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CHAPTER 11 - Section A -HOW DID HITLER CONSOLIDATE HIS POWER?, 11 A -- HOW…
CHAPTER 11 - Section A -HOW DID HITLER CONSOLIDATE HIS POWER?
TIMELINE -Steps of consolidating power
KEY EVENTS
JAN 30th
- Chancellor Appointed
27th FEB
- Reichstag Fire - communist set building on fire
28TH FEB
- Emergency decrees - using of article 48
24th March
- Enabling Act
METHODS OF CONSOLIDATION
Propaganda
Reich Culture Chamber
Ministry of Information and Propaganda
Terror and Intimidation
Role of SA
SS and Gestapo
Thousands arrested by Nazis
Nazi take over of state
Pressure of Reichstag to pass Enabling act
March 1933 elections
Wide Appeal
March 1933 elections
Plebiscites taken place
National revival
Use of Law
Enabling Act
Emergency decrees
Outlawing other parties
Concession made to
Church - Concordat signed to not participate in politics
Army - promised to monopolize the army
Get support for enabling act
Workers
Air of respectability
Eliminate SA
Defend Christianity
Stress on Traditions
Gleichschaltung
- Co-ordination
Why was opposition so ineffective?
Opposition was divided
Left vs Right
SPD vs KPD
Opposition was weak
Workers weakened by unemployment so could not strike against Nazis
Opposition underestimated the Nazis
Only 3 Nazis in the govt
Felt that Nazis would be a temporary party
Leftists thought that Fascism would overpower Nazis
Right thought that they could use Hitler and discard him
Wide Appeal for change in govt
People were hostile towards the Weimar republic
Right winged people wanted a more authoritarian form of govt
Victims of Nazism were unpopular
Opposition was lured by a blind belief in new Germany
Opportunities and careerism
11 A --
HOW POWERFUL WAS HITLER
HITLER MYTH
What was it?
- Carefully cultivated image of Hitler. He was portrayed as someone who
alone understood the German people
Representative of popular justice
Defended germans from enemies like Jews, Bolsheviks
rebuilded Germany's strengths
Bulwark against nations enemies
Why did the Myth develop?
It was a reaction to the divisions and weaknesses of the previous governments
It satisfied peoples
emotional needs
for strong govt
Reinforced German traditions and values
Became sustained after Hitler's successes in 1933
Enhanced by propaganda
Why was Hitler myth effective?
Contributes to Hitler's personal popularity
Brought together most Germans (90%) and had strong emotional appeal
How powerful was Hitler?
The enabling act gave Hitler the Power to issue decrees without consulting the Reichstag. His wishes and official's interpretation of his wishes were passed as laws.
Hitler alone knew what the German people wanted and he alone could fulfil their needs.
This is because after many failed governments in Germany, people were looking for a Messiah.
The Nazi party was built on Fuhrerprinzip. Successful policies and powerful propaganda contributed more to his power.
How were decisions taken in Nazi Germany?
The officials acted upon Hitler's will and wishes.
Hitler himself did not play a huge role in decision making and administrative matters. In fact most of the instructions were given verbally rather than written.
Hitler was much more interested in making speeches than coming up with policies.
Hitler was surrounded by people who would compete for his approval which neutralised any kind of threat.
During the war, however, hitler was more preoccupied with foreign policy and so the decision made were left to his subordinates and ministers.
11 B - WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TRADITIONAL POWER STRUCTURES
11C - What role did the Nazi party play in the THIRD REICH
11 D - How powerful were the SS and Gestapo
How did the SS become so powerful?
It was originally designed to be Hitler personal bodyguard but by 1930s it turned into a vast organization. It was alongside the feared Gestapo.
It was supposed to act as an Auxiliary police and after the Emergency decree of Feb 1933 issued, they were supposed to take suspects into 'protective custody'.
They directed their energies
against all the enemies of the Nazis
and were later
responsible for concentration camps.
