Nazi Germany 1933-45

Question 1

When was Hitler appointed chancellor of Germany

Answer 1

30th January 1933

Question 2

What was the decree for the protection of people and state

Answer 2

Introduced on 28th February after the Reichstag fire the day before. Suspended civil rights, allowed imprisonment without trial and allowed nazis to ban opposition newspapers

Question 3

How did the nazis target their enemies in early 1933 ?

Answer 3

The Nazis arrested thousands of communists, many communists and socialists were held in makeshift prisons knows as wildcamps

Question 4

What occurred during the march elections in 1933 ?

Answer 4

The Nazis failed to get over 50% of the votes

Question 5

What was the enabling act

Answer 5

It was passed on march 24th and allowed hitler to pass laws without the Reichstag for 4 years. The deal was passed due to intimidation, threats and deals

Question 6

How else did Hitler consolidate power

Answer 6

. April 1933 Hitler purged the civil service of Nazi opposition and Jews
. All other political parties were banned by July 1933
. When president Hindenburg died in august 1934 Hitler become Führer by combining the roles of president and chancellor

Question 7

What occurred during the night of the Long Knives

Answer 7

By 1934 the SA had become too powerful and wanted to take over the army. Hitler needed the support of the army for his re-armament plans and so attacked the SA. On the night of the Long knives 30th June 1934 Hitler used the SS to kill the leaders of the SA and other Nazi opposition. One of these people being Ernst Röhm.

Question 8

What was the roles of the SS and Gestapo in the Nazi government ?

Answer 8

The Gestapo and SS ensured control. Concentration camps were set up in 1933 for political prisoners. During the war years the SS increased its numbers from 240,000 to over 1 million. The SS took control of racial policies and the captured territories. Nazi Gauleiters looked after each of the 13 military districts in Germany.

Question 9

What were the 1935 Nuremberg Laws

Answer 9

In the laws Jews were banned from being citizens of Germany and sexual relationships between Jews and Aryans was forbidden

Question 10

What was Kristallnacht in November 1938

Answer 10

After a German diplomat was assassinated by a Jew in Paris, Goebelles co-ordinated and encouraged a wave of anti-Semitic violence. During it 30,000 Jewish males were taken to concentration camps. In the aftermath the Jews had to pay 1 billion marks to pay for the damage. 91 Jews were killed and 267 synagogues destroyed

Question 11

What was Euthenasia on Nazi Germany

Answer 11

After a father sent a letter to Hitler in 1938 asking for his ill son to be killed to ease the pain, the chancellor secretary Philipp Bouhler saw this opportunity and asked for Hitlers consent. Hitler gave written authorisation after receiving 60,000 nominations and 100,000 people were killed over the next 3 years using Aktion T4

Question 12

What did people dislike about the Nazis

Answer 12

Economic factors- may people disliked the low wages, food shortages and high prices. People did not like forced labour, peasants and the middle class felt let down by Nazi policies

Nazi intrusion - people did not like to be told what not to read or listen too

Question 13

What examples of left-wing opposition was their

Answer 13

. Many left wing activists were arrested in the aftermath of the Reichstag fire and its estimated over 100,000 people were held in wildcamps
. KDP was banned and the SPD dissolved in 1933

Question 14

Catholic Church opposition

Answer 14

. In 1933 Hitler agreed a concordat with the Catholic Church whereby the papacy recognised the Nazi regime and promised not to intervene in German politics
. In return the Nazis agreed that the Catholic Church could retain control of youth and community groups
. However in 1936 the Nazis went against this and began to demand that the catholic youth organisation joined the Hitler youth

.Mass murder of disabled people was stopped as a result of opposition from the Catholic Church

Question 15

Opposition from protest church

Answer 15

. Most Germans were Protestant and the Nazis created the reich church under bishop Muller which supported Nazi values
. In December 1933 all Protestant youth groups were merged into Hitler youth
. Reverend Martin Neimoller created the confessing church in opposition of the reich church
. In 1937 the Nazis abandoned their attempts to form a Reich church, Neimnoller was sent to concentration camp

Question 16

Other opposition groups

Answer 16

.White rose group was a Munich university opposition group. They organised leaflets criticising Nazi policies
. Youth groups like edelweiss pirates and swing group provided an alternative to Hitler youth

Question 17

How did the Nazis control the legal system

Answer 17

. After 1933 judges could be sacked for their political beliefs
. Special court set up for political offences
. The decree for the protection of people and state
. All judges had to swear an oath to Hitler

Question 18

How did the gestapo ensure control

Answer 18

. Ensured and enforced political conformity
. Made use of protective custody for those accused
. Relied on public information
. Dealt with issues such as membership of banned groups and listening to foreign radio

Question 19

How did the SS ensure control

Answer 19

. Set up in 1925 as Hitlers personal body guard
. Intended to represent racially purity
. 250,000 members in 1939
. Main duties include enforcing Nazi racial policy and running concentration camps

Question 20

What were the criminal police ( kripo )

Answer 20

. Had a motto ‘ the fist comes down ‘
. In 1933 100,000 beggars and vagabonds were arrested and imprisoned

Question 21

What were concentration camps like

Answer 21

. Aimed to isolate opponents and ensure that they were no longer a threat to the state
. Life at the camp was de-humanising, strict regime of work was used to enforce control
. Approximately 21,400 prisoners were in concentration camps in 1939
. The camps were focused on propaganda and making political opponents look weak

