nazi state Flashcards
How did the Nazis maintain power?
context
In January 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, the Nazis became the largest party in the Reichstag (196 seats). However, they still did not win a majority.
Ageing President Paul Hindenburg offered Hitler the job of Chancellor which he accepted.
Hindenburg was convinced by the political right to appoint Hitler but thought he could control him and get him to do what he wanted. But Hitler was not as easily manipulated as expected.
On 27th February 1933 the Reichstag building went on fire and it was blamed on a young Dutch Communist.
The subsequent events allowed Hitler to take supreme power in Germany and rule as a dictator; the democratic Weimar years were over.
Establishment of a Totalitarian State
knowledge
After the Reichstag Fire on 27th February 1933, Hitler used his position as chancellor to persuade the President to pass Article 48 – The Emergency Decree, removing all civil liberties (rights) from the German people.
The SA and the SS acted as a ‘temporary’ police force, arresting Communists, Socialists and Trade Union officials so that Hitler could call a new election and win a majority in the Reichstag
With the Communists and Socialists ‘missing’ from the Reichstag, Hitler passed the Enabling Act on 24th March 1933 which gave him power to pass laws without Presidential authorisation, effectively allowing Hitler to rule as sole dictator.
Analysis - Establishing a totalitarian state
The Reichstag Fire and Enabling Act were very important in giving Hitler the power he needed to pass laws to get rid of opposition groups and political parties and was the first step in achieving a one-party state. This effectively ended democracy.
Analysis + - Establishing a totalitarian state
however, even with the SPD arrested or ‘missing’ and Communists banned, Hitler still did not win a majority vote in the March 1933 election (43.9%) showing that there was still a lot of opposition in Germany that Hitler would need to take strong action against to stay in power.
Fear and State Terrorism
knowledge
There is strong evidence to support the idea that the Nazis were able to maintain control through fear.
The SS ‘Schutzstaffel’ was the state’s internal security service and led by Heinrich Himmler, Their job was to root out any opposition to the Fuhrer. They operated outside the law, frequently carrying out brutal attacks and running the ‘political prisons’.
The Gestapo were the secret police of the Nazi Government. They read mail, opened letters and listened at doors and seemed to be watching and listening everywhere.
The most feared institution of the Nazi state was the concentration camps. Dachau (Munich) and Sachsenhausen (Berlin) were supposed to be ‘re-education’ camps which housed enemies of the state and most Germans would do anything to avoid ending up in one.
Fear and State Terrorism
analysis
The Police State helped the Nazis maintain power because it ensured that the people in Germany were living in fear and would therefore obey and accept Nazi rule in order to avoid the consequences of being sent to be ‘re-educated’.
Fear and State Terrorism
analysis +
However, there are limits to the argument that Nazi Germany was ruled by fear. For example, most of the early concentration camps were forced to close by 1934. In addition, there were some areas of Germany where the Gestapo exercised little practical control due to lack of personnel. This suggests that the Nazis did not rely on fear and state terrorism alone to maintain power.
propaganda
knowlwdge
As propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels’ job was to rid Germany of its old class divisions and create a sense of ‘national community’ (volksgemeinschaft)
Propaganda during the Nazi reign had three main messages (promoted via posters/ cinema/ rallies)
Promoting the benefits of living in Nazi Germany – how lucky people were for what Hitler gave them i.e. The Peoples’ Car
Promoting Nazi beliefs/ persecuting minorities – Jews, the disabled
Enforcing the Fuhrer Cult – showing Hitler as a God and the ‘Father’ of Germany
Other examples of propaganda include
The People’s Receiver (cheap radio)
The Mass Rally
The Berlin Olympics 1936
propaganda
analysis
Propaganda was important because it could not be avoided in Nazi Germany and people were bombarded with Nazi messages, helping promote the positives that Hitler brought to Germany and gained loyalty from the German people.
propaganda
analysis +
however, many Germans were quite aware they were being bombarded with Nazi propaganda and actually intentionally avoided it, such as showing up at the cinema late to avoid the propaganda films
Economic Policies
knowledge
Through a programme of forced labour, public works, rearmament and the building of the Autobahn system, unemployment reduced dramatically.
In 1933 unemployment was over 6 million. By 1939 it was 0.1 million.
Economic Policies
analysis
This is important because the Nazis received a great deal of support and praise for providing jobs for all and a regular income for German families after the unemployment and misery of the Great Depression, even if working conditions were difficult.
Economic Policies
analysis+
However, women and Jews were forced out of their jobs so they would have been much less likely to support the economic policy.
Social Policies
Knowledge – Strength through Joy
The Nazis introduced the KDF or ‘Strength
through Joy’ organisation to avoid worker
discontent.
It gave workers cheap holidays, cruises, concert
tickets and even the chance to obtain a Peoples’
Car via a savings system
social policy’s
Analysis – Strength through Joy
The Strength through Joy movement was
successful in winning over the working class in
Germany as it provided small rewards – it
certainly helped deflect criticism from the
regime and helped the Nazis stay in power. 10m
had been on a KDF holiday by 1938
