Reichstag Fire - Opposition Groups Flashcards
1
Q
Background of Reichtag Fire:
A
- Election supposed to be held 5th March 1933.
- 27 February 1933, Reichstag Fire.
- Not clear who started it, but Communist van der Lubbe was found at the scene and arrested.
2
Q
How did the Reichstag Fire help Hitler?
A
- Communist van der Lubbe arrested.
- Hitler used this as an excuse to arrest many Communist opponents.
- Also convinced people that there was a real threat of a Communist revolution.
3
Q
Reichstag Fire Decree:
A
- Permanent state of emergency.
- Communists banned -> can’t reject act.
- Allowed Nazis to arrest political opponents (4000 communists members arrested a week after).
-Key step in establishing Nazi dictatorship - Germany became a police state - citizens had no guaranteed basic rights.
4
Q
Enabling Act:
A
- Gave Hitler full power for the next 4 years.
- Meant that Chancellor Hitler had greater power than the President.
- Hitler created a dictatorship and could pass any laws he wanted.
5
Q
Why wasn’t the Enabling Act stopped?
A
Communists - many in prison, not allowed to vote.
Centre Party - allied with Nazis as they promised not to interfere in Catholic schools/churches.
Other Political Parties - SA intimidated members as they entered the chmbers.
6
Q
Night of the Long Knives:
A
- 30th June 1934
- Hitler feared SA getting too powerful.
- Himmlers SS and and Goering’s special police eliminated many, many ‘threats’.
- Leader of SA gunned down in Nazi headquaters.
- Hindenburg dies 2nd Aug 1934 - Hitler becomes President and Chancellor.
- Army has to swear an oath of loyalty.
7
Q
Concentartion Camps:
A
- Created immediately after Enabling Act.
- Confined political and racial opponents.
- By 1939, 150000 people under arrest.
- Only Gestapo had authority to send people there.
- SD and SS ran camps
8
Q
The SS:
A
- Formed in 1925
- Bodyguard unit for for Hitler
- Considered to be ‘fine examples of the Aryan race.’
= By 1939 they had 250000 members.
9
Q
The SD:
A
- Set up in 1931
- Discovered potential enemies and ensured they were removed.
- Members employed by Nazi party.
- Arrested highly educated people such as lawyers and economists.
10
Q
Gestapo:
A
- Secret state police.
- Set up in 1933.
- By 1939 was the most important police section of the Nazi state.
- Could arrest and imprison those suspected of opposing the state.
- Estimated that there were about 160000 people under arrest for political crimes in 1939.
11
Q
How did fear help Hitler?
A
- People so terrified of being arrested or taken.
- They reported others to try and shift the suspicion.
- Hitler being fed information by the public
- Was able to give the impression that the police groups (especially Gestapo) were ‘all-seeing’
- This fuelled more fear and helped Hitler keep his power.
12
Q
Control of the courts:
A
- Hitler removed any judges that would/could oppose the Nazi interpretation of the law.
- All judges had to become members of the National League for the Maintenance of law (NSRB)
- Establishment of German Lawyers Front. All members had to swear they would judge cases in the favour of the Fuhrer.
13
Q
People’s court:
A
- Established to try cases of treason.
- Only most loyal judges chosen.
- Minister of Justice would alter punishment if too lenient.
- In some cases Hitler altered them himself.
14
Q
Propaganda - newspapers:
A
- Non Nazi ones closed down.
- By 1935 over 1600 newspapers closed.
- Reich Press Law passed in 1933 -> caused removal of Jewish and left wing journalists.
- Propaganda Ministry approved what could be published.
- No information of other political parties = no threat of public going against Nazis.
15
Q
Propaganda - film:
A
- Over 100 films made each year.
- Audience exceeded 250 million in 1933.
- All film performances were accompanied by a 45 minute reel which glorified Hitler and the Nazi state.
- Anti Semitic films made frequently after 1940.
- Propaganda everywhere in people’s lives and support increased, giving Hitler the opportunity to run the country with less people disagreeing.
