Nazism Flashcards
(178 cards)
1
Q
When was the Enabling Act passed?
A
24 March 1933
2
Q
When was the First Law for the Coordination of the Federal States passed?
A
31 March 1933
3
Q
When was the Law for the Restoration of a Professional Civil Service passed?
A
7 April 1933
4
Q
When was the Second Law for the Coordination of the Federal States passed?
A
7 April 1933
5
Q
When was the SPD outlawed?
A
22 June 1933
6
Q
What were the SPD outlawed as?
A
A ‘party hostile to the nation and the state’.
7
Q
When did the Centre Party voluntarily disband?
A
5 July 1933
8
Q
When was the Law Against Formation of New Parties passed?
A
14 July 1933
9
Q
When were the elections held in 1933 and what were the results?
A
5 March 1933; Nazis won 43.9%.
12 November 1933; Nazis won 92%.
10
Q
When was the Reichsrat abolished?
A
14 February 1934
11
Q
When was the Night of the Long Knives
A
30 June 1934
12
Q
When did President Hindenburg die?
A
2 August 1934
13
Q
When did Hitler take the title of Fuhrer?
A
19 August 1934
14
Q
What was Hitler’s aim for the national socialist revolution when he came to power on 30 January 1933?
A
The conquest of political power.
15
Q
How did Hitler view the Nazi Party?
A
The ‘racial core’ of the entire German people.
16
Q
Why was the KPD effectively banned?
A
After the Reichstag fire in February, communists who had not been arrested or imprisoned had fled into exile.
17
Q
When did the DNVP voluntarily dissolve?
A
27 June 1933
18
Q
What percentage of German territory did Prussia cover?
A
60%
19
Q
What percentage of the German population lived in Prussia?
A
50%
20
Q
Who did Hitler appoint to the position of Reich Commissioner in Prussia in April 1933?
A
Hermann Goering
21
Q
What is a Gauleiter?
A
A Nazi Party leader at regional or state level. They were the second highest ranking party official behind national (Reich) leaders.
22
Q
Why did many civil servants welcome Hitler’s appointment in January 1933?
A
Many were taken from the army and were conservative-minded, never embracing the democratic values of the Weimar Republic.
23
Q
Why was the civil service’s support for the Nazis misplaced?
A
They thought the Nazis would allow the civil service to be run as it was under the Kaiser, but in reality the Nazis saw them as an obstacle dictatorial power and many civil servants were forced to resign and were replaced with Nazi Party appointees.
24
Q
What was the SA’s role in bringing the civil service under Nazi control?
A
They placed Party officials in government offices to ensure civil servants were carrying out the orders of the regime.
25
What had the SA membership grown to by 1934?
3 million
26
Who was the 'auxiliary police' and when were they formed?
It was a merger of the SA and the Stahlhelm, formed in February 1933.
27
Who was forbidden from interfering with SA activities?
The standard German police.
28
What does Gleichschaltung mean?
The process of Nazification, or, forcing into line.
29
What is the volksgemeinschaft?
The people's community, racially pure, and was central to Nazi ideology.
30
What was the combined SA and Stahlhelm membership by January 1934?
4.5 million
31
Why did the SA's importance decline over 1933?
They lost their 'auxiliary police' status in August 1933 and were now subject to stricter regulations, and there was no need for intimidation during the November elections since the Nazis were the only party.
32
Who was the only institution capable of removing Hitler from power?
The army, and they were loyal to Hindenburg.
33
Who was the only institution capable of removing Hitler from power?
The army, and they were loyal to Hindenburg.
34
Who was the Defence Minister under Hitler initially?
Werner von Blomberg
35
What did the SA begin doing in the summer of 1934 and who considered this a serious threat?
Confiscating army weapons and supplies; army leaders.
36
What did Blomberg do that had Hindenburg's support?
He threatened to declare martial law and give the army power to deal with the SA.
37
Who carried out the events of the Night of the Long Knives?
The SS, acting on Hitler's orders.
38
Who were the targets for the Night of the Long Knives?
The SA leadership and many other political opponents.
38
Who were the targets for the Night of the Long Knives?
The SA leadership and many other political opponents.
39
How many people were executed during the NOTLK?
84
40
How many people were arrested during the NOTLK?
1000
41
Which key figures were dealt with during the NOTLK?
Ernst Rohm, General Schleicher, Gregor Strasser, Gustav von Kahr, and Papen; Papen was spared death and put under house arrest.
42
When Hitler addressed the Reichstag on 13 July about the NOTLK, what was his justification?
He claimed he was compelled to act in order to save the country from an SA coup.
43
What was the army's reaction following the NOTLK and why?
They put their support in Hitler for his decisive action in preventing an SA coup.
44
What was the SA membership by October 1935?
1.6 million
45
What did Hindenburg wish to happen after he died?
