The 'police state' Flashcards
How was the SS linked with the state despite being separate from developing its own identity and structure?
Dominance of police matters
When did the SS form?
1925
How many members did the SS have before Himmler became its leader?
250 members
How many members were there in the SS in 1933?
52,000
What was the reputation of the SS?
Blind obedience and total commitment to the Nazi cause
In 1931, what did Himmler create?
A special security service, SD
What was the SD to act as?
The party’s own internal security police
In 1933-4 Himmler assumed control of what?
All the police in the Lander, including the Gestapo in Prussia
What was one of the rewards for the June 1934 purge?
Became an independent organisation within the party
What happened to all police powers in 1939?
All police powers were unified under Himmler’s control as Reichsfuhrer SS and Chief of all German Police, including Gestapo
In 1939, all party and state police organisations involving police and security matters were amalgamated into the what?
RSHA
RSHA was overseen by who?
Himmler
RSHA was overseen by Himmsler, but actually co-ordinated by who?
His deputy, Heydrich
What were the four main functions that the SS-Police system served?
Intelligence gathering by the SD
Policing by the Gestapo and the Kripo
Disciplining opposition
Military action by the first units of the Waffen SS
Explain intelligence gathering by the SD
Responsible for all intelligence and security
Controlled by its leader, Heydrich, but still part of SS
All responsibilities grew as occupied lands spread
Explain the reputation of policing by the Gestapo and Kripo
Rep for brutality and could arrest and detain anyone without trial, e.g. mass arrest of socialists and Communists
Thoroughness and effectiveness has been questioned
Define Kripo
Criminal police responsible for the maintenance of general law and order e.g. dealing with asocials and thieves
Explain disciplining the opposition
Torture chambers and concentration camps created in early 1933 to deal with pol. opp. e.g. socialists, communists
1936 no. of inmates limited to about 6,000
No. inmates increased when Nazis began to formalise system of concentration camps, rounded up those who did not conform
No. grew to 21,000 by 1939
Explain military action by the first units of the Waffen SS
Up to 1938, consisted of around 14,000 soldiers in 3 units who were racially pure, fanatically loyal and committed to Nazi ideology. Its influence grew rapidly, significantly strengthened by weakening of army in Blomberg Fritsch crisis & by more anti-semetic policies
What were the Waffen SS?
Armed SS: a paramilitary organisation of elite troops
What two things marked a significant expansion in the power of the SS?
Takeover of territories from 1938 to 41
Creation of the ‘New Order’
What does the phrase ‘New Order’ mean?
Economic, political and racial integration of Europe under the Third Reich
The SS became what in the words of E. kogon in the 1950s?
A state within a state
What were the numbers of the SS in 1939?
250,000
As German troops gained control over more areas of Europe, power of SS was inevitably enhanced, how so?
Security - job of internal security became greater, SS officers = authority to crush opposition
Military - Waffen SS went from 3 divisions in 1939 to 35 in 1945 = developed into a second army . Committed , brutal and militarily highly rated, by 1944 it rivalled position of army
Economy - SS = responsible for creation of ‘New Order’ in occupied lands of eastern Europe. Opp. for plunder and economic gain, members exploited. End of war, SS created massive commercial org. of over 150 firms which exploited slave labour to extract raw materials and manufacture textiles, armaments & household goods
Ideology and race - System of concentration cams est. and run by SS Death’s Head Units. Various ‘inferior’ races used as slave labour
Disagreements often arose in the SS, particularly with who?
With local Gauleiter and the governors of occupied territories
What was the Gestapo traditionally seen as?
As representing the all-knowing police state
The view of the Gestapo rep. the all-knowing police state is cultivated by?
By the Gestapo itself, by the Allied propagandists during the war and by many post-war films
This interpretation is largely upheld in academic circles, most notably by who?
Jacques Delarue in 1962
What historians have led to reinterpretation?
K.M Mallman
G. Paul
R. Gellately
What have historians revealed that shows limits of the Gestapo’s policing?
Manpower = limited, only 40,000 agents for whole Germany. Large cities w/ half a mil people = policed by around 40-50 agents
Most work prompted by public informers, between 50-80% in diff. areas. Info = mostly gossip -> paperwork for limited return
Few ‘top agents’, coped by over-relying on work of the Kripo
What was more extensive in its control of citizens’ daily lives than the Gestapo from 1949?
GDR
German Democratic Republic
What historian has tried to put the latest revisionist views into perspective through his case study of the Rhineland?
Eric Johnson
Explain the revisionist view of Eric Johnson
Accepts limitations of Gestapo
Argues it did not impose a climate of terror on ordinary Germans
Concentrated on surveillance and repression of specific enemies e.g. pol. left, jews, rel. groups, asocials
Nazi’s & German pop. formed a grim ‘pact’
- pop. turned blind eye to Gestapo’s prosecution, in return Nazis overlooked minor transgressions of the law by ordinary Germans
Cooperation with the Nazi regime by the army, in short, what were the short and long term effects?
Succeeded in preserving its influence in the short term by a compromise which was fatal in the long term
Was the oath accepted or rejected by the generals Blomberg and Fritsch?
Accepted
For a German soldier, what did these words (the oath) mark?
Marked a commitment which made any feature of resistance an act of treachery
The relationship between Nazi state and army remained cordial 1934-7 because the generals were encouraged by what?
Expansion of the rearmament programme from 1935
Reintroduction of conscription in March 1935, increasing size of army to 550,000
Diplomatic successes over the Saar and Rhineland
Blomberg issued a number of military decrees in an attempt to adjust what?
Adjust army training according to Nazi ideology and to elevate the Fuhrer
Blomberg and the army leaders deluded themselves that?
That its independent position was being preserved, in fact the power of the SS was growing fast
Did Hitler respect the army hierarchy?
He had little respect for the army hierarchy
What kept Hitler back from involvement in army affairs until 1938?
Political realism
When was the Blomberg-Fritsch crisis?
1937-8
When was the Hossbach conference meeting?
5th Nov. 1937
What happened in the Hossbach conference meeting?
Hitler outlined to Germany’s chief of armed forced his foreign policy aims for military expansion
What was Blomberg and Fritsch concerned about in accordance to the Hossbach conference meeting?
Hitler’s talk of war and conquest
Germany was in a state of military unpreparedness
What did Blomberg and Fritsch’s doubts convince Hitler of?
That the army leadership was spineless
What happened in February 1938?
Blomberg and Fritsch forced out of office after revelations about private lives
Blomberg - married for second time, with Hitler as principal witness, but became known wife had criminal record for theft and prostitution
Fritsch - accused of homosexual offences on evidence produced by Himmler
What did the Blomberg-Fritsch crisis of 1937-8 allow Hitler to do ?
Abolished post of defence minister and took title commander-in-chief and minister of war
Day-to-day leadership of all armed forces given to High Command (headed by General Keitel)
General Brauchitsch = new commander-in0chief of the army
16 generals retired and 44 transferred from office
Foreign Minister Neurath replaced by Nazi Ribbentrop
