Nazi control and dictatorship 1933-1939 Flashcards
To learn about this era
How did Hitler use the Reichstag fire to remove any opposition and secure a dictatorship?
on 27 March the Reichstag building was set on fire. A Dutch communist, van der Lubbe, was caught red-handed in the burning building.
Hitler used the fire to persuade Hindenburg to pass an emergency law restricting personal liberty. This enabled him to imprison many communist leaders, which stopped them campaigning during the election. Although the Nazis the did not gain the overall majority that Hitler had hoped for in the Reichstag, it gave them enough seats - after Hitler had arrested all the communist deputies and the other parties had been intimidated by the SA - to pass the Enabling Act.
What was the enabling act?
The Enabling Act 1933 - Hitler proposed the Enabling Act in order to destroy the power of the Reichstag and give himself total power to make laws. It stated that:
- The Reich Cabinet could pass new laws
- The laws could overrule the constitution
- Hitler would propose the laws.
The result being that Germany would no longer be a democracy.
Hitler expected resistance to the act and so used the SA to intimidate the opposition. The vote was won by the Nazis 444 to 94
What effect did the Enabling act have on trade unions and political parties?
Local Government - It was closed down on 31 March 1933 and reorganised with Nazi majorities. LG was completely abolished in January 1934.
Trade Unions - There were replaced with the German Labour Front. Many officials were arrested on 2 May 1933.
Other political parties - In May 1933, the SDP and Communist Party offices and funds were taken by the Nazis. In July 1933 other political parties were banned.
What key events occurred in 1934 which led to Hitler declaring himself Fuhrer?
Night of the Long Knives - Many members of the SA, including its leader Ernst Röhm, were demanding that the Nazi party carry out its socialist agenda and that the SA take over the army. Hitler could not afford to annoy businessmen or the army, so the SS (Hitler’s personal bodyguards) murdered around 400 members of the SA, including Röhm, along with a number of Hitler’s other opponents like the previous Chancellor, von Schleicher.
This destroyed all opposition to Hitler within the Nazi Party and gave power to the brutal SS. It also showed the rest of the world what a tyrant Hitler was. This removed any internal Nazi Party opposition to Hitler.
When did Hindenburg die and how did this help Hitler become Fuhrer
- Hindenburg died in August 1934. Hitler used the opportunity to combine the posts of Chancellor and President, and also made himself Commander in Chief of the Army.
- He called himself Der Fuhrer (Leader) which was the beginning of his dictatorship.
How did Hitler extend his powers once he became Fuhrer?
Hitler also extended his power in other ways:
Local government was reorganised – with Nazi Party officials put in charge of each area of Germany.
Trade unions were abolished and their leaders arrested.
A Concordat (agreement) was signed with the Pope, which allowed Hitler to increase his power in Germany without opposition from the Catholic Church, as long as he left the Church alone.
People’s courts: Hitler set up the Nazi people’s courts where judges had to swear an oath of loyalty to the Nazis.
The army had to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler instead of pledging to protect Germany. Some German Workers were also forced to take an oath of obedience promising loyalty to Hitler. Those who refused could lose their jobs.
By the autumn of 1934 Hitler was in complete control of Germany.
Describe the Police state set up by Hitler?
After the demise of the SA on the Night of the Long Knives, there were three main interlinked organisations (in addition to the regular German police force) involved in controlling the German people through spying, intimidation and if necessary, imprisonment:
Schutzstaffel (SS) - led by Heinrich Himmler, the SS was the most important of these organisations and oversaw the others. Initially set up as Hitler’s personal bodyguard service, the SS was fanatically loyal to the Führer. It later set up concentration camps where ‘enemies of the state’ were sent.
Gestapo - this was the Nazis’ secret police force. Its job was to monitor the German population for signs of opposition or resistance to Nazi rule. It was greatly helped by ordinary German people informing on their fellow citizens.
Sicherheitsdienst (SD) - this was the intelligence gathering agency of the SS. It was responsible for the security of Hitler and other top Nazis and was led by Himmler’s right hand man, Reinhard Heydrich.
How did the Nazis control the legal system?
