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nazis; the nazi dictatorship > policies towards the churches > Flashcards

policies towards the churches Flashcards

1
Q

Why was coordinating the Churches into the Volksgemeinschaft a serious challenge?

A

The Germans were seriously divide in faith, majority were Protestant but a significant minority were Roman Catholic.

As well as this, religious loyalties were deep rooted in communities and posed a threat to the Nazi aim of making the Fuhrer the focus of loyalty.

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2
Q

What was Hitler’s initial objective with Churches?

A

To gain control over them and later try and weaken their influence.

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3
Q

Why did Hitler contradict himself in religion?

A

He was raised as a Catholic in Austria and talked often of ‘positive Christianity’ but later stated he wanted to eradicate the faith from Germany.

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4
Q

How did Hitler try not to alienate the Churches in the beginning?

A

By reassuring Church leaders that Nazism posed no threat to them.

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5
Q

What did atheist Nazi leaders want to do to Christian Churches?

A

Replace them with a new Nazi faith.

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6
Q

What was the main Protestant Church in Germany?

A

The German Evangelical Church.

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7
Q

What did many Nazis see in the German Evangelical Church?

A

A potential nucleus for a single national Church.

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8
Q

What were Evangelicals like?

A

Very conservative and staunch nationalists, with a strong tradition of respect for cooperation with the State.

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9
Q

What were many Protestants like?

A

Anti-semetic and anti-communist.

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10
Q

What did the Nazis begin to do to the Evangelical church in the spring and summer of 1933?

A

Coordinate it into a single, centralised Reich Church under Nazi control.

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11
Q

Who won the Church elections of July 1933?

A

The German Christians, with a sweeping victory, where they could now ‘Nazify’ the Church.

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12
Q

Who was appointed Reich Bishop and took over administrative headquarters of the Evangelical Church?

A

Ludwig Muller.

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13
Q

What did Muller do once taking over administrative headquarters of the Reich Church?

A

He abolished all elected bodies within the Church and reorganised it on the leadership principle.

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14
Q

What did the German Christians do in November 1933 to celebrate their sweeping victory?

A

Held a mass rally at the Sports Palace in Berlin where they demanded that all pastors who had not yet declared their allegiance should be dismissed, along with all non-Aryans.

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15
Q

What did the Reich Church have to adopt as a state institution?

A

The Aryan paragraph, which meant that 18 pastors who’d converted from Judaism to Christianity were dismissed.

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16
Q

What religious group was set up in September 1933?

A

A Pastors’ Emergency League.

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17
Q

What did the Pastors’ Emergency League evolve into?

A

The Confessional Church, which was a breakaway Church.

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18
Q

Why was the Confessional Church established?

A

To resist State interference in the Church and to restore theology based purely on the Bible.

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19
Q

What did the establishment of the Confessional Church show?

A

That the Nazis had failed in its attempts to coordinate the Protestant Church into their policy of Gleichschaltung.

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20
Q

Why was Reich Bishop Muller marginalised by the Nazis?

A

A new Ministry for Church Affairs was established in 1935.

21
Q

What new policy did the regime switch to regarding the breakaway Church?

A

They were going to weaken the Confessional Church through repression and try to exploit the divisions that were beginning to show.

22
Q

How did the regime attempt to marginalise Christianity?

A

By reducing the influence that Churches had over the youth, getting rid of Church Schools in the late 1930s and pressuring young people to join the Hitler Youth.

23
Q

What did the Church Secession Campaign do?

A

Persuaded party members to renounce their Church membership.

24
Q

What percentage of people were listed as ‘god-believers’ by 1939?

A

Just 5%.

25
Q

What other success did the Church Secession Campaign have?

A
  • Party members were not allowed to hold any office in Protestant or Catholic Churches
  • Stormtroopers were forbidden to wear uniforms to church services
  • Priests and pastors could not play any part in the Nazi Party
  • Those whose employment relied on the regime were pressured to renounce their faith (teachers, civil servants etc.)
26
Q

Why did the Roman Catholic Church pose as a much greater obstacle to the policy of Gleichshaltung?

