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Nazi control and dictatorship 1933-39 (The police state (The SS (Known as…
Nazi control and dictatorship 1933-39
The creation of a dictatorship, 1933-34
The Reichstag fire
How was the Reichstag fire politically helpful for the Nazis?
Creates the ‘Reichstag fire decree’
This was a new emery law created by president Hindenburg, using his powers under article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. This did 2 main things:
Created a ‘state of emergency’. This created a situation in which the Nazis could take strong action against the political opponents. The Nazis could use the excuse that Germany was ‘under attack’ and that action needed to be taken.
Suspended ‘civil liberties’. This meant the ‘civil liberties’ ( e.g the fright to free speck, the right not to be arrested without a trial) temporarily disappeared. This allowed the Nazis to arrest political opponents without having a trial.
Allows attacks on the communist
Hitler persuades president Hindenburg to let the Nazis go after the communist. Hitler is able to use the police, in addition to the SA against the communist. 4,000 communist are arrested, beaten up or murdered.
Discredits then communist
The reichstag fire was widely blamed on the communist. This meant that less people were likely to support the communist at the election in March 1933.
What was the Reichstag fire
The is when the reichstag was burnt down. A communist name Marinus van der Lubbe was assumed to have been blamed. Almost immediately, the Nazis realised this could be useful to them.
The enabling act March 1933
This meant that Hitler could pass any laws without the confirmations of the reichstag
This would suspend ( temporarily destroy) the normal Weimar Constitution.
Hitler would have total control for the next five years.
How did Hitler use the enalbling act to achieve Gleichschaltung ( coordination of power)
Co-ordination of the workplace
May 1933- abolition of the trade unions. This meant that there would be no strikes, all wages would be set by the DAF (Deutsche arbeitsfront - german Labour front) and anyone arguing with the DAF could be sent to a concentration camp.
Co-ordination of national government
July 1933- ban on all other political parties. An election in November 1933 saw the Nazis receive 95.2% of the votes. The number was so high because it was only possible to vote for the Nazis.
Co-ordination of local government
January 1934-abolition of the stats parliaments.under the Weimar Constitution there had been separate local elections for the state parliaments ( know as länder). The state parliaments had separate powers to make laws. Sometime, they refused to accept laws made by the reichstag. Using the enabling act, Hitler replaces state parliaments with a system of ‘Reich governors’. These were Nazis and tools instructions directly from Hitler.
The night of the long knives
By the middle of 1934, Hitler faced only 2 remaining threats to his authorities: from within his own party and from president Hindenburg himself.
Why was the night of the long knife necessary?
What was the threat of of Röhm?
Röhm threatened Hitlers relationship with the German army
Röhm private life was an embarrassment to the Nazi party
Röhm is ideas were too extreme and too ‘socialist’ for the Nazi party
Röhm was a powerful figure within the nazi party and a potential rival.
Karl Ernst
A key figure with for the SA, killed because he wad a potential threat to Hitler
Gregor strasser
A senior Nazi who had called out with Hitler on number of occasions, he was killed because, like Röhm he was a potential rival of Hitler within the Nazi party
Edmund hennes
A key figure within the SA, killed because he was a potential threat to Hitler.
Gustav Von kahr
Killed in revenge for his role in defeating the Munich putsch (1923)
Kurt Von schleicher
Former chancellor of Germany and a Close ally of president Hindenburg. He was killed because he was a rival of Hitler and a potential threat
The impact of the night of the long knives
The night of the long knives convinced the leader of the army that they could work well Hitler. He had got rid of the biggest threat to them (the SA and röhm). In return it seems they were prepared to remove the threat of them their full support to Hitler. Germany was no fully ‘co-ordinated’ the Gleichschaltung had been achieve.
