History Paper 4 Test Revision -Topic 3
Nazi aims to rebuild a strong Germany :
Strong Germany - Hitler blamed Germany’s problems on weak leadership and wanted strong leadership like the days of the Kaiser, He wanted strong Germans, ready for war who were able to restore Germany’s military pride
A racially pure Germany - Hilter believed in Aryan supremacy and gave everyone a scapegoat to blame for Germany’s problems, the Jews. He also wanted to remove Jews and other non-Aryans from positions of leadership
A people’s community (volk) - The Nazis wanted people to give their hearts and minds to Hitler. In the Volk, people would see their contribution to Germany as more important than own fulfillment
They eliminated anything that stood in the way of achieving these aims and started as soon as Hitler took power in January 1933, the speed of their operation made Germans surprised and saw Nazis as a disciplined and committed party while political opposition was decapitated - leaders imprisoned or intimidated into silence.
How SS helped maintain power of Nazi Germany after 1933 :
Nazis used the SS who were personal bodyguards to Hitler and other Nazi leaders, they were commanded by Himmler, who were fiercely loyal to Hitler and in 1934, after being given emergency power by Hindenburg, they helped Hitler to crush opposition within own party in the night of long knives and were sent to kill leaders of SA including Ernest Rohm and after the purge, the army trusted and swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler which made him a dictator as he had also won the trust of Hindenburg as well who was the president of Germany and an army man who previously didn’t trust Hitler, but now is more inclined to help him.
They were divided into 3 subdivisions :
The SD - investigate potential disloyalty within armed forces or politically sensitive cases
The death’s head units - responsible for concentration camps & transportation & murder of Jews
The Waffen SS - armored regiments who fought alongside the regular army
The SS even set up their own courts around 200 000 Germans sent to camps by these courts
The SS also controlled the secret police force, the Gestapo which was commanded by Heydrick. The SS had a network of informers listening on people’s conversations, they were feared by the normal citizens and so much so, they informed on each other because they knew the Gestapo would find out. They had unlimited powers and could arrest and imprison people without trial, search houses and confiscate poverty, they were also in charge of running the concentration camps were nazis sent the enemies of the state like communists, socialists, trade union members, Jews and other inferiors. They were also responsible for carrying out the Nazi racial policies during the final solution where they murdered 6 million Jews and other minorities in the Death camps.
Propaganda in Nazi Germany :
One reason why opposition to Hitler was limited was because of the work of Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda. Propaganda was done through the pulse of public opinion and decided what every German should and should not hear. He aimed to use every resources to make people loyal to Hitler
The Nuremberg rallies :
These rallies had bands and marches and flying displays and Hitler’s brilliant speeches. This brough color and excitement to people’s lives and sense of belonging to a great movement and was useful in convincing every German fully supported Nazis. These rallies also showed the Nazis were a disciplined organization and emphasized order
He made sure nothing criticizing the Nazis could be published or listened to. Such as anti- Nazi newspapers weren’t allowed to be published and all the films signified the greatness of Hitler and his achievements and also made posters tackling the Nazi’s opponents and made cheap radios so everyone can have one and didn’t allow listening to foreign radio (those listening to bbc were punished by death) and he also placed loud speakers in the streets to talk about inferiority of Jews, Germany’s expansion to eastern europe and this indoctrinated all the people and became being accepted as normal by Germans.
Also the 1936 Olympics was great for propaganda as it signified the supremacy of the Aryan race as Germany came top of the medal table, and according to Germans, the olympic games presented all the qualities they admired in the Nazies - efficiency, power, strength and achievement.
The Nazis and the Churches :
The relationship between the Nazis and the churches was complicated. Hitler signed a concordat with the Catholic church in 1933 which meant that Hitler agreed to leave the catholic church alone and they were allowed to keep control of its schools. In response, the Catholic church agreed to stay out of politics.
Hitler tried to get all the protestant churches to come together in one official Reich church. This was led by protestant bishop Ludwig Muller, however many Germans felt their loyalty lied to original churches rather than these state owned churches. Hitler also encouraged an alternative religion to the churches, the pagan German Faith movement.
