Hitler’s Consolidation Of Power (March 1933-Aug 1934)

Question 1

When was Ernst Rohm murdered by 2 SS officers in the NOTLK?

Answer 1

30th June 1934

Question 2

Who was the army (Wehrmacht) loyal to when Hitler came to power?

Answer 2

Hindenburg, not Hitler

Question 3

How did Hitler view conventional German political parties?

Answer 3

As election machines with narrow, sectional interests (the interests of their party) rather than the interests of the whole nation

Question 4

Which parties did Hitler believe could be in the Volksgemeinschaft and why?

Answer 4

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)

Question 5

How did Hitler going about creating a one party state?

Answer 5

. 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

Question 6

How did the Weimar Republic not have centralised power?

Answer 6

It was a federal state - large numbers of powers were given to state governments e.g each state could control its own police force

Question 7

How had Prussia been different to the rest of the German states in the Weimar Republic but how did this change under the Nazis?

Answer 7

. 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

Question 8

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?

Answer 8

. 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

Question 9

How was the nazi party organised at a local level?

Answer 9

. 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

Question 10

How important were the civil service in the second Reich (under the kaiser) and what were their beliefs?

Answer 10

. 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

Question 11

How did the civil servants misunderstand their role under the Nazis?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

How did the Nazis regard the civil service?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

How did the Nazis coordinate and control the civil service when they rose to power?

Answer 13

. 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

Question 14

Was the SA important to the Nazis at the onset of the regime gaining power in 1933?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

How did the SA gain importance at the start of the Nazi’s power?

Answer 15

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

Question 16

When did Hitler start to question the usefulness of the SA to the Nazi regime?

Answer 16

. 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.

Question 17

When did Hitler declare that the legal revolution was over?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

How had Hitler won the support of the German army?

Answer 18

Ensured that he would restore the army to its former glory by breaking the ‘shackles’ of the TOV, limiting the army to 100k men

Question 19

How did Hitler win over the support of German businessmen who funded his rise to power?

Answer 19

Promised to get rid of the trade unions and Marxist agitators that threatened the interests of these conservative elite businessmen

Question 20

Why did the average German citizen have a problem with the SA?

Answer 20

their gangster like behaviour:
. Extorting money from local shop owners
. Driving around in fancy cars, showing off
. Getting drunk
. Beating people up for fun

Question 21

How were the SA a threat to the conservative elite that Hitler relied on to maintain power now that the Nazi revolution was over?

Answer 21

. 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

Question 22

How did Rohm and the SA want to go further after the Nazi legal revolution was deemed over?

Answer 22

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