Chapter 13: Workings of the State (Sec 4)

Question 1

1) How did Hitler begin to expand the SA once he gained power?
2) What did the membership of the SA grow to by January 1934?

Answer 1

1) Hitler used state resources to expand the SA, since their violence and terror were vital weapons in his struggle to eliminate opposition.
2) From a membership of 500,000 in January 1933, the organisation grew to around 3 million strong by January 1934.

Question 2

How did the actions of the SA gain legal authority?

Answer 2

1) In late February 1933, the SA and the Stahlhelm were merged and became recognised as “auxiliary police”.
2) Orders were issues to the regular police forces forbidding them from interfering with SA activities.

Question 3

What did the SA do after their actions gained legal authority?

Answer 3

1) Using their new profound powers, the SA unleashed a sustained assault on trade union and KPD offices, as well as on the homes of left wing politicians.
2) On February 5th, a young Nazi shot dead the SPD mayor of a small town in Prussia, and later in the month, a communist was killed in clashes with the SA.
3) Thousands of communists, socialists and trade unionists were rounded up and imprisoned in makeshift concentration camps.

Question 4

When was the first permanent concentration camp in Germany established?

Answer 4

1) 8th March 1933, with accommodation for over 5000 people.

Question 5

How many people had been arrested by July 1933?

Answer 5

1) over 26,000 political prisoners had been arrested by the SA.

Question 6

When did the Reichstag Fire occur? What happened?

Answer 6

1) 27th February 1933
2) A young Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe was arrested and charged with causing the fire.

Question 7

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

Answer 7

1) The decree suspended important civil and political rights that had been guaranteed under the Weimar constitution.
2) Police were given increased powers to arrest, detain without charge those deemed to be a threat to state security. The police also gained powers to enter and search private premises

Question 8

What was the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State primarily designed for?

Answer 8

1) It was primarily designed to legalise a full-scale attack on the communists.

Question 9

What did the SA and police do after the passing of the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State?

Answer 9

1) The SA launched a ferocious campaign of violence. The police arrested 10,000 communists in two weeks.

Question 10

How was the election of March 1933 conducted?

Answer 10

1) The SA controlled the streets, many Nazi opponents had been locked up.
2) The offices of the SPD and the KPD had been smashed up and their funds confiscated.
3) It had become impossible for the left to organise election meetings and their posters were removed as soon as they were put up.
4) Nazi propaganda machine flooded the country with posters, leaflets, radio broadcasts, election rallies and parades.

Question 11

What were the results of the March 1933 election?

Answer 11

1) The Nazis won 43.9% of the vote, however this was not as much as Hitler had hoped and expected.
2) Despite the violence and intimidation, SPD and communist support had held up remarkably well, as did support for the Centre.
3) The most significant point of the election was the fact that nearly 64% of the electorate didn’t vote for the Nazis.
4) With the support of their DNVP allies, the Nazis now had a Reichstag majority.

Question 12

When was the first meeting of the new Reichstag? What was Hitlers aim for it?

Answer 12

1) 23rd March 1933
2) Hitlers sole aim was to secure the 2/3rds majority needed for his Enabling Act.

Question 13

What was the Enabling Act?

Answer 13

1) A law that would allow him to make laws without the approval of the Reichstag ad without reference to the President, for a period of 4 years.
2) Hitler was also given the power to make treaties with foreign states without the Reichstag’s approval.

Question 14

How did Hitler get the 2/3rds majority for the Enabling Act?

Answer 14

1) By offering the Centre Party the reassurance that he would not use his powers without first consulting Hindenburg, Hitler won its support.

Question 15

When was the Enabling Act passed?

Answer 15

1) 24th March 1933.

Question 16

What was the Nazi policy of Gleichschaltung?

Answer 16

1) ‘Forcing into line’ and was the process through which the Nazis attempted to control or coordinate all aspects of German society.

Question 17

How did the Nazis relationship with the Army change after Hitler consolidated power? What did Hitler do?

Answer 17

1) Hitler knew that the Army was the only force that could remove him from power.
2) On February 3rd 1933, Hitler met with the army’s senior officers and outlined his plans for rearmament.
3) Hitler also took care to reassure the army leaders that, despite pressure from the SA for a Second Revolution, Hitler would not undermine the army’s role as the most important institution in the state.

