The Nazi Dictatorship 1933-39

Info - removal of Jews and opponents from civil service schools and courts, reorganised state gov. to create Nazi amjority and regional parliamnets were dissolved and replaced with gauleiters. Set up of Gestapo. Offices of President and Chancellor become merged. 

Evidence - Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service = April 1933. May 1933 Trade Unions abolished. Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda established 13th March 1933. Enabling Act 24th March 1933. March/April 1933 = Co-ordination Laws. 26th April 1933 = Gestapo set up. 20th April 1934 = People's Courts. 19th August 1934 = Hitler becomes Führer. 

Significance/debates - revolution? = although autonomy of federal states had been destroyed, RT less influential and oppositon attacked, by 1934 there was not a revolution = no fundamental economic or social change and focused on links with the past. 

Info - purge of opposition from state positions and reorganisation of parliament, abolition of trade unions, banning of SPD followed by others, banning of opposition newspapers and confiscating their funds and placing opp. in camps. 

Evidence - 1st and 2nd GST laws M/A 1933 = banned Lånder and appointed Reichstatthalter. Law for RotPCS Apr 1933. Law against founding of new parties July 1933. Law Concerning Reconstruction of the Reich - Jan 1934 = centralised power in Berlin. June 1933 = SPD banned = DNVP voluntarily disbaned, Z did after Concordat. Ministry of Pop En. May 1933 = Socialist and Cath trade unions banned and combined into DAF.  

Significance/debates - symbolic change or real change? Law for RotPCS = only Jews, Comm and women, GST Laws = Prussia = 2/3 of Ger already lost independence in Preussenschlag and Hindenburg ruled by decree from 1931, propaganda production doesnt = impact, little impact on religion by 1934. SYMBOLIC 

Info - 27th Feb 1933 = young Dutch Communist, Marinus van der Lubber, charged for burning down the RT. Looked like a plot as it coincided with the propaganda that Ger. was on the brink of a Bolshevick revolution. Led to 'Decree for the Protection of the people and the State', 28 Feb 1933 (RT Fire Decree)

Evidence - Article 1 = suspend civil liberites = habeas curpus, freedom of speech and assembly, secrecy of post and telepohones. Search warrants no longer needed.     Articles 2 and 3 = allowed the gov. to take over powers of the Lander; especially policing and security. Used to arrest Communists and Socilaists and raid their newspapers. 

Significance/debates - 1st draft of the decree actually drafted by a DNVP member showing the NSDAP's effectiveness in promoting ideas shared across the far right. 

Info - allowed Cabinet to pass legislation without the Reichstag. Passed 23rd march 1933

Evidence - meeting took place at Kroll Opera House = surrounded by ** and SA to stop SPD entering and KPD had already been arrested = illegal. Zentrum leader = Kaas = fiercly opposed to COmmunism = agreed to support EA. Hermann Göring made president of RT and changed rules of quorum so less members had to be present for a law to be passed. 

Significance/debates - turning point or step in a process? Step in a process = followed by dissolving of major parties by June 1933 and then Catholics 5th July 1933 and then Law against the Establishemnt of Parties 14th July 1933.  

Info - KPD and SPD had been forced underground, propaganda established with use of state funds. DID NOT ACHIEVE MAJORITY = key evidence for lack of support = did increase tho. SPD and KPD support survived remarkably despite intimidation and violence. 

Evidence - SEATS + % = KPD 81 and 12.3%, SPD 120 and 18.25%, Centre 92 and 14%, DVP and DDP 7 and 2% together and NAZIS 288 and 43.9%. 52% = non-Nazi parties, BUT NSDAP + DNVP = majority. 

Significance/debates - popular regime? not really = still hadn't achieve majority, although support was there, it was somewhat limited. 

Info - 30th Jun 1934 = reaction to Ernst Rohm's aims to merge SA and army , key part of Nazi terror and Gleichschaltung, supported by Hindenburg and army leadership; consequently after Hind's death, Wermacht swore oath of allegiance to Hitler 2nd August 1934. 

