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Germany And West Germany C1918-89 > Political And Government Change 1918-89 > Flashcards

Political And Government Change 1918-89 Flashcards

1
Q

How Was Pre-War Germany Governed?

A
  • Prussia dominated the Reich as the kaiser was the king of Prussia
  • Reich = empire
  • the states kept some power
  • the Reich had a common currency + tax system + transport and communication system + foreign policy
  • Germany was governed by a chancellor + Bundestrat + Reichstag
  • bundestrat = council of reps from each state that dealt with federal matters
  • reichstag = elected parliament that approved laws and taxes
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2
Q

Political strain when Germany went to war in 1914?

A
  • parties in the Reichstag represented different political views
  • Reichstag had made a political truce to support Kaiser Wilhelm II and his military high command
  • Kaiser was a bad military strategist
  • military high command were led by Paul Von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff and they ran Germany as a military dictatorship instead
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3
Q

Consequences of military dictatorship?

A
  • Reichstag still met but the high command ignored it
  • almost led Germany to economical + military collapse
  • Ludendorff suggested to the Kaiser that a change in government might help - army leadership stepped down - referred to as the Revolution from Above
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4
Q

New Governments

A
  • new government led by Prince Max of Baden opened negotiations with Allies
  • SPD threaten to withdraw support for new gov. If Kaiser didn’t abdicate
  • 9 November 1918 Prince Max announced Kaiser Wilhelm’s abdication - fled to Holland
  • after abdication SPD led by Friedrich Ebert + Philipp Scheidemann withdraw support for Prince Max
  • SPD replaced Prince Max’s gov. with their own
  • 11 November German delegates met with the Allies representatives in Compiegne and signed the peace agreement
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5
Q

The Treaty of Versailles

A
  • signed on 28 June 1919
  • referred to as a Diktat - a dictated peace
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6
Q

Land lost due to Treaty of Versailles

A
  • all colonies overseas
  • Chinese ports
  • all the land gained at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
  • Upper Silesia
  • Alsace - Lorraine
  • Eupen and Malmedy
  • areas rich in coal and iron
  • Anschluss forbidden with Austria
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7
Q

Military Consequences of the Treaty of Versailles

A
  • Rhineland became a demilitarised buffer zone for France
  • German army was limited to 100k troops that couldn’t leave Germany
  • not allowed ant tanks or heavy artillery
  • not allowed any submarines
  • German fleet not allowed warships over 10k tonnes
  • not allowed an airforce
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8
Q

Other terms of the Treaty of Versailles

A
  • reparations fixed at 6 Billion pounds 1921
  • war guilt clause Article 231 of the Treaty
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9
Q

Political unrest under Max’s Government

A
  • they extended the vote to all men
  • declared the ministers and army responsible to the gov. not the Kaiser
  • 28 October 1918 the navy refused to set off on a suicide mission against the British fleet
  • the Spartacists wanted revolution like in Russia
  • workers’ and soldiers’ councils were set up - some like the idea of Russia’s Soviets
  • on 8 November Bavaria broke away from Germany and declared itself a republic
  • Prince Max’s gov. lasted less than a month
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10
Q

The Council of People’s Representatives

A
  • new gov set up on 10 November 1918 - led by socialists groups in power
  • SPD led by Friedrich Ebert and the USPD led by Hugo Hasse
  • Ebert become chancellor with a cabinet of SPD + USPD members
  • faced same problems as previous gov + worsened by a month of unrest
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11
Q

Ebert - Groener Pact

A
  • 9 November 1918
  • SPD + USPD unable to gain support of smaller parties + agree with each other

-

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12
Q

Humiliation of Treaty of Versailles

A
  • 11 November 1918 Matthias Erzberger of the German delegation signed the armistice
  • Allies told Germans they couldn’t take part in treaty negotiations
  • parties began to form to try to gain votes in the new Reichstag
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13
Q

Changes made by and in the government

A
  • 8 hour working day
  • allowed independent trade unions
  • set up help for ex-soldiers to find work
  • widened health and unemployment benefits
  • on 19 December they decided elections would be held on 19 January 1919
  • rift between SPD + USPD grew thus some council members resigned
  • many USPD members joined the KPD
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14
Q

