Page 44 - Year 10

History: Nazi Dictatorship: 3 of 4

Reichstag Fire Police State Key words
30/1/33 Hitler = Chancellor, but limited by Weimar Constitution Police were controlled by central and local govt, so Hitler set up his own Concordat – deal that Catholic Church could remain
power of President Hindenburg. police / security forces run by Nazi party to keep control. independent as long as priests swore loyalty to Hitler
27/2/33 Reichstag building destroyed by fire. Dutch Communist SS originally run by Himmler with 240 men = Hitler’s personal body guard, Enabling Act – Law which took powers from
Van der Lubbe caught (possibly framed by Goerring?). VdL During 1930s expanded to 240,000, in charge of all police and Reichstag and gave to Chancellor
claimed be was working alone, but Hitler said it was a communist security forces. SS did not have to act within the law. Gestapo – secret police
plot – used this as excuse to attack communists. SS led by Heydrich, kept information about everyone suspected of opposing Propaganda – information presented in a way to
Triggered Article 40 (state of emergency) 4,000 Communists Nazis make a political point (eg Hitler is great / Jews are
arrested immediately. Called election and used new powers to Gestapo (secret police) led by Heydrich from 1936. Identified any evil)
ignore SA violence. Nazis won more Reichstag seats, and took 81 opposition; spied on people and Totalitarian State – country where one group /
Communist seats = 2/3 majority required to change constitution. tapped phones; used torture to gain confessions; dawn raids; sent people person controls everything (politics, media, police,
Enabling Act to concentration camps. Only 30,000 Gestapo policing a population of 80m, army, etc)
New laws introduced in March 1933 to take power away from but used fear to control people. Trade Union – collective group representing rights of
Reichstag. Chancellor’s cabinet (led by Hitler) could propose new By 1939 150,000 people in concentration camps: political opponents, workers
laws, these laws did not need to be approved by Reichstag. SS minority groups (eg Jews), undesirables (eg homosexuals). Dachau was first,
Stormtroopers intimidated opponents, vote passed by Reichstag opened in 1933.
= end of democratic rule. Legal system: all judges had to support Nazi ideas or they were removed;
Removing opposition Judges decide innocence/guilt, not jury. 1930-32 8 people sentenced to
Trade Unions (workers’ organisations banned, officials death for political crimes; 1934-39 534.
arrested, strikes made illegal. At first Hitler tried to get Christian churches to work with the Nazis and
Other political parties offices attacked, newspapers banned, support them, but this failed.
money confiscated. July 1933 all parties except NSDAP (Nazi) Catholics were loyal to Pope not Hitler. July1933
made illegal. Concordat with the Pope, Hitler agreed that Catholics could worship freely
Local governments (parliament in each region) banned Jan 1934 – and run Catholic schools in return for priests swearing loyalty to Nazi Party.
regions to be run by governors appointed by Hitler. But he did not keep the promise: Priests were arrested and sent to
Night of the Long Knives concentration camps, Catholic schools closed.
Hitler thought that Rohm (leader of the SA) was a threat to his Some Protestants were glad that Hitler had saved Germany from anti-
power. 3m SA stormtroopers (of whom 60% unemployed, so Christian communists. Prot churches which wanted to work with Nazis
angry) were loyal to Rohm – more troops than the army. combined to form Reich Church: could carry on preaching, some displayed
Rohm also criticised Hitler’s close links with rich industrialists and Swastika in churches.
army generals. Himmler and Heydrich (leaders of the SS) wanted But some Prots opposed, and even openly criticised Nazis: Martin
to increase power of SS by weakening SA. Niemoller.
30 June 1934 Hitler arranged a meeting of Rohm and 100 SA Germany was becoming a totalitarian state: Hitler controlled Reichstag,
leaders. They were arrested and shot. Nazi Party, army, police, legal system, church.
Some Germans opposed this violence, but most resented violence
of the SA and convinced by Goerring that Rohm had Controlling attitudes
been planning a revolution Joseph Goebbels was responsible for Nazi propaganda (newspapers, posters, radio, film), to control the attitudes of the German people.
2 August 1934 President Hindenburg dies. Hitler declared himself Newspapers which opposed Nazis were closed (1,600 in 1935), those that remained were censored (told by party what they could/not
Fuhrer, with combined powers of Chancellor and President. All publish).
soldiers had to swear oath of loyalty to him. Public vote: lots of From 1933 all radios were censored and used to broadcast Nazi propaganda. Hitler and other Nazis made regular broadcasts, mass
Nazi propaganda 90% voted in favour of Hitler as Chancellor, end produced radios v cheap (1939 70% of German homes had one), could not pick up foreign radio stations. Goebbels had used mass rallies
of Weimar Republic. The Third Reich had begun. in election campaigns of 1920/30s. In Third Reich he made these bigger and more frequent. Mass rally held in Nuremberg each year to
show strength of Nazi Germany and display national unity – in 1934
+200,000 attended.