The Nazi Party and the state Flashcards
What kind of Nazi claims deceived many people into thinking that Nazism was a clear and well-ordered system of government?
Nazi totalitarian claims
What does totalitarian mean?
A system of government in which all power is centralised and does not allow any rival authorities
A form of what prevailed because of the exact relationship between the structure of the party and the apparatus of the German state was never clarified.
A form of dualism
What does dualism mean?
A government system in which two forces coexist
The revolutionary elements within the party wanted what?
Nazi control of the civil service in order to smash the traditional organs of gov. and to create a new Germany
What were the three reasons why the Nazi leadership did not pursue the dissolution of traditional organs of gov. to create a new Germany?
Bureaucracy of German state was well established and staffed by educated and effective people. Initially, no drastic purge of state apparatus. ‘Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service’ April 1933 called only for removal of Jews and well-recognised opponents
Vast increase in party membership. Grew 3 fold from 1933 to 1935 as people jumped bandwagon. March converts diluted influence of earlier Nazis, weakening radical cutting edge of party apparatus in regime
Hitler = inconsistent on issue of party and state. Series of statements 1933-4 = failed to make things clearer. Ambiguity on issue could be explained partially by pol. unrest and need to placate numerous interest groups. Either way, never resolved
Explain how the term ‘civil servant’ was a very broad one.
It ranged from officials in the ministries to judges and even teachers
The state bureaucracy was generally what to Weimar democracy, but loyal to who?
Generally unsympathetic
But loyal to the institutions of the state
What happened in 1934 to civil servants?
Forced to make a new oath of loyalty to Hitler
5% of civil servants dissented and were purged
When did it become compulsory to join the party?
1939
The Reich Chancellery gradually took more responsibility for what?
For co-ordinating government as the role of the cabinet declined
Who played a pivotal part in the Reich Chancellery?
Hans-Heinrich Lammers
What did Hans-Heinrich Lammers do?
Drew up all gov. legislation controlling all the flow of information
Even as a very efficient bureaucrat, Lammers found it impossible to what?
To co-ordinate effectively the growing number of organisations
Ministries were generally what?
Conservative
What were gov. ministries under pressure from in the late 1930s?
From growing Nazi institutions e.g. Economics Ministry was affected by the Four-Year Plan
Foreign Office lost its supremacy to Ribbentrop Bureau
The aristocrat Neurath was replaced as foreign minister when and by who?
1938
By the Nazi Joachim von Ribbentrop
On one level, were the untra-conservative judiciary content to work with the regime?
Yes
What were the lawyers and judges obliged to join?
The Nazi Lawyers’ Association and take the oath
How many in the judiciary were replaced?
Not many
What is an important fact about Franz Gurtner
He was the justice minister who until 1941, was not a Nazi
How did the judiciary feel the increasing power of the regime?
Structure of new courts enabled Nazis to get round established system of justice
- 1933 special courts set up to try political offences w/o a jury
- 1934 people’s court established to try cases of high treason w/ jury composed specifically of Nazi party members (7000/16,000 cases resulted in death sentence 1934-45)
All legal authorities became subordinated to arbitrary power of SS-Police system (increasingly behaved above the law). 1941 decree Nacht und Nabel gave SS right to imprison w/o question if thought dangerous.
When was the Nacht und Nabel decree and what did it do?
1941
Gave SS-Police the right to imprison any person thought to be dangerous