The police state
The Gestapo
Controlling and stopping opponents of the Nazi government
They could arrest and imprison anyone they suspected
They were spies so they did not wear uniform
The SS
Known as the blackshirts
From 1925-1934 their role was to protect Hitler as his personal bodyguard
From 1934 onwards it’s role was to remove all Opposition tot he Nazis
They were Aryan
The SD
Intelligence unit of the SS
Their information could lead to you getting arrested or imprisoned by the Gestapo
You might be tortured so that you have away more information
The concentration camps (KZs)
Prisons for opponents of the Nazi government or for particular types of people who the Nazis disliked
Conditions were very harsh
They were managed by the SS
People who were weak or tried to escape often died
The SD and the concentration camps
Concentration camps were NOT the same as death camps(Auschwitz).
The concentration camps were first set up to deal with massive numbers of political prisoners who were arrested after the reichstag fire in February 1933.
Dachau is an example of a concentration camp
The different categories of prisoners were
Political prisoners e.g communist, socialist etc
Foreign prisons e.g black people
Religious prisoners e.g catholic’s and Protestants hw spike out about the Nazi regime
Work shy prisoners e.g people who refused to take jobs offered to them (gypsies, homeless people,alcoholics)
Sexual offenders e.g rapist and people who broke the Nuremberg law ( which banned sexual relations between Jews and non Jews )
Professional criminals e.g regular thieves
Jewish people (Jews were not regularly imprisoned until the kid-late 1930s)
The Nazi control of the legal system, judges and law courts
People new that the judges were controlled by the Nazis so they knew they could not get away with breaking the law
The judges knew that they were being watched by the Nazis and they would have to pass harsh sentences in any criminals
Opponents of the Nazis were afraid that they would get very tough punishments from the judges
Hitler could be confident that any laws that were created by the Nazis would be interpreted correctly by the Nazis
Nazi control off the Catholic Church
Alternatives to Christianity
The Nazis creates a non- Christian religious group called the ‘German faith movement’.
Only 5%of the German population joined the German faith movement , it was not very popular.
Breaking your promises
Hitler promised to protect the rights of the Catholic Church, but soon he Nagano to break these promises
Catholic youth movement was shit down entirely in 1936
Catholic school were shut down
Catholic monasteries were shut down
The Nazis made accusations about Catholics priests allegedly being paedophiles
Concordat with the pope
the Catholic Church would stay out of political matters
The Catholic centre party would be shut down
The Catholic youth movement would be allowed to continue
Nazi control of the Protestant church
Alternatives to Christianity
The Nazis creatives a non-Christian religious group called the German faith movement
Only 5% of the German population joined
Breaking your enemies
Opponents like pastor Martin Niemöller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested and Imprisoned
The ministry of churches tried to nazify the church to bring it to line with what the Nazis wanted. This was part of Gleichschaltung.
Create your own Nazi church
In 1933 Hitler creates a new Reich church. This organisation provides an alternative Christian church for Protestant to attend
It was led by Ludwig müller
Controlling influences and attitudes
Propaganda
Rallies
These are giant parades were help across Germany. People would enjoy them like a day out
The Nazi party rally at Nuremberg was held every year in September
Over one million people would attend the Nuremberg rally over the course of a few days
Newspapers
By 1935 the Nazis had closed down 1,600 local news lands that they did not run
The Reich press law (1933) resulted in any Jewish or anti-Nazi journalists being sacked
The radio
By 1939, 70% of German home a radio
The controlled all radio stations in Nazi germany
The Nazis set up radio loudspeakers in the streets
The posters
The Nazis used poster across all of Germany
“Arbeit und brot”-work and bread. Promised by the Nazis to hungry unemployed Germans during the reichstag election of 1932
Censorship
Music
The Nazis banned some styles of music because they thought it was a bad influence on some people
Jazz music was banned because it degenerate music (Entartet musik)/ pefromed by black people
Music by Jewish composers was banned
Newspaper and radio
The newspapers could not print anything unless it was given to them by the German press agency.
The volksempfänger (People’s radio) could only receive radio transmissions over a short range. This meant that people could hear German radio no English or American
Films
Joseph goebbels read through the plot of every film before it was made
All actors and directors had to be members of the Reich chamber of culture, in order to be involved in the film making in Nazi germany.
Books and literature
Book burning were arranged across Germany in 1933. They burnt books mainly by Jews, communist or other anti-nazi writers
All authors had to be members of a he Reich chamber of culture