Nazi Control of Germany Flashcards
Describe the formation and characteristics of the national socialist government.
- the Nazi government was developed on the lines of ideology from ‘Mein Kampf’
- the Fuhrer Principle means there must be a single leader of a party, holding complete power
- racism
- they wanted more living space for the master race to grow
- autarky means that Germany must be economically self-sufficient and not dependent on goods that are imported from abroad
Describe the national socialist use of intimidation.
THE SS
- Hitler’s personal bodyguards
-1933… 52,000
- controlled concentration camps
THE GESTAPO
- secret police
- no uniforms
- up to 160,000 informers
- feared because of their brutal tactics and torture
- many dissappeared after a visit from the Gestapo
CONCENTRATION CAMPS
- set up to imprison opponents of the Nazis
- prisons were coded to identify crimes
- extremely hard-going
- public executions were set as an example to others
Explain the national socialist treatment of the Jews.
1933
- the Nazis ordered a boycott of Jewish shops
- Jews forced to give up jobs
1935
- Jews were forbidden to join the army
- banned from parks, swimming pools, restaurants and public buildings
- Nuremburg laws took away Jewish rights that allowed them to vote of marry a non-Jew
- they were no longer German citizens
1937
- businesses owned by Jews were taken from them
KRISTALNACHTS (the night of the broken glass) 9/10th Nov 1937
DESTROYED:
- 7,500 Jewish shops
- 400 synagogs
- 91 murdered
- 20,000 sent to concentration camps
15TH NOV
- Jewish children were not allowed to go to non-Jewish schools
Explain the national socialist treatment of minority groups.
- killed 85% or gypsies/travellers
- sterilised black people
- killed mentally ill patients
- sterilised physically disabled people, eg. deaf people and people with hereditary diseases
Describe the opposition to National Socialism by socialists, communists and churches.
CATHOLIC CHURCH
- in 1937, the pope issues a message ‘with burning concern’ describing Hitler as “a mad prophet with repulsive arrogance” to be read in every Catholic Church.
PROTESTANT CHURCH
- the Confessional Church was formed by Martin Neimoller in 1934 with 600 ministers.
RESISTANCE GROUPS
- the Edidelweiss Pirates bet up Nazis and did petty resistance such as vandalism of Nazi propaganda
- many SPD members went ‘underground’ forming a resistance group called the ‘Red Strike Troops’. By late 1933 it had around 3,000 members
- following the Reichstag fire, more than 30,000 KPD members continued with ‘underground’ resistance
- the Mueten were socialist and communist teenagers
- the Swing Kids had American style and listened to Jazz which the Nazis believed was ‘black music’