Nazi control of the legal system
The Nazis quickly swept away many of the freedoms that Germans had enjoyed under the Weimar constitution. The party’s control of the legal system made opposition to the regime very difficult indeed:
Judges had to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler and were expected to act always in the interests of the Nazi state.
All lawyers had to join the Nazi Lawyers’ Association, which meant they could be controlled.
The role of defence lawyers in criminal trials was weakened.
Standard punishment for crimes were abolished and so local prosecutors could decide what penalties to impose on those found guilty.
These changes more than halved the number of criminal offences between 1933 and 1939, whilst the number of crimes that carried the death penalty increased from three to 46. Many convicted criminals were not released at the end of their sentences but instead were moved to the growing number of concentration camps being established by the SS.
What were the Nazi policies towards the Catholic and Protestant Churches
There were approximately 45 million Protestants and 22 million Catholic Christians in Germany in 1933. Hitler saw Christianity as a threat and a potential source of opposition to Nazism because it emphasised peace. The Nazis tried to control the Churches with policies and bargaining.
Control of the Churches
A state Reich Church under the leadership of the Nazi Bishop Ludwig Müller was established to unify the different branches of Protestantism. This enabled the Nazis to use a group called the ‘German Christians’ within the Reich Church to promote Nazi ideas.
In 1933 Hitler agreed a Concordat with the Pope, which said that he would not interfere in the running of the Catholic Church if it stayed out of political matters. Hitler didn’t keep his side of the bargain, however, as the Nazis attempted to infiltrate the Church and spread their propaganda.
Nazi attempts to supress the Churches
The Reich Church attempted to ban the use of the Old Testament in religious services as it was considered a ‘Jewish book’. Eight hundred Pastors of the Confessional Church, a non-conforming Protestant group, were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
The Nazis attempted to stop Catholics using the crucifix in church, though this attempt was not successful. Catholic schools and youth organisations were supressed, with German children being educated in state schools and taught a Nazi curriculum, as well as being expected to join the various branches of the Hitler Youth. Catholic newspapers were banned and four hundred Catholic priests were sent to Dachau concentration camp.
Impact of the Nazis actions
In 1937 Hitler was forced to return control of the Church to the old Protestant leadership, in return for a promise that the Church would stay out of politics.
Attendance at Catholic churches increased substantially under the Nazis, especially during World War Two, showing that Hitler’s attempts to reduce the influence of religion in Germany was ultimately unsuccessful.
Both Protestant and Catholic clergy played a large role in opposing Hitler and the Nazis, for which they often paid a high price.
How did Hitler use propaganda and censorship to create a generation of people loyal to the Nazi regime?
Hitler and the Nazi Party were a constant presence in the life of the German people, with:
the infamous Swastika symbol appearing on every government uniform and public building
pictures of Hitler displayed everywhere
Germans having to greet each other with a ‘Heil Hitler’ raised arm salute
The government department responsible for all of this was the Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda, headed by Dr Joseph Goebbels. It aimed to brainwash people into obeying the Nazis and idolising Hitler. Its methods included:
Censorship of the press. All newspapers were controlled by the government and could only print stories favourable to the Nazi regime.
Control of radio broadcasts. People’s radios were sold very cheaply so that most Germans could afford one. All radio output was controlled by Goebbels’ ministry through the Reich Broadcasting Corporation.
Mass rallies. These public displays of support for Nazism involved music, speeches and demonstrations of German strength. The biggest one was held each year in August at Nuremberg.
Use of sports events. Berlin hosted the Olympics of 1936, which the Nazis used as an opportunity to showcase the success of the regime and to demonstrate the superiority of the Aryan race. The victories of the African-American athlete Jesse Owens for the USA infuriated the Nazi leadership.
Loudspeakers in public places also blared out Nazi propaganda. Much of the information Germans received reinforced the message of Aryan racial superiority whilst demonising the Jews and other ‘enemies’ of the regime.
How did the Nazis control culture and the arts?
Art - The Weimar period had seen a flourishing of German art, much of which was abstract. Hitler saw this modern art as ‘degenerate’ and over 6500 works of art were removed from display across Germany. Hitler encouraged ‘Aryan art’ instead, which showed the physical and military power of Germany and the Aryan race.
