1.2 Opposition, Control and Consent - Nazi Dictatorship

Question 1

When did it become impossible to oppose the Nazis in the Reichstag?

Answer 1

August 1933

Question 2

What did opposition parties like KPD, SPD and trade unions do in the early 1930s?

Answer 2

printed and distributed pamphlets and literature

Question 3

What is an example of printed opposition in the early 1930s?

Answer 3

Red Shock Troop newspaper (SPD)
3000 members

Question 4

What happened to the Red Shock Troop?

Answer 4

leaders arrested and sent to concentration camps December 1933

Question 5

Why had the opposition stopped printing by 1938?

Answer 5

became extremely easy to trace publications
moved to word of mouth only and not organised groups

Question 6

What happened after Germany invaded the USSR?

Answer 6

June 1941
communist groups revived

Question 7

What are examples of communist groups that revived?

Answer 7

Uhrig group: distributed leaflets and posters encouraging workers to sabotage
Red Orchestra: government workers who passed the Allies information

Question 8

How did workers sabotage production?

Answer 8

lightning strikes eg. 1936 workers who built autobahns
worked slowly
damaged product
reported in sick

Question 9

What act of passive rebellion did people do?

Answer 9

not give the Nazi salute when officials present

Question 10

What was the response to workers’ sabotage?

Answer 10

overlooked as workers in high demand
BUT if too successful Gestapo would arrest eg. Anti-Fascist Workers’ Group 1944

Question 11

How did sabotage escalate during WW2?

Answer 11

Allies aid - able to blow up bridges/railways

Question 12

How did young, usually middle class people rebel?

Answer 12

did not join Hitler Youth
listened to swing and jazz music
dressed in Western fashions

Question 13

What happened to the young people who rebelled after 1940?

Answer 13

went underground
only arrested occasionally as they were not actively anti-Nazi

Question 14

Who were the Edelweiss Pirates?

Answer 14

young working class people, actively anti-Nazi

Question 15

What did the Edelweiss Pirates do?

Answer 15

varied by area
wore own uniform, hiking, camping
painted anti-Nazi slogans, collected and distributed leaflets dropped by Allies
worked with resistance group

Question 16

What happened to the Edelweiss Pirates if caught?

Answer 16

executed

Question 17

Who was the White Rose Group?

Answer 17

University of Munich students

Question 18

What did the White Rose Group do?

Answer 18

distributed material urging sabotage, exposing murder of Jews, urged non-violent resistance

Question 19

What happened to the White Rose Group?

Answer 19

The leaders Hans and Sophie Scholl and Probst were beheaded 22 February 1943

Question 20

How many known attempts to assassinate Hitler were there?

Answer 20

July 1921 - July 1944: 15

Question 21

How many assassination attempts were there after 1939 and who carried them out?

Answer 21

7 all by army members / groups led by army

Question 22

What changed for the army in 1934?

Answer 22

had to swear the oath to Hitler, not Germany

Question 23

What happened if you were caught plotting to assassinate Hitler?

Answer 23

immediate execution and an investigation to find all others involved

Question 24

What was the most serious assassination attempt on Hitler?

Answer 24

July Plot of 1944 by Lieutenant von Stauffenberg

Question 25

What happened in the July Plot of 1944?

Answer 25

Lieutenant von Stauffenberg left a bomb in a conference room where Hitler was 4 people died but Hitler only had minor injuries

Question 26

What happened after the July Plot of 1944?

Answer 26

200 people executed

Question 27

What agreement did Hitler make with the Catholic Church?

Answer 27

Concordat with the Pope (to leave each other alone)

Question 28

Why did many church goers appreciate Nazism?

Answer 28

nationalism conservatism anti-communism

Question 29

What did the Nazis do to influence religion?

Answer 29

by 1933: developed the 'People's Church' became more celebrating Nazism that Christianity eg. displayed Nazi banners removed the 'Jewish' Old Testament

Question 30

What church was formed in response to condemn the Nazis and when?

Answer 30

Confessing Church May 1934

Question 31

What happened to members of the Confessing Church?

Answer 31

many arrested and executed Pastor Niemoller (a founder) sent to a concentration camp

Question 32

Which Bishops were imprisoned for speaking out against the Nazis and when?

Answer 32

Meiser and Wurm October 1934

Question 33

What happened after Bishops Meiser and Wurm were imprisoned?

