The Nazi Dictatorship 1933-39 Flashcards

1
Q

When was the Reichstag Fire?

A

27th February 1933

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2
Q

What happened at the Reichstag Fire

A

Marinus van der Lubbe was found at the sight with firelighters and matches. He confessed and five were arrested
Lubbe was executed and the other four were found not guilty

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3
Q

What did hitler do after the Reichstag fire

A

He made goering the chief of police and they claimed Lubbe was part of a communist conspiracy theory and communism was a huge threat
He made Hindenburg declare a state of emergency which meant another election was called in March and hitler hoped he would get a majority
He issued the decree for the protection of the people and state which meant he could imprison political opponents
Also he persuade Krupp and big insutrialists to support him even more because of the communist attacks and he received 3 million marks

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4
Q

What happened at the March 1933 election

A

Hitler won but still didn’t have the majority so he banned the communist party, taking their 81 seats and then he had the support of the nationalist party and persuaded the centre party to join him which meant he now had a 2/3 majority in the Reichstag

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5
Q

What was the Enabling Act?

A

It changed the constitution of the Weimar Republic

It gave hitler the right to make laws every four years without the consent of the Reichstag

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6
Q

How were trade unions affected during the enabling act?

A

Hitler banned trade unions and made strikes illegal

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7
Q

How did the enabling act affect political parties

A

All political parties were illegal apart from the Nazi party

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8
Q

How was the local government affected by the enabling act?

A

He abolished local governments (Länder governments) and declared that governors appointed by him would run every region of Germany

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9
Q

Why did the night of the long knives happen?

A

Hitler feared Ernst Röhm because he was the leader of the SA which had 3 million members which could easily challenge Hitler. Röhm also disagreed with hitler sometimes and wanted more socialist reforms
Röhm also wanted the SA to overrule the German army which only had 100,000 members

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10
Q

What happened at the night of the long knives?

A

In 1934 leaders of the SS and the army warned hitter that Röhm was planning to seize power.
So on the 30th June 1934, hitler arranged for Röhm and several other senior officers of the SA to be arrested imprisoned and shot
Röhm was left in a prison cell with a pistol to convince him to commit suicide. After fifteen minutes the SS brigade leader shot him
Six other SA leaders were shot from hitlers orders
Von papens house was surrounded and his staff was arrested and his secretary was shot
Von Schleicher and his wife were shot and so was Strasser who had views like Röhm

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11
Q

When did Hindenburg die and what did hitler do when he died?

A

2nd August 1934
Hitler declared himself Führer
He would be president and chancellor
He forced an oath of loyalty to him from every soldier
He made another public vote to confirm hitler as leader and with a bombardment of pro Nazi propaganda, hitler won 90% of the vote

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12
Q

Why would the German people by worried about the SS?

A

It was the nazis private police force and they were totally loyal to hitler and they would punish anyone who spoke against hitler or Nazi values.
They also heavily believed in racial purification so didn’t like anyone who was not fully German and could send people like Jews or non Germans to concentration camps

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13
Q

What was the Gastapo? Why did Germans fear them?

A

The Gastapo was Hitler’s non-uniformed secret police force set up in 1933 ran by Heydrich
Germans could not tell them apart from the rest of the public and the gestapo could arrest anyone who spoke against Nazi ideas and they would be imprisoned without trial

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14
Q

How many people were arrested by 1939 for speaking against nazis and not actually committing a criminal act?

A

150,000 people

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15
Q

Why did Germans fear concentration camps?

A

If you went to a concentration camp you were extremely unlikely to get out. You’d be isolated from all your family. You were forced to do labour and after 1939 they were used for mass murder.

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16
Q

Why were law courts extremely unfair?

A

Hitler took control of all law courts and all judges were members of the National Socialist a league for the Maintenance of the Law which had all Nazi values involved
Because these judges all supported nazi ideas they could punish anyone even if they hadn’t broken the law
All judges for treason cases were hand picked and hitler could pick any sentence he wanted

17
Q

How was the press changed under hitlers control?

A

Journalists were given regular briefings containing info the government was willing to publicise and sometimes given direct instructions of what to write
Every newspaper was a Nazi newspaper, there was no free press

18
Q

How did hitler change universities under his control?

A

Nazis had little respect for academic research
Between 1933 and 1938, 3000 professors and lecturers were dismissed from their jobs
Results were expected to support Nazi views
All academics had to agree to nonsense - “physics is the creation of the human mind”

19
Q

How was the arts controlled under hitler?

A

Goebbels controlled the arts. All actors, artists, musicians and writers that disagreed with nazis were banned
Nazis decided what literature was available to the public. Millions of books were burned and removed including books written by Freud and Einstein
Jazz music was banned and lots of music was censored
Most of modern art was banned, only art that showed heroic Germans were allowed
Only plays about German history and politics were allowed so theatre tickets were made very cheap so the Nazi views could get across

20
Q

How was radio changed under hitlers rule?

A

All radio stations were put under Nazi control
Hitler and other Nazi officials made frequent broadcasts
Radios were installed in cafes, schools, factories and the street to spread Nazi ideas everywhere
By the 30s there were more radios per person in Germany than anywhere else in Europe

21
Q

How was cinema changed under Nazi control?

A

Films were shown alongside a 45 minute official newsreel publicising Germany’s achievements
From 1934, Goebbels had to approve every film that was being shown

22
Q

How was sport under hitlers control?

A

In the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin hitler built an Olympic stadium that could hold 110,000 people (largest in the world) to reflect the power of Germany
All the events were organised to show off Germany’s efficiency
Germany won the most medals and the nazis claimed it was proof of Aryan superiority

23
Q

What did hitler promise to the Catholic Church and what did the Catholic Church promise to hitler?

A

Hitler agreed that Catholics will have a freedom of worship and won’t interfere with catholic schools
The Roman Catholic Church agreed that priests wouldn’t interfere with politics and German bishops would swear the the loyalty of the national socialist regime

24
Q

What actually did hitler do to the Catholic Church?

A

Catholic priests were arrested and harassed and many ended up in concentration camps
Catholic schools were brought in line with state schools or closed
Catholic youth activities were banned
Hitler did this because the pope had more authority over him in the Catholic Church and he didn’t want this

25
Q

What happened to the Protestant church under hitler

A

Hitler made Müller the Reich bishop of Germany in 1933 and Protestant pastors who supported hitler were allowed to carry on
However many Protestants opposed hitlers policies and lots spoke out against him and hundreds of Protestants were sent to concentration camps
Hitler now controlled the church along with the army, police and legal system - it was truly totalitarian