By
1939
there were 240,000 members with different roles
SS STATE ROLE - ROLE BY 1940S
Defend Hitler
Root out enemies
Arbitrary intelligence
SD intelligence on public feelings
Become an Elite military force
done with the help on Waffen - SS
Create a master Race
Organised extermination camps
Organised Einstazgruppen
Enact Holocaust
Set up 12 Lebensborn clinics to breed "pure race"
How was the Police organized in Nazi Germany?
Until 1993, each state had its own police but by 1936, it became centralized under Heinrich Himmler.
The Nazis had a confusing variety of repressive agencies,
After the Night of the Long Knives, the SA was dismantled and it was used as a method to intimidate the opponents.
The SS developed into the main force of terror
The
Gestapo
was the secret police used to cover all aspects of the German state. In 1933, Himmler became the mhead and so the SS came under the Gestapo. In 1936, it was an important security agent.
SD or Security Police
was used for internal security and intelligence service of the SS.
They were traditionally seen as a totalitarian state suppressed by terror. But many Germans supported this regime and justified the repression. While this is quite controversial, it can be said that Hitler's regime can be seen as a part based on
popular support and cooperation as well as terror
Was the Gestapo all powerful agent of terror
Gestapo fostered an image as an all powerful body but there was a chance that the
Gestapo was in fact much weaker and its power rested on popular consent than on terror
There were several weaknesses of the Gestapo
They lacked personnel effectively to enact central directives. There were only 30,000 officers in the whole country. Recruited from existing police forces.
Most of the gestapo were
office workers not field agents
. They had a lot of paperwork to do.
The image of power, served to intimidate potential opposition and their limited resources were enhanced by public cooperation.
80% were voluntary denunciations but these were based on their own personal reasons.
Gestapo could not investigate cases properly and resorted to arbitrary arrest, and torture
After 1935, the Nazi party was the only party in Germany and many people were part of the party. However most of the
power laid within the hands of individual Nazis NOT THE PARTY
The Nazi party did not have any power to implement policies. It was based upon the relationship that indivdual nazois had ewith the Fuhrer. There was a confusing administrative system in Germany.
The Nazi party had tended to attract only those committed to the VISION of Nazi Germany. The increased power gained by some Nazi party enabled them to abuse it.
The party's main role was to
spread the Nazi message and implement government policies.
However, the party was very unpopular.
Parliamentary
The
Reichstag
granted legislative powers to Hitler and passed 7 more laws.
It was mainly used to show the popularity of the regime and was mainly used as an applause machine.
The Cabinet
They lost their purpose and became unimportant.
The decisions were made on an individual basis and depended on who had an ear for the Fuhrer
Laws were issues through Hitler
The Reich Chancellery
The
expanded their role greatly
They were responsible for coordinating decisions of departments to new legislations
This increased paperwork and issued more govt decrees.
Other sectors of the government
The Civil service
Became more Nazi as more bureaucrats joined the party
Courts and legal systems
Most lawyers thought that accommodation to the regime was the best way of maintaining their position so they eventually worked under the Nazis
Judges were supposed to act according to popular feeling, under a new penal code.
Hitler did not replace existing legal codes. New laws reflected the Nazis political view and judges were expected to interpret all laws according to Nazi values.
When he came to power in 1934, he did not replace the conventional structures, even though they were unimportant. Hitler did not want to a coherent structure. He opted for an
improvised approach
that would lead to policy implementation and the
flexibility
would enhance his own power.
Foreign office and Army
The foreign office
Initlially remained largely intact and the Neurath was the foreign minister until 1938
Foreign policies was conducted outside the foreign ministry by special forces (Ribbentrop, Goebbels)
The army
Hitler initially reassured the army by removing the SA as he knew that the army was a potential danger to the regime and felt threatened.
He left it unchanged and most of the people agreed with his views.
They also benefited from rearmament