The catholic Bishop Galen criticized the Nazis throughout the 1930s. In 1941, he held a popular protest against the Nazi policies of killing mentally ill and physically disabled people, forcing the Nazis to temporarily stop. He had such strong support among his followers that Nazis decided it was too risky to try to silence him because they didn’t want trouble while Germany was at war.
Protestant ministers also resisted the Nazis. Pastor Niemoller with Bonhoeffer formed an alternative protestant church to the official reich church, these leaders were sent to the concentration camps.
The persecution of minorities :
Homosexuals were seen as a threat to Nazi ideas about family life
Mentally handicapped were a threat to Nazi ideas about Germans being a perfect, master race
Gypsies and Jews were thought to be inferior people
Methods of persecution :
Organisations for gay and lesbian people were shut down, homosexuality was a crime and the Nazis exploited the anti-gay prejudice, around 100,000 gays were arrested and 50,000 sent to prisons and 5000 to 10 000 in concentration camps and forced to war a pink triangle to mark
Euthanaisa programme was begun in 1939 against the mentally handicapped and ateleas 5000 babies and children were killed between 1939 to 1945 either by injection or starvation. And 72 000 mentally ill patients were gassed before a public outcry in Germany
5 out of 6 gypsies living in Germany in 1939 were killed by Naazis
Asocials like alcoholics, homeless, prostitutes & criminals & beggars sent to concentration camp
Anti Semitism :
Hitler hated the Jews because he blamed Jewish businessmen and bankers for Germany’s defeat in the first world war. He though they had forced the surrender of the German army
Early measures against the Jew :
Banned from civil services and public services like broadcasting and teaching
SA and SS organized boycotts of Jewish shops and businesses, marked with star of david
In 1935, Nuremberg laws took away German citizenship from Jews and were forbidden to marry or have sex with pure blooded Germans
Goebbels' propaganda bombarded German children and families with anti-Jewish messages
Jews faced discrimination, were refused jobs and in school children were humiliated
Kristallnacht :
Nazis plotted a violent revenge on Jews after a German diplomat was killed in Paris. The SS smashed up Jewish shops and workplaces, 91 Jews were murdered and hundreds of synagogues burnt. 20000 Jews were taken to the concentration camp. in preparation for the final solution or the holocaust
Nazi aims to rebuild a strong Germany :
Strong Germany - Hitler blamed Germany’s problems on weak leadership and wanted strong leadership like the days of the Kaiser, He wanted strong Germans, ready for war who were able to restore Germany’s military pride
A racially pure Germany - Hilter believed in Aryan supremacy and gave everyone a scapegoat to blame for Germany’s problems, the Jews. He also wanted to remove Jews and other non-Aryans from positions of leadership
A people’s community (volk) - The Nazis wanted people to give their hearts and minds to Hitler. In the Volk, people would see their contribution to Germany as more important than own fulfillment
They eliminated anything that stood in the way of achieving these aims and started as soon as Hitler took power in January 1933, the speed of their operation made Germans surprised and saw Nazis as a disciplined and committed party while political opposition was decapitated - leaders imprisoned or intimidated into silence.
How SS helped maintain power of Nazi Germany after 1933 :
Nazis used the SS who were personal bodyguards to Hitler and other Nazi leaders, they were commanded by Himmler, who were fiercely loyal to Hitler and in 1934, after being given emergency power by Hindenburg, they helped Hitler to crush opposition within own party in the night of long knives and were sent to kill leaders of SA including Ernest Rohm and after the purge, the army trusted and swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler which made him a dictator as he had also won the trust of Hindenburg as well who was the president of Germany and an army man who previously didn’t trust Hitler, but now is more inclined to help him.
They were divided into 3 subdivisions :
The SD - investigate potential disloyalty within armed forces or politically sensitive cases
The death’s head units - responsible for concentration camps & transportation & murder of Jews
The Waffen SS - armored regiments who fought alongside the regular army
The SS even set up their own courts around 200 000 Germans sent to camps by these courts
The SS also controlled the secret police force, the Gestapo which was commanded by Heydrick. The SS had a network of informers listening on people’s conversations, they were feared by the normal citizens and so much so, they informed on each other because they knew the Gestapo would find out. They had unlimited powers and could arrest and imprison people without trial, search houses and confiscate poverty, they were also in charge of running the concentration camps were nazis sent the enemies of the state like communists, socialists, trade union members, Jews and other inferiors. They were also responsible for carrying out the Nazi racial policies during the final solution where they murdered 6 million Jews and other minorities in the Death camps.
