Germany 1918-1945 - The Nazi Regime

Why did people support the Nazis?

The Nazis had a number of success during the 1930s:

- The country had recovered economically following the Depression (by 1939 there was zero unemployment)
- They had shown success in their foreign policy by uniting with Austria and Czechoslovakia
- They restored the traditional values of Germany and got rid of communism

There were also some economic fears:

- People were scared to oppose the Nazis in case they lost their jobs
- Employers needed to follow Nazi values or else they would lose the Nazi customers and face bankruptcy

Propaganda was also effective:
- It was ensured that the Germans didn’t hear about any of Germany’s failures - bad news was not reported or it was twisted to make it seem like a success
- It also maintained the image that Hitler was a strong leader even though they were losing the war

Who opposed the Nazi rule?

- The army
- Political opponents
- Trade unions
- Churches
- Youth groups

How did the army oppose Nazi rule?

Many army officers continued to oppose Hitler, though they couldn’t be open about it. Senior officials often waited for Hitler to make a major mistake (such as during the remilitarisation of the Rhineland), so that it could be used as an opportunity to overthrow him.
General Beck had plans to overthrow Hitler during the late 1930s (1938) and even tried to negotiate with the British to get them to invade, stating the army wouldn’t fight against them. However, it was impeded by Hitler’s takeover of Czechoslovakia.
Army officials would often refuse to give support for war plans, and would deliberately make ineffective plans as a form of passive resistance.
When Germany’s military fortunes changed following a defeat at Stalingrad, senior army officers such as Claus von Stauffenberg devised the July Bomb Plot in 1944 in an attempt to assassinate Hitler. This failed horribly and led to 5000 executions.

How did trade unions oppose Nazi rule?

Even though they were banned in May 1933, some activists, with links to left-wing groups, worked in secret. They organised illegal strikes, demonstrates and works-to-rule.

Why were churches a large obstacle against totalitarian control?

- Many Nazi policies would be at odds with religious teachings, such as violence, racial views and loyalty to Hitler even over God.
- The Church was highly influential in Germany and represented a power rival, even though it wasn’t a political party.
- They had their own schools that taught different beliefs than the Nazi schools.

How did the Nazis attempt to control the Catholic church?

- 1/3 of Germany was Catholic, and their first allegiance was to the Pope and they even had their own schools
- In July 1933, the church made a deal not to interfere with politics and wear loyalty to the regime. In exchange, Hitler allowed them to keep their schools and not interfere in their worship. This agreement is known as the Concordat.
- However, in the late 30s, Hitler began to break their promises and started harassing and arresting priests. Around 400 priests were sent to Dachau concentration camp. Youth groups like the Catholic Youth League were banned and monasteries were closed down.

How did the Nazis attempt to control the Protestant Church?

- All the churches were brought together and formed a single ‘Reich Church’, led by Ludwig Muller. This became the official church of Germany.
- The preachers of this church supported Nazi ideals and Nazi symbols were often displayed in churches.
- Any opposition from the Protestant Churches were clamped down (such as Niemöller’s rebellion)

What were some of the opposition from the churches?

- A group of Protestant pastors set up the Pastors’ Emergency League, which opposed the Nazi merging of all Protestant churches and the banning of the Old Testament, which the Nazis viewed as Jewish
- Pastor Niemöller, along with Pastor Bonhoeffer, started their own alternative church to the Reich Church, known as the Confessing Church. However, because of this, Niemöller was sent to a concentration camp from 1938 to 1945.
- Bonhoeffer was forced to stop preaching by the Gestapo in 1937. Despite this, he continued to oppose Hitler by helping Jews escape from Germany and became a part of the army’s intelligence service (who were against Hitler). In 1942, he contacted Allied commanders and asked what their peace terms would be if Hitler was removed from power. However, he was caught and arrested in October 1942 and executed in 1945.
- Cardinal Galen spoke out against the euthanasia programme in 1941, and the movement was so popular that the Nazis had to stop the programme for fear that they would lose support if the Cardinal was executed.

What were the limits to the church opposition?

- Majority of the church leaders were still supportive of the Nazis. Despite the large attendances to church services at the Confessing Church, opposition was silent.
- Nazis would round up church leaders that opposed the regime and send them to concentration camps, such as Niemöller in 1937.

