Establishing a Dictatorship (1933-34) Flashcards
(43 cards)
1
Q
List 8 obstacles that stopped Hitler from having absolute power as soon as he became chancellor.
A
- Civil rights stopped the Nazis from intimidating their opponents
- Germany had a federal system of government, so the national government was limited in power
- Other political parties
- Trade unions
- The press could criticise the government
- Hindenburg
- The army, especially since it was suspicious of the SA
- Radicals within the Nazi party
2
Q
What made up the ‘legal revolution’?
A
- The Reichstag Fire
- The March 1933 elections
- The Day of Potsdam
- The Enabling Act
3
Q
When did the Reichstag fire happen?
A
- Late February 1933
4
Q
What caused the Reichstag fire?
A
- It is still disputed whether it was started by van der Lubbe, a Dutch communist, or the Nazis, who used him as a scapegoat
5
Q
What 2 things did the Nazis do in response to the Reichstag fire?
A
- They instructed the police to raid the offices of the KPD, and 4000 were arrested
- Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to declare a state of emergency, which then allowed Hitler to pass decrees
6
Q
What decree did Hitler pass in February 1933, and what 3 things did it contain?
A
- The Reichstag Fire Decree
- It suspended individual rights and the freedom of the press
- The government could now imprison people without charging them with a specific crime
- The government was also given the power to enforce law and order in the states, undermining the state governments (some of these were power bases for rival political parties)
7
Q
What did Hitler do after the Reichstag fire?
A
- He convinced Hindenburg to hold elections in early March
8
Q
Why did Hitler want to hold elections so early? Give 2 details.
A
- Hitler wanted to win more seats to control the Reichstag
- The coalition between the Nazis and nationalists controlled around 40% of the seats
- Hitler needed 50% support to pass laws, and a two-thirds majority to change the constitution
9
Q
What 4 actions did the Nazis take to ensure they won a greater proportion of the seats in the March 1933 elections?
A
- Hitler used his emergency powers to arrest opponents
- The SA terrorised the Nazis’ political opponents- 69 people were killed during the campaign
- They used their growing control of the media to spread the idea that the KPD was planning a revolution
- Hitler waited until after the elections to ban the KPD to split left-wing support between the SPD and KPD
10
Q
What were the results of the March 1933 elections?
A
- The Nazis won 44% of the seats
- The Nazis had over 50% with the combined seats from the DNVP (52), but this still wasn’t two-thirds
- Hitler used his emergency powers to ban the KPD from taking their 81 seats
11
Q
Other than the lack of a two-thirds majority, what other issue did the March 1933 elections cause the Nazis?
A
- Hindenburg was concerned by the use of violence by the SA in the lead up to the election
12
Q
What 2 things did Hitler do to assuage Hindenburg’s fears?
A
- Hitler instructed his followers to stop the violence 5 days after the election
- The Day of Potsdam
13
Q
What was the Day of Potsdam? Give 4 details.
A
- The opening of the Reichstag by Hindenburg and Hitler
- Hitler showed Hindenburg respect and deference throughout the service
- Hindenburg was in full military uniform (representing the old Germany) while Hitler was wearing a frock coat and top hat (representing the new Germany to appeal to the middle classes)
- This ceremony showed that Hitler was accepted by the old government, and it made the Nazis look respectable to both deputies in the Reichstag and the general public
14
Q
What did Hitler do after the elections? Give 2 details about it.
A
- He put forward an Enabling Act
- This would give him dictatorial powers as he would be able to pass laws without the Reichstag
- However, as his plans required changing the constitution, he needed a two-thirds majority in the Reichstag to support this
15
Q
What 5 things did Hitler do in order to pass the Enabling Act?
A
- All 81 KPD deputies were not allowed to enter the Kroll Opera House (where the debate was being held)
- 26 SPD deputies were also not allowed to enter
- Hitler promised to respect the rights of the Catholic Church to win the support of the ZP
- The SA surrounded the chamber to intimidate deputies
- Hitler convinced the deputies that the law was only temporary as it was intended to last for 4 years
16
Q
How many voted in favour of and against the Enabling Act?
A
- 444 in favour
- 94 against- all of the SPD
17
Q
When was the Enabling Act passed?
A
- Late March 1933
18
Q
Who could have stopped Hitler, and why didn’t they?
A
- Hindenburg was too old and sick, and knew Hitler taking power was inevitable
- The SPD had respected Hitler’s position as chancellor as although they disagreed with his actions, they knew he had a legal right to be chancellor
- The KPD had believed that Hitler’s government would only be temporary
19
Q
What was Gleichschaltung? How was this term used?
A
- Meant ‘integration’ or ‘bringing into line’
- The Nazis used this term to refer to dealing with powerful groups that threatened Hitler’s power
20
Q
Which 3 groups did the Nazis believe they needed to control as part of Gleichschaltung?
A
- Landtage; regional parliaments
- Political parties
- Trade unions
21
Q
List 4 reasons why trade unions threatened Hitler’s power.
A
- They had mass membership
- They had strong links with socialism and Catholicism
- They were the group that were the most hostile to Hitler
- The Kapp Putsch had been ended by a general strike
22
Q
What were 2 impacts the Great Depression had on trade unions, and how did this affect their relations with the Nazis?
A
- Their membership went down
- Members were less willing to strike
- This meant they were willing to work with the Nazis to try to survive
23
Q
What 4 things did Hitler do in response to the threat trade unions posed to him?
