Nazi Germany

Chancellor

Chancellor

Head of the German government - they are responsible for making sure it was operating properly

National Socialism

The political ideas of the Nazi party which was based on the idea of the Volsgemeinschaft and the rule of Adolf Hitler

Fascism

A political ideology based on strength - one person holds all of the power and uses it ruthlessly - right wing

Volksgemeinschaft

"People's Community" that the nazis wanted to create in their new Germany

Civil Liberties

The freedoms that are granted in society: e.g. the right to freedom of assembly

Gleichschaltung

The name given to the process in which the nazis tried to bring the German population into line following Hitler's appointment as chancellor

Assemblies

The local government in landers of Germany that oversaw local decision making

How many chancellors were there in 1932 and why?

Three - There was a massive political instability in Germany at the time and Hindenburg did not want Hitler to take power

When was the Reichstag fire?

27th February 1933

Reichstag Fire Decree

Restricted civil liberties including freedom of speech

What did the Nazis use the RFD for?

They used it to torture anyone suspected of working against the Nazis and to target the communists by banning their newspapers

What percentage of the vote did the Nazis get in the March election?

43.9%

What percentage of the vote did they want and why?

66% as this would give them the majority they needed to pass the enabling act

Who did the Nazis ally with to gain votes?

They allied with the Nationalist Party giving them the 50% they needed to propose the enabling act

Who agreed to support the enabling act and why?

The Catholic Central Party as Hitler promised to leave Catholic schools under the control of the Church

What did Hitler do to get the Enabling Act passed?

He positioned SA members outside the Reichstag on the day of the vote to intimidate people into voting for it

What did the Enabling Act do?

Gave Hitler the power to pass any laws without approval from the rest of the Reichstag

What two laws gave Hitler the powers of a dictator?

The Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act

Why were civil servants a threat to the Nazi regime?

They were in a good position to threaten and undermine Nazi policies

What did Nazis do to limit the threat of civil servants?

Through sacking many leading civil servants and passing 'the Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service'

Why were trade unions a threat to the Nazis?

Trade unions were often linked to the communist or social democrats and could undermine Nazi policies moving forward through convincing workers to go on strike and not follow orders

What did the Nazis do to limit the threat of trade unions?

The Nazis arrested many leading trade union leaders

Why was the justice system a threat to Nazis?

They were independent and could find people who the Nazis wanted punished not guilty

What did the Nazis do to limit the threat of the Justice system?

The Nazis created a new 'People's Court' which had judges appointed by the Nazis and was used to try 'political' crimes (meaning that the Nazis could ensure that anyone they wanted found guilty and executed could now be)

Why was local government a threat to the Nazis?

There was a strong tradition of independent local government in Germany. The Lander could choose to ignore laws the Nazis passed

What did the Nazis do to try and limit the threat of local government?

The Nazis used the Enabling Act to pass the Act for the Reconstruction of the State (January 1934)

Why were the SA a threat to the Nazis?

They numbered between 2-3 million men and were more loyal to their leader

What did the Nazis do to try and limit the threat of the SA?

Hitler used the SS on 30th June 1934

Why were members of the Nazi party threat to the Nazis?

Members of the Nazi Party

What did the Nazis do to try and deal with the threat of remaining political opponents?

Dealt with during the Night of the Long Knives. Members who argued for a second revolution were arrested

What did Hitler do following the death of Hindenburg?

Hitler merged the office of chancellor and President to create the position of Fuhrer. A referendum was then conducted and 96% of the population said yes. He was now truly dictator of Germany.

Artisans

People trained in a particular skill or craft

Indoctrination

The process of repeating an idea or belief to someone until they accept it without question.

Lebensborn

A breeding programme set up by the SS in 1935 to produce racially pure children

Kristallnacht

Meaning 'The Night of Broken Glass.' Refers to November 9th 1938 when Jewish businesses and synagogues were attacked and many Jews were arrested

Why were the Mittelstand and Agricultural Peasants important to the Nazis?