How did left-wing groups oppose Nazi rule?

Communists and Social Democrats both maintained underground networks after 1933. Anti-Nazi actions included the distribution of pamphlets, the deployment of posters and slogans and the printing of illegal newspapers. Strikes among industrial workers were encouraged. Many leaders that were sent to exile continued their operations, especially in the Saar which was under League control until 1935.

How did right-wing groups oppose Nazi rule?

The Kreisau Circle (named after the Kreisau in Silesia), which organised secret discussion meetings on how Germany would be ruled following Hitler’s removal. Membership included army officers, aristocrats and and professional people.

What were limits of the political opposition?

The leaders were often caught and sent to concentration camps, meaning activities would be hard to organise due to the necessity of secrecy and loss of leaders.

How did the youth oppose Nazi rule?

The Edelweiss Pirates and Navajos provided a refuge for anti-Nazi teenagers. They picked fights with members of the Hitler Youth, distributed pamphlets and broadsheets, and scrawled graffiti on walls.
Similar action was carried out by The White Rose, a group of Munich University students.

How did the Nazis control Germany?

- They established a police state, which got rid of opposition
- They spread propaganda and censored media

What was the police state?

It is a term used to describe the organisations used to terrorise the German population into submission by monitoring them and supervising them.

What was the SS?

Led by Heinrich Himmler, the SS was formed in 1925 from fanatics loyal to Hitler. After the SA was destroyed in The Night of the Long Knives in 1934, the SS became a much larger organisation with a lot of power, including power to arrest, detain without charge, interrogate and search and confiscate property. They also had general oversight of the Gestapo (the secret police).
The SS also had a variety of other responsibilities, such as running the concentration camps (Death’s Head) and implementing Nazi racial policies, such as the Final Solution (Office for the strengthening of Germanhood). Also, the Waffen-SS were special SS armoured regiments that fought alongside the army.

How did the Nazis monitor opponents?

The SD (Special Force) - They were uniformed security services set up to monitor Nazi opponents. They weren’t subtle in their monitoring, meaning it was easy for opponents to evade them.
The Gestapo (Secret Police) - Led by Reinhard Heydrich, and under the general control of Himmler and the SS, the Gestapo consisted of undercover units that were used to identify anyone who criticised and opposed the Nazis by tapping phones, intercepting mail, and using a network of informers that provided information.They had powers to arrest and send to concentration camps without trial. Suspects could be tortured to gain confessions. The Gestapo were more feared by ordinary citizens.

Why was the Gestapo successful?

- With sweeping powers and informers, they easily tracked down opponents and eliminated them.
- They instilled fear into the German population, therefore preventing opposition before it could begin. No one knew who was a potential Gestapo informant and rumours spread of people disappearing in a raid never to return. Fear of Gestapo significantly outweighed their actual power, as a result, many Germans informed on each other because they thought the Gestapo would find out anyway. The Gestapo was therefore the most powerful of control through terror.

What were the concentration camps?

Run by the SS’s Death’s Head group, these prisons were set up in 1933, very quickly after Hitler took power, to cope with the growing number of arrests by the Nazis. They were isolated away from cities and in public-view, inmates were initially political prisoners or other undesirables and soon minority groups (the Final Solution during WW2).
Prisoners were forced to do hard labour, fed poorly and regularly given random beatings. The aim was to correct inmates, however deaths were common due to the poor conditions.

How did the police, courts and judges change during Nazi rule?

Top jobs in the police were given to high-ranking Nazi officials reporting to Himmler. As a result, the police added political ‘snooping’ to their normal law and order role. They were under strict instruction to ignore crimes committed by Nazi officials.
Judges were made to join the National Socialist League for Maintenance of the Law and swear an oath, ensuring all judges were loyal to Hitler and supported Nazi ideas. Any judges that did not approve of Nazism and Jewish judges/lawyers were sacked.
Trials by jury were also abolished, meaning judgements were made by the judges only. This meant that Nazi opponents rarely got a fair trial.
Capital offences were increased from 3 to 43 between 1933 and 1943, and the minimum age for the death penalty was reduced to 16. Telling anti-Nazi jokes and listening to a foreign radio station both carried the death sentence. Between 1934-1939, 534 were sentenced to death for political offences.

How did the press used to control the German population?

