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Germany: The Nazi Party
National Socialist German Workers Party = NSDAP
The 25 Points - These were the core beliefs of the Nazi party
which Hitler wrote. It was a political manifesto which set out what
the Nazis would do.
1. The government must provide jobs
for everyone and everyone must work
– the Nazis believed in this because they
felt that everybody should contribute to
the economic growth of Germany. It
would appeal to all of the people who
were unemployed at the time due to
hyperinflation. It would badly effect those
who chose not to work.
3. The Treaty of
Versailles should
be destroyed –
Nazis believed that
Versailles was too
harsh. They did not
accept defeat in
WW1 and felt that
they were betrayed
by the November
criminals. This would
appeal to members
of the Army, but
threatened the
current government,
because they were
the people who
signed the treaty.
2. There should be a
strong tough central
government led by 1 man
– the Nazis believed this
because under the Kaiser,
Germany was strong and
successful. The Weimar
republic was not dealing
with the hyperinflation crisis
well, so the thought of
returning to a system like
the Kiser appealed to
many.
The Sturm-Abteilung
were the Nazi party’s
private army. They were
mostly ex-Freikorps and
their role was to protect
Nazi speakers, but in
reality they made violence
themselves by attacking
rival left wing groups.
Hitler was the Nazi party’s undisputed
leader. He had a dominating presence, and
craved power. He would not be tied down
by policy; he wanted to gain power then use
it as necessary at that time. He was an
incredibly persuasive public speaker and
told people what they wanted to hear.
A governmental coup staged by the Nazis to overthrow the Weimar republic.
8th November 1923
9th November 1923
•Kahr, the leader of Bavaria was
addressing 3000 businessmen at a beer
hall in Munich
•Von Kahr escaped during the night and
told the army of Hitler’s plans for
revolution
•Hitler and Goering arrived with 600
storm troopers
•Hitler and his 2,000 supporters began
their march through Munich streets, but
were met by armed police
•General Ludendorff was a great German
war hero who said he supported Hitler
•Around Munich, the storm troopers took
control of government buildings
The Trial – February 1924
•Hitler used the trial as a stage on
which to speak about his beliefs.
•The trial lasted 24 days and he
was a media sensation.
Forced Nazis into
public eye
Made Hitler famous
and gave him a
chance to speak
publically
Got support of
army
•Hitler was wounded and 16 Nazis were
killed
•Hitler and Ludendorff were taken to
prison
Landsberg Prison
•Hitler was made very comfortable in jail,
and was allowed unlimited visitors
•He wrote his book, Mein Kampf, and
completely reorganised the Nazi party
Badly Organised
Showed how
powerless Nazis were
Hitler was tricked by
Ludendorff and Von
Kahr
Hitler imprisoned
After the Munich Putsch, Hitler reorganised the party, and decided that the only way
to win votes was by legal means. On the 27th February 1925 in the Munich Beer
Hall,. Hitler officially re-launched the Party.
The Swastika was in
red black and white,
representing eternity in
the colours of the
German flag under the
Kaiser.
Winning over the
Working Classes
Increased antiSemitic
propaganda, as
this seemed to
appeal.
Cultivated support of
wealthy businessmen
promising them that if Nazis
came to power, trade
unions and communism
would be destroyed. They
then financed his
campaigns.
Josef Goebbels put in charge of
propaganda – they felt that the best way
to get the support of the masses was to
appeal to feelings rather than by
argument. They waged a propaganda
campaign including posters, leaflets,
radio, film and rallies.
Winning over the
Middle Classes
Promised strong
leadership that
Weimar had failed
to deliver.
Held public meetings for
members to train in public
speaking. If topics of
discussion were popular,
they would be repeated.
Reduced the number
of SA
Set up networks of local
parties, and merged
with other right wing
parties before taking
them over
Set up Hitler
Youth,
attracting
young people
to join the party
There are reasons why Hitler was chosen because of what the Nazis had
done, as well as other events which helped his on his way to chancellor.
Other Events:
The Depression
After Stresemann built Germany on
American loans, when Wall Street crashed
in 1929, American loans were recalled, and
the German economy collapsed.
Businesses could not sell their goods, and
so had to sack workers. Unemployment
soared, and the Nazi promise of solving
unemployment gathered much support.
Over half of all 16-30 year olds in 1933
were unemployed and 40% of factory
workers were unemployed by 1932. This
gave Nazis more support. In 1933, when
unemployment had reached 4,804,000, the
Nazis had 43.9% of the vote in the
Reichstag, 288 seats.
Fear of Communism
Nazi party was anti-communist , which
appealed to wealthy businessmen and
industrialists who feared that a communist
government would take over their
businesses.
Nazi Actions:
Propaganda
Nazi propaganda appealed to the prejudice
that already existed amongst German people.
Hitler used the Jews as a scapegoat for the
loss of WW1, and because many people
wanted someone else to blame, this increased
his support. The Nazis understood what the
depression had done to people, and their
propaganda played on this.
Promises
Hitler promised to defeat communism, solve
unemployment and get Germany to be as
strong as it was with the Kaiser. Many people
were struggling in the depression, and these
promises of strong leadership were exactly
what they wanted to hear. He also promised to
turn back the treaty of Versailles, which
appealed to all Nationalists and the believers
of the Stab in the Back theory. There was a
different promise for every sector of society; for
farmers, better prices, for the rich, economic
stability, and for the poor they promised jobs.
