Germany: 1933-39

• 30th January 1933


  Hitler appointed Chancellor. In the hope of securing a majority in the Reichstag he calls new elections for 5th March. Then he can pass any laws he wants.
• NAZI CONTROL AND DICTATORSHIP 1933-1939


  HISTORY GCSE
• 27th February 1933


  The Reichstag burns down, with a Dutch Communist conveniently found in the building, allowing Hitler to point the finger at Communists seeking to destroy Germany.
• 28th February 1933


  Hitler persuades Hindenburg to pass an EMERGENCY DECREE suspending many civil rights and allowing the Nazi's to increase intimidation of opponents
• 5th March 1933


  Nazi's fail to secure a majority in the Reichstag elections, despite their best electoral performance.
• Hitler's wants: Enabling Law


  Hitler wants an Enabling Law to put all power in his and the Nazi's hands, but he needs non-Nazi's in the Reichstag to vote with the Nazi's to get it passed--> He gets the Nationalists to support him (natural allies) and uses the Emergency Decree to ban the Communist Party. Others are intimidated into voting with the Nazi's--> When the Reichstag meets at the Kroll Opera House to vote on the Enabling Act it is passed by 44 votes to 94. In effect, they voted themselves out of existence.
• After the Enabling Act further consolidation - Local Governments


  - Two Laws in April 1933

  - Ignoring the Landtage (provincial parliaments)

  - Created 18 Reichstatthalter (Reich governs) with full powers and were members of Nazi Party---> Now have control of everywhere.
• After the Enabling Act further consolidation - Trade Unions were banned


  According to Mein Kampf- "German Workers should have one aim, to work to the best of their ability for the good of the state"

  REPLACED BY TWO OFFICES:

  -National Labour Service (RAP)

  -German Labour Front (DAF)

  Aim: Regulated working hours + disciplined workers.

  UNDER DAF TWO BODIES:

  1. Beauty of Labour (SDA) - Aim to improve conditions at work.

  2. Strength through Joy (KDF) - Aim to keep the workforces happy through wide range of leisure activities.

  Any trade unions who didn't like this faced "re-education"---> Stop workers complaining / control workers.
• After the Enabling Act further consolidation - Political Opposition


  Other political parties are banned e.g. 21st June- German National Party officers occupied in many towns.

  28th June- German National Party wound up by members.

  10th May- Social Democratic Party HQ seized and party funds taken.

  22nd June- Social Democratic Party banned--> Gets rid of opposition.
• After the Enabling Act further consolidation - Judiciary- The Law System


  People's court- Nazi court outside normal law to deal with political crimes.

  October 1933- 10,000 lawyers swore to 'follow the cause of our Fuhrer to the end of our days'

  IMPACT:- 800,000 imprisoned form 1933-1945 as 'enemies of the state'

  -500 executed by shot to the neck

  --> take control over courts
• Gleichschaltung - Coordination


  Gleichschaltung was important for the Nazi Party because it meant they could control + monitor every aspect of social, political and economic life of German citizens. It was important for the Nazi's to ban the trade unions and political parties so that they could control the worker and ban political opposition snd everyone followed and listened to him and had no differing opinion.
• Hitler takes control of the Party-SA importance


  SA was crucial to Hitler's rise to power:

  -Beat up opponents at election 1932

  - After Reichstag fire administered justice through fore to the communists.

  -Influenced crucial notes

  - Sign of strength + success

  - Symbol of Nazi success
• 1. Hitler takes control of the Party- Concern in the Party over Rohm and SA


  What Rohm wanted:

  - To incorporate army into the SA

  - More government interference in running of country

  - Bring equality- move away from class structure. --> Social Revolution

  
  

  Why was this a problem: Not possible as they are baked by the industrialists.
• 2. Hitler takes control of the Party- Concern in the Party over Rohm and SA


  Who + Why are they concerned:

  -Frick + Goering worried

  -Activities of SA might cause backlash against Hitler.