- Newspapers were heavily censored. They were not allowed to print any anti-Nazi content and Propaganda Ministry regularly told journalists what else they weren’t allowed to publish
- Jewish and anti-Nazi publications were closed down, and many Jewish editors and journalists were without a job.
- Editors also had to attend daily press briefings where they were told what to print.

As a result, German newspapers became very dull and less people bought the paper - circulation fell by 10%.

How did the radio used to control the German population?

- Radios were put under Nazi control.
- Cheap radios, called “The People’s Receiver” were made available - 70% of German households had a radio by 1939. These sets were unable to receive foreign broadcasts, and listening to foreign stations like the BBC was punishable by death.
- Radios were also installed in cafés, bars and factories and loudspeakers were positioned in streets and other public places to broadcast Hitler’s speeches and messages from other Nazi officials to everyone.

How was sport used to control the German population?

- They covered stadiums in Nazi symbols and ensured all teams (including foreign teams) made Nazi salutes during the German anthem.
- Victories by German athletes were used to promote and prove the Nazi racial theory (that Aryans were the superior race)

What happened during Berlin Olympics in 1936?

- The Nazis allowed one Jew into their team following the threat of the nations such a the USA boycotting the games in protest to their repressive regime.
- A brand-new stadium was built to hold 100,000 people. It was equipped with modern lighting and introduced television cameras for the first time. It also had photo-electronic timing devices and the largest stop-clock ever built that all the spectators in the stadium could see.
- Visitors were amazed by the scale of the stadium, its facilities and the organisation; however, they were surprised to see the devotion to Hitler and the presence of the army and SS soldiers who were standing guard everywhere.
- Germany won the most medals of everyone, which delighted Goebbels and Hitler because it proved the Nazi racial theory. However, Jesse Owens, a black American athlete, won 4 gold medals and broke 11 world records, becoming the star of the games. The 10 black members of the American team won 13 medals, thus also disproving Aryan superiority.
- To the German people, the games showed the values of Nazis that had been drilled into them through propaganda. However, to foreign visitors, the propaganda backfired.

How were rallies used to control the German population?

- The Nazi calendar was filled with special holidays such as Hitler’s birthday, the founding of the Nazi Party day and War Heroes Day. These days provided opportunities for celebration and were accompanied by marches, parades, torch-lit processions, speeches and pageantry.
- The most well-known and spectacular rally as the annual mass rally in Nuremberg. Hundreds of thousands of people were hosted in four vast arenas over the course of week in September. They were attended by military bands, marches, flying displays and speeches by the leading Nazis.
- On a local level, campaigns were organised by the SA or Hitler Youth in order to raise funds for the Nazi Party. On “one-pot Sundays”, families were expected to cook the midday meal in a single pot and hand over the money saved to Party collectors.

What was the impact of the rallies?

- They gave a sense of belonging to the German people, which encouraged their loyalty and support for the Nazis.
- They gave the impression that “every other German” supported the Nazis. This turned anyone who was still on the fence about Nazi rule. It was also demoralising to any Nazi opposition.
- Gave the overall impression of order and strength. This played a part in the Nazis’ message that they created order from the chaos of the Weimar years.

What was the Reich Chamber of Culture?

It was an organisation overseen by Goebbels to control art, architecture, literature, music, theatre and film. It ensured that art and culture were consistent with Nazi ideas by promoting culture they approved of and banning anything they disagreed with.

How was art and architecture controlled during the Nazi regime?

- Goebbels disapproved of much of the artistic output of the Weimar Republic, which was considered “degenerate”
- The Nazis removed over 12,000 paintings and sculptures from the galleries of 1936 including Picasso, Cezanne, Van Gogh and regularly made surprise inspections to ensure rules were not being broken. They were replaced with artists that painted or sculpted heroic-looking Aryans, military figures or the ideal Aryan family.
- Architecture became classical in style, stone-built and mirroring the buildings of Ancient Rome and Greece through features like domes, arches and pillars, which would give the impression of permanence, power and authority over Germany.

How was music controlled during the Nazi regime?

- Classical music by composers such as Beethoven, Wagner and Bruckner were favoured. Jewish composers such as Medelssohn and Mahler were blacklisted.
- Military-style music was very acceptable.
- Some popular music, such as folk song, were encouraged, however jazz music as banned as it originated from the black community, who were considered inferior.

