The Terror State

Question 1

Give a summary of the police system

Answer 1

• Nazis create system of party-controlled police forces answereable to Hitler -> gradually controlled the entire police system.
  -> proliferation and competition between various forces:
• SS controlled by Himmler
  -> SD, an intelligece offshoot of SS
• SA controlled by Rohm
• Gestapo -> the secret police force in Prussia -> Goering as minister-president.
• 1933-36: rivalry between Himmler, Rohm and Goering over police control.
  -> Himmler strengthened by Long Knives when Rohm was killed.
  -> exploited conflict between Goering and minister of the interior, Wilhelm Frick

Question 2

What was the SS

Answer 2

• Hitler’s bodyguard -> after Long Knives -> their police role expanded and became the organisation for the identification and arrest of political prisoners.
• By 1936 -> controlled entire police system and con camps.
• Himmler aimed for SS to be disciplined, racially pure and obedient.
  -> values: loyalty and honour.
• SS much more systematic than SA who were undisciplined and out of control.
  -> camp guards were brutalised to remove feelings for the way they feel towards prisoners.

Question 3

What was the SD

Answer 3

• internal security service for the Nazi party -> an offshoot of the SS.
  -> intelligence gathering became its role after 1933.
• Led by Reinhard Heydrich.
• Roles: monitor public opinion, identify those who voted no in plebiscites and report these to Hitler.
• worked independently of the Gestapo.
  -> led to overlap and confusion between the 2 groups.
• staffed not by pro police officers but by amateur committed Nazis.

Question 4

What was the Gestapo

Answer 4

• secret-state police -> reputation for being all-knowing.
  -> actually only had 20,000 officers in 1934 to cover the whole country.
• made up of pro police officers.
• depended on ‘informers’ -> Nazi activists were asked to spy on neighbours and workmates.
  -> every block of flats/residential street had a ‘block leader’ who would report suspicious activity.
  -> motivated by personal grudges rather than political commitment.
• the volume of info was overwhelming -> resorted to arbitrary arrest and preventative custody.
• successful at instilling fear -> little political debates/challenges from ordinary citizens.

Question 5

Explain how the court and justice system changed

Answer 5

• various professional associations of judges and lawyers merged with the League of National Socialist Lawyers -> created the Front of German Law in April 1933.
  -> made clear to judges and lawyers that their career prospects depended on them doing the regime’s bidding.
• Special Courts and People’s Courts were set up to run alongside the existing system.
  -> deal with political crimes -> 3 Nazi ‘judges’ and 2 pro judges.
• these measures caused lawyers and judges to fall in line.
  -> justice system has no power to interfere with Nazi terror.
• 1934-39 -> 34,000 people were tried by the People’s Court -> most of whom were former communists/socialists.
  -> many were given the death penalty.

Question 6

Explain the power geobbels had over cultural life

Answer 6

• had power to control who could and couldn’t be employed in the cultural field.
  -> enormous power over cultural life.
• those seen as racially impure or politically unreliable were kicked out of cultural industries.

Question 7

List the different methods of propaganda

Answer 7

• newspapers
• radio
• film
• parades and spectacles
• Hitler myth

Question 8

explain how newspapers were used as propaganda

Answer 8

• socialist and communist newspapers were closed using the powers of the Decree for the Protection of the people and the state.
• by end of 1933, Nazis acquired 27 daily newspapers with a combined circulation of 2.4 million a day.
• news agencies were all merged into a state-controlled organisation.

Question 9

explain how radio was used for propaganda

Answer 9

• Hitler and Goebbels believed the spoken word was more powerful than the written.
• 1933 -> Hitler made over 50 radio broadcasts -> loudspeakers were set up in town squares and factories so everyone can hear important speeches.
• Geobbels promoted mass production of cheap radio sets -> 70% of German households possessed one by 1939 -> highest proportion in the world.
• April 1934 -> all radio stations were brought under control of the Reich Radio Company -> controlled by the Propaganda Ministry.

Question 10

explain how film was used for propaganda

Answer 10

• Geobbels knew film could work on the subconscious, delivering subliminal messages and reinforcing prejudices.
• he was responsible for approving every film made after 1933.
  -> foreign films were not completely banned but were checked for political and racial content.
• all films contained political messages -> leadership was glorified -> ‘blood and soil’ (relationship of race and land) was a common theme.
  -> demonising Jews and Communists.

Question 11

Explain how parades and spectacles were used for propaganda

Answer 11

• residents were expected to show support for national parades by hanging out swastika flags from their windows.
  -> compliance monitored by Nazi ‘block leaders’ failure to conform was reported to authorities.
  -> to be labelled politically unreliable can result in being fired or even worse.
• parades + flag waving were visual ‘proof’ that people were firmly behind the regime.
• party rallies at Nuremberg were stage-managed to achieve maximum theatrical effect.
  -> 1937 rally involved around 100,000 people.

Question 12

What was the Hitler myth

Answer 12

• Hitler presented as ‘man of the people’ -> symbolised unity. was presented as:
  -> a political genius who mastered problems in 1933 -> responsible for Germany’s ‘national awakening’.
  -> order was restored, the economy was revived and limits of the T of V were broken.
  -> dynamic and forceful compared to weak politicians of the Weimar years.
  -> simple life -> sacrificed personal hapiness to devote himself to the people
  -> shown being alone and removed from the Nazi party.