Architecture - Hitler was very interested in architecture and believed it could be used to project the power of the Nazi regime. The most important architect of the period was Albert Speer, who redesigned Berlin, as well as designing the stadium in Nuremberg where annual rallies were held.
Literature - The Nazis infamously organised mass book burnings in 1933, which saw mostly Jewish authors’ works ceremonially destroyed.
Theatre - Works by certain playwrights were banned. Nazi-produced political plays and musicals were not very popular so the regime allowed classic plays by the likes of Shakespeare to be performed.
Film - Films were popular forms of entertainment but Goebbels saw them as a form of escapism for Germans. Directors such as Leni Riefenstahl created patriotic films such as Triumph of the Will (1935).
Music - In classical music, works by Jewish composers like Mendelssohn and Mahler were banned and the works of the German composer Wagner were promoted, gaining huge popularity.
The Nazis’ interest in and influence on all of these areas demonstrates the extent to which the party sought to control German life and win over the population to the Nazi cause.
What was the extent of support for the Nazi regime?
Exact figures for those who opposed the Nazis are difficult to obtain. However, it is clear that the Nazis were incredibly popular when they came to power and many Germans welcomed the stability and economic growth an authoritarian regime brought – something missing with the Weimar democracy. The Nazi regime restored Germany’s international prestige through rearmament and the dismantling of the Treaty of Versailles. The sheer scale of propaganda - especially that directed towards German children - meant that many more Germans became active Nazi Party members and were convinced of Hitler’s greatness.
Describe the opposition of the church to the Nazi regime.
Protestantism
Many Protestant pastors, led by Martin Niemöller, formed the Confessional Church in opposition to Hitler’s Reich Church. Niemöller was held in a concentration camp during the period 1937-1945 and a total of 800 clergy were sent to camps.
Another Protestant pastor and member of the Confessional Church, Dietrich Bonhöffer, was linked to the 1944 bomb plot and was executed.
In 1937 Hitler restored the Protestant church’s independence in return for a guarantee that it would not interfere in politics, an agreement similar to his Concordat with the Pope.
Catholicism
Despite the Concordat, some Catholic priests opposed Hitler. In 1937, the Pope’s message ‘With Burning Concern’ attacked Hitler as ‘a mad prophet with repulsive arrogance’ and was read in every Catholic Church.
The Catholic Archbishop of Munster, von Galen, led a successful campaign to end euthanasia of mentally-disabled people.
400 German Catholic priests were imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp by the regime.
What was the opposition from the young?
The main youth opposition group was the Edelweiss Pirates, based in the Rhineland. They reacted to the discipline of the Hitler Youth by daubing anti-Nazi slogans and singing pre-1933 folk songs. In 1942 over 700 of them were arrested and in 1944, the Pirates in Cologne killed the Gestapo chief, so the Nazis publicly hanged 12 of them.
The White Rose group was formed by students at Munich University in 1943. They published anti-Nazi leaflets and marched through the city in protest at Nazi policies. Its leaders, brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl, were arrested to and sentenced to the guillotine.
During the war, ‘Swing Youth’ and ‘Jazz Youth’ groups were formed. These were young people who rejected Nazi values, drank alcohol and danced to jazz. The Nazis rejected jazz music as degenerate and called it Negro music, using their racial ideas against this cultural development. These youths were closely monitored by the Gestapo, who regularly raided illegal jazz clubs.
Describe other sources of opposition and resistance
Perhaps the most widespread and persistent opposition to the Nazi regime came from ordinary German workers, often helped by communists, who posted anti-Nazi posters and graffiti, or organised strikes. In Dortmund the vast majority of men imprisoned in the city’s jail were industrial workers who went on strike over high food prices in 1935 and during the Berlin Olympics in 1936.
In 1944, a group of army officers tried to assassinate Hitler. A bomb was planted by Colonel Stauffenberg at a meeting attended by Hitler. It exploded, but Hitler survived. In retaliation, Stauffenberg was shot the same day and 5,000 people were executed in the crackdown on opposition that followed.