How was literature controlled during the Nazi regime?

- No books could be published without the Chamber’s approval. Books were censored, and libraries and bookshops had to remove the output of Jewish and Communist authors. 2,500 authors were banned.
- In May 1933, Goebbels supported a public book burning event, where students in Berlin threw some 20,000 books considered un-German or Jewish into a huge bonfire, Millions of other books were burned throughout Nazi rule.
- Books about war heroes, the achievements of Hitler, and the importance of family were encouraged. Mein Kampf became a bestseller.

How was film and theatre controlled during the Nazi regime?

- All films in cinemas played a newsreel that publicised Nazi achievements.
- All films had to be approved by Goebbels, and despite the genre they had to have some form of pro-Nazi message. Foreign films were banned.
- Films and plays were often historical so the audience could draw parallels to the Third Reich, such as The Great King (1942), which depicted the life of Frederick the Great.
- Propaganda films vilified the Jews (Jew Süss, 1940), attacked the British as brutal imperialists (My Life for Ireland, 1941), or celebrated the wonders of the Nazi Regime (The Triumph of the Will, 1935, which brought in 700,000 viewers).

How did the Nazis view women?

The Nazis believed that women should have the traditional role of mother and housewife. This was mainly so that the birth rate of Aryan children could increase :
- They should stay home and not work to ensure they can raise a family and not take away jobs from men who “should” be the main providers to their family.
- Women were expected to adopt “natural” looks and wear simple clothes. It was important that they maintained their health so they could give birth to healthy Aryan children.
- It was important that they get married and have many Aryan children to increase the birth rate and recruit the Aryan children into the army.

What measures were taken to encourage marriage and child-bearing?

- Marriage loans of 1000 marks (often paid for over 6 month’s work of wages) were offered to newly-wed couples, only if the wife stopped working, and the loan reduced as a result of having children.
- Mother’s Cross medals were awarded to women that had children. A woman would get a Gold Cross if she had 8 children, and they would get a privileged seat at Nazi meetings.
- Family allowances were introduced where families received a weekly welfare payment for each child. Maternity benefits were also increased.
- The German Maidens’ League offered home-craft and parenting skills classes, and reinforced the ideas of the importance of good physical health and childbearing.
- The Lebensborn programme created centers for single women to have children with Aryan SS men and donate the Aryan child to the Führer to be taken care of in an institution. Lebensborn homes were made for the women to rest.

What measures were taken to prevent women from entering the workforce?

- Propaganda was used to glorify housewives and mothers.
- By 1933, women were banned from from working as doctors and civil servants and were banned from working as lawyers and judges by 1936.
- Women were deprived of their vote and weren’t allowed to sit in the Reichstag.
- Schools that prepared girls for university were banned, and schools started focusing on home schools.

Why were the policies towards women a success?

- By the end of 1934, 360,000 women gave up their jobs and the number of girls starting university dropped to 6000 by 1939, which could have decreased the number of men who were unemployed.
- The marriage and birth rate increased. The number of marriage increased from 250,000 to 750,000 by 1934 and the birth rate increased from 15 per thousand to 20 per thousand between 1934 to 1939.

Why were the policies towards women a failure?

- Some women disliked the policies as they felt they were being degraded. They resented having to lose their jobs, feeling it was a restriction on their freedom.
- After 1937, these policies had been undermined. Due to the extent of rearmament and war preparation, women were forced to work. Despite this, most women chose to stay at home, not appealed by the poor working conditions and low pay and resenting losing the opportunity for better jobs. Women were even working in the Wehrmacht (German armed forces) as nurses or other non-combat roles.
- Despite the birth rate having increased, most families still opted to have not more than two children.

What were Hitler’s aims for young people?

- Every single child is brought up to be supportive of Hitler (a genuine feeling).
- Fully and without question, get young people believe and accept Nazi ideology and beliefs. Young people were easier to influence than adults.
- Boys were to be raised to be future soldiers and girls as healthy, fertile mothers.

Propaganda and schools were set up to achieve this.

Why were young people so important for Hitler’s cause?

- They were essential for Hitler’s plans of making a strong military (men) and colonising countries with Aryans (women through reproducing).
- Much easier to influence into believing than adults. Were also the future of Germany and were a “blank-slate” to indoctrinate without any beliefs to counter.

