establshment of the nazi dictatorship 1933-1939

Knew he was given power under idea he could be control - strength of Hitlers power

Can try to please them to gain more power, used to his advantage

Leader of biggest party - strengths of Hitlers power

Either Hitler or communists (hate more), he’s the best of the worst

Had resources of the state - strengths of Hitlers power

Easily spread their message, allow SA to be violent spread propaganda and have control of the army

Only 2 Nazis in the cabinet - limitations of Hitlers power

To make changes he needs to work with the cabinet

Didn’t have a majority in Reichstag - limitations of Hitlers power

Can’t easily make laws due to proportional representation - Same problems everyone faced

Hindenburg didn’t like Hitler - limitations of Hitlers power

Didn’t have the security he wanted, still had to answer someone - vulnerable

What happened 27th February 1933

• Reichstag was burnt, allowed Nazis to pass an emergency decree

• Propaganda against communists, give more support to Nazis (‘right’ all along)

What did the February 1933 emergency decree do

• Civil and political liberties were suspended, central government power was strengthened - allows Nazis to turn Germany into a authoritarian government

• Framed as to protect them not limit - all about appearances

How was the emergency decree justified

The threat posed by the communists - 100’s of communist were arrested, violence reached a new height

Elections on 5th march

• 88% turn out

• Disappointing as Hitler go 44%, so needed a coalition as any change in the Weimar constitution needed 2/3 of Reichstag

Why did he call for a vote so quickly - 5th march elections.

Wanted to have a massive majority so he can pass laws and increase his mandate

The violence and terror - march elections (last true ones)

KPD and SPD meetings broke up by Nazis, Herman Göring appointed 50,000 more police (SA+SS), 69 people died in street fights

How did the Nazis connect to the middle class

31st January 1933, ‘appealed to the German people’ speech, Hitler blamed the poor for economic issues and communism and failure of democratic government

Official name - the enabling act

Law to remedy the distress of people and reich

When was it passed - the enabling act

23rd march 1933, 441-84 (SPD put themselves in danger)

What could the Nazis now do - the enabling act

• Make laws without the presidents approval for 4 years

• Change the constitution

• Establish the conditions needed for dictatorial rule and destroy all opposition

How did the NSDAP pass the Enabling act

1. Day of vote SA troops sent to intimidate other political party’s

2. KPD were refused entry to stop them voting

3. Changed the number of votes needed for a pass from 432 to 378

4. Dachau opened 20th march, political opposition already there

5. Placed shallow promises with no guarantee (wouldn’t impact the church etc)

Hermann Göring

Second in power, controlled the police in Russia, formed the gestapo - 1933

Ruldoph heiss

3rd in power, role to sign all laws so they cohered with Nazi ideology

Heinrich Himmler

Led the SS, a defining feature in terms of terror and surveillance

Hitler

Central to the Nazi structure

Joseph Goebbels

Responsible for propaganda

Wilhelm Frick

Responsible for most aspects of life in German society, helped shape racial policy

Ernst Rohm

Leader of the SA - 400,000 members by 1933

Basics of Gleichschaltung

Co-ordination, nazification of German society etc, the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship

Church - Gleichschaltung

Agreed a concordat, gave Catholicism the independence necessary to survive, ment the end of the centre party

Need for Gleichschaltung in lander

Strong tradition for regional government (got in the way for Nazis)

Methods used - Gleichschaltung in lander

• Laws march 1933 - dissolved regional parliaments and reformed them to be Nazi dominant

• Feb-mar 1933 - intimidate opponents and infiltrate state governments

• Law April 1933 - created reich governors, the local party Gauleiter with full powers

• January 1933 - regional state parliaments were abolished, government of all states were controlled by the central government

Was Gleichschaltung achieved -lander

Yes

• By early 1934, federal principle of government was gone, Nazi govoners were just placed in there spots

What was the need for Gleichschaltung in Tu

Powerful because of its mass movement and membership, strong connections with socialism and Catholicism, hostile to Nazism (threat to stability)

Why did leaders have hope - Gleichschaltung in TU

Could work with the Nazis - have some independence

Methods used - Gleichschaltung in TU

• 1st may 1933 - declared a national holiday (false hope)

• 2nd many 1933 - SS and SA too union funds, leaders were arrested and sent to CC’s

What happened to independence - Gleichschaltung in TU

Banned and absorbed into the DAF (German labour front)

How many members - TU 1933

22 million members

What Gleichschaltung achieved - TU

Yes

• There for control rather than support for the members

Need for Gleichschaltung in political party’s

Couldn’t have other party’s in order to have full control (they rejected democracy)

