Life in Nazi Germany Flashcards
How did the appeal of Hitler himself help Nazis gain popularity?
- He was a powerful speaker who was years ahead of his time as a communicator
- He ran for president in 1932, winning 13 million votes to Hindenburg’s 19 million
- Despite his defeats, the campaign raised his profile hugely
- Using films, radio and records he brought his message to millions and travelled by plane on a hectic tour of rallies all over Germnay.
How did the role of the SA help Hitler gain power?
- The Nazi Party was seen as a party of order in a time of chaos
- There were frequent street battles between communist gangs and the police
- The SA and SS gave ab impression of discipline and order
- Most welcomed the idea the SA were prepared to fight communists
- The SA were better organised ad ususally had police and army support attacking opponents and disrupted meeting
How did the presidential elections of 1932 help Hitler gain power?
- Bruning called an election in 1930, which saw Nazi seats in the Reichstag grow from 12 to 107
- Bruning relied on Article 48 to do anything so Weimar lost more popularity
- 1932, President was re-elected and Hitler ran against Hindenburg
- Nazi methods were so successful Hin. failed to secure a majority, which led to a 2nd election, seeing Hitler’s support grow once more with the help of Goebbles making the elections a propeganda success
How did propeganda help Hitler gain power?
- Some of the Nazi’s generalised beliefs were:
- Talked about returning to traditional values
- They criticised the democratic system of the Weimar and failure to solve the nation’s economic problems
- They promised employment and economic strength
- Cited Jews, Communists, Weimar politicians and ToV to blame
How did the Nazi’s public manipulation help them gain power?
- These generalised beliefs made it difficult to crtitique and appealed to large sections of society
- When a Nazi policy was criticised likely to be dropped (like dropping the plan to nationalise industry, criticised by industiralists)
- Goebbles used propeganda to depict Hitler as the German saviour
- The rallies impressed people with their energy, enthusiasm and size
How did the failure of the Weimar Democracy help Hitler to gain power?
- Politicians struggled to tackle the Great Depression
- Chancellor Heinrich Bruning made tough economic policies in 1930s
- He cut gov. spending and welfare benefits, urging idividual sacrifices*
- In protests, the SDP pulled out of the Reichstag and Bruning relied on President Hindenburg’s use of Article 48 to get measures passed
- They decided to call new elections in 1930 and gave Nazis the chance to expolit fear.
- This resulted in another didvided Reichstag, problems continuing 1931-32
- This gave the impression that the democracy involved politicians squabbling over jobs in the cabinet while unemployment needed to 6 million
- The average German’s income had fallen by 40% since 1929
- The Reichstag met fewer and fewer times: democracy was a mockery
- Germans wanted a new, strong, single leader
*some historians think he was deliberatley making it worse to get international community to cancel reperations
How did Hitler become chancellor?
- To pass a law in the Reichstag, you had to have support of the majority
- In Jan 1933, over 50% of seats were against Nazis
- This made it hard for Hitler to pass laws
- He was made chancellr on the 13th Jan 1933 because:
- Von Papen (ex chancellor) publiclly supported the Nazis (Hitler promised to make him vice-president in Nazi gov.)
- Hindenburg appoints Hitler to try to gain popularity and contorl growing number of Nazis: 3 out of 12 people in cabinet were nazis
- Germans supported Nazis out of desperation: 6 million unemployed in 1932 and July 1932 Naizs had 37% seats
- Hitler then used this power to call a general election for March 1933 (to gain more seats)
What happened a week before the general election Hitler had called as Chancellor?
- Feb 27th 1933 the Reichstag was on fire
- Found Dutch communist Von Der Lubbe inside and arrested for arson
- The next day, Hitler persuaded Hin. to sign a document putting Germany in a state of emergency
- Basic civil rights were therefore suspended and 4000 communists arrested
- SA killed 51 Nazi opponents with no police opposition: Hitler got power and Nazi seats increased from 34% to 45%
‘Decree for the protection of the people and the state’ allows emergency control
What happened on March 23rd 1933?
- The enabling Act passed
- This was a constitution amendment which gives Hitler the power to pass laws without the involvement of the Reichstag- essentially giving hin full control
- It would last a four year period and be renewed by the Reichstag
- Hitlerwould have greater power than the President
What did the enabling act consist of?
- Communists were not allowed to vote in the chamber
- Made promises to Catholic Centre Party to secure their vote
- SA intimidated members as they entered
- Absebtees counted as present and no communist votes meant lower majority, need less votes to get a majority
What did Hitler do concerning trade unions to secure power?
May 1933 Hitler ended trade unions
Meant that workers no longer had a voice and couldn’t pressure parliment
Very popular with large business owners: no striking workers
Anyone who went on strike would be sent to a concentration camp for political re-education
When did Hitler ban other political parties?
July 1933
He used the Enabling Act to make a law that no other parties could form
Law also restricted all existing parties- they could do nothing
By June all parties were resolved, Nazis won 95% in Nov election
When did Hitler ban Lander and why?
Jan 1934
These political organisations had a Nazi approved minister until they were completely removed
The Nazis now controlled every level of gov.
