political and governmental change Flashcards
When was Hitler appointed Chancellor of the Weimar Republic?
30 January 1933
How did the burning down of the Reichstag in feb 1933 help Hitler to consolidate his control in Germany?
- Nazis got credit for catching supposed communist arsonist
- Nazis able to stir up anti communist propaganda
- Hitler persuades Hindenburg to declare a state of emergency
- Hitler banned the communists while able to rule by decree
What were the results of the March 1933 election?
NSDAP won 288 seats
– support of DNVP and abolition of KPD gave them majority
What was the enabling act (passed in Reichstag on 23 March 1933)?
-Gave Hitler total power to rule by decree for four years
when were trade unions abolised?
May 2 1933
leaders sent to concentration camps
German Labour Front (DAF) formed
when did Hitler abolish all political parties except for the NSDAP?
July 14 1933
When was the Night of the Long knives?
June 30 1934
What was the Night of the Long knives? (1934)
- violent arrest and execution of politcal opponents by SS and Gestapo
- ex’chancellor Von Schleicher murdered
When did President Hindenburg die?
August 1934
When did the army swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler?
August 1934. Hitler now supreme commander of the armed forces
How many laws did the Reichstag pass 1934-45?
7 laws
If not the Reichstag, who made and enforced the laws?
The Nazi Government
Why did Hitler keep much of the existing bureaucracy of the previous Weimar Government?
- civil service already purged of Jews and political opponents in 1933
- Many government clerks already Nazis
- Non-Nazi minister provided useful level of continuity
Why was the power of the previous Weimar ministers limited? (1933-4)
- Not all ministries had the same amount of power
- New organisations operated alongside the old
Give an example of a new ministry Hitler set up (1933-4)
The Reich Propaganda ministry
headed by Joseph Goebbels
Why was it useful to Hitler that the responsibilities of ministries were not clear? (1933-4)
- distracts potential opponents
- spirit of competition between ministries
- consolidates allegiance to Hitler
What was the principle of Volksgemeinschaft?
advocated “people’s community”
working together for the common good
How was leadership defined under the Nazi regime?
fuhrerprinzip
strict hierarchical order
at each level there was someone in charge who reported to the level above - restricts initiative
Who were the decision makers in Nazi Government?
Those personally loyal to Hitler were given more responsibility, helping Hitler preserve his authority
How did Hitler prevent opposition groups from forming within the centeral government of Nazi Germany?
Abolished cabinet meetings, to prevent people from forming factions
ministers worked individually and sent draft laws to each other on paper
only 4 meetings in 1936
How was the administration of the Nazi regime organised?
still largely done by the civil service under their new minister William Frick
Frick’s civil service often came in to conflict with Fuhrer chancellery and so were overruled
How did Hitler centralise the governance and administration of Nazi Germany?
Against division in to Lander, so Lander stripped of many powers from 1933.
30 January 1934, Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich terminated them entirely
How did Hitler ensure that the Nazis were firmly in control of political matters in Nazi Germany?
- Gestapo
- SS
- “Peoples courts”
- Concentration camps
What were the main roles of the SS?
- gathering intelligence
- policing (Gestapo)
- Military action
- Germanisation - creating a “New Order” in occupied territories
How much did the SS grow in size between 1933 and 1939?
1933- 52,000
1939-250,000
What were the main roles of the Gestapo?
- find and arrest Nazi opponents
- Rely on informers and blockwardens for info
- uphold regime using surveillance and oppression
How many concentration camps were established between 1933 and 1945?
20,000
How did the Nazi regime change the nature of gov from the Weimar Republic?
- power in fuhrer not people
- centralised governance
- importance of German nation (Volksgemeinschaft)
- Bill of rights dismantled. Tight levels of pol and soc control by Nazi regime
- -> Gestapo, peoples courts etc
How did the Nazi regime continue the nature of gov from the Weimar Republic?
-systems of governance from WR maintained - reichstag, cabinet and ministers, civil service institutions, traditional court systems
Who gained more control during the years of the second world war?
SS took over morwe gov administration and numbers rose to over a million. SS ran ‘racial policy’ of eliminating non-Aryans
What happened to governance at the regional level during ww2?
- 13 military districts formed. Ran home front activities e.g. civil service, rationing and volkssturm
What was the Volkssturm?
Nazi home guard, formed in October 1944. Recruits boys, old men and those physically unfit for army
How did the structure of government change during the war?
- armed forces given a ministry each to deal with supplies, troops etc.
- 1939, Ministerial Council for the Defence of the Reich established to coordinate domestic wartime efforts. Chaired by Goering. Disbanded by Hitler within two months.
How did the Nazis administer the new territory they took over during the war?
- governance increasingly decentralized
- 11 Reichsgau set up to oversee Germanisation
- Gauleiters became increasingly powerful.
How many prisoners were held in concentration camps during the war?
1939- 25,000
1945- 714,211
Why did the Nazi’s begin to lose control during the war?
- invasion of USSR failed, forced to fight on two fronts
- USA joined war in 1941
- Rationing increased. Standards of living decreased. More opposition.
- 1944 allied forces began to take acquire German-occupied territory