A

They were apart of an international Church, taking their lead in religious matters from the Pope.

27
Q

What did the Nazis believe German Catholics were doing by following the Pope?

A

Undermining Germany’s unity as a nation.

28
Q

Why were Catholics prepared to compromise with the Nazi Party?

A

They were keen to be seen and accepted as part of the German nation.

29
Q

What were the points of convergence between the Catholics and Nazism?

A
  • Catholics regarded communism as a far greater evil than Nazism
  • Many within the Church shared the Nazis’ anti-semitism
30
Q

Why did the Roman Catholic Church opt for cooperation and compromise when the Nazis rose to power?

A

They believed it would preserve its autonomy.

31
Q

What did Catholic trade unions do when the DAF took over all trade unions in May 1933?

A

They voluntarily disbanded.

32
Q

What agreement did the Vatican and Nazis reach in July 1933?

A

The Concordat.

33
Q

What did the Concordat agree?

A

That the Catholic Church would not interfere with Nazi rule and vice versa, and that the Church could keep control over its schools, youth organisations and lay groups.

34
Q

When did the Nazis begin to break the terms of the Concordat?

A

Not long after in the summer of 1933.

35
Q

What did Nazis do to break the terms of the Concordat?

A

They began to seize property of Catholic organisations and force them to close. Catholic newspapers had to withdraw Catholic from their names.

The Gestapo and SS put priests under surveillance.

36
Q

What happened to Catholicism on the Night of the Long Knives?

A

Many leading Catholics were executed by the SS.

37
Q

What did the Catholic Church do in response to the Nazis defiance of the Concordat and why?

A

They made no protest, believing it was best to continue support for the regime in order to protect themselves.

38
Q

What did some Catholic priests begin to do in 1935-36?

A

To speak out against the Nazis and their dangerous religious ideas.

39
Q

Which Catholic led the criticism of the Nazis?

A

Clemens von Galen, the Archbishop of Munster.

40
Q

What did the Nazis do in response to Catholic criticisms?

A

Increase pressure upon them.

41
Q

What pressure was placed upon the Catholic Church after some opposition?

A
  • Public meetings were severely restricted
  • Magazines + Newspapers were heavily restricted
  • Goebbels propaganda campaign against financial corruption in Catholic organisations meant many had funds seized and offices closed
  • Membership of Hitler Youth was made compulsory + Catholic organisations struggled to hold onto members
42
Q

What did Pope Pius XI do in 1937?

A

Released an encyclical called ‘With Burning Grief’ which opposed Hitler.

43
Q

What did the Nazis do in response to Pope Pius’ encyclical?

A
  • Gestapo + SS agents placed inside the Catholic organisations
  • Tightening of restrictions on Catholic Press
  • Catholic youth groups closed down
  • Many monasteries were closed + assets seized
  • Crucifixes removed from Catholic schools
  • Propaganda released painting the Church with sex scandals, portraying the Church as corrupt
  • Campaign to close Church schools
44
Q

How many priests were arrested due to the propagandist sex scandal?

A

Around 200 were arrested and tried.

45
Q

Where did the regime pay particular attention to in the Catholic Church?

A

The youth as a long-term strategy to weaken the church’s influence. They were denied the opportunity to attend Church schools or belong to Catholic organisations.

46
Q

What were many older Catholics torn between?

A

Their faith and their wish to be seen as ‘good Germans’.

47
Q

Why was the regime’s religious policies inconsistent?

A

Due to leading Nazis differing in their attitudes towards Christianity.

48
Q

Had the Nazis succeeded in bringing the Church into their Volksgemeinschaft?

A

No, organised religion still remained a powerful force in society.

nazis; the nazi dictatorship (7 decks)

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