He wanted the restoration of the monarchy as expressed in a political will.
46
Why was Hindenburg a threat to Hitler?
He had the army and could theoretically remove Hitler from power.
47
What had Hindenburg considered doing to deal with the SA?
Dismissing Hitler and handing power to the army to deal with them.
48
What was the result of the NOTLK?
Blomberg, Hindenburg, and the army had no objections to Hitler becoming president.
49
When did Hindenburg die?
2 August 1934
50
How long did it take for an announcement to be made saying the office of president would be merged with that of the chancellor?
Within an hour of Hindenburg dying.
51
Other than merging the offices of president and chancellor, what else happened on the day of Hindenburg's death?
The army swore an oath of allegiance to Hitler.
52
What was used to confirm Hitler's appointment as Fuhrer?
A plebiscite was held.
53
When was a plebiscite held and what was it for?
19 August 1934; confirm Hitler as the Fuhrer (leader).
54
What was the result of the plebiscite?
89.9% of voters approved Hitler's new role as Fuhrer.
55
What was the final act in the Nazi consolidation of power?
The plebiscite held on 19 August 1934.
56
Hitler was seen as a 'm___ o___ d______'?
man of destiny
57
Name the four political police forces.
1. SS
2. SA
3. SD
4. Gestapo
58
Who controlled the SS and the SD?
Heinrich Himmler
59
When was Himmler given control of the SS, SD, and Gestapo?
1936
60
What was the Reich Security Department Headquarters (RHSA)?
The organisation that controlled all party and State police organisations and was supervised by the SS.
61
When was the Reich Security Department Headquarters (RHSA) created?
1939
62
What was the role of the SS after Hitler came to power?
Identifying and arresting political prisoners.
63
What role did Himmler assume in 1936?
chief of the German police.
64
What were the key qualities needed in an SS member?
Loyalty, honour, disciplined, racially pure, obedient, strict adherence to Nazi ideology.
65
What was the difference between the SA and the SS?
Terror and violence were used systematically as instruments of the state rather than undisciplined street brawls.
66
What did they do to concentration camp guards?
Brutalised to remove all feelings of humanity towards prisoners.
67
When and where was the first concentration camp opened?
Dachau; March 1933
68
Define asocials.
Those people who did not conform to the Nazi's volksgemeinschaft - beggars, tramps, alcoholics, prostitutes, disabled.
69
What sort of people were the first inmates at Dachau?
Communists, socialists, trade unionists.
70
When was the SD established and why?
1931; to investigate claims that the party had been infiltrated by political enemies. It was the internal security service of the Nazi Party.
71
Who led the SD?
Reinhard Heydrich
72
What was the SD's role after 1933?
Intelligence gathering of public opinion and those who opposed the regime.
73
How many officers did the SD have by 1939?
50,000
74
What is the difference between the SD and the Gestapo?
The SD is a party organisation; the Gestapo a state. This meant the SD was staffed by amateur Nazi Party members, not professional police officers like the Gestapo was.
75
Where was the Gestapo originally based?
In Prussia alone, but Hitler extended them to cover the whole country.
76
How many officers did the Gestapo have by 1939?
20,000
77
Who were the members of the Gestapo?
They were professional police, generally not Nazi Party members, seeing their role as to serve the state.
78
Who were 'block leaders'?
Nazi Party members who acted as informants for the Gestapo, spying on neighbours and workmates and reporting suspicious activity.
79
Was the reality of the Gestapo or the impression more significant?
The impression; people believed they had informers everywhere and acted accordingly when in reality they did not.
80
Why did judges and lawyers pose a problem for the Nazis?
The actions of the SA and SS were illegal and many prosecutions against stormtroopers were brought by lawyers determined to uphold the law.
81
Did the Nazis dismiss lots of judges and lawyers?
No.
82
How did the Nazis coordinate the justice system?
Merging all of the professional associations of lawyers into the Front of German Law in April 1933. Also, they set up Special Courts and Peoples Courts to deal with political crimes.
83
When was the Front of German Law created?
April 1933
84
When were Special Courts sets up?
1933
85
When were People's Courts set up?
April 1934
86
What sat on the Special and People's courts?
3 Nazi judges and 2 professional judges.
87
How did Special and People's courts differ from normal courts?
They had no juries and defendants could not appeal their sentences.
88
How many people were tried by the People's Court between 1934 and 1939?
3400
89
What did the First Law for the Coordination of the Federal States do?
Dissolved the existing state assemblies and replaced them with Nazi-dominated ones.
90
What law was passed on 31 March 1933?
First Law for the Coordination of the Federal States.
91
What did the Second Law for the Coordination of the Federal States do?
Created the post of Reich Governor to oversee the government of each state, ensuring they followed Nazi policies.
92
What law was passed in 7 April 1933?
Second Law for the Coordination of the Federal States.
