the 'terror state' Flashcards
(114 cards)
1
Q
What was Hitler determined that the Nazi regime wouldn’t be bound by?
A
The law and legal systems.
2
Q
Why was Hitler’s word seen as law?
A
He was a ‘man of destiny’ who’d been chosen to lead the Third Reich Germany and express the will of the people.
3
Q
What did the Nazis do instead of drawing up a completely new constitution and legal system?
A
They introduced new laws to deal with political offences and forced the existing justice system to adapt.
4
Q
How did Nazis ensure that political opponents were dealt with?
A
They introduced new courts and police organisations.
5
Q
How had the Nazis changed the legal principles of German law that had been applied in Weimar Germany?
A
Citizens were no longer equal before the law.
Judges were not allowed to operate independently of the government.
Individuals could be arrested and imprisoned without trial and evidence.
6
Q
How were the police forces ran in Weimar Germany?
A
By individual state authorities.
7
Q
How did the Nazis adapt the way the police forces were controlled and what did this gradually do?
A
They kept the separate police forces but established a party-controlled, political police force answerable to Hitler.
This meant the Nazis gradually gained control over the entire police system.
8
Q
What were the types of police forces that existed?
A
- The SS
- The SD
- The SA
- The Gestapo
9
Q
Who controlled the SS?
A
Heinrich Himmler.
10
Q
What were the SD?
A
An intelligence gathering offshoot of the SS.
11
Q
Who controlled the SA in 1933 and what powers did they acquire?
A
Ernst Rohm.
Acquired police powers to arrest and detain political prisoners.
12
Q
What was the Gestapo and who was in charge of it?
A
The secret State police force in Prussia.
Goering was the Minister-President
13
Q
Why was there tension between Himmler, Rohm and Goering between 1933 and 1936?
A
They were fighting for control over the police.
14
Q
How was Himmler’s power strengthened in 1934?
A
By the Night of the Long Knives in which Rohm was eliminated and the SA’s power was released.
15
Q
How was the issue of the fight for control over the police force partially resolved in 1936?
A
When the SS, SD and Gestapo were placed under Himmler’s command.
16
Q
How was Himmler’s victory of the police force secured in 1939?
A
Through the creation of the Reich Security Department Headquarters (RHSA), which placed all party and State police organisations under control of one organisation supervised by the SS.
17
Q
What happened to the SS once the Nazis came to power and after the Night of the Long Knives?
A
It became the leading Nazi Party organisation involved in the arrest of political prisoners.
18
Q
What did the SS control by 1936?
A
The entire Third Reich police system and the concentration camps.
19
Q
How did Himmler intend the SS to be?
A
Strictly disciplined, racially pure and unquestioningly obedient.
20
Q
What were the key values of an SS member?
A
Loyalty and honour, defined in the terms of commitment to Nazi ideology.
21
Q
What did the increase of concentration camp inmates in 1936 show?
A
That there was a tightening of control and repression from the SS.
22
Q
How did the SS and SA differ in the way that they operated?
A
The SA engaged in violence and terror, but the SS was much more systematical.
Violence and murder were instruments of State power, to be employed ruthlessly.
23
Q
What had happened to SS concentration camp guards?
A
They’d been deliberately brutalised to remove any feelings of humanity they might feel towards their prisoners.
24
Q
What were concentration camps?
A
They were prisons in which inmates were forced to work.
25
When and where was the first concentration camp set up?
At Dachau, near Munich, in 1933.
26
How many temporary camps had there been in 1933?
Around 70.
27
Who were the majority of prisoners in the early months of the concentration camps?
Communists, socialists and trade unionists.
28
How many prisoners in concentration camps were there in May 1934, and why had this declined?
1/4 of the number there'd been the previous year.
This was due to many of the temporary camps being closed down.
29
Why had many concentration camp prisoners been released?
The torture and brutality that they'd suffered was enough to render most unwilling to resist the Nazis again.
30
What happened once the concentration camps had come under control of the SS in 1934?
The treatment of the prisoners became systemised, seeing an increase in violence and brutality within them.
31
Who did the Nazis target after the communists and socialists had been crushed by 1936?
The concentration camp regime turned towards dealing with 'undesirables', as they tried to purify the race.
32
Why had increased violence in concentration camps been validated by the Nazis?
Himmler had given camp guards immunity from prosecution.
33
When and why was the SD established?
In 1931 as an internal security service of the Nazi Party.
34
What was the SD set up to investigate?
Claims that the party had been infiltrated by political enemies.
35
Who led the SD?
Reinhard Heydrich.
36
What was the SD's role after 1933?
Intelligence gathering.
37
What was an important role of the SD?
To monitor public opinion and report back to Hitler.
They'd investigate to who voted 'no' in plebiscites.
38
How many officers did the SD have by 1939 and what did this show?
50,000.
This showed how important its role was considered to be and the success of Heydrich in establishing his own power base.
39
How did the SD and Gestapo differ?
The Gestapo was a State organisation where as the SD was a Nazi Party organistation.
40
What were the Gestapo?
Secret State Police.
41
Where was the Gestapo originally set up?
