1.1 Political and Governmental Change - Nazi Dictatorship

Question 1

When was the Reichstag fire?

Answer 1

27 Feb 1933

Question 2

Who did the Nazis say was responsible for the Reichstag fire?

Answer 2

Van de Lubbe - young dutch communist

Question 3

What did the Reichstag Fire mean the Nazis could do?

Answer 3

stir anti-communist propaganda
Hidenburg declared a state of emergency - govern by decree

Question 4

What law did Hitler pass in the state of emergency after the Reichstag fire?

Answer 4

Decree for the Protection of the People and the State

Question 5

What was the outcome of the 5 March 1933 election?

Answer 5

Nazis - 288 seats
DNVP - 52 - coalition to have Nazis in power
communists - 81 - banned from taking these

Question 6

When was the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State?

Answer 6

28 February 1933

Question 7

What did the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State do?

Answer 7

legal to arrest political opponents
take people into ‘protective custody’ without a trial
censor the media eg. ban opposition newspapers

Question 8

When was the Enabling Act passed?

Answer 8

24 March 1933

Question 9

What was the outcome of the vote for the Enabling Act?

Answer 9

444 for
84 against (SPD)

Question 10

When was the Enabling Act renewed?

Answer 10

1937

Question 11

What did the Enabling Act do?

Answer 11

Hitler could pass laws without the Reichstag

Question 12

When was the SPD banned?

Answer 12

22 June 1933

Question 13

When were all other partied banned, to make Germany a one-party state?

Answer 13

14 July 1933

Question 14

When did Hindenburg die?

Answer 14

2 August 1934

Question 15

What new role did Hitler create for himself?

Answer 15

combined President and Chancellor to Fuhrer

Question 16

How did Hitler legally become Fuhrer?

Answer 16

confirmed by plebiscite 19 August 1934

Question 17

When was the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 17

30 June 1934

Question 18

Why did the Night of the Long Knives happen?

Answer 18

SA was seen as brutal and unpopular
Rohm was becoming increasingly critical of Hitler

Question 19

What happened in the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 19

Rohm and senior SA officers shot
several hundred people murdered by SS over next few days eg. Von Schleicher
SA continued operating but very reduced

Question 20

What was the hierarchy in place across the dictatorship?

Answer 20

Fuhrerprinzip

Question 21

How many laws did the Reichstag pass 1934 - 45?

Answer 21

7

Question 22

What did the Law for Civil Service do?

Answer 22

Nazi opponents could be removed from the Civil Service

Question 23

When was the Law for Civil Service?

Answer 23

7 April 1933

Question 24

What is an example of an old ministry that remained?

Answer 24

foreign ministry

Question 25

What is an example of a new ministry set up by Hitler?

Answer 25

Bureau Rippentrop - overlapped with foreign ministry and favoured
Reich Propaganda Ministry - headed by Goebbels

Question 26

What did Hitler do to try and stop opposition in his government?

Answer 26

abolished cabinet meetings

Question 27

When was the Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich?

Answer 27

30 January 1934

Question 28

What did the Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich do?

Answer 28

transferred Landers power to the federal government - centralised state and unified administration

Question 29

What were all government employees forced to do in WW2?

Answer 29

join the Nazi party

Question 30

How was the country divided in WW2?

Answer 30

13 military districts,
own RVK organised home front activities eg. rationing, Volkssturm (Homeguard)

Question 31

What had to be set up as the German army took Lebensraum?

Answer 31

11 Reichsgau (Regional governments)

Question 32

What did the Reichsgau do?

Answer 32

allocate land to incoming Germans
ran area as part of Germany

Question 33

How were the Poles viewed?

Answer 33

untrustworthy - used for hard labour only, leaders shot to prevent organised resistance forming

Question 34

What happened to Southern Poland?

Answer 34

‘colony’ - dumping ground for undesireables

Question 35

What happened to the rest of Poland?

Answer 35

absorbed into Third Reich and Germanised
500,000 Germans moved to Warthegau,
500,000 Polish deported East

Question 36

How did the Gauleiters become increasingly powerful?

Answer 36

1942 - British bombing - coordinated civil defence
Aug 1944 - Decree for the Implementation of Total War mobilisation - gave control over local bureaucracy

Question 37

When did Hitler commit suicide?

Answer 37

30 April 1945

Question 38

When did Goebbels commit suicide?

Answer 38

1 May 1945

Question 39

When was Germany’s final surrender?

Answer 39

7 May 1945