The Nazi Germany 1933-1939

Question 1

the effects of the great depression

Answer 1

Impacts:

• The Nazi Party gained the support due to falling confidence in the Weimar Government.
• They were able to show their strengths in dealing with the Communist Threat
• They benefited from increased support from the right-wing

Question 2

(5) what were the roles and themes of nazi propaganda ?

Answer 2

Nazi propaganda was controlled by Joseph Goebbels and had three main themes:

• The Führer cult. Hitler was always portrayed as Germany’s saviour – the man who would rescue the country from the grip of depression.
• Volksgemeinschaft (people’s community). This was the idea that the Nazis would create one German community that would make religion or social class less relevant to people.
• Scapegoating the Jews (and others) for Germany’s ills. Jews were often portrayed as sub-human, or as a threat to both the racial purity and economic future of the country.
• Hitler was a great speaker with an extraordinary power to win people over. Goebbels’ propaganda campaign was very effective (he used aeroplanes to bring Hitler to speak across the country, radios to broadcast important speeches and rallies to make supporters excited) and brought huge support for the Nazis by targeting specific groups of society with different slogans and policies to win their support.
• Nuremberg Rallies: Here people felt as though they were part of a great movement however, also the power and control of the Nazi Party was demonstrated.

Question 3

the work and role of the sa

Answer 3

The work of the SA:
The SA played a part in the Nazis’ increasing popularity by:
-intimidating the Nazis’ political opponents – especially the communists – by turning up at their meetings and attacking them
-providing opportunities for young, unemployed men to become involved in the party
-protecting Hitler and other key Nazis when they organised meetings and made speeches
-The SA also was used during elections to intimidate those coming to vote.

Question 4

how did the march 5 election help hitler consolidate power?

Answer 4

1- Called an election for 5th March so that Hitler could try to get a majority in the Reichstag:
During February- speeches and rallies held. However, also an attempt to remove the opposition through street violence, papers censorship and meetings being disrupted.

-27th February 1933 - Reichstag Fire: Hitler was able to pass the ‘Law for Protection of people and state’ i.e emergency powers were given to Hitler to arrest Coms, break up meetings, search houses, imprison without trial.
March 5th election: Polling Stations were policed by SA volunteers. Nazis got 288 seats with a smaller Nationalist party, with 52% of the vote.

The Reichstag fire meant that Hitler used this as evidence that communists were plotting against the Government.

1. One effect of the Reichstag Fire on Germany was that Hitler was given emergency powers under ‘the law for protection of people and state’. This happened because the communist blame led to the fear of communist terrorism. It dismantled civil rights so the Nazis were able to arrest and hold without trial any person they considered an obstacle to power. This included any opposition party members, communists etc. Freedom of speech and association removed and rounding up and shooting of many communists.
2. Second effect was that the Nazis gained a majority in the Reichstag election of 1933: (52%). Due to no communist parties and fear of communism (the Nazis were seen to be dealing strongly with it). People were afraid of the consequences if they didn’t.

Question 5

how did the enabling act help hitler consolidate power?

Answer 5

2- Hitler needed to get rid of the Reichstag and Democracy all together by changing the constitution. 52% was not enough for him to do this.
-441 members of the Reichstag voted for the Enabling Act at the Kroll Opera House
The Enabling Act gave Hitler power to rule by decree for 4 years to put the state of affairs right. The Reichstag voted itself out of power.
-The members voted because they had been both intimidated and persuaded that fast and rapid decisions had to be made to get rid of communism and the unemployment crisis without the impediment of the Reichstag.

Question 6

how did hitler consolidate power ? (5)

Answer 6

1. march 5 election and reichstag fire
2. the enabling act
3. gleichschaltung
4. intimidation/repression/ control of army
5. death of hindenburg

Question 7

(4) how did hitler consolidate power through gleichschaltung?

Answer 7

3- The establishment of dictatorship through forcible coordination: Gleichschaltung

• Trade Unions were banned and all workers had to join the German Labour Front
• Police came under Nazi control
• Political parties were banned in July 1933 and opponents either fled abroad or went underground, or were rounded up and imprisoned. Germany became a one party state.
• Concordat with the Church

Question 8

how did hitler consolidate power through controlling the army and the night of long knives?