Just in Prussia, but under the Nazis their operations were extended to the entirety of Germany.
42
What reputation did the Gestapo gain?
One for being all-knowing. Germans believed that they were everywhere and so adjusted their behaviour accordingly.
43
How many officers did the Gestapo have?
Only 20,000 in 1939, which were to cover the entire country.
In reality, it was a relatively small organisation.
44
Who worked in the Gestapo?
They were generally not Nazi Party members but professional police officers who saw it as their duty to serve the State.
45
How did the Gestapo gather their information?
Through the information supplied by informers.
These were people such as Nazi activists who'd been asked to spy upon their neighbours and workmates, but most were people voluntarily giving information out of spite.
46
What was the long standing tradition of the judiciary system which posed a problem for the Nazis?
That there was freedom from political interference for lawyers and judges.
The Nazis, who'd been committing illegal acts of violence, had many prosecutions against them from lawyers who were determined to uphold the law.
47
Why was Hitler angered by the Supreme Court regarding the Reichstag Fire trial?
Only one defendant was found guilty, all others had been acquited.
48
What did the Front of German Law in April 1933 make clear to judges and lawyers?
That their careers relied upon their ability to bide by the Nazi regime's bidding.
49
What new courts were introduced in 1933 and 1934?
Special Courts and the People's Court.
They were set up to deal with political crimes, but led by 3 Nazi judges and 2 professional judges. There were no juries and defendants could not appeal their sentences.
50
How many people were tried by the People's Court between 1934-1939?
3400, many of which were handed the death penalty.
51
What did the terms 'Peoples Court' and 'popular justice' reflect?
It reflected that repression and persecution was something of public interest.
52
How much opposition to the Nazis was there on the whole?
Very little in general, with evidence suggesting Hitler's increasing popularity.
Nazi Germany had become very depoliticised with no open debate about politics.
53
What were the parties of the left expected to do to the Nazis?
Bring the strongest resistance, with Hitler being worried about the unions staging a general strike against the Nazi takeover in 1933.
54
Why did the left not pose a large threat to the Nazi takeover in 1933?
It was bitterly divided, with the KPD attacking the SPD for being 'social-fascists'.
55
Why were the SPD unprepared for the Nazi takeover?
Because they were a party committed to working in the legal framework, but the Nazis were not ones to respect the law.
56
Why did the SPD face SA violence in March 1933?
They'd continued to openly campaign for the March 1933 election.
57
How did SPD deputies bravely defy SA and SS intimidation?
By voting against the Enabling Act in the Reichstag.
58
What had happened to the SPD by the end of 1933?
Thousands of activists had been murdered or placed into 'preventive custody' and SPD leadership had fled into exile.
59
What did Ernst Schumacher of the SPD organise from a base in Prague?
Small, secret cells of supporters in factories.
60
What SPD items were smuggled across the border from Czechoslovakia?
Propaganda pamphlets.
61
Why was there a limit on the scope of the SPD's resistance?
Because there was constant fear of exposure and arrest of the Gestapo.
62
What became a priority for most of the SPD involved in their secret illegal propaganda methods?
To just survive and be prepared for the future collapse of the regime.
63
Why was the KPD more prepared than the SPD for the Nazi takeover?
They had a background in revolutionary politics.
64
How much of the KPD's membership had been killed by the Nazis in 1933?
10%.
65
Where did the KPD set up an underground network?
In some German industrial centres.
66
Where were KPD unions set up and why were they set up?
In Berlin and Hamburg.
Set up to recruit members and publish newspapers.
67
What happened to the revolutionary KPD unions and underground network?
They had been broken up by the Gestapo.
68
What were the largest unions in Germany previously linked to?
The SPD.
69
What had sustained the trade union movement before 1933?
The ideology of class conflict.
70
What happened to the trade unions when the Nazis came to power?
They were absorbed into the DAF (German Labour Front), with propaganda emphasising the importance if national solidarity, rather than class.
71
How many strikes had been recorded in 1937?
250.
72
What were most strikes a reaction to?
Poor working conditions or low wages.
73
Why was there increased strike activity in 1935-36?
Due to widespread discontent over food prices.
74
What did the Nazis view the strikes as?
They saw any expression of discontent as a challenge to the regime.
75
What did the Nazis do in response to absenteeism?
They implemented new labour regulations which lay down severe penalties for 'slackers'.
76
Why was the Christian Church significant within Nazi Germany?
They were the only organisation that retained an alternative ideology, placing themselves in a powerful position.
77
What had led the Church into making compromises?
They knew that in a sustained conflict with the Nazis they would be the ones to lose, and so they wanted survival.
78
What were the Church not prepared to compromise on?
They drew the line under Nazi efforts to force them into conformity and led them to resistance.
79
What did the Protestant church establish in acts of resistance?
The Pastor's Emergency League in 1933 and the development into the Confessional Church in 1934.
80
Why did the Protestant Church refuse to accept being part of the 'coordinated' Reich Church? [3]
- To protect independence of the Protestant Church
- Resisting the attempt to impose the Aryan paragraph
- Defend orthodox Lutheran theology which was based purely on the Bible
81
What did many churches refuse to do?