Organisation
Weak opposition
In the Reichstag, the Nazis must have a
majority vote to pass a law. All that the
other parties had to do was agree in order
to stop the Nazis passing a law, but they
would not do this, so the Nazis were able
to.
Political Deal
Many Nazis had fought in WW1, meaning that
they were highly organised and valued
teamwork. They had skilled leaders at every
level.
Leadership
Hitler was glorified into a superman, and the
idea of having a strong leader again like the
Kaiser appealed to almost all Germans. Hitler
would fly around Germany giving speeches to
raise his profile, and also used radio to spread
the message of the Nazis.
Nazis are successful in July 1932, winning 37% of vote
Hitler demanded to be chancellor, but President von Hindenburg refused,
instead making Franz von Papen, the head of the Catholic Centre Party
chancellor. Papen did not have support of Reichstag and so in December
1933, General von Schleicher persuaded Hindenburg to remove Papen,
becoming chancellor himself.
Schleicher also failed to get support of Reichstag. Papen wanted revenge,
and so made a deal with Hitler; Hitler would be chancellor and Papen
would be vice chancellor. Papen thought he could control Hitler, and
Hindenburg agreed, and made Hitler chancellor in January 1933.
•27th February 1933, the
Reichstag was set alight.
•Young Dutch communist
Marinus van der Lubbe
was found at the scene
with matches in his
pocket.
•He was arrested, held
and interrogated by Nazi
officers, confessed to the
crime and was later tried
and executed.
The Nazi party may have organised the fire themselves.
Catching a known communist red handed would give Hitler
the perfect opportunity to restrict civil liberties and ban
other parties, for fear of a communist revolution.
What were the results of the
Reichstag fire???
•Nazis immediately announced
that communists were trying to
take control of Germany.
•They persuaded Hindenburg
to use Article 48 of the Weimar
constitution to introduce “The
law for the protection of the
people and the state”. It
allowed Nazis to arrest any
political opponents without
reason.
•4000 German communists
were arrested and put into
concentration camps having
committed no crime.
The law and the fire
created an
atmosphere of
absolute panic in
Germany – they felt
they ere under attack
from an invisible
enemy. The Nazis
promised to restore
order and they polled
44% in the March
1933 elections. Some
Historians blame the
Weimar constitution
for this, because if
Article 48 had not
have existed, the law
would have had to go
through the Reichstag
and would not have
been passed.
Hitler needed to get
over two thirds of the
vote in order to pass
the enabling act. He
did this by….
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
83%
46%
53%
60%
March Election
Nationalist Party
support
Making
communism
illegal
10%
0%
1. In March election, Nazis poll 222 of 647
seats
2. Hitler persuades Nationalists to support
him, getting 340 out of the 647 seats
3. Emergency powers used to make
communism illegal, reduces number of
seats, Hitler’s percentage of the
Reichstag increases.
4. Almost all of centre party supported
Hitler, and the enabling Act was passed
444 votes to 94.
Othe rparties give
support
The Weimar
Constitution
had effectively
voted
themselves
out of
existence –
Hitler could
rule without
the Reichstag.
After Hitler became chancellor in January
1933, and had the enabling act passed on
23rd March, he still had many difficult
decisions to make. One of these was to
choose between his loyal SA and the
national army of Germany.
Support the SA:
Rohm was an old friend of Hitler
SA had helped him in the Munich Putsch 1923,
and in fights against communists
Committed Nazis
Over 2,500,00 – much larger than the army
Abandon SA:
Beginning to get out of hand – interfering with
running the country and law courts
Disapproved of some Nazi leaders
Hitler would have to go along with their demands
if he used them to control the army
Hitler did not agree with their working class aims
and anti capitalist policies
Support Army:
•Well trained and disciplined
•Only organisation which had the power to
remove Hitler
•Support of big businesses and
conservatives
•Efficient army was needed to reclaim
land lost at Versailles
Don’t support the army:
•Small – 100,00 men
•Loyalty unknown
•Some Generals disliked Hitler and Nazis
On 29th and 30th June 1934, the SS (German Army) were ordered by Hitler to arrest
and kill members and leaders of the SA – 400 men were killed. Hitler thought that
Rohm, leader of the SA, was planning a coup, and he was shot. The SS was then
led by Heinrich Himmler, and it became a hugely powerful influence in Germany.
This David Low cartoon from 3 July
1934 shows Hitler (with a smoking
gun) and Goering (shown as Thor,
the God of War) glowering at - not
the traditional Nazi salute - but
terrified SA men with their hands
up. Some SA men already lie dead
on the ground. The caption reads:
'They salute with both hands now'.
Low was fiercely anti-Nazi, and
portrays Hitler as a brazen murderer
keeping his men in check by naked
fear. Goebbels is shown as Hitler's
poodle.
What kind of Germany did the Nazis want?
•The ‘people’s community’; a German population unified by mind, body and
spirit.
•People would stop thinking of themselves as individuals but instead would
think of themselves as part of a greater German community.
•Rights that an individual has, such as freedom of thought would be
considered less important than loyalty to the German nation.
1.
The Volk – all unified in one German nation. Achieved by:
•
removing all other party loyalties. Organisations like church, political
parties or even swimming clubs and choirs would be abolished or taken
over by Nazis.
•
Family and friendship would be less important that the Volk. People
would be expected and encouraged to inform Nazis of anybody who
was not sufficiently loyal to the German Volk.
•
Free speech abolished – there was no room for opposition to the Nazis.
2.
