The Nazi regime: how effectively did the Nazis control Germany,

1933-39?

Denton Community College History Department /
The Nazi regime: how effectively did the Nazis control Germany, 1933-39?
Modern World AFL and Revision /


The Nazi regime: how effectively did the Nazis control Germany, 1933 39?

You need to think about:

  • How much opposition was there to the Nazi regime?
  • How effectively did the Nazis deal with their political opponents?
  • How did the Nazis use culture and the mass media to control the people?
  • Why did the Nazis persecute many groups in German society?

You need to know about:

  • removal of opposition;
  • methods of control and repression;
  • use of culture and the mass media.

Contents

The Nazi regime: how effectively did the Nazis control Germany, 1933 39?

Opposition within Nazi Germany

How did the Nazis keep control?

Propaganda

Why did the Nazis persecute many groups in German society?

Exam questions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..27-39

Opposition within Nazi Germany

  • It is difficult to know how much opposition there was to the Nazis because officially no opposition was recognised. Nazi propaganda gave the impression that everyone loved the Fuhrer.
  • Many people did object to the personal restrictions placed upon them and to the treatment of the Jews. But there was a big difference between objecting to some of Hitler’s policies and active opposition.
  • Opposition was extremely dangerous and therefore there was little effective opposition before the Second World War.
  • In 1933 Hitler had used the Enabling Law to ban all political parties other than the Nazis. His two main opponents the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Communist Party (KPD) went underground and published anti-Nazi propaganda, little of it reached the German people.
  • Opposition from artists and authors was more common, but here the opposition was largely concerned with the restrictions on artistic freedom. Some spoke out against the restrictions, but most chose either to suffer in silence or emigrate.
  • The Nazis saw it as important to keep a good relationship with the church. They feared that as many Germans were committed Christians if there were problems between the church and the Nazis many Germans would put their faith before the Nazis.
  • Hitler saw the Catholic Church as a threat to the Nazi state as Catholics owed their first allegiance to the Pope. There was also Catholic schools whose message contradicted Nazi ideals. The Catholics also consistently supported the Centre Party in the Reichstag.
  • In 1933 the Catholic church signed a concordat with the Nazis. The church agreed not to make comment on political matters if the Nazis did not interfere in religion.
  • However Hitler did increasingly interfere in Catholic Church matters such as closing down Catholic youth movements because they rivalled the Hitler Youth. In 1937 Pope Pius XI denounced Nazism as anti-Christian and in 1941 a letter from the Pope criticising the Nazis for their abuse of Human Rights was read out in Catholic churches. Hitler Responded by sending nuns and priests to labour camps.
  • Relations with protestant churches also deteriorated after Hitler set up the Reich church. Some 800 protestant churchmen such as Pastor Martin Niemoller were sent to labour camps for speaking out against the Nazis.

Glorified strength and violence. / Teaches love and forgiveness.
Despised the weak. / Helps the weak.
Believed in racial superiority. / Respect for all people.
Saw Hitler as a god-like figure. / Belief in God.

Task 1:Using the information complete the table below:

Key point / What I have learned
Why was there little opposition towards the Nazis?
What was the enabling law?
What opposition was there from artists and authors?
How and why did the Nazis try to control religion?
What opposition was there from the church?
  • Some Army Generals were suspicious of the Nazis. One of the most prominent was General Ludwig Beck, who disagreed with Hitler’s foreign policy of expansion.
  • Although the Hitler Youth movement was popular with many German Youngsters, some objected to the restrictions. Around a million young people refused to join the Hitler youth. They did not want training for the army or motherhood. Instead they were more interested in dancing to American and English songs and listening to overseas radio stations. The HelmuthHubener Group handed out leaflets which protested against the Nazi regime and provided translated BBC broadcasts and leaflets. Its leader HelmuthHubener was arrested by the Gestapo and executed by guillotine in 1942. This was known as the swing movement.
  • Other groups which opposed the Nazis included the Navajos gang or Edelwiess pirates. They often fought members of the Hitler Youth.
  • There was increasing opposition to the Nazis from within the upper classes. Although they had originally approved of the way the Nazis brought stability back to Germany, by 1940 they were tired of Nazi brutality and feared that Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy would lead to Germany’s ruin.
  • There was increasing opposition to the Nazis from within the upper classes. Although they had originally approved of the way the Nazis brought stability back to Germany, by 1940 they were tired of Nazi brutality and feared that Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy would lead to Germany’s ruin.
  • The Kreisau circle was led by Helmuth Von Moltke from one of Germany’s most famous aristocratic families. They wanted to see the Nazis overthrown but they were not men of violence. In 1944 their group was discovered and the were executed.
  • The Beck-Goerdeler group who realised that the only way to get rid of Hitler was to assassinate him. They were involved in the July Plot.
  • During the second world war opposition increased. A group of university students in Munich led by Sophie Scholl formed the white rose movement. They handed out pamphlets appealing for people to oppose the policies of the Nazi regime. In 1943 the government arrested and executed leading members of the group.
  • During the war the activities of the Navajos and Edelweiss pirates became more serious and they helped spread allied propaganda.
  • In July 1944 the Beck-Goerdeler group and one of their supporters Count Von Stauffenberg placed a briefcase with a bomb inside at a meeting attended by Hitler. Although the bomb exploded Hitler was not seriously injured.

