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Hitlers consolidation of power and government - Coggle Diagram
Hitlers consolidation of power and government
The enabling act
After becoming chancellor Hitler called for new elections to be held on the 5th of March
With the full apparatus of the state and buisness such as the radio network the Nazis would be able to run a much more effective campaign
Moreover the brownshirts were out in full force will Goebbels issuing a "Shooting decree" for the police against the Nazis political opponents on the 17th of february
Just before the elections on the 27th of february the Reichstag burned down, allegedly due to a communist however their is speculation that it was the SA which carried it out.
The Nazis were able to use it to whip up anti communist feeling
They got Hindenburg to pass the reichstag fire decree which suspended all civil liberties such as the right to assembly and freedom of expression
The decree also allowed them to arrest prominent Nazis who they claimed were planning a coup, Ernst Thalmann would be arrested just a few days before the election.
Despite the Reichstag fire decree the elections were not a total success for the Nazis.
They were only able to get 43.9% of the vote while the DNVP stayed at 8%.
This did give Hitler a working majority however it was not enough to reach the 2/3rd threshold to amend the constitution and pass an enabling act to give him dictatorial powers, therefore Hitler began to work to reduce opposition
He opened the new Reichstag on the 23rd of March 1933, this was highly significant as it was only 2 days after the anniversary of the opening of the 1871 Reichstag by Bismark.
This meant that all the old generals were out in imperial finery and parading the streets on the 21st, which visibly moved Hindenburg, who was persuaded to stand next to Hitler during the parade, which was captured by photographers and microphones placed by Hindenburg.
The communists where delt with by simply expelling there 88 members under the terms of the Reichstag fire decree.
The final "Democratic" meeting of the Reichstag was held on the 23rd of March in the Kroll opera house, the walls were lined with brownshirts who were their to intimidate the opposition
The communists had been expelled from the chamber and the only people to resist Hitler were 94 SPD members led by Otto Wells who gave a speech condemning it, only to be shouted down by Hitler in a screaming Diatribe and the Brownshirts.
Therefore the enabling act was passed with an overwhelming majority of 441 to 94
The act gave Hitler and the cabinet the right to make any laws, even outside the limits of the constitution for a period of 4 years.
The center party as well as the Middle class parties all supported it
He was able to get the center party to support the bill by promising to respect certain catholic institutions such as in education, churches and the party itselfs, as well as keeping the veto power of the president.
However Hitler never actually put his name to such a promise.
Nazi government before the war
Style of Nazi government
Hitlers personality
Hitler was essentially uninterested in the day to day working of government and his style was quite lazy
Ministerial meetings quickly died out as he was interested in the speeches and thought of other people
In 1933 there were 72 cabinet meetings, in 1937 there was only 6 and by 1938 their was only one, after which they ceased in entirety.
He was rarely involved in the creation of policy
Ministers had to get Hitlers approval through Hans-Heinrich Lammers, the head of the Reich Chancellery
Ministers could sometimes get a direct meeting with Hitler but this was extremely difficult, Hitler spent much of his time in his mountain retreat, the Berghof in Bavaria, instead of Berlin
Even if a meeting could be arranged ministers had to wait for a casual remark, a spur of the moment pronouncement or an invitation to tea and lunch which would be taken as Hitler approval.
He often signed policy papers without even reading them or would simply delay making a decision
His Lazy personality led to the "working towards the Fuhrer" style of government were his surbordinates carried out policies that they thought that he would approve of
This led to government ministers becoming increasingly extreme as they tried to outcompete each other for the attention of the Fuhrer
This is most clearly seen through the Wannsee conference in which neither Hitler or Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS was present, the highest ranking member of the meeting was Himmler's subordinate Reinhard Heydrich.
Despite agreeing to the "Final solution" non of them put it to writing and they only spoke of it vaguel, doing what they believed the Fuhrer would approve of.
However some intentionalist historians believe that Hitler designed the system like this, to ensure that ministers would have to outcompete each other in a "Survival of the fittest" way.
