Consolidation of Power + Histiography

People’s Court

• They can swiftly and most importantly ideologically (treason, and opposition to Nazi) align punishment sentencing for political crimes → wants it fast (punished) 

• Operated outside of the regular court system = ‘free-for-all’

• The Nazi Party is the one that handpicked the judges and jurors (impartial citizens)

  • Handpicked military officials, SS officers, etc. 

  • Had professional judges → jury would always come back with a guilty verdict

• During the Nazification of the court system, they were purging Jewish, socialists, and any other opponents in the court system

• 1. No lawyers, ONLY ON THE DEFENDANT SIDE, and if there were, lawyers were very restricted. 

• 2. Because of the rapid trials and pre-determined outcome, there is no appeal system. 

  • There were a lot of show trials → publicly humiliated. 

  • Actual case study: White Rose movement (1943)

    • Student-led opposition group 

    • Was passing out anti-Nazi leaflets.

    • Two leaders were then executed 

Significance of the People’s Court

• 1. Total erosion of the judicial system

  • Key to Hitler’s goal of subordinating any state institution under Nazi ideology. 

• 2. Became another tool for terror/ silencing opposition.

Reichstag

• Hitler later used it to legitimize his actions 

• And later on, when he had a dictatorship, the Reichstag lost its power. 

• Talk about the Reichstag Fire (1933)→ which allegedly was from a communist debate, Hitler and the Nazis exploited and talked about communism 

  • Led to the Reichstag Fire decree (not in power yet, coming in..) 

    • 1. Civil Liberties suspended

      • Speech, press, and assembly were suspended. 

    • 2. It allowed mass arrests of socialists, communists, and anti-Nazi parties 

  • Legal dictatorship is one month after the Enabling Act 

• Enabling Act: Hitler and his cabinet can pass laws without Reichstag approval 

  • Legal end of the Reichstag's role as a legislative body. (rubber-stamp institution)

Cabinet

• Under Hitler, the government became a key institution that passed and implemented laws during the 1943s and 1944s. 

• This is the cabinet that included Von Papen = and the conservative elites. 

• Key things: 

  • The power from the Reichstag was transferred to the Cabinet during the Enabling Act. 

  • The head of the Cabinet was Hitler.

Cabinet Features about Hitler

• And at the end of 1944, Hitler assumed the centralization of power around himself instead of the cabinet

• The cabinet was a ‘transitional body’

Reich Chancellor

• Administrative office of the Reich Chancellor → Was Hitler 

• What they did was not only implement policies, but also 

• Hans Lammers is running the chancellor. 

  • Hitler made an order, for ex. “I don’t like Jews.” 

    • Ex. Or to the education department to change the textbooks

• Nazification of Life

  • Gleichschaltung- coordination 

    • Coordinating nazi stuff into all parts of life - political/legal, social, cultural, and economic

Gleichschaltung 

• Gleichschaltung- coordination 

  • Coordinating nazi stuff into all parts of life - political/legal, social, cultural, and economic

SS

• Earlier on, around 1925 → at that point it was the paramilitary wing of the Nazi party. 

  • Served as Hitler’s personal bodyguards. 

  • Heinrich Himmler came in and essentially turned the SS into a state apparatus. 

  • Primary enforcer of the Nazi ideology and oppression

• Became a straight-up military group, Waffen-SS 

• Was an elite thing as time went byt 

• They were the backbone of the Nazi police state = which was instrumental in creating an atmosphere of fear due to similar racial ideologies, etc. 

• Provided systematic prosecution of enemies of the state.

Himmler and the SS

• In 1936, Himmler was appointed as the chief of the German police.

  • By doing that, they essentially merged the SS with the state police structure. 

  • At this point, 1936 and after, the Gestapo and Kripo.

  • Ran the concentration camps from 1933

  • Dachau → First concentration camp, the SS ran the network. 

    • More for political prisoners, then later, all the Jews. 

    • Whoever they considered ‘undesirable’ (must use quote)

Gestapo 1933

• 1. Surveillance 

  • What they had was a huge network of informants, including regular citizens and officials. 

  • Monitor any people who were opposing the Nazi party and ideology. 

  • Significance Informants: The information from the Informants was good, and 80% of the information is useless. 

    • Can create a fear of surveillance 

    • It will already deter the descent 

    • Climate of suspicion → create heightened tensions. 

    • Self-censorship 

• 2. Arbitrary Arrests

  • No judicial oversight

  • Even with a trial, it will be at the People’s Court. 

  • From arrests to concentration camps without trial or any appeals. 

  • Justifying these arrests by being racially impure and accusing someone IS the justification. 

• 3. Torture interrogation 

Georing

• started in 1933 in Prussia

• In 1936, when Himmler took over the police and the Gestapo 

  • Became a one-nation police state.

SA Brownshirts

• They wore that uniform → started off early on as a paramilitary group

• By 1933, when Hitler started to get more power and influence, they started to increase. 

• 3+ million members in 1933

  • Called the street politics focus. 

    • Was accepting students, etc. 

    • SS and Gestapo are professionals. 

  • Still influential 

    • Stand outside of elections

    • Intimidate opponents

    • Beat up communists on the streets, etc. 

• In a year, while during the Nights of Long Knives, Hitler ordered a purge of the SA leadership. 

  • The most famous is Röhm, who got purged. 

    • Hitler did not want someone who wanted power over him

    • It was a personal threat to his personal dictatorship 

    • Hitler still needed to appease the German military branch and elite industrialists. 

  • Did not have a good relationship, SA Brownshirts = elite industrialists and German military 

    • Seen as a disorganized, not as professional as X,Y 

• All of SAs' function after the purge was taken over by the SS

Kershaw

• Emphasising the structural and socio-political conditions in Germany → that allowed Germany to rise to power. 

• Structuralist Perspective

• He does not care as much about Hitler’s personal charisma or ideology. 

• Economic stability, societal division, etc. 

• Broader structure = that leads to whatever the question asks about.

Bullock 

He called Hitler ‘master manipulator’, ‘cunning’, ‘opportunism’

• Exploit the weakness of the Weimar Republic = opportunism example

• Intentionalist Perspective 

• Argued that Hitler’s agency and own ideology were central to his rise to power.

Taylor (Revisionist)

• Revisionist Perspective

  • Directly argued that Hitler’s rise was not inevitable. 

  • That he did not execute a long-term plan. 

  • Hitler was reacting to circumstances instead. 

  • Downplays the idea of Hitler as a uniquely evil figure. 

Shirer (Traditionalist)

• Traditionalist perspective

• Was a journalist

• Would make him write like chronologically

• Less analytical, more descriptive → as they occur

• By doing that, he emphasises the role of ideology and Hitler’s personality.