A
- On 2nd May 1933, trade union headquarters were occupied by the SA/ SS
- Union funds were confiscated
- Leaders were arrested and sent to early concentration camps
- He abolished trade unions, and absorbed them into the DAF (the German Labour Front)
24
Q
How did Hitler neutralise regional parliaments?
A
- March 1933: Länder lost most of their power and could only carry out federal laws
- April 1933: Reich governors (Nazi regional leaders) were introduced, who answered directly to Hitler
- January 1934: Hitler abolished the Länder altogether
25
What position had the Reich governors had previously?
- Most of them had been Gauleiters
- Their job as Gauleiters had been to organise the Nazi Party within their region
26
What were 5 steps Hitler took to deal with political parties?
- The KPD had been banned since the elections
- Hitler banned the SPD in June 1933
- June 1933: major parties dissolved themselves
- July 1933: the ZP dissolved itself due to pressure from the Nazis and promises to uphold the rights of the Catholic Church
- 14th July 1933: all parties other than the Nazis were banned, and the formation of new parties was also forbidden
27
List 4 reasons why some Nazis saw Röhm as a threat.
- The SA represented the more working-class section of the Nazi Party, so they reflected the socialist aspects of Nazism
- Röhm did not like Hitler's willingness to compromise with the aristocracy
- He felt that a new elite should be created from the people who had served on the from lines in WW1, rather than the traditional elites
- He was the second most powerful Nazi in the movement in the early 1930s
28
What view did Röhm have that angered a particular group that was important? Which group was this?
- Röhm wanted to either replace the army with the SA, or give the SA equal status to the army, as he saw the SA as a 'people's army' led by the 'front generation', which angered the army
29
What were 2 reasons why the army so concerned about the SA?
- It had 2 million members
- The head of the army, Werner von Blomberg, saw the SA as undisciplined, working-class thugs
30
What event concerned the army about the SA, why, and what did they do as a result?
- As Hindenburg had been an army general, the army knew he would protect them from radical Nazis
- In June 1934, Hindenburg's health started to decline
- Army leaders began to discuss a new government with von Papen in charge in order to end Hitler's power and ensure that the revolution Röhm wanted never happened
31
Who within the Nazi Party was against Röhm, and why?
- Himmler wanted the SS to become more powerful than the SA
- Göring wanted to Nazify the army and lead it, instead of getting rid of it
32
What was the SS, and why was it created? Describe its members.
- The Schutzstaffel
- It was originally a subdivision of the SA created to guard Hitler in 1925
- They were younger than SA members (they had been children during the war), were usually middle-class, well-educated, organised and disciplined
33
What did Hitler do in response to the issues that the army had with the SA, when, and why?
- In June 1934, von Papen made a speech that strongly criticised the SA, which clearly threatened the Nazis and indicated that he had the army's support
- Hitler therefore made a deal with the army; he would remove Röhm and SA leaders, and respect the rights of the army in return for their support after Hindenburg's death
- In late June, Hitler allowed the purging of the SA
34
How was the SA purged? Give 3 details.
- Himmler and Göring drew up a death list of around 80 of the Nazis' enemies, the majority of which were SA leaders
- The SS and soldiers from the army killed the people on the list and arrested others from 30th June to 2nd July 1934
- It became known as the 'Night of the Long Knives'
35
What happened to Röhm and other SA leaders?
- Röhm was given the option to commit suicide, but refused and was shot
- The other SA leaders were executed as well
36
How many people were killed during the Night of the Long Knives, and why? Give 2 details. How many were arrested?
- 85
- Over a thousand
- Senior conservatives were also killed, such as von Schleicher and 2 of von Papen's advisers
- Nazis who had been sympathetic towards Röhm's cause of having a second revolution were also purged, such as Gregor Strasser, who had been a leading Nazi
37
What happened to the SA after the Night of the Long Knives? Give 2 details.
- Hitler appointed a new leader who was entirely loyal to him
- 100,000 of its members were expelled in August and September 1934
38
How did Hitler manage to get away with the Night of the Long Knives? Give 3 details.
- He passed the Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defence on 3rd July 1934 legalising it
- The army supported it
- Hindenburg even thanked him for it
39
When did Hindenburg die, and what did Hitler do in response?
- 2nd August 1934
- Hitler merged the position of chancellor and president to create the position of Führer
- The position of president was abolished which, according to Nazi propaganda, was done out of respect for Hindenburg
40
How did Hitler consolidate his control over the army?
- On 2nd August 1934, they swore an oath of loyalty to him specifically, which von Blomberg himself had offered to make
41
What extra benefit did the Night of the Long Knives and Hindenburg's death have for Hitler?
- The traditional nationalists had lost their power as von Papen was also arrested (he later resigned from the post of vice-chancellor and became ambassador to Austria, which removed him from German politics)
42
In what 3 ways did Hitler keep up an appearance of having a democratic government from 1933 onwards, and why?
- The Nazis continued to hold elections to the Reichstag and it continued to meet, but since only the Nazi party was the only party, all of the deputies were Nazis
- Hitler did this as the Reichstag had been an important part of Germany since 1871, so abolishing it would have been unpopular
- The Enabling Act was renewed every 4 years (in 1937 and 1941) to make the Nazi regime seem legitimate so the public would follow it
- The Nazis argued their policies were a continuation of the past's
43
How were the Nazis able to argue that their policies were a continuation of the past's? Give 4 examples.
- The 1922 Law for the Protection of the Republic set a precedent for the banning of political parties
- The regular use of Article 48
- The use of the army and Freikorps against communist rebels by Ebert
- The Kaiser's government had allowed the creation and use of concentration camps in Africa