Methods used - Gleichschaltung in political party’s

• Communists - outlawed since the Reichstag fire

• SPD - assets were seized and banned , still carried on in secret

• Other party’s - willingly agreed to dissolve - June 1933

• Centre party - dissolved themselves - July 1933

• Law June 1933 - proclaimed the Nazis were the only legal party in Germany

Was Gleichschaltung achieved in political party’s

Yes

• All party’s apart from the Nazis were either illegal or dissolved - democracy was gone

Who were the SA

Were a private army - early days, protected Nazi meetings and attacked opponents

Why were the SA a problem

Grew to over 4 million men, they were very ambitious of status = problematic

Ernst Rohm - the SA

• A radical who wanted to reorder German society, replace army with the SA

• a early member, helped form the SA, member of the cabinet after 1933

• Priority is the SA and to have a second evolution, grow the SA into/replace the army

Heinrich Himmler - the SS

• Sought a radical revolution, exclude anyone not pure and the SS to be the most powerful

• Extended the influence of the SS, through the police, army and running CC’s

• Joined the Nazis 1925, a fanatical Believer in racial theory, worked closely with Hitler

• Exclude any non-pure Germans, SS to be the most powerful

Reinhard Hendricks - The SD

• Formed 1931 to deal with matters of internal security and intelligence, job to identify potential enemies

• Passed information onto the gestapo

• He joined Nazis in 1932, rose through the ranks very quickly, informal alienate with Himmler

Night of the long knifes

• June 1934

• Hitler needed less rebellious troupes - to achieve Gleichschaltung

• The SS removed anyone who Hitler disliked or feared - Schleicher, Strasser and Rohm

• Claimed he was defending Germany

How did Hitler get away with organised murder - KOLK

• Passed a retrospective law yo legalise KOLK, was self-defence

• Presents himself as Germanys saviour - people are happy that SA are gone

• Claimed he was unaware that it was going to happen

• Loyalty of the army by removing the SA

• Hindenburg was on his side and felt grateful that Hitler removed the ‘treasonous intreage’

When did Hindenburg die and what did this allow Hitler to do

August 1943

• The role of chancellor and president was merged - he’s the füher

• Army take an oath to Hitler

• Referendum to legitimise his move up in power

What type of leader was Hitler

• Enjoys the owner not the work

• Immature

• Passive to the laws happening

Totalitarianism

A system of government in which all power is centralised and does not allow an rival authorities

Dualism

A system of government in which 2 forces coexist, for example the Nazi party and the German state

• government and country need them to to run the non-political parts of the party

March converts

Those who joined the NSDAP immediately after the consolidation of power in January-march 1933

• Self-protection

What did the leadership realise about the bureaucracy of the German state

It was well established (staffed by educated people) - no need to remove them from there jobs/role

What was the impact of the March converts

• Dilute the influence of the earlier Nazis - wreaking the radical side of the party

• Not the ideological Nazis (not radical)

State institutions

• Civil servants include judges to teachers etc

• All CS had to swear loyalty to Hitler in 1934

• 5% refused and they were removed form there jobs

• From 1939, they had to to join the party

Reich chancellors

• Responsible for co-ordinating government

• Role of the cabinet declined in importance because of this

• Head of the chancellor - Hans Heinrich, drew up legislations and became a virtual link between Hitler and other groups

Government ministries

• Transport, education and economics were ran by CS

• Under pressure by the growing Nazi organisations

Courts and judges

• Lawyers and judges were co-ordinated by making an oath and join the Nazi lawyers association

• This interfered with the legal process through

  • No jury trials 1933

  • 1934, peoples court for high treason with a Nazi jury

  • Power of the SS to imprison anybody

Regional state governments

• Gleichschaltung treated regional governments by destroying federal government

• The Nazi Reich governors were the local party Gauleiters

Propaganda - radio

• All broadcast companies under the control of the Reich radio company

• 13% of staff were sacked and replaced

• 1932, 25% of German households owned a radio, a cheap radio called the Volksmpfanger and by 1939, 70% of people owned one

• Loudspeakers were fitted in cafes and radio wardens were put in charge of co-ordinating listening

Propaganda - press

• Wasn’t easy to esablish, 4,700 daily NP’s in 1933 and all were privately owned (no loyalty to the gov)

• Nazi publishing house (Eher Verlag) bought many NP’s by 1939 (2/3)

