The Nazis Regime

Describe the essential elements of a democracy

Freedom

the right to act, speak, and think as one wants without interference by the government (guarantee of basic rights)

Equality

all people are treated equally by the law

Education

a system that provides young people with skills and information, so they can make informed decisions and secure economic indipendence

Economic Freedom

people are allowed to earn a living in a free marketplace

Rule of Law

no one is above the law, including government leaders

Limited government

a constitution that defines and limits the powers of government

Independent judiciary

judges have freedom to decide cases impartially, based on their interpretation of the law and the facts

Transparency

information on how officials conduct the public business and spend taxpayers’ money is readily available and easily understood

Minimal corruption

public trust that most elected leaders and civil servants (e.g., police officers and judges) perform their jobs without bribery or ciminality

Multiparty system

a political system that includes multiple parties to represent the varied interests of the public

Free and fair elections

regularly scheduled elections in which all voters have an equal opportunity to participate and where final results reflect honest vote totals

Checks and balances

a system of separate branches of government that ensures political power is not concentrated in the hands of a single branch (separation of powers)

Civic participation

a society in which people take their civic duties seriously, such as by voting, staying informed and advocating for issues they care about

Free press

news media is not controlled or restricted by governement

Steps nazis took to consolidate their dictatorship + which element of democracy they violate

Moves against other organizations​

• Social Democrats banned ​

• Trade Unions reorganized into comprehensive labour front (DAF)​

• Centre Party disbands following concordat with Vatican, guaranteeing position of the Roman Catholic Church​

• Nationalists marginalized​

• July 1933: All parties other than the NSDAP are banned.​

Control of government​

• Power increased by creating new ministries –with Nazis in charge​

• Enabling Acts used to take control of provincial governments​

• Military and business stay silent​

• Some objections, but Hitler silences them by moving against more radical elements:​

• SA attached and destroyed during Night of the Long Knives (June 20, 1934) – (in German also called Röhm Putsch)​

• makes way for more disciplined SS​

The Third Reich: Consolidating power

Dividing and ruling​

• New elections called (Nazis win 44%)​

• Reichstag fire as an excuse for emergency laws, suspending civil liberties, banning communists from new Reichstag​

• Enabling Act, 1933 transfers power to chancellor​

• Centre Party supports, lest it be banned, supplying necessary 2/3 majority​

1934-35​

• Hindenburg dies in 1934 ​

• Hitler as chancellor & president​

• New role of Führer​

• endorsed by plebiscite: ​

• 38 million for, 5 million opposed​

• Nazi penetration of government, society​

• Independent organizations merged into Nazi organizations: ​

• Gleichschaltung (‘bringing things into line’) increases control ​

• Increasing use of terror by SS, Gestapo​

Describe ideology in nazis and recognise it in sources

Ideology or Weltanschaung​

• Racism: Supremacy of Aryan race (‘master race’ / ‘Herrenrasse’), racial hierarchy (Slavs and Jews inferior races)​

• Social Darwinism​

• Importance of struggle and war​

• Nationalism​

• “Volksgemeinschaft” / No individualism​

• Subservience to the state (‘Du bist nichts, dein Volk ist alles’)​

• Anti-Semitism​

• Lebensraum: ​

• Germany must expand

Propaganda

Information, ideas, opinions, or images, often only giving one part of an argument, that are broadcast, published, or in some other way spread with the intention of influencing people's opinions.

Purposes of Nazi Propaganda​

• To create a positive image of Hitler and the Nazi Party to secure the support of the masses, propagation of the ‚Führerkult‘​

• To reshape people's beliefs according to Nazi ideology:​

• The solidarity of the „national community“ (Volksgemeinschaft)​

• Need for „racial purity“​

• Hatred of enemies (outside and within), particularly Jews ( dehumanisation!)