Answer 8

4- Controlling the Army and the Night of Long Knives
Hitler decided that he wanted the full control and backing of the army as it was: well disciplined, had the support of Big Business (which could be useful for war) and it was the only organisation with the power to remove Hitler. The army was not Nazi but had right-wing sympathies such as rearming, nationalism and lebensraum. However, it was significantly smaller than the SA; it had only 100,000 men.

The Night of Long Knives: 30th June 1934
Hitler called a meeting of leading SA members in Bavaria, where 400 of the leaders were arrested and shot by the SS on the basis they were ‘plotting to seize power’. Rohm and Von Schleicher were executed.
This crippled the SA and so the army were convinced that the SA was no longer a threat.
Sent a message that if you rebel you will be shot

Question 9

how did hitler consolidate power through the death of Hindenburg?

Answer 9

5-Death of Hindenburg in August 1934
After his death, Hitler merged the two roles allowing him at last to become the Fuhrer. The army now swore an oath of unconditional obedience to Hitler.

Question 10

what 5 methods of repression did hitler use?

Answer 10

Police State: Implemented the aspect of fear and intimidation in the life of every German.
A police state is when a government uses the police to control everyone’s lives. The Nazis used the SS, SD and the Gestapo to do this.

SS: (Protection Squad)
Lead by Himmler it was a huge organisation with many roles and responsibilities. They were all Aryans and loyal to Hitler. Their main focus was to destroy opposition to the Nazis and carry out their racial policies. They were responsible for running concentration camps.

The Gestapo:
Set up by Goering in 1933 and led by Heydrich. They were able to arrest citizens without trial and on suspicion bring them straight to concentration camps. They were the secret state police and spied on the people.

The legal system:
Hitler controlled the judges: All judges had to belong to the National Socialist League for Maintenance of the Law. All judges had to favour the Nazi Party in any decision.
Hitler controlled the law courts. He abolished trial by jury- only judges were able to decide whether someone was innocent or guilty. He set up a People’s Court to hear all treason cases. Trials were held in secret and judges were hand picked.

Concentration Camps:
They were set up in 1933 in order to house political prisoners and ‘undesirables’ such as Jews, homosexuals etc. They had gas showers and factories. Prisoners had to suffer through harsh discipline, beatings and executions. Beneficial for the German Economy as huge projects could be undertaken.

Question 11

(8) how did hitler use censorship and propaganda?

Answer 11

Propaganda is the spread of an ideology or agenda in order to create a generation of people loyal to the Nazi regime and its values.

• Goebbels was the Nazi minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda.
• Book burnings in order to send a message to the public of their supreme authority. Displayed Nazi strength.
• Art - only Nazi approved painters were allowed. The work was usually of heroic looking Aryans, military figures or images of the ideal Aryan family.
• Newspapers: no anti-Nazi ideas allowed. Unacceptable newspapers were closed down and editors and journalists sacked. Only news from the official State News Agency could be reported
• Huge rallies and military parades were held, projecting power and strength to evoke pride as well as fear and terror. Highlighted the control of the Nazis.
• Cinema showed propaganda films, but mainly entertainment films that had subtle messages
• Radio - cheap radios meant that every family could afford one. All stations were closely controlled and listening to foreign radio was illegal. Also popular because could provide entertainment.
• Olympics- to show off their propaganda to Germans and the international community. To showcase their doctrine that Aryans were superior to all the others.

Question 12

nazi policies towards church (Protestant and catholic)

Answer 12

Nazis need to control the Church as they had great influence over the public opinion and could potentially pose a threat to the Nazi Regime. Attendance at Christian Churches remained high throughout the period nevertheless.

-Catholic Church:
At the beginning of the Nazi’s time in power, there was some cooperation between the churches and the Nazis. In 1933, Hitler signed a Concordat with the Catholic Church saying that they were free to run their own schools and free to worship.
However, opposition priests were sent to concentration camps.
Catholic schools had to remove Christian symbols and were later closed.
Catholic youth organisations were later banned.

-Protestant Church:
Hitler wanted to bring all the Protestant Churches together under one Reich Church led by Bishop Ludwig Mueller. The German Faith Movement: Hitler even encouraged an alternative religion, which worshipped the sun and the Nazis.
-The Confessional Church was founded by Niemoller and was made up of about 6000 Protestant Churches.
-The Reich Church: was made up of 2000 churches and supported the Nazis. It had some members that wore Nazi uniform and called themselves German Christians.

Question 13

how successful were the nazis at controlling religion?

