Download File - Mr. O`Sullivan`s World of History

Nazi Domestic
Policy – How Hitler
maintained control
in Germany
Memory Word = OY JEW
O = Opposition
Y = Youth
J = Jobs
E = Economy
W = Women
Opposition
-30th January 1933 Hitler was Chancellor;
-He was in a position to increase his power
EVEN MORE.
PERFECT OPPORTUNITY 28th February 1933
-Reichstag Fire enabled Hitler to scare-monger and
convince Hindenburg it was a Communist plot against the
country!!! – Emergency Decree was passed.
23rd March 1933 ENABLING ACT
Hitler could
pass laws
INDEPENDEN
TLY of the
Reichstag for
4 years.
14th July 1933
The Law against
the Formation
of Parties –
declared the
Nazi Party the
ONLY POLITICAL
PARTY in
Germany.
ALL other
political
parties
were
BANNED
and their
leaders put
in prison.
Opposition
-Using the powers granted to him
after the Reichstag Fire, Hitler
BANNED his greatest rivals – the
COMMUNIST PARTY;
-He had their 81 officials arrested
and jailed;
-All other political parties were
banned or dissolved themselves;
-LEGALLY no-one could challenge
the Nazis, some chose to flee
abroad to do so.
-http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningz
one/clips/hitler-becomeschancellor/2444.html
One People
One Nation
One Leader
Opposition
-“People were too
afraid to stand up
to the Nazis”
-“Speak through a
flower”
-Estimated 1.2
million Germans
passed through
concentration
camps.
Political prisoners
could be held
indefinitely in
“protective custody”
Nazi Storm Trooper –
“Everyone is arresting
everyone else.
Everyone is
threatening everyone
else with Dachau…”
Opponents of the
regime would generally
spend 1 brutal year in a
concentration camp
and be released.
Opposition
GESTAPO
-In 1934 the Gestapo
was brought under
control of the SS and
HIMMLER.
-Gestapo had around
40,000 members but
it
has
been
estimated that there
may have been
around
160,000
agents
and
informers.
TERROR
The Cult of the
Fuhrer
Blomberg,
the
Minister of Defence
used to say the a
kind word from the
Fuhrer would bring
“tears to his eyes”
and
that
a
handshake from him
could cure him of
colds.
GESTAPO
•The Nazis took over local government and the police.
•The Nazis started to replace anti-Nazi teachers and
University professors.
•Hitler set up the Gestapo (the secret police) and
encouraged Germans to report opponents and
'grumblers'.
•Tens of thousands of Jews, Communists, Protestants,
Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies, homosexuals, alcoholics
and prostitutes were arrested and sent to concentration
camps for 'crimes' as small as writing anti-Nazi graffiti,
possessing a banned book, or saying that business was
bad.
The Nazi's used 'fear and horror' against anyone who
disapproved of their regime:
•Hitler banned all Trade Unions on 2 May 1933. Their
offices were closed, their money confiscated, and their
leaders put in prison.
•Communists were put into concentration camps or killed.
•Many Protestant pastors such as Dietrich Bonhoffer were
persecuted and executed.
•Each block of flats had a 'staircase ruler' who reported
grumblers to the police - they were arrested and either
murdered, or sent to concentration camps.
•Children were encouraged to report their parents to the Gestapo
if they criticized Hitler or the Nazi party.
The Gestapo (German
pronunciation: ; abbreviation of
Geheime Staatspolizei,
"Secret State Police
The law stated
that “as long as
they
were
carrying out the
will of the Party,
they were acting
legally”.
-Hitler could not have ensured control of his opponents and
potential opponents with fear of arrest alone.
-It was the treatment following arrest that persuaded many to
swallow their morals and accept Nazi rule...
A typical arrest...
Those arrested by either the police or the Gestapo had
less than three minutes to pack clothing and say their
goodbyes. Once arrested, they were sent to the nearest
police cell. Those in custody were told to sign Form D11; this was an "Order For Protective Custody". By
signing this, you agreed to go to prison. Those who did
not sign it were beaten until they did or officers
simply forged their signature. Once a D-11 was signed,
you were sent to a concentration camp. How long you
stayed here depended on the authorities. The usual rule
of thumb was whether it was felt that you had learned
your lesson (even if there had not been one to learn)
and would behave in an acceptable manner once outside
of prison.
http://www.n
ationalarchiv
es.gov.uk/edu
cation/world
war2/theatre
s-ofwar/westerneurope/invest
igation/occup
ation/sources
/docs/3/enlar
ge.htm
OPPOSITION...