Evidence - 200 killed inculding Rohm, Gregor Strasser and von Schleicher. Hitler's speech after the event "if anyone raises his hand to strike the state, then certain death is his lot" - took the blame away from the Nazis. Reich Cabinet "The measures taken to surpress acts of high treason are legal for self-defence" 

Significance/debates - Terror state? = yes = wiped out genuine threat to power, saw birth of ** and showed ruthlessness of Nazis - no = only affected SA and enemies of the NSDAP, not 'ordinary' Germans.    Fuhrerprinzip = shows it in action through Hitler's attempt to show himself as the visionary leader responsible for justice across Germany 

Info - Hitler could now take supreme command and essentially had full control 

Evidence - Died 2nd August 1934 - allowed Hitler to combine the offices of chancellor and president to create the Fuhrer (late August); personal oath of loyalty taken by armed forces and civil servants. 

Significance/debates - Did Hitler have supreme control? At this point in time, in theory, he did have supreme control. However, it proved superficial later on. 

Info - first camp = Dachau 1933, poltiticla correction camp. Supposed to be temporary but became more systemised in 1934; Theodore Eicke (**). Reorientation in 1936 to deal with undesirables (asocials, alcoholics, homosexuals, etc), expanded during WWII. 

Evidence - 30,000 people taken into 'protective custody' without trial by the summer of 1933. By May 1934, only 25% of the amount of prisoners the year before = less resistance. By September 1939 there were 25,000 prisoners 

Significance/debates - terror state? = short-term = was not intended to become the long-term atrocity it became = terrifying for the people it involved. Legal or illegal? = illegal = newtralised any political opponents illegally. 

Info - wanted to create a 'surveillance society' set up in a hierarchy of party members with the smallest unit the Block being a cluster of 50 households. 

Evidence - 400,000 Blocke each with their own Blockwart, made sure people displayed Nazi flags and attended rallies. Often isolated by their communities - seemed terrifying but was actually hit and miss and ineffective. 

Significance/debates - terror state? = no, appeared like utter control but in reality ineffective. Some people signed up just so they did not get reported themselves. 

Info - originally a section of the SA but more ideologically committed and obedient. Formed 1935 as Hitler's bodyguards - racial elite. Used in NotLK to take down SA, to gather intelligence and to intimidate opposition. 

Evidence - led by Heinrich Himmler, 50,000 in 1933 to 240,000 in 1939. 1936 = all police powers unified under Himmler's control as 'Reichsführer ** and Chief of all German Police' including Gestapo; co-ordinated by Heydric. Rounded up 6,000 torture inmates 1936, 21,000 by 1939. 

Significance/debates - deep-rooted Nationalism = yes = ** viewed as 'political soldiers', like Freikorps had been in 1919. Strong/weak dictatorship = weak. The arrests of asocials did not strengthen the regime and Gestapo was weaker than it appeared, although the ** were somewhat terrifying. 

Info - key policing organisation for surveillance and repression, could arrest without trial, reputation for brutality. Depended on ordinary policemen after 1936 (Kripo) who spent most of their time dealing with theft and murder as the Gestapo had few top agents itself. 

Evidence - only 20,000 agents across whole of Germany by 1939 - only 3,000 of these were **. Ruhr = 4mn pop = only 237 agents. 80% of Gestapo leads came from denunciations = ineffective and inefficient. 

Significance/debates - terror state? = fundamentally limited = seems terrifying but nowhere near as efficient as intended. Ordinary Germans not really affected. 

Influence of ** limited pre-1939

Concentartion camps = not extermination camps 

Gestapo = small in number and ineffective at local level

Those who dislike the Nazis could leave

Relatively few Germans killed before 1939

Far less brutal than U**R

Hitler appeared to have been genuinely popular 

Info - temporary Special Courts set up in 1933, followed by People's Court in April 1934 in which people were tried with no rights to appeal by Nazi judges only. Also merged judges and lawyers into the Front of German Law in April 1933 - not sudden change. Until 1939, judges and courts were still quite independent. 