A strong Germany. Achieved by:
•
Strong leadership
•
Destroying the humiliating treaty of Versailles
•
Making Germany a great military power with strong armed forces
•
Restoring economy from depression by making industry powerful
WAR is necessary for all 4 to come together.
3.
A racially pure Germany . Hitler believed that Aryans were superior to
other races, and that Germany’s problems were caused by Germany
being run by non-racially pure Germans. Achieved by:
•
Getting rid of minorities such as Jews by removing them from positions
of power
•
Pure German women would be expected to produce as many racially
pure children as possible. They could not marry men of other races.
How did the Nazis run Germany?
A DICTATORSHIP
No democracy; it was the weakness of the democratic
Weimar republic that had caused disaster for
Germany. Germany needed a dictator who knew what
was best for the country, and made decisions for
everyone else. Everyone would obey these as they
were in the people’s interests.
A ONE PARTY STATE
Nazis would be the only political party. Every state,
every committee, every organisation, every club would
be led by Nazi members.
ECONOMIC SUCCESS
All Germans would be employed and would have food.
They would help people to save money to buy their own
cars, have holidays and entertainment for loyal Germans.
A POLICE STATE
If there was opposition, the SS and the police would have
absolute power to arrest, punish and execute enemies of
the state who did not follow instructions, and Hitler, or who
did not submit to the demands for total loyalty.
A PROPAGANDA STATE
Nazis believed that if they controlled what people saw,
heard and read, they could win hearts and minds.
Goebbels had already shown that Nazi election
campaigns of the 1930s were successful and these
were based around propaganda.
Propaganda
Anything which sets out to make people think in a
certain way about something; a deliberately one
sided version of events.
Nazi Germany’s master of propaganda was Josef Goebbels , named the ‘Minister for
Propaganda and Enlightenment’. The entire German media was controlled by him.
The propaganda set out to make the new German government appear glorious and
successful. It was designed to:
- Make Germany look more united under Nazi leadership
- Show racial purity was important in building a strong Germany
Cinema – special films carrying Nazi
message were made for the young, and
news reels and documentaries with a
Nazi slant were played before and after
films.
Books – anything written by Jews or
authors opposed to the Nazi party were
banned. In1933 students were encouraged
to burn huge piles of banned books from
libraries.
Music – had to be German composers like
Wagner, Beethoven and Mozart. German folk
music and marching music were encouraged.
Jazz, black American, and Jewish music were
banned.
Newspapers – only allowed to print stories which
were pro-Nazi and were given strict instructions
form the party on what to write. Newspapers which
did not support the Nazis were closed – 1,500
closed by 1934.
Radio – Gobbles took control of all local radio
stations and used them to send out Nazi
messages. Cheap radio sets were produced so
that every German could afford one, named the
“people’s receivers”. No foreign stations could
be picked up, so the only view of the world was
the Nazi one. Loudspeaker pillars were set up
all over Germany in streets and public squares
so people could hear it wherever they went.
They brought colour, excitement and national pride to
people’s lives, but also achieved two very important things;
1. Gave the impression
that Nazism was
POPULAR
People felt that everyone else was
a Nazi, convincing others of the
Nazi message. The rallies were an
example of ‘MOB PSYCHOLOGY’,
when people are simply swept
along by a feeling of belonging to
act in ways that they would not
usually.
2. Gave the
impression of
ORDER
Nazis promised
Germans an end to
instability of the 1920s
and early 1930s. The
rallies made it look like
the Nazis had delivered
order to German.
Propaganda
The 1936 Berlin Olympics. Hitler used this as a
propaganda exercise to show how organised
and successful the Nazis were in restoring Nazis
to greatness. Huge amounts of money were
spent on state of the art facilities to prove how
much Germany had recovered under the Nazis.
cont.
Hitler also wanted to prove that the Aryan race were superior to all others. To his
delight, Germany finished top of the medals table (thanks to show jumping and
shooting). However, Jesse Owens the black American athlete broke 11 world
records and won 4 gold medals. Hitler refused to shake his hand, and Owens
said, “It’s not like I went there to shake his hand anyway”.
Hitler was successful in making Germany look powerful, as all visitors were in
awe at the impressive buildings and organisation. However, the idea of Aryan
superiority was questioned after the success of Jesse Owens.
Schools in Nazi Germany
Educational Aims
•Winning the hearts and minds of German children in order to create a
thousand year Reich
•Indoctrinating young people with Nazi ideas so that they would comply, and
the Nazis would rule forever.
Teachers were forced to join
the German Teachers League,
and any teachers who refused
were dismissed. They were
instructed and trained to put
the Nazi message across in all
lessons
Girls were taught
domestic
science, child
care and cookery
in preparation for
their roles as
wives and
mothers.
Children are ideal targets for indoctrination
because;
1.
All children had to go to school, and so it
was a perfect place4 for the indoctrination to
take place.
2.
Children believed all that they were told by
adults, especially teachers.
Boys were taught history, race
science, eugenics (the science of
breeding) and lots of sport. This
was to prepare them for being
soldiers. The Nazi message was
incorporated into history, teaching
about the failures of the weak
democratic Weimar republic, and
how Hitler saved Germany.
The Hitler Youth
The Nazis believed that in the past, German society was perfect,
leading to traditionalist ideas. Gender roles very important; girls
were wives and mothers, boys were brave soldiers.
By 1933, the Hitler Youth had
taken over scouts and church
youth groups. After 1935,
membership was compulsory.
