Nazi Control and Dictatorship

Question 1

When was the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 1

27 February 1933

Question 2

How did the Reichstag Fire help Hitler strengthen is power?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What was the Enabling Act?

Answer 3

The destruction of the power of the Reichstag - giving Hitler total power to make laws

Question 4

When was the Enabling Act passed?

Answer 4

March 1933

Question 5

what did Hitler use to ensure the Enabling Act was passed?

Answer 5

Intimidation by the SA

Question 6

How did the Enabling Act affect trade unions and political parties?

Answer 6

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

Question 7

When was the SS established?

Answer 7

1925

Question 8

What was the original role of the SS?

Answer 8

To be Hitler’s bodyguards

Question 9

When was the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 9

June 1934

Question 10

What happened on the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 10

Arrested and shot the leaders of the SA to remove the potential threat they posed to Hitler’s power.

Question 11

When did Hindenburg die?

Answer 11

August 1934

Question 12

What happened to Hitler’s power following the death of Hindeburg?

Answer 12

The Law Concerning the Head of State merged the offices of chancellor and president. Hitler able to create a new office of Fuhrer.

Question 13

What happened to the army after the death of Hindenburg?

Answer 13

Had to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler, rather than to Germany

Question 14

Which group controlled all Germany’s police and security forces?

Answer 14

The SS

Question 15

What was the SD?

Answer 15

The Security Service

- Set up in 1931 to spy on opponents of the Nazi party

Question 16

What was the Gestapo?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

How did Hitler change the legal system to consolidate his power?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

When was the first concentration camp built, and what was it called?

Answer 18

1933. Dachau

Question 19

Why did the Church pose a problem for Hitler?

Answer 19

Christian beliefs and Nazi beliefs went against each other, so the Church posed a threat to his power.

Question 20

How did Hitler try to lessen the Catholic threat?

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

When was the Concordat signed?

Answer 21

July 1933

Question 22

How did Hitler break the Concordat?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

When did the pope speak out against Hitler & what is this speech known as?

Answer 23

1937. ‘With Burning Anxiety’

Question 24

What two Protestant Churches were formed during the 1930s?

Answer 24

1) The Reich Church

2) The Confessional Church

Question 25

What was the Reich Church?

Answer 25

A church founded in 1933. Made up of about 2000 Protestant churches, led by Muller and supported by the Nazis. Some members wore Nazi uniforms and called themselves German Christians.

Question 26

What was the Confessional Church?

Answer 26

Founded in 1934. Made up of about 6000 Protestant churches. Opposed the Nazis so was repressed by them. Led by Martin Niemoller.

Question 27

Who became minister for propaganda in 1933?

Answer 27

Josef Goebbels

Question 28

How did the Nazis censor ideas that challenged them?

Answer 28

1) Public burning of books by Jewish writers
2) Radio producers, playwrights, filmmakers and newspapers told what to say
3) Newspapers opposing the Nazis shut down
4) Only radios that could not receive foreign stations were made

Question 29

What methods of propaganda did the Nazis use?

Answer 29

1) Posters showing Nazi beliefs
2) Rallies and military parades showing Nazi strength
3) Cinema showed propaganda films as well as entertainment films that included a subtle Nazi message
4) Speeches on the radio that everyone had to listen to
5) Art was made that glorified Nazi ideals
6) Berlin Olympics in 1936

Question 30

When was the Nuremberg Rally?

Answer 30

1934

Question 31

When was the Reich Chamber of Culture set up & what did it do?

Answer 31

1933.

Monitored all aspects of culture and made sure it was consistent with Nazi ideas.

Question 32

What does gleichscaltung mean?

Answer 32

The desire to ensure all German culture was consistent with Nazi ideals. Translates as co-ordination.

Question 33

Who was Martin Niemoller?

Answer 33

The leader of the Confessing Church. Opponent of the Nazis. Arrested many times between 1934 and 1937. Eventually sent to a concentration camp in 1938.

Question 34

How did pastors and priests oppose the Nazis?

Answer 34

1) 6000 joined the Confessional Church
2) 800 pastors arrested and sent to concentration camps
3) 400 Catholic priests spoke out and were imprisoned in the Priests’ Block in Dachau

Question 35

Who were the Edelweiss Pirates?

Answer 35

A group of young people who did not want to join the Hitler Youth. Generally working class. Listened to banned music and read banned books. The Nazis did not see them as a real threat. 2000 members by 1939.

Question 36

Who were the Swing Youth?

Answer 36

A group of young people who chose not to conform to Nazi ideals. Wore American clothes, went to dances and listened to American music. Generally children from wealthy families.

Question 37

How effective was opposition to the Nazis up to 1939?

Answer 37

Limited to anti-Nazi graffiti, anti-Nazi jokes, truanting the Hitler Youth etc. Did not pose a real threat to the Nazi Party.