HITLER AS CHANCELLOR

Question 1

HOW MANY Nazis were in Hitler’s cabinet?

Answer 1

Only 3/12

Question 2

WHO were the Nazis in Hitler’s cabinet in 1933?

Answer 2

• Hermann Goering: Minister without Portfolio and Prussian Minister of the Interior
• Wilhelm Frick: Minister of the Interior
  (BOTH CONTROLLING THE POLICE AND JUDICIARY)
• Hitler: Chancellor

Question 3

WHY did Papen think he could control Hitler?

Answer 3

• The Nazi party only had 3/12 total posts in the cabinet
• Papen had the right to be present whenever Hitler met with the President
• Rest of the cabinet were elite, old, aristocratic men like Papen (likely to respect Papen and disrespect Hitler)

Question 4

WHAT did von Papen famously say about his belief that he could control Hitler?

Answer 4

‘I have Hidenburg’s confidence. Within two months we will have pushed Hitler so far into a corner that he will squeak.’

Question 5

WHAT was the ‘Pact of 1933’?

Answer 5

• Hitler met both with army leaders and big industrialists in February to promise they would remain important institutions in the state in return for their support.
• He gained 3 million marks for the election campaign from the businesses and outlined plans for rearmament with the army also.

Question 6

WHAT was the Hilfspolizei?

Answer 6

An auxiliary police made up of the SA (Nazi paramilitary) and the Stahlhelm (DNVP paramilitary)

Question 7

WHAT groups of people did the SA attack when Hitler first became Chancellor?

Answer 7

Left wing politicians and trade unions.

Question 8

WHEN and WHERE was the first concentration camp set up?

Answer 8

The concentration camp at Dachau was set up on 8th March 1933

Question 9

By July 1933, HOW MANY political prisoners had been arrested or taken into ‘protective custody’ and imprisoned in concentration camps?

Answer 9

26,789

Question 10

WHEN was the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 10

27th February 1933

Question 11

WHO confessed to starting the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 11

A Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe

Question 12

WHAT was Hitler’s response to the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 12

Used it as an excuse to properly attack communism:
- Arrested 4000 communist leaders the same night
- Got Hindenburg to pass an emergency decree, suspending all personal liberties (basically destroyed freedom of speech)

Question 13

HOW MANY communists were arrested in the two weeks following the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 13

10,000

Question 14

WHAT did Hindenburg’s emergency decree passed after the Reichstag Fire allow?

Answer 14

• Soldiers were put in the streets to check people’s IDs
• The secret police could hold people in protective custody indefinitely
• Allowed the arrest of left wing activists
• Hitler controlled radio and the police and banned other parties’ newspapers like the SPD and Zentrum

Question 15

WHAT were the key aspects of the March 1933 Reichstag election campaign?

Answer 15

• More violence
• The failure of democracy was blamed on Communist terrorism
• Promoted the idea that Hitler’s government was a ‘National Uprising’ that would restore German pride and unity

Question 16

WERE the March 1933 elections a success for the Nazis?

Answer 16

While the Nazis did not get a majority (only 43.9%), all other parties lost votes while theirs increased. The left (SPD and KPD) made major losses. The coalition between the DNVP and Nazis allowed majority rule in the Reichstag

Question 17

WHEN was the ‘Day of Potsdam’?

Answer 17

21st March 1933

Question 18

WHAT was the ‘Day of Potsdam’?

Answer 18

A celebration for the reopening of the Reichstag. Hitler lay wreaths on the graves of the Prussian kings and shook hands with army generals. He wanted to promote the image of ‘legality’ (to distract from the ‘revolution from below’) and did not mention any hatred for the opposition or racial ideology.

Question 19

WHEN was the Enabling Act passed?

Answer 19

24th March 1933

Question 20

HOW fair was the vote to pass the Enabling Act?

Answer 20

All KPD deputies were absent (many in concentration camps) and the building was surrounded by SS and SA, creating an atmosphere of intimidation.

Question 21

WHAT was another name for the Enabling Act?

Answer 21

The ‘Law for Terminating the Suffering of the People and the Nation’

Question 22

WHAT did the Enabling Act allow?

Answer 22

It gave emergency powers to the government for 4 years and allowed the cabinet to pass decrees without the President’s involvement

Question 23

WHEN did Hitler proclaim the Third Reich?

Answer 23

15th March 1933

Question 24

HOW did Hitler change the courts in 1933?

Answer 24

In October 1933, all lawyers had to join the German Lawyer’s Front and swear loyalty to Hitler

Question 25

HOW did Hitler change the civil service in 1933?

Answer 25

• April 1933: Law for the Official Reform of the Civil Service removed all ‘alien elements’ (Jewish people, political opponents, etc.) from courts, education and civil service
• NSDAP set up specialist agencies to develop and execute policies, meaning the existing civil service lost influence

Question 26

WHAT does ‘Gleichschaltung’ mean?

Answer 26

‘Bringing into line’ or ‘coordination.’ It defines the process of Nazi destruction of Weimar society in order to create the Nazi state system

Question 27

WHAT were the 3 elements of Gleichschaltung?

Answer 27

1) Destruction of state governments
2) Destruction of trade unions
3) Creation of a one-party state

Question 28

HOW did the Nazis change the state government system (Gleichschaltung)?

Answer 28

• First Nazi members dominated state governments
• Then, new Reich Governors were introduced for each state, who overruled the state government and worked directly for Hitler.

Question 29

HOW did the Nazis change trade unions?

Answer 29

Forced them all into the DAF (German Labour Front), which promoted itself as a central trade union, except it did not represent workers at all and had little control

Question 30

HOW did the Nazis create a one-party state?

Answer 30

• Communists had been proscribed (forbid)
• June 1933: SPD was banned
• All other parties opted for self-dissolution
• July 1933: no-one to oppose the Law against the Formation of New Parties

Question 31

WHAT % of votes did the Nazis get in November 1933?

Answer 31

92% (8% were spoiled votes)

Question 32

WHEN was the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 32

29th June - 2nd July 1934

Question 33

WHAT were the motives behind the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 33

1) Nazi infighting: Himmler wanted the SS removed from SA control; Goering led Hitler to believe that Röhm was plotting a coup
2) Support of the élites: Hitler feared that Röhm’s goal to create a ‘people’s militia’ would lose him the support of the élites/Army

Question 34

WHAT were the differences in ideology between Hitler and Röhm/the SA?

Answer 34

SA: more populist and anti-capitalist, many wanted revolution
Röhm: wanted to integrate the SA and Army, to create a ‘people’s militia’
Hitler: needed the support of the elites and the Army to maintain power and to carry out his foreign policy plans

Question 35

HOW MANY were murdered during the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 35

About 90, including over 50 SA leaders

Question 36

WHAT did Ian Kershaw argue about the consequences of the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 36

Kershaw argues that Hitler’s public image was strengthened as the ‘supreme judge’ of the German people and the defender of the little man