Boys and girls were kept
separate in the Hitler youth,
and girls became a part of the
League of German maidens.
They were split in preparation
for their different roles in
society. Girls were encouraged
to wear traditional clothes and
hairstyles.
German boys read Der
Sturmer, indoctrinating them
with the Volksgemeinschaft
message and encouraging
them to adopt Nazi ideology;
chariot racing to encourage
aggression, physical strength,
teamwork and a competitive
nature; carrying ‘dead’
comrades at festivals reenacting Medieval burial
ceremonies in order to
encourage traditionalist
attitudes and preparation for
their becoming soldiers.
Women in Nazi Germany
KINDER – children; expand the German
empire by having racially pure children.
KIRCHE – church; a powerful tool to convey
the Nazis message that women have a duty
to God to do these things.
KUCHE – kitchen; being a housewife, cooking
and cleaning and looking after the husband.
Women were so important to the Nazis because
they needed children. In 1900, 2 million German
babies were born; in 1930 this had fallen to 1
million. If Germany wanted to be a great power,
the Aryan women needed to have children to
expand the racially pure empire.
Successful?
•800,000 new brides given
special loans because they
promised not to take up
jobs
•1936 there were 30%
more births than in 1933
•Duty year must be served
when women were 18 as
their service was required
in armament factories in
preparation for war.
•Employment of women
increased, but wages only
two thirds that of a man’s.
The Nazis encouraged women to comply by;
1.
The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage in
1933 – couples given 1000 marks in 1933, and
were allowed to keep 250 marks for every
child.
2.
The Honour Cross for the German mothergold for 8 children, silver for 6 children, bronze
for 4 children
3.
Lebensborn programme allowed selected
unmarried women to ‘donate a baby to the
fuehrer’ by becoming pregnant to racially pure
SS men.
4.
Sacking women in government controlled jobs
– 15% of teachers, all doctors and civil
servants were sacked.
Church in Nazi
Germany
Hitler’s opinion: “God is dead, and we have killed him”.
Hitler was inconsistent about religion; sometimes he used Christian language,
sometimes he spoke disparagingly about Christianity.
Hitler was heavily influenced by German philosopher Nietzsche, who argued that
Christianity only existed to make men weak. The qualities most highly regarded by
Christianity, charity, mercy and selflessness, were “slave like”. Hitler was interested
in making people stronger and didn’t want these qualities in his new German nation.
Hitler could destroy the church…
…or use it
In 1933 nearly all Germans were
Christians. The protestant
church had more members
than the Nazi party, so the
church had a greater
influence
People who worshipped God would
not easily worship Hitler,
which the Nazis wanted
Church meetings could be used to
spread anti-Nazi ideas.
Many Christians had voted for Hitler.
Protestant pastors were amongst the most
well liked Nazi election speakers.
Nazi idea of Volksgemeinschaft appealed
to traditionalists in the church
Church was a local power base for Nazis.
If they could build on it, they could grow in
strength.
The Nazi approach to Church…
When the Nazis first came to power, they thought that they were powerful enough
to directly challenge the church
Nazis agreed a CONCORDAT with the catholic church; Nazis would stay out of
religion if the church stayed out of politics
How it changed…
As Nazis became more established, their decisions became braver. In 1938,
Catholic priests were banned from teaching lessons. In 1939, all church schools
were closed. However, a vast majority of Germans still described themselves as
Christians. The Reichskirche was never very popular, and was only attended out of
duty.
Opposition from
Christians
Paul Schneider
• Pastor in a small town
•Criticised Nazis, especially Goebbels
•In 1934 he was arrested and warned not to make speeches hostile towards the Nazis
•He ignored these warnings, and in 1937 he was sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp
•He smuggled out letters warning that the church should not compromise with the Nazis.
•He refused to take his cap off when Nazi flags were hoisted and was put on the rack and whipped.
He was tortured and strung up by the arms for hours at a time
•He still refused to sign a promise not to preach. He prayed aloud and was kept in the camp for 2
years.
•In 1938 he was sent to a concentration camp, and although Hitler ordered his death before the
war ended, he survived.
Cardinal Galen
•Galen publicly attacked Nazi policies as early as 1924
•In 1941 he revealed that Nazis were secretly killing mentally and
physically handicapped people.
•Galen lead a campaign to ensure that Hitler called a halt to this
euthanasia programme.
•The Nazi party did not want to make him a martyr, so no action
was taken against him.
•Three catholic priests were executed for distributing copies of
Galen’s sermons to soldiers. Some Nazis urged Goebbels to
hang Galen, but he felt that this would only turn people against the
Nazi party.
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Germany’s 30,000 Jehovah’s
Witnesses believed that they should
live by their religion and not by the
government. Most of them ended up
in concentration camps, and one third
of them died.
Opposition to the Nazis - Youth
The White Rose
•Lead by Munich students
•Distributed leaflets attacking the Nazi slaughter of the Jews
and Poles
•Urged Germans to sabotage the war effort
•In 1943, most leaders were captured and executed.
The Edelweiss Pirates
•Working class girls and boys Wore an edelweiss flower as a
symbol of their opposition
•At weekends, they would go on hikes, camp, sing, meet other
groups and hope to beat up Hitler Youth patrols.
•‘Roving dudes’ and ‘Navajos’ regarded themselves as Edelweiss
Pirates
•In Cologne, the Navajos sheltered army deserters and escapees
from concentration camps, attacked Nazi officials and military
targets.
