Nazi experiment: 13 political authority 1929-1945

Question 1

what happened in October 1929?

Answer 1

stock market crash in the USA - deprived Germany of US loans and investment causing banks to collapse, industrial production decreased and businesses went bankrupt

Question 2

what happened to unemployment before 1929 to 1931?

Answer 2

under 2 million to 4.5 million

Question 3

what was the last truly democratic government in the Weimar republic and why did it collapse?

Answer 3

the Grand Coalition - 1928-30 - Hermann Muller was chancellor
impossible to keep up with escalating unemployment benefit claims, diverse political membership meant it was difficult for ministers to agree on financial demands

Question 4

who replaced Muller in 1930?

Answer 4

Heinrich Bruning, leader of the Zentrum
Bruning relied on Article 48 and made little effort to secure majority in the Reichstag e.g. reichstag rejected a new finance bill reform (higher taxes and reduced public expenditure) however Bruning forced it through

Question 5

how did the NSDAP perform in the 1930 elections?

Answer 5

18.3% of vote, 107 deputies
second to the SPD with 24.5% and 143 deps

Question 6

how many emergency decrees were ratified between 1930 and 1932 by the president?

Answer 6

109 compared to the 29 minor bills by the Reichstag
Bruning did however convince the allies to end reparation payments in 1932 - he also drove more voters to extremist parties due to his increased taxes and decreased public expenditure

Question 7

what is the outcome of the presidential election in March 1932?

Answer 7

Hitler stood as a candidate and helped split the first round vote. Hindenburg eventually won in the second round comfortably however Hitler’s success increased Nazi confidence (meaning it was challenging for Bruning to ban the SA)

Question 8

when did Bruning resign?

Answer 8

May 1932 he was forced as Hindenburg opposed another reform - Prussian land-reform proposals which would have broken up Prussian landed estates and give them to city families to provide them with a means of living - Junkers (such as Hindenburg) opposed the idea

Question 9

how did Hitler help grow the NSDAP?

Answer 9

met with influential people such as Bruning, Hindenburg, tried cooperating with the DNVP (right wing) in 1931 and Ruhr industrialists in 1932.
wanted everyone to know that the NSDAP was a proper party with a positive programme however it was challenging as the SA’s violence increased.
NSDAP aim was to restore traditional middle class values, uphold law and order whilst avoiding communism

Question 10

who was Chancellor after Bruning and what were his goals?

Answer 10

Papen - aimed to win support of the Nazis despite looking down on Hitler. Lifted SA ban in 1932, placed curbs on communist press and agreed in response to Hitler’s demand to call new elections in July.
he forced authoritarian control over Prussia.

Question 11

when was the Prussian coup?

Answer 11

July 1932
riots in Hamburg were used as an excuse to dismiss the gov, army sent in and old gov overthrown - a coup known as the Preussenschlag
Papen then appointed himself Reich Commissioner with direct control over the Prussian gov

Question 12

why did Hitler reject Papen’s offer of vice-chancellor?

Answer 12

he wouldn’t support any cabinet unless he was made Chancellor

Question 13

how did the NSDAP perform in the July 1932 and November 1932 elections?

Answer 13

37.3% of vote, 230 deps then 33.1% and 196 deps - had the Nazis surpassed their peak?

Question 14

what could have caused the Nazi’s loss of votes in November 1932?

Answer 14

• loss of middle class support following Hitler’s repeated attacks on Papen, refusal of vice Chancellorship and support for Communist led transport in Berlin
• slight economic improvement - radical remedies therefore less urgent
  furthermore Nazis were exhausted after two election campaigns in quick succession as well as a presidential campaign

Question 15

who persuaded Hindenburg to dismiss Papen and why?

Answer 15

Schleicher (who mostly represented the army)
Papen wanted to continue in power and considered banning the Nazis and Communists and calling on the army to support his rule.
Schleicher disapproved and feared a civil war
Papen was dismissed in December 1932

Question 16

how did Schleicher approach his new position?

Answer 16

believed an alliance with the Nazis was the only way forward
opened negotiations with Gregor Strasser who was committed to a Nazi social revolution and had a strong power base in Berlin making him a rival of Hitler
Hitler expelled Strasser from the party in December 1932

other strategy was to win over the workers and trade unions by cancelling Papen’s wage and benefit cuts
revived the proposal to break up large estates which quickly alienated Hindenburg
Hindenburg denied Schleicher’s request to abandon the Reichstag altogether and allow him to rule by decree

Question 17

what Papen do hoping to avenge Schleicher’s part in his dismissal?

Answer 17

opened negotiations with Hitler in January 1933
a deal was reached where Hitler would be offered chancellorship with Papen as his vice-Chancellor
Hugenburg (the DNVP leader) agreed to support a Nazi-led coalition while General Werner von Blomberg agreed to be defence minister and offered support of the army

Hindenburg had been assured of a weakened Nazi position than the year prior and was persuaded on the condition that there were only two Nazis in the cabinet in addition to Hitler

Question 18

when did Hitler become Chancellor?

Answer 18

30 January 1933 after Schleicher had been forced to resign on 28 January 1933

Question 19

how did Hitler immediately consolidate his power as Chancellor?

