Opposition, Control And Consent 1933-1945 Flashcards
Non-conformity meaning
(Largest category) people who neither resisted nor opposed the regime, but who did in various ways fail to conform to its demands
Opposition
Large category, people who opposed particular nazi policies but did not necessarily reject the regime as a whole
Active resistance
Small number people who totally rejected Nazism and sought the overthrow of the regime
3 examples of youth opposition to the nazis
The white rose group
The swing youth
The edelweiss pirates
The white rose group
-led by Professor Kurt Huber
-1942-1943
-first public demonstration to the Nazi regime
-‘Germany’s name will remain disgraced forever unless German Youth finally rises up immediately, takes revenge, stones, smashes its torturers and builds a new spiritual Europe
The Swing Youth
-mainly middle class teenagers who went to parties to listen to banned English and American music (jazz and dance the jitterbug)
-long unkempt hair and exaggerated clothes
-accepted Jews within organisation
-refused to join Hitler Youth Minimal
-Nazis issued handbook on how to identify these ‘degenerate’ types
The Edelweiss Pirates
-also known as Roven Dudes
-took part in activities similar to Hitler Youth, went camping and sang songs
-attacked members of the Hitler youth + members of authorities
-resisted Nazi control of their lives
-war progressed = activities more of a concern
-12 publicly hanged in November 1944
The Kreisau Circle
-led by Helmuth Von Moltke
-became one of leading anti nazi groups
-opposition was mainly theoretical (planning for a post nazi regime)
The Freiburg Circle
-led by the historian Gerald Ritter
-strongly nationalistic
-prepared to bring down Hitler but not willing to contribute to Nazis defeat in the war
-Ritter imprisoned but survived
The army bomb plot 1944
Leasing members of the army tried to assassinate Hitler by planting a bomb in a meeting room
Solf circle
-set up in 1936 by Hanna Solf who was an anti-nazi
-some members linked to army bomb plot
-met to discuss war and relief for Jews and political enemies of the regime
-74 arrests made
-some sent to concentration camps and some were sentenced to death
Protestants
-1934
-confessional Church set up as it refused to be a part of the official Reich Church
-sought to defend Protestant Church from state interference and the ‘false’ ideology of German Christians
SPD
-banned and many leaders forced into exile in 1933
-went ‘underground’ and formed a resistance group called Roter Strossup (Red Strike Groups)
-produced fortnightly newspaper highlighting nazi abuse of power ad calling on workers for uprising and overthrow the regime
-another group = ‘New Beginnings’ 1930s but continuous pressure from the Gestapo want it was largely ineffective
KPD
-clampdown after reichstag fire = many fled or arrested
-more than 30,000 continued underground resistance
-published millions of anti-nazi leaflets between 1933 and 1935
Workers
-organised resistance campaigns Such as strikes
-motivated by deteriorating working conditions r rising food prices rather than against the nazi regime
-workers were arrested and sent to concentration camps
-1939, factory worker George Elser planted bomb in Munich beer hall where fuhrer was scheduled to speak. Timing was perfect but speech ended several minutes and left stage by the time the bomb detonated
Examples of where opposition became stronger during the war years
-army bomb plot aimed to blow up Hitler in 1944
-Red Army was involved in espionage, sending information to the USSR
-Dietrich Boenhoffer, Protestant Minister, had connections with illegal groups opposing Hitler
How did repression become more severe in war years?
-leaders of Red Orchestra were captured and executed
-nearly 5,000 people were rounded up and executed after the army bomb plot in 1944
-Boenhoffer was captured, imprisoned and executed
The impact of war on opposition
-most serious threat came from the elite
-1942= clear that Germany was not winning the war
-military defeats led some elements of the army to resist the regime
When were political parties banned?
July 1933
When were the trade unions natzified?
May 1933
What is meant by denunciations?
Snitching
What 3 points summarise why opposition failed?
- Weight of the terror state (ordinary people denunciating)
- Religious groups which didn’t do much to keep Christian morality alive
- Propaganda (mixed strategies)