  
  

  Clash of Ambitions I Not possible now

  Rohm wants social revolution I Goering wants to run away

  Rohm wants to lead SA I Rohm is an obstacle

  Himmler ambitions for SS and self I Could undermine 'respectability'

  SA seen as thugs I Support
• Rohm VS Hitler


  Strength of Rohm making Hitler nervous SA a massive organisation, and Rohm has control.
• Hitler wants the support of the army


  - Well trained, organised and disciplined

  - Had power to remove him

  - Had support of big business and conservatives

  - Needed to retake and land lost over T of V
• 1. How Hitler dealt with the SA


  Knowns as 'The Night of the Long Knives' or 'Operation Hummingbird' or 'Blood purge'.

  Aim: Was to purge Hitler's political and military rivals in the SA.

  - A cause of the removal of the leaders of the SA was the need to win the support of the army. In addition, in in the first months of his Chancellorship, Hitler saw the SA as a major threat.

  -The SA played a key part in the growth of the Nazis and by 1933 they were well known across Germany. Most of the SA were working-class men who favoured the socialist views of the Nazi programme. They were hoping that Hitler would introduce reforms to help the workers.
• 2. How Hitler dealt with the SA


  - During the first months of 1933 the SA helped to create an atmosphere of terror and intimidation when Gleichschaltung was introduced.

  -Leading Nazi figures such as Wilhelm Frick and Herman Goering , felt the activities of the SA might cause backlash against Hitler. Goering was concerned that the army might step in.
• 3. How Hitler dealt with the SA


  - There was also tension Ernst Röhm, leader of the SA wanted to incorporate the army into the SA and was disappointed with Hitler's close relations with industrialists and the army leaders. Rohm wanted more government interference in running of the country in order to help the ordinary citizens . He wanted to move away from Germany's class structure and bring greater equality. In effect, Röhm wanted a socialist revolution.

  - There was added tension for Hitler because his personal bodyguard, the SS schutzstaffel, led by Heinrich Himmler wished to break away from the SA. Goering (head of the Gestapo) wanted to lead the armed forces and he too saw an opponent in Rohm.
• Consequences of the Night of the Long Knives


  -Strikes fear into his opponents and societyshiws "A Gangster" is now in charge--> shows a dictatorship is now established.

  -Wins the support of the army: They make an oath to Hitler.

  -SA loses its power: many members join the army when Hitler re-arms Germany.

  -SS and Himmler gain in power.

  - Hindenburg dies in August 1934: Hitler combines the role of President with Chancellor to become the Leader (Führer) of the German Empire and people. ---> In the Referendum that followed, more than 90% of voters (38 mill) agreed with his actions of combining the two posts.
• 1. The Nazi Police State - The SS


  -The SS was formed in 1925 its sole purpose was to act as a bodyguard to Hitler. After 1929 it was run by Heinrich Himmler . By 1934, Himmler had taken control of the SS he had built an elite force of 50,000 men. The stereotype for a SS soldier was tall, blond with blue eyes of the Aryan race. They were expected to marry racially pure wives . There were high physical standards. The SS displayed total obedience to Hitler. By 1939 the SS had grown to 250,000 members.
• 2. The Nazi Police State - The SS


  - After the Night of the Long Knives, the SS was given more responsibility. They became in charge of the removal of all opposition within Germany. Within the SS a sector called the Security Service (SD) had the job of maintaining security within the party and the country. They became the means of terrorising and intimidating the Germans into obedience. The SS were given unlimited power to rest people without a trial taking place, search houses or confiscate property. They also ran concentration camps.
• The Nazi Police State - SD (more info)


  The SD was established in 1931 it was the intelligence body for the Nazi Party and was under the command of Heinrich Himmler. Himmler appointed Reinhard Heydrich , a formal naval officer to organise the department. The main purpose of the SD was to discover potential enemies (threats) to the Nazi Party and insure their termination/ removal. Members of the SD where employed by the Nazi Party, which paid their salaries. The SD attracted many professional and highly educated people such as lawyers, economists and professors of politics.
• 1. The Nazi Police State - Concentration Camps