The Spartacist Union

A
  • Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg broke away from the USPD in December 1918 and formed the Spartacist Union
  • they hoped for a revolution like in Russia
  • they wanted the cancellation of the National Assembly + power transferred to soldier and worker councils
  • workers’ militias would replace the police and army
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15
Q

The Spartacist Revolt

A
  • the revolt began in Berlin on 5 January
  • newspaper offices were taken over + revolutionary committee set up
  • poorly organised
  • crushed by the Freikorps troops led by General Walther Von Luttwitz
  • members of the Horse Guards division of the army murdered Liebknecht + Luxemburg
    on 15 January 1919
  • Ebert moved the government from Berlin to Weimar for safety
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16
Q

Freikorps

A
  • first formed in December 1918 after WW1
  • anti-communist volunteer groups
  • demobilised soldiers
  • funded by industrialists who feared a communist uprising
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17
Q

Private Armies and assassinations

A
  • many political parties had their own private armies in 1919
  • the SPD had their own group called the Sozi
  • from 1919-22 there were 376 political murders
  • 356 murdered committed by right-wing extremists from political paramilitary organisations
  • October 1919 Hugo Hasse the USPD leader was shot outside the Reichstag
  • the Organisation Consul was a group that committed the murder of two important gov. officials that were involved with the Treaty of Versailles
  • they killed Matthias Erzberger in August 1921 + Walter Rathenau in June 1922
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18
Q

Creation of the Weimar Constitution

A
  • elections occurred on 19 January 1919
  • 82.7% of electors voted - showed that people wanted to take part in choosing the gov.
  • SPD didn’t get majority and so had to form a coalition with the Center Party + DDP
  • other parties had seats in the Reichstag ( and so could vote) but weren’t part of the government
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19
Q

German National People’s Party

A
  • DNVP
  • created from older conservative parties
  • conservative + nationalist + monarchist + supported army
  • didn’t want social reform + disliked idea of republic
  • many members were wealthy landowners + anti-Semitic
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20
Q

German People’s Party

A
  • DVP
  • led by Gustav Stresemann
  • moderately conservative + nationalist + supported army + against social reform + wanted economy fixed
  • restructured from the older National Liberals in 1919
  • accepted the republic but didn’t support
  • members were the wealthy industrial middle class
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21
Q

The Centre Party

A
  • long established + largely Catholic + defended Church in policies + opposed communism
  • had members of all social groups
  • conservative BUT supported social reform
  • posters showed the horrors of communism
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22
Q

German Democrats

A
  • DDP
  • newly formed in 1918
  • liberal + supported republic + wanted a more representative constitution
  • members were educated professionals
  • often part of a coalition
  • wanted army reform + regulation of industry to improve workers’ rights
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23
Q

Social Democrats

A
  • SPD
  • largest Party in the Reichstag from 1919-29
  • long established + republican + moderate social reform
  • not anti-monarchist before the war
  • split into SPD and USPD in 1917
  • against revolution + head of the post-war gov.
  • liberal working class following + workers’ rights
  • hampered by having to please so many groups
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24
Q

Independent Social Democrats

A
  • USPD
  • split from SPD in 1917
  • more radical
  • Rosa Luxemburg + Karl Liebknecht had been part of the USPD before forming the Spartacist Union
  • wanted social reform + equality for all
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25
Q

German Communist Party

A
  • KPD
  • set up in 1919
  • wanted a workers’ revolution + establish communist state + abolish private ownership
  • poor + unemployed following - hoped for a better future
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26
Q

Structure of the Weimar Constitution

A
  • 7 October Ebert gave speech to the new assembly about victory for democracy
  • 11 February Ebert elected as President by 277 votes to 51 votes
  • government still meeting in Weimar as Berlin was unsafe
  • the Weimar Constitution was passed by the National Assembly on 31 July 1919
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27
Q

Government : President

A
  • elected by vote every 7 years
  • chosen as a person not as a party representative
  • chooses the Chancellor
  • under Article 48 can pass emergency decrees
  • can take control of army in an emergency
  • can dismiss the Reichstag and call for new elections
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28
Q

Government : Chancellor

A
  • chooses ministers
  • with his ministers, he presents laws the the Reichstag
  • needs a majority in the Reichstag to pass a law
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29
Q

Government : Reichstag

A
  • elected by a secret ballot of all electors every 4 years
  • votes cast for a party not a person
  • parties get 1 seat for every 60k votes
  • vote sorted by proportional representation
  • have the power to pass laws
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30
Q

