Key Topic 3

• What happens on Feb 27th 1933?

  Reichstag Fire
• Who was believed to start the Reichstag fire?

  Marinus van der Lubbe - communist
• How did Hitler use the Reichstag fire as an advantage?

  He used it to claim it is a communist conspiricy to overthrow the government.
• The Reichstag fire have Hitler an excuse to create the...?

  Decree for the Protection of people and state.
• What did the Decree of the Protection of people and state let Hitler do?

  suspend civil rights and imprison political opponents and ban opposition newspapers.
• With Communists banned from elections, In march 1933 Hitler was able to secure two thirds of the seats in the Reichstag therefore making him able to change the constitution.
• What was the Enabling act of 1933?

  Gave Hitler full power for 4 years and destroy power of the reichstag.
• How did Hitler get the Enabling Act passed?

  Used the SA to intimidate members, communists were not counted, absentees were marked as present, promised made to the catholic church.
• The enabling act allowed Hitler to get rid of oppositions by local government being shut, trade unions banned and replaced by German Labour Front, and other political parties being banned and funds taken.
• In the 1933 November election, how many votes did the nazis get?

  95.2%/ 40 million
• Why was the SA and Rohm a threat to Hitler?

  Much bigger than the army, rohm did not like Hitlers policies, many of the SA were still unemployed and felt undervalued but were still loyal to rohm.
• What was the SS?

  select group of troops knows as Hitlers bodyguards run by Heinrich Himmler
• What was The Night Of The Long Knives?

  Purge where Hitler removes opposition within the nazi party using the SS to murder over 400 members of the SA and Rohm aswell as other opponents like Von Schleicher by inviting many to a meeting which was a ruse.
• When did Hindenburg die?


  August 1934
• What did Hindenburgs death mean for Germany?

  Hitler becoming Fuhrer and taking full power over Germany.
• What was the army oath of allegiance?


  Oath taken by soldiers to pledge loyalty to Hitler, not to Germany
• Dictatorship


  A form of government where one person or party has absolute power and control over the country
• Police state


  A government that uses the police to control everyone's lives
• The Nazis used the SS, SD and the Gestapo to control people's lives in a police state
• Anyone the Nazis were suspicious of could disappear, at any time. They could be killed or taken to concentration camps.
• Policing


  1. Hitler set up his own security forces

  2. They were run by the Nazi Party, not by the government

  3. Their main weapon was fear
• SS (Protection Squad)


  • Set up by Heinrich Himmler in 1925
  • They were led by Himmler
  • They wore black uniforms
  • They controlled all Germany's police and security forces
  • They acted outside the law
  • Members had to marry 'racially pure' wives
  • They ran the concentration camps
• SD (Security Service)


  • Set up by Heinrich Himmler in 1931
  • They were led by Reinhard Heydrich
  • They wore uniforms
  • Spied on all opponents of the Nazi Party, both at home and abroad
• Gestapo (Secret State Police)

  • Set up by Hermann Goering in 1933
  • They were led by Reinhard Heydrich
  • They wore plain clothes
  • They spied on people
  • Prosecuted people for speaking out against the Nazis
  • Sent people to concentration camps and used torture
• Hitler controlled the legal system so that it was very difficult for anyone to oppose him
• All judges had to belong to the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law
• All judges had to favour the Nazi Party in any decision
• Hitler abolished trial by jury- only judges were able to decide whether someone was innocent or guilty
• He set up a People's Court to hear all treason cases. Trials were held in secret and judges were hand-picked.
• Concentration camps up to 1939


  • The first camp was built at Dachau in 1933
  • Inmates were made up of political prisoners, undesirables, and minority groups like Jews
  • Camps were built in isolated areas so no one could see what was going on
  • Many more were built
• Inmates at Dachau concentration camp in 1933 were treated very badly and forced to do hard labour
• The Nazis wanted total loyalty to Hitler and his beliefs
• The churches were potentially a threat to Hitler's power and therefore he needed to control the churches' influence
• Nazi beliefs vs Christian beliefs

  • Hitler as all-powerful leader
  • Aryan racial superiority
  • War, military discipline and violence important
  • Dominance of the strong over the weak
  • God as the ultimate authority
  • Everyone equal in the eyes of God
  • Peace is what everyone should strive for
  • The strong should look after the weak
• Concordat


  An agreement between Hitler and the pope in 1933 that Catholics were free to worship and run their own schools in return for staying out of politics
• Reich Church


  • Founded in 1933
  • Made up of about 2000 Protestant churches
  • Supported the Nazis
  • Led by Ludwig Müller
  • Some members wore Nazi uniform and called themselves German Christians
• Confessing Church


  • Founded in 1934
  • Made up of about 6000 Protestant churches
  • Opposed the Nazis
  • Led by Martin Niemöller
  • Repressed by the Nazis
• Propaganda


  Information spread to promote particular ideas or views
• Censorship


  Governing what people see, hear and read
• Joseph Goebbels played a central role as Nazi Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda