Nazi Germany Summary

Question 1

When did Hitler become Chancellor?

Answer 1

January 1933

Question 2

Why was Hitler’s position weak in January 1933?

Answer 2

Lacked majority, only 2 Nazis in 12-man cabinet, Hindenburg held power

Question 3

What was the Reichstag Fire and when did it occur?

Answer 3

Fire blamed on Communists in Feb 1933, used to justify emergency powers

Question 4

What did the Enabling Act (March 1933) allow?

Answer 4

Hitler could pass laws without Reichstag approval

Question 5

What was the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 5

Purge of SA leadership in June 1934, SS emerged dominant

Question 6

What happened when Hitler became Führer in August 1934?

Answer 6

Merged roles of Chancellor and President, army swore loyalty

Question 7

What was the role of the SS?

Answer 7

Enforced racial policy, ran camps, arrested without trial

Question 8

Who led the Gestapo and what did it do?

Answer 8

Himmler; spied on citizens, arrested and tortured suspects

Question 9

What were Nazi concentration camps like before WWII?

Answer 9

Used for political opponents, forced labor, harsh conditions

Question 10

How did Nazis control the legal system?

Answer 10

Judges loyal to Hitler, death penalties increased

Question 11

Who led Nazi propaganda?

Answer 11

Joseph Goebbels

Question 12

What were key Nazi propaganda messages?

Answer 12

Aryan supremacy, anti-Semitism, nationalism, gender roles

Question 13

How did Nazis control education?

Answer 13

Teachers conformed, curriculum focused on Nazi ideology

Question 14

What were Hitler Youth and League of German Girls?

Answer 14

Nazi youth groups promoting obedience and ideology

Question 15

What was the Nazi view on women’s roles?

Answer 15

Focus on children, kitchen, church (3 Ks)

Question 16

What was Lebensborn?

Answer 16

Program to encourage Aryan births, 11,000 born by 1944

Question 17

How did Nazis deal with the Catholic Church?

Answer 17

1933 Concordat broken, repression of clergy

Question 18

What was the Confessional Church?

Answer 18

Resisted Nazi interference, many pastors arrested

Question 19

What was the Sterilisation Law of 1933?

Answer 19

Compulsory sterilisation for those with hereditary illness

Question 20

What was the Nazi Euthanasia Program?

Answer 20

Murder of disabled; 200,000 killed by 1944

Question 21

Who were ‘asocials’ and what happened to them?

Answer 21

Tramps, beggars, etc., sent to camps with black triangles

Question 22

What happened to homosexuals under the Nazis?

Answer 22

Thousands arrested, castrated, sent to camps

Question 23

How were Roma and Sinti persecuted?

Answer 23

Expelled, interned, 500,000 killed

Question 24

What was Kristallnacht?

Answer 24

1938 pogrom: 91 killed, 800+ shops destroyed, 30,000 arrested

Question 25

What was the Kindertransport?

Answer 25

UK took in 10,000 Jewish children, most parents later died

Question 26

What was the Nazi New Plan?

Answer 26

Schacht's 1934 plan to reduce imports, invest in jobs

Question 27

What was the Four Year Plan?

Answer 27

Goering's 1936 plan for raw material autarky, failed

Question 28

How did Nazis reduce unemployment?

Answer 28

Public works, RAD, conscription, rearmament

Question 29

What was invisible unemployment?

Answer 29

Women, Jews, seasonal workers excluded from figures

Question 30

What was the German Labour Front (DAF)?

Answer 30

Controlled workers, banned strikes, promoted productivity

Question 31

What was Strength Through Joy?

Answer 31

Provided leisure for workers: holidays, education, etc.

Question 32

What was Beauty of Labour?

Answer 32

Improved workplaces but costs fell on workers

Question 33

Who benefited most from Nazi policies?

Answer 33

Big business: IG Farben, coal/steel, profits rose

Question 34

What happened to small businesses (Mittelstand)?

Answer 34

Initially protected, later sacrificed for big business

Question 35

Did farmers benefit under the Nazis?

Answer 35

Suffered from controls, labor shortages, low profits

Question 36

What was the focus of Nazi economy post-1936?

Answer 36

Rearmament and war prep via Four Year Plan

Question 37

Was Germany ready for war in 1939?

Answer 37

No – rationing began immediately, Four Year Plan failed