• Editors law 1933, censored NP’s

Propaganda - the Berlin Olympics

• Glorify the regime to the world and German people

• 42 million marks were spent on the arena, was an impressive spectacle

• Radio broadcast in 26 languages, film was made (4 hours long) and TV was shown to 150,000 people

• Jessie Owens won 4 gold medals

Propaganda - nazi ritual

• Heil Hitler was the Nazi greeting (salute)

• The anthem was the Horst wessel (used to strengthen individuals identity to regime)

• A series of public festivals to commemorate historic days in the Nazi Callander

Propaganda - culture

• Nazi culture was used too mold public opinion

• The Reich chamber of culture was established 1933, made provisions for the media

• Key themes = anti-semitism, militarism, nationalism, anti-modernisation and cult of the füher

Propaganda - music

• Germany had a rich classical tradition which was exploited by the regime

• New ‘genres’ (jazz and dance band) as well as Jewish composers were banned

Propaganda - literature

Over 2,500 writers left between 1933-1945, replacements where not as good as the ones who fled

Propaganda - visual arts and cinema

• Modern styles of art were resented by Nazism

• Jewish film directors were removed

• 1097 films were made 2933-1945 were seen as propaganda

• Overt propaganda = films with hidden messages

• Pure escapism = comedy’s

• Emotive nationalism = films with clear underlying political messages

Policing by the Gestapo and the Kripo

• Kripo role was to be responsible for the maintenance of general law and order

• An asocial was, outside of social normality’s people who don’t fit in the ‘volksgemeinschaft’

• Gestapos main function was policing organisation against enemies of the state

• Reputation of the Gestapo was brutality and they would detain anyone with out a trail, ruthlessness

Intelligence gathering

• Gathered through, Nazi sympathisers, block wardens and informants

• A block warden was a low ranking local party member who provided information for the local office on the people of there neighbourhood

Treatment of opponents

• First camps were, Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald and Lichtenburg

• SS officers who carried out punishments in CC’s were know as death head units

• They weren’t kept as a secret, they caused it as a deterrent

• By 1939, 21,000 prisoners were in camps

Waffen SS

• By 1938 there was 14,000 of them

• They were loyal and committed to Nazi ideology, racial pure influence grew when the army was weakened, educated elite

The SS state

• By 1939, 250,000 SS members

• Germany gaining more areas in Europe and racial policy’s impacted their powers

• The waffen SS rivalled the size of the German army by 1945

• The role of the death head units - used groups for economic gain (forced labour) and to exterminate racial groups

Reasons to destroy the organised religion

• Nearly all Germans were Christian’s, 1/3 catholic and 2/3 Protestant

• Nazi ideology contradicted Christian values

• Church meeting could be centres for opposition

• Many leading opponents were religious

Reasons for keeping religion outside Gleichschaltung

• Gives people a thing to believe in

• Smoke screen for Nazi policy’s

• Priests were effective public speakers

• Common policies - traditional family values

• People often turn to religion in time of need

Churches situation pre 1935

• The Nazis encouraged SA to attend services

• Catholic priests we’re concerned around the position of the church

• 1933, C signed a concordat, church had freedom and neither groups would interfere with each other - but by end of 33 Nazis started to interfere

• Nazis hopes they would co-ordinate and find common ground between Nazis and the church

• Some PC rejected Nazi distortions and Neimollor 1934 started the confessional church and 7000 pastors supported

Church’s situation from 1935 onwards

• Problem with total suppression was, Alienate large numbers of Germans and could give the church too much independence

• the ministry of church affairs started to undermine both churches through closure of church schools, arrest of pastors and priests and undermine youth groups

• Niemöller, delivered a sermon ‘we must obey god rather than man’

• Pope pius XI - critsied the Nazi system but didn’t go as far as condemning the Nazi system 1937

Gleichschaltung of religion - success or failure

• Only achieved limited success in religious policy, German faith movement was a failure - Neo-paganism never achieved support (only 5% of Germany were members 1939)

• Both churches failed to effectively oppose, enjoyed there independence

• Didn’t want to stop Nazis as the left (communism) rejected religion itself

Bilateral trade treaties - Schacht’s plan

These were trade agreements between 2 countries, straightforward barter agreements which removed the need for formal currency. In addition, through these deals Germany began to influence economic control over the Balkan’s long before the war

The reichsmark currency - Schacht’s 4 year plan

Germany agreed to purchase raw materials from all countries it traded with on the condition that reichmarks could only be used to buy back German goods