93
What happened on 22 June 1933?
SPD outlawed as a party hostile to the nation and the state.
94
What happened on 5 July 1933?
Centre Party voluntarily disbanded.
95
What happened on 14 July 1933?
Law Against Formation of New Parties passed.
96
What happened on 30 January 1934?
Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich passed.
97
What happened on 14 February 1934?
Reichsrat abolished.
98
What happened on 19 August 1934?
Plebiscite held; 89.9% of voters confirm Hitler as the Fuhrer.
99
Was the Nazi regime able to gain acceptance from a majority of the public?
Yes.
100
Did German people generally agree life under the Third Reich was preferable to life in the last years of the Weimar Republic?
Yes.
101
Why were the left not able to pose a threat to the Nazi regime?
They were bitterly divided, with the KPD attacking the SPD as 'social-fascists'.
102
What had happened to SPD members and leaders by the end of 1933?
Murdered, arrested, or fled into exile.
103
What did the SPD leadership continue to do after 1933?
They continued to operate underground, establishing small, secret cells of supporters in factories.
104
Who ran the SPD, from where did they run it, and what methods did they use?
Ernst Schumacher ran the party from exile in Prague. They smuggled propaganda leaflets across the border and ran some small city-based groups, such as the Berlin Red Patrol.
105
Who were the Berlin Red Patrol?
A small group of SPD activists who operated underground, resisting the Nazis.
106
What was the aim of the SPD and the KPD after 1933?
To simply survive and prepare for a future collapse of the regime rather than mount a challenge.
107
What percentage of KPD members were killed in 1933?
10%
107
What percentage of KPD members were killed in 1933?
10%
108
What was unique about the German workforce before 1933?
It was the largest and most unionised in Europe.
109
What was the German Labour Front (DAF)?
The organisation that absorbed all trade unions in Germany.
110
How many strikes were recorded in 1937?
250
111
How long did the Opel car factory strike last in 1936 and what was the outcome?
17 minutes; 7 ringleaders were arrested by the Gestapo.
112
What methods did workers employ to show their dissatisfaction?
Strikes, absenteeism, slow working, sabotage of machinery.
113
What happened at the munitions plant in Gleiwitz in 1938?
The Gestapo arrested 114 workers for absenteeism and slow working.
114
What was the Confessional Church and when was it formed?
Formed in 1934, this was an organisation of pastors who resisted Nazi efforts to coordinate them into the Reich Church.
115
What is the Aryan paragraph?
The part of the 1933 Law for the Reconstruction of the Professional Civil Service that stated those who were not of Aryan birth had to be dismissed from their jobs.
116
How many pastors had been imprisoned by 1937?
700
117
What did the Catholic Church do in March 1937 to resist the Nazis?
A document entitled 'With Burning Greif' was issued by the pope, smuggled into the country and printed secretly, and read out from the church pulpit to condemn Nazi hatred of the church.
118
What did the Catholic Church do in March 1937 to resist the Nazis?
A document entitled 'With Burning Greif' was issued by the pope, smuggled into the country and printed secretly, and read out from the church pulpit to condemn Nazi hatred of the church.
119
What was the extent of resistance from the Catholic church?
They did not move beyond a narrow defence of its independence to a wider opposition to Nazism.
120
When was membership of the Hitler Youth made compulsory?
1936
121
What did Gleichschaltung want to eliminate?
Individuality
122
How did youths resist the Nazis?
Let their HY membership lapse; refusing to attend weekly meetings; singing banned songs; forming gangs such as the Meuten gangs in Leipzig that were political.
123
What was the reaction of the elites to Hitler and the Nazis?
They broadly shared Hitler's aims for Germany but disapproved of his methods. The army and the civil service had a strong tradition of serving the state no matter who was in charge, and therefore would not resist Hitler.
124
What plans did Hitler reveal in November 1937?
He wanted to form a union with Austria (Anschluss) and invade Czechoslovakia both within a year.
125
Who doubted the plans that Hitler revealed in November 1937?
Defence Minister Werner von Blomberg and Commander-in-Chief General Fritsch.
126
What happened to the people who opposed Hitler's plans that he revealed in November 1937?
They were purged and replaced with compliant generals within three months.
127
By the end of 1933, what was the circulation of Nazi-owned newspapers?
2.4 million a day.
128
What was the benefit of radio to Hitler?
He could speak directly to the people.
129
How many broadcasts did Hitler make in 1933?
50
130
How did the Nazis ensure Hitler's broadcasts were heard?
Speakers were set up in town squares and factories, and Goebbels promoted the mass production of radios.
131
What proportion of households possessed a radio by 1939?
70% - highest in the world.
132
What happened to all radio stations in April 1934?
They were brought under the control of the Reich Radio Company, controlled by the Propaganda Ministry.
133
When was the Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda established?
March 1933
134
Who was the head of the Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda?
Joseph Goebbels
135
What did Goebbels have to do with every film made after 1933?
He had to personally approve it.
136
How many films made between 1933 and 1945 were political?
Only 14%
137
What did Goebbels say his aim for propaganda was?
"we want to work on people until they have ceased to resist us."
138
When was the Reich Radio Company created?
April 1934
139
What is the RHSA?
Reich Security Department Headquarters (1939)
140
What is the Sipo and who controlled it?
Security police; Heydrich
141
What was the role of the SS after the NOTLK?
Identifying and arresting political prisoners and managing the entire police system and concentration camps after 1936.
142
How many Germans were out of work in January 1933?
6 million
143
What was unemployment levels at by 1935?
2 million
144
What is Autarky?
economic independence
145
Why did Hitler want to fix the German economy?
Boost popularity, consolidate power.
146
Who was in charge of the Nazi's economic plan between 1933-1936?
Hjalmar Schacht
147
What roles did Hjalmar Schacht hold?
President of the Reichsbank and Economics Minister.
148
What did Hjalmar do to stimulate the economy?
Build homes and autobahns; gave tax concessions and grants.
149
What was the Mefo bill?
A government scheme whereby the German government paid by credit notes.
150
What was the significance of the autobahns?
Visible sign of economic revival, national renewal, and allowed for the transportation of military.
151
What was the first economic priority for the Nazis?
Reduce unemployment.
152
What was the Reich Labour Service and when was it introduced?
1935; unemployed young men were compelled to do six months' labour.
153
Why might the economic gains under the Nazis not be so impressive?
The economy was recovering already when they came to power, as it was all over Europe. Although their measures may have sped up the process.
154
When was the New Plan and what did it do?
1934; controlled imports and access to foreign currency as the balance of payments deficit increased.
155
What did Schacht do with foreign countries?
Made trade agreements with South America whereby Germany received raw materials and the South Americas got Reichmarks - they could only spend that currency buying German goods.
156
What were Mefo bills?
Credit notes that could be exchanged for money, however they increased in value by 4% per annum meaning people were incentivised not to cash them in. This meant the government could fund their rearmament without actually paying for it in 1935, and it was also kept a secret as Mefo bills were not official expenditure.
157
What problems arose between 1935-1936?
Food shortages, rising prices, lower living standards.
158
What was the 'guns or butter' ultimatum?
The Nazis could resolve the food shortage problem through imports but this would use up reserves for the rearmament programme.
159
What solved the 'guns or butter' problem?
Autarky; this led to the Four Year Plan in 1936 which Schacht opposed, and so he was replaced by Hermann Goering.
160
What two economic plans were introduced by the Nazis, and their years?
New Plan, 1934; Four Year Plan, 1936.
161
What was the explicit aim of the Four Year Plan?
Get the country ready for war within four years through autarky; although war was implicit in the Nazi vision of lebensraum, this was the first explicit indication of war.
162
How did the Four Year Plan aim to reach autarky?
State owned industrial plants (Hermann Goering Steelworks), managed economy, production targets for private companies.
163
What would autarky do, according to the Nazis? (quote)
Nazi Party programme: "free Germany from the chains of international capital".
164
What did propaganda do with respects to the economy?
Encourage people to buy only German products as a patriotic duty.
165
What campaign was launched in 1937 to help with shortages in raw materials?
A scheme to collect scrap metal from people's homes and public spaces to be melted down. It was collected by the Hitler Youth.
166
How much raw material did Germany import in 1939?
A third of its total - the success of autarky did not match the propaganda claims.
167
What state was the German economy in by 1939?
It was under severe strain as it did not have the resources to meet the Nazi's aims.
168
Why was the state-owned Hermann Goering Steelworks established?
Many private steel works were reluctant to use poor-quality and expensive German iron ore when imports were better and cheaper. The Nazis therefore set the company up to bypass the private firms that refused to invest in the vision of autarky.
169
When had unemployment rates actually started to improve and why?
In the early 1930s because of the policies introduced by Chancellor Heinrich Bruning.
170
What did the Nazis do to women to exaggerate the victory of the 'battle for work'?
They granted employed married women marriage loans to get them to quit their jobs and free them up for men.
171
What was the reported number of unemployed and the actual number by 1936?
1.6 million; over 3 million.
172
What did Nazi propaganda emphasise to German citizens was their duty?
Work longer hours and accept a squeeze on their wages in the interest of the 'people's community'.
173
What happened to prices during the 1930s?
They increased, meaning that even though wages may have gone up for some workers, they were no better off.
174
What strains did the German people experience because of the drive for autarky?
Longer working hours, higher prices, squeeze on wages, product shortages.
175
Where is the 'aryan paragraph' found?
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, 7 April 1933
176
G_____sch______
Gleichschaltung