Answer 33

public outcry and protests led to them being released

Question 34

What happened before Germany was going to invade Czechoslovakia?

Answer 34

1938: military processions the public was unenthusiastic

Question 35

What did the public reaction to the plan to invade Czechoslovakia mean happened?

Answer 35

Czechoslovakia not invaded an agreement with Chamberlain at Munich Conference instead

Question 36

When was the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State and what did it do?

Answer 36

28 February 1933 Nazis could control publications suspend civil rights take people into 'protective custody' without a trial

Question 37

When did Goebbels take over all radio stations and why?

Answer 37

25 March 1933 believed radio was most effective way of distributing Nazi message

Question 38

What did Goebbels do once in control of all radio stations?

Answer 38

purged them of Jews, those married to Jews, communists and socialists

Question 39

What did Goebbels do to spread the Nazi message by radio?

Answer 39

made cheap radios available eg. 'People's Receivers' for 35 or 72 marks and only 2 marks per month to cover broadcasting limited range - only receive German broadcasts

Question 40

What happened to newspapers after 4 October 1933?

Answer 40

editor would be held responsible for anything published harmful to Germany Reich Association compiled a list of 'accredited' journalists - not jewish/politically unstable

Question 41

How many newspapers and readers were there in December 1933?

Answer 41

86 newspapers with over 3 million readers

Question 42

What did the state-owned press agency do?

Answer 42

set up in December 1933 set stories allowed to be published very detailed guidelines

Question 43

When and why was the first concentration camp established?

Answer 43

1933 - Oranienburg, Russia hold political prisoners

Question 44

How many prisoners were there in concentration camps for political crimes?

Answer 44

over 500,000

Question 45

When was the Gestapo set up?

Answer 45

1933 by Goering

Question 46

What was the Gestapo?

Answer 46

secret police with own independent legal system - acted as judge, jury and executioner hunt out threats to Nazis eg. 'untermenschen' tackle resistance

Question 47

How did the Gestapo operate?

Answer 47

through fear wore no uniform

Question 48

What was the SS?

Answer 48

elite bodyguard ran concentration camps

Question 49

How many members did the SS have when they started versus in 1936?

Answer 49

240 initial members 240,000 1936

Question 50

When was the People's Court set up?

Answer 50

1934

Question 51

What did the People's Court do?

Answer 51

tried accused traitors of the Third Reich private trials impossible to appeal the verdict

Question 52

How many people had passed through the People's Court by 1945?

Answer 52

10,000s

Question 53

Who monitored the people in their specified areas for all infringements of rules?

Answer 53

Nazi Party Officials and Bloc Wardens

Question 54

What did Nazi propaganda usually feature?

Answer 54

simple messages eg. 'Ein Volk, Ein Reich Ein Fuhrer' negative images of Jews, stereotyped with hooked noses

Question 55

What did the report of Hitler's appointment as chancellor look seem like?

Answer 55

huge cheering processions chanting Sieg Heil!

Question 56

In 1939 what proportion of the population owned a radio?

Answer 56

over 70%

Question 57

How were mothers rewarded?

Answer 57

1000 mark loan on marriage - repayment reduced by 250 marks per child regular pregnancy check-ups and vitamins medals for more than 4 children

Question 58

How were workers rewarded?

Answer 58

Strength Through Joy ran activities and holidays (filled with Nazi propaganda) heavily subsidised by government - extremely cheap or free

Question 59

Why were the Nazis popular with people with shared prejudices?

Answer 59

policies against undesirables

Question 60

Why were the Nazis popular with wealthy industrialists?

Answer 60

banning KPD and trade unions

Question 61

Why were the Nazis popular with the middle class?

Answer 61

savings had value again

Question 62

Why were the Nazis popular with those who applied to 'Germanise' an area?

Answer 62

given homes and farmland

Question 63

Why were the Nazis popular with nationalistic people?

Answer 63

seen as reversing the Treaty of Versailles and asserting Germany's power

Question 64

How was WW2 initially received by the public?

Answer 64

lukewarm reaction

Question 65

Why did WW2 gain public support?

Answer 65

Germany's initial success

Question 66

How did the Nazis retain support during the war?

Answer 66

Fuehrer myth Hitler seen as Godlike

Question 67

When did support for WW2 fall?

Answer 67

when living conditions deteriorated and bombing destroyed cities