5. Nazi Dictatorship 1933 - 39

True or False? Hitler became Chancellor of Germany on 30th January 1932.

False.

30th January 1933.

When was the Reichstag Fire?

27th February 1933. Fire destroyed the Reichstag building.

Who was accused of starting the Reichstag Fire?

Dutch communist named Marinus van der Lubbe. Arrested at the scene and later executed.

Name three ways that the Reichstag Fire affected the Communist Party (KPD).

Resulted in:

• arrests of ~4,000 communists

• Communist newspapers shut down

• SA used violence and intimidation towards political opponents like the KPD

Did the Reichstag Fire increase or decrease the Nazi Party's amount of seats in the March 1933 election?

Increase.

To 288 in the March 1933 election, two-thirds majority in the Reichstag.

What was the purpose of the Enabling Act?

To give Hitler's cabinet the power to pass laws without the approval of the Reichstag.

True or False? The Enabling Act was only passed once in 1933.

False.

Renewed again in 1937.

Define Länder.

Local government in Germany. Hitler replaced 18 länders with governors loyal to the Nazi Party in January 1933.

What organisation replaced trade unions in May 1933?

German Labour Front (DAF).

True or False? By June 1934, Hitler was concerned about opposition from within the Nazi Party.

True.

Hitler had eliminated most opponents from outside the Nazi Party. June 1934, turned attention to opponents within the Nazi Party, especially the SA.

Which political rival did Hitler remove in the Night of the Long Knives?

Ernst Röhm. Röhm and ~400 SA members were arrested and later shot.

When did President Hindenburg die?

2nd August 1934. He was 86 years old.

Define Führer.

Führer is a German term meaning "leader" or "guide".

Combination of the roles of president and chancellor, HItler become the absolute leader of Germany.

Who became the leader of the SS in 1929?

Heinrich Himmler.

How many members did the SS have by 1939?

290,000 members by 1939.

Define the Gestapo.

Secret police of Nazi Germany. Infamous for their role in arresting, interrogating and imprisoning political opponents.

Who was the leader of the Gestapo by 1934?

Reinhard Heydrich.

True or False? The Gestapo wore distinctive uniforms for easy identification.

False.

Wore plain clothes to blend into public life. Government relied on the fear of the Gestapo's presence to reduce opposition.

What percentage of political crimes committed were discovered by the Gestapo?

~10% discovered by Gestapo. 80% reported by ordinary citizens.

What were concentration camps used for?

Used to imprison opponents of the Nazi regime, including minority groups, political opponents and other 'undesirables'.

What year was the Dachau concentration camp opened?

1933.

True or False? Judges were dismissed if they did not join the German Lawyers Front.

False.

Judges - National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law. Lawyers - German Lawyers Front.

Did the Nazi's control of the legal system increase or decrease the number of political opponents executed?

Increase.

1930-32, only eight people were executed. 1934-39, increased to 534 people.

Who did Christians see as their authority figure in Nazi Germany?

God, threatened the authority of Hitler as the leader of Germany.

Name the three key arguments for keeping Christianity in Nazi Germany.

Arguments:

• many Christians had voted for Hitler during important elections

• same belief of importance of family

• if control churches, most of population can be controlled

Was the Catholic Church more or less of a threat to Hitler than the Protestant Church?

More.

Catholics' first allegiance was to the Pope.

Name the main threats of the Catholic Church to Hitler.

Threats:

• supported the Catholic Centre Party rather than the Nazi Party.

• Catholics had their own schools.

Define the Concordat.

Written agreement between the state and the Catholic Church, July 1933, signed between the Pope and Hitler.

What did the Concordat allow Catholics to do?

Allowed Catholics to worship freely if Catholic priests swore loyalty to the Nazi regime.

In what year was it clear that the Concordat had failed?

By 1937. The Pope released a statement known as 'With Burning Anxiety', criticised the Nazi regime.

True or False? Around 400 Catholic priests were sent to concentration camps.

True. Part of Hitler's persecution of Catholics.

What actions did the Nazis take against Catholic institutions?

Actions:

• closed down Catholic schools.

• banned Catholic youth groups like the Catholic Youth League.

• shut down monasteries.

Define the Reich Church.

Unified Protestant Church established under Ludwig Müller's leadership.

How many Reich Churches were there?

2,000 churches displayed Nazi symbols and excluded Jewish people from baptism.

Who was Martin Niemöller?

Martin Niemöller was a Protestant pastor.

What did Martin Niemöller do?

He resisted Nazi intervention and set up the Pastors' Emergency League (PEL).

Define the Confessional Church.

The Confessional Church was a church group created in opposition to the Reich Church.

When created and how many churches?