Evidence - 3400 people (1934-39) tried by People's Courts mnay given death penalty - population = 60mn though. !939 = judges had to make a 'serious study of NS and its ideologies' and then in April 1942 gov. announced it would remove 'judges who clearly fail to recognise the mood of the hour'. August 1942 = Otto Thierack (** Leader) appointed Minister of Justice and senior officials replaced by Nazis.                                                                                        Significance/debates- Terror state? = 3400/60mn = horrifying but not truly terrifying = not 'ordinary' Germans.       Power/strength of NS state = no = even by 1942, there were still non-Nazi dominated areas of the legal system. 

Info - full blown opposition - rare before 1940s due to dissolving of channels. Opposition seen by Catholic Church (Niermoller and Galen), army (Lanz plot), student groups (Scholl siblings) and  Oldenburg Crucifix Struggle 1935

Evidence - Aktion T4 speech by Galen in 1940 = programme dropped. Scholl siblings = leaflets exposing German atrocities in the east. Pope Pius XI published 'With Burning Concern' March 1937 againts the abandonment of the 1933 Concordat. 

Significance/debates - strong/weak dictatorship = weak = not complete control - opposition was still there and there was lack of support in areas. Terror state = no = people not afraid to speak out. 

Info - most oppositon. Included - M/C listening to jazz, staire and humour, refusing to 'Heil Hitler, sabotage by workers, SPD groups such as the 'Berlin Liderfreunde' Community Choir

Evidence - Cologne Navajos = "the power of Hitler makes us small but one day we'll be free again" = 12 members wrere publically hanged by Gestapo in 1944. Gestapo arrested 114 workers at Gleiwitz munitions plant for slow working in 1938, 25,000 workers went on strike in 1936, 4,000 did short spell prison 

Significance/debates - terror state? Yes = last phase of terror which was truly terror; hwoever, only 4/25 cases of non-conformity in the workplace was punished. Genuine support for regime = no - consistent non-conformity, just subtle

Info - some people conformed with nazi policies but were still not ideologically committed. Included- joining Nazi professional associations, giving heil Hitler salute and joining the Hitler Youth or League fo German Maidens. 

Evidence - HY membership only compulsory in 1939, but had 6mn members by 1938. 97% of teachers had joined National Socialist Teachers' League by 1937. 

 Significance/debates - Genuine support = no = young people organised a democracy in West Germany after WWII = not ideologically committed. Terror state = maybe = signficiant number of people did conform = element of fear?

Info - controlled economic policy 33-37 (NOT NAZI). Four Year Plan, 1936 = goal of autarky = laregly successful. Decreased unemployment by intorducing Reich Labour Service (RAD) 1935 and introducing conscription March 1935. Controlled banking system, trade agreements and mefo bills = loans to the gov. 

Evidence - 1933-36, industrial production inc 60%, GNP inc 40% and unemployemnt was the best in Europe; fell by 4 million 1932-36. 1935-9 = 1.6mn men = conscription and 2.6mn volunteered for military service and 1mn in RAD. Food shortages, rising prices and lower standards of living. 

Significance/debates - Economic miracle? = no = economy improved everywhere, meffo bills hid expenditure, food shortages, although there were some improvements. STARTING FROM A VERY LOW BASE 

Info - 1936-39 under Göring = preparation for war. Aims = control imports and exports, prevent proce inflation and stagnant wages, establish state-owened industrial plants and to develop substiute goods. 

Evidence - IG Farben and Mercedes-Benz production inc 800%; war production. Buna target = 120,000 tons = only 96,000 made with only 5,000 by 1938. Coal target = 213mn = only 166mn produced. 1928-38 = exports dec by 7bn and impprts by 8.6bn. 'Hurrah, the butter is all gone!' from AIZ workers magazine 1935 = family eating metal. Gestapo public opinion reports 1938-39 = criticism due to shortages of foods and consumer goods. 

Significance/debates - success? No = failed during war, didn't meet most targets, some material poor quality like buna, wages increased but only because hours increased. 

Info - good relationship between indiustrial elites and the government. Most benefited greatly from re-armamnets and tollerated or welcomed governemtn intervention. 