•A group of the Cologne Navajos killed the head of the Gestapo in
their region, were caught and executed in November 1944.
The Swing Youth
•Middle class youths who liked to listen to black jazz and band music
•During the war, swing youth existed in most big cities, and members met in night clubs and cafes.
•They wore English style clothes, girls wore makeup and Jews were accepted.
•Their common greeting was ‘Heil Benny’ after the band leader Benny Goodman
•Nazis were outraged at such behaviour, and as a punishment, one boy, Hasso Schutzendorff, in
October 1942, was put into a concentration camp. His hair was cut off, he was beaten with an iron
bar and forced to push trolleys full of Earth uphill for 2 weeks.
Soldiers
•Nazi youth policy through the 30s was aimed at preparing young Germans for war, but, when
war came, all of the best leaders from the Hitler Youth went away, leaving the organisation in
the hands of teenagers
•Members therefore got fed up with being policed and given orders by people barely older
than themselves.
•The Hitler Youth became less attractive, and young people turned away from it. Those who
opposed it formed the other opposition groups.
Did the War increase Nazi opposition?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Early Opposition
•Was a Christian, and from early 1930s, he preached and published his views against the
Nazis.
•In 1935, he campaigned against the Nuremberg Laws, but he failed to get even the supposed
anti-Nazi confessional church to oppose with him.
•In 1937, Gestapo closed his training college and banned him from teaching.
He joins the Abwehr
•He joined the underground resistance with brother Klaus and brother-in-law Hans von
Dohnanyi. They secretly gathered evidence of Nazi crimes
•In 1935, he joined the Abwehr, the German Army counter-intelligence service, within which a
small group was working to overthrow Hitler. He helped to devise ‘Operation 7’, the aim of
which was to help a small number of Jews escape from Germany. This was successful, and the
Jews escaped to Switzerland
•Bonhoeffer became more involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler. He made contact with the
British government to ask if they would negotiate a peace deal with conspirators if they could
overthrow Hitler. The British wanted unconditional surrender, and were not convinced that the
group could succeed, and so no deal was made.
He is arrested
•In October 1942, his name was revealed during the interrogation of a man arrested for
currency smuggling
•He was kept in solitary confinement in silence, fed on dry bread, denied clean clothes,
blankets and soap.
Concentration Camp
•In 1944, he was transferred to . He still preached the word of God in the camp. On the 8th
April 1945 he was put on trial in Flossenberg concentration camp. The trial lasted 30
minutes, and he was hung at dawn the next day.
Did the War increase Nazi opposition?
The Army leaders tried to kill Hitler…
• A1943, the war was going disastrously wrong for Hitler
The July 1944
Bomb Plot
•A group worked closely with Bonhoeffer to topple
Hitler
•In 1944, opposition led by General Ludwig Beck and
Civilian Conservative politician Dr Carl Goerdeler backed
plans from Count Von Stauffenberg to assassinate
Hitler
Why did Count Von Stauffenberg want to kill Hitler?
In the 1930s he had been a Nazi supporter, and had welcomed the party because
they were the only group who could destroy the communists
He fought in France, Russia and North Africa. In 1942, he was seriously wounded,
and lost his left eye, tight arm and two fingers from his left hand.
The suffering of the army in Russia and the brutality of the SS pushed him to plot
to kill Hitler.
The events of July 20th, 1944…
1.
Count Stauffenberg attended the staff conference in Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair, beginning at 12.30pm.
2.
He broke a capsule of acid which would eat through the wire detonator thus activating a firing
pin.
3.
He entered the map room, and put the bomb, hidden in a briefcase, against the leg of the
table where Hitler would be looking at the maps.
4.
Stauffenberg made an excuse to leave the room, saying that he must take a telephone report
from Berlin.
5.
At 12.42, the bomb exploded, and SS guards believed an air raid to be taking place.
Stauffenberg bluffed his way out of the Wolf’s Lair and by 13.15 was on his way to Berlin on a
plane.
6.
The briefcase was moved to the other side of the table, so Hitler survived, with singed
clothing, damage to his ear drums, and a cut to his hand.
7.
At 16.00, Hitler was giving a talk to Mussolini about the explosion. At 18.45, there was a radio
broadcast saying that there had been an attempt on Hitler’s life, but that it had failed and
Hitler was still alive.
8.
The Coup d'état which was planned to follow the assassination was badly planned, and was
disastrous. The conspirators ordered Major Otto Remer to go to arrest Goebbels, the only
senior Nazi officer in Berlin at the time. However, Remer was a dedicated Nazi, and after
being promoted by Hitler to colonel, he was given the task of finding all of the conspirators.
9.
The conspirators were rounded up, faced court Martial and were executed by firing squad.
Opposition to the Nazis
and why didn’t it grow?
Talking to friends and family about complaints, eg.
Complaining about unemployment in a private conversation.
Publically declaring opposition by refusing to cooperate with Nazis
eg. Pastor Gruber, who helped Jews to emigrate, and leader of the
Army, General von Fritch, who argued against Hitler’s plans for war.
People campaign against government, or deliberately disrupt
policies. Eg. The Beautification Society in Northeim buying a hut
in the forest rather than giving the Nazis their money.
Nazis could not be voted out, and so the only other way of change
was by killing and replacing Hitler. None succeeded, the 1944
bomb plot was one attempt.
Germans were afraid – The SS and the
Gestapo could destroy people’s lives if they did
not comply. Nazis wanted hearts and minds,
but as long as they obeyed and kept
complaints private, they were tolerated. This
ruling through fear ensured everyone kept
grumbles quiet.