Mefo bills - Schacht’s 4 yer plan

Mefo were special government money bills like a credit note designed by Schacht. They issued were by the reeichbank and guaranteed by the governments as payments for good and were then held up to 5 years earning 4% interest/year. Main purpose of Mefo bills was that they disguised government spending

Was Schacht successful

• Unemployment fell to 1.5 million

• Industrial production had increased by 60% since 1933

• GNP had grown over the same period by 40%

Effects of the 4 year plan

• In 1937, Schacht resigned and replaced by Göring due to Nazis ignoring his advice

• Germany was still reliant on 1/3 of the materials from imports

• Schacht urged the there should be a reduction of rearmament and crease consumer goods and export

• They fell a long way from original targets and arms production didn’t reach desired levels to the army and Hitler

Successes of the 4 year plan

• Were producing key materials - aluminium and explosives

• Unemployment was reduced

• Imports didn’t increase

• Arms production increased

Failures of the 4 year plan

• Hadn’t become self-sufficient

• Didn’t produce consumer goods

• Guns VS butter

• Still in debt

• The war came 1 year early so only was in place for 3 years

The DAF (German labour front)

• Became the largest organisation and reached 22 million members by 1939, not compulsory to join but advisable

• They set hours and wages, stable rents for housing and supervising working conditions

KDF (strength through joy)

• Opportunity for workers through cultural visits, education, sport facilities and holiday travel

• By 1939, over 7,000 workers and 135,000 voluntary workers

• By 1938 10.3 million went on KDF holidays

Wages and conditions

• Whilst wages had a slight rise in wages, but workers had to extensive contributions for DAF, insurance

• Working hours increased from 43 to 47 by 1939

• Fall in employment figures due to removal of female and Jewish workers

• Little willingness for industrial action due to, harsh punishments and its better to have a job than not

Female employment

• Women were removed from medicine, law and high ranking civil servants as well as teachers and uni students

• Only 10% of university students could be female (no more)

Nazi incentives - women

• Women were given 600 reichmarks to leave work in 1933

• Labour exchanges were advised to hire men over women

• From 1933-1937, only 31% were in work

Nazi women organisations

Employment options were in the party’s women groups - (NSF, DFW) used as propaganda for anti-feminism

Effects - women

• There was a labour shortage from 1937 onwards

• Ideology vs policy - why Nazis fully exploit female labour at the start of the war

Marriage and family - women

• Marriage loans - ½ years income

• Maternity benefits and income tax reduced between children, family allowances

• Anti-abortion laws were in forced and contraception advice were restricted

• The honour cross started for women having children (bronze, silver and gold)

• Marriage, divorces and birth rate all increase from 1933-1939

Lebensborn

• Led by Himmler and the SS

• Gave homes for unmarried mothers as long as there children were pure race

• 11,000 children were born through this programme

Youth policy was successful

• Emphasis of teamwork and extra curricular activities was welcomed by many young people, compared to the limited other options

• The oppotunity for sports, camping and music excited much of the youth

• Gave many youths a sense of belonging to a new Germany

Youth policy was unsuccessful

• The leadership was inadequate, by 1930 it became more difficult to run the movement and it became more of a military angle and many kids resented this as it was too regimented

• ‘Swing youth’, the Edelweiss pirates were some of the youth groups that openly opposed the Nazis

Key youth groups

Hitler youths for boys and the league of German girls for girls

Ideological opponents - persecution and treatment

• Socialist and communist initially, but later included other groups who refused to ideologically conform

• Communist, socialist and TU were sent to CC’s early on

The ‘biologically inferior’ - persecution and treatment

• Untermenschen included the mentally and physically disabled - a threat to the pure Aryan race

• A ‘law for the prevention of hereditary diseased offspring’ and 350,000 were sterilised

Asocials - persecution and treatment

• Behaviour not viewed as acceptable, anyone who didn’t perform their duties to a national community

• Organised into a compulsory labour force, some seen as ‘disorderly’ , were imprisoned and sometimes sterilised/experimented on

Homosexual men - persecution and treatments

• Braking the laws of nature and undermining traditional Nazi values

• 10,000 were imprisoned, forced to wear pink triangles in CC’s and women weren’t as prosecuted as men they were seen as just as much of a threat though

Religious sectors - persecution and treatment

• Unwillingness to participate in Nazi practices

• Special unit of the Gestapo, infiltrated Bible study meetings by 1939, 6,000 were in prisons or camps

Measures taken against Jews - propaganda

• Anti-Semitic material in every classroom

• Children taught to hate Jews

• 1938 - Jewish children expelled from German schools