What changes were made to schools?

- Any non-approved teachers (like Jewish teachers) were fired and approved teachers had to swear loyalty to Hitler and be trained in teaching Nazi ideas. Teachers had to join the Nazi Teacher’s League
- Teachers ensured the Nazi salute was carried out regularly, and lessons started and ended with a ‘Heil Hitler’. Posters and flags were also hung in classrooms.
- Schools were placed under the Ministry of Education in Berlin, which ensured uniformity across the country when it came to teaching and allowed changes to be made easily.
- Napolas were schools for the most ‘gifted’ and racially pure children. SS members taught the students, and emphasis was put on sports and physical training so that the students could join the SS or the police. By 1939, there were 16 Napolas schools.

What changes were made to the school curriculum?

- New subjects were introduced, such as Race Studies, Ideology and Eugenics, which reinforced ideas such as Aryan supremacy and the persecution of Jews and other ethnic minorities.
- Traditional subjects were changed to subtly include Nazi ideas. History subjects discussed Jews being at fault for Germany’s problems. Math problems asked questions like “calculate the percentage of ‘aliens’ (Jews) in Germany” or “how much disabled people cost the state”, for example.
- PE time was doubled, with an emphasis on sports to create strong children.
- Religious studies was scrapped.
- Domestic science lessons were also offered which allowed women to learn how to cook, clean, sew and do other home-organisation tasks.
- All Nazi-approved textbooks contained pictures of Hitler. Mein Kampf became a compulsory text.

What were the youth groups of Nazi Germany?

The Hitler Youth was an organisation established during the 1920s and led by Baldur von Schirach. It taught the Nazi ideology to the young people of Germany. It was separated based on age and gender:

6-10
- Pimpfe

10-14
- German Young People (boys)
- Young Maidens (girls)

14-18
- Hitler Youth (boys)
- League of German Maidens (girls)

From 1936, membership became practically mandatory however, even as late as 1940, nearly a million people hadn’t joined the Hitler Youth.

What was the Hitler Youth?

- The Hitler Youth taught political Nazi ideology to boys, such as loyalty to Hitler, how evil the Jewish were, the heroes of Germany and how to report disloyal teachers/parents.
- Physical training was also made important. Members went on often went on camping or hiking trips and took part in national and regional sports events. It was designed to make members as fit as possible.
- Military training was also provided, teaching boys skills like map-reading, small-arms shooting, signalling and specialist sections existed as well to prepare members for different areas of the army.
- Character training was also carried out by the SA to toughen up the boys. They embraced competition and ruthlessness and learnt resilience through harsh punishments and training. The Hitler Youth must be willing to die to protect Hitler.

What was the League of German Maidens?

- Like boys, they had political activities to teach them about Nazi ideology. They also had to take part in physical activity to keep fit in order to give birth to strong children.
- Instead of military training, they had to learn domestic skills, such as cooking, cleaning, managing household budgets etc. This helped them prepare in becoming a housewife
- Activities focused on the three Ks, Kinder (children), Kirche (church) and Küche (cooking)
- They were also taught about racial hygiene to keep the race “pure” by only marrying Aryan men and therefore having pure Aryan children.

What was the Faith and Beauty Society?

It was a subgroup of the German Maiden’s League established in 1938 for girls aged 17-21. The Nazis were worried that the young women would forget their teachings when they left the league when they turned 18. The Faith and Beauty Society allowed women to receive further education about the Nazi ideology until they were old enough to join the National Socialist Women’s League.

What were the successes of youth policies?

- The schools were successfully taken control of and they were effective in indoctrinating people into Nazism.
- Hitler Youth had a very high membership. There were over 5 million members by 1936 (63% of teenagers) and over 7 million by 1939 (82% of teenagers).
- Many children enjoyed their time in the Hitler Youth, politics aside. Most of their time was spent on marches, camping and hiking trips.
- People had to show them respect, making the youth feel special

What were the failures of the youth policies?

- The numbers about the Hitler Youth’s membership could be deceptive. All other youth groups were outlawed, which helped raise numbers. Additionally, it had become mandatory to join these groups by 1935.
- There was opposition from the youth against Hitler and the Nazis, such as the Edelweiss Pirates, Swing Youth and the White Rose movement (WW2).