People were unaware – Censorship and
propaganda meant that people could not
receive reliable information. Some Nazi
policies could be kept secret in this way. This
meant that revolution because of outrage at
policy was less likely, as German people had
only Nazi perspective on events.
Quibbles were minor – In the German town
of Northeim, there were complaints about the
four sports clubs being merged into one,
rather than about the persecution of the Jews.
People were seemingly not concerned about
the genocide, so Nazis didn’t have to worry
about the growth of opposition.
Opposition was divided– the communists and social
democrats did not trust each other, and so would not
cooperate in resistance against the Nazis. The SDs met
in small groups, and communists did nothing as they
thought that Nazis would fall by themselves. The public
were so preoccupied with their own views about how
Germany should be run, complaints were only
discussed as a matter of course.
People were pleased – The reversal of the Treaty
of Versailles pleased many people, so for the sake of
stability, people would tolerate something that they
did not agree with. Nazis had kept some promises,
and the economic stability that they brought was a
far greater concern than most things for the German
public in general.
Unpopular policies were dropped – In 1940 their
policy of euthanasia was dropped after the people of
Germany discovered that disabled people were being
murdered. Dropping unpopular policies meant that most
people were kept ‘happy’, so there was less chance of
opposition.
“We did vote for them after all” – Most people saw
the Nazis as having the legal right to do whatever they
wanted because they had been voted in. Most people
therefore just accepted the Nazi policy, and didn’t
create opposition.
There was no organised opposition – Hitler
had destroyed all other parties and eradicated
all opposition groups, making Germany a one
party state, so no further action was needed to
limit opposition.
Nazi Economy
The aims of the Nazi economy were:
Problems faced…
1.
To reduce unemployment, in 1933 it was 6
million
1.
2.
To build up the German armaments
industry and rearm and enlarge the
German army, navy and air force
Difficult to export goods as
trade had collapsed in the
Great depression
2.
Germany was short of some
essential raw materials
3.
Germany could not afford to
pay for many imports.
3.
To make Germany economically self
sufficient so it could not be blockaded in
times of war.
Economy under Dr Hjalmar
Schacht, 1934-1937 – THE
NEW PLAN
•Imports were limited, how
much and what materials
were imported were carefully
controlled
•Trade agreements were
made with countries. Hungary
exchanged butter, vegetable
oil, fodder and raw materials
in return for industrial
products. This supplied the
raw materials Germany
needed
•Government spending
channelled into a wide range
of industries
•Unemployment reduced by…
The New Plan was successful; the
economic crisis was solved between
1934-36. Hitler was able to rearm, and
from 1933, the world economy was
recovering anyway. Germany had
become more dependent on imported
raw materials though, not helping self
sufficiency.
Ways of reducing
unemployment:
1.
DAF (Deutche Arbeitsfront) - this put
all people to work, building schools,
hospitals stadiums and autobahns.
2.
RAD (Reich Labour Service) for all 1825 year old men. They had to do 6
months of compulsory service. Work
was hard physical labour like digging
ditches and planting forests.
3.
Conscription and rearmament from
1935 – this created thousands of
factory jobs to produce weapons and
ammunition. Military service also
reduced numbers of unemployed.
4.
Jews were dismissed and Germans
took their jobs
5.
Sending people to concentration
camps (they were not included in
unemployment statistics)
Hitler wanted to be preparing for war in
1935, and therefore wanted to rearm more
quickly. Schacht told Hitler that Germany
could not afford to do this, and resigned in
1937.
Economy under Goering
Hermann Goering took over the economy. His sole aim was preparation for war,
and that meant making Germany completely self sufficient. Hitler did not want a
situation like the British naval blockade in WW1, and so wanted an AUTARKY.
This would mean that Germany had enough oil, steel, rubber and food
necessary to function. To achieve Autarky:
1.
2.
Agriculture
Increased production of raw materials needed for
rearmament like coal, iron ore, oil, metal and
explosives.
Big businesses were persuaded to produce synthetic
raw materials, like artificial rubber and textiles. The
chemical company I G Farben tried to extract oil from
coal.
3.
Reduce imports
4.
Tighten controls on wages and prices
5.
Use forced labour if necessary
6.
Build new industrial plants, like the Herman Goering
Works, a huge mining and metal works.
Farmers had voted for the Nazis,
and so Hitler wanted to make
sure that they were rewarded;
1.
Taxes for farmers were cut
2.
Amount of land farmed was
reduced to cut overproduction
of food, and food prices rose,
increasing farmer profits.
This meant that food had to be
imported more often, not
helping to achieve autarky.
Did it work?
No. The government poured billions of Reich marks into the 4 year plan, but by
1939, Germany still depended on foreign imports for one third of raw materials.
Effects on people in Society
Sector of
Society
Advantages
Disadvantages
Farmers
Debts written off, increased food
prices=bigger profit
Government controlled all – hens must lay 65
eggs per year. Shortage of workers as
people left for towns.
Unskilled
workers
They had been the hardest hit in the
depression; they were now able to feed
families. Housing was organised
Forced to work where thy were out, wages
lower than dole, would not receive
unemployment benefit if they refused.
Small
businesses
Department stores banned, Jewish
stores closed. Less stores = less
competition, craftsmen could control
trade.
Number of self-employed craftsmen fell from
1,650,000 to 1,500,000
Big
businesses
Massive rearmaments and destruction
of trade unions gave more work.