Government : Länder

A
  • 18 local regions which each had a parliament
  • they ran their own education + police + judiciary
  • federal laws override the law of the Land
  • Prussia no longer had a special status among the states
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31
Q

Government : Reichstrat

A
  • members sent by the 18 Länder
  • could veto a law passed by the Reichstag unless the Reichstag law had a 2/3 majority or more
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32
Q

Government : Cabinet

A
  • chosen from the ministers
  • chosen by the Chancellor
  • formulates laws to the Reichstag
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33
Q

Shifts cause confusion

A
  • in 1920 the USPD split and some members left to join the KPD
  • Adolf Hitler made a point to use simple slogans + target specific groups to avoid confusion
  • which is why the NSDAP won many votes as it was easy to understand
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34
Q

Proportional Representation

A
  • people voted for a party in one of 35 large electoral areas rather than a specific person in their own area only
  • the area’s representative in the Reichstag was chosen from the Party list
  • if a member died or reigned then the next person in the list took over
  • many felt like the politicians didn’t care specifically about them
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35
Q

Impossibility of a Majority

A
  • all Weimar Chancellors had to form governments from coalitions
  • from 1919-23 there were 9 different coalition governments that were all short lived
  • different parties in the coalition had different views- a lot of time spent arguing over policies
  • when coalitions broke down - the Chancellor asked the President to rule using Article 48
  • made it seem like the government was constantly in crisis
36
Q

Overcoming Challenges

A
  • the Weimar gov. stayed in power despite all its problems
  • the Reichstag kept meeting and so the President didn’t need rule by decree
  • some right-wing politicians kept pushing for the new President to rule by decree
  • Paul Von Hindenburg had been elected as President - had been in the military high command in WW1
  • PVH was a strong supporter of the Kaiser + imperial rule + favoured an authoritarian rule
37
Q

Economic Recovery 1924-29

A
  • Germany reached agreements with the other countries
  • it began to restore its position abroad + undo some terms of the Treaty of Versailles
  • mostly due to Gustav Stresemann (DVP leader) who urged parties to work together
  • Stresemann convinced that Germany needed a ‘great coalition’
  • believed that economic recovery + peace relation were important for stability
38
Q

Gustav Stresemann overview

A
  • chancellor in 1923
  • foreign minister from 1924-29
  • managed to hold together a coalition of the DVP + Centre Party + SPD + DDP for much of his time
  • he formed working relations based on trust with the leaders of the Parties
39
Q

Political violence died down

A
  • between 1924-29 no major political figures were assassinated
  • people began to accept the Weimar Government as the official Political system
  • support for extremist parties decreased between May to December 1924
  • communists + Nazis gained support as conditions worsened in 1928
  • between 1924-29 there were only 6 coalition governments
  • Stresemann died in 1929
40
Q

Public feeling about the Weimar Government

A
  • disliked the gov. for the association between it and the Treaty of Versailles
  • President Hindenburg (elected in 1925) was the first to voice the ‘stab in the back’ theory - which he knew was false
  • many believed that the German Army could’ve won if they weren’t betrayed by the November Criminals - theory contributed to unpopularity of the government
  • Hindenburg’s popularity was due to his pre-republic position - wasn’t committed to the gov. truly
  • Preferred to govern by decree and sideline the Reichstag
41
Q

Economic problems and the Gov’s failure to deal with them

A
  • 1929 Wall Street Crash led to the US having economic problems + economic depression
  • USA had been lending money to help countries like Germany to recover post-war
  • USA asking for the loans to be repayed + stopped giving out loans
  • led to other European countries falling into a Depression
  • price rise + lower wages + unemployment
  • gov. failed to agree on an economic policy to help = situation worsening
  • support for extremist political parties rose - such as they Nazis + communists
42
Q

Coalition Failure

A
  • Hindenburg didn’t want to keep chancellors who couldn’t agree on an economic policy
  • changing chancellors = disorganised government
  • parties found it harder to work together
  • SPD refused to take part in any more coalitions
  • Hindenburg forced to rule by decree using Article 48
  • July 1930 to 1932 elections 109 laws created by the chancellor Bruning through the presidential decree vs only 29 laws passed by the Reichstag
  • three chancellors + several elections in an attempt to find a gov. that would work
43
Q