Task Two:

Key points / What I have learned
How did the army oppose Hitler?
How did the young oppose Hitler?
How did the upper classes oppose Hitler?
What opposition was there to Hitler during the war?

1

The Nazi regime: how effectively did the Nazis control Germany,

1933-39?

Task Three: Complete the pros and cons grid for opposition in Nazi Germany


1

The Nazi regime: how effectively did the Nazis control Germany,

1933-39?

How did the Nazis keep control?

Task One: Match up the descriptions to the correct means of control

Group / Key Points
SS / 1) Secret police
2) They could send suspects to concentration camps without trial
3) Top jobs in local police forces were given to high ranking Nazis
4) Very few people emerged alive from the camps. They held communists, socialists, jews, trade unionists.
Gestapo / 5) Led by Heinrich Himmler
6) Led by ReinhardHeydrich
7) Ignored crimes committed by Nazis
8) Run by deaths head units
The Peoples Court / 9) Ran the concentration camps
10) Many Germans informed on each other because they thought this group would find out anyway
11) Had to report to Himmler
12) These were set up as soon as Hitler took power
Concentration Camps / 10) One of the sub divisons was the deaths head units
11) Waffenss were special armoured section which fought alongside the army
12) They could arrest citizens on suspicion
13) Magistrates and judges controlled by the Nazis therefore there was rarely a fair trial.

1

The Nazi regime: how effectively did the Nazis control Germany,

1933-39?

Task Two:Use your table and the text book provided to complete the table below.

Task:

Use the textbook to help you complete the table showing how the four areas of the Police state helped the Nazis to keep control of Germany in the years 1933-39

The Role of the SS / The Gestapo
Control of the legal system / Concentration camps.


1

The Nazi regime: how effectively did the Nazis control Germany,

1933-39?

How did the Nazis control sport?

  • Sport was encouraged at school and in the Hitler Youth. Hitler wanted a healthy and fit nation- the boys were to be the soldiers of the future and the girls were to produce as many children as possible. Success in sport was also important to promote the Nazi regime.
  • The major sporting showcase was the 1936 Olympics, which was staged in Berlin. Everything about the games was designed to impress the outside world. With the media of 49 countries there in strength, the Nazis could show the world that Germany was a modern, well organised society and that Aryans were superior.
  • Every detail was carefully stage-managed and news reports were controlled. All filming was under the direction of Leni Riefenstahl. All camera crews had to approved by her and all shots supervised.
  • Signs declaring ‘Jews not wanted’ were removed. Large numbers of homeless people living on the streets of Berlin were rounded up and put into concentration camps.
  • Germany won more medals than any other nation- 33 gold, 26 silver and 30 bronze. However, a black athlete, Jesse Owens, became the star of the Games. He won 4 gold medals and broke 11 world records in the process.

Key issue / What I have learned
Why was sport encouraged at school?
Why did the Nazis want to impress the outside world at the 1936 Berlin Olympics?
How did the Nazis ‘stage-manage’ the 1936 Berlin Olympics?
Were the 1936 Berlin Olympics a success for the Nazis. Explain you answer.

1

The Nazi regime: how effectively did the Nazis control Germany,

1933-39?

Propaganda

Hitler not only wanted political control of Germany - he also wanted to control what people thought. In 1933 he set up a MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND PROPAGANDA. Joseph Goebbels was in charge and he set about making sure that all books, newspapers, radio programmes, films, plays and other entertainments put across Nazi ideas.

There was no escape from the endless stream of propaganda. In the home, at school or work and in all public places Nazi propaganda was present. Every method was used to make sure no-one could escape seeing or hearing Nazi ideas. The main message was that Hitler was the saviour of Germany and it was the duty of every German to obey him without question.

  • Everyone who worked in the arts, music, films etc, had to join the Nazi Artists organisation. Many talented people left Germany in the 1930s.
  • All books, films, plays paintings and music, which the Nazis considered un-German, were banned. This included most modern art and all works by Jews.
  • All news was censored. Germans were only told what the Nazis wanted them to know. Listening to foreign radio stations was severely punished.
  • Radio was an important way of spreading propaganda. Loudspeakers were put up in public places. It was compulsory to listen to Hitler’s speeches.
  • Posters and adverts were placed in all public places and newspapers. These usually told people to hate the Jews, to support Nazi policies, and to obey Hitler.
  • Cinemas had to show propaganda films of Hitler and other Nazi leaders. Other films showed the Jews as evil enemies and the Nazis as heroes who would save Germany.
  • Children’s books and teaching in schools and universities had to include Nazi propaganda - often this was about Hitler’s racist ideas.
  • All over Germany there were parades and marches by Nazi organizations. These were to demonstrate the strength and popularity of the Nazis.
  • Above all the main message of Nazi propaganda was that Hitler was the saviour of Germany and should be obeyed at all times.
  • Anyone who criticized propaganda or did not listen to radio broadcasts risked being arrested. Children were questioned in school about whether their parents listened.