As they represented old Germany and the community that the Nazis wanted to base the Volksgemeinschaft on

Why were factory workers valued by the Nazis?

They were essential to the rebuilding of Germany

What was the unemployment rate in 1939?

It had fallen to 35

What was the DAF?

Deutsche Arbeitsfront

What did the DAF do for workers?

They organised holidays for the workers with millions taking advantage of cheap hotel prices and cheap travel

What were wages like in 1939?

Wages were higher than in 1932 but were frozen at the level they were in 1933 up to 1939. As prices rose but wages did not it meant that wages did not go as far in 1939 than it had in 1932. In simple terms- they were poorer

What was the role of women in Nazi Germany?

They were encouraged into the traditional roles of women as being the KKK- Kinder (children)

How did the Nazi encourage larger families?

Loans of 1000 Reichsmarks were given to married couples with the loan reduced by 25% for every child born. The Nazis also introduced a medal system for women based on the number of children they had. Bronze for 4

What was the focus of Nazi policies towards Jews before 1938?

They focussed on social exclusion of Jews from the Volksgemeinschaft through removing them from German life as much as possible to encourage them to leave

What was the role of the Hitler Youth?

To prepare children for their future role in Nazi Germany

What did Nazis do to schools?

Nazis made it so that schools taught key Nazi ideas to do with race and society including history lessons on the struggle between Aryans and Untermenschen

Who was Henrich Himmler?

Head of the SS

Who were the gestapo and what did they do?

The Gestapo was the most feared part of the SS and its powers included listening to phone calls

What happened to policing in Germany after 1936?

It became the full responsibility of the SS

Who ran early concentration camps?

The SA but they were poorly organised and taken over by the SS following the Night of Long Knives and became much better organised

Who were the SD?

The SD were responsible for gathering intelligence. It spied on all aspects of life in Germany and tracked how the Nazi regime was reported on overseas

Who were the SS?

The SS was feared across Germany as it could spy on people

Who was Joseph Goebbels?

Minister of Propaganda and Enlightenment

What did the Nazis use to ensure people stuck do the Volksgemeinschaft?

Terror (the SA and concentration camps)

What forms of propaganda were used by the Nazis?

Newspapers

Why did the Catholic Church oppose the Nazis?

The Catholic Church challenged the Nazis on moral grounds with Pope Pius XI writing a sermon named 'With Burning Anxiety' which criticised Nazi beliefs

Why did the Protestant Church oppose the Nazis?

The Protestant churches objected to the Nazis based on their interference with their churches

Who was Martin Neimoller?

A high profile Protestant opponent of the Nazis who created the Confessing Church in opposition to the Reich Church

Who was Cardinal Galen?

A high profile Catholic bishop who came to oppose and spoke out publicly against the Nazis

What was the Confessing Church?

Created by Martin Niemoller as an opposing church organisation to the Reich Church to maintain the independence of Protestant churches. Had 6000 churches as members by 1934 compared with 2000 in the Reich Church

What political opposition was there to the Nazis before 1939?

Most political opposition came from the SPD (Social Democrats) and KPD (Communist Party) before 1939 with anti-Nazi leaflets and newspapers being the main forms of opposition

Why did political opposition to the nazis before 1939 stop?

Both the Social Democrats and Communists realised that opposition was not working before 1939 and that the Nazis could not easily be stopped

What youth group opposition was there to the Nazis and why?

Youth group opposition included groups like the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Youth and they opposed having to conform to their expected role within the Volksgemeinschaft and wanted to express their own identity

What is meant by total war?

When a society devotes every aspect of its existence towards successfully fighting a war

What is meant by phony war?

The period of a lack of action between Britain and France and Germany at the beginning of the Second World War following the German invasion of Poland (September 1939) and the German invasion of Norway (April 1940)

What is meant by a war economy?

An economy which is structured to provide the needs of war rather than the needs of civilians

What is meant by Volkstrum?

'People's Storm'- the militia recruited to defend German cities

What was support like for the war in 1939?

