Nazi Dictatorship 1933-1939

Question 1

What was the reichstag fire and when?

Answer 1

27 February 1933:
A fire began at the Reichstag (German parliament building) and a communist named Marius Van Der lubbe was arrested and blamed.
Some believed the Nazis lit the fire deliberately.

Question 2

How did Hitler manipulate the event of the Reichstag fire to gain power?

Answer 2

• Lone communist was arrested but Hitler took it was an opportunity to blame the whole party. 4000 communist arrested as a result.
• Gave Hitler the excuse to issue a decree for the protection of the people which gave him powers to imprison political opponent and ban opposition newspapers
• Persuaded Hindenburg to call an election in which the Nazi party managed to secure 2/e of the parliament due to using emergency powers to prevent the communist party from taking their 81 seats
• Hitler now able to change constitution

Question 3

What was the enabling act and when was it?

Answer 3

1933:
Hitler proposed the enabling act that destroyed the power of the Reichstag and gave him total power to make new laws. It stated:
- Reich cabinet (mostly Nazis) could pass laws without Reichstag support
- These laws could overrule the constitution
- Hitler would propose the laws meaning that Germany was no longer a democracy

Question 4

How did Hitler convince the Reichstag to pass the enabling act?

Answer 4

Used SA to intimidate the opposition resulting in the Nazis winning 444 votes to 94.

Question 5

What was the effect of enabling act on other political parties?

Answer 5

May 1933 SDP and communist party offices and funds confiscated and later in July 1933 all other political parties were banned.

Question 6

What was the effect of the enabling act on trade unions?

Answer 6

Replaced by German labour front and union officials where arrested in may 1933.

Question 7

What was the effect of the enabling act on local governments?

Answer 7

They were closed in march 1933 and re organised with Nazi majorities, later where disbanded altogether.

Question 8

Why was Rohm and the SA a threat to Hitler?

Answer 8

• Leader of the SS wanted to reduce SA numbers to increase their own power.
• Rohm had opposed some of Hitler policies
• SA was far larger than the army which lead the army to fear Rohm want to replace them with the SA leading the army to distrust Hitler
• Many of the SA where bitter as they felt undervalued and many were still unemployed so there was risk of unrest
• SA loyal to Rohm

Question 9

What is SS and when was it set up?

Answer 9

1925:
Hitlers select bodyguards led by Heinrich Himmler, they controller all Germanys policing and security forces, ran concentration camps and acted out of the law.

Question 10

When did Hindenburg die and what was the effect?

Answer 10

August 1934:
Hindenburg died and hours later Hitler had merged the title of president and chancellor declaring himself Fuhrer. Hitler made the army swear an oath of allegiance to him on the day of Hindenburgs death.

Question 11

When and what was the night of the long knives?

Answer 11

30th June 1934:
Hitler wanted to rid himself of Rohm and the SA so he invited Rohm and 100 SA leader to Bad Wiesse for a meeting. When the leaders arrived they were arrested by the SS, taken to Munich and shot.
Following the arrest Von Papen, the vice chancellors home was surrounded and he and his staff arrested meaning he could no longer control or watch Hitler movements.
Von Schleicer was killed .

Question 12

Who where the gestapo and when where they established?

Answer 12

1933:
Set up by Hermann Goering, wore plain clothes and spied on people, prosecuted people for speaking up against the Nazis and used torture.

Question 13

What where the SD and when where they set up?

Answer 13

1931:
Set up by Himmler to spy on all opponent of the Nazi party at home and abroad.

Question 14

How did Hitler control the legal system?

Answer 14

• All judges had to belong to the National Socialist league for the Maintenance of the Law
• All judges had to favour the Nazi party in any choice
• Abolishes trial by jury so only judges, whose he controlled, made choices.
• set up people’s court to hear cases of treason, the trials where held in secret and the judges hand picked

Question 15

When and where was the first concentration camp built?

Answer 15

Dachau 1933

Question 16

What were some feature of concentration camps?

Answer 16

Built in isolated areas so no one knew what was going on, Niamey composed of political prisoners, ‘undesirables’ such as prostitutes and Jewish people.

Question 17

Why was Hitler concerned about the catholics?

Answer 17

They saw the pope as the ultimate leader, often supported catholic centre party and sent heir children to catholic schools and youth organisations rather than Nazi ones.

Question 18

What was the reich church and when was it formed?

Answer 18

1933:
made up of 2000 Protestant churches that supported the Nazis, led by Ludwig Muller.

Question 19

What was the confessional church and when was it formed?

Answer 19

1934:
Made of 6000 Protestant churches that opposed the Nazis, they where led by Martin Niemoller

Question 20

When and what was the concordat?

Answer 20

1933:
Agreement signed with the pope that catholics were free to worship and run their own schools in return for not involving themselves in politics.

Question 21

How did Hitler break the concordat?

Answer 21

• Priest opposing Nazi arrested and and to concentration camps
• Catholic school had to remove all religious symbols and were later closed.
• Catholic youth groups banned

Question 22

Who was Joseph Goebbels?

Answer 22

He was the Nazi minister of enlightenment and propaganda.

Question 23

How did the Nazis censor the German people?

Answer 23

• Burned books by Jewish writers or opposition to the Nazi regime
• Radio producers, playwrights and newspaper where told what to say
• All opposition newspaper where banned
• Radios that could reach other countries stations where made

Question 24

How did the Nazis use media to influence attitudes?

Answer 24

• 1600 newspapers closed down in 1935 alone
• Journalists given briefing on what to say and write according to the amount of information the Nazis wanted to give out.

Question 25

How did the Nazis use radio to influence attitudes?

Answer 25

• All radio stations under Nazi control
• Hitler and other official made regular broadcast
• Cheap mass produced radio where sold to the people making 70% of Germany own a radio by 1939

Question 26

How were the Nuremberg rallies used to influence German attitudes?

Answer 26

• Made Germany look strong and imperious
• 100ft eagle erected
• giant stadium built with 130 anti aircraft searchlights

Question 27

How was the Berlin Olympic used as properganda?

Answer 27

Every victory was viewed as a symbol of German greatness and strength, built a stadium that could house 110,000 people with swastika all around. Germany won 33 medals, more than any other country.

Question 28

When and was the reich chamber of culture?

Answer 28

1933:
Oversaw art, architecture, literature theatre and film in order to ensure it aligned with Nazi beliefs it was set up by Joseph goebbels. Lead to the removal of 12,000 painting and sculpture from galleries, popularised Ancient Greek and Roman architecture styles rather than modern expressionist buildings and 2500 writer banned.

Question 29

How as film used as propaganda?

Answer 29

• Every film preceded by 45 minute newsreel of Nazi achievements that if you didn’t watch you weren’t allowed to watch the film
• Nazi party made 1300 films all focused on Nazi ideals

Question 30

How did pastors and priests oppose the Nazis?

Answer 30

• 6000 pastors and priest joined confessional church
• 800 pastors in concentration camps

Question 31

How did the youth oppose the nazis?

Answer 31

Edelweiss pirates attacked Hitler youth groups, had 2000 member by 1939, wrote anti Nazi propaganda and read anti-Nazi literature.
Swing youth listened to swing music dressed in western styles which went against the Nazis

Question 32

How effective was youth opposition up until 1939?

Answer 32

The opposition was limited. They only wrote anti-graffiti told anti-Nazi jokes and attacked the Hitler youth. Their opposition was cultural rather than political.

Question 33

What was the Nazis ideal woman?

Answer 33

Arian with blonde hair and blue eyes dressed simply and conservatively with simple hairstyles and natural face make up.
Had to believe in the Nazi ideals of Kinder Kuche and kirche, which stood for children, kitchen and church.
Had to have many children and wide childbearing hips and to be nondrinker and non-smoker, which was contrasting to how women had been under the Weimar Republic.
Women did not have jobs and they stayed at home to care for the children .

Question 34

What was Nazi policy towards women?

Answer 34

Women should not work, especially those who are married.
The marriage law of 1933 initiated the use of vouchers to newly married couples if the women agreed to stop working and for every child they had the amount they had to pay back was reduced.
Women should have at least four children.
German women’s enterprise gave women medals for having children.

Question 35

How effective was Nazi policy towards women?

Answer 35

During 1933 to 36 the number of employed married women fell.
Number of marriages increased and so did the birth rate, although few women had more than two children .
German women’s enterprise had 6 million members.

Question 36

How did the Nazis want children to be raised?

Answer 36

They wanted boys to be strong and healthy than all to work for the German economy and to fight in the future.
They wanted girls to be strong and healthy and order to have many children.
They wanted to prepare future generations of Nazi supporters.

Question 37

What was Hitler youth and when was it established?

Answer 37

1933- it was a group for young boys to learn about the army and take part in activities such as military drills shooting signalling and hiking and camping. It was a form of propaganda and in 1939 it became compulsory. In 1939 it had 8.5 million members.

Question 38

What are the Nazi youth groups were there?

Answer 38

That was the league of German maidens for girls in which they were taught how to make homes and their children and we taught the importance of racial hygiene which was the idea that they should keep the German and race pure by only marrying and men.
There was also the little fellows group for younger boys and there was military divisions of the Hitler youth .

Question 39

How did Nazis control education?

Answer 39

-it was compulsory for teachers to be members of the Nazi party
-all schools followed a set curriculum that was different for boys and girls in which they were taught things such as eugenics education to cut 15% of the time and textbooks and other subjects were changed to benefit and to teach Nazi ideals to the young
-There were Nazi flags in every classroom
-Subjects are rewritten to glorify Germany so they changed history books to emphasise German writers and historical figures

Question 40

What were the ultimate aims of the Nazi education policy?

Answer 40

Girls to be good wives and mothers and to encourage boys to turn into strong soldiers who would defend Germany and to teach and embed Nazi believes about race into the young.

Question 41

Why did Hitler want to get people working?

Answer 41

Unemployed were dangerous politically because they would offer turned to communism when poor and hungry and it was also believed by the Nazis to be a burden on society and a waste of resources.

Question 42

What was national labour service RAD and when was it established?