Question 22

How was the radio useful to control the population

Answer 22

. It was viewed as new,modern and young
. The Reich radio company set up in 1934 and ensured that all German radio broadcasting was under Nazi control
. Cheap radios were produced, their limited range meant they could not pick up foreign broadcasts
. In 1939 70% of households had a radio
. Loudspeakers were set up in factories and towns to Broadcast important announcements

Question 23

How did Newspapers help control the German population

Answer 23

. Between the years 1933-39 the number of newspaper publishers fell
. The Nazi publishing house Eher Verlag controlled 2/3 of the press in 1939
. The Nazis ran the only news agency- they controlled the release of information
. The editors law meant that editors were liable to be punished if anything unacceptable was published

Question 24

How did film and other propaganda help control the German people

Answer 24

. Films had to be censored by the Nazis
. Propaganda films like triumph of the will were produced
. Heil Hitler became the standard greeting in Germany

Question 25

How did the Nazis recover the economy between 1933-36

Answer 25

. The Nazis encouraged worm to give up work
. Jews weren’t counted on official statistics
. Reich labour service set up in June 1933, this made unemployed people undertake manual labour
. Reparation repayments were suspended
. Unemployment fell from 6 million in 1932 to almost 0 in 1938
. Conscription was introduced in 1935, this also helped to reduce unemployment

Question 26

How did the Nazis try to create a command economy

Answer 26

. Agriculture and industries competed for imports and scarce resources
. In 1936 their was a serious balance of payments problem since the Nazis were importing more than they were exporting
. Economics minster Schlatt suggested focusing on consumer goods over rearmament, he later resigned in 1937

Question 27

What was the 4 year plan

Answer 27

. Aimed to prioritise rearmament, prepare Germany for war within 4 years and to introduce autarky
. Hitler wad determined to make Germany produce as much foods and raw materials as they required
. To become more self sufficient they started to use synthetic Buna instead of rubber

Question 28

Why did the 4 year plan fail

Answer 28

. By 1942 oil production was 6260 thousand tonnes per year when the target had been 13,830
. Germanys agricultural needs were still being imported
. Autarky was successful with bread and potatoes but fats were a major problem
. Germany produced only 57% of the fats consumed in the country in 1939

Question 29

What impact did the war have on the Nazi economy

Answer 29

. Albert Speer took charge in 1942 and improved production
. Speer made rearmament production more productive by concentrating production in larger more organised factories
. Under Speer production had tripled by 1944 compared to 1940 figures
. However by 1945 many German cities had been almost destroyed by allied bombing and their were shortages in coal and oil

Question 30

What were living conditions like in Nazi Germany

Answer 30

. Living standards improved for many Germans
. Real wages only matched pre 1928 levels
. Nazi controlled German labour front to replace trade unions
. Introduced strength through oh in November 1933, this improved and controlled workers leisure time
. The Nazis had a disastrous impact of living standards for anyone who did not conform to their ideology

Question 31

What was the Ideas behind young people in Nazi germany

Answer 31

. Were the key to the future
. Boys joined little folk aged 6, youngsters aged 10 and finally the Hitler youth between the age 14-18
. Girls joined the young girls angled 10 and the association of German young woman when they were older
. All other youth groups banned in 1936

Question 32

What did boys study at school

Answer 32

. Studied more scientific subjects regularly like maths and chemistry, sport was also key
. Focused on glorification of Germany

Question 33

What did girls study at school

Answer 33

. Their course was divided into house work, domestic science, cooking and garden work
. Breeding and hygiene too
. Took part in sport most days

Question 34

What were universities like

Answer 34

. Were to keep the spirit of national socialism
. The Nazis suppressed new ideas

Question 35

What was life like for teachers

Answer 35

. Membership of Nazi teacher association became compulsory in 1933
. Virtually all Jewish teachers were dismissed in 1933
. Jewish children were often insulted by teachers and students
.

Question 36

What was anti-semitism like in 1933-38

Answer 36

1933- refused the right of protection from the police
1935-enforced segregation
1935-Nuremberg laws illegal for Jews and Germans to marry or have sexual intercourse, Jews lose citizenship

Question 37

Why was their an increase in radicalisation in the late 1930s

Answer 37

. Hitler had more power and in 1937-38 Hitler gained full control of the armed forces
. Increased likelihood of war in 1938 so the Nazis had more freedom to act as they wished
. More Jews became part of the Reich after the Anschluss with Austria and the invasion of the Sudetenland

Question 38

How did the war impact the treatment of Jews

Answer 38

. The Nazis considered sending millions of Jews to Madagascar but this was not possible
. When the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 they send it Einsatsgruppen to specially murder Jews and Nazi enemies
. The final solution was introduced in 1942 where Heydrich began to organise the systematic mass mureder of Jews

Question 39

What was Nazi culture like

Answer 39

. Unacceptable and degenerate art was banned
. Artists had to be registered with the Reich chamber of Culture
. The Nazis prioritised traditional art

Question 40

What was the role of woman like in Nazi germany

Answer 40

. Law for the enforcement of marriage introduced which gave loans to newly married couples
. Woman were awarded the mother cross for having children, introduced in 1938. Gold was for 8 kids
. Woman were banned from certain professions like lawyers and judges in 1936
. 1938 divorce law meant men could divorce woman if they had no kids
. 3 K’s children, kitchen, church