Question 18

How did Hitler go about creating a one party state (banning parties timeline)?

Answer 18

1) In the Volk, there could be no parties other than the Nazi Party.
2) The KPD was effectively banned after the Reichstag Fire in Feb 1933. Most of the communists who had not been arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps had fled into exile.
3) The SPD was outlawed as a ‘party hostile to the nation and the state’ on June 22nd 1933.
4) The DNVP and Centre Party dissolved themselves. The DNVP on the 27th June and the Centre Party (July 5t)
5) On the 14th of July, the Law against the Formation of New Parties outlawed all non-Nazi political parties.

Question 19

What were the 4 laws passed to centralise Nazi power between 1933-34? State when they were passed and what they did.

Answer 19

1) 31 March 1933 - First Law for the Coordination of the Federal States dissolved the exiting state assemblies and replaced them with Nazi-dominated assemblies.
2) 7th April. 1933 - The Second Law for the Coordination of the Federal States created the new post of the Reich Governor to oversee the government of each state.
3) 30th January 1934 - The Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich took the centralisation process a stage further. State assemblies were abolished and the governments of the states were formally subordinated to the government of the Reich.
4) 14th February 1934 - The Reichstrat was abolished. This was the parliamentary assembly to which the State assemblies sent delegates.

Question 20

Who were Gauleiters and what did they want?

Answer 20

1) They were Nazi leaders at a regional of state level, and they wanted to control local government, hence why many of them took over the roles of Reich Governors within their areas.

Question 21

What did the Nazis regard the Civil Service as?

Answer 21

1) Despite the Civil Service welcoming Nazi rule, the Nazis regarded the civil service as an obstacle to their exercise of dictatorial power

Question 22

Explain the SA’s position before June 1934.

Answer 22

1) In Jan 1933, the SA was the Nazis man instrument of terror and violence. One of the immediate results of the Nazis coming to power was the rapid expansion of the SA.
2) Another result of the Nazis being in power was that the activities of the SA gained legal authority and they also merged with the Stahlhelm to become the auxiliary police.
3) Hitler benefited from the violence of his supporters, but he was not always in control. Much of the SA’s violence against Nazi political opponents was unplanned, uncoordinated and piecemental.
4) In the period from February to June 1933, Hitler was prepared to go with the flow of SA violence. Hitler was also very careful to ensure that the SA did not attack the state itself.
5) Hitler was warning that the SA could become the target for Nazi violence and terror.

Question 23

What did Ernst Rohm make of the Nazi Revolution and its future?

Answer 23

1) Even after Hitler had declared that the Revolution was over, Ernst Rohm and the SA believed that it was far from over, and they wanted to continue with their violence until they had achieved the Second Revolution.

Question 24

What did Rohm hope for the SA?

Answer 24

1) Rohm hoped for the SA to become the nucleus of a new national militia that would eventually absorb the existing army.
2) Rohms forces vastly outnumbered the army with the SA and Stahlhelm having a combined membership of 4.5 million.

Question 25

How did the role and importance of the SA decline?

Answer 25

1) In August 1933 they lost their ‘auxiliary police’ status and were subject to stricter regulations over their powers of arrest

Question 26

Who were the only institution with the power to remove Hitler from office?

Answer 26

1) The Army remained the only institution not loyal to Hitler. The army was loyal to Hindenburg.

Question 27

Why did the army leaders regard the SA and Ernst Rohm as a threat?

Answer 27

1) When SA units began stopping army convoys and confiscating weapons and supplied.

Question 28

How did Von Papen exert pressure onto Hitler? When did this happen?

Answer 28

1) Papen’s speech at Marburg University criticised Nazi excesses, where he called for an end to terror and to clamp down on the SA’s calls for a Second Revolution.
2) His speech was on the 17th June 1934

Question 29

When did Hitler know that he could not cope with the SA no more?

Answer 29

1) In June 1934 Hitler knew that he could not continue to delay taking action against the SA.
2) A ruthless purge of the SA, known as the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ was launched.

Question 30

When was the Night of the Long Knives carried out?

