Machinery of Terror Flashcards
Legal reform under Hitler - new courts
- New People’s courts and special courts were set up
- this allowed judges who went against the government’s wishes to be easily bypassed
Legal reform under Hitler - agencies outside of the law
- Gestapo and SS worked outside of the law
- these and other specialist agencies were given their own power to enforce policies
Legal reform under Hitler - punishment
- punishments were arbitrary in nature i.e. unrestricted and autocratic
- in some courts there was no right to appeal
Legal reform under Hitler - the oath of loyalty
- judges in place before Hitler’s rule had to take an oath of loyalty to Hitler
- their decisions had to reflect the will of the people under the new penal code
- these judges could be replaced
The Gestapo
- investigated crimes against the 3rd Reich, such as treason, spying, sabotage
- sent 1000s to concentration camp without a trial - placed in protective custody
- acted against Jews, left-wing, trade unionists, homosexuals, undesirables, and any critics of the regime
- the gestapo grew as racial legislation developed
The SS
- main instrument of terror
- had 240,000 members across a number of organisations by 1939
- organised extermination camps and controlled much of the conquered territories in WWII
Divisions of the SS
- Waffen SS - elidier military units, rivalled the Wehrmacht
- Death’s Head Units - ran concentration camps and Panzer units
- SS-WVHA - economic branch, ran over 150 firms
The SD
- internal security/secret service
- responsible for security of the 3rd Reich
- focused on info gathering
- investigated and rooted out enemies of the 3rd Reich
- no right to appeal if arrested by the SD
- public opinion was reported on by the SD
- there was an extensive network of informants working with the SD
- Heydrich, and therefore Himmler, oversaw the SD
The Police
- Orpo/Ordnungspolizei - municipal, conventional uninformed police
- Kripo/Kriminalpolizei - investigated ordinary crimes, wore plain clothes
- all lander forces were unified into a national force under Himmler in 1936
- Sipo combined the Kripo and the Gestapo
- Heydrich oversaw this
The extent of totalitarianism - a lack of totalitarianism
- some historians argue that the Gestapo was much weaker than previously through, relying more on its reputation and co-operation of the German people
- the Gestapo often relied upon denunciations of the German people due to a lack of staff
- for 65,000,000 people there was, at most, 30,000 Gestapo
The extent of totalitarianism - lack of opposition
- there are elements of opposition in almost any totalitarian state, with issue being how it is dealt with
- there were few instances of opposition, but these were isolated and low key
- there was very limited resistance to the regime since most Germans supported it or at least took no action against it
- opposition was sidelined by people’s courts and the direction for the judges to rule according to the will of the people
Small scale opposition to the totalitarian state
Political
- KPD and SPD propaganda had an effect from 1936 onwards after tactics were changed
Youth Movements
- Edelweiss Pirates
- Swing groups
Religious opposition
- Confessional church broke from Reich church
- Catholic Church openly criticised Nazi regime
The extent of totalitarianism in the German state
- one-party state with one fuhrer, both president and chancellor
- Hitler was also the commander of all armed forces from 1938 onwards
- there were state controlled forces of repression, censorship and propaganda
- Gleichschaltung - Nazi influence was in every aspect of daily life e.g. school curriculum, DAF, youth groups
Gleichschaltung
- nazification of German
- Nazi influence present in almost every aspect of daily life
