Opposition to the nazi regime Flashcards
Opposition to the Nazi Party
Began as small groups or individuals throughout 1933-1939. The popularity of Hitler achieved through propaganda was mostly very effective in ensuring the cooperation of the people.
Some groups which were in opposition included:
- The politcial left
- The army
- The youth
- The church
- Individuals
- German workers
The Political Left
- Social democrats, Communists and trade unionists
- The SPD
Social democrats, Communists and trade unionists tried to encourage acts of rebellion in factories.
The largest form of resistance came from the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
In 1933, the Nazi Party accused the SDP of being an illegal organization and so it relocated to Prague.
Some members stayed behind and started the Red Strike Group. This group amassed 3000 members and they tried to bring to light the abuses of the Nazi Party by calling for an uprising in their fortnightly newspaper.
The Gestapo located and arrested the leaders of the group in 1934.
However, in the mid-1930s another SPD movement called New Beginnings started but they were unsuccessful in encouraging much resistance.
The Political Left
- The KPD
The German Communist Party (KPD) were also in opposition to the Nazis.
They had 35,000 members and were the largest Communist Party outside of Russia at the time.
They were blamed for the Reichstag Fire and had to go underground as thousands of party members were arrested and detained at Dachau.
30,000 members remained and formed the Red Orchestra which also had a newspaper highlighting the poor working conditions and treatment of workers.
The army
- Assassinations
- General Blomberg and Fritsch
Before 1939, many saw the Nazi Party as placing Germany in a very dangerous position.
There were multiple plots throughout the 30s to try and assassinate or remove Hitler.
General Blomberg and Fritsch were high ranking members of command in the army whom Hitler did not approve of as they undermined his aggressive foreign policy in regards to the Rhineland. Blomberg married in 1938, and due to a rumour that he had married a former prostitute, he was forced to resign by Hitler.
Fritsch suffered a similar fate as he was accused of being gay and was also forced to resign. This allowed Hitler to purge and reorganize the army so it consisted of people who were loyal to him.
The Youth
- Swing Youth
- Edelweiss Pirates
The resistance of the youth mostly manifested through various groups.
Some examples
- Swing Youth - Fans of American jazz music who were part of counter culture within Nazi Germany.
- Edelweiss Pirates - A group which opposed the formality and conformity of the Nazi regime.
They dressed flashy in opposition to the straight and neat uniforms of the Nazis. They were often working class and got involved in street brawls with the Hitler youth. They engaged in vandalism of Nazi buildings and propaganda.
The Church
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Martin Niemoller
Both the Catholic and Protestant Churches had minority groups which opposed Nazism.
Two notable figures are Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was executed in a concentration camp in 1945 and Martin Niemoller who originally supported Hitler and later became part of the Confessional Church which spoke out against the Nazi Party.
Individuals
- The insider, Carl Goerdeler.
An example of an individual who opposed the Nazi Regime from the inside was Carl Goerdeler who joined the party to resist.
He was the Mayor of Leipzig from 1930 but was forced to resign in 1937 due to his active opposition.
He then took up a role as the chief of overseas sales for Bosch which allowed him to travel to countries such as Britain, the United States and France to warn them of the Nazis aggressive foreign policy plans.
Goerdeler was active in many plots to kill Hitler including the failed plot of July 1944.
After the failure of the assassination plan, he fled to Poland where he was tracked by the Gestapo and murdered in 1945.
German Workers
The German workers organized resistance campaigns through strikes which were not affiliated with any particular political party.
These were motivated by rising force prices and deteriorating working conditions while wages and quality of life remained low.
The Gestapo responded by arresting and sending to concentration camps people who were involved with organizing these events.
Other fors of rebellion included sabotaging equipment and refusing to salute.
In 1939, one worker Georg Elser pianted a bomb in Munich Beer Hall where Hitler was scheduled to address workers, however, Hitter finished speaking early and missed the explesion.
