Nazi Control & Dictatorship 1933-39

• The Reichstag Fire 


  On the 27th of February 1933, the Reichstag was burned down

  The Nazis blamed a Dutch communist called Marinus van der Lubbe

  This allowed Hitler to pass an Emergency Decree, suspending the Weimar constitution

  Thousands of communists were arrested after the Reichstag fire

  German election was 1 week after the fire and due to arresting thousands of communists, fear of a communist uprising was no more prevalent than ever
• The 1933 German election

  The Nazi Party won 43.9% in the 1933 election

  The DNVP won 7.9% of the votes

  In the Weimar system of proportional representation required a coalition of parties needing 50% to rule

  The Nazi-DNVP coalition had 51.9%
• The enabling act 


  On the 23rd of March 1933, Hitler proposed the Enabling act

  This meant that Hitler could make laws without the Reichstag

  The Reichstag supported the Enabling Act by 444 votes to 94, with Hitler's SA threatening opposition MPs and politicians fearful of voting against a majority government and 'the peoples will'

  After the enabling act the Reichstag could no longer stop Hitler

  Germany was no longer a democracy
• Single-party state in Nazi Germany

  On the 14th of July 1933, all political parties were banned apart from the Nazi Party

  After this, all political opposition was removed
• Trade unions 


  In May 1933, trade union leaders were arrested and sent to concentration camps

  After this, all trade unions were officially banned and all workers were forced to join the German Labour front (DAFA)
• Hitler felt that the SA and Röhm threatened his power, as the SA wanted to take over the Army and were starting to damage Nazi reputation. Hitler sought the allegiance of the Smaller but more disciplined army, compromising only 100,000 men, and the SS, led by Himmler
• The Knight of the Long Knives

  On the 30th June 1934, Hitler used the SS to Purge certain members of the SA

  400 members of the SA were killed, including Röhm. As well as this, Hitler used the opportunity to kill other opponents, such as the former Chancellor, Von Schleicher

  There was now no internal opposition to Hitler. Röhm, his most powerful rival, was dead
• Why did the Night of the Long Knives happen

  Removing opposition to Hitler (Röhm) and Von Schleicher was one reason

  Another was to secure the support of General Werner von Blomberg. On the 9th of April 1934, aboard a German battleship, historians believe Blomberg agreed to support Hitler as the leader of Germany after Hindenburg if he reduced the SA's power and grew the German army under Blomberg
• Hitler becomes the Führer 


  In August 1934, President Hindenburg died

  Hitler merged (joined) the roles of Chancellor and President together, becoming the new Führer

  Hitler called his regime the 'Third Reich' which he believed would last 1,000 years
• Loyalty in the Third Reich

  Loyalty to the Führer was shown through the 'Heil Hitler' Salute

  Hitler forced the army to swear an oath of allegiance to him personally, not to Germany. On the 2nd August 1934, Blomberg added a new oath to the German army, swearing loyalty to the 'Fuhrer'
• Control of Local Government

  Local government in provinces was brought under Nazi control

  Provinces (called Gaue) were all run by a Gauleiter, who was a Nazi trusted by Hitler

  Each Gauleiter reported to Reichsleiters, who reported to Hitler, Goebbels was Reichsleiters focused on propaganda

  In 1934, the Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich gave Hitler total control of local governments
• Hitler ran Germany as a police state. This means that the police controlled every aspect of daily life of German citizens. Heinrich Himmler was the key figure who ran the Nazi repression system
• Gleichschaltung


  The Nazis created 'Gleichschaltung' through repression (control by force)

  This means that the Nazi regime combined force and fear to achieve conformity (obedience)
• Heinrich Himmler 


  Heinrich Himmler was in charge of the Nazi's tools for repression (control by force), the Gestapo, SS and SD

  Himmler was one of Hitler's closest colleagues. His career in the Nazis began he led the SS in 1929

  Himmler enthusiastically supported the idea of Aryan superiority and the inferiority of the Untermenschen

  As Himmler was in charge of police and security services, he could act how he wanted to and not fear legal punishment
• The legal system 


  As the Nazis controlled the Legal system, they had no opposition

  The Nazis got rid of trial by jury and instead all decisions rested with the judge alone

  It was compulsory for all judges to join the Nationalist Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law

  All judges had to rule in the Nazis favour

  The People's Court in Berlin tired "political criminals" who opposed Hitler. Most people were found guilty
• The Gestapo 


  The Gestapo was Hitler's secret police service, set up by Hermann Goering in 1933 and led by Reynhard Heydrich (centre) in 1934

  The Gestapo did not wear uniforms as they were secret investigators
• The purpose of the Gestapo

  The Gestapo was a small unit of 50,000 policemen who relied on informers to identify opponents. There were up to 200,000 informers in the Gestapo during the Nazi regime

  They spied on German citizens and prosecuted people who spoke against the Nazi regime

  Punishment for such a crime was torture or being sent to a concentration camp
• The SS 


  The SS was Hitler's Protection Squad (bodyguards)

  It was set up in 1925. Heinrich Himmler led it

  The ss wore black uniforms

  The SS were in charge of Germany's police force

  The ss ran the concentration camps
• The SD 


  The SD were Hitler's Security Service

  It was set up by Heinrich Himmler in 1931. Reinhard Heydrich led the SD

  The SD spied on Nazi opposition in Germany and in other countries
• The success of the repression 