Fall of Chancellor Muller 1930

A
  • Hindenburg wanted to replace Muller after Young Plan passed
  • gov divided on how to deal with economic slump - unemployment contributions increase or not
  • SPD wanted increased benefits vs DVP wanted relief benefit cuts
  • March 1930 Muller resigns when Hindenburg refuses use of Article 48 to support him
44
Q

Appointment of Brüning as Chancellor

A
  • March 1930 Hindenburg appoints Brüning as Chancellor - centre-right gov set up - without majority
  • July 1930 Reichstag rejects gov’s new finance bill - Brüning issues Bill through Article 48
  • Reichstag demand withdrawal of Finance Bill
  • Brüning convinces Hindenburg to dissolve Reichstag - in hopes of more support in new Reichstag
45
Q

September 1930 Reichstag Election

A
  • increase in votes for extremist parties
  • Nazis achieved 107 seats + KPD achieved 77 seats
  • harmed the effective working of the Reichstag
  • frightened foreigners withdraw 800 million marks in investment funds from Germany
46
Q

Brüning’s gov struggles

A
  • relied heavily on presidential decrees
  • SPD tolerated Brüning’s gov as an alternative to Hitler
  • Hoover Moratrium on I July 1931 - international agreement - suspended Germany’s reparation payments
  • attempted reflation through public works + land reforms
  • April 1932 banned the SA to try to control violence
47
Q

March - April 1932 Presidential Election

A
  • Hindenburg supported by Left + Centre defeats Hitler
  • Hitler gained 37% of the vote - people believed the Nazi Party must be included in the gov
48
Q

Fall of Brüning’s government

A
  • General Schleicher turned against Brüning
  • Schleicher was willing to co-operate with Nazis
  • Brüning’s proposal to break up bankrupt Prussian estates lead to Hindenburg dismissing him in May 1932
49
Q

The formation of Papen’s government

A
  • May 1932
  • Schleicher convinced Hindenburg to appoint Franz Von Papen to form a non-party gov of national concentration with elites + barons
  • new gov had no members of the Reichstag
  • seen as a presidential government
50
Q

Papen’s coup against Prussia

A
  • June 1932 Papen lifted SA ban
  • July 1932 used emergency powers to depose Socialist-led gov in Prussia
  • Reich Chancellor become Prussian Minister-President
  • Reich Commissioner became Prussian Interior Minister
  • agreed to Hitler’s calls for new elections
51
Q

Reichstag elections

A
  • Hindenburg dissolved Reichstag due to deadlock - holds new election in July 1932
  • extremist parties made more gains
  • Nazis + Communists = over half the Reichstag seats - Nazis got 37% of the votes
  • Hitler demand to be made Chancellor with an Enabling Act to pass decrees - Hindenburg refuses + calls him a bohemian corporal
52
Q

Vote of no confidence

A
  • September 1932 the Reichstag voted no confidence in Papen by 512 votes to 42
  • Hindenburg dissolves Reichstag the next day
  • Papen + Hindenburg initially planned to not call a new election - Schleicher persuades Hindenburg
53
Q

November 1932 election

A
  • Nazis lost 2 million votes
  • KPD made gains
54
Q

Schleicher’s government

A
  • December 1932 Schleicher persuaded Hindenburg to dismiss Von Papen and elect him
  • made the Nazi Gregor Strasser the Vice-Chancellor - instead of Hitler
  • developed Brüning’s land resettlement schemes
55
Q

Lack of support for Schleicher

A
  • Schleicher failed to gain support - alienated the elite
  • Papen met with Hitler multiple times in January 1933
  • Hitler insisted on wanting to be Chancellor - with Papen as Vice
  • Hindenburg’s son Oskar + elites favoured a Hitler-Papen gov
56
Q

The appointment of Hitler

A
  • 16 January 1933
  • Hindenburg refused to back Schleicher’s request to rule by decree + suspend elections
  • Hindenburg appoints Hitler as Chancellor with Papen as Deputy
  • only allowed two other Nazis in the Cabinet - of 12
57
Q

The Nazi 25 Point Programme

A
  • February 1920 Hitler presents a 25-point Program to a Nazi Party meeting
  • mixture of socialist + nationalist + anti-Semitic Points
  • Points such as abolishement Treaty of Versailles + no Jews can be German citizens
58
Q

