Hitler

• The actions of four key people - Paul von Hindenburg, Heinrich Brüning, General Franz von Papen, and Kurt von Schleicher - resulted in Hitler becoming Chancellor
• Hitler's road to power

  1. March 1932: Hindenburg stands for re-election as President

  2. April 1932: Hindenburg is re-elected as President, Hitler increases his share of the vote, Brüning resigns and is replaced by von Papen

  3. July 1932: Further elections take place, the Nazi share of the vote increases from 18% in 1930 to 38%, Hitler demands to be made Chancellor but Hindenburg refuses

  4. December 1932: Von Schleicher becomes Chancellor

  5. January 1933: Von Schleicher does not have support, von Papen persuades Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Chancellor
• The Reichstag Fire gave Hitler an excuse to issue a Decree for the Protection of the People and the State, giving him powers to imprison political opponents and ban opposition newspapers
• The Enabling Act of 1933 allowed Hitler to destroy the power of the Reichstag and give himself total power to make laws, meaning Germany would no longer be a democracy
• The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to get rid of opposition to the Nazis, including closing down local government, replacing trade unions with the German Labour Front, and banning other political parties
• The SS (Protection Squad)


  • Set up by Heinrich Himmler in 1925, they wore black uniforms, controlled all Germany's police and security forces, acted outside the law, and ran the concentration camps
• The SD (Security Service)


  • Set up by Heinrich Himmler in 1931, they wore uniforms, spied on all opponents of the Nazi Party both at home and abroad
• The Gestapo (Secret State Police)


  • Set up by Hermann Goering in 1933, they wore plain clothes, spied on people, prosecuted people for speaking out against the Nazis, and sent people to concentration camps and used torture
• Hitler controlled the legal system by requiring all judges to belong to the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law and favour the Nazi Party, abolishing trial by jury, and setting up a People's Court to hear all treason cases
• The first concentration camp was built at Dachau in 1933 to house political prisoners, undesirables, and minority groups, and many more camps were built in isolated areas where inmates were treated very badly and forced to do hard labour
• The Nazis wanted to control the influence of the churches, so they made a Concordat with the Catholic Church that was later broken, and formed the Reich Church and repressed the Confessional Church
• Joseph Goebbels played a central role as Nazi Propaganda Minister from 1933-1945, using propaganda and censorship to create a generation loyal to the Nazi regime and its values
• Joseph Goebbels


  • Reich Minister of Propaganda 1933-1945
  • Played a central role in spreading Nazi ideas
  • Controlled newspapers, radio, book publishing, film and the arts
• Methods of propaganda

  • Public burning of books
  • Telling radio producers, playwrights, filmmakers and newspapers what to say
  • Closing newspapers opposing the Nazis
  • Only making radios that couldn't receive foreign stations
• Methods of censorship

  • Hitler featured in propaganda
  • Posters showing Nazi beliefs displayed everywhere
  • Huge rallies and military parades
  • Propaganda films and entertainment films with subtle Nazi messages
  • Hitler's radio speeches played through loudspeakers
• Reich Chamber of Culture


  • Set up in 1933 and overseen by Goebbels
  • Monitored all aspects of culture and made sure they were consistent with Nazi ideas