Who were the Edelweiss Pirates?

They were a group of working class adolescents aged between 14 and 17. They were a collection of groups that were associated in various towns and cities, such as “The Roving Dudes” from Essen or the “Navajos” from Cologne. They had a strong distaste for the strict regimentation and the gender segregation of Hitler Youth.
They believed in freedom of expression and collected in gangs at street corners, sang anti-Nazi songs, taunted and fought with Hitler Youth painted graffiti on walls and public buildings.
During WW2, their activities became more threatening to the government and included acts of sabotage, sheltering of army deserters and the distribution of Allied war leaflets. After assassinating a Gestapo chief in Cologne in 1944, 12 of their ring leaders were publicly hanged. Other arrested members had their heads shaved and were sent to concentration camps.

What was the Swing movement?

This group consisted of middle and upper-middle class teenagers. They liked long hair, jazz music and dancing. Their centres of movement were in cafés, clubs and dance bars of Hamburg and Berlin. While not overtly political, members still offended authorities by their appearance and clothes. Boys wore homburg hats, long English-style sports jackets, colourful scarves, and Union Jack pins and carried umbrellas. Girls wore short skirts, makeup and nail polish.
Their preference for American and English culture, loose morals, and tolerant attitude towards Jews was what caught the eye of the Nazi officials. In 1941, over 300 members of the movement were arrested. Identified leaders were sent to camps while others were forced to have their hair cut or were sent back to school under close supervision.

What were Hitler’s economic aims?

- Make Germany self-sufficient (Autarky)
- Reduce unemployment
- Start preparing Germany for war (rearmament)

What was the National Labour Front (DAF)?

Hitler banned trade unions following the Enabling Act in May 1933. He replaced trade unions with the the National Labour Front, which controlled the rights, hours and pay of national workers.
As a result, workers lost the right to negotiate improvements in their working conditions, had their work week increased by 6 hours and weren’t allowed to strike without being punished.
To prevent the workers from being angry about the removal of trade unions, Hitler created separate organisations within the DAF to improve standard of living. These were:
- Strength Through Joy
- Beauty of Labour

What were some of Hitler’s economic policies?

- The National Labour Service sent men on public works projects and and conservation programmes. Men were given state-funded jobs to build up infrastructure such as motorways, railways, houses, stadiums etc. An example of this was the public building project of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.
- Autarky and the growing population meant that Germany had to produce its own food, so German agriculture was protected.
- Rearmament meant jobs were needed in factories to produce weapons and uniforms as well as giving engineers and designers opportunities to produce aircrafts (for the Luftwaffe) and tanks etc.

What was the Strength Through Joy (KdF) scheme?

The KdF aimed to make work seem more enjoyable to prevent unrest. It provided out-of-work leisure activities, trips and holidays to workers. By 1936, there were 35 million members of the KdF.
The organisation also ran a scheme so workers could purchase a car. The Volkswagen Beetle, also known as the ‘people’s car’, was fuel-efficient and affordable. Workers in the KdF gave 5 marks a week from their wages so they could eventually receive a car. However, car factories switched to armaments after 1938 and so workers never received the car.

What was the Beauty of Labour organisation (SdA)?

The SdA aimed to provide better facilities for workers to improve their working environment. It provided facilities such as toilets, changing rooms, showers and canteens. By 1938, around 34,000 companies had improved their facilities. However, the Nazis expected the workers to build and decorate the facilities themselves for no extra pay and outside their working hours.

What was the impact of these policies?

- Unemployment reduced significantly; Hitler’s public works projects and rearmament plans created millions of jobs, from 5 million in 1933 to 0.5 in 1939.
- ‘Strength through Joy’ scheme organised leisure activities for workers from cheap cinema tickets to cruise ship holidays in rare cases
- ‘Beauty of Labour’ scheme improved conditions in factories with creation of washing facilities and low cost canteens.
- They boosted Hitler’s popularity by boosting national pride. The German people began to feel that they were recovering from the humiliation of WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles.

What are the drawbacks of the policies?