Answer 13

How successful were the Nazis at controlling religion:

Many churchgoers either supported the Nazis or did little to oppose them, even though many retained loyalty to their local church.

• However: The pastor Niemoller formed the Confessional Church which protested against Nazi Policy. 6000 Protestant pastors joined it. Niemoller was in a concentration camp from 1938-45
• Bonhoeffer: openly preached against the Nazis until the Gestapo stopped him in 1937. During the war he helped the Allies and helped Jews escape from Germany. In 1942, he was arrested for plotting to help Jews escape Germany. He was hanged just before the end of the war.

Question 14

nazi policies and views towards women

Answer 14

Nazi Policies:
Hitler thought that women should not work but should stay home and care for their children and husbands. His ideas about women were ‘kinder, Kuche, Kirche’.
Hitler wanted women’s to become mothers and to have as many children as possible in order to expand the Aryan race and fill the newly conquered ‘lebensraum’.

The ideal mother:

• To have large physically fit child bearing hips and physique
• Not interested in academia, fashion, makeup or having a career
• Teach her children how to be Nazis and must be an ardent Nazi follower

Question 15

effects of nazi policies on women

Answer 15

Women felt valued in their role as wives and mothers:

• Law for Encouragement of Marriage gave a financial incentive for having many children. On marriage a couple received 1000 marks, roughly 9 months wages and if you had 4 children you were allowed to keep this money.
• The Motherhood Cross- meant that the Hitler Youth had to salute you in the street and there was a reserved seat for you at rallies.
• Lebensborn Project- homes for single mothers were they could get pregnant with SS men.
• Nazi Art and Propaganda glorified the women’s job of having children and being a mother.

They were discouraged from working:

• Hitler did not want women to work as it would impede her duty to be a mother and he wanted to increase the birth rate which had fallen due to women wanting paid work.
• Hitler tried to achieve this by banning women from professions of responsibility and general professions: 100,000 teachers, 13,000 musicians and 3000 doctors were sacked as a result.
• The Unemployment Relief Act: stated that if a woman left her job and her husband earned under 125 marks she would receive 1000 marks.
• Lead to a drop in higher professions but not in the general workforce especially not after 1939.

Limited women’s freedoms:

• Responsibilities to have children
• All women’s societies were banned and merged under the German Women’s Enterprise. This taught women how to be parents.
• Lifestyle
• Professions

Question 16

success of policies on women

Answer 16

Successful

• 880,000 women accepted the loan from the Law of Encouragement of Marriage.
• Women were unable to work as doctors or civil servants. The conception that women should stay home was supported across Europe. Those women working generally lost their employment and due to the -Hitlerjugend girls would not even consider anything but becoming a mother.
• The number of marriages and births did increase. For births they increased from 15/2000 to 20/2000.

Question 17

failure of policies on women

Answer 17

Unsuccessful

• However, this was only a fractional proportion of the population.
• However, the employment of women actually increased because they were cheaper to employ. Their wages increased more than the prices so the employment actually increased drastically from 1933-38.
• This however did by far not reach Nazi expectations.

Question 18

what were the 5 aims of Nazi policies on the youth?

Answer 18

• To cultivate a loyal following for Hitler and the Nazis
• To create an athletic militaristic body of people to be prepared for war and just to show general strength
• To ensure that the policies would be continued and enforced for the years to come.
• To prepare girls to be good wives and mothers
• To turn boys into strong soldiers

Question 19

impact of Nazi polices on the youth

Answer 19

Impacts:

Youths were prepared for specific ideals:
-Increased emphasis of Nazi ideology in education
-Boys were taught the skills needed to be Nazi soldiers and to gain the Nazi ‘mindset’
-Girls were encouraged to become wives and mothers but also not follow careers in the workplace.
Hitler Youth Training
-Therefore the youth became indoctrinated through subconscious indoctrination such as math questions or picking Jewish People out of paintings.

Education suffered and grades dropped:

• The lessons and subjects were imbued with Nazi ideology e.g Biology became a lesson about Eugenic and breeding. This led to children having closed minds
• Standards dropped because core subjects were valued less such as maths and German and therefore given less time than ideology.