Created in 1934, 6,000 churches joined.

Define propaganda.

Information of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. Nazis relied on propaganda, maintaining support and control of Germany.

Who was Joseph Goebbels?

Minister for People's Enlightenment and Propaganda in Nazi Germany.

What did Joseph Goebbels do?

He was responsible for controlling all aspects of German life. He spread Nazi ideology through media, sport, culture and the arts.

When did Joseph Goebbels become the Minister for People's Enlightenment and Propaganda?

1933. He had joined the Nazi Party in 1922.

How many Germans were reading the Der Völkischer Beobachte (The People's Observer) by 1941?

1.1 million people. One of the roles of the SS was to enforce this.

True or False? Television was the Nazi Party's most popular tool to communicate political messages

False. Radio was vital, The Volksempfänger (The People's Receiver) was introduced in 1933.

How popular were the radios?

75% of radio sales by 1934, it was so cheap to purchase. It could not pick up foreign radio channels. (Channels at that time in Germany were all Nazi.)

Define the Nuremberg Rallies.

Annual meetings held in Nuremberg, Germany, 1933 - 1938. Hitler's favourite architect, Albert Speer, designed the grounds for the rallies.

Did the Nazi rallies make Germany look stronger or weaker?

Stronger. Advertise the strength of the German army. Were held despite the military restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles.

Who directed the propaganda film Triumph of the Will, depicting the 1934 Nuremberg Rally?

Leni Riefenstahl. She was one of the Nazis' favourite directors. She also directed the film Olympia which documents the events of the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

How was the 1936 Berlin Olympics an important propaganda opportunity for Hitler and Goebbels?

Show the might of Nazi Germany. International event, drawing the attention of hundreds of nations to Germany.

True or False? The Nazis built the largest stadium in the world for the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

True. Could hold up to 110,000 spectators.

What was the Reich Chamber of Culture?

Responsible for ensuring that all aspects of culture and the arts in Nazi Germany aligned with Nazi beliefs and propaganda. Est. 1933.

True or False? Artists who didn't join the Reich Chamber of Creative Art faced no punishment.

False. Forbidden to teach, produce or sell art in Nazi Germany.

Define expressionist art.

Focuses on emotions and feelings instead of reality.

What did the Nazis do to "modern" paintings?

Saw works by Picasso and Van Gogh as too modern. 1936, over 12,000 paintings and sculptures removed from galleries.

Did Nazi architecture focus on constructing small or large buildings?

Large. Impression of power and strength. Buildings were designed to be impressive with a clear purpose.

Define the term censorship.

Blocking certain information from the public. Music produced by Jewish composers was censored.

True or False? The Nazi Party disliked jazz music.

True. Associated with black people, many jazz artists at the time were of Jewish origin.

When did students in Berlin burn books?

May 1933. Burnt 20,000 books by anti-Nazi authors. Joseph Goebbels delivered speech encouraging that to audience of 40,000.

Define a newsreel.

Short film of news and current affairs, formerly made for showing as part of a programme in a cinema.

How many films did the Nazi Party produce?

1,300 films. Films like "Hitlerjunge Quex" spread political messages about the threat of communism.

Define the term conformity.

Changing your attitudes or beliefs to fit in with a group. High level of conformity towards Nazi regime after 1933.

True or False? The Nazi Party were popular before the Enabling Act.

True.

36% of the votes in the second 1932 presidential election. 38% of the votes in the July 1932 general election.

How many people joined the Nazi Party between 1933 and 1939?

Four million people.

How did trade unions continue to oppose the Nazi Party, despite being banned in 1933?

Trade unions secretly existed. Encouraged workers to stay off work sick or damage factory machinery.

True or False? There was a religion created based on Nazi beliefs.

True.

The German Faith Movement aimed to turn Nazism into a religion.

In the 1939 census, how many Germans still considered themselves to be Catholic?

Two million people.

Who was Cardinal Galen?

Catholic clergyman who openly criticised the Nazi Party from 1934 onwards.

Name three Protestant priests who openly opposed the Nazi regime.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Paul Schneider and Martin Niemöller.

True or False? The Edelweiss Pirates resented the military discipline of the Hitler Youth.

True. Sought a sense of freedom similar to the youth in Britain and the USA, resented Hitler Youth.

How many of the Edelweiss Pirates were hanged by the Gestapo? (December 1944, out of time bracket.)

13 people, 6 were Edelweiss Pirates, after they killed a Gestapo chief. (December 1944, out of time bracket.)

Was the Swing Youth threatening or non-threatening to the Nazi regime?

Non-threatening. More cultural opposition rather than a genuine threat to the Nazi regime.

Who were the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Youth?

Mostly teenagers aged 14-17.