Task One:

Key Points / What I have learned
Who was Joseph Goebbels?
Why was propaganda so important to the Nazis?
What methods did the Nazis use to spread their propaganda?
What was the purpose of the large Nazi parades and rallies?
Describe how Hitler was portrayed in Nazi propaganda?
Explain why Nazi propaganda was so successful?

Task: Complete the table below and give your verdict on how effective each method of propaganda or censorship would have been. Which do you think would have had the greatest effect? Why?

Very effective / Effective / Quite effective / Not effective
Radio
Newspapers
Cinema
Posters
Books
Rallies


Why did the Nazis persecute many groups in German society?

  • The Nazis believed that the ideal German was an Aryan (a white person with blonde hair). They believed that Aryans were the master race and were superior to other racial groups. Hitler feared that Aryans would mix with inferior races. So the Nazis persecuted and later murdered members of what they called racially inferior groups. Gypsies and Jews suffered the most. It is estimated that 500,000 Gypsies died in death camps such as Auschwitz.
  • The Nazis also persecuted anyone who did not fit their idea of an ideal German. They called these people a-socials.
  • The Nazis thought that Germany wasted money looking after them and that they weakened the country.
  • Ideal Germans were socially useful – they worked hard and served the FATHERLAND. So the Nazis persecuted tramps, beggars, alcoholics and anyone who refused to work. Around 500,000 tramps and beggars were sent to concentration camps in 1933.
  • Ideal Germans pledged total loyalty to Hitler – so the Nazis persecuted anyone who refused to do this. For example, Jehovah’s witnesses refused to offer total loyalty to anyone other than God, so one third of them in Germany were sent to concentration camps.
  • Ideal Germans married, had children and created stable families – so the Nazis persecuted homosexuals, prostitutes and problem families.
  • Ideal Germans were strong and powerful – so the Nazis persecuted mentally handicapped people and those with inherited diseases. About 350,000 were sterilised. Later the Nazis Started a Euthanasia campaign. About 200,000 people were killed in nursing homes.

Key points / What I have learned
Explain Hitler’s ideas on racial purity and the Master Race?
How were minorities persecuted in Germany?

Hitler’s greatest obsession was his hatred of the Jews. He believed that the people of the world could be divided into superior and inferior races. At the top were the Arayans or Nordic Europeans of which the Germans were the purest form (The Master Race). At the bottom were those of “mixed blood” - Slavs, Gypsies and lowest of all the Jews.

Hitler believed there was a plot by Jewish businessmen and communists to take over Germany. The Nazis saw it as their duty to destroy Germany’s racial enemies and when they came to power they began to persecute Jews and make laws against them. This finally resulted in the Holocaust. After 1941 over 6 million men, women and children were exterminated

  • In his book “ Mein Kampf “ Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany’s defeat in WWI and claimed they had invented communism to take over the world.
  • When they came to power the Nazis began to terrorise Jews, attack synagogues and boycott Jewish shops and businesses.
  • In 1933 anti Jewish laws were introduced - Jews could not be civil servants or lawyers and Jewish doctors could not work in state hospitals.
  • Joseph Goebbels banned Jews from working in the arts or the media and Jews were not allowed to own newspapers.
  • The Nuremberg Laws 1935 - Jews were forbidden to marry or have sexual relations with Germans. They could not be German citizens or vote.
  • Arayanisation Laws 1937 - Jews were forced to sell their businesses and property to Germans at very low prices or it would be confiscated.
  • KRISTALLNACHT 9-10 Nov 1938 - The Nazis organized attacks on Jewish homes, shops and synagogues. Over 100 Jews were killed. This was after a Jewish student killed two Nazi officials in Paris. Goebbels planned a big pay back in Germany. Jewish properties were smashed and synagogues burned down. Over 100 Jews were killed and 30,000 arrested. Many ended up in concentration camps.
  • In 1938 Jewish doctors and dentists were forbidden to treat non-Jewish patients. Anti Jewish propaganda increased.
  • Jewish children were banned from state schools. Jews could not use cinemas, parks, swimming pools, and theatres or join clubs and societies.
  • In the 1930s thousands of Jews, the lucky ones, fled from Germany to Britain, the USA and other parts of Europe.
  • After the Wansee Conference in January 1942, the Nazis began the extermination of millions of Jews in Eastern Europe. This was ‘The Final Solution’. Death camps such as Auschwitz and Treblinka were used to gas and incinerate the bodies of Jewish men, women and children from all over Nazi occupied Europe.

Task 2: