Nazi 1.2 Flashcards
What was opposition and dissent like in Nazi Germany?
very dangerous and near impossible because opposition parties were made illegal and there was no way to protest since most of it was banned, army swore oath of loyalty to Hitler etc
How did people express opposition through anti Nazi campaigns?
in the 1930s, KPD, SPD and trade unions printed anti Nazi pamphlets. EG: the SPDs Red Shock troop paper. However t was easy to track and they could be arrested and captured. so they used word of mouth instead
How did the workers sabotage Nazis as a form of opposition?
- They held strikes- working slowly, damaging equipment and machinery- they could be arrested but were needed due to war.
- If groups became too organised the Gestapo arrested them- Eg: the Antifascist workers group was arrested in 1944
- they also worked against Nazis lie blowing up railways
How did people use disobedience as a form of opposition?
- young people deliberately didn’t join Hitlers Youth- instead they followed western culture
- Edelweiss Pirates wore a uniform to show they weren’t part of Hitlers youth
- the White Rose group- secretly exposed Nazi murder of Jews- they were caught and executed
- Another way of opposing was to help those the Nazis would arrest
how many attempts were made to kill Hitler?
from July 1921- July 1944, 15 attempts were made
What was the July plot of 1944?
this was the most serious assassination attempt. it was planned by the German army to takeover the govt and negotiate the end of war with allies. On 20th, lieutenant Stauffenberg left a bomb in an briefcase in a room with Hitler. there were reports that Hitler died but they were fake- 4 people died. there was a trial execution of 200 people
what did Hitler do with the church to avoid opposition?
He knew the power of religion and wanted loyalty from the people. made a concordat with the pope which promised to leave the Church if they didn’t interfere in politics. He then developed a Nazi influenced church however due to its less christian more Nazi display, it led to negative reactions.
How did the Nazis deal with spontaneous protests?
They had to be more discrete:
1) when Nazis imprisoned 2 bishops, they had to be released due to huge public outcry
2) When public view of Hitler invading Czech was unenthusiastic Hitler tried to reach an agreement for it instead.
why did the Nazis use censorship and repression?
to make people too scared to oppose
What was the decree for the Protection of the People and the State and when was made?
28th Feb 1933
- allowed Nazis to ban publications and suspend civil rights, Nazis could search homes and workplaces
How were radios censored?
25 march 1933- Goebbels- minister of propaganda told all radio stations that they had to serve the govt- they had to express Nazi ideology and be instructed on what to broadcast. all content was controlled.
How was the press censored?
this was much harder. on 4 Oct 1933, Hitler used a decree which stated that it was illegal to publish anything that would weaken the third Reich, a list of suitable journalists was made. there was a list of things you could/couldn’t mention- EG photo of drunk Nazis
how did Nazi repression begin?
by banning all political parties but the Nazi party
How else did the Nazis repress people?
they set up concentration camps which were a severe deterrent for political protest. from 1933-45 over 500,000 non Jewish people were sent there
Who were the Gestapo?
they were the secret police set up in April 1933 by Herman Goering
What did the Gestapo do?
Their aim was to take out enemies of the state, people could be arresting for anything from plotting to kill Hitler to telling Nazi jokes
They didn’t wear uniform which scare people even of strangers unlike the SS + SA. this made people paranoid
Who were the SS?
They were political police and began as Hitler’s bodyguard of 240 men.
What did the SS do?
They ran the concentration camps after removing most of the SA. By 1936–240,000 SS were in charge of the gestapo, concentration camps + own economic branch to run labour
what was the Peoples court?
It was a court to trial people accuse this traitors to the third Reich. It was set up in Berlin 1930. Tens of thousands went through it by 1945
What did the Nazi party officials do?
Watched for small infringements of Nazi rules, people were so scared to even talk to friends about politics just in case they were reporting to the Gestapo
What was support like for the nazis?
Nazis had lots of support to win sufficient seats in the reichstag. Nazis gained support by making Hitler a national hero, a Godlike figure
What kind of methods did Nazis use to gain support?
1) Propaganda- Hitler said using simple slogans that could win people over – “one people, one right, one fuhrer”.
2) Nazis manipulated and used to make people think the policies were working. 3) Nazis and workers were rewarded for conformity
3) support came from people who benefited from their rule- industrialists
What was support like during the war?
It was harder to retain support as living conditions deteriorated and Allied bombing devastated cities
