DS3 Flashcards
(32 cards)
1
Q
The SS
A
- led by Heinrich Himmler
- formed in 1925
- Waffen-SS: elite armoured
- Death’s Head Units: concentration camps and Jews
2
Q
The gestapo
A
- secret state police
- led by Reinhard Heydrich (later by Himmler)
- powers to arrest people and send them to concentration camps without trial or explanation
3
Q
The police and courts
A
- top police jobs given to high-ranking Nazis, reporting to Himmler
- introductions given to ignore crimes committed by Nazi agents
- nazis controlled magistrates and judge, so opponents of Nazism couldn’t receive fair trials
4
Q
Concentration camps
A
- for Jews, socialists, communists, trade-unionists, churchmen and critics of the nazis
- usually in isolated rural areas
- run by SS Death Head Units
- hard Labour
- limited food
- harsh discipline
- beatings
-random executions - death increasingly common from the late 1930s
5
Q
What was the army bomb plot
A
- an attempt to overthrow hitler in July 1944
- led by army officers who thought the war was lost and hitler was leading Germany to ruin - including colonel Von stauffenberg
- the plan: blow up hitler in his conference room, close down radio stations, round up Nazi leaders, take over Germany
- result: a failure, hitler survived and killed 5000 people in reprisals
6
Q
How did nazis deal with the churches
A
- concordat with the Catholic Church 1933: they stay out of politics, he leaves them alone and allows them to run Catholic schools
- the official Reich church: an attempt to get all Protestant churches to come together in one church
7
Q
Church people that spoke against the nazis
A
- hitler did not uphold Concordat so pope denounced nazism as anti-Christian and criticised the nazis for their abuse on human rights
- bishop galen: catholic, criticised and protested against nazis for the killing of disabled people, meaning nazis had to temporarily stop due to his support
- pastor martin Niemöller formed an alternative Protestant church to the official Reich church and spent time in concentration camps as a result
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer: helped Niemöller, stopped by Gestapo from preaching against nazis, helped Jews escape Germany and involved with army intelligence services who apposed nazis. Arrested and hung in 1945
8
Q
Why did Hitler seek to control all forms of the media
A
- to continually put across a limited number of ideas
- control of media ensured that the ideas and messages o those opposed to Hitler’s values and ideas were not spread
- to ensure that non-Nazi ideas were no heard so that only the Nazi message was heard and that there was no alternative way
- to show ho popular hitler and the Nazis were and to motivate the ordinary nazi
9
Q
How did nazis manipulate culture and mass media
A
- Nuremberg rallies
- Berlin olympics
- books
- art
- newspapers
- cinema
- music
- posters
- radio: cheap radios available for all, loudspeakers in bars and streets for those who couldn’t afford them, repetition of Hitler’s speeches so often they came to be believed
10
Q
The Nuremberg rallies
A
- bands, marching, flying displays, brilliant speeches by hitler
- people liked the colour and excitement
- a sense of belonging to a great movement
- demonstrated the power of the state
- emphasis on order out of chaos
11
Q
1936 Berlin olympics
A
- Hitler wanted to show that Germany was superior and that the Aryan race was superior than all others
- foreign visitors were highly impressed with the excellence of the facilities and the efficiency of the organisation
- German team won more medals than any other team
- star of the games was Jesse owens, a black American who was the best athlete there and outshon the Aryan athletes
- foreign visitors saw the whole thing as blatant propaganda and were shocked by the overt presence of army and SS
12
Q
Nazi attitude to women
A
- traditional roles: wife and mother, support for husband,resentment against working women
- mothers received award for how many children they had
- late 1930s Germany needed more female workers as all of the unemployed men were drying up s many women had to go to work as well as look after their families
13
Q
How successful were Nazi policies towards women and the family
A
- birth rate increased by 45%
- full employment of males was acheived until unemployment levels almost disappeared by 1939
- there were 1.2 million more women working after 6 years of Nazi rule than there had been in 1933, this was a result of war economy
- many women objected to their role as second class citizens and objected to giving up work, especially those in professions where years of training had taken place and joined opposite parties like the communists
14
Q
How did the nazis bring about economic recovery
A
- Hitler was lucky that the west of the depression was over by 1933
- Dr Hjalmar Schacht reorganised finances to fund a work creation programme
- national labour service employed men on public works
- Hitler reintroduced conscription to the army in 1935
- coal mining increased. He recovered the Saar coalfield
- the luftwaffe was created and there was a rapid increase in submarines and naval ships
15
Q
Why did Hitler launch the 4-year plan for the German economy in 1936
A
- to create employment
- to increase co-operation with industrial giants
- in 1936, goering was put in charge of plan to prepare Germany for war. This meant recruiting more for the armed forces, producing the weapons of war and breaking the terms of the ToV
- hitler wanted German to be self-sufficient
16
Q
What was the policy of autarky
A
- the policy of making German self-sufficient
- hitler wanted to stop Germany being dependent on imports
- goering was given the task of making Germany self-sufficient within 4 years. There was an increase in internal production of key commodities such as iron, steel, coal and food
- controls were put on imports
17
Q
Why were the nazis able to reduce unemployment
A
- national labour service for men to work on public works projects such as building a network of autobahns and railways
- reintroduced conscription in 1935 and therefore reduced unemployment
- jobs were created in coal mines, steel works and textile mills with the need for weapons, equipment and uniforms
- women, Jews and minority groups were all encouraged to give up their jobs s that Aryan men could occupy them
- they didn’t count those categories as unemployment
18
Q
Positives of how the workers fared under the nazis
A
- beauty of labour movement: improved working conditions in factories