Propaganda in Nazi Germany :
One reason why opposition to Hitler was limited was because of the work of Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda. Propaganda was done through the pulse of public opinion and decided what every German should and should not hear. He aimed to use every resources to make people loyal to Hitler
The Nuremberg rallies :
These rallies had bands and marches and flying displays and Hitler’s brilliant speeches. This brough color and excitement to people’s lives and sense of belonging to a great movement and was useful in convincing every German fully supported Nazis. These rallies also showed the Nazis were a disciplined organization and emphasized order
He made sure nothing criticizing the Nazis could be published or listened to. Such as anti- Nazi newspapers weren’t allowed to be published and all the films signified the greatness of Hitler and his achievements and also made posters tackling the Nazi’s opponents and made cheap radios so everyone can have one and didn’t allow listening to foreign radio (those listening to bbc were punished by death) and he also placed loud speakers in the streets to talk about inferiority of Jews, Germany’s expansion to eastern europe and this indoctrinated all the people and became being accepted as normal by Germans.
Also the 1936 Olympics was great for propaganda as it signified the supremacy of the Aryan race as Germany came top of the medal table, and according to Germans, the olympic games presented all the qualities they admired in the Nazies - efficiency, power, strength and achievement.
The Nazis and the Churches :
The relationship between the Nazis and the churches was complicated. Hitler signed a concordat with the Catholic church in 1933 which meant that Hitler agreed to leave the catholic church alone and they were allowed to keep control of its schools. In response, the Catholic church agreed to stay out of politics.
Hitler tried to get all the protestant churches to come together in one official Reich church. This was led by protestant bishop Ludwig Muller, however many Germans felt their loyalty lied to original churches rather than these state owned churches. Hitler also encouraged an alternative religion to the churches, the pagan German Faith movement.
The catholic Bishop Galen criticized the Nazis throughout the 1930s. In 1941, he held a popular protest against the Nazi policies of killing mentally ill and physically disabled people, forcing the Nazis to temporarily stop. He had such strong support among his followers that Nazis decided it was too risky to try to silence him because they didn’t want trouble while Germany was at war.
Protestant ministers also resisted the Nazis. Pastor Niemoller with Bonhoeffer formed an alternative protestant church to the official reich church, these leaders were sent to the concentration camps.
The persecution of minorities :
Homosexuals were seen as a threat to Nazi ideas about family life
Mentally handicapped were a threat to Nazi ideas about Germans being a perfect, master race
Gypsies and Jews were thought to be inferior people
Methods of persecution :
Organisations for gay and lesbian people were shut down, homosexuality was a crime and the Nazis exploited the anti-gay prejudice, around 100,000 gays were arrested and 50,000 sent to prisons and 5000 to 10 000 in concentration camps and forced to war a pink triangle to mark
Euthanaisa programme was begun in 1939 against the mentally handicapped and ateleas 5000 babies and children were killed between 1939 to 1945 either by injection or starvation. And 72 000 mentally ill patients were gassed before a public outcry in Germany
5 out of 6 gypsies living in Germany in 1939 were killed by Naazis
Asocials like alcoholics, homeless, prostitutes & criminals & beggars sent to concentration camp
Anti Semitism :
Hitler hated the Jews because he blamed Jewish businessmen and bankers for Germany’s defeat in the first world war. He though they had forced the surrender of the German army
Early measures against the Jew :
Banned from civil services and public services like broadcasting and teaching
SA and SS organized boycotts of Jewish shops and businesses, marked with star of david
In 1935, Nuremberg laws took away German citizenship from Jews and were forbidden to marry or have sex with pure blooded Germans
Goebbels' propaganda bombarded German children and families with anti-Jewish messages
Jews faced discrimination, were refused jobs and in school children were humiliated
Kristallnacht :
Nazis plotted a violent revenge on Jews after a German diplomat was killed in Paris. The SS smashed up Jewish shops and workplaces, 91 Jews were murdered and hundreds of synagogues burnt. 20000 Jews were taken to the concentration camp. in preparation for the final solution or the holocaust
