hitlers consolidation of power

Question 1

31st March 1933

Answer 1

first law for the co-ordination of the federal states

Question 2

what did first law for the co-ordination of the federal states do?

Answer 2

dissolved all lander (state governments) and dissolved regional parliaments and reformed them with ‘acceptable majorities’ which meant that the Nazis dominated regional governments leading them to have more control

Question 3

7th April 1933

Answer 3

law for the restoration of a professional civil service

Question 4

law for the restoration of a professional civil service

Answer 4

enabled the ‘co-ordination’ of the civil service and authorised the removal of communists and Jews from all these positions, many civil servants from aristocratic families resigned and were replaced by Nazis this meant that Nazis were now in positions of power not just bureaucratically but also in school, courts, and other professional jobs

Question 5

14th July 1933

Answer 5

• law against formation of new parties

Question 6

• law against formation of new parties

Answer 6

• all non-Nazi political entities were disbanded or dissolved, activists fled abroad, most went underground and. In the Nazi Volkesmeinshaft policy it was clear that there can be no other party other than the Nazi party made up of superior Germans committed to fighting and sacrificing on behalf of the German population, according to Hitler the party was the ‘racial core’ of Germany.

Question 7

30th January 1934

Answer 7

law for the reconstruction of the Reich

Question 8

law for the reconstruction of the Reich

Answer 8

centralisation process, state assemblies abolished and subordination of the governments of the state to the Reich. Rivalry and tension between state, governments, and Reich governors continued. Meant that Hitlers power was stronger due to competition and means that there is constant worry, and everyone is circling around Hitlers decision making- hoping to impress by obeying.

Question 9

night of long knives?

Answer 9

30 June 1934

Question 10

Hitlers aims- night of long knives

Answer 10

Consolidation of power, establishing one-party state and staying in power as Fuhrer, eliminating all threats to power and quelling calls of a second revolution as he understands that the people do not want a second war and the country is not stable enough yet. Aims to take control over both sides threatening him.

Question 11

how many SA members by 1934

Answer 11

3,000,000 members

Question 12

the threat from the left?

Answer 12

working-class membership, often young and unemployed. Rohm-radical extremist who disliked bourgeois society and wanted to reorder Germany. Placed more emphasis on socialist elements and wanted to replace the army with the SA and create a second revolution. Rohm called for a ‘national socialist revolution’ and publicly disagreed with Hitler over his involvement to ‘reactionaries’ he wanted a political role for the SA and more socio-economic reforms. SA were restless, lacking an official outlet of violence and rank resentment this led to drunken brawls which dissatisfied army generals and embarrassed Hitler. Despite Hitlers attempt in the winter of 1933 to put Rohm in the cabinet and calling a meeting with army members tensions did not ease leading to Rohm’s execution along with many others.

Question 13

threat from the right

Answer 13

Army- could unseat Hitler. They were loyal to Hindenburg and suspicious of Hitler. They had close ties with powerful civil servants and the Junker. The army possessed vital skills for successful foreign policy aims. They had an agreement with Hitler that as long as he stayed out of their leadership, they would stay neutral-(1933 pact), the SA demanding to merge them meant that Hitler would lose the neutrality of support in the army, without the army he would not be able to have power.

Question 14

hindenburgs reaction to LONK?

Answer 14

President Hindenburg Germany’s highly revered military hero, sent a telegram expressing his “profoundly felt gratitude” and congratulated Hitler for “nipping treason in the bud.”

Question 15

how is the LONK significant?

Answer 15

• justified by the reichstag- marks end of all democratic accountancy.
• creation of a Nazi dictatorship and achieving Gleichschaltung
  -Marked the emergence of the SS – the party’s elite institution of terror.
  The SA was virtually disarmed and played no further political role, and the army endorsed the Nazi regime. They now took public oaths of loyalty to Hitler (rather than country).
  -Hitler created a law (via the power from enabling act) to make sure he didn’t get punished by the law, he legalized his actions

Question 16

death of Hindenburg

Answer 16

august 1934

Question 17

why was death of Hindenburg significant?

Answer 17

As long as Hindenburg lived, Hitler’s power was not absolute. The army owed allegiance to the President, not to Chancellor Hitler, and that President, with the support of the army, could theoretically remove Hitler from power.

Question 18

Why did the German people trust Hindenburg?

Answer 18

His status within Germany as a hero of the First World war (as military leader and victor at the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914) in addition, for many Germans, his: conservative, nationalistic, authoritarian, monarchist and anti-Treaty of Versailles politics, meant that he was a figure of continuity when so much had changed, including the whirlwind comings and goings of chancellors and governments.

Question 19

hitler as furrier law

Answer 19

‘Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich’

Question 20

significance of ‘Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich’

Answer 20

By becoming Führer, he automatically became the Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr,

• By removing the distinction between the head of state and head of government, it made a nonsense of the constitutional structures of the Republic
• With Hindenburg dead, the opposition parties broken, and the Reichstag sidelined, there was nobody to oppose Hitler

Question 21

What led to the confusion in the 1933 nazi government?

Answer 21

• Hitlers personal rule of the one-party state, he produced an opaque network of incompetency. The structure of the third Reich was complicated e.g., state machinery of the Weimar republic remained as did institutions from the creation of imperial Germany. Created a huge mess of Bureaucracy.
• Hitler disliked paperwork and day to day governing, he also preferred to live in Berchtesgaden (mountain Bavarian retreat) so there was a constant scramble to be near him
• He pushed every Nazi run institution to the top which created a confusion in the bureaucracy, he doesn’t remove anything like the Weimar constitution he only adds things onto the top and this leads to chaos.

Question 22

jan 1933 limitations to hitlers power

Answer 22

• Hindenburg had the final say in constitutional matters and the army were loyal to him, not to Hitler (however civil servants’ main supporters were restricted by Hitler)
• A number of political parties that were independent of the regime , some of which such as the SPD were prepared to continue their voice of opposition still, despite persecutions and attacks. However they would soon be neutralised
• Although the Nazis effectively controlled the state governments in Prussia, the largest of all federal states in Germany, elected governments in other states were under the control of other parties

Question 23

How can creating confusion have strengthened Hitlers authority as Dietrich claims?

Answer 23

• Creates a cult of personality, everyone wants to get close to him- it creates so much competition and fights between leaders which means that Hitlers power is centralised, and he is who everyone is going to- taking away power and knowledge from the people only serves to make him stronger.
• polycractic system- competition and constant worry means obedience
• other people can take the blame for mistakes while hitler can take credit for successful policies

Question 24

1933 pact

Answer 24

Ian Kershaw- industrialists and the army for mutual support