Nazis and Germany Final

Hitlers cabinet 2 Nazis

Hermann Göring and Wilhelm Frick

Burnt Reichstag Act

Suspended rights of habeas corpus, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the right of free association and public assembly, and the secrecy of the post and telephone

Enabling Act

allowed the Reich government to issue laws without the consent of Germany's parliament

Night of the Long Knives

Occurred from June 30 to July 2, 1934. A purge orchestrated by Hitler in 1934 saw the elimination of numerous political opponents and rivals

Nazification and its limits

Concentration camps(homeless, disables, sex workers, and people the nazis thought would commit crimes), dictatorship, 1933 civil service law(purge), destruction of an independent judiciary, NGO’s pressured to conform, censorship and propaganda, Haffners Memoir.

Totalitarian State- Theory/Critics

Theory: Dictatorship, no limits on state power, rule by terror. Critiques: Limits of Nazification(army and church not nazified), image vs reality, importance of support, and “manufactures consent”.

Concentration Camps vs. Death Camps

Concentration camps were forced labor camps vs death camps sole purpose was to kill big groups of people

Hitlers leadership

confusion and chaos, leaders below him compete for power, make up policy details, and policy becomes more radical/violent over time.

Nazi economy

budget deficits and inflation, natural resource problem, favored big business, rejected proposal of healthy economy, plan for war/plunder, many people saw low unemployment/job security

Terror

During Kaiser time, they would go after the Social Democrats, dropboxes for people to turn eachother in, policing was run by Nazis when hitler was in power

Research on the Gestapo and Denunciations

reports, often from the public, informing the Gestapo about potential criminals or threats. These reports could be based on observations of someone's behavior, political beliefs, or even seemingly minor infractions of Nazi regulations

Policy Making in Nazi Germany

Hitler's speeches, remarks, and writings were the foundation for policies, which were then interpreted and implemented by leading Nazi officials. Becomes more radical and violent.

Manufacturing Consent

The Hitler Myths, Selfless leader- Nation first, Military Genius and front line soldier, man of peace and justice internationally, architect of an economic miracle, fight enemies of the nation at home

Fascism

Mussolini, Dictatorship, and Hitler. Far right wing of the political spectrum, Authoritarian, militarism, radical nationalism

Modern Racism

explicit forms of racism that involve openly discriminatory acts or hateful speech, modern racism manifests through more nuanced and indirect expressions of prejudice. Denial of racial inequality.

Mein Kampf

Hitlers book that was used to justify the exclusion and persecution of those deemed "non-Aryan," particularly Jews. The idea of a racially pure "Volksgemeinschaft". Jews were scapegoated and portrayed as undermining the nation's unity and strength.

Eugenics

the scientifically inaccurate theory that humans can be improved through selective breeding of populations

Euthanasia and the T 4 project

a campaign of mass murder by involuntary euthanasia which targeted people with disabilities in Nazi Germany.

Culture Wars

Women go to college, women fought for the right to vote, sign contracts and other rights, war created gender anxiety(Women work, men wanted to be the breadwinners), gay films, clubs, books.

Men with the Pink Triangle

on gay mens clothing in the camps. They were treated horribly by other prisoners

Civil Service Law & Nazification 1933

served as part of the effort to align the civil service with Nazi aims. It was also used to remove real or imagined Nazi opponents from public service. This law allowed the Nazis to bar Jews and remove political opponents from the civil service

Nuremburg Laws 1936

a person with three or four Jewish grandparents was a Jew. A grandparent was considered Jewish if they belonged to the Jewish religious community. Thus, the Nazis defined Jews by their religion (Judaism), and not by the supposed racial traits that Nazism attributed to Jews. This meant that Jews, defined as a separate race, could not be full citizens of Germany. They had no political rights.

Night of Broken Glass 1938

the Nazi regime coordinated a wave of antisemitic violence in Nazi Germany. State-sponsored vandalism and arson. Attacks on Jewish communities

Public response to the Nazi Regime

Many Germans initially welcomed the Nazi regime due to the perceived restoration of order and economic improvements. Resistance movements emerged. Many Germans, influenced by fear, economic pressures, or personal beliefs, collaborated with the Nazi regime.

Resistance

Open criticism was repressed. Opposition ranged from non-compliance with Nazi regulations to attempts to assassinate Hitler.

White Rose

A non-violence, resistance group of the Nazis. The group conducted an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign that called for active opposition to the Nazi regime. Ended by the arrests of the core group

Military Uprising July 20, 1944

a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. It involved a number of both civilian and military officials. Stauffenberg planted a bomb in a briefcase at Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters, but the bomb's detonation failed to kill Hitler

Munich Conference 1938

Germany, Britain, France, and Italy met, resulted in the Munich Agreement, which ceded the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany

the Invasion of Czechoslovakia 1939

Nazi Germany invaded and occupied the remaining territories of Czechoslovakia, specifically Bohemia and Moravia, despite the Munich Agreement of 1938 which had promised to respect Czechoslovakia's independence. A major factor in the outbreak of World War II.

