nazi control and dictatorship 1933-39 Flashcards
when was the reichstag fire?
27th february 1933
why was the reichstag fire a gift for hitler?
could claim the communists were planning a violent uprising
what does hindenburg give hitler after the reichstag fire?
-the emergency decree
-germany becomes a police state
-hitler arrests 4000 communists, shut down their newspapers and killed 51 opponents
when was the enabling act?
march 1933
what did hitler use the enabling act to do?
-ban trade unions
-july 1933 ban all political parties except nazis
-set up his own people’s court
-replace local councils with his own government
who controlled nazi propaganda?
josef goebbels
what groups did propaganda target?
women, workers, rich and right wing
explain the role of the gestapo
-gestapo set up in 1933 - nazi secret police and very feared by public
-used torture, phone tapping and had informers
-had no uniforms
-could imprison people without trial - over 160,000 arrested for political crimes
explain the SS
-personal of hitler
-become intelligence, security and police of 240,000 aryans
-under himmler
-named ‘blackshirts’
-ultimate power to get rid of threats
what was the night of the long knives?
-hitler starts to fear the SA in 1934 and orders the arrest of the SA on the night of the 30th of june 1934
-SS arrests 400 SA leaders - some imprisoned and others executed
when did hindenburg die?
-2nd august 1934
-within hours hitler combines role of president and chancellor to create ‘fuhrer of the third reich’
-army swears oath of loyalty
explain the six ways that the nazis used propaganda
1) rallies - 1934: 200,000 attended to see thousands of banners, 20,000 nazi flags and 100 foot nazi gold eagles
2) film - all films included 45 minute nazi news
3) culture - the reich chamber of culture ensured all followed to the nazi message
4) newspapers - journalists were told what to write and anti-nazi papers were shut down
5) radio - 70% of homes had a nazi radio
6) events - 1936 olympics showed aryan superiority, 33 gold medals and power (stadium biggest in the world)
what role did the gestapo play within the nazi police state?
-secret police spied on germans
-tapped phones
-over 160,000 political crimes
what was the people’s court?
court with nazi judges who had swore a loyalty oath to hitler
what was the concordat?
1933 hitler made a truce with the pope to not interfere with catholicism
did hitler break the concordat? if so how?
-yes
-in 1937 400 catholics sent to concentration camps, catholic schools closed and groups banned
describe censorship
-all anti-nazi ideas were banned in 1933
-20,000 jewish and communist books were burnt in the centre of berlin
-writers, films, artists could only produce pro nazi art
-jazz music was banned
-anti-nazi jokes were a crime
what was the fuhrer cult?
showed hitler as both a “superman” and “man of the people”
what did the nazis set up in 1934?
the german faith movement
what changed in protestant churches?
-the reich church - all protestant churches were under nazi control
-bible replaced with ‘mein kampf’, swat sticker replaced cross, all old testament jewish teachings removed
did the nazis succeed in controlling the church?
unsuccessful, most germans practiced their religion secretly
was there any church opposition?
-1934 confessor churches opposing the reich church
-6000 pastors joined - 800 of them were sent to concentration camps
describe the concentration camps
-first one set up in dachua in 1933 and run by SS
-by 1939, over 150,000 germans had been sent to them
how many people were executed in the people’s court?
534 - 44 crimes were punishable by death
