Germany Post-Hitler Flashcards
Describe the main features of the Enabling Act
-Can rule without consulting Reichstag for 4 years
-Required a two-thirds majority
-Banned all parties except Nazis (later in year)
MARCH 1933
Briefly describe the work of Goebbels
- He was Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda from 1933 until his suicide in 1945
- He controlled all media including press, music, literature etc.
- He made radios cheap so people could have easy access to Nazi ideals
- Book burning in May 1933 in Berlin
What steps did Hitler take to solve unemployment in Germany?
- Allowed the DAF trade union to organise “Strength through Joy” programmes involving holidays and other rewards
- Built huge Autobahns
- Conscription
Briefly describe the Hitler Youth movement
- Founded in 1926
- 100,000 members by 1933
- Hitler Youth Law in 1936 made it compulsory
- Members were encouraged to report parents and teachers
- Boys did physical training
- Girls were prepared for motherhood
Briefly describe the methods used by the Nazis to deal with their opponents within Germany
- Gestapo - brutal police force who could arrest without trial
- Concentration camps (later death camps)
- SS became main Nazi security force after purge of SA -national security -elite Waffen SS -Death’s Head Unit
- Nazified courts from 1933 onwards
What were the main features of the Nazi police state?
- Gestapo - brutal police force who could arrest without trial
- Concentration camps (later death camps)
- SS became main Nazi security force after purge of SA -national security -elite Waffen SS -Death’s Head Unit
- Nazified courts from 1933 onwards
What were the main features of the education of German children between 1933 and 1945?
- Emphasis on physical fitness training for boys
- Girls taught how to be mothers
- Biology used to teach racial beliefs
- History used to teach success of Nazi party
Describe how the Nazis tried to win the loyalty of young people in Germany
- Propaganda
- Hitler Youth - made it exciting and appealing
- Education - brought them up with Nazi views
Describe what happened during and immediately after the Reichstag Fire
Van der Lubbe (a communist) was found guilty of burning down the Reichstag in Feb 1933. Hitler used this to ban the communist party which allowed him to win a majority at the March elections
Describe the propaganda methods used by the government
- All media was controlled including press, music, literature etc.
- Radios were made cheap so people could have easy access to Nazi ideals
- Book burning in May 1933 in Berlin
- Nuremburg rallies
- 1936 Berlin Olympics used to publicise and promote German (particularly Aryan) efficiency and supremacy
What did the Nazis do to reduce unemployment?
- Allowed the DAF trade union to organise “Strength through Joy” programmes involving holidays and other rewards
- Built huge Autobahns
- Conscription
How did the Enabling Act benefit Hitler?
-Allowed him to rule without consulting Reichstag for 4 years - now a dictator
-Allowed him to ban all parties except Nazis (later in year)
MARCH 1933
Describe the role of women in Nazi Germany
- They were seen as childbearers so contraception was discouraged
- Smoking, make-up, fashion etc. were all banned
- Mother Cross award for having children (bronze-four, silver-six, gold-eight)
Describe how some church leaders opposed the Nazis
- Agreed until Hitler broke the Concordat by cancelling the Catholic Youth movement to make way for the Hitler Youth
- Pope publicly denounced Nazis as anti-Christian
- Hitler sent nuns and priests to concentration camps
- Hitler set up the Reich church which uupset the Protestant church
What was the Hitler Youth?
- Founded in 1926
- 100,000 members by 1933
- Hitler Youth Law in 1936 made it compulsory
- Members were encouraged to report parents and teachers
- Boys did physical training
- Girls were prepared for motherhood