- strength through joy office (KDF): schemes to provide cheap theatre and cinema tickets, courses, trips and sports events
- Volkswagen Beetle affordable car (no one ended up receiving one)
- propaganda: praised the workers and associated them with hitler
- four year plan benefitted make workers promising and delivering lower unemployment
19
Q
Negatives of how the German workers faired under the nazis
A
- their main political party (SDP) was banned
- trade unions were banned and strikes were not allowed
- all workers were forced to join the vernal labour front run by Dr Robert ley, which kept strict control of workers
- peoples working Ed increased and yet wages were lower in 1935 than they had ben in 1928
20
Q
How did farming communities fare under the nazis (positive)
A
- the Reich food estate 1933, run by Richard darre: central boards to buy agricultural produce from farmers and distribute it to markets, giving peasants a guaranteed income
- Reich entailed farm law: banks not allowed to seize farmer’s lands if they could not repay loans or mortgages
21
Q
How did farming communities fare under the nazis (negative)
A
- Reich food estate held back efficient farmers
- banks were unwilling to lend farmers money because of the Reich entailed farm law
- many farmers children left the countryside to find better paid work in industry, resulting in rural depopulation of about 3% per year in the 1930s
22
Q
Was hitler in total control of Germany (positives)
A
- nazis kept control by using propaganda so that they could get their message across: mass media was controlled and only put forward the view of hitler and the Nazis
- enabling laws gave Hitler power to crush opposition
- Gestapo hunted down opposition and had the powers to spy and imprison whoever they wanted ordinary Germans were to scared to say anything against the Nazis
23
Q
Was hitler was in total control of Germany (negatives)
A
- some youths rejected nazi ideas and in particular the activities of the Hitler youth: Swing movement were regarded as delinquents by the nazis for dressing differently and favouring jazz music. The nazis found it difficult to control the eidelweiss pirates who totally rejected authority and beat up hitler youth and made anti Nazi slogans as protest
- white rose movement who actively opposed nazis and emigrated as they were silenced
- July plot was a failed assassination attempt from army on hitler
- church oppostion
24
Q
Why wasn’t there much opposition to the nazis
A
- terror: opponents were killed or imprisoned or scared into submission
- Nazi successes: many admired nazis for restoring German economy, reinforcing traditional values, destroying communism, overturning ToV and strong foreign policy
- hitler offered them leadership which would steer them to stability and prosperity following the Great Depression. Hitler brought economic recovery and reduced unemployment
- economic fears: fears that workers would lose their jobs if they expressed opposition or businesses going bankrupt if they didn’t contribute to Nazi party funds
- propaganda: many didn’t find out about the bad things that were happening, or heard about them with a pro-Nazi slant so maintain a positive image of hitler
25
How far did hitler gain support of the German people by 1939
- was popular for creating a range of jobs
- Strength through joy programme provided opportunities for the low paid to take holidays and other cheap luxuries
- overturned ToV which was popular: refused to pay reparations, remilitarised Rhineland and achieved Anschluss
- however, Jews did not like his policies towards them and many Germans felt uncomfortable about his actions
- he didn’t have full control of people as he needed police force to control them
- workers had no rights and wages were low
26
What happened to Jews in Nazi Germany
- banned from civil service and there were boycotts of jewish shops and businesses
- Nuremberg laws 1935: removed German citizenship from Jews, forbade Jews to marry or have children sex with pure-blooded Germans
- Kristellnacht November 1938: the murder of a German diplomat by a Jew in Paris was used as an excuse to take violent revenge. SS smashed up jewish shops and businesses, burned synagogues, murdered 91 Jews and sent 20,000 to concentration camps, thousands left Germany
- ghettos: Jews were forced to live here in Poland
- mass murder: millions shot
- concentration camps
27
Why were the Jews persecuted by the nazis
- Aryan race was superior to all other races
- throughout Europe, Jews had experienced discrimination for hundreds of years
- blamed Jews for death of Christ although this ain’t a strong reason for the Nazis
- in hitlers years of poverty in Vienna, he became obsessed with the fact that Jews an all the rich businesses and this offended his idea of the superiority of aryans
28
Why dis nazis persecute minorities in Germany in the 1930s
- aryans were superior
- in hitlers years of poverty in Vienna h saw all the Jews opened the rich businesses
- nazis persecuted any group that challenged their ideals
- Nazi propaganda blamed Jews for WW1
- communists accused of undermining Germany efforts in WW1
- slavic people just considered inferior
29
How successful was the Nazi regime in dealing with opposition
- SS and Gestapo spread fear and kept people in check
- assassination attempt on hitler failed and all involved were executed
- young people rebelled and some were arrested and executed in public
- any one who led a rebel group was executed
- church opposition were sent to concentration camps or killed
30
Attitude towards young people
- Hitler wanted to create a strong Germany where German people gave him hire unquestioning loyalty
- by winning the hearts and minds of young people hitler would be securing the future because when these young people reached adulthood they would support Hitler’s policies without question
31
Schools
- lessons revolved around Nazi ideology and Aryan superiority
- PE was tripe times more important especially for boys to prepare them for war
- domestic science for girls to prepare them for motherhood
- teachers had to swear an oath of loyal to hitler
- Mein kampf was in all classrooms and students had to start and end their lessons with heil hitler
32
Youth organisations
- hitler youth was popular as it offered many outdoor activities to prepare for adult life in the armed forces
- league of German maidens: activities to prepare girls for their roles as mother in German society