Nazi appeal

A
  • fear of communism so BUSINESSMEN gave money to the Nazis
  • middle-class were generally quite traditional and so didn’t support Weimar democracy - Hitler promised a strong gov
  • nationalists blamed the Versailles Treaty + reparations for the depression - Hitler promised jobs
  • rural areas - some land reform promised + blamed Jews
59
Q

Nazi propaganda for appeal

A
  • Führer cult - Hitler was always portrayed as Germany’s saviour – would rescue the country from depression
  • Volksgemeinschaft (people’s community) - Nazis would create one German community that would make religion or social class less relevant to people
  • Scapegoating the Jews (and others) for Germany’s ills - Jews were often portrayed as sub-human, or as a threat to both the racial purity and economic future of the country
60
Q

Hitler’s weaknesses

A
  • Chancellor post was replaceable
  • only two Nazis in a cabinet of 12
  • Hitler’s coalition didn’t have a majority in the Reichstag
  • Army + Trade Unions were powerful + could break the gov.
61
Q

Hitler’s strengths

A
  • the Nazis were the largest political party
  • fear of communist coup meant the conservatives were forced to work with Hitler
  • Nazi party had access to resources of the state
  • Göring was responsible for the police
  • Goebbels exploited propaganda opportunities
  • Hitler was a political tactician
62
Q

The Legal Revolution

A
  • March 1933 Elections
  • Reichstag Fire
  • Day of Potsdam
  • Enabling Act
63
Q

The Reichstag Election events

A
  • 5 March 1933 was the actual election date
  • Hitler thought new elections would increase Nazi vote + enhance his status
  • Nazis used violence + terror + broke up Socialist + Communist meetings
  • 69 dead during the 5 week campaign
  • 20 February 1933 supported by 20 industrialists who promised Hitler 3 million Reichsmark
64
Q

The Reichstag Fire

A
  • 27 February 1933
  • young Dutch communist Van Der Lubbe
  • on the 28th February Hindenburg signed the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State - most civil + political liberties suspended + central gov power strengthened
  • justification of decree was the threat posed by the communists
  • hundreds of anti-nazis arrested - last week of campaign
65
Q

March 1933 election result

A
  • high turnout of **88%
  • nazis only secured 43.9% of the vote - 288 seats - disappointing
  • Hitler claimed majority with help of 52 seats from the Nationalists*
66
Q

The Day of Potsdam

A
  • 21st March 1933 - Potsdam Garrison Church
  • Goebbels orchestrates ceremony to celebrate opening of the new Reichstag
  • Hindenburg + Crown Prince + Army generals present
  • Hitler aligned National Socialism with Old Germany - through speech
  • millions of people turned up + cheered
67
Q

What was the Enabling Act

A
  • effectively do away with parliamentary procedure + legislation
  • transfer full powers to the Chancellor
  • would last 4 years
68
Q

Enabling Bill Voting

A
  • 23 March 1933
  • new Reichstag met in the Kroll Opera House
  • communists refused admittance by SA
  • SA + SS inside and outside buildings
  • Hitler gave speech on respecting Christian Church values - to secure votes
  • only Social Democrats vote against -444 votes to 94
69
Q

Gleichschaltung

A
  • degeneration of Weimar democracy into the Nazi state system
  • co-ordination
  • Nazifying of German society
70
Q

Co-ordination of Federal States

A
  • 31 March 1933 - regional parliaments landage were dissolved + reformed with Nazi majority
  • 7 April 1933 - creation of Reich Governors who were often the local party leader Gauleiters with full powers
  • January 1934 - regional parliaments abolished - federal gov + governors subordinated to the authorities of the Minister of the Interior
71
Q

Threat of trade unions

A
  • mass membership
  • strong connections with Socialism + Catholicism
  • 1920 General Strike to end the Kapp Putsch
  • organised labour opposed Nazism + dictatorship
72
Q

Co-ordination of Trade Unions

A
  • Nazis declared 1 May national holiday - traditional day celebrating socialist labour
  • 2 May 1933 trade union premises occupied by the SS + SA + union funds confiscated + leaders arrested and sent to early concentration camps like Dachau
  • trade unions banned + all workers absorbed into the German Labour Front - DAF led by Robert Ley
  • DAF was the largest organisation in Nazi Germany with 22 million members - instrument of control - removed the right for workers to negotiate wages + conditions of work
73
Q