There was limited support for the war in 1939 as many in Germany saw it as unnecessary

When did the Nazis conquer Poland?

September 1939

What victories had Germany secured by 1940?

They had defeated Denmark

What was support for the war like by the summer of 1940?

It was at its highest in the Summer of 1940 after the victories in western Europe as it looked likely that war would be over soon

What was support for the war like by the winter 1940/1941?

Had gone down by the end of the year as victory seemed a way off and unlikely to be quick as everyone had hoped in the summer of 1940

What did Joseph Goebbels do to increase support for the war?

He increased propaganda massively so that by summer 1941

What was the situation with the war by 1944?

By the end of 1944

Who was ordered to form the volkstrum?

By October 1944

What had happened to the economy while under Fritz Todt?

It had failed by 1942 as too many people meddled which stopped it being able to function properly

Who was Albert Speer?

The Minister for Armaments after Todt's death in 1942

What was the economy like under Albert Speer?

The economy increased production under Albert Speer but was still inefficient as Gauleitiers and members of the SS continued to meddle and bombing of factories slowed production.

What was the T4 programme (and its relation to Cardinal Galen)?

Cardinal Galen delivered three sermons that made public the Aktion T4 programme. This had involved the killing of mentally and physically disabled people leading to massive public protests that forced the Nazis to abandon the programme in Berlin (but it continued elsewhere).

Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

Joined the Abwehr

Who were the Eidelweiss Pirates?

They were seen as a major threat during the war. The Nazis arrested 739 Pirates in Dusseldorf were arrested and in November 1944

Who were the White Rose Group?

They were formed by Hans and Sophie Scholl in 1942. Hans had seen the horrors that were unfolding at the hands of the German army and exposed what was happening through six leaflets across eight cities in Germany

What did the Beck Goerdeler group do?

They plotted Hitler's death in 1944 and failed to assassinate him in the July Bomb Plot 1944. 5000 people connected with the plot were killed as a result of its failure

What happened to the loyalty of the army following the July Bomb Plot?

The Nazis demanded the loyalty of the army following the failure of the July Bomb Plot (1944) forcing them to do the Hitler salute for the first time

Lebensraum

Literally 'living space'- the idea a country needed more land

What is the Final Solution?

The name given to the decision by the Nazis to kill all Jews under their control - it was decided and put into action in 1941

What was the Vienna Model?

The approach the Nazis took towards Jews in Vienna- being so hostile to them that they simply emigrated away

What were the Nazi plans for what to do with Poland?

The Nazis wanted to add Poland to Germany to provide Lebensraum (Living Space) for the Germany people

What were the Nazis views of polish people?

The Nazis viewed Poles as Dungervolk (shit people)

What did the Nazis plan to do with Polish culture?

The Nazis wanted to obliterate (wipe out) Polish culture so that it no longer existed

How did the Nazis view the Dutch?

The Nazis viewed the Dutch as part of the Ubermenschen and as part of the Aryan race

What were the Nazis plans for the Netherlands?

The Nazis aimed to add the Netherlands to part of a Greater German Empire ruled from Germany

How did the Nazis treat Jews in Poland and the Netherlands?

They were hunted in both and dealt with the same way - ghettoes

What was the Delagatura?

Created in 1939. It was a secret Polish state resisting the Nazis through the running of unofficial schools

How did the communists resist in the Netherlands?

They organised mass strikes of influential groups like train and trams drivers

What was the Nazi's original plan for Jews?

The Nazis wanted to transport all Jews to reservations in either Siberia or Madagascar

What did the Einsatzgruppen do?

They were Special Action Squads whose job was to round up and shoot Jews and other 'undesirables" - they shot over a million Jews

How many death camps were there and what was the largest?

There were 6 death camps and the largest was Auschwitz which resulted in the death of 1.1 million Jews

Who were Sonderkommandos?

They were Jews used by the Nazis to help with the operation of the gas chambers and crematoriums in the death camps

How many Jews were killed in the Holocaust?

6 million