Answer 19

called for immediate elections and mounted a massive propaganda campaign
shortly before the elections the Nazis were helped by the Reichstag fire
gave Hitler the excuse to request an emergency decree (28 Feb)) ‘for the protection of people and state’ so to prevent further communist action through power to search, arrest and censor until further notice
the Nazis were able to remove opponents before the elections took place

Question 20

when and what was the Reichstag fire?

Answer 20

27 February 1933
Reichstag building burned down
allegedly the work of a Dutch Communist named van der Lubbe
however speculation that Hitler or the SA were involved and had organised the fire themselves as an excuse to damn their opponents

Question 21

what were the results of the 5 March 1933 elections?

Answer 21

Nazis gained 43.9% of vote which whilst impressive still left Hitler reliant on other parties to gain a 2/3 majority
supported by DNVP and eventually Zentrum

Question 22

what happened at the ceremony of national reconciliation in Potsdam?

Answer 22

21 March
Hindenburg was persuaded to stand alongside Hitler
cleverly timed propaganda

Question 23

what was the enabling act?

Answer 23

‘law for terminating the suffering of the people and the nation’
allowed the Chancellor to issue laws without consolidation for a period of 4 years
only 94 Socialists voted against it

Question 24

gleichschaltung

Answer 24

coordination process whereby all German institutions were to conform to National Socialist Ideas
Weimar constitution of 1919 never formally abandonned the the Reichstag survived however Hitler used a combination of legal powers and the threat of force to remove or Nazify any group or institutions he feared may limit his power

Question 25

what kind of state did Hitler create?

Answer 25

centralised one-party state
Nazis infiltrated the Lander govs from early 1933 and SA violence helped force potential opponents out of office
by law of Jan 1934 the representative assemblies of the Lander were abolished and new Nazi governors who were subordinate to the Reich gov in Berlin took control

Question 26

what law helped ensure Hitler could create a one-party state?

Answer 26

14 July 1933 ‘Law against the establishment of parties’ made it a criminal offence to organise a non-Nazi party so although there was an election in November 1933 only the Nazi were able to stand and therefore took all the Reichstag seats

Question 27

what did the ‘Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service’ of April 1933 do?

Answer 27

non-Aryans forced to retire and Jews and other opponents described as ‘alien elements’ were purged from places in the administration, courts, schools and universities

Question 28

when was membership of the Nazi party made compulsory?

Answer 28

1939

Question 29

what changes to trade unions were made?

Answer 29

left-wing socialist trade unions were dissolved in May 1933 and a German Labour Front (DAF) under Robert Ley was set up to replace them
membership was compulsory and employees could no longer negotiate over wages and conditions

Question 30

how were professions controlled?

Answer 30

teachers required to join the National Socialist Teachers’ League (NSLB)
Nov 1933 - university lecturers were required to sign a declaration in support of Hitler and join the Nazi Lecturers’ Association

Question 30

what did Hitler potentially unintentionally create in his one party state?

Answer 30

allowed parallel institutes to develop rather than create undiluted party rule
there was competition within the state between different branches of the Nazi party such as local govs had minister presidents of each Land as well as new Reich governors

Question 31

what was the night of the long knives?

Answer 31

• Hitler concerned with the SA’s violence and sometimes uncontrollable behaviour and demands of leader Rohm who wanted to be leader of a merged SA and army
• Rohm openly condemned Hitler’s compliance with the traditional elites in 1933 and called for a ‘second revolution’ to complete the ‘Nazi Uprising’
• Hitler gambled that he could destroy the SA and ensure loyalty of the army at the same time
• Himmler and Goering spread rumours of a planned SA coup providing Hitler and the SS an excuse to take action
• 86 ‘plotters’ were killed including Rohm 30 June 1934

Question 32

who was killed during the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 32

Rohm, Strasser (who had been expelled), Schleicher (former chancellor)
Papen was put under house arrest and was lucky to not be killed

Question 33

who did Hitler justify the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 33

claimed to act on behalf of the German people at a time of emergency
Reichstag confirmed that Hitler’s authority was derived from the will of the people and could not be challenged

Question 34

when did Hindenburg die?

Answer 34

August 1934
Hitler combined the office of chancellorship and president and became Germany’s ‘Fuhrer’
he called on all members of the armed forces to swear a personal oath of loyalty to himself as a sign of his authority

Question 35

how did Hindenburg and Hitler enable Nazism to spread?

Answer 35

Hindenburg - past, age and readiness to submit to the advice of his ‘inner circle’, suggested he had a personal motive to appoint Hitler in order to avoid investigations into the misuse of gov funds on his family estate in Prussia
Hitler - ambition, determination and calculation won him the highest office and ensured he had consolidated his position by August 1934

Question 36

what was political authority like from 1929-45?

Answer 36

Chancellors Burning, Papen and Scheicher all struggled to rule without parliamentary majorities and relied on the president’s decree powers
Nazis and Communists put pressure on these govs and Hitler made capital out of the presidential elections of 1932
Jan 1933 Hindenburg made Hitler Chancellor with the hope of controlling him and restoring traditional conservative rule
Hitler destroyed his own SA
Hindenburg died in Aug 1934 and Hitler was able to combine powers of the Chancellor and the President