- The unemployment figures are deceptive as women and Jews were excluded from statistics and had the give up their jobs. Part-time work was considered as part of the fully employed statistics and workers in the concentration camps were also not included.
- Trade unions were outlawed so workers had no way of campaigning for better conditions or pay
- Many theoretically nice schemes didn’t work out, such as the Volkswagen Beetle car scheme.

What were the policies towards farmers?

- Hitler believed in the ‘Blood and Soil’ mentality. He spoke of Aryans having an ancestry in farming and agriculture, which meant that Nazis values farmers much higher than urban workers.
- The Reich Food Estate set up boards that would buy food from farmers and then - distribute across Germany, which guaranteed farmers got customers for fair prices.
- Banks were forbidden from seizing land from farmers that could not pay mortgages, protecting the farmer’s land

What were the drawbacks of these policies for farmers?

- The Nazis had complete control over farmers. They told farmers which produce to grow. This created a lot of resentment in farming communities.
- Farming communities continued to be poor. Many children of farmers left land to work in German industry. Rural depopulation ran about 3% per year in the 1930s.
- Banks became reluctant to loan money to farmers because they wouldn’t be able to call the loans back if they were unable to pay.

How did businesses benefit from Nazi policies?

- The Nazis reduced the threat of trade unions striking as they were banned. This made the workforce more production.
- Nazis also promised to protect smaller businesses by restricting larger department stores
- Rearmament created opportunities for businesses. The Nazis offered large government contracts for war goods.

What were the weaknesses of Nazi policies towards businesses?

- Nazis increased their control over businesses, they still had some measure of independence.
- Large businesses still dominated the market, putting smaller businesses in danger
- During rearmament, fewer businesses produced consumer goods.

Larger businesses faced a lot of benefits as a result.

Why did Nazis persecute minorities?

The Master Race Theory - Hitler believed of German all prosperity was because of the superior Aryan race. Therefore, the race had to be kept pure and separate from other races that may “dilute” the blood. This therefore led to the persecution of Jews, gypsies, Slavs and the disabled.
The Efficiency Requirement - Hitler also believed that Germany was burdened with undesirables - people who refused to pull their weight, were work-shy or preferred a life of anti-social behaviour such as alcohol or drug addiction. Hitler believed they were a drain on resources and that the money spent on them could be spent on supporting the fit and healthy.

How did the Nazis separate Jews from the Aryans?

- A boycott of Jewish shops and businesses was ordered in April 1933. Anti-Jewish articles in the press together with “Jews not wanted” signs were displayed in cafés and public places. Jews were also purged from government employment. Some councils banned them from parks and swimming pools and from 1935, Jews couldn’t join the army.
- In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws denied German citizenship to Jews and prohibited sexual contact and marriage between Jews and Germans. In 1938 and onwards, Jews had to carry ID cards and wear a yellow Star of David to make identification easier.
- In November 1938, on Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass), Jews suffered attacks on synagogues, shops and private houses carried out by Nazis posing as German citizens.

What happened in Kristallnacht?

In November 1938, a young Polish Jew killed a German diplomat in Paris. He was angry that his parents had been deported from Germany to Poland. The Nazis used this as an excuse to persecute the Jews. SA members were armed with axes and hammers and posed as German citizens and attacked Jewish synagogues, business and homes between 9th to 10th November. They were non-uniformed to make the attack seem like it was an ordinary attack on Jews from German citizens and not ordered by the government. 91 Jews were murdered, 191 synagogues were destroyed, 171 homes were destroyed and 814 shops were destroyed. 20,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps by 12th November 1938. Jews were also fined 1 billion marks to repair for damages. Jews were then forbidden to own shops and engage in trade, they were forbidden to attend German schools and were banned from public and private recreational venues such as theatres and concert halls. Because of this, by the outbreak of war, 40% of German Jews left the country.

How were Gypsies treated?

Gypsies were seen to violate both the racial and efficiency requirements. As a result, they were also regularly arrested without cause and sent to concentration camps. They were also subject to discrimination over citizenship and marriage and in 1938, Gypsies were required to register with the authorities.

How were the disabled treated?

A Sterilisation Law was introduced in July 1933, which allowed the forced sterilisation of anyone with disabilities or mental illnesses. This sterilised 700,000 people before the fall of the Nazi regime. The T-4 programme of euthanasia killed the disabled by methods such as starvation, gassing with carbon monoxide and lethal injection. 5000 children were killed. 72000 mentally ill were gassed between 1939-1941 before public outcry called for it to stop.