Display swastika flags.
82
What happened when two Confessional Church bishops were arrested?
There were mass demonstrations in their support.
83
How had the Nazis responded to the mass demonstrations in support of the bishops?
They'd increased repression.
Dissenting pastors had their salaries stopped and were banned from teaching in schools, with many being arrested.
84
How many pastors had been imprisoned by the end of 1937?
Over 700.
85
Why was the Catholic Church in a stronger position to maintain independence from the Nazis than the Protestant Church?
Because the Catholic Church was more united, more centralised and had more of a tradition independent to the State.
86
When did the Catholic Church begin to become at odds with the Nazi regime?
When the Catholic privileges in the agreement (concordat of 1933) begun to come under attack to by the Nazis.
87
What did the Pope issue and sneak into Germany in 1937?
The papal encyclical 'With Burning Grief' which condemned Nazi hatred upon the Church.
88
How was 'With Burning Grief' spread through Germany?
Copies were printed and distributed by messengers on foot or on bike, and read out in most church pulpits in March 1937.
89
What was the Nazi regimes' response to Catholic opposition?
They increased repression, charges for priests on terms of 'abuse of the pulpit' became a more regular occurrence.
90
What resistance did some people have to the arresting of Catholic priests?
They led noisy public demonstrations.
91
Why were there growing signs of rebelliousness of young people in Germanu?
Partly because membership to the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls had been made mandatory, making great demands on teenagers free time.
92
What activities were the youth groups required to do?
Gymnastic sessions, all-day hikes, endless military drilling.
93
Why did the Nazis make compulsory activities for the youth groups?
Due to their policy of Gleichschaltung, individuals should have no independent activity.
94
How did many young people manage to opt out of the compulsory activities?
By allowing their membership to expire or simply not attending weekly parades.
95
How did some aristocratic generals regard Hitler and why was this significant?
As a threat to the old Germany, this was significant as the only way to overthrow the Nazis would have been through a military coup.
96
How did the regime full consolidate its power?
Through alliances with the army, big businesses and conservative politicians.
97
Why would opposing the Nazis have been a huge shift for the army and Civil Service?
Because they had a strong tradition of serving the State, no matter who was in charge.
98
What did Hitler outline to his senior army commanders and leading Nazis in November 1937?
His secret thoughts to invade Czechoslovakia within a year, and that he wanted a union with Austria.
99
What did General Blomberg and Commander-in-Chief of the army, General Fritsch think of Hitler's secret plans to invade Czechoslovakia? What were the consequences of this?
They expressed their doubts about the plan, but Hitler purged them out of the army within 3 months and had replaced them with more compliant generals.
100
What did Hitler order in late September 1938?
He ordered for the army to prepare plans for an invasion of Czechoslovakia.
101
What would have been likely to happen if an invasion of Czechoslovakia been launched?
Britain and France would support Czechoslovakia and threat of war was imminent.
102
What did General Beck and other senior army figures plot to do due to his plans to invade Czechoslovakia?
Remove Hitler from power in a military coup.
103
How was General Beck planning to remove Hitler from power?
They would march on Berlin if war was declared, but it all depended on Britain and France standing by Czechoslovakia and making threat of war credible.
He sent an envoy to Britain and France to let them know of the plans but the governments would not risk war.
104
What was the outcome of Hitler's plans to invade Czechoslovakia?
The Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia was agreed to be a peaceful takeover and Hitler achieved another victory without bloodshed.
105
Who was the Nazi Party's propaganda chief?
Joseph Goebbels.
106
What was Goebbels able to do to ensure Nazi values were spread effectively?
Control, direct and censor the media
107
What types of organisations did Goebbels oversee the work of? [7]
Press, radio, film, literature, theatre, music and fine arts.
108
Where was Nazi propaganda most successful?
When aimed at young people or when being built upon existing beliefs, and when it is not challenging deeply held beliefs such as religion.
109
How was Hitler presented to the people of Germany?
A hardworking, forceful man who was a 'man of the people', sacrificing his personal happiness to devote himself to the people. He was shown as being a political genius responsible for Germany's 'national awakening'.
110
What was Hitler actually like behind the words of propaganda?
Not very involved in decision making - he stated his visions and his subordinates made it work for him. He was also quite lazy, staying up late to watch films and not waking up until midday most days.
His officials often had difficulty getting him to make decisions as he disliked reading official documents and getting involved in detailed discussions on policy.
111
How was there a system of overlapping responsibilities and rivalries between the Nazi Party and state officials?
Hitler came into power without a clear plan for building the Nazi State, and so he created a number of Party organisations to run alongside the central and local government institutions.
112
What was Goering put in charge of in 1936 and why did this cause confusion?
The Four Year Plan, it caused confusion as there were already existing ministries for Economics, Agriculture, Labour and Transport which were all apart of the plan.
113
What did the development of the Waffen SS mean Himmler was able to do?
Develop a military force in parallel with the regular army.
114
What was Himmler placed in charge of after war broke out?
The occupied territories in the east and had control over Nazi racial policy.
