Opposition, Control And Consent Nazis Flashcards
How did Brüning, working w/ Hindenburg, use Article 48 to control extremism?
- 7 Dec 1931 –> Used Article 48 to ban political uniforms (no more brown uniform for SA)
- SA continued to march but wore white shirts, which was not a breach
- Red Front (KPD’s paramilitary wing) adopted similar tactics
As a result of continuing political violence, what did Brüning persuade Hindenburg to do but why did this not work out?
- Apr 1932 –> Persuaded him to ban SA + SS
- Police raided branches of SA + confiscated uniforms and equipment
- In many areas, police were broadly sympathetic to SA, so the grp continued w/ little interference
How did Schleicher and von Papen try to tame the Nazis but why did all of them fail?
- Schleicher argued for a presidential gov, led by traditional elite w/ Nazis in supporting role
- Jun 1932 –> Von Papen lifted ban on SA and SS + invited Hitler to join as vice-chancellor but he refused
- Dec 1932 –> Offered chancellorship to Gregor Strasser, one of Hitler’s senior Nazi rivals, hoping this would split them + give gov some democratic legitimacy. Hitler ordered Strasser to refuse
What did Goebbels tell radio controllers, when did this happen and what else happened to staff at these stations?
- 25 Mar 1933 –> German radio served the gov hence had to express Nazi ideology + follow gov instructions about what to broadcast
- Staff was purged to remove half-Jews, Jews, those married to Jews, past KPD/SPD members
Why was radio easier to control than the press?
- It was a newer medium w/ far fewer people to control
- Germany had more newspapers than even the USA
What decree was issued in Oct 1933?
- Editor’s Law of Oct 1933
- Made editor responsible for content of paper
- Made it illegal to publish anything weakening Third Reich, at home or abroad or harm German economy/culture/people
- Established a Reich Association w/ list of accredited journalists (no Jews, none that are politically unsuitable)
Compare Nazi newspaper stats in end of 1932 and end of 1933
- End of 1932 –> 59 Nazi newspapers w/ over 780,000 readers
- End of 1933 –> 86 Nazi newspapers w/ over 3 mil readers
What was set up in Dec 1933, what were the expectations around this and what did it consist of?
- State-owned press agency
- Newspapers had to pick up news stories from this agency
- Guidelines on how to report the story
- List of stories that should not be reported eg. arrests of certain people
How many non-Jewish people were sent to concentration camps for political crimes between 1933 and 45?
Over 500,000
Where and when was the first concentration camp to hold political prisoners set up? What was its name and how were the camps helpful?
- Prussia
- 1933
- Oranienburg
- Good deterrent to political protest
When and where was the first all-female SS camp set up?
- 1939
- Ravensbrück
Gestapo:
- Nazi secret police
- Set up on 26 Apr 1933 to find enemies of the state
- Could arrest/imprison for anything w/out trial
- 1936 –> Taken over by SS
- No uniform so had to be careful what you say
- Set up by Goering w/ Heydrich in charge
SS:
- Founded in 1923 as sub-division of SA
- Began w/ 240 men
- Ran concentration camps
- Hitler’s black-shirted elite bodyguards
- Later took over more political policing of state
- Leader: Heinrich Himmler
How many men from SS were in charge of the Gestapo?
240,000
What was set up in Berlin in 1934, what was its purpose, who does it consist of and what was it like? How many people had passed through the court by 1945?
- People’s Court
- Try people accused of being traitors to the Third Reich
- 2 judges + 5 other members from NSDAP, SS and armed forces
- Trials were not public
- Impossible to appeal
- Tens of thousands passed through by 1945
What were Nazi Party officials expected to do?
Look out for even the smallest infringement of Nazi rules
In the next few months after Machtergreifung (seizure of power), give examples of a political group whom they acted with violence to:
KPD:
- SA & SS broke their meetings
- Engaged in street battles w/ Red Front
- From mid Feb –> They worked w/ police to intimidate
- Violence worsened after 22 Feb when they became auxiliary police officers
- SA beat and imprisoned KPD officials using intelligence from state
- Eventually drove the party underground
What did the decree proposed on 4 Feb 1933 say?
Police could imprison for up to 3 months w/out trial
In 1933, how many left-wing prisoners were detained?
