Chapter 17- the Radicalisation of the state Flashcards
What does the term ‘radicalisation of the state’ refer to in Nazi Germany? The process by which Nazi racial ideology became more extreme and was implemented more systematically through laws
policies
What were the key phases of Nazi racial policy? 1) Legal discrimination (1933–1935)
2) Systematic persecution and exclusion (1935–1937)
What was the role of the SS in the radicalisation of the Nazi state? The SS played a central role in enforcing racial policy
managing concentration camps
How did Nazi racial policy change after the Anschluss in 1938? Policies intensified; anti-Semitic violence increased
and the number of Jews under Nazi control grew significantly with the annexation of Austria.
What was the impact of Kristallnacht (9–10 November 1938)? Jewish property
synagogues
How did the Nazi regime justify racial policies? Through pseudo-scientific racial theories and propaganda portraying Jews and other groups as threats to the Aryan race and German society.
Which groups were considered “undesirable” or “asocial” by the Nazis? Jews
Roma and Sinti
What was the significance of the 1935 Nuremberg Laws? They institutionalised racial discrimination
prohibiting marriage and sexual relations between Jews and Aryans and stripping Jews of citizenship.
How did Nazi policy treat disabled people in the late 1930s? Under the T4 Program (from 1939)
thousands were murdered through euthanasia as part of Nazi eugenics policy.
How did foreign policy influence the radicalisation of racial policy? Expansion into Eastern Europe gave the Nazis control over more Jews and Slavs
whom they saw as racially inferior
What role did science and medicine play in Nazi radicalisation? Doctors and scientists were involved in eugenics
racial classification
How did the concept of Lebensraum affect Nazi racial thinking? It justified conquest and ethnic cleansing in Eastern Europe to make space for the German master race.
Why did the pace of racial radicalisation increase after 1938? The regime felt more secure
international protest declined
What was the Nazi attitude toward the Roma and Sinti people? They were classified as racially inferior and were subject to forced sterilisation
deportation
How did the German public respond to radical racial policies? Responses varied from passive acceptance to active collaboration
though some protested specific actions (e.g.
