Nazi Germany

• Nazi Beliefs and Aims

  • Strong Germany
  • The Volk
  • Racially Pure
• Main Aims for Economy

  • reduce unemployment
  • prepare for war
  • control workers
  • make Germany self sufficient (autarky)
• Reduce Unemployment

  • 6 mill unemployed in 1933, 2 mill by 1935
  • Nazis promised 'Work and Bread'
  • wanted them on his side, but also needed them under his control
  • National Labour Service (RAD) - all men 18-25 had to spend 6 months working for the state, jobs hard and poorly paid
  • Public Works Programme - built motorways, schools, hospitals, by 1938, 3000km of roads built. created jobs for 100,000
  • Rearmament - rebuilt army, navy, air force, new factories manufacturing weapons. by 1939 1/4 of jobs linked to rearmament
  • Conscription 1935 - all men aged 18-25 had to join for 2 years, army size grew to 1.4 million by 1939
• Autarky

  • not wanted to rely too much on other countries
  • Schacht's economy made trade deals with South America and SE Europe to get raw materials, this helped increase weapons but was too slow for Hitler
  • replaced with Goering - The Four Year Plan, huge increase in factory jobs, yet still needed foreign imports
  • substitutes included petrol from coal, coffee from acorns
  • Support for Farmers - taxes cut, couldn't be evicted for debt, encouraged to produce more food, laws to stop dividing land for children
• Terror

  • Gestapo - secret police, by 1939, 160,000 arrested, weapon of fear
  • SS - not obligated to act in law, very loyal
  • SD - security force, remove enemies
  • Concentration Camps - in isolated areas, goal to confine opponents
  • Judges and Law Courts - abolished trial by court, People's Court in 1934 to hear cases of treason, done secretly
• Propaganda

  • Books - 1933, 200,000 books burnt, censorship
  • Music - banned 'inferior' music, kept pure Aryan composers
  • Newspapers - all articles checked before publishing
  • Rallies - designed to give sense of belonging to a powerful movement
  • Radio - give pro-Nazi messages
  • Films - pro Nazi, in the film or even adverts before
  • Sports - 1936 Berlin Olympics, nationalism and patriotism
• Education

  • aimed to make children believe in racial ideologies
  • train girls to be good Aryan Wives, and boys to be good soldiers
  • curriculum altered, chemistry, maths, history, geography, eugenics, sport, home economics
  • every lesson would reflect Nazi beliefs
• Nazi Children

  • firm belief that Hitler was giving back dignity
  • enjoyment of being a part of Hitler Youth
  • given brownshirts if couldn't afford
  • indoctrinated by antisemitic views
  • Lebensraum (living space) which should be for Germans (Poland)
  • Encouraged to tell if adults spoke against Nazis
• Women - Marriage and the Family

  • encouraged to have children and prioritise the domestic life
  • barrage of propaganda revolving around Aryan family
  • encouraged to join domestic clubs
  • Law for the Encouragement of Marriage 1933, gave loans of 1000 marks to get married, each child, 1/4 loan paid off
  • Kinder, Kuche, Kirche
  • Mother's Cross: bronze -4/5, silver - 6/7, gold - 8 Hitler Youth would salute gold members
  • mothers of 10 had to make Hitler godfather, if boy name him Adolf
• Women - Employment

  • 1933, banned from professional posts. by 1934, 360,000 given up work
  • propaganda, men expected to be the breadwinners
• Women - Appearance

  • expected to adopt a natural and traditional look
  • modest clothes, Aryan race, all evident in propaganda
• Control of Churches and Religion

  • support Nazis due to mutual dislike of communism, importance of family values
  • 1933, Concordat, agreed to not interfere
  • Nazis broke this by abolishing church schools, closing down their youth groups, 1937 response of 'With Burning Anxiety'
  • Bibles replaced with Mein Kampf, crucifixes with swastika
  • Ludwig Muller, first Reich Bishop
  • Pastor Niemoller set up Pastor's Emergency League and Confessional Church (later banned)
• Jewish Persecution

  • 1933 Apr - SA boycotted Jewish shops, writing Jew on the windows
  • 1935 Sept - Nuremburg Laws remove right to be citizens
  • 1938 Oct - red letter 'J' stamped in passports, forced to wear Star of David
  • 1938 Nov - Kristallnacht
• The Final Solution

  • Prophecy Speech, Jan 1939 - laid groundworks of Jews being blamed for WW2
  • The 'Jewish' Problem, Sep 1939 - Poland 2 mill, Russia 5 mill
  • Madagascar Plan, Jun 1940 - plan to forcibly relocate all Jews here, governed by SS
  • Wannsee Conference, 1942 - led by Heydrich, decided Jews would be terminated
• Holocaust

  • Einsatzgruppen (killing units) - Holocaust of Bullets
  • Death Camps and Vans - by 1943, most camps killed between 15000-25000 a day
  • very dehumanising in transportation, identification, possessions taken
  • wanted to create a Master Race, believe in Eugenics, cultures degenerated when races mixed
  • Untermenschen (sub-human) - Jews, homeless, prostitutes, birth defects, black people, etc.
  • 1945, British, US, Soviet troops began liberating camps
• Opposition to Nazis

  • Edelweiss Pirates - objected Nazi control over youth, beat up Hitler Youth members, hanged by Gestapo
  • White Rose Group - pamphlets to acknowledge atrocities, arrested, executed by Gestapo
  • July 5th Bomb Plot - high ranking officers, only injured Hitler, used as Nazi propaganda
  • Treblinka Camp Rebellion - stormed main gate, 300 escaped but 200 tracked and shot
  • Swing Youth - set up swing clubs, listened to US jazz
  • Warsaw Ghetto Uprising - 20 SS killed, uprising crushed in 4 weeks, reduced to rubble, 15000 died