Between 150,000 and 200,000
By mid-March, how many members of KPD had been arrested and what about from mid March to April in the Ruhr only?
- Mid-March –> 10,000
- Mid-March to April in only the Ruhr –> Further 8,000
What happened from early March and in May in regards to the SPD and what was the outcome of this?
- From early March –> Armed SA occupied SPD offices in major cities
- May –> SPD funds and assets seized
- No longer able to campaign effectively
What is the name of the first concentration camp, who and when was it set up, how many was it designed to hold, who was it said to deal with through propaganda and rather who did it actually charge?
- Late March 1933 –> Dachau set up by SS
- 500,000
- Propaganda said it would deal w/ KPD and SPD, but rather often those arrested were charged w/ no crime (claimed it was ‘protective custody’)
Prior to concentration camps, where were those arrested detained and what happened to these locations?
- Sports stadia or school halls
- Transformed into temp prisons
Dachau:
- Detention and work camp
- Justified as other countries used them eg. GBR during Boer War
- Degrading and brutal
- Those who failed to meet working standards were whipped
- Vandalism punishable by death
- Some guards killed prisoners for target practice (under official records, shot whilst trying to escape)
How long did this wave of terror last and give stats to show the changes after
- Short-lived
- May 1933 –> 1/3 prisoners released
- Aug 1934 –> Official amnesty
- By 1935 –> 5 remaining camps had total of 4000 prisoners
How many did Hitler admit to being killed and arrested in Night of the Long Knives?
- 74 killed
- 1000 arrested
What were the consequences for terror after the Night of the Long Knives?
New wave of terror for 6 weeks arresting and sending those who criticised the killings to camps
Show the changing role of the secret police:
- Between 1933 and 36 –> SS and Gestapo largely dealt w/ political opponents
- Between 1936 and 39 –> SS and Gestapo enforced conformity by targeting groups who did not fit in ideal view of society eg. gays
What was created in 1939 and what was its purpose?
- RHSA (Reich Main Security Department)
- Formalised relationship between SS and Security Police
What did the secret police rely on greatly and give stats to show this
- Complicity of ordinary Germans
- 64% of Gestapo action against Aryans who had sexual relationships w/ Jews were from tip-offs (only 15% from gov agents)
- Official Nazi surveillance generated less than 10%, the other 90% came from public denunciation reports
Following the Night of the Long Knives, what happened to homosexuality in Germany and what were the views of senior Nazis on this before the event?
Before the event:
- Himmler hated gays
- Hitler tolerated it
Homosexuality:
- Gay clubs and bars forcibly closed
- Openly gay men arrested and sent to camps
- Established files on all suspected gay men in Nazi movement
- By 1939 –> 22,000 arrested
However, which gay men were tolerated and why?
- Aryan gay men
- Believed they could be ‘cured’
What was the Nazi view on lesbianism, why and what happened to these women?
- Much less concerned as women were naturally passive and hence did not pose a threat to the regime
- Sex between women was not a crime
- Secret lesbian clubs continued
- However, openly gay women were sent to prison camps
How did some homosexuals try to overcome the issue Nazis had with their sexuality, however why was this flawed ?
- Married to try avoid suspicion
- Couples who did not have children were investigated by authorities
RMVP:
Reich Ministry of Public Enlightment and Propaganda
What were the three main methods of press control?
1) Control through compulsory membership
2) RMVP controlled through Press Agency
3) Extension of Nazi ownership of press
What was the name of the body responsible for controlling Nazi cultural life, when was it created how many other chambers were there within this and give an example of one
- Reich Chamber of Culture (RKK)
- 22 Sep 1933
- 7
- Reich Chamber of Press
How did the Nazis establish control over press?
- All journalists had to be member of Reich Chamber of Press to write for newspapers and magazines (accepted journalists)
- Unpatriotic journals could be expelled from Chamber
- German News Agency (DNB) created –> merged various news agencies placing them under gov control & gave all reporters one source for info
- Nazi publishing company Eher Verlag bought up existing newspapers –> Proportion of Nazi-owned papers increased from 2.5% in 1933 to 69% in 1939 to 82% in 1945
- Became treason to spread false news