How were the homosexuals treated?

Laws strengthened which led to 100,000 arrests. 10,000 were also sent to concentration camps. Organisations that promoted homosexuality were also banned. Laws also encouraged castration.

How were the shortages affecting Germany during WW2?

- Food rationing was introduced in September 1939, and clothes rationing was introduced in November. Other items, such as toilet paper, soap and tobacco was also in short supply. Despite this, morale was high because between 1939-1941, the war was going great for Germany. Hitler controlled lots of western and eastern Europe, so luxury goods flowed into Germany from captured territories.
- Civilians found their lives disrupted significantly following the invasion of Russia in 1941. By 1945, food shortages became so acute that Germans had to scavenge for food from rubbish tips and even ate meat from dead horses. The Germans donated 1.5 million fur coats to clothe the German army in Russia.
- There was also a flourishing black market as a result of this.
- Labour shortages became increasingly serious as more men were called for war. They were replaced by women, prisoners of war and people from conquered territories.

How were the bombings affecting Germany during WW2?

- 3.6 million homes were destroyed and a similar number of civilian fatalities. Many more were left homeless and 2.5 million children evacuated to the countryside
- Cities were badly damaged by Allied bombing raids, including Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and Dresden.

What happened in the bombing of Dresden?

In 1942, the Allies had a new policy towards the bombing of Germany. Under Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris, the British launched an all-out attack on both industrial and residential areas of all the major German cities. One of the objectives was to cripple German industry, the other was to lower morale of civilians and terrorise them into submission.

How did the Total War campaign affect Germany in WW2?

A series of emergency measures were introduced by Goebbels in mid-1944 in order to direct all the resources of Germany towards the war effort. These included the reduction of rail and postal services, the closing of all places of popular entertainment (except cinemas which were necessary for propaganda purposes), and the raising of the age limit for compulsory female labour to 50.

How did WW2 impact Jews?

- The killing of the Jews began in 1941 when the Final Solution was implemented. The executioners were a branch of the SS called the Einsatzgruppen, who followed the German armies as they marched eastwards during the invasion of Soviet Russia. Approximately 800,000 Jews were killed, mainly by shooting.
- At the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, the decision was taken to eliminate all European Jews. This was to be achieved by evacuating all the Jews by rail to a number of remotely-located extermination camps in Poland such as Aushwitz.
- The death camps were equipped with gas chambers and crematoria.
- In total, the Nazis killed about 6 million Jews through gassing, shooting, working to death, or starvation. The work was kept secret and the Nazis tried to cover up their murderous activities by ripping up railway tracks and leading to the death camps.

What were the ghettos?

After defeating Poland in 1939, the Nazis started to ‘Germanize’ western Poland. Poles were transported from their homes and replaced with German settlers. Almost 1 in 5 Poles died in fighting or because of racial policies. Polish Jews were rounded up and transported to the major cities and herded into sealed areas called ghettos. The able-bodied Jews were used for slave-labour while the old, young and sick were left to die from hunger and disease.

What is a totalitarian state?

A type of rule where the government controls all aspects of public and private life with the aid of propaganda and terror.

Factors in favour of Nazi Germany being a totalitarian state

- Nazi Germany was a one-party state. Despite the underground cells of Communists, Social Democrats and other political opponents, the Gestapo ensured they were never able to seriously threaten Nazi rule. Therefore, Nazis successfully controlled all aspects of political life.
- There was government intervention and regulation, especially in industries connected to war production; the German Labour Front also took over responsibility for directing the workforce.
- The Nazis exercised significant control over women and children.
- The leisure time for many adults was organised through the Strength Through Joy organisation
- Nazis had complete control over newspapers, radio, film, theatre, books and other media.

Factors against Nazi Germany being a totalitarian state

- The economy was mostly in the hands of private enterprise, most industries and financial services had some measure of independence.
- A significant minority of teenagers rebelled against being forced to conform
- The Nazis never managed to control the Catholic Church. which retained its independence. However, many priests were sent to concentration camps for speaking out against the regime.
- Attempts to form a Protestant Reich Church under a Nazi bishop were frustrated by the creation of the breakaway Confessional Church, founded by Martin Niemoller.