Opposition, Resistance and Conformity Flashcards
Describe Support for the Nazi Regime
-There was a high level of support amongst German people for Hitler and the Nazis.
-Hitler won 36% of the vote in the April 1932 presidential election, and then the Nazi Party won 38% of votes in the July 1932 general election.
-The Nazis were elected as the largest party amongst the Reichstag.
-For the rest of the 1930s, amongst most Germans, there was a high level of conformity, or acceptance, of Hitler and the Nazis and their policies.
Explain why There was Mostly Conformity and Little Resistance or Opposition Towards the Nazi Regime
-One reason was censorship and propaganda. Goebbels banned criticism of the Nazis and used the media to spread positive messages about them.
-This ensured Hitler and the Nazis remained popular in Germany.
-Another reason was Nazi success. For example, during the 1930s, Hitler reduced unemployment and achieved several success in foreign policy.
-Organised opposition, in the form of political parties or trade unions, was banned.
-Unofficial opposition was risky. Criticism of Hitler was reported to the gestapo by informers and those reported would be punished.
Describe Secret Political Opposition to the Nazis
-In 1933, the SPD printed an opposition newspaper, the Red Shock Troop, with a circulation of 3,000 copies.
-The organisers were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
-SPD leaders then set up SOPADE- the SPD abroad- to campaign against the Nazis.
-The KPD continued to encourage workers to oppose the Nazis.
-Workers sometimes undermined Nazi building projects by staying off work sick or deliberately damaging machinery.
Describe Secret Army Opposition to the Nazis
-Some army officers opposed the Nazis. General Ludwig Beck was a Chief of Staff of the German Army. Beck led plots against Hitler in 1943 and 1944.
-In 1938, he tried to get fellow officers to arrest Hitler. He even sent a message to the British, saying that the German Army would not fight back if Britain attacked Germany.
Describe Attempts to Make Churches Conform to the Nazi Regime
-Hitler and the Nazis tried to control religion in Germany.
-Catholics had to swear allegiance to the Nazi regime; Catholic schools and Catholic Youth Groups were closed.
-Protestant pastors were told to join the German Christian Church, which accepted Nazi interference in the running of Protestant churches.
-Nazis called it the Reich Church. Many pastors conformed, but some Christian leaders resisted.
Describe the Pastors’ Emergency League (PEL)
-In 1933, a group of Protestant pastors including Martin Niemoller, set up the Pastors’ Emergency League (PEL).
-They opposed the joining of regional churches into one national German Christian Church.
-They also opposed Nazi attempts to stop Jews becoming Christians and to ban the Jewish Old testament from Christian teaching.
Describe the Confessing Church
-In 1934, the PEL set up the Confessing Church. There were, in effect, two Protestant Churches in Germany.
-The Reich Church accepted Nazi interference in the running of their Church whereas the Confessing Church opposed Nazi interference.
-About 2,000 Protestant pastors remained in the German Christian Church, but about 6,000 joined the Confessing Church, in opposition to Nazi policy.
-Some pastors spoke out against the Nazis. About 800 were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
Describe the Limits of Church Opposition
-Though many Church leaders did voice their opposition to the Nazis, their opposition was limited. Opposition to the Nazis amongst ordinary Christians was also muted.
-There were big attendances at church services, in defiance of the Nazis. Some Germans even publicly applauded Church leaders who opposed the Nazis.
-These are examples of a refusal to conform- a kind of resistance to the Nazis. However, there were few Christians who were brave, or foolish enough to oppose the Nazis openly.
Describe Martin Niemoller’s Initial Attitudes Towards the Nazis
-In the 1920s, Niemller opposed the Weimar Republic. He thought Germany needed a strong leader.
-He voted for the Nazis in the 1924 and 1933 elections and welcomed Hitler’s Chancellorship.
-However, he opposed Nazi interference in the running of the Protestant Church in Germany. Niemoller also opposed the Nazi ban on Jews becoming Christians.
-Although, he did not oppose other restrictions on Jews which the Nazis imposed in the 1930s.
Describe Niemoller’s opposition Towards the Nazis
-In 1934, he discovered that as a critic of the Nazis, his telephone had been bugged by the Gestapo. He realised the Nazi regime was a dictatorship which should be opposed.
-He opposed Nazi interference in the running of the Protestant Church in Germany. He was a founder of the PEL in 1933 and the Confessing Church in 1933.
-He spoke out against them more and more, opposing their policies. As a result, he was repeatedly arrested between 1934 and 1937.
Describe the Consequences of Niemoller’s opposition
-In 1937, he was arrested by the Gestapo and charged with ‘treasonable statements.’ He was found guilty in 1938 and put in solitary confinement in Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
-Niemoller continued to have mixed feelings about the Nazis. In 1939, he even asked if he could be released from prison to fight for Germany, offering to serve Hitler ‘in any capacity.’
-He was later transferred to Dachau concentration camp where he remained until the end of the war in 1945 when he was freed.
Describe Opposition to the Nazis From Young People
-Most Germans conformed but some young people were opposed to the compulsory Nazi youth groups.
-Some also objected Nazi social policies. For the Nazis, everything- including industry and education- was organised for the benefit if the state. People had no freedom of choice.
-This put some young people off, especially if they were rebellious. As a result, alternative youth groups grew up in defiance of the official Nazi groups.
Describe the Edelweiss Pirates
-The Edelweiss Pirates emerged in the late 1930s in working-class districts of big German cities.
-Local groups called themselves the ‘Travelling Dudes’ from Essen or the ‘Navajos’ in Cologne. They used the symbol of the white edelweiss flower to show their allegiance to the Edelweiss Pirates.
-The Pirates consisted of mainly teenage boys, but some girls, who resented the military discipline of the Nazi Youth Groups and the general lack of freedom in Nazi Germany.
Describe the Actions Taken by the Edelweiss Pirates
-Stressing their own freedom to choose, the boys wore their hair longer and copied styles of clothing they saw in America, often opting for white or checked shirts and white socks.
-In cities, they hung around street corners where it was difficult for the Gestapo to distinguish them from any other young people.
-If they came across any Hitler Youth, they would taunt them or sometimes attack them. To break away from adults and Nazi restrictions, the Pirates went on long hikes in the countryside.
-They pitched tents, sang parodies of Hitler Youth songs and told jokes, sometimes mocking the Nazis.
Describe the Swing Youth
-The Swing Youth were mainly teenagers from the wealthy middle class families, located in big towns, especially Berlin, Hamburg and Kiel.
-They admired American culture, such as American clothes, films and especially music.
