The Nazi party Flashcards
(41 cards)
events between 1921 and 1928
1921- Hitler became leader of nazi party
1923- SA founded. Munich putsch backfired
1924- Hitler wrote Main Kampf (outlined his ideas for nazi elections
1928- economy was good and nazi seats dropped from 32 (1924) to 12.
Nazis shifted their focus from workers to peasants and the conservative part of Germany.
some points of the 25 point programme
- abolition of T of V
- Anschluss
- anti-semitism
- nationalization of businesses and industries
- strong central gov.
Lebensraum
(living space)
expansion to Russia and Poland
positive cohesion
people who voted for the nazi party because they believed in its message and proposals
negative cohesion
people who voted for the nazi party, not because they believed in their message but because they preferred voting for them than for others
how did the depression help the nazis? and what did the nazis do
- made weimar politicians look weak: nazis seemed to be the only party capable to solve the crisis (eg. soup kitchen)
- made GER less able to pay reparations from WW1: taxes raised. made people hate t of v and the weimar rep. even more (nazis always hated both and were very explicit about that in their policies)
- increased unemployment and poverty in GER: nazis offered jobs
- increased support for communism: negative cohesion
How did Hitler become chancellor by 1933? (April 1932- November 1932)
April 1932- Hitler lost elections to Hindenburg by little
- Hindenburg didn’t want Hitler to be his chancellor
July 1932- 230 seats in Reichstag for the Nazis
- Hindenburg used emergency power (article 48) to contain unemployment - showed how weak and useless the Reichstag was
- Von Papen (chancellor at time) could no longer govern (no confidence vote) collapse of gov.
- November: new elections. 196 seats in Reichstag
What happened in January 1933?
30th Jan 1933: Hitler becomes chancellor
What helped Hitler to become chancellor?
- Hitler’s speaking skills
- Propaganda campaigns
- German general criticism of Weimar system of gov.
- nazi policies
What obstacles did Hitler face on the road to consolidate power?
- Hindenburg: did not like hitler
- Reichstag: nazi party not majority
- Trade unions: they could go on a strike in protest against any measure they disagree with.
- The army - military officials were concerned about the threat of the SA. Hitler would need the army’s side in order to impose his full authority
- The SA - large force by 1933 that could cause divisions within the Nazi party
What happened in February 1933
27th February 1933: The Reichstag Fire: Hitler blamed the Communists. demanded emergency power
28th Feb 1933: Hindenburg passed the Reichstag decree- allowed police forces to carry out searches. 4000 communists arrested
What happened in March 1933 election?
- march election campaign slogan: “The battle against Marxism
- March 1933: nazi seats rise (43.91%)
The enabling act
- March 1933
- Nazis had 288 seats in reichstag
- they formed a majority with the support of the Nationalist party
- Hitler was able to pass the enabling act which gave him the power to pass laws without the Reichstag or without consulting the president
events between April 1933 and January 1934
7 april 1933: Jews and opponents removed from civil service
2 may 1933: trade unions banned
14 July 1933: law against the formation of new parties
January 1934: All state governments were brought under central (nazi control)
the night of the long knives
30 June 1934
Hitler arrested and executed enemies and leaders of the SA (400)
Pleased the army
The army oath
2 August 1934: Hindenburg died
Hitler combined position of chancellor and president to form fuhrer
2 august 1934: army swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler as the furrier of Germany
- army promised to stay out of politics and hitler promised to rebuild German armed forces and make them into a military power once again
successes of the 1936 olympics
- Nazi Germany went by as the illusion of being a peaceful, tolerant nation
- Impressed people due to the modernity and organization of it all
- The nazi olympics also helped Germany cultivate an atmosphere of appeasement from the rest of the world as Hitler prepared for conquest and war.
failures of the 1936 olympics
- Jesse Owens: a black American won 4 gold medals, proving wrong Nazi racial ideologies
- Scared people. They were struck by the overt presence of the army and SS soldiers
Why was the 1936 olympics Moree successful within Germany than outside it?
German people were used to the nazi propaganda machine, and found that the Games appeared to have presented all the qualities they valued in the Nazis. However, to many foreign visitors who were not used to such blatant propaganda, it seemed fanatical and odd.
Nazis and the Church (successes)
- Concordat July 1933 - Church stayed out of politics. In return for the Nazis letting its religious services, youth groups and schools operating
- Priests imprisoned
- established a Reich church (2,000 clergy joined)
- Managed to keep most church people quiet
Nazis and the Church (failures)
- Some catholics opposed Hitler because he broke concordat’s terms (often would campaign to stop children from attending catholic schools)
- 6,000 protestant ministers opposed
- Nazis were unsuccessful in getting people to join the reich church
- the Nazis never managed to eliminate religion’s influence
How were the Jews persecuted by the nazis?
- separating from society: immediately banned from civil service, SA and SS boycotted jewish shops, Nuremberg laws (1935) took away German citizenship from Jews
- Propaganda/Discrimination: Goebbel’s experts bombarded germans with antisemitic propaganda, Jews were refused jobs
- Violence: In 1938 a Jew killed a German diplomat, Nazis used this as an excuse, 20,000 Jews taken to concentration camps, hundreds of synagogues burned
Why did the Nazis want to control young people?
To grow into strong, loyal soldiers that would fight for Hitler in the second world war
also
Young people were easy to control as they had only known suffering; not like their parents who remembered what germany was like before the first world war
and easy to manipulate them as they haven’t made up their minds about many things yet
How did the Nazis control young people?
Hitler Youth.
being manipulated in school
if you did not join the hitler youth you would have been looked on with suspicion and pressure
an employer would ask whether you had been in the hitler youth