Blitzkrieg

a military strategy characterized by rapid, coordinated attacks using tanks, motorized infantry, and air support to break through enemy lines and achieve a swift victory.

total war

a type of warfare where the entire society, including civilians and their resources, is mobilized for the war effort.

Battle of Stalingrad

a major turning point in World War II, a brutal and decisive conflict between the German and Soviet armies that lasted from July 1942 to February 1943. The Soviet victory marked the beginning of the end for Germany's advance into the Soviet Union and shifted the momentum of the war in favor of the Allies. 

German Defeat 1945

Lack of resources, Hitler micromanages the war, two fronts bad idea, not enough attention to the North African campaign, racist ideologies undercut the war efforts, terror tactics backfire, brutality and atrocities strengthen the opponents’ will to fight

Nazi Empire (North/West vs. East & Different Treatment based on Nazi Racial Ideology)

North/west: people considered "racially similar" to Germans were often subjected to less harsh occupation policies, with an aim towards eventual integration into the Reich. Collaberation with Nazis. East: Racial war in the east, colonization, brutal occupation, and terror. destroy native ideologies

Nazi Occupation of Poland

exceptionally brutal. After defeating the Polish army in September 1939, German authorities ruthlessly suppressed the Poles. German policy sought to destroy the Polish nation and culture and exploit Poles for forced labor.

Holocaust

Slaughter on a mass scale. Uniqueness: Anti-semitism and Christian Europe, genocide, ideological, racial, state-sponsored, massive, high-tech killing process. international, totalizing, and scale of 5-6 million

Twisted Road to Auschwitz

A book written by Karl A. Schleunes. A controversial and influential perspective on early Nazi Germany

Ghettos in Poland/East

Isolate Jews, forced labor, deportation to extermination camps, overcrowding, poor conditions

Operation Barbarossa 1941

the code name for the Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, launched on June 22, 1941. It was one of the largest military operations in history, involving millions of soldiers across a vast front. While initially successful with rapid advances, the German offensive ultimately failed due to harsh winter conditions, fierce Soviet resistance, and logistical challenges

Einsatz Units

paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe

Wansee Conference

was a meeting of senior government officials of Nazi Germany and SS leaders, held in the Berlin. The purpose of the conference was to ensure the co-operation of administrative leaders of various government departments in the implementation of the Final Solution to the Jewish Question

Final Solution

deliberate and systematic mass murder of European Jews. Though many Jews were killed before the ___ began, the vast majority of Jewish victims were murdered during this period. 

Modernity of the Holocaust

The government structure fed radicalization. State coordinated killing system (Wannsee Conference, high-tech industrial killing. Modern racism/Eugenics

Denazification – Nuremberg

Joint military tribunal, top leadership/symbolic, 2nd Nuremberg- Einsatz unit leaders, doctors, and judges, precursor for international law and court, UN declaration on human rights, trails of Nazis

Denazification – East vs. West

East: Purges and communist reforms, 1952 - amnesty for average Nazis. West: US denazification cases, 1948 ended, Cold War

Coming to Terms with the Past (East vs. West)

West: initially focused on rebuilding and economic recovery, often downplaying or ignoring the atrocities of the Nazi regime. Nuremberg Trials. often downplayed the crimes of the Nazi regime and emphasized German victimhood. Focused on building a new economic future, the "economic miracle" of the 1950s and 1960s helped to rebuild society and reintegrate individuals. East: The communist regime in East Germany actively promoted a narrative of historical revisionism, portraying the Nazi regime as the sole instigator of the war and the atrocities committed. Focused on blame. focus on communist ideology and state control limited social and economic mobility, creating a different experience compared to West Germany.

Reunited Germany

Mass unemployment, outmigration, and depopulation, Disorientation, identity crisis, East is polarized, big surge right, 1990s and after 2008 = base for right wing extremists

German Political Spectrum Today (Political Parties)

Merkel Chancellor 2005-2021, CDU/CSU, FDP-liberals, SPD, “the left”(2007), Greens(80s), AFD 2013, 2017 3rd largest party, Challenges to Democracy 2008 and beyond

AFD- Alternative for Germany

Populist, Anti-establishment movement, demonize politicians and the “lying media”, traitors to the nation, and enemies of the nation(similar discourse to the Nazis). Tensions with the European Union. Nationalist- Christian, ethic (racial) identity. Conservative social values and Islamophobia. Members and leaders work with Extreme right neo nazis.

German Elections Fall 2021 & the Coalition Government

Shift center left (SPD, Greens, Liberals)

German Elections 2025 & Coalition Government (CDU, SPD)

CDU won election in 2024. AFD = second largest party. Firewall= keeping AFD from national coalition. CDU in “grand coalition” with SPD. CDU leaders supports firewall but adopt elements of AFD positions. Germany = polarized