Nazi Dictatorship Flashcards
What was the full title of the Nazi party?
National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis- NSDAP)
Who was Anton Drexler and what did he do?
He founded the DAP, (German Workers Party), in 1919
How did Hitler become party leader?
- Hitler first attended a DAP meeting(as a spy) and shared their views in rallying against the communists and socialists for bringing down the kaiser, the weimar republic and T.O.V and also the Jews who they blamed for undermining the German economy- September 1919
- Hitler began working as Drexler’s right-hand man and together they announced the new 25 point programme- included scrapping T.O.V and expanding Germany’s borders as well as depriving Jews of German citizenship- February 1920
- Hitler= great public speaker (orator) and he began to attract larger numbers to the meetings. Membership grew rapidly to 1100
- Hitler suggested the DAP change their name to the NSDAP and adopt the swastika as its emblem- August 1920
- Hitler pushed Dexler aside and became party leader and then sets up the SA- Mid-1921
Who were the leaders of the SA? When was the SA set up?
Herman Goring (first leader) and Ernst Rohm (killed during NOLK) mid-1921
Why was the SA set up?
- Hitler faced a lot of opposition from opposing parties and from fellow Nazis
- To deal with this- set up the SA- own private army
- Made up of violent ex-soldiers and their reputation grew very quickly due to shows of violence at political events
- Hitler therefore removed opposition due to fear SA created
How did the Nazis become a significant political party by 1928?
-The SA
-The Swastika
turned them from a political party into a household brand. Membership grew quickly
-Charmisa
Hitler- charismatic and a great orator, gathered huge crowds at public speeches
This increased the Nazi audience and allowed them to convey their ideas to the masses
Support for the party increased as a result, and also no other political party had such a ‘hypnotic’ speaker
What was the Dawes plan of 1924?
- USA lend money to Germany to help pay reparations to Britain, France and Belgium (800 million marks)
- Also German government use money to rebuild German economy
- GB and France pay US for loans accrued during WW1
Germany in the 1920’s relied on America, ‘America sneezes and the whole world catches a cold’
most loans were only short term and could be recalled at any point
What impact did the Great Depression have on Germany?
Stresemann: Germany is dancing on a volcano-1929’-economy will collapse if loans are called in
Too much production + people have little money -> demand falls -> Stock of unsold goods -> profit falls -> lack of confidence -> people start to sell shares -> panic -> CRASH
- Bankers and financiers in the USA recalled loans made to Germany = Germany had no money
- Many German companies relied on US investments, even German banks took out US loans and gave them to German businessmen
- US loans were mostly short-term, so they could be recalled at any moment
- Germany did not need to produce so much so factories closed and employees were sacked- Industrial production dropped by 49% by 1932 of its 1929 value.
- Also affected German farmers
- The impact of the WSC led to the GD and this affected many European companies
- Between 1929-1932 world trade fell by 70%
how did Hitler become Chancellor in February 1933?
backstairs intrigue
Von Papen’s misjudgement of Hitler- thought he could control him
how did the Great Depression lead to Hitler becoming chancellor/impacting it happening?
highlighted weakness of Weimar government
therefore people began to turn to political extremism
Nazis promised to rebuild the economy and 6 million were unemployed in 1932 = desperacy. needed extremist help
without it- may actually be argued that the Nazis would have remained a minor party as no growth in seats in Reichstag prior to this. 12 seats in 1928, 107 in 1930, 230 in 1932
how many seats did the Nazis have in 1932?
230
how many seats did the Nazis have in 1928?
12
what was appealing about the Nazi party during a time of crisis?
Nazi leadership, organisation by Himmler Goebbles propaganda Hitler's powerful skills as an orator Nazi promises- bread and work etc anti-Weimar stance
what other factors may have helped Hitler achieve the position of Chancellor in February 1933?
lack of opposition- Nazi leadership and effectiveness highlighted and was a foil to the lack of organisation of the Communist party
what is known as the Gleichschaltung period?
January 1933 and August 1934
what does Gleichschaltung mean?
bringing into order/getting things into line
essentially Nazi process of a totalitarian system
when does President Hindenburg die and what happens as a result of his death?