Salaries rose by 70% between 1934-38.
Government took control of prices, wages,
profits and imports, ordered what must be
produced.
Did people benefit from Nazi rule?
“As far as those things that can be measured are concerned,
life improved. But it was those things that cannot be
measured that got worse.”
The life of most Germans genuinely improved under Nazi rule, and
so the Nazis were popular. The people who were in the
Volksgemeinschaft saw a real improvement in life; for those who
weren’t, life got immeasurably worse.
•
Positives:
Versailles
•
Country was out of the depression, and people were more optimistic and self confident
•
More people had jobs, and so had a better standard of living than during the depression. People had
houses, food, holidays etc.
•
Negatives
•
No freedom of religion
•
Education system was ruined by Nazification
•
Control of leisure time activities
•
Arrest and murder of political opponents, homosexuals and racially undesirables.
German pride restored, particularly after Germany started to turn back the treaty of
no freedom to choose employment
Effects on the Jewish population
Anti Semitism had been common across Europe for centuries. In 1933, Jews made
up less than 1% of the population of Germany, but a high percentage of affluent
careers; 16% of lawyers, 17% of bankers and 10,000 doctors.
Date
Event
April 1933
Official 1 day boycott of Jewish shops, lawyers & bankers
1934
Anti Semitic propaganda increased
May 1935
Jews forbidden to join army
September 1935
Nuremberg Laws for the protection of German blood and honour. Banned
marriages between Jews and Aryans.
1936
Lull in anti-Jewish campaigns because of Olympics
September 1937
Hitler makes outspoken attack on Jews. Aryanisation of businesses increased
April 1938
Jews forced to register property, making it easier to confiscate
June-July 1938
Jewish doctors, dentists and lawyers banned from having German clients
October 1938
Red letter J stamped on Jewish passports
9-10 Nov 1938
Kristallnacht: Nazis destroyed synagogues, homes and shops of Jews.
Anti-Semitism was not invented by the Nazis, it had existed for centuries. Jews were
victims of discrimination for 3 reasons:
1.
Jews as Christ Killers – the Bible describes how Jewish leaders plotted with the
Romans to kill Jesus. When Pontius Pilate offered the people the chance to free
Jesus, Jewish leaders paid the crowd to shout for Barabbas.
2.
Jews as Murderers – During the middle ages, Jews were accused of kidnapping
children and sacrificing them to use their blood in prayer. Even though these
stories were completely untrue, the idea of Blood Libel was widely believed.
3.
Jews as money lenders – In the 16th century, Christians were forbidden by the
church to be money lenders. Since they were barred from many professions,
many Jews became money lenders, and were accused of charging excessive
rates on loans.
How did Nazis change anti-Semitism?
Before the Nazis, anti-Semitism was a
hatred of the Jewish religion. Jews
who converted to Christianity and who
were baptised were accepted a s
Christians. Hitler’s anti-Semitism was
racial. He believed a person was
Jewish by blood. Hitler had used
Darwin’s theory of evolution to develop
his ideas. He argued that Aryans and
white Europeans were superior to Jews
and blacks, and by applying this to
Darwin’s theory of natural selection, he
became a “Social Darwinist”; it was
natural for superior races, Aryans, to
dominate inferior races, like Jews.
Hitler’s restrictions on the Jews –
The Nuremberg Laws
September 1935:
1. The Reich Citizenship Law – deprived Jews of German
citizenship. Nazi made Jews not citizens because in some way,
this made the horrific discrimination and treatment of the Jews
more justifiable and acceptable. Everything in the eyes of the
law was now legitimate: they were not German citizens and so
should not enjoy the freedoms.
2. The Law for the protection of German Blood and Honour outlawed marriages and sexual relations between Jews and
Germans.
Laws
which
1.
2.
restricted a
normal
childhood for
Jewish children
Laws which made it
impossible for
Jews to earn
money
April 1933: Aryan
and Jewish
Children not
allowed to play
with each other
1.
April 1933: Jewish
teachers banned
from teaching in
state schools
2.
April 1936: Jewish
vets not allowed
to practice
3.
January 1939:
Jewish nurses,
chemists and
dentists forbidden
to work as such.
November 1938:
Jewish children
no longer allowed
to attend state
schools
October 1938: Jewish
passports stamped with a
letter ‘J’.
Laws which had serious effects on people’s
lives
1.
September 1935: Marriages between Jews
and Aryans were declared invalid
Laws which were seen by Jews as
minor nuisances
2.
March 1936: Jews not allowed to rebuild
their synagogues
1.
March 1938: Jews forbidden to
hold allotments
3.
December 1938: Jews had to hand in their
driving licenses to police.
2.
4.
September 1939: Jews had to stay in their
homes after 8pm in winter and 9pm in
summer.
November 1938: Jews not
allowed to buy magazines or
newspapers
3.
September 1939: Jews had to
hand in their radio sets.
•On 6th November 1938, a young German Jewish student, Hirsch
Grynspan, who was studying in Paris, received news that his
parents had been beaten up by Hitler’s Storm troopers.
•He went to the German embassy and shot a high ranking German
official, Ernst vom Rath. Three days later, he died in hospital.
•Over the 2 nights of the 9th and 10th November 1938, Jewish
synagogues and shops were burned and looted.
•Altogether; 117 synagogues were destroyed; 7500 shops were
looted; 91 Jews were killed. 20,000 Jews were sent to
concentration camps ND THE Jewish community had to pay a fine
of 1 billion marks for the murder of Vom Rath.