Evidence - 1932 - 1941 Mercedes-Benz production inc 800%. Chemicals company IG Farben benefited too - Hiden "Profits were above all to industrialists who were prepared to collaborate actively with the regime"

Significance/debates - popular regime? To some degree = mainly just a need for need relationship, but there was no resistance by industrialists up until 1941. 

Info - Benefited at first due to Law to Protect Retail Trade, 1933 = placed special taxes on large stores and baned new department stores. But, tight credit, big business and inefficency of gov. payments = bankrupt. 

Evidence - number of independent artisans fell from 1,645,000 to 1,500,000 1936-9 but value of their trade nealry doubled. SoPaDe report July 1939 = 'the small business men are in a condition of gloom and despondency". 

Info - German Labour Front (DAF), 1933 = led by Rob Ley = act as a trade union - had subsidiary organisations. STJ = offered package holidays and car schemes. Beauty of work = improved working conditions and facillaties. Reich Labour Service (RAD) = June 1935 = men 18-25 = 6 months labour - women in 1939 = autobahnen. 

Evidence = DAF membership = 5mn - 22mn 1933-39. Food consumption 1927-37 = bread = -44.2%, eggs = -41.3% and beer = -58.7%. Unemployemnt = 1932 = 5.6mn, 1938 = 0.2mn with 1.5 hidden. Money wages = 1936 = 100, 1933 = 87.7 and 1938 = 108.5. Hours = 1933 = 47/w and 1939 = 47. 

Significance/debates - did Hitler create a VGS = no = class structyres till survived and W/C remained very similar ocially and little changed relatively. 

Info - trapped and alienated some by Reich Entailed Farm Law and Recih Food Estate, 1933, but protected others during war. Focus was on war prep. 

Evidence - 29% of pop = agriculture in 1933. Recih Food Estate 1933 = regulated prices and wages = income overall inc 41% 1933-36; but restricted freedom and animal production fell. Reich Entailed Farm Law, 1933 = calssified 600,000 farms (35%) as hereditary, so they couldn't be divided or sold; did trap small scale farmers in small scale and restricted credit. Real wages inc from 97 in 1934 to 108 by 1938 with 1936 = 100 = slow 

Significance/debates - some change for farmers, but far behind that of industrial wokrers. Some polciies had the opposite of the intended effect, and sometimes had negative impacts too. Led to urbanistaion. COnditions had improved since 1927 though. 

Info - much less susceptible to Nazi ideology than Ptotestant Church. Saw Nazism as a lesser evil than Communism. Catholic newspapers ordered to drop Catholic from their name, ** + Gestapo put priests under surveillance. 

Evidence - July 1933 Concordat = church promised to stay out of politics in return for freedom of worship and control of schools and youth groups in return for support in EA. Catholic Minister Erich Klausner murdered in KotLK - June 1934. Crucifixes banned in schools 1935. Youth groups banned 1936. Pope = March 1937 = 'With Burning Concern' = condemned abandonment of Concordat. August 1941 Bishop Galen condemned Aktion T4. Propaganda campaign against sex scandals of Catholic Priests = 200 arrested

Significance/debates - did churches collaborate? At first yes, but as the Nazis began to go back in the concordat and increase repressive measures, the Catholic Church became more outspoken. 

Info - more easily co-ordinated than Catholics. German Evangelical Curch co-ordinated into a centralised Recih Church under Nazi control spring and summer 1933. Opposition group = confessional church = rejected Nazi changes; led by Bonhoeffer and Niermöller.  

Evidence - May 1932 = German Christians established ='SA of the Church'= mid-1930s had 600,000 supporters; abolished all elected bodies. Müller (Reich Bishop) demaned dismissal of non-Nazi pastors and non-Aryans.  1935 = Ministry of Chruch Affairs created and Müller was marginalised = closure of church schools, confiscated funds, arrests and Church Secession Campaign to persuade people to leave religion.        Confessional church = by 1934 = support of 5,000 pastors.                                                                        Significance/debates - did churches co-operate? Protestants = more so than Catholics = allowed a full transformation of their church. There was still some opposition.