  Nazi tools for repression were very successful

  The German population thought the Gestapo and SS were everywhere

  This widespread fear meant that the German people did not oppose the Nazi regime
• Fear of the Gestapo

  As the Gestapo had so many informants, there was no dissents (people expressing beliefs different to the common beliefs)

  Everyone was careful about what they said about the Nazis in fear that they would be heard and reported
• Spying citizens 


  Many German citizens were encouraged to spy

  While some were fervent Nazi supporters, others used the opportunity for their personal agendas

  Spying could help solve a personal vendetta

  The Gestapo had 32,000 full-time employees and 200,000 casual or informal employees who informed on fellow Germans
• Concentration camps 


  Opponents sent to the camps included political prisoners, 'undesirables' such as prostitutes or homosexuals, and ethnic minorities such as the Jews or gypsies

  The camps were isolated so no one could see the bad things that happened in them

  Mostly, the prisoners were forced to do hard labour and were ill-treated
• Control of the Law

  The Nazis got rid of trials by jury and instead, all decisions rested with the judges alone

  It was compulsory for all judges to join the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law

  All judges had to rule in favour of the Nazis
• The church in Germany was a threat to the Nazi Party. Lots of the principles of Christianity opposed Nazi actions. Also, people were probably more loyal to their God than their political leaders
• The Church 


  Christianity was primarily split into Protestant and Catholic Christianity. Protestants were more likely to support the Nazi Party than Catholics for regional and historic reasons

  Ultimately, Hitler wanted to try to supplant Christianity with a Nazi-based religion

  Churches were also a great propaganda tool to spread the Nazi's message

  In 1933, it is estimated that there were 40 million German Protestants and 20 million German Catholic People
• The Reich Church 


  The Reich Church was founded in 1933 to help to create a new Nazi Church

  Ludwig Müller led this effort after being elected to the 'Reichbischof'
• Changes under the Reich Church 


  The Reich Church stopped preaching from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is based on the Hebrew Bible and was associated with the Jews

  Church ministers who were not of pure Aryan descent were banned from the Reich Church

  The Blurring of the lines between God and the State is shown by the Nazi phrase: 'the Swastika on our chests and the Cross in our hearts'.

  Hitler tried to influence sermons to convey his propaganda messages
• Protestants against the Nazis

  Not all Protestants followed the Nazis. The Confessional Church was founded in 1934 to oppose Reich church

  Led by Marti Niemöller, the Confessional Church was made up by 6,000 churches
• The Nazis and Catholics

  Catholics posed a threat to Hitler for many reasons

  Catholic loyalty was split between Hitler and the Pope

  German Catholics would send their children to Catholic youth organisations, challenging the authority of the Nazi Party Youth
• The Concordat, 1933


  In July 1933, Hitler and the Pope signed the Concordat

  This promised that Catholics were allowed to worship and keep their catholic schools in return for intervening in Nazi politics
• Hitler's broken promise 


  But Hitler betrayed the Concordat by closing down Catholic schools, banning Catholic youth groups and sending priests who opposed the Nazis to concentration camps

  By 1937, the Pope released a statement called 'With burning anxiety' to voice his criticism of Hitler and his policies to the world
• Propaganda in Nazi Germany was run by Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda. Goebbels used a variety of techniques to spread the Nazi ideology
• The Nazi Message focused on

  • The Glory of War
  • Hitler as a a powerful leader
  • The evils of Communism
  • The inferiority of the Jews
  • The glorification of the Aryan race and volk values, such as family
• Film and Radio - propaganda

  Cinemas showed films that emphasised Nazi messages. They were shown clearly in propaganda films and more subtly in films for entertainment

  Hitler used radios in homes and loudspeakers in public spaces to reach everyone in German society

  Radio shows would feature Hitler's speeches, German music or Nazi history
• Rallies - propaganda 


  Rallies and military parades were important for showing the strength of Germany

  This appealed to the German people's nationalist pride

  One of the most popular events was the annual Nuremberg rally
• The Berlin Olympics, 1936

  The Berlin Olympics was a perfect opportunity to display Nazi power.

  The Nazis hoped the Olympics would showcase Aryan superiority

  An embarrassing moment for Hitler was when the African-American Jesse Owens won Gold in the 100 metres

  The Nazi Party paused their anti-Semitic policies for the length of the Berlin Olympics
• Censorship


  The counterpart to propaganda was censorship

  The Nazis Burned books written by Jews, or books that disagreed with Nazi beliefs

  All scripts in plays, films and radio shows were told what to say by the Nazis

  Only newspapers that supported the Nazis were allowed to operate, In 1944, the Nazis controlled over 80% of German newspapers
• The initial success of Propaganda

  We can regard the Nazi propaganda efforts as hugely successful. Goebbels could spread Nazi ideas in both obvious and subtle ways. Posers everywhere showed the messages that the Nazis wanted to spread

  Most of the German society supported the Nazis

  In 1939, the majority of Germans had radios and Nazi messages were broadcast into peoples' houses
• The downturn of propaganda

  The Nazi propaganda machine only began to fail when Germany started to lose the war

  It was difficult to believe that aa win was possible when cities were being bombed and people were suffering food shortages