What does fuhrerprinzip mean?
What does Gleichschaltung mean?
‘leader principle’, Fuhrer’s word is final and correct
Gleichschaltung: Bringing people to an identical way of thinking
How did unemployment rates change during the Great Depression?
- 1933: 6 million unemployed
- 1935: 2 million unemployed
- 1939: none unemployed
How did Strength through Joy (KDF) help deal with the Great Depression.
- Set up by the Nazi German Labour Front, it was a programme of rewards for workers with activities such as cheap cinema tickets or culture trips
- Weekly saving schemes were set up to help every family buy a car or go on holiday
- These luxuries were destoyed by the Great Depression so this would boost German pride although many of what the schemes offered did not actually come true due to WW2
How did the Nazi policy of rearmament help deal with the Great Depression?
Nazis wanted the nation to always be ready for war. This meant that production increased rapidly, allowing large businesses to make money and employ more people.
They coal and chemical industry doubled between 1933-36 while oil, iron and steel trebled
All of this was needed to build tanks and the Luftwaffe- a world class air force that would be a source of national pride.
How did the German Labour Service deal with the Great Depression in Nazi Germany?
Was created for young men to do manual labour jobs. From 1935, all men between 18-25 had to do six months service. They built motorways, wore uniform and were drilled like the army for very low pay, but it helped to improve morale of a lot of working class men who had no other work. This organistation also acted as a trade union for industries after they were banned.
How did conscription help deal with the Great Depression in Nazi Germany?
Despite going against the ToV. Hitler re-introduced conscription. This meant that every German man between 18-40 had to join the army for 2 years. Teh army grew from 100,000 men to 1.4 million between 1933-39. This helped to reduce unemployment and also restore national pride after the humilitation of WW1.
How did Invisible unemployment help the Nazis deal with unemployment?
Another way that the Nazi helped to reduce unemployment was to not include certain people in their fgures. This was known as invisible unemployment. When counting the amount of unemployed they woud not count:
* Those forced to join the Rich Labour Service
* Jews dismissed from the gov. jobs
* Women who were married with children
* Anyone in a concentration camp
What did Hitler first set up for Farmers?
The farmers had been an important factor in the Nazis’ rise to power. Hitler didn’t forget this and intorduced a series of measures to help them.
In September 1933 he intorduced the Reich Food Estate. This set up central boards to buy agricultural produce from farmers and distribute it to markets across Germany. It gave the peasant farmers a guaranteed market for their goods at guaranteed prices.
What was the second thing Hitler set up for farmers?
The second main measure was the Reich Entailed Farm Law. It gave peasants state protection for their farms: banks could not seizee thier land if they could not pay loans or mortgages. This ensured that peasants’ farms stayed in their hands.
What secondary aim was their in the Reich Entailed Farm Law and wht was its purpose?
The Reich Entailed Farm Law also had a racial aim. Part of the Nazi philosophy was ‘Blood and Soil’, the belief that the peasant farmers were the basis of Germany’s master race. They would be the balcbone of the New German Empire in the east. As a result, their way of lif had to be protected.
What were some of the negative impacts that the Nazi agricultural measures had?
Some peasants were not thrilled with the regime’s measures. The Reich Food Estate meant that efficient, go-ahead farmers were held back by having to work through the same processes as less efficient farmers.
Because of the Reich Entailed Farm Law, banks were unwilling to lend moeny to farmers.
It also meant that only the eldest child inherited the farm. As a result, many children of farmers left the land to work for better pay in Germany’s industires.
Rural depopulation ran about 3% per year in the 1930s, the exact opposite of the Nazis’ aims.
What was the outcome of the March 1933 election?
A coalition gov. formed since Nazis won 43.9% of votes and DNVP won 7.9%. Hitler now had control in the Reichstag
When was the Reichstag fire?
27th Feb 1933
Election then a week later on 5th March 1933
When was the Enabling Act proposed?
23rd March 1933
When did Nazis ban other parites?
14th July 1933
When did Nazis ban trade unions?
May 1933
When was the Night of Long Knives?
30th June 1934
What was the Night of Long Knives?
- Hitler used the SS (led by Himmler) to purge the SA
- 400 members of the SA were killed including Rohm (leader) and former chancellor Von Schleicher
What were the motives behind the Night of Long Knives?
- Rohm and the SA started to threaten Nazi power, Hitler preferred the smaller, more disciplined army under Himmler (SS)
- 9th April 1934 historians beleive the General Blomberg agreed to support Hitler as leader of Germany after Hindenburg if he reduced the SA’s power and grew the army under Blomburg
When did Hitler become Furher?
August 1934 following Hindenburg’s death, he started the ‘third reich’ (expected to last 1000 years)
Army swore personal oath of loyalty to Hitler
What was a Gauleiter?
A nazi in charge of a gaue (province) that would report to a Reichsleiter, who would report to Hitler, keeping the fuhrer updated and in power.
The law of the reconstruction of the reich gave Hitler…?
complete control over local governments in 1934
What was German faith like, and what was Hitler’s original response?