August 1934
Hitler combines the roles of President and Chancellor to become Fuhrer
what are some negative aspects of Hitler’s dictatorship that highlights he is a weak leader?
he assumed many problems would sort themselves out on their own
propaganda exaggerated the amount of jews in work
not enough Gestapo officials to go around- 1 million people had 28 staff
public work schemes such as the autobahn were only a short-term solution to the problem of unemployment post Depression
rearmament was his economic priority, but they mass produced and it wasn’t even all used
what was the Hitler myth and how my it be considered effective?
a carefully cultivated image by Goebbles
Hitler personified the nation
responsible for economic miracle, defended Germany against enemies
it satisfied the German people’s need for a strong government
It was sustained by Hitler’s successes after 1933
reaction to weakness of divided Weimar system
increased Hitler’s popularity- by late 30’s 90% of the population admired him
brought Germany together due to its strong appeal
helped cover up inconsistencies and failures
what was ineffective about the Hitler myth?
contributed to the decline of the third reich
popularity of Hitler gave him more freedom from the elites and led to radical nature that weakened the regime
Hitler began to believe in the myth- that he was infallible
military failures after 1941 led to a decline in the myths belief
who was the government official for the economy?
Goring
who was the party official for the economy?
Schacht
who was the police government official?
Himmler
who was the police party official?
Frick
who was the foreign policy government official?
Ribbentrop
what did Schleicher want?
an alliance with the Nazis because of their popular support
who disliked Hitler?
Hindenburg
why was Hindenburg running out of options to name a Chancellor?
Papen’s rule had failed
everyone was urging him to put Hitler in the position
what mistake did Bruning make during his chancellorship and what year and month did he do this?
he cut government expenditure, wages and unemployment pay in July 1930
effectively he worsened the already terrible situation
what did Brunings mistake lead to?
hostile attitudes from workers
anger and bitterness turned these people to the Nazis as they wanted extremism
what else increased support for the Nazis during Bruning’s rule?
many workers also turned to communism which frightened many businesses and middle/upper classes
therefore they financed the Nazis who were the strongest opponents to the Communists which clearly would have helped them
when was Bruning dismissed by Hindenburg?
1932
who succeeds Bruning?
Von Papen who became Chancellor as he had the support of Von Schleicher
what happened at the July 1932 election?
the Nazis gained the most votes than any other party (230 seats)
Von Papen wanted to gain their support ultimately for his own benefit
Hitler tried to keep distance as did not want to be associated with failure
when does Von Papen resign?
4th December 1932
failed to get significant support and Von Schleicher brought in ministers to oppose his policies
what does Schleicher offer Hitler?
the role of Chancellor if he could be in charge of defence- to which Hitler refuses
who wanted revenge on Schleicher?
Von Papen
he plotted to have him ousted with Hitler
what does Hindenburg finally agree to?
Hitler as chancellor
Von Papen as vice-chancellor
and a cabinet full of mostly non-Nazis (appealed to him as did not like Hitler anyway) (only 3 out of 11 were Nazis)
when does Hindenburg ask Schleicher to resign?
30th January 1933
what does Von Papen foolishly think that he can do?
control Hitler, he assured Hindenburg of this
how wrong he was!
how many members of the Nazi party were there in January 1933 and 1935?
850,000 to 2,500,000
how did Nazis ensure full totalitarian rule?
through the Der Gau which held utter dominance of German life
Gau = region
Kries = district
Ortsgruppe = small town (1500 households)
zelle = cell (160-480 households)
block (40-60 households)
who were the Gauleiter?
regional party bosses
who did the Gauleiter communicate with?
directly with Hitler and even attended top national party meetings
they also communicated with the Reichstag electoral district and they could become the position of Reich governor
what factor to do with the extreme way of exerting control proves the Nazi’s rule as ineffective?
many Gauleiter resisted the implementation of central government instructions!!
what were some of the Nazis economic policies 1933-1939?
drag Germany out of worldwide recession and increase GNP
solve unemployment
make Germany an autarky
transform the economy to focus on war and rearmament
what were the Nazi strategies to drag Germany out of the recession and increase GNP?
having a focus on agricultural production
placing tariffs on imported goods
low interest rates to encourage investments
mefo bills
small business investment
re-scheduled local authority debts
were the Nazi GNP and get out of the recession methods effective?
wages rose slightly- still lower in 1938 than they were in 1928- yes = effective
working hours went up to 49 hours in 1939- not so effective???
by 1936 GNP was up by 40%-effective
Industrial production up by 60%-effective
how did the Nazis aim to solve unemployment?