Hitler was also generally uninterested in domestic government, instead focusing in on foreign policy
The terror state
After 1934 and the Night of Long Knives the SA was turned into a meek servant of Hitlers will, an organisation to intimidate political opponents
The main organisation of the terror state was the SS which grew to become a auxiliary police force to deal with political enemies, as well as taking responsibility for the creation of a "racial community"
This was headed by Himmler
Himmler was also given control over the SD which was an elite organisation for gathering intelligence
Both of these organisation were filled with highly skilled "aryans" who acted as both political police and soldiers
The SS was also in charge of the concentration camps, starting with Dachau in 1933. These camps were taken over by the SS's Death Head units in 1939
SS also had its own military units that were able to become known for their fanatical loyalty to Hitler, becoming a rival to the army.
Also ran special genetic programmes and controlled labour supplies and factories.
The gestapo was another body that had originally been a prussian secret police force created by goering.
The Gestapo grew to become the most important security agency of the state and in 1936 was given the power to interpret the law as they saw fit.
To oversee all of these agencies the Reich main security department was set up in 1939 .
Block wardens were also created to further the atmosphere of repression and fear as they would make regular visits to peoples homes, making people uncertain and more obedient
Concentration camps
The first concentration camps were set up not for extermination but for brutal re-education during which prisoners were forced to work long hours,
Between 1933 and 1939 around 225,000 Germans were convicted of political crimes and a further 162,000 were placed in "Protective custody" without trial.
Gleichschaltung
Gleichschaltung was the coordinated nazification of the state and its institutions
The Lander governments had already been infiltrated by the Nazis through elections, this continued to ramp up from early 1933
SA violence helped to force political opponents in the Lander out of office, a process made much easier by the fact that prussia was already under control of the central government.
The federal governments were rid of in their entirety in January 1924 after a law was passed in which the representative assemblies of the Lander were abolished and new Nazi governors were installed.
These men were often the same as the local Nazi Gauleiters, which ensured loyalty to the Nazi government.
When Hindenburg died in August 1394 he combined the office of Chancellor with President and became Germany's "Fuhrer" and demanded that all members of the armed forces declare loyalty to him.
Non Nazi political parties were quickly dealt with
The KPD was banned under the Reichstag fire decree
The SPD was formally banned in June 1933
The DNVP which no longer had a separate identity to the Nazi disbanded itself
The Zentrum party disbanded itself in July as part of Hitlers concordat with the pope.
The one party state was formalised on the 14th of July 1933 with the "Law against the establishment of parties" which made it illegal to create a non nazi political party
Civil service
In April 1933 the "Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service" was passed with forced non-aryans to retire from the service
Jews and other political opponents described as "Alien elements" were purged from places in administration, schools, courts and universities.
However membership of the Nazi party for members of the government did not happen until 1939, and most members of the civil service carried on in their roles in the interest of good government.
Academia
New academies or "fronts" were created to control the universities and schools
teachers were required to join the Nation Socialists teachers league
From November 1933 teachers were required to sign a declaration of support to Hitler and join the Nazi lecturers association
The judicary
under the 1933 civil service law the principle of an independent judiciary was destroyed as all judges whose political beliefs conflicted with Nazism were dismissed
Lawyers had to be members of the Nazi lawyers association
Even if the law did not change judges had to interpret it to the "will of the Fuhrer"
The professor of law Ernst Huber laid down the idea that all people should be judged in accordance with their value to the peoples community
Trade unions
The left wing socialist trade unions dissolved in May 1933 and the German Labour front (DAF) was set up under Robert Ley
Membership of this organisation was compulsory
Workers could no longer negotiate with their employers to improve their wages or conditions
Night of the Long Knives
After he became the chancellor Hitler became increasingly concerned about the SA
Before getting into government he had been able to use them to break the actions of the opposition such as the communists
However they were hard to control and their leader, Ernst Rohm was on the socialist wing of the party and had called for a "Second revolution" to complete the "Nazi rising"
Herman Goering and Heinrich Himmler began to spread rumours that the SA were planning a coup to give Hitler and excuse to take action.
Therefore on the 30th of June 86 "plotters" including Rohm were arrested
Two weeks after the night Hitler went before the Reichstag to justify his actions, he claimed to act in the interests of the German people during a emergency and the Reichstag supported him, giving him license to murder.
