as a huge threat by summer 1934?
SA units began stopping army convoys and confiscating weapons and supplies, seemingly setting up a potential revolution
When was the NOTLK?
30th June 1934
How did Himmler and Goering work together (surprisingly) to get Hitler to act quicker against the SA?
Created a mix of false rumours and half truths about Rohm such as that Rohm was planning a revolution with the SA to seize power
- these leading Nazis were aware that Hitler was close to Rohm and would need to really kick a bit of urgency into Hitler to purge the SA
Did Hitler keep the NOTLK quiet or did he accept responsibility and why?
Addressed Reichstag on 13th July 1934, accepting full responsibility for the purge.
- he claimed to have done it to save Germany from an SA
He was so open about it because it secured the army’s support and got Hitler public support for acting swiftly and decisively against the threat of the SA
How many victims were there in the night of the long knives?
At least 84 murdered and over 1000 arrested
Who were some notable victims of the NOTLK?
. Rohm
. Von Schleicher
. Gregor Strasser
. Edgar Jung
. Von Kahr
What happened to SA membership after the NOTLK?
Sharply declined
By October 1935: only 1.6 million and were just seen as thugs as without Rohm they didn’t hold any political power
How did terror and violence become used differently by the Nazis after the SA were purged?
Terror was put into the hands of the SS under Himmler, who were more focused on carrying out controlled and systematic terror as to not alienate support for the Nazis
The SS were the ones who carried out the purge of the SA, showing their first display of systematic violence and terror
When Hindenburg was still alive, who did the German army’s loyalty lie with?
Hindenburg, not with Hitler
Hitler needed the support of the army so that when Hindenburg died, the army wouldn’t have any objections to Hitler succeeding Hindenburg as president
- he got this proper loyalty after the NOTLK
What did Hindenburg’s political will claim he wanted for the future of Germany?
He expressed his preference for a restoration of the monarchy
How old was Hindenburg by the summer of 1934 and what condition was he in?
86, dying of lung cancer
When did Hindenburg die and how did Hitler react to it?
2nd august 1934
- Hitler didn’t call a presidential election, within an hour of his death it was announced that the presidency would be merged with the chancellery, with Hitler obtaining his official title as the Fuhrer
- on the same day, officers and soldiers of the Reichswehr took an oath of allegiance to Hitler
How did Hitler get the German people’s official approval of Hitler officially becoming the Fuhrer?
19th august 1934 - plebiscite held for approval of Hitler becoming Fuhrer and Reich chancellor
. 89.9% approved
. Surprisingly, 10.1% had the courage to vote ‘no’, even though the terror state was well-established by this point
