Nazi Germany

• When were the Nuremburg race laws introduced

  September 1935
• Within 18 months, hitler was able to secure his position and establish the basis of a legal dictatorship. He was then able to impose his visions of Nazi society on the german people
• what majority was needed to change the constitution

  2/3
• what was passed in march 1933

  the enabling act
• The enabling act gave Hitler the power to rule without the reichstag and therefore provided the basis for the legal dictatorship
• what replaced the trade unions

  the German Labour Front
• militaristic values were reinforced through the education system and the Hitler youth
• how many seats did the nazis have in the cabinet in 1933

  2
• Why did Hitler persuade Hindenburg to call fresh elections within 24 hours of him being appointed chancellor

  • increase nazi vote
  • improve his status
• When was the Reichstag fire

  27 February 1933
• who was responsible for the Reichstag fire

  A Dutch communist, Van Der Lubbe
• The Reichstag fire

  Hitler was able to portray the circumstances as anti-democratic and claimed that the fire was part of a communist plot to takeover, therefore repressive measures against the communists were needed. Hindenburg signed the Decree for protection of the people and the state using the powers of article 48.
• what decree was signed the day after the reichstag fire

  Decree for the protection of the people and state
• Decree for the protection of the people and the state

  • granted Hitler with emergency powers
  • took away many civil and political liberties
  • justified by the nazis as a response to communist threat
  • showed the nazis as acting quickly and decisively
• The reichstag fire

  The apparent threat was used to justify the large numbers of Nazi opponents being arrested, which further limited opposition in the forthcoming election.
• The Reichstag fire

  regardless of whether there had been an actual plot by the communists, the Nazis exploited the situation and used it for electoral advantage, discrediting the threat from the extreme left
• How many seats did the Nazis win in the March 1933 elections?

  288 (still not a 2/3 majority)
• The enabling act

  The act dismantled the Weimar constitution and gave Hitler the ability to create a one party state.
• What was the vote ratio for the enabling act

  444 ; 94
• which party voted against the enabling act

  SPD
• Hitler was only able to pass the enabling act by promising the Catholic Centre Party that he would respect the rights of the catholic church and uphold religious and moral values. Without their support, he would not have won the majority
• Gleichschaltung

  coordination
• when were regional parliaments dissolved and replaced by nazi dominated state governments

  31 march 1933
• Hitler's first aim was to create a centralised state, in order to do this he had to abolish federalist structure.
• The three stages of abolishing federalist structure

  1. Dissolution of regional parliaments, replaced by nazi state government
  2. Reich governors, usually local party gauleiters, were created
  3. federal government and governors made subordinate to central government
• The trade union's connection with communism and socialism meant the nazis viewed it as a threat.
• Attack on the trade unions


  Initially, the unions were tricked into thinking a working relationship could be established. 1 may (labour day) was declared a national holiday, but next day union premises were occupied, funds seized and leaders sent to concentration camps. Independent unions were banned and replaced by the DAF. This was a means of controlling the workers. They lost the right to negotiate wages and working conditions, except through the new state organisation. The labour movement was broken.
• DAF

  German Labour Front
• When was the Law against the establishment of parties passed

  14 July 1933
• Political coordination

  • KPD banned after reichstag fire
  • SPD banned & their assets seized after voting against the enabling act
  • The nationalists who were in a coalition with the Nazis dissolved themselves to avoid being abolished
  • Centre Party dissolved
• Nazi Coordination was not complete by 1933 because;

  • Hitler could not antagonise powerful groups like the army or church
  • He needed the support of big business for rearmament
  • He needed the support of the civil service and Middle class
• The SA

  supported a more radical nazism, involved in the violent streetfights in the 1920s & 30s
• Who was the leader of the SA

  Ernst Rohm
• Rohm wanted to merge the SA with the Army and called for a second revolution.
• The Army

  Hitler backed the army, they were the one institution that could remove him, and much of it's leadership was suspicious of him. Most importantly, they had the military skills he would need to implement his foreign policy. Hitler's decision to support the Army culminated in the events of the night of the long knives.
• When did the night of the long knives take place

  30 june 1934
• The night of the long knives ended the SA as a military and political force. Rohm and other leading members of the SA were shot by the SS. However it was not just the SA who were targeted, amongst the 200 that were killed, was former chancellor Schleicher, and leader of the radical socialist wing of the party, Strasser. Through this action Hitler had purged the left wing of his party and the old conservative right wing.
• Effect of the night of the long knives

  • It won Hitler the support of the army, soldiers took a personal oath of loyalty
  • It showed that Hitler had secured his dictatorship, the acceptance of his actions meant that he had been allowed to get away with the murder of his opposition. It was a clear indication of the powers the regime possessed
  • Germans saw Hitler as a man who would bring order to Germany as he got rid of the ''lawless'' SS
• When did Hindenburg die

  2 August 1934
• The Night of the Long Knives and the oath taken by the German armed forces meant that there remained no opposition to challenge Hitler, so when Hindenburg died, there was no political crisis. Hitler was simply able to merge the role of president with that of chancellor and take the new official title of fuhrer.