RAD (Reich Labour Service)
sack women and Jews from key jobs
public work schemes such as the autobahn and reforestation
were the Nazi methods to solve unemployment effective?
yes as unemployment dropped- 0.5 million in 1938 and previously 6 million in 1932…
removal of women and jews not exactly a good thing
autobahns was a temporary fix
statistics skewed by those in the RAD
how did Germany aim to increase self-sufficiency and make themselves an autarky?
place tariffs on imported goods (like to increase GNP and get out of the recession)
regulate imports and exports
focus on chemicals and metals over agriculture
increase agricultural production
were the Nazi methods to make Germany an autarky effective?
there were fewer consumer goods- not effective
Germany ended up importing more than exporting due to demands for rearmament- clearly the opposite of what they wanted to do and achieve
by 1939, still imported 33% of its required raw materials- not so effective although amount had reduced- still not complete self- sufficiency
what were the Nazis aims to focus on war and rearmament?
introduce conscription with 6 months of military construction projects
to develop substitute products eg: artificial rubber (buna)- effectively a form of self-sufficiency/autarky
to increase production of raw materials for war production
were the Nazis aims to focus on war and rearmament effective?
led to resignation of Schacht and lost support of elite businessmen who wanted to focus on butter rather than guns
caused deficits as it limited exports
-not effective
what did Schacht’s economic plans cause for workers?
Germany’s industry to steadily increase
profits went up by 3.8% between 1934 and 1938- positive
management salaries grew- positivie
working hours increased over time- from 43 in 1933 to 49 in 1939- negative
economy became increasingly geared towards war production so workers were put under pressure to do overtime on top of these long hours- negative
what was the DAF?
German Labour Front
what did the DAF do to benefit workers?
incorporated the Strength Through Joy (KdF) which provided recreational activities to millions of workers (holidays etc)
in 1934 2.3 million benefited from kdf holidays and 10.3 by 1939!!!
how did consumption decrease for workers?
between 1927 and 1937 butter went down tropical fruit went down beet went down potatoes went up
what was the Beauty of Labour and what was it a part of to improve life for workers?
a part of the DAF
beauty of labour was responsible for working conditions such as cleaner working environments , meals and smoking-free rooms
how did the DAF affect workers wages despite positive effects it had?
had to pay DAF contributions as well as tax and insurance
real wages only rose above 1929 levels in 1938- almost 10 years later despite everything they had to pay out for!
Nazi unemployment figures from 1928 to 1938…
1928-1.8 million 1932- 6 million 1934- 2.7 million 1936- 1,6 million 1938- 0.5 million
why did unemployment fall?
public work schemes, focus on rearmament and a need for workers to do this etc
but…
women and Jews were not counted in the statistics-despite being unemployed and kicked out of jobs
unemployed men working in forced labour schemes were also not counted
when did the Nazi party ban all trade unions?
1933
what were trade unions replaced with?
DAF (German Labour Front) led by Ley, labour
this meant that Nazis had full control and could deal with strike action harshly and remove rights of workers to protest
how did DAF membership increase from 1933 to 1939?
5 million to 22 million
what did Goebbles create when he came into power?
the Reich Radio Company
all broadcasting was under Nazi control = totalitarian
what helped draw attention to the Nazis during the election campaigns of 1932-1933?
the use of new technology
what impact did ‘the people’s receiver; have?
this cheap radio set meant more Germans could own a radio
1939- 70% of Germans owned a radio
loudspeakers were eventually installed in restaurants, cafes and factories and offices
radio warden coordinated the listening process
everybody could hear the Fuhrer’s message
what was the Nazi publishing house called for newspapers?
Eher Verlag
how much of the press did Eher Verlag control by 1939?
2/3 of German press
a daily press conference was introduced at the propaganda ministry to provide guidance on editorial policy
prior to this all privately owned companies
what impact did the Berlin Olympics 1936 have?
wanted to avoid international upset
Jewish posters removed
newspapers had to play down virulent messages
wanted to present a positive image of ‘new Germany’
radio spoke 28 different languages and everywhere- 20 transmitting vans with 300 microphones
ARYAN BLONDE HAIRED BLUE EYED race emphasised!!!!- image of athlete Siegfried Eifrig
heil hitler salute, Horst Wessel (sort of national anthem) strengthened individual’s identity within the regime
overall a major success for Germany