Answer 42

From July 1935 it was compulsory for all men aged 18 to 25 to serve for six months on the scheme.
They worked on public work such as draining marshes and building autobahns. It was very disliked as the pay was low and hours were.

Question 43

How did the Nazis reduce unemployment?

Answer 43

The policy of rearmament sought to build up their stockpile of arms and to provide new jobs they spent 26 billion marks rearmament.
Made 7000 km of Autobahn connecting up the country which also boosted the economy they built sports facilities such as the Berlin stadium for the 1936 Olympics and they increase spending in public works .

Question 44

We’re Nazi policies to reduce unemployment actually effective?

Answer 44

Official Nazi figures showed that unemployment dropped from 4.8 million in 1933 to 0300,000 in 1939. However, this did not take into account invisible unemployment and the statistics were manipulated as the Nazis had a new system of counting the figures in which they counted a part-time employed person as full-time employed.

Question 45

What was invisible unemployment?

Answer 45

These were the people who were not allowed to work jobs and the Nazi regime they were not counted into official figures of unemployment. These people included. Jews have been forced out of their jobs women who had been forced to leave their jobs on marriage men under the age of 25 national service and opponents to the regime who were in concentration camps.

Question 46

What was the German labour front DAF?

Answer 46

It replaced trade unions and workers had to be members and no other trade unions were allowed.

Question 47

What was the strength for through joy KDF?

Answer 47

An organisation that aimed to improve the lives of workers by providing low-cost and sometimes free activities for workers. They would often take holidays to places such as Italy and raffles to win days out for the family.

Question 48

What was the beauty of labour SDA organisation?

Answer 48

It aimed to improve the conditions of workers by reducing noise and workplaces providing canteen even building swimming pools, but the workers had to construct these amenities themselves so it wasn’t very popular.

Question 49

What was the Volkswagen scheme?

Answer 49

It was part of the KDS schemes. Hitler asked Porsche to design a family car which was called the VW beetle, workers paid five marks a week towards buying a car but none of them ever received a car

Question 50

Did the standard of living improved by 1939?

Answer 50

Agree:
More jobs that most men were in work.
The average wages rose by 20% compared to 1933.
Car ownership increased threefold .
Disagree:
Due to invisible unemployment many were still unemployed.
The cost of food rose an equivalent amount to the wages to this cancelled out the wage rise.
The banning of trade unions meant workers had a few rights and worked longer hours usually they worked 43 hours in a week and 1933 but they worked up to 49 hours and 1939 .

Question 51

What were the Nazi policies to grow the Aryan race?

Answer 51

The Lebens born program matched Arian women with Arian SS officers to help boost the aryan race.
The 1935 Nuremberg laws banned Aryans from marrying any of the ‘undesireabels’.

Question 52

What were the Nazi policies to grow the Aryan race?

Answer 52

The Lebens born program matched Arian women with Arian SS officers to help boost the aryan race.
The 1935 Nuremberg laws banned Aryans from marrying any of the ‘undesireabels’.

Question 53

Who were the untermenschen?

Answer 53

They were considered to be inferior people to the Aryan race. This time was used to describe Slavic people gypsies, black people and Jewish people.
These groups were often persecuted being sent to concentration camps being banned from travelling and being banned from marrying Arian people.
Mixed race children where sterilised .

Question 54

Why would Jewish people persecuted?

Answer 54

They were associated with communism as karl Mark was Jewish.
The Nazis gave the German people scapegoat. The Jewish population was blamed for Germany defeat in the First World War and the treaty of Versailles due to some of the politicians involved being Jewish.

Question 55

I did most German people that let Jewish persecution happen

Answer 55

Fear of the Gestapo and the if they spoke out against Nazi policy.
Widespread anti-Semitism due to Nazi propaganda .

Question 56

What was the Nazi policy of euthanasia?

Answer 56

It was a policy in which mentally disabled people were sterilised after a new law, The prevention of hereditary diseased offspring was introduced in 1933. Mentally and physically disabled babies were killed.

Question 57

When and what were the Nuremberg laws?

Answer 57

1935:
these laws stated the only those of jam and blood can be citizens. Jewish people must become subjects not citizens. Jewish people could not vote or have a German passport port or work for the government and they must wear a yellow star shaped patch so on the clothes for identification .
The law for the protection of German blood and honour stated that Jewish person could marry a German citizen and no Jewish person is allowed to have sexual relations with a German citizen .

Question 58

What and when was Kristallnacht (night of the broken Glass)?

Answer 58

1938:
Following the death of a German man by a Polish Jew in Paris Goebbels stirred up resentment and hatred towards Jewish people by attacking homes and synagogues. Global and Hitler decided to increase the violence into a nationwide attack leading to groups of uniform and non-uniform gangs, racking Jewish communities destroying burning homes, shops, businesses, and synagogues.

Question 59

What were the consequences of the night of the broken glass?

Answer 59

100 Jewish people were killed, 814 shops were destroyed,171 homes were destroyed and 191 synagogues were destroyed.
Goebbels Blamed the Jewish population for starting the unrest and ordered them to pay damages payment of 1 billion marks.