- Like much of Western Europe, Germany was mostly a Christian nation with two thirds of the nation being protestant and the rest Catholic
- Hitler knew that he couldn’t abolish religion but he also needed to ensure that it didn’t get in his way
- The Nazis did try to starts their own religion- The German Faith Movement in 1935 but only 5% of the population joined
What were judges like in Nazi Germany?
- All judges become members of the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of Law (NSRB)
- legal knowledge wasn’t required
What were people’s court like in Nazi Germany?
- Established in 1934 to hear cases on treason
- All verdicts looked over by party officials to ensure they were not lenient
Describe lawyers in Nazi Germany.
- Lawyers had to swear an oath to Hitler
- We must ‘strive as German jurists to follow the course of our Fuhrer to the end of our day’
Why did many catholics support Hitler?
saw him as an opposition to communism
Why did Hitler see the Catholic Church as a threat to the Nazi state?
- Catholics owed their 1st allegiance not to Hitler but to the Pope
- Hitler said people were either German or Christian not both
- There were Catholic Schools and youth organisations whose message conflicted nazism
Who did catholics support?
Catholics supported the centre party, which dissolved itself in 1933
What did Hitler sign in July 1933?
He signed the concordat as an attempt to cooperate with the Catholic Church
signed alongside Pope Pius XI
What did the concordat agree?
Pope agreed to stay out of politics if Nazis stayed out of the Catholic Church and schools
When did Hitler break the concordat and what did this lead to?
Within a few months, Hitler broke it:
* Priests were harassed and arrested- some ended up in camps
* Catholic schools were disrupted and then abolished
* Catholic youth movements were closed down
* Monastries were closed
Whne was the concordat signed and what was it called?
Reichskonkordat signed July 1933
What were Protestant views on Hitler?
Many opposed him, but some agreed and alled themselves German Christians and established the new Reich Church, hoping to combine all protestants under one Church
Who was the leader of the German Christians?
Ludwig Muller was a member of the NSDAP and became a Reich Bishop (Reichbischof), the Church’s national leader in Sept 1933
Who led the many devout Christians who rebuked Hitler?
- Pastor Martin Niemoller (a WW1 submarine commander)
- December 1933 they set up the Pastor’s Emergency League for those who opposed Hitler
What did Hitler say about opposition?
When an opponent declares, I will not come over to your side, I calmly say ‘your child already belongs to us’.
What controlled education before and after Hitler?
- Before Hitler, lander controlled their education system
- After coming to power, the Nazis established the Ministry for Science, Educstion and National Culture and took control of the education system
- Every child aged 6 to 14 had to be in school
- Girls and boys went to seperate schools
- Education was much more martial
When was membership in the German youth from the age of 10 made compulsory?
1936
By 1939, how many German boys aged 14 and over were members of the Hitler Youth?
90%
Why wa education so important for Nazis?
The thrid reich was to last for 1000 years
What was the Hitler Youth?
- Aim to prepare German boys to be future soldiers fit and war ready (so had at least an hour of PE a week)
- Boys wore military style uniforms
- Activities were centred on physical exercise and rifle practise (and political indoctrination)
What was the League of German Maidens?
- Aim was to preapre German girls for future motherhood
- Girls wore a uniform of a modest blue shirt, white blouse and marching shoes
- Undertook physical exercise but mostly learnt domestic skills
How did Nazis keep control through education?
- All teachers had to join the Nazi Teachers’ Association
- All pre-existing history books were destroyed and only taught Nazi glorified history
- Maths and science was taught in the context of warfare
- A new subject called Race study and ideology focused on studying the Aryan race nd eugenics
What did Goebbles say was the role of women in 1929?
The mission of women is to be beautiful and to bring children into the world
What did Gertrude Scholtz-Klink (Head of the Nazi Women’s organisation) say about the role of women?
It is the mission of women to minister in the home and in her profession to the needs to life from the first to the last moment of man’s existence
What were Nazi values for women?
- Hitler shared the popular traditional values for women
- He was also worried about falling birth rate in Grmany and how it would impact his future plans for world domination
- The Women’s Front (Frauenfront): all woen organisations were brought under one body as part of Gleichschaltung
What were women encouraged to do and not do?
- did not wear make up or style their hair (wear a bun or plaits)
- Be blonde, heavy hipped, and athletic (discouraged from slimming since hinder child-baring)
- wore flat shoes and a full skirt
- do not smoke
- do not work
- no interest in politics
How can work for women in Nazi Germany be summerised?
Kinder, Kurhe, Kirche
Children, kitchen, church
What happened in 1936 regarding women’s rights?
Afer 1936, women could not be judges or serve on juries
Women were also encouraged to leave their jobs and were forced out of jobs like doctors, civil servants and tachers for lower pay jobs
What happened concerning women in 1937?
From 1937, the Nazis had to reverse policies, since they began to rearm.
They abolished the marriage loans and introduced a compulsory duty year for all women entering employment
From 1937, how much did women entering employment increase?
from 11.6 million in 1933 to 14.6 million in 1939
When was the first concentration camp for women opened?
October 1933 at Moringen
When did Moringen prisoners go to Ravensbruck?
1939
How many prisoners were in Ravensbruck by 1939?
2000
