Studied by 1 person
What is the Fuhrer?
Position Hitler created after Hindenburg died (1934) combining powers of President and Chancellor.
What is the army oath?
- August 2, 1934: entire army swore loyalty to Hitler
- army agreed to stay out of politics in exchange for Hitler putting a lot of money into rearmament
Who is Joseph Goebbels?
- Hitler's Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda (believed that Hitler was the savior of Germany)
- had to pay close attention to the public's mood and decide what they should and should not hear
- number one goal was to make people loyal to Hitler
What are the Nuremberg rallies? What effect did it have?
- held every summer
- huge rallies, meetings, parades and speeches by Hitler
- brought excitement into people's lives
- made them feel like they belonged to a great movement
- reminded people of Germany's military strength
- well organized to show how the Nazis brought stability to Germany
How did Hitler and Goebbels control the media and culture (books, artists, newspapers, cinema, music, radio)?
- books: cannot be published without permission; organized book burnings
- artists: only Nazi approved painters; paintings or sculptures of heroic looking Aryans, military figures or an "ideal" Aryan family, other art 'degenerate'
- newspapers: anti-Nazi content was banned; Jewish editors and journalists shut down;
- cinema: must convey a Nazi message; full of the greatness of Hitler such as 'Triumph of the Will', censored foreign films
- music: banned jazz music because it was "black music"
- radio: made cheap radios to distribute; controlled all stations; banned listening to the BBC; put loudspeakers for people who did not own radios; put radios on repeat to enforce ideas
How did the Gestapo and SS help Hitler to control media and culture?
- helped Goebbels to close down anti-Nazi newspapers and writers
- helped catch someone listening to foreign radio stations (particularly the BBC)
How did the Nazis try to control the churches??
- 1933: Hitler signed an agreement (Concordat) with the Pope saying that the Catholics can keep their schools if they stayed out of politics
- 2/3 of Germans were Christians; Hitler could not lose their support
- Churches had to display swastikas on their altars
- Hitler tried combining all Protestant churches into one Reich church (failed)
- many Protestants were faithful to their own churches and not the government one
What was the DAF?
German Labour Front- replaced all other labour unions, helped Nazis control workers
What was the Reich Labour Service?
Mandatory 6 month working service for all young men. Gave them a low salary, but a uniform, sense of purpose, and a chance to brainwash them
Autobahn
Nazi highway system, built by low wage Reich Labour Service and helped rebuild German economy.
List groups who were persecuted by the Nazis
- Jews
- gypsies
- Communists; Spartacists
- mentally and physically challenged
- homosexuals
- poor and homeless
- alcoholics
- prostitutes
- pacifists
- criminals
What were laws against people who the Nazis considered not socially useful?
Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring - forced sterilization
- "euthanasia" killings
Nuremberg Laws
Series of laws starting in 1935 which placed various, increasing restrictions on Jewish population, including banning relations with 'Aryans', blocking Jews from certain jobs, and eventually forcing them to wear the Star of David, register their address, give up possessions.
Gestapo
Nazi secret police. Responsible for locating political opponents and later for finding Jews.
Concentration Camps
Prison camps set up by the SS. Originally used for Communists and political opponents, then after WW2 began used for Jewish, Slavic, homosexuals, and other 'non-Aryans'
The Final Solution
Plan developed at the Wannsee Conference in 1942 to try to kill all of the Jewish population of Europe.
Aryan Race
- Hitler's idea that ethnic Germans and northern Europeans were superior to other races
What is Kristallnacht?
- 1938: young Jew murdered a German diplomat in Paris
- Nazis used this as an excuse to take revenge on Jews in Germany
- a riot was organized by the SS who smashed Jewish businesses and synagogues were burned
- 91 Jews were murdered; 20,000 taken to concentration camps
- many ran away from Germany
- many Germans were concerned about Kristallnacht but few protested
- those who protested were executed
Why did people fear opposing the Nazis? (economic fears)
- nobody wanted to lose their jobs
- worried if they didn't do as told they couldn't feed their family
- the Depression was tough, nobody wanted to experience it again
- businesses had to give money to the Nazis for fear of being boycotted
Why did people fear opposing the Nazis? (force)
- Critics were sent to concentration camps
- Difficult to organize opposition with Gestapo
- Felt like Nazis controlled everything, impossible to resist
Why did people fear opposing the Nazis? (propaganda)
- used to control access to information
- Germans usually never knew bad news
- all messages had pro-Nazi biases
- Hitler's image was highly supported
- even when they were losing the war, many Germans still respected him
What is volksgemeinschaft?
- Germans were supposed to see themselves as part of a national community
- workers, farmers and businessmen would not see themselves as separate groups; they saw themselves as German
What are the characteristics of Volksgemeinschaft?
- loyal to Hitler, not your social group
- belong to a great nation of racially and culturally pure people
- put the country's interests before your own
What was the duty of an ideal Nazi woman?
- marry young to an Aryan man
- keep a perfect home
- have a lot of children
- Three K's- kids, church, kitchen
How did Hitler financially support and encourage women with lots of children?
Gave loans to families with more kids, eventually gave prizes to women that had more than 4 children.
What happened to women with jobs during the Weimar Republic?
- when Hitler came to power, female doctors and civil servants were fired
- later on female teachers and lawyers were also fired
- couples with women who were working could not get government loans
How did education at school change when the Nazis came to power?
- every subject emphasized loyalty to the Nazis, racial superiority and nationalism
- teachers took loyalty oaths
- religious education ended
- sports was emphasized
- girls took home making classes
What was taught in history class?
- German army was stabbed in the back by weak politicians who signed the Treaty of Versailles
- the crises of 1923 were caused by the Jews
- when you graduated, you felt loyal and thankful to Hitler
What was taught in biology class?
- eugenics (study of selective breeding for desired characteristics in humans)
- social darwinism (study of why the Aryan race was more superior than others)
- untermenschen (study of sub-human races; in this case it was the Jews and East Europeans)
How did the Nazis treat youth groups?
- Nazi ideas were emphasized
- non-Nazi youth groups were banned
- membership became mandatory in 1939
- many young people joined because of the interesting activities
What happened in Hitler Youth?
- basic military training
- brainwashing of Nazi ideas
- running, hiking and tracking were popular
- went on camping trips where they learned to shoot, clean rifles and read maps
What happened in League of German Girls?
- learned how to be good mothers
- cooking
- sewing
- managing a household budget
- went on sports holidays
- encouraged to have lots of children
Note
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