How The Nazis Controlled Germany Flashcards
How did the nazis use political control?
With a totalitarian dictatorship
What were the 4 ways that Nazis controlled power?
Political control
Lack of control
Violent control
Psychological control
What is a totalitarian dictatorship?
Government by a small unelected minority, with one man having absolute power
In order to control normal people, what did the nazis suspend?
Civil liberties
When was the enabling act?
23 March 1933
What did the decree of 28 feb 1933 do?
Gave hitler emergency powers
What was the major criticism of Weimar Republc in their last 2 years?
They didn’t have the interest of the people at hearts
How many votes were for the enabling act?
444
How many votes were against the enabling act?
94
What does Gleichschaltung mean?
Coordination of all state institutions under nazi control
When had hitler banned all other political parties?
July 1933
After the left wing parties were broken up, what needed to be dealt with?
Trade unions
What was the DAF?
German labour front
When was the DAF set up?
May 1933
What did the DAF do with trade unions?
It brought then all into their organisation
Who was Ernst Rohm
Leader of SA
How did Rohm feel about nazi Germany?
He didn’t like it
How did hitler deal with Rohm?
Plans were made to get rid of him, and the SA
What happened on night of the long knives?
Leading SA men and other Nazi opponents were murdered
Who planned Night Of The Long Knives?
Himmler and Goering
What is a purge?
Getting rid of unwanted people, usually by murdering them
What was the result of the NOTLK?
SA became a part of SS
Who ruled the SS?
Himmler
What does führer mean?
Leader
When was Himmler made head of police and SS?
1936
What was the euthanasia programme?
People with hereditary illnesses were killed
What was final solution?
Plan to kill all the Jews in Europe
What was the lebensborn programme?
Single German women would book themselves into hotels, to be made pregnant by SS men
What was the Waffen SS?
A second army that fought alongside the army
When was the waffen SS founded?
November 1940
What was the Gestapo?
Secret police
What was the SD?
The SS’ security service
How many agents did the Gestapo have?
Up to 30,000
What did the Gestapo rely on?
Informants
What were the Gestapo most successful in?
Breaking up dangerous resistance groups and rounding up those that took part in the July bomb plot
What was the July bomb plot?
The Kreisau circle planted a bomb in hitlers office. It killed several nazi party leaders but no Hitler
What were the Gauleiters of Poland told to do to their areas?
‘Germanise’ them, no questions asked
How was hitler and inactive dictator?
Nazi Germany was over governed, so Hitler could just take a step back
How did Hitler create a ‘people’s community’
Propaganda
How did newspapers have propaganda?
They were filled with horrible crimes of Jews, which weren’t actually committed
How was propaganda in films?
Good Germans would often overcome evil Jews in films
Did the economy improve in the 1930s?
Yes
What is a cult of personality?
A movement to portray the leader as all powerful
What was the Führer principle?
The idea that the leader knows best
How did the personality of Hitler become a part if everyday life?
The greeting changed from ‘hello’ to ‘Heil Hitler’
Who was the head of the ministry of propaganda?
Joseph Goebbels
What happened, in terms of views of hitler, when things went wrong in Germany?
Other nazis were blamed
What happened, in terms of views of Hitler, when things went well in Germany?
Hitler took credit
What was the Munich Agreement?
An agreement made by the UK, France, Italy and Germany. It gave Nazi Germany the parts of Czechoslovakia that Hitler claimed rightfully belonged to Germany
Why did poverty begin to get better in 1933?
The Great Depression was coming to an end
Why would a manual worker like the nazis?
Under Weimar, workers were at a large risk of losing their jobs. Under nazis, they had secure jobs
Why would a shopkeeper tolerate nazis?
Elimination of Jewish businesses meant less competition
Why would a soldier tolerate the nazis?
Hitler built up the armed forces and made them more important. In 1934, he prevented the SA taking place of the army
Why would an industrialist put up with nazis?
Trade unions were banned, and nazis needed many large contracts for re-armament
Why would a civil servant tolerate nazis?
They wanted to keep their jobs, and if they impressed the regime, they may get promotions
Why may farmers tolerate nazis?
The nazis passed laws to protect farmers with small farms, so the farms would be under the ownership of whoever farmed the land
How did Hitler act about Christianity?
He publicly stated that it was the foundation of the German state
Why would banning religion be a bad idea for nazis?
If people had a choice between their nation or their religion, they would choose religion
How did Hitler control religion?
He nationalised all the churches and took them under nazi control
When was the Reich church launched?
1933
What were the 3 categories of those who opposed the Nazi state?
Resistance
Opposition
Non conformism
Who were the Edelweiss Pirates?
Anti nazi group who visibly opposed the Nazi smartness by wearing scruffy clothes and having long hair
When did membership of Nazi youth organisations become law?
1939
What are asocials?
People who belong outside normal society
By nazis, what were Slavs in Eastern Europe seen as?
Inferior humans
By Nazis, what were Jews and blacks seen as?
Sub humans
What and when was the Law for the Restoration of the Civil Service?
April 1933, and it means that Jews could no longer work in the civil service
What and when were the Nuremberg laws?
September 1935, marriages between aryans and Jews were illegal, Aryans had to prove they were ‘pure’ before they could marry, and Jews were deprived of their German citizenship
What and when were the Laws on the Jewish Professions?
Jewish lawyers, doctors and dentists were forbidden to have Aryan clients
June 1938
What and when were the Laws on Jewish Identification?
October 1938
All Jews had to add ‘Israel’ or ‘Sarah’ to their names, and have a large red J in their passports
What and when was the Decree on The Economic Life of Jews?
Jews were forbidden from shops, businesses, schools, universities and leisure facilities
Who did the nazis sterilise?
Alcoholics, homosexuals, drug addicts, those with blindness, deafness and hereditary diseases
Who was Bishop Galen?
A bishop who spoke out against the euthanasia programme
Why wasn’t Bishop Galen persecuted?
He was a religious figure, it would have caused trouble
How many people were sterilised?
350,000
What is a pogrom?
A large scale act of violence
When was Kristallnacht?
9-10 November 1938
What was the official excuse for Kristallnacht?
A German diplomat was murdered by a French Jew in Paris
What happened in kristallacht?
A nationwide attack on Jewish people and property
How did the police act about Kristallnacht?
They didn’t intervene, unless Germans were in danger
How many synagogues were destroyed in Kristallnacht?
500
How many shops were destroyed in Kristallnacht?
1000
How many Jews were arrested in kristallnacht?
22,000
How did Jews did in Kristallnacht?
Murder and suicide
How was kristallnacht a turning point in nazi treatment of Jews?
It ended the nervousness that some nazi leaders had about radical policies to Jews