Question 13

What was the reality of the Hitler myth

Answer 13

• was surrounded by officials who competed to gain attention.
  -> ministers + officials interpret Hitler’s vision -> he was not involved in decision-making.
• stayed up late watching films -> spent time walking in grounds of the mountain retreat and delivering a speech to subordinates.
  -> disliked reading official documents and rarely got involved in discussions on policy.

Question 14

How did the SPD try to resist the Nazis

Answer 14

• Jan 1933, were unprepared for a Nazi takeover -> not equipped to organise resistance against a law-breaking regime.
• deputies defied SA/SS intimidation and voted against enabling act.
  -> but by end of 1933, 1000s of activists were murdered or placed into ‘preventative custody’.
• adapted -> Ernst Schumacher Organist small, secret cells of supporters in factories.
  -> propoganda pamphlets were smuggled from Czechoslovakia.
  -> constant fear of exposure and arrest by Gestapo -> limits the scope of their illegal activities.
• priority was to survive rather than mount a serious challenge.

Question 15

How did the KPD try to resist the Nazis

Answer 15

• Devastated by repression -> 1st party to be banned.
• leader, Ernst Thalmann was arrested at an early stage.
• 10% of membership was killed by the Nazis during 1933.
• still -> revolution unions were set up in Berlin and Hamburg.
  -> networks were broken up by Gestapo.
• not completely eradicated -> factory cells were established -> contact between members was confined to word of mouth to reduce discovery.
• however priority shifted to survival -> was no threat.

Question 16

How did workers resist the Nazis

Answer 16

• After 1933, union resistance crumbled quickly.
  -> trade unions were absorbed into DAF (German Labour Front).
• Nazi propaganda emphasised importance of national as opposed to class solidarity.
• strike action was risky but still occurred -> 1937, a total of 250 strikes were recorded.
  -> reactions were reactions to poor conditions or low wages.
• Increased striking in 1935-36 -> discontent over food prices.
  -> of 25,000 in strikes in 1935 -> 4000 spent short periods in prison.
• less overt methods: absenteeism a reaction to pressure to work longer hours -> esp 1938.
  -> introduced harsh penalties for ‘slackers’.
  -> E.g. 1938, Gestapo arrest 114 workers for slow working.

Question 17

Explain resistance by the protestant church

Answer 17

• development of Confessional Church (1934) were acts of resistance led by pastors.
• motives:
• protect independence of Protestant Church from regime.
• resisting the ‘Aryan Paragraph’ -> which purged any pastor who converted from Judaism.
• trying to defend orthodox Lutheran theology -> based on Bible, not on Nazi ideologies.
• During 1934 -> pastors spoke against ‘Nazified Christ’.
• many churches refuse to display swastika flags.
• 2 confessional church bishops were arrested -> mass demonstrations in their support.
  -> resulted in increased repression -> end of 1937: over 700 pastors had been imprisoned.
• failed to totally suppress confessional church -> but there was no total opposition in return.
• churches as a whole remained silent.

Question 18

explain resistance by roman catholic church

Answer 18

• when privileges granted to the church under the concordat of 1933 were under attack -> found itself at odds with the regime.
• 1937 -> pope issued a papal encyclical ‘with burning grief’ against pressure on the Catholic Church.
  -> Condemned hatred against church.
• Repression increased -> charges for ‘abuse of the pulpit’ increased.
• Intimidation/harassment of priests had the desired effect.
  -> local gov official reported (1937) that the clergy were starting to show ‘cautious restraint’.
• did not resist beyond defence of independence -> Catholic resistance was partial and ineffective.

Question 19

Explain resistance by the youth

Answer 19

• Mid 1930s -> growing signs of disillusionment among young people in youth groups.
  -> due to membership being made compulsory in 1936, also growing regimentation in youth movements.
• Membership of the HJ and League of German Girls (BDM) limited free time: compulsory gymnastic sessions and endless military training.
• late 1930s, many opted out by not attending weekly parades.
• some formed cliques/gangs to show independence.
• some overtly political, e.g. Mouton gangs flourished in strongholds in Leipzig in the late 1930s.
• groups: swing youth, Edelweiss Pirates.

Question 20

Explain resistance by the elites

Answer 20

• long tradition of serving whoever was in charge, elite opposition would require a big intellectual shift.
  -> therefore opposition was very small.
• opposition was at its biggest in autumn of 1938 -> many felt Hitler was leading an unprepared Germany into war.
• Nov 1937 -> Hitler outlined his secret plan to invade Czechoslovakia.
  -> General Blomberg anf General Fritsch expressed doubts -> within 3 months, Hitler removed them and replaced them with compliant leaders.
• threat of war prompts General Beck and other senior army figures to plot a military coup on Hitler.
• Britain and France were alerted of this plan but were not prepared to go to war.
  -> both agree on on a peaceful takeover of Czechoslovakia for Germany.
• Conspiracy to overthrow faded away.