Nazi Church Policies Flashcards
How were the church actually quite similar to the Nazis in its values and how could this have potentially helped/weakened relations?
. Both agreed on marriage, abortions, homosexuality
. Churches may have opposed some of the radical teachings of the Nazis
. Catholics will not want to portray Hitler as God-like as a Fuhrer should be
. Both absolutely HATE communists
How had the Nazis made a promise to the Catholic Church since the Enabling Act?
Nazis promised to not interfere in Catholic affairs or institutions
Why would the Nazis want to co-operate/ not cooperate with the CC?
Co-operate: Catholic Church was so influential and rigid in teachings and Nazis wanted everyone on their side. Could also use CC as a figurehead for influence and power.
Not co-operate: may want to weaken CC as the pope holds far too much power over the religion and Hitler wants this much power instead
What was Hitler’s public vs true views on Christianity?
March 1933 Reichstag speech: ‘foundational of the moral life of our people.’
Private convo 1933: ‘You can’t be both christian and Nazi’
Hitler truly wanted to get rid of Christianity in Germany as he had a main problem with the idea of the sanctity of life, believing some life is more precious than others. However, he may have historically approved of Christianity’s hatred towards the Jews
What was Hitler’s plan with the Catholic Church?
Co-operate with the church to get control of it and then reduce its influence to give himself more power
How much of Germany were Catholics vs Protestant?
2/3 were Protestant, mostly in Northern and Eastern Germany
1/3 were Catholics, mainly in Bavarian areas
Which church group did Protestants follow?
Evangelical church
How was the evangelical church ‘coordinated’ by the Nazis?
. 1933 spring and summer: the evangelical church was coordinated into the Nazi-controlled Reich church
. July 1933 church elections: German Christian’s won huge victory, allowing this ‘nazification of the church’
. Churches were forced to adopt the ‘Aryan paragraph’ after protest at celebration of creation of Reich church: 18 pastors dismissed, mostly those who were Christian and German
Who were German Christian’s and how popular were they?
The ‘SA of the church’, wearing swastikas in churches and supporting the nazification of the church
- by mid-1930s: had 600,000 supporters
These were the Christian’s who advocated for the Reich church
How was the creation of the Reich church celebrated?
November 1933: mass rally at sports palace in Berlin of German Christian’s to celebrate its creation
- at this rally, the German Christian’s demanded that all non-aryans and those that hadn’t declared allegiance to the Nazi regime should be dismissed
Why did Nazis see the German evangelical church as the main potential route to creating a single national church in the Reich church?
Main Protestant church:
. Evangelicals were politically very nationalistic
. Strong tradition of respect and cooperation with the state
. Many Protestants were anti-Semitic and anti-communist
. Strongest areas of Nazi support before 1933 were in Protestant north and east of Germany
Who was Reich bishop of the Reich church?
Ludwig Müller
Was Ludwig Müller successful in nazifying the church in Germany, fully creating a Reich church?
. Abolished all elected bodies and reorganised it on the leadership principle (good)
BUT
. He failed to completely take over the church due to growing resentment at his appointment and his lack of political skills (was he really the man to nazify the church?)
How did the Confessional church come about?
. September 1933 - a group of pastors opposing the developments of the Reich Church, led by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, established a Pastors’ Emergency league
- evolved into the confessional church
Why was the confessional church established?
To resist state interference in the church and re-establish a theology solely based on the bible and not warped by Nazi principles
- this set the confessional church in direct opposition to the Reich church
Why did many rural congregations move over to the confessional church?
They preferred to celebrate church festivals in the traditional form (e.g in the Potsdam district)
How did Nazi church policies change after the creation of the confessional church?
. 1935 - ministry for church affairs created under Hanns Kerrl, marginalising (making irrelevant) Müller who wasn’t working well as a Reich bishop
. New policy was to weaken the confessional church through repression while also exploiting divisions within it
How did the Nazis try to marginalise Christianity by the late 1930s and why?
. Tried to reduce the influence of the churches over young people by:
- pressuring young people to join the Hitler youth
- church secession campaign launched to persuade party members to renounce their church membership
Why: The Nazi regime’s beliefs conflicted with many Christian teachings and the nazis wanted Germans to be loyal to the state rather than to any religious institutions
What were some of the Christian teachings that conflicted with Nazi ideology?
. Equality of all people
. Sanctity of life (the Nazis didn’t believe that all life was sacred and should be preserved as they believed in a hierarchy of races)
How successful was the Nazi’s church secession campaign?
Somewhat:
. By 1939 - 5% of population were listed as ‘god-believers’ (retained some faith in god but not a formal member of the Christian churches)
- this aligned more with nazi-approved spiritual ideas
. Party members not allowed to hold any office in the Protestant or Catholic Churches
. SA forbidden to wear uniforms at church services
. Priests and pastors forbidden from being in Nazi party
Why was the Roman Catholic Church a much greater threat to Nazi policy of Gleichschaltung than the Protestant church?
. Catholics in Germany were part of an international church
. Catholics were under the lead of the pope who holds international power, even more powerful than Hitler in terms of religion
. In early 1930s, Catholic voters were some of the least likely to vote for the Nazis
The evangelical church was solely German but messing with the Roman Catholic Church is messing with the international presence of Catholicism
What did the Nazis see as the biggest threat from the Roman Catholic Church to Nazi beliefs?
The fact that the RCC demanded obedience to the pope undermined Germany’s unity as a nation, a ‘peoples community’ where everyone serves a common purpose
- the Nazis wanted centralised power and to coordinate all Germans, but the pope made this matter difficult
How did Hitler see an opportunity for the Catholic Church and the Nazis to cooperate?
The Nazis and Catholic Church had some alignment in beliefs:
. Catholics and Nazis both viewed communism as a greater evil
. Many in the Catholic Church shared the Nazis’ anti-semitism (historically)
. The Catholic centre party had cooperated with the Nazis to pass the enabling act, so there was clearly an opportunity to bargain with the Catholics
Why did the Roman Catholic Church choose to compromise with the Nazis when Hitler came to power?
The RCC wanted to preserve its autonomy in Germany
- the Catholic centre party had agreed to help the Nazis get into power under the condition that the Nazis wouldn’t interfere in Catholic affairs
But would Hitler be happy to leave the Catholics alone or were they too much of a threat?
