METHODS USED BY THE NAZI REGIME TO ASSERT CONTROL Flashcards
what were the main methods
cult of personality + fuhrerprinzip, laws, terror & repression, propaganda & censorship
how was cult of personality a method of control
‘Fuhrer myth’ → deliberately created & promoted by Goebbels to depict Hitler as the saviour of Germany
Marked a return to the ‘authoritarian tradition’ in German history for a strong leader
Hitler’s word ‘Fuhrer’s will’ considered to be above all written law
Ian Kershaw argues that without the Hitler myth the …
“drive, dynamism & momentum of Nazi rule could hardly have been sustained”
Legal changes helped eliminate political opposition & legalise use of terror. what were some of these laws
24th march 1933: The Enabling Act → created the foundation for Hitler’s dictatorship by allowing him to pass laws w/o consent of Reichstag
14th july 1933: Law Against the Foundation of Parties → created legal basis for a one-party state
15 sep 1935: Nuremberg Laws → legalised the racial discriminaion of Jews through two pieces of legislation:
Law for the Protection of German Blood & Honour (banned all marriages & extra-marital intercourse between Jews-Germans)
The Reich Citizenship Law (stripped those no longer considered truly German of their citizenship)
terror & repression was Fundamental in eliminating opponents & ensuring complete conformity of society,. what were the main groups
SA, SS, Gestapo
what was the gestapo & how did they assert control
secret police. Instrumental in spreading terror = maintaing Nazi power
Established by Herman Goerring November 1933 & later governed by Himmler 1934
responsible for eliminating any resistance to NP/ the State & maintaining the Reich’s internal security
Targeted political enemies & those who resisted Nazi doctrine (eg, communists) & had full power to arrest individuals & imprison them indefinitely
campaign of terror acted as an effective deterrent by frightening people into conformity
what was the SA storm troopers and what did they do
‘Brownshirts → Nazi paramilitary
Founded by Hitler 1921 & headed by Ernst Rohm from 1931
Known for engagement in street violence & used physical intimidation to threaten political opponents → tortured, arrested & placed in ‘protective custody’ without trial, sent to camps
By 1933 the SA had grown rapidly in numbers & was 20x the size of the Reichswehr (German Army)
Effective in instilling fear into dissidents yet lawlessness provided a detrimental image to NP
what were the SA blackshirts and what did they do
SCHUTZSTAFFEL: SS/blackshirts; Nazi paramilitary
EINSATZGRUPPEN: special mobile operational frces of SS who were ordered to murder mainly Jews & communists in occupied Poland & Russia
Initially served as Hitler’s bodyguards under Himmler & grew rapidly
By 1935 = 200,000 blackshirts operating in Germany
SS soldiers had to meet strict intellectual, physical & racial requirements to become members, & were held up as ideal Aryans → promoted in propaganda
SS largely operated as police force to discover & remove any opposition → execution & forced labour
responsible for the genocide of millions of Jews & other victims in Holocaust
between 1934-39 how many were in concentration camps
200,000
what were concentration camps
Originally created to imprison political dissidents & suversives → later expanded into a centralised system managed by SS
what is the propaganda of Volksgemeinschaft
VOLKSGEMEINSCHAFT: A new German society which rejects old religions, ideologies & class divisions → instead forming a united German identity based around ideas of race, struggle & state leadership
Harmonious & homogeneous national community free of class division & social conflict → based on belief that all racially ‘pure’ Germans were equal & would devote their lives to G & Fuhrer
A. Bullock says People saw Hitler as the…
“architect of Germany’s recovery”
what were the forms of control thru propaganda
Newspapers: ‘Editorial Law’ October 1933 → restricted editors to only printing news approved by Goebbels
Radio: Effective for easy communication & shaping public opinion → Cheap ‘People’s Radio’ made available to public allowing Hitler’s speeches to reach homes
Films: contained messages ab the honour of G
Consistent promotion of Nazim influenced many Germans to ‘swim with the tide of popular opinion’ (Richard Evans) & adopt its ideology
example of control thru censorship
may 10 1933 book burnings
Nazi students led the burnings & libraries across G were purged of ‘censored’ books
Some books were removed from classrooms by censors & other new textbooks were brought in to teach students blind obedience to the party & Hitler & anti-semitism
