Nazi Control and Dictatorship Flashcards
When was the Reichstag Fire?
27 February 1933
How did the Reichstag Fire help Hitler strengthen is power?
1) Gave him the opportunity to accuse communists of a conspiracy against the government & arrest 4000 of them
2) Excuse to issue Decree for the Protection of the People and the State - powers to imprison political opponents and ban opposition newspapers
3) Persuaded Hindenburg to call an election in March 1933 to secure more Nazi seats
4) Used emergency powers to prevent communists taking their seats in the Reichstag
5) All this meant he could now change the constitution
What was the Enabling Act?
The destruction of the power of the Reichstag - giving Hitler total power to make laws
When was the Enabling Act passed?
March 1933
what did Hitler use to ensure the Enabling Act was passed?
Intimidation by the SA
How did the Enabling Act affect trade unions and political parties?
1) Local government - closed down and reorganised under the Nazis. Eventually completely abolished in January 1934
2) Trade unions - replaced with German Labour Front
3) Other political parties - May 1933 offices & funds of SPD and KPD taken. July 1933 other parties banned
When was the SS established?
1925
What was the original role of the SS?
To be Hitler’s bodyguards
When was the Night of the Long Knives?
June 1934
What happened on the Night of the Long Knives?
Arrested and shot the leaders of the SA to remove the potential threat they posed to Hitler’s power.
When did Hindenburg die?
August 1934
What happened to Hitler’s power following the death of Hindeburg?
The Law Concerning the Head of State merged the offices of chancellor and president. Hitler able to create a new office of Fuhrer.
What happened to the army after the death of Hindenburg?
Had to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler, rather than to Germany
Which group controlled all Germany’s police and security forces?
The SS
What was the SD?
The Security Service
- Set up in 1931 to spy on opponents of the Nazi party
What was the Gestapo?
The secret police
- Set up in 1933 to spy on people and prosecute them for speaking out against the Nazis. Sent people to concentration camps and used torture
How did Hitler change the legal system to consolidate his power?
1) Judges had to join the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law
2) Judges had to favour the Nazi party in any decision
3) Abolished trial by jury - judges decided the verdict
4) Set up a People’s Court to hear treason cases in secret using hand-picked judges
When was the first concentration camp built, and what was it called?
- Dachau
Why did the Church pose a problem for Hitler?
Christian beliefs and Nazi beliefs went against each other, so the Church posed a threat to his power.
How did Hitler try to lessen the Catholic threat?
Concordat signed in July 1933. Agreement with the pope that Catholics can worship freely and run their own schools if they stay out of politics.
When was the Concordat signed?
July 1933
How did Hitler break the Concordat?
1) Priests opposing the Nazis harassed or sent to concentration camps
2) Catholic schools made to remove Christian symbols, and were later closed down
3) Catholic youth organisations banned
When did the pope speak out against Hitler & what is this speech known as?
- ‘With Burning Anxiety’
What two Protestant Churches were formed during the 1930s?
1) The Reich Church
2) The Confessional Church
