Nazi - Politics + Government Flashcards
Main ways which the Nazis consolidated power
Reichstag Fire (Feb 1933)
Election (March 1933)
Enabling Act (March 1933)
Night of the Long Knives (June 1934)
Reichstag Fire
February 1933
Marinus van der Lubbe (dutch communist) accused of setting fire to the Reichstag - found guilty.
Suppression of communists - 4,000 killed by the SA +SS
Anti-communist sentiment potrayed by Goebbels
March 1933 Election
Nazis win 288 seats - compared to their 196 in Nov 1932
Goebbels headed the election campaign with anti-communist sentiment, following the Reichstag fire.
The SPD still achieved 120 seats, ZP = 92
The election was highly corrupt, SA intimidation
Enabling Act
March 1933
Allowed the cabinet to pass laws without the approval of the Reichstag
Laws did not require presidential approval
A 4 year arrangement, required renewal
Hitler could rule by decree (passing laws took < 24hrs)
Night of the Long Knives
June 1934
SA eliminated as a political and military force
Rohm and the main leaders of the SA were shot
Weapons + Transport was provided by the army
Von Schleicher + Strasser (socialist leader) were killed
400 killed in total
Press were told it was the suppression of a treason plot.
Von Papen marginalised
Army swear loyalty oath to Hitler
Power of the President (Change/Continuity)
Change - From August 1934, the role of Chancellor and President was merged into the role of Fuhrer.
Cont. - Reichstag still had some control in theory, ie could pass a vote of no confidence.
Power of the Central + State govt. (change / cont.)
Change - Elected state governments were replaced with centrally appointed officials + from 1939, civil servants had to be party members and wear the Nazi Uniform.
Cont. - The elected state government of Prussia had already been removed by Von Papen + Hindenburg in 1932.
Power of Parliament (Change + Continuity)
Change - due to the Enabling Act + the one party state, the Reichstag played a minor role. In 1942, it voted to dissolve itself.
Cont. - Reichstag remains a existent, however mostly a ceremonial role. They were needed to renew the Enabling Act.
Voting / Elections (Change + Continuity)
Change - Elections became less frequent (1933,1936 + 1938) they were linked to referendum questions. Only Nazi approved candidates could stand.
Cont. - German consitutencies + electorate did not change under Nazi rule.
Political Parties (C+C)
Change - From July 1933, there was a one party state. Nazi radicals were purged during the Night of the Long Knives. Gauleiters became very important.
Cont. - There were some attempts to exclude SPD from the ruling coaltion by Hindenburg + NSDAP banned briefly.
Nature of elections/ referendums (C+C)
Change - Vert high voter turnout (90% +), elections combined with plebiscite questions. Atmosphere of intimidation + ballot rigging.
Cont. - the Weimar constitution allowed for referendum to be triggered by popular petition (eg. Young Plan).
Judiciary (C+C)
Change - People’s court (1933) allowed people to be tried for political crimes. New Reich Chamber for Lawyers established where a loyalty oath was taken and non-cooperative judges were forced to retire.
Cont. - Largely the institutions were left untouched as they were hostile to democracy during the Weimar, with right-wing sympathy, ie. Hitler’s 9 month sentence.
Civil Service (C+C)
Change - Purged of Jews and Socialists in 1933, all civil servants had to be members of the Nazi party in 1934.
Cont. - The actual administrative methods was left largely untoched.
Foriegn Office (C+C)
Change - Leading Nazis were given diplomatic missions (eg. Goering negociated Anschluss + consulted Mussolini in 1938).
Cont. - Non-Nazi Von Neurath stayed in his post until 1938 when he was replaced by Ribbentrop.
Education Ministry (C+C)
Change- Existing education was undermined by the party’s new Hitler Youth organisations
Cont. - Similar bureaucratic methods as during the Weimar period.
Prerogative State
The government itself is constrained to act legally in normal modern states - Hitler ignored this and ruled by his own freewill.
Polycratic Regime
A state run by numerous people - Hitler delegated lots and made official positions overlapping in their responsibity.
Cumulative Radicalisation
Belief that genocide + mass crimes are not planned, instead they emerge in the short-term due to warfare.
Gauleiters
The head of a Gau (region) eg. Goebbels was Gauleiter of Berlin 1928-45.
Fuhrerprinzip
Hitler best understood what was benficial for German people and therefore was best placed to inform decisions
Working towards the Fuhrer
Policies were based on what policitcan percieved that Hitler would want.
Gleichschaltung
a process of Nazification designed to turn Germany into a single party state under Hitler and the Nazi Party
Martin Bormann
Hitler’s private secretary (1935)
He organised Hitler’s diary, appoinments + mail.
He gained control over the Reich Chancellory (1941)
Henreich Himmler
He was appointed as the Reichsfuhrer of the SS in 1929.
He grew the SS to 50,000 by 1933.
Promoted to Chief of German Police in 1936
Assistant Chief of the Gestapo in 1934
Committed Suicide in 1945
Ernst Rohm
Head of the SA
Killed at the Night of the Long Knives - 1934
Hermann Goering
WW1 fighter ace
Joined the Nazis in 1922
Injured at the Munich Putsch
Reichstag deputy in 1928
Leader of the Luftwaffe
Plenipotentiary of the 4 year plan (1936)
Joseph Goebbels
Gauleiter of Berlin
Minister of Propaganda
Decisive during Krystallnacht 1938
He was made ‘Plenipotentiary of Total War’ in August 1944
Key Political Changes during the War
Key Gauleiters became Commissioners for the defence of the Reich in September 1939.
Bormann was made in charge of the Reich Chancellory (1941).
The party became increasingly bureaucratic
Older party members were marginalised
Himmler became Minister of the Interior in 1943
Key Changes to the Army during the War
After the war broke out, dissession seemed treasonable
After the NotLK, Hitler promised the Army would be the only force in Germany.
The SS was kept as a reserve force - Waffen SS - 35 divisions by 1945.
After the Army bomb plot, major purge of army officers - est. 200 officers were killed
Role of the SS during the War
Ran concentration camps (1934-30)
900,000 men by 1944
Administrated new Nazi territory eg. Poland
Carried out racial wars - Einsatzgruppen