Moreover other political opponents were dealt with
Papen was put under house arrest
Schleicher was murdered
Gregor Strasser was murdered
Early resistance to Nazi government
There was a small amount of organised resistance to Hitler during pre war Nazi government
Anti Nazi leaflets were often distributed as well as slogan writing in public places
The SPD set up an underground network in places such as the Berlin red patrol and the Hannover socialist front and the Hannover socialist front.
These were coordinated by exiled leader in prauge.
The KPD also set up underground movements, which were strong in Berlin, Mannheim, Hamburg and central Germany.
one of the most prominent KPD cells was the red orchestra which was an organised resistance movement that collected intelligence and sent it to the USSR, however it was broken up in 1942.
Communists were also often involved in attempts to assassinate Hitler.
Some in the civil service refused to carry out order, for example some judges refused to carry out "Nazi" justice.
However Nazi repression was extreme, between 1933 and 1939 a total of 1.3 million germans were sent to concentration camps ad 300,000 left Germany during the same period.
The Church
The church acted as an alternative source of authority in Nazi germany and often had resistance centered around protecting its own independence.
However the church was ot able to offer any organised resistance however there were some notable figures who worked to resist the Nazis
For example Dietrich Bonhoeffer whould campaign against the 1935 nurenburg laws
Therefore while the churches did not cause the Nazi state to collapse it went some way to prevent a total totalitarian state.
Some in the church did support the Nazi regime, the protestant church split into two groups with the "Reich church" supporting the Nazis and Martin Niemoller breakaway "confessional church".
members of the confessional church were kept under close surveillance and Niemoller was held in a concentration camp between 1937 and 1945.
Around 800 pastors were incarcerated in march 1937.
Despite the 1933 concordat with the pope relations between the Nazi government and the catholic church were far from harmonious.
The Nazis still closed down catholic schools, youth groups and publications.
the Pope responded to the growing repression of the catholics in Germany with his 1937 Encyclical.
This led to a vicious press campaign against priests, monks and nuns, with hundreds of Catholic priests being sent to concentration camps.
The Army
When Hitler came to power the army was the final institution that could overthrow him so he worked to both Nazify it as well as appease them
He introduced the swastika as the symbol for the military and introduced intensive education causes for soldiers to try and turn them into Nazis.
by 1938 due to the changes below his relation with the army had become more secure
He had combined the role of supreme commander (Which belonged to the president) with the political role of war minister, at which point the name was changed to the "High command of the armed forces"
Wilhelm Keitel was given the title of chief, an administrator working under Hitlers direct control.
Moreover Hitlers foreign policy success after 1936 meant that the new generation of commanders were much more friendly to Hitler.
Examples of this include Erwin Rommel and Heinz Guderian, both of whom became prominent generals during world war two
However he came into conflict with the more conservative army elites,
As laid out in the 1937 Hossbach conference Hitler wanted to have massive conquests in the east and be ready for a way as early as 1938
However the conservative leaders of the army were highly critical of this, most prominent of whom were the army's commander and chief Werner von Fritsch and general von blomberg, Hitlers war minister
Both of these men wanted limited conquest and a reversal of the treaty of Versailles, not a total conquest of europe as Hitler was dreaming up
Hitler was able to use allegations that general von blombergs second wife had been in pornagraphic photos to force him out of his role, then accused Feid Marshal Werner von Fritsch of homosexuallity
He also transferred 44 other military men
Youth
Nazi government during the war
Resistance
After the war broke out a huge propaganda campaign was started in order to convince people to support the war
The regime also became increasingly radicalised, with the persecution of minority groups become more widespread and cruel.
However with the tide of the war clearly turning in 1943 after the battles of Stalingrad and El Alamein and the increasing hardship of war, opposition to the Nazi government escalated.
The "Fuhrer myth" also took a knock with these loses, however a total collapse of moral such as after WW1 did not occur right up until the dying days of the war.
Nazi vigilance continued to grew and the SD worked to report on the attitudes of people towards the war.
Most people were either seduced by the propaganda or were to afraid of the terror state to oppose the Nazis
Church
Nazi actions against the church decreased during the wartime, partly to give people spiritual comfort during the trials of war.
However in both catholic and protestant circles their continued to be many imprisonments and opposition.
