part 3: control Flashcards
1
Q
heinrich himmler
A
- controlled police, Gestapo, SS
- leader of SS from 1929
- more power after night of long knives
- put in charge of war effort from 1943
- SS integral to nazi control
2
Q
role of SS
A
- began as Hitler’s personal bodyguard with 500 members
- destroyed SA in night of long knives
- built into a powerful organisation by Himmler with 250,000 members by 1939
- wore black uniforms
- Aryan recruits
- loyal to Hitler
- arrested people without trial: control over police and courts
- ran concentration camps
3
Q
Gestapo
A
- secret police
- 15,000 officers
- tapped phones, intercepted mail, spied on people
- could spy, arrest and interrogate anyone using torture if necessary
- most feared
- created an atmosphere of paranoia as you didn’t know who you could trust
- no uniform, unidentifiable
4
Q
concentration camps
A
- many opponents arrested in 1933 and put in prisons
- led to construction of concentration camps in rural areas
- held nazi opponents and those seen as enemies of nazism e.g communists, socialists, jews, church leaders
- brutal conditions with many dying
5
Q
legal system
A
- judges and lawyers had to swear loyalty to hitler
- top jobs given to nazis so they could get away with crime
- people’s courts set up to try political crimes often with no fair trial in 1934
- harsh sentences aimed to silence dissent
- law used as a tool of repression
- number of offences carrying death penalty was 46 in 1943 including telling an anti-nazi joke
6
Q
blocks
A
- each town divided into blocks, each with a block leader
- visited every home each week collecting donations for nazis
- wrote reports on everyone noting any signs of opposition
7
Q
repression and fear
A
- used terror to keep control
- even jokes about hitler could lead to arrest or worse
- regime encouraged neighbours, friends and family to report you if you opposed
- children encouraged to report children or parents
- many imprisoned or sent to camps without trial
8
Q
josef goebbels
A
- reich minister of propaganda and public engagement
- controlled all media
- excellent public speaker
- joined nazis in 1922
- oversaw nazi propaganda from 1928
9
Q
purpose of propaganda
A
- unite germans under one nazi idea
- promote nazi ideas
- influence german thinking
- glorifying hitler
- to make nazis look all powerful and unstoppable
- increase loyalty to nazis
- ban outside influences
10
Q
what media did they control?
A
- newspapers
- radio
- films
- posters
- books
- art
11
Q
1936 berlin olympics
A
- major propaganda event
- showcased nazi strength and unity
12
Q
censorship of books
A
- organised book burnings in 1933
- burned books by communists and socialists, by jews, books containing ideas they disproved of
- anti-war books banned
- books glorifying war promoted
- prevented german people from reading and thinking beyond nazi message
- all new books published had to be censored by goebbels ministry
13
Q
book burnings
A
- may 10th 1933
- 70,000 gathered in berlin
- 20,000 books burned
14
Q
nazi rallies
A
- huge rallies held to show nazi power
- rallies attended by thousands each year at nuremburg
- marches, uniforms, flags, parades, speeches
- image of order and control, power and unity
- helped to present image that everyone supported nazis
- rallies shown in cinemas
15
Q
newspapers
A
- owned 2/3 newspapers by 1939
- anti-nazi newspapers shut down from 1933
-‘editor’s law’ passed in october 1933 banning non-aryan people from owning or working for newspapers - editors had to print pro-nazi articles
- ministry of propaganda sent daily instructions of what to print
16
Q
music
A
- subject to nazification from january 1933
- policy of Gleichschaltung meant music had to conform to nazi ideals
- jazz music popular in golden era: banned it regarding it as ‘black music’
- promoted german folk songs and marching music
- encouraged composers such as beethoven, wagner and bach
17
Q
radio
A
- ordered radio manufactures to produce cheap radio sets so all families could afford them
- known as ‘people’s receiver’
- by 1939 70% if german homes had a radio
- installed in factories and offices
- from 1938, loudspeaker systems were erected on streets and in cities to relay important nazi messages
18
Q
films
A
- cinema popular in weimar and continued in 1930s
- from 1933 all scripts, performers and film production was monitored and censored
- goebbels took control of cinema and pro-nazi films made
- produced 200 propaganda films
- even non-political films contained a newsreel before highlighting hitler’s successes and glorifying nazis
19
Q
art
A
- hitler disliked modern art
- encouraged art which promoted germany’s past greatness and strength
- traditional art
- 5000 paintings burned in 1936
- opened house of german art in 1937 showing only nazi-approved art
20
Q
architecture
A
- hitler favoured grand and monumental style of architecture
- showed nazi power
- preferred a rural style for family homes with homes built from stone and wood
21
Q
why was opposition difficult?
A
- due to power of nazi state
- propaganda and economic policies meant people still supported nazis in 1930s
22
Q
army opposition
A
- during WW2
- some army officers angered by invasion of soviet in june 1941
- hitler interfered with military tactics
- when war went badly from 1943, plots to assassinate hitler arose e.g july 1944 bomb plot
23
Q
1944 bomb plot
A
- stauffenberg set off a bomb in a briefcase
- 4 people killed
- hitler only injured
- stauffenberg arrested and shot
- rest of plotters rounded up and executed
24
Q
why were there not more oppenents?
A
- most people who disagreed were afraid of SS and Gestapo and friends and neighbours snitching
- thousands of those who voiced opposition were sent to camps
- opposition within party ended by night of long knives
- anti-nazi opposition had to be secret to hard to work together
- propaganda indoctrinated people and made them feel they were better off
25
political opposition
- political parties continued to oppose his regime after 1933
- communists and socialists
- secret meetings, anti-nazi graffiti, slogans on walls, leaflets, strikes
- all opposition parties banned in 1933
- thousands of leaders arrested and sent to camps
26
edelweiss pirates
- young working class people
- beat up nazi officials
- picked fights with hitler youth
- listened to jazz music
- wore clothes that nazis didn't approve of e.g white socks and checked shirts
- sang anti-hitler songs, drank alcohol, had sex, wore badges with the edelweiss flower
- had 2000 members in war
- weren't a united threat to nazis
- some sheltered communists and army deserters during the war
- from december 1942, gestapo arrested 739 pirates
- in 1944 one group killed nazi youth leader in cologne and some pirates were hanged
- nazis couldn't control opposition well
27
swing youth
- middle class young people
- listened to jazz music
- boys grew hair long
- girls wore makeup
- met in bars and houses
- not actively involved in politics
- followed american fashions, music and culture
- some members arrested and sent to concentration camps
28
white rose group
- students at munich university
- led by hans scholl, sophie scholl and christopher probst
- spread anti-nazi messages during ww2
- though graffiti, posters and leaflets
- organised one of first public protests against nazis in 1943
- nazis arrested leaders
- hans and sophie executed in 1943