  The initial concentration camps were temporary prisons set up by the SA and SS in abandoned factories and warehouses. The earliest known concentration camps include Dachau, near Munich which was then followed by Buchenwald, Mauthausen and Sachsenhausen. Some were local camps taking overflow from prisons. Others specialised in certain prisoners such as trade unionist or young people. Opponents of the regime were taken to these camps for questioning, torture, hard labour and 're-education' in the beginning of the Nazi regime.
• 2. The Nazi Police State - Concentration Camps


  If a prisoner had been executed (shot dead), a note would be sent to family members claiming that their relative had died from pneumonia or a disease to that effect. Another common statement used was that they were shot dead whilst trying to escaped from concentration camps. By 1939 the camps had drummed huge business their were over 150,000 people detained in camps for political offences. The SS used the prisoners for slave labour such as: extracting raw materials and manufacturing weapons. These camps later on developed and manufacturing weapons. These camps later on developed into the deaths camps that we now associate with the Nazi Party.
• The Gestapo


  The Gestapo (Geheimestaatspolizei- secret state police) was set up in 1933 by goering it was originally the Prussian Secret Police. In 1936 Himmler gained control of the organisation. The Gestapo's many jobs included; spying on people, tapping telephones and intercepting mail. They had a network of informers throughout Germany. Anyone who even whispered any opposition to Hitler could be reported to the Gestapo by one of these informers and arrested. They are free to strike at anytime in any place on ordinary German citizens. The gestapo was most feared by opponents of Nazism.
• The police, the courts and the prisons

  When the Nazis rose to power they did not abolish the police force nor did they remove the legal system already in place. Instead, they took over all departments. The police were under the control of the SS. All judges took an oath of loyalty to Hitler. The conventional courts were allowed to be used by the Nazi Party against their opposition. The number of crimes punishable by death rose from 3 in 1933 to 46 in 1943. These included listening to foreign radio stations or handing out anti-government propaganda. Other example of acts punishable by death included: breaking into the house of a soldier during the war, having a sexual relationship with a Jew, telling an anti-Nazi joke and stealing towels, a sheet and a pillow from an air-raid storage depot.
• Informers

  The Nazi's had a strong local structure. Every town was divided into small units called blocks which only included a handful of controls. Their local 'Block Warden' would check on the houses weekly and would also collect donations. These local 'leaders' had the role of being the eyes and ears of the Nazi Party. They would write reports on the 'political reliability' of their block residents. These reports determined whether someone got a job. The 'leaders' could report on any person who was showing signs of independent things, anti-Hitler jokes , refusing support the party, hosting illegal political meetings and notifying the flag on celebration days.
• Heinrich Himmler


  Formerly a chicken farmer. He was interested in German folklore and the occult. He was a very sensitive man, who was said to feel physically sick when witnessing a killing and couldn't bare to see an insect harmed. Yet he lead the SS, who were feared for their brutality and headed up the extermination of 6 million Jews.
• Nazi propaganda techniques- Newpapers


  - Non- nazi newspapers and magazines were closed down. More than 1,600 newspapers and thousands of magazines closed.

  -The Reich Press Law was passed in October 1933 and it resulted in the removal of Jewish and left-wing journalism/journalists

  - Editors were told by the Propaganda Ministry what could be printed and any foreign news which was published had to be taken from the Nazi controlled press agency.
• Nazi propaganda techniques- Radio


  - All stations under Nazi control

  - By 1939, 70% of German families owned radios

  - Radios were installed in cafes, factories, schools and offices. Loudspeakers were placed in streets--> important for Nazi message to be heard by as many people as possible and AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

  - Importantly, the People's Radio lacked shortwave reception, making it difficult for Germans to listen to foreign broadcasts.
• Nazi propaganda techniques- Film


  - Goebbels realised the popularity of cinema.