Protestant
In 1939 the Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer became involved in the German counter intelligence service, the Abwehr, in which an active resistance movement was present which was working to overthrow Hitler.
By working with this group he was able to create "Operation 7" which allowed for a small number of jews to flee Germany
Bonhoeffer even made contact with the British government asking if peace would be possible if Hitler was overthrown, however it was fr this that Bonhoeffer was put in a concentration camp and killed
Catholics
In 1941 the catholic bishop August Von Galen condemned\ the Nazi policy of Euthanasia and was able to put substantial pressure on the Nazi regime
Many other catholic priests and churchmen worked to rescue jews and join organisations such as the Kreisau circle, which included jesuits and Laymen inspired by their faith.
From 1940 catholic priests where placed in a particular part of Dachau, of the 2720, 95% of the inmates were catholic and 1034 died.
Army
opposition from the army escalated during the wartime
Many members of the army were part of the Kreisau circle which also included academics, aristocrats and professionals, and meeting on the estate of Helmut Von Moltke
The Kreisau circle kept in contact with other resistance groups and planned for a post war germany, however it was broken up in 1944
Even the counter intelligence agency, the Abwehr was rife with resistance workers, with the head of the agency Admiral Canaries supporting resistance activities and leaking information to resistance activists
Admiral Canaries also worked to protect as many jews as he could, however after resistance was suspected the entire organisation was merged with the SS
General Ludwig Beck along with other army officers tried to assassinate Hitler many times, the closet they came to succeeding was the July Bomb plot in 1944 that nearly killed him
Youth
During the war the Hitler youth became more unattractive as the leadership became more uninspired and increasingly militarised
This led to youth seeking out alternative groups and lifestyles
The Edelweiss pirates became an alternative lifestyle which was a loosely organised group that started in the late 30s, rejecting the Nazis authoritarianism
The groups would go out hiking, defying movement restrictions, and would often attack the patrols of the Hitler youth
They would also engaged in other low level resistance such as picking up allied propaganda and pushing it through mailboxes
They also worked to help deserters from the army
The Navajos were a subsection of this group which became involved in resistance activities around cologne, as well as hiding military deserters and escapees from concentration camps
One of these groups even managed to assassinate the head of the Cologne Gestapo, however the Nazis were ably to find those who were involved in the attack and execute them.
Many young people turned towards more americanised lifestyles, wearing American or British clothing, attending the new swing clubs in the cities as well as listening into jazz
However even this low level of resistance sparked concern from the Nazis, for example in 1942 they imprisoned a 17 year old for his Americanised lifestyle. They beat him with iron rods them forced him to push heavy carts of dirt up hills for 2 weeks.
Opposition also established itself in the universities, most notably in Munich
This was were Hans Scholl formed the white rose movement in 1941, which distributed flyers, attacking the Nazis for their policies against the Jews and Poles
From 1943 they became more daring and began to paint anti Nazi slogans on walls, however eventually most of the group was caught and executed.
Structure of Nazi government
After the war broke out the structure of Nazi government remained largely unchanged.
New ministries such as the armaments ministry continued to overlap with older authorities
Formal state structures were increasingly disregarded
Meetings increasingly became a forum for Hitler to rant to his subordinates, instead of actual policy creation
However as the war dragged on the relations between the polycratic branches of government meant that relations between key political figures broke down.
Management remained poor and was exacerbated by the belief that the war would be won quickly and without to much strain on the country.
These were partly solved by Albert Speer but personal rivalries continued.
After Rudolf Hess flew to Britain in a hair brained scheme to get a peace agreement Martin Bormann became on of the most powerful men in germany after he stepped into Hitlers shows
Hess's flight is arguably another example of "Working towards the Fuhrer" he was loosing influence in Nazi government and wanted to impress Hitler so tried to fly to britain to get a negotiated peace.
Bormann became extremely influential, he built up a personal patronage network as Hitlers personal secretary and by 1943 had effective control over all of Germany's domestic policy
As the prospects became worse during the war Hitler retreated to the "wolf lair" in east prussia, rarely making public appearances, then for the last months of his life he moved to the Fuhrer bunker in Berlin under the Reich Chancellery
It was during this time that Bormann had nearly exclusive access to Hitler had likely had total control over government in Germany.