Nazi Control and Dictatorship 1933-39 (copy)

Restrictions of Hitler’s Power as Chancellor (1933)

• Von Papen - Vice Chancellor (Hindenburg’s Ally)

• communist and other extreme left wing parties also had huge support

• other political parties could still challenge Hitler+ Nazi party in Reichstag

• Ernst Rohm (leader of the SA) was becoming a powerful and influential Nazi leader

• weimar constitution stated that the chancellor had to have the support of the Reichstag

• President Hindenburg could still appoint and dismiss Chancellor + enforce Article 48

• Germany was a democracy and he can be voted out

Reichstag Fire (1933)

events

• there was a massive fire that destroyed the german parliament

• a young communist was found near the fire with matches and fire lights by the police

• he confessed to the crimes, was found guilty and later executed

increasing hitlers power

• he was able to convince the German people that there was a great communist threat

• he pressured hinderburg the issue a state of emergency which meant hitler could make decisions without the vote of the reichstag

• this allowed him to further the harassment of communist eg. banning their newspaper, instructing the police to ignore violence inflicted

• because most communists had been banned from the reichstag, in the next election he was able to gain more seats in the reichstag, which meant it was more easy to pass laws with the majority vote

Enabling Act (!933)

• this allowed hitler to make laws and decisions without the support of the reichstag

• they used the SS and the SA to intimidate reichstag politicians to vote for the act

• there were no more communists the oppose the act as they were banned for the reichstag fire

Banning of Other Political Parties (1933)

• hitler sent the SS to the offices of other political parties, arrested their leaders, destroyed their newspapers and took their party funds

• let he banned all other political parties; trade unionists were arrested and banned - strikes by workers were also made illegal

• he abolished the power of regional governments

the Night of the Long Knives (1934)

• hitler executed ernst rohm as well as 100 other members of the SA

• SS leaders warned Hitler that rohm was planning to seize power

• rohm was also very influential within the party, the SA had around 3mil members and would give huge support if they ever wanted to challenge hitler

• hitler arranged to meet rohm and other members of the SA and they were killed

• hitler told the public that rohm had been planning a revolution and that his execution was in the best interests of the country

Death of President Hindenburg (1934)

• president hindenburg died at 87 which automatically meant that hitler gained supreme power

• he declared himself germany’s fruher and added all of the president’s powers to his own - this was the end of the weimar republic

Role of the Gestapo

• they were an undercover police led by Reinhard Hedrich and their main goal was to identify anyone who opposed the Nazis

• they spied on people, tapped phones and used torture methods to gain information

• they were feared by the Germans and impossible to tell apart from the public

• to create fear some were arrested in the early hours and taken to concentration camps

• to create more fear, some were released from the camps in order to tell the stories of the camps

Role of the SS

• they were personal bodyguards for hitler who wore black uniforms to appear intimidating

• they believed that they were entitled to do anything to protect Hitler

• they made sure to look for men from ‘racially pure’ aryan families and encourage the man to marry ‘racially pure’ women

Role of the SD

• were there to collect information about any opposition towards the Nazi Party and Hitler

• they were highly organised and kept files on people who may have been opposition

Concentration Camps

• camps were often located in secluded areas away from the view of the public

• they were largely inhumane were anyone who opposed the nazis were sent

  • undesirables

  • minority racial groups

  • political prisoner

Nazi Control of Legal System, Judges, and Law Courts

• hitler used the police state to control what happened in the legal system

• hitler controlled every judge in the country making sure they were members of the Nazi party

• hitler banned trial by jury to make sure nazi judges were making all the decisions and there could be no appeals against decisions

Nazi Policies Towards Catholic Churches

influence of the pope

• he was a great influence as catholic owed their loyalty to him and not hitler

catholic schools

• still very popular and not under the control of the government

concordat 1933 = hitlers attempt to reach an agreement with catholics

• he agreed to allow catholics to worship and would not dictate how the schools were educated

• churches agreed that they would not interfere with politics and would swear loyalty to nazi regime

• hitler broke his side of the agreement: catholic priests were bullied, arrested and sent to concentration camps

• catholic symbols were banned in schools and catholic youth clubs were also banned

• pope pius XI realised the concordat was useless and issued a huge criticism of the Nazi regime called ‘with great anxiety’

Nazi Policies Towards Protestant Churches

the reich church

• 1936 = the protestant church had decided to work with the Nazis to form one protestant church called the Reich church

• Ludwig Muller was a protestant priest and early supporter of Hitler and became leader of the reich church

• Muller supported the idea of banning marriage between germans and jews, and believed God himself was aryan

agreements

1. protestant priests who supported hitlers views were allowed to continue giving services

2. some protestant priests allowed the swastika to be displayed in their churches

3. they insisted that jews were not allowed to be baptised into the reich church and excluded all jewish teachings from the church

pastor emergency league = this group campaigned against the Nazis however Martin Niemoller was sent to a concentration and the pastors emergency league was banned

Propaganda + Censorship

• banned all other political parties, hitlers gift of public speaking, youth groups

• SA propaganda shows the development of the SA from a simple group to a military orgnaisation and it encouraged other young bodys to join

Objects and Uniform

• form of propaganda as it indoctrinates young boys inot violence from a young age

• daggers and Nazi uniform gave them a sense of nationalism and they felt powerful and strong like a soldier aspiring to be a part of the SA, made them feel important

• SA propaganda shows the development of the SA from a simple group to a military organisation and it encouraged other young boys to join

Nazi Party Events

1930 Olympic Stadium

• the stadium and event was to show off how wealthy and powerful germany was now under Nazi control compared to the weimar republic

• showed the world that the Nazis had saved germany and Nazism was good

• hitler was trying to present himself as a reformer who had great pride in germany

• nazi salute enforced in the crowds, posters and swastikas everywhere

the Reich Chamber of Culture

• set up under joseph goebbels who had to ensure the every part of the culture was in line with Nazi beliefs

  • they banned anything to do with jews, being black, modernism (they wanted tradition) and anything to do with the weimar era

  • they promoted anything to do with aryan families, a strong germany, nationalism

Art in Nazi Germany

• all artists had to become members of the reich chamber of arts or have their art banned and stopped from teaching

• many artist pieces including van gogh and picasso were banned and called ‘degenerate’

• the degenerate art exhibition was opened to shame these artist piece but became more successful than reich chamber exhibitions

• nazis liked traditional, classical, landscape

Architecture in Nazi Germany

• they disliked anything modern of futuristic and instead wanted buildings to look grand like roman buildings and opted for tall statue like buildings (albert speer became new favourite architect)

Music in Nazi Germany

• jazz and swing music was banned as it related to black people, the weimar era, and open sexual freedom

• they preferred traditional german music

Literature in Nazi Germany

• books had to be approved by the chamber of culture

• millions of books

Film in Nazi Germany

Opposition in Religion

• paster emergency league

• some catholic priests spoke out against

Opposition in Youth

Opposition in Political

Opposition in Army

Opposition in Social

Nzi Views on Women and Family

Nazi Policies Towards Women

The Hitler Youth

League of German Maidens

Nazi Control Through Education

Nazi Policies to Reduce Unemployment

youth group organisations

eugenics, race studies, maths, history, german

Changes in Standard of Living

Nazi Racial Beliefs on Minority Groups

• social darwinism

• treaty of versailles

• religious customs

• they were quite wealthy and rich

Nazi Policies of Minority Groups

Nazi Treatment of Minority Groups

Persecution of Jewish People