Freedom of German Youth was restricted:

• Membership of the Hitler Youth was compulsory
• Limitations on music, drinking and clothing

Many youth became supporter of the Nazi Party:

• Organisations offered teenagers and children to be part of a group and take part in activities they could not have before.
• It gave everyone the chance to take part in ‘fun’ activities.
• if your friends were members might feel obliged to and not going could be seen as disliking the Nazi regime which would be dangerous
• made compulsory in 1936

Question 20

what activities did boys and girls do at the Hitler youth, bund deustcher maedels?

Answer 20

boys

• hard physical training such as long marches, labor camps and athletics
• fighting skills e.g. war games with live ammunition and fights
• training camps e.g. camping, reading maps
• lessons in Nazi ideology

girls

• running homes e.g. making beds, washing clothes
• encouraged to have children e.g. taught how to care for them
• wore traditional hairstyles of plats and plain clothes - no make up or nail polish
• also physical training

Question 21

how did Nazi policies shape education?

Answer 21

Education:
New curriculum.
Maths questions promoted messages of war and getting rid of minorities,
History focused on the Nazi Party and how Germany was stabbed in the back by its political leaders
-glorification of Germany’s military past
-concentration of the evil of Jews and communists
Geography focused on the “Greater Germany “ and the need for lebensraum
Biology focused on recognizing the Aryan race and explained the idea of the ubermensch
Eugenics was introduced which was race studies.
religion was greatly reduced and could be dropped in 1937

New resources:
History books were rewritten without German defeats,
Story books were written warning children of the dangers of the Jews.

Boys were educated to be soldiers, girls educated to be mothers. They had separate timetables.
Lots of PE lessons for everyone to keep everyone fit and healthy for
their new roles.

Teachers had to join the Nazi Teachers’ Association or lose their jobs. 97% of teachers joined and teachers who did not agree with Nazi policies were sacked.

Jewish pupils were persecuted in lessons, by students and teachers.
They had to leave German schools in 1938.

Question 22

(2) how did Hitler try to reduce unemployment?

Answer 22

When Hitler became chancellor in 1933 unemployment stood at 6 million in Germany, therefore creating jobs and employment was a great priority for the Nazis. Hjalmar Schacht, Nazi minister of the Economy 1934-37 managed to reduce unemployment to 218,000 in 1938.

Schacht organised Germany’s Finances to fund a huge programme of public works.

National Labour Service:

From July 1935, it was compulsory for all men aged 18-25 to serve for six months on this scheme. They worked on job creation scheme and many or public works such as building the German Autobahn or draining marshes.
The men of the RAD wore military style uniforms but were paid very little. Therefore, the government gained support of the people as unlike the Weimar Government they had fulfilled one of their fundamental promises.

Conscription/Rearmament:

Due to Germany rearming, even though the TofV had stipulated limits on this, many young men became trained as soldiers. This was introduced through Goering’s Four Year Plano’s 1936 which aimed to prepare Germany for was in four years.
The need for factory workers, engineers, and miners etc created many jobs further reducing the unemployment figures to 218,000.

These measure boosted economic recovery and national pride - further increasing support for Hitler, who seemed to be working an economic miracle.

Question 23

how successful/what was the cost of Hjalmar schacht’s economic miracle?

Answer 23

However:

• Unemployment fell from 6 million to 300,000 however, these figures did not include, Jews or other members of society who were disliked, women, unmarried men under 25 in the RAD and opponents of the regime.
• Real earnings in 1938 were all but the same as the 1928 figure.
• By 1939, Germany was still importing 33% of required materials
• Government spending increased by 15 billion and so was in constant debt - over 40 billion marks.
• Workers rights suffered

Question 24

what 4 schemes were introduced to supposedly better worker’s lives?

Answer 24

German Labour Front (DAF): this replaced trade unions and workers had to be members.

• Workers could not be sacked on the spot
• Prices were strictly controlled meaning there was little inflation
• Workers resented the impeachment of their rights and had to work from 60-72 hours a week.
• Strikes were outlawed and kept under strict observation

Strength through Joy (KDF):

• This was a scheme which organised trips cheap theatre and cinema tickets, courses and tickets to sports events for workers in order to keep the workers satisfied.
• Happy workers meant support for Hitler.

Beauty of Labour:

-This aimed to improve conditions in the workplace for example by installing washing facilities. However, workers had to construct these in their spare time so this wasn’t very popular.

The Volkswagen:
This promoted car ownership and workers would pay 5 marks a week towards buying a car. However, by 1939, no-one had paid in enough money so the money went towards rearmament.