The German
government tried to
present this event as the
people of Germany
venting anger at the
murder of a German
official. However, as the
letter below makes clear,
this was not the case.
There are rules (no
looting, only German
Jews); you cannot
have rules for a
spontaneous attack.
This shows that
Kristallnacht was not
a natural uprising; it
was a government
organised Pogrom.
Kristallnacht was an example of a Pogrom. In Europe, these
were state organised attacks against Jewish settlements.
Kristallnacht was an example of the Nazi party’s systematic
approach to dealing with the “Jewish problem”.
Letter from SS Grupenfuhrer Heydrich to all state police on
10th November 1938, after the shooting of Vom Rath.
Following the attempt on the life of Secretary of the Legation
vom Rath in Paris, demonstrations against the Jews are to
be expected in all parts of the Reich in the course of the
coming night, November 9/10, 1938. The instructions below
are to be applied in dealing with these events:
a) Only such measures are to be taken as do not endanger
German lives or property (i.e., synagogues are to be burned
down only where there is no danger of fire in neighbouring
buildings).
b) Places of business and apartments belonging to Jews may
be destroyed but not looted. The police is instructed to
supervise the observance of this order and to arrest looters.
c) In commercial streets particular care is to be taken that
non-Jewish businesses are completely protected against
damage.
d) Foreign citizens – even if they are Jews – are not to be
molested.
2. On the assumption that the guidelines are observed, the
demonstrations are not to be prevented by the Police.
From 1933 Jews
discriminated
against by lots
of anti-Semitic
laws, combined
with anti-Semitic
propaganda.
From September
1935, Nuremburg
Laws denied
Jews of their
citizenship
The Final Solution – extermination
camps like Auschwitz, Treblinka
and Sobibor set up. Millions of
Jews exterminated.
Kristallnach
t – 9th 10th
November
1938
After invasion of
Poland, Polish Jews
put into ghettoes,
followed in 1941 by
German Jews.
Different methods of
execution tried;
carbon monoxide,
shooting; gas proved
to be most effective
Nazi built ghettoes in the countries that they invaded; Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Lithuania. The ghettoes just held the
Jews whilst Hitler decided what to do next; he had no real plan.
There were awful conditions in the ghettoes; no light, no heat, and food was almost impossible to
buy. Hundreds of thousands died from malnutrition. If you tried to leave you would be shot by SS
guards patrolling the wall. Nazis sometimes used people in the ghettoes for labour; Chaim
Rumkowski in the Lodz ghetto agreed to give Jews as workers, and these people would have been
taken to a camp and worked to death.
The SS were originally Hitler’s personal body
guards, and after the SA were destroyed at the
Night of the Long Knives, the SS became more
powerful. They were fiercely loyal to Hitler and
had unlimited powers of search and arrest,
terrorising ordinary Germans into obedience.
It was the job of the SS to destroy any form of
Nazi opposition. The Gestapo was a branch of
the SS which formed to secret police. They
would use informants to gather information on
opponents to the Nazi regime.
The SS were given control of the racial policy
because it was hard and upsetting; the SS had
been chosen as unemotional people who were
loyal in all circumstances.
The Einsatzgruppen were created by
Heinrich Himmler. They were special
task forces within the SS, under the
control of Reinhard Heydrich. They
became mobile killing units which
liquidated all enemies of the Reich
in newly occupied territory. The
Einsatzgruppen murdered 1.4
million Jews between 1941 and the
end of the war in 1945
•20th January 1942
•Reinhard Heydrich chaired a meeting in Wannsee, just
outside of Berlin
•A list was drawn up of the 11 million Jews in Europe, and
from now on, the extermination of Jews became a
systematically organised operation.
•Himmler was concerned that shooting women and
children was having an effect on the SS officers, and it
was decided that bullets were inefficient . It was here that
the idea of death camps was created.
The Nazis had started to kill disabled people in the 1930s using
overdoses as a method of ‘euthanasia’.
At Chelmno, the Nazis experimented with gas vans; pipes from the
exhaust were put into the back of the vans, where 30 Jews would be
killed in 30 minutes. The carbon monoxide killing was slow, but
Himmler was impressed with the bloodless efficiency and decided that
Zyklon-B gas would be used as the method of killing at death camps.
•Concentration camps had been used by the Nazis
before the war for political opponents, but these were
prison camps.
•These then developed into labour camps, such as
Auschwitz-Monowitz, where people would be used as
slave labour.
•After Wannsee, it was decided to set up death
camps at Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka and AuschwitzBirkeneau. Birkeneau was half a mile away from
Auschwitz one, and was where the gassings took
place.
•When Jews arrived at Auschwitz, Jews were taken
off the cattle trains and put onto a platform known as
the Judenramp. Doctors selected the fittest 10% for
work, and the other 90% would be taken directly to
the gas chambers and killed within 2 hours of arrival.
Death Marches – by 1944, it was clear
that the Nazis had lost, and the Russian
armies were advancing Westward. In
September 1944, Jews were moved out
of the Polish camps to camps further
West. In November 9144, Himmler
ordered that the gassings stopped and
all evidence of death camps be
destroyed. As the Russians advanced,
the decision was taken to abandon the
camps, and walk the Jews on “death
marches”. They were dumped in
concentration camps in Germany which
were now overcrowded. When Russian
forces liberated Auschwitz in 1945, they
found 2800 people who were too sick to
join the death march.