Propaganda means​

• Images – Posters, Book and Newspaper Illustrations​

• Spoken Word – Nazi Speeches and Radio broadcasts („Volksempfänger“); Songs („Horst Wessel-Lied“) and slogans („Die Juden sind unser Unglück“)​

• Printed Word – “Der Stürmer” ; Academic publications; School curricula​

• Dramatic - cinema (i.e. Triumph of the Will; The Eternal Jew; Jud Süss); Party Rallies​

Propaganda Methods​

Wir wollen die Menschen so lange bearbeiten, bis sie uns verfallen sind“ ​

(J. Goebbels)​

• Present simple themes in a repetitive manner​

• Appeal to emotion rather than intellect​

• Have broad appeal to the masses​

• Focus mainly on one enemy - Claim that this enemy is at the root of all problems​

Dehumanizing Images:​

• Jews portrayed as vermin​

• The poison mushroom ( “Just as it is often hard to tell a poisonous mushroom from an edible one, so it is often very hard to recognize Jews as criminals and deceivers.” )

Opposition groups and why they resisted

.

Conviction/principle (believe something else than Nazis)

• THE CHURCHES: persecuted because they resisted, not because they were a part of church, so its conviction

• TRADE UNIONS

Conviction/principle + necessity

LEFT WING

Disillusionment (supported, started to turn against)

• RIGHT WING

• THE ARMY

Conviction/principle + disillusionment

YOUTH

Nazi Police State​ (+how it works)

Concentration camps​

• Large scale prisons for critics and opponents of the Nazi regime, plus other ‚anti-social‘ groups such as Roma, beggars, tramps and ‚work-shy‘.​

• Harsh conditions and brutal treatment​

• Prisoners used as slave-labour​

• After 1938 the number of imprisoned Jews increased. ​

Nazi courts and judges​

• Nazis took control over existing court system​

• Judges had to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler​

• Jewish judges and lawyers were sacked.​

• Special courts for dealing with political crime.​

• During the war, sentences for anti-Nazi jokes or remarks could include the death penalty. ​

2ND Nazi courts and judges

• Informers​

• SA (=Sturmabteilung):​

• Led by Röhm until it was disbanded in the Night of the Long Knives in 1934​

• Turned into an auxiliary police in Prussia, with powers to put suspects into ‚protective custody‘ (Schutzhaft)​

• SS (=Schutzstaffel):​

• Led by Heinrich Himmler​

• Persecuted ‚enemies of the state‘​

• Had extensive powers to arrest, detain without charge, interrogate and search and confiscate property​

• Later responsible for running concentration camps and particularly extermination camps (Holocaust)​

3RD nazi courts and judges

• Gestapo (=Geheime Staatspolizei)​

• Secret state police; under the SS from 1936​

• Sweeping powers to spy on people, tap telephones, intercept mail​

• Arrests could result in being sent to a concentration camp without trial​

• Contrary to the myth about the Gestapo, ordinary Germans did not have much to fear; mostly the Gestapo was after minorities, political opponents or other groups not included in the Volksgemeinschaft (homosexuals, Jehovah‘s witnesses a.o.)​

Work and leisure

• Trade unions banned; DAF controls workers.

• KdF gives cheap holidays + leisure to win support.

• Huge public works + rearmament reduce unemployment.

• Beauty of Labour improves workplace image.

• Work/leisure used as propaganda + control.

Women

• Ideal: Kinder, Küche, Kirche (mother, home, church).

• Marriage loans + awards for having many children.

• Women pushed out of many jobs/education.

• Racial policies: encourage “Aryan” births, sterilise others.

• Later war years force women back into work

Children / Youth

• Hitler Youth / BDM: near-compulsory indoctrination.

• School curriculum changed to Nazi + racial ideas.

• Independent youth groups banned.

• Boys = military prep, girls = domestic prep.

• Rewards for loyalty, punishment for resistance.

Religion / Churches

• 1933 Concordat with Catholics (often broken).

• Nazis try to create a Reich Church (state-controlled).

• Confessing Church and some clergy resist.

• Restrictions on church youth + activities.

• Churches pressured by propaganda + repression.

Berlin Olympics (1936)

• Used as propaganda to show “peaceful” Germany.

• Antisemitic signs temporarily removed.

• Impressive new stadium + ceremonies.

• Jesse Owens wins golds, disproving racial claims.

• After Games, persecution resumes.