Nazi control and dictatorship 1933-39

• Röhm did not like Hitler's policies

  Röhm and the SA were a threat to Hitler
• The SA

  • Much bigger than the army
  • Army feared Röhm wanted to replace them
• The SS

  • Set up by Hitler in 1925 to act as his bodyguards
  • A select group run firstly by Schreck and then by Himmler
  • Appeared menacing in their black uniforms
• The Night of the Long Knives


  1. Hitler invited Röhm and 100 SA leaders to a meeting in Bad Wiessee

  2. They were arrested by the SS and taken to Munich and shot

  3. Further killings occurred, including that of von Schleicher
• It was thought that not many people fully realised how many people were being killed
• Death of Hindenburg


  1. Hindenburg died

  2. Within hours, a Law Concerning the Head of State merged the offices of Chancellor and President to create a new office of Führer
• Propaganda

  • Used to ensure Hitler looked all powerful
  • The 'Heil Hitler!' Nazi salute made people swear loyalty to him personally
  • He was portrayed as having superhuman, heroic qualities
• The Reichstag Fire

  1. A lone Dutch communist was executed for starting the fire

  2. Hitler accused the Communist Party of a conspiracy against the government

  3. Four thousand communists were arrested

  4. Hitler issued a Decree for the Protection of the People and the State, giving him powers to imprison political opponents and ban opposition newspapers

  5. Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to call an election in March 1933 to secure more Nazi seats
• The Enabling Act, 1933


  1. Hitler proposed the Enabling Act to destroy the power of the Reichstag and give himself total power to make laws

  2. The Reich Cabinet could pass new laws

  3. The laws could overrule the constitution

  4. Hitler would propose the laws
• The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to get rid of opposition to the Nazis
• Effect of the Enabling Act


  1. Local Government closed down and reorganised with Nazi majorities

  2. Trade unions replaced with the German Labour Front, many union officials arrested

  3. SDP and Communist Party offices and funds taken by the Nazis, other political parties banned
• The nazis created a police state using the SA, SS and Gestapo. Anyone the Nazis were suspicious of could disappear and be taken to a concentration camp or killed.
• The Nazi's police state was fueled by fear and intimidation
• SS (Protection Squad)

  • Set up and led by Himmler in 1925
  • Black uniforms
  • Controlled police and security forces
  • Acted outside the law
  • Had to have 'racially pure' wives
  • Ran concentration camps
• SD (Security Service)

  • Set up by Himmler in 1931
  • Led by Reinhard Heydrich
  • Wore uniforms
  • Spied and kept tabs on opponents of the Nazis (both home & abroad)
• Gestapo (secret state police)

  • Set up by Goering in 1933
  • Led by Heydrich
  • Didn't wear uniform and spied on regular people (listened to conversations and tapped into phones)
  • Sent people who spoke out to concentration camps
• Hitler controlled the legal system so it was almost impossible for anyone to oppose him
• All judges had to favour the Nazi Party and belong to the 'National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law'
• There were no more juries so all cases were heard by a judge alone. A 'People's Court' was set up to hear all treason cases - trials held in secret and judges hand-picked
• The first concentration camp was built in Dachau in 1933. All camps were built in isolated areas so people couldn't see what was happening.

  Inmates were made up of political prisoners, prostitutes, homosexuals and minority groups
• The churches were a potential threat to Hitler's power because Christian beliefs were different to Nazi beliefs.
• Nazi vs Christian beliefs

  A) Hitler

  B) God

  C) equal

  D) Dominance

  
• Hitler was worried the Catholic Church would oppose him because they were loyal to the pope, usually supported the Catholic Centre Party and sent their children to Catholic schools and youth organisations rather than Nazi ones
• The Reich Church:

  • Founded in 1933
  • Made up of 2000 Protestant Churches
  • Supported by Nazis
  • Led by Ludwig Müller
• Confessing Church:

  • Founded in 1934
  • Made up of 6000 Protestant Churches
  • Opposed by Nazis
  • Led by Martin Niemoller
  • Repressed by Nazis
• July 1933 - Hitler agreed with the Pope, in a Concordat, that the Catholics were free to worship and run their own schools provided they stay out of politics
• However, Hilter broke his promise to the Pope:

  • Priests opposing Nazis were harassed and/or sent to concentration camps
  • Catholic schools closed
  • Catholic youth organisations banned
• In 1937, the Pope spoke out against Hitler to criticise Nazi policies.
• Joseph Goebbels was the 'Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda'. He controlled all media. Lots of propaganda subtly spread Nazi messages
• Methods of censorship:

  • Burning books by Jewish authors or others who spoke out.
  • Radios, playwrights, filmmakers and newspapers told what to say.
  • Newspapers opposing Nazis closed down
  • No foreign radio stations
• Posters showing Nazi beliefs were put up everywhere
• There were huge rallies and military parades to project power and strength. It made people fear them.
• Cinemas showed a 45 minute Nazi propaganda newsreel before films and entertainment films had subtle Nazi messages.
• Hitler was a persuasive and powerful public speaker - he made radio speeches that were played in loudspeakers in cafes, on the street, in shops etc
• Nazis encouraged art that promoted Nazi and traditional German values. Jazz was banned as it often came from black composers.
• In 1936 the Olympic Games were held in Berlin. The games were used to show Germans as strong and powerful. Nazi propaganda and swastikas were on banners everywhere.
• The Reich Chamber of Culture was set up in 1933 and overseen by Goebbels. It monitored all German culture and ensured it was in line with Nazi ideology.
• Martin Niemoller was one of the main church opponents to Hitler. However he voted for them in the 1924 and 1933 elections.
• Martin Niemoller didn't like the Nazi's interference with the Church. He set up the Confessing Church in 1934.

  He was arrested many times for speaking out against Nazis between 1934 and 1937.

  He was sent to a concentration camp in 1938 until 1945.
• After spending time in a concentration camp, Martin Niemoller began to support Nazis and wanted to be let of prison to fight for the Nazis in WW2