Coo-ordination of Political Parties

A
  • Communists outlawed since Reichstag Fire
  • Social Democrats assets seized after trade unions banned + party banned on 22 June 1933
  • most of the major remaining parties willingly dissolve by **late June 1933* - Nationalists too
  • Catholic Centre Party dissolves on 5 July 1933
  • formal decree on 14 July 1933 proclaiming Nazi Party as only legal Party in Germany
74
Q

Position of the SA

A
  • SA represented the radical + left wing + working-class
  • placed emphasis on the socialist elements of the Party
  • played a vital role in controlling the streets + public - using violence
  • many members embittered + frustrated over the limited nature of the Nazi revolution
  • leader Ernst Rohm called for a Second Revolution
75
Q

Battleship Deutschland secret agreement

A
  • Hitler made a deal with generals Blomberg + Fritsch + Raedar
  • would remove Rohm = army support Hitler as President after Hindenburg
  • secret agreement
76
Q

Influential people against Rohm / SA

A
  • Benito Mussolini - warned Hitler of the violent nature of the SA
  • Von Papen - gave a speech about ending SA excess
  • Hindenburg - demanded an end to the SA power or would declare martial law
77
Q

Operation Hummingbird

A
  • Himmler + Goring made a plan to remove Rohm / SA
  • drew up death lists
78
Q

Night of the Long Knives

A
  • 30 June 1934
  • approx. 200 killed
  • murdered Von Schleicher - former Chancellor + Gregor Strasser + Von Kahr
  • the SA members that were rounded up were taken to the Stadelheim Prison + shot
  • Rohm was executed
79
Q

Effect of the Night of the Long Knives

A
  • German army aligned with Nazi Party - swore oath of allegiance directly to Hitler
  • SA become ceremonial + purely symbolic
  • SS rose in power
  • Hindenburg died 2 august 1934 - Hitler merged position of President + Chancellor = Fuhrer
80
Q

Nature of the Nazi Government

A
  • the Reichstag remained but only passed 7 laws between 1934 - 45
  • civil service purged of jews and opponents in 1933
  • Hitler had kept non-Nazi ministers before the one-party system - illusion of continuity
  • 1934 the Bureau Ribbentrop operated alongside the foreign ministry
  • created new authorities like the Reich Propaganda Ministry
81
Q

Volksgemeinschaft

A
  • means people’s community
  • the nation worked together for the greater good of the nation
  • expectation to obey the nazi gov+ make sacrifices for the nation
82
Q

Nazi gov feature: leadership

A
  • the state operated on the principle of Fuhrerprinzip - leadership principle - strict hierarchical order
  • every area of life had someone in charge - essential to work together - initiative was frowned upon
  • Hitler as the Führer had ultimate power
83
Q

Nazi gov feature: decision-making

A
  • those that were loyal to Hitler + produced results = given more power + responsibility
  • trusted individuals like Goebbels in the Ministry of Propaganda became powerful
  • kept the cabinet of ministers from the previous gov BUT abolished cabinet meetings
  • minsters worked individuals + sent draft laws and policies to each other by paper
84
Q

Administration

A
  • largely controlled by the civil service -under the new Minister Wilhelm Frick in the Ministry of Interior
  • operated within Nazi ideology of Fuhrerprinzip
  • Frick’s civil service often conflicted with other Reich Special agencies - despite policy clarifications that the Nazi Party would only intervene where there were gaps in the civil service provision
  • civil service decisions often overruled
85
Q

Nazi gov features: One Nation

A
  • Nazis were against division of German into Lander - wanted a centralised state
  • 31 March 1933 - regional parliaments landage were dissolved + reformed with Nazi majority
  • 30 January 1934 - Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich officially terminated the Landers
  • the law stated that the unity of the German people overrode regional differences
  • civil structure was supposed to be reorganised with Frick running *regional + local gov - often conflicted with the Gauleiters - in charge of regional party organisation
86
Q

Nazi gov features: Control

A
  • Gestapo set up by Goering on 26 April 1933
  • Gestapo taken over by Himmler’s SS in 1936 - although the SS + Gestapo still ran as separate
  • Gestapo + SS developed their own judiciary systems for political offences
  • Gestapo-controlled concentration camps for political prisoners - could be held indefinitely without trial
  • court decisions could be overruled by the Gestapo

Germany And West Germany C1918-89 (8 decks)

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