  -100 films made each year audiences exceeding 250 million in 1933.

  - Goebbels realised that many Germans were bored by the political message. Instead of using political films Nazis used love stories. and thrillers with pro-Nazi slants.

  -Best known pro-Nazi film Quex (1933)- Story of a boy who broke away from communism to join Hitler --> murdered by communists

  - All films accompanied by 45 minutes news reel which glorified Hitler and Nazi achievements.

  -Hitler ordered Goebbels to make anti-Semitic films.
• Nazi propaganda techniques- Rallies


  -Local rallies lead by the SA and Hitler Youth.

  - Large parades held on special occasions, such as Hilter's Birthday (20th April).

  - The Nuremberg rallies lasts several days. Attracted 1 million people each year after Nazis came to power.

  - An annual mass rally held at Nuremberg.
• Nazi propaganda techniques- Posters


  -Targeted at young.

  -Simple and direct.

  -Posters cleverly used put across Nazi message.
• Nazi propaganda techniques- Literature


  - Goebbels encouraged students in Berlin to burn 20,000 books written by Jews, communists and anti-Nazi university professors in a massive bonfire in Berlin, May 1933. There were similar burnings in other cities across Germany during 1933.

  -2,500 writers left Germany in the years up to 1939.

  -Writers were forced to write books, plays and poems.

  - All books, plays and poems were carefully censored. Put across Nazi message.
• Nazi propaganda techniques- Music and Theatre


  -Theatre was to concentrate on German history and political drama--> theatre tickets were cheap to encourage people to see plays that had Nazi political and racial themes.

  -Nazis encouraged traditional German folk music together with classical music of Brahms, Beethoven and especially Richard Wagner- Hitler's favourite composer.

  -Hitler hated modern music- he thought of Jazz as 'black' music it was seen as racially inferior and banned it
• Nazi propaganda techniques- Sport


  -Hitler wanted a healthy and fit nation.

  -Sport was encouraged at school and in the Hitler Youth.

  - Wanted success in sport to promote Nazi regime.

  - Boys were soldiers of the future and girls were to produce as many children as possible.

  -In 1936 Berlin Olympics - media from 49 countries came- the Nazis could show the world Germany was a modern, well organised society and that Aryans were superior. The Games were designed to impress. For most of the olympics, relations were a great success.
• Nazi propaganda techniques- Art and Architecture


  - Art called 'degenerate'.

  - Hitler hated modern art it was banned.

  - Hitler's favourite architect was Albert Speer.

  - After 1934, all buildings must have Nazi sculptures.

  -Artists expected to portray workers, peasants and women as glorious and noble people.

  - Hitler motivated people to enjoy art which highlighted Germany's past greatness and strength and power of the Third Reich.
• Nazi Economic Policy- Aims and problems the country faced


  Aims:

  1. To reduce unemployment- 1933- it was at 6,000,000

  2. To build up German armaments industry and rearm and enlarge the German army, navy and airforce.

  3. To make Germany economically self-sufficient so it could not be blockaded in war time.

  Problems:

  1. It was difficult to export goods as world trade had collapse in the Great Depression.

  2. Germany was short of certain essential raw materials.

  3. Germany could not afford to pay for many imports.
• 1. Nazi propaganda techniques- How Nazis reduced unemployment


  Labour Service Corps- provided young men with manual labour jobs. From 1935 it was compulsory for all men aged 18-25 to serve in the corps for 6 months Workers lived in camps, wore uniforms, received low pay and carried out military drill as well as work.

  Job Creation Schemes- Hitler spent billions on job creation schemes, rising from 18.4 billion marks in 1933 to 37.1 billion five years later. Nazis subsided private firms, especially in the construction industry. They introduced a massive road-building programme to provide Germany with 7000km of autobahns.