Answer 30

1) 30th June 1934. The SS, acting on Hitler’s orders eliminated the leadership of the SA and many political opponents of the Nazis.

Question 31

1) How many people were executed and arrested on the Night of the Long Knives?
2) Who were some of the key victims?
3) What happened to Von Papen?

Answer 31

1) At least 84 people were executed and over 1000 were arrested.
2) Victims included Rohm and other leaders of the SA. But, Hitler also took the opportunity to settle some old scores, executing General Schleicher, George Strasser and Gustav von Kahr. Members of Papen’s staff were executed.
3) Papen was spared death, however he was placed under house arrest and whatever power he possessed was now destroyed.

Question 32

What major issue did Germany now have in August 1934? How did Hitler want to plan out this situation?

Answer 32

1) President Hindenburg (now 86 years old) was now bedridden, dying of lung cancer.
2) The question of Hindenburg’s succession became a matter of urgency for Hitler. Hindenburg had drawn up a political will where he expressed his preference for a restoration of the monarchy.
3) Hitler aimed to merge the offices of Chancellor and President after Hindenburg’s death, therefore making himself the undisputed head of government and head of state.

Question 33

What had Hindenburg considered doing before his death which would have affected Hitler’s degree of power?

Answer 33

1) Hindenburg had become very concerned by the excesses of the SA that he considered handing power to the army and dismissing Hitler.
2) His views were shared by the army commanders and also by Papen. Hitler was left in no doubt that unless he brought the SA under control, he could not count on the support of the army once Hindenburg had died. This was the trigger that led Hitler to the purge of the SA.

Question 34

1) When did Hindenburg die?
2) What announcement was made following his death?
3) What happened with the army following Hindenburg’s death?

Answer 34

1) Hindenburg died on August 2nd 1934.
2) An announcement was made stating that the office of President would be merged with that of Chancellor was made within an hour of his death.
3) On the same day, officers and soldiers of the army took an oath of allegiance to Hitler.

Question 35

What was held on August 19th 1934?

Answer 35

1) A plebiscite was held to get the German people’s seal of approval on Hitler’s appointment as Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor.
2) 89.9% of the voters approved then change.
3) This was the final act in the Nazi consolidation of power.

Question 36

Explain the role played by Newspapers regarding Nazi propaganda:
1) How many privately owned newspapers were there in Germany in Jan 1933?
2) What happened to socialist & communist newspapers?
3) What did the Nazis do with newspapers?
4) What happened to news agencies?

Answer 36

1) In January 1933, there were 4,700 privately owned newspapers in Germany. Nazi newspapers had limited circulation.
2) Socialist and communist newspapers were closed using the the powers of the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State.
3) The Nazis began to buy up new newspapers and by the end of 1933 they had acquired 27 newspapers.
4) News agencies that supplied the press with information were all merged into a state controlled organisation. The result was that newspapers became bland and conformist, and the circulation figures of any declined.

Question 37

Explain the role played by radio regarding Nazi propaganda:
1) What did radio broadcasts give Hitler?
2) What did Goebbels promote?
3) What happened in April 1934?

Answer 37

1) Radio broadcasts gave Hitler the opportunity to talk directly to the German people, and in 1933 he made over 50 broadcasts. Loudspeakers were set up in town squares so that everyone could hear important speeches.
2) Goebbels promoted the mass production and sale of cheap radio sets. As a result, 70% of German households possessed a radio set by 1939.
2) Goebbels also initiated a purge of those working in radio.
3) In April 1934, all radio stations in Germany were brought under the control of the Reich Radio Company, controlled by the Propaganda Ministry.

Question 38

Explain the role played by film regarding Nazi propaganda:
1) How could film help propaganda?
2) What role did Goebbels play?
3) How many films were produced between 1933-45? What did these films contain?

Answer 38

1) Goebbels understood that film could work on the subconscious, delivering subliminal messaged and reinforcing prejudices.
2) Goebbels was responsible for approving every film made in Germany after 1933. Foreign films had been thoroughly checked for political and racial content. Most American films were banned.
3) Over 1000 feature films were produced in Germany from 1933-45.
4) All films, to some degree contained political messaged. Leadership was glorified; ‘blood and soil’ was a common theme, as was the demonising of Jews and Communists.