IMPORTANT NOTE...
There were SOME individuals
and groups that stood up to the
Nazis.
ETERNAL WAR ON THE HITLER YOUTH.
Methods included anti-Nazi graffiti, beating
up Hitler Youth, listening to foreign music.
Edelweiss Pirates
Nazi reaction was typically brutal,
public hangings and beheading.
The “White Rose” led by Sophie Scholl and her
brother, operated out of Munich University –
methods included handing out leaflets urging
resistance to the Nazis.
NAME: Sophia Magdalena
Scholl
DOB: 9 May 1921
DIED: 22 February 1943
AGE OF DEATH: 21
CRIME: Handing out antiNazi leaflets at Munich
University
PUNISHMENT: Beheaded
by guillotine.
'When an opponent declares, 'I will not
come over to your side', I calmly say,
'Your child belongs to us already'.
A NAZI EDUCATION
• The
Nazis
replaced
anti-Nazi
teachers and University professors;
• School lessons included hidden
indoctrination e.g. requiring children
to calculate how much mentally
disabled people cost the state, or to
criticize the racial features of
Jewish people;
• German boys were required to
attend the Hitler Youth, which
mixed exciting activities, war-games
and Nazi indoctrination;
• German girls went to the BDM and
learned how to be good mothers, and
to love Hitler.
Click pic for Disney Anti-Nazi
Education video
- All teachers were examined by
Nazis;
- Any teacher considered disloyal
was sacked.
- Many attended classes during
school holidays in which the Nazi
curriculum was spelled out;
- 97% of all teachers joined the
Nazi Teachers' Association;
- All teachers had to be careful
about what they said as children
were encouraged to inform the
authorities if a teacher said
something that did not fit in with
the
Nazi's
curriculum
for
schools.
Subjects underwent a major
change in schools. Some of the
most affected were History
and Biology.
• History was based on the glory of
Germany - a nationalistic approach
was compulsory;
• The German defeat in 1918 was
explained as the work of Jewish
and Marxist spies who had
weakened the system from within;
• The Treaty of Versailles was the
work of nations jealous of
Germany's might and power;
• Hyperinflation of 1923 was the
work of Jewish saboteurs;
• The national resurgence which
started was all the work of Hitler.
HITLER YOUTH
Click pic for Hitler Youth flick
- 1933 its membership
stood at 100,000;
- After Hitler came to
power,
all other
youth movements were
abolished and as a
result
the
Hitler
Youth grew quickly.
- 1936,
the
figure
stood at 4 million
members;
- 1936, it became all
but compulsory to join
the Hitler Youth.
HITLER YOUTH FOR GIRLS
• The Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) taught young girls of
their future roles in society: to mother more Germans;
• They emphasized values of obedience, self-control, and
discipline.
• They taught women how to be “good” Nazi wives and
mothers and how to raise children that will also embody
these ideals.
Jobs
The Nazi ‘Economic Miracle’
-When Hitler took power in 1933
unemployment stood at 6million;
almost half the total German
workforce;
-The Nazi propaganda machine under
Goebbels led Germany and the world
to
believe
that
Hitler
had
accomplished an unparalleled miracle
of economic recovery…
Unemployment in
Germany
Total
January 1933
6 million
January 1934
3.3 million
January 1935
2.9 million
January 1936
2.5 million
January 1937
1.8 million
January 1938
1.0 million
January 1939
302,000
Jobs
The Nazi ‘Economic Miracle’
Women were not
included in the
statistics. So any
women unemployed
during Nazi rule
did not exist as
far as the
statistics were
concerned.
All was not as
it seemed…
After the 1935
Nuremburg Laws,
Jews lost their
citizenship and
were not included in
the statistics.
EVEN THOUGH
many lost their jobs
when Hitler came to
power.
The unemployed were
given a simple choice –
do any work the
government gave to you
OR be classed as
workshy and put in a
concentration camp
Getting unemployment figures to be so low was
viewed by many as a Nazi book-keeping trick…
BUT THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT THAT
JOBS WERE CREATED…!!!
Economy
•Hitler banned all Trade Unions on 2 May
1933.
•Their offices were closed, their money
confiscated, and their leaders put in
prison.
Robert Ley, PROFILE
-WWI Pilot who spent 2 years as a prisoner of
war after being shot down in France;
-Chemist after WWI but sacked because of a
serious drink problem;
-Joined the NSDAP in 1925;
-1933 was given the task of forming the GERMAN
LABOUR FRONT which replaced the outlawed
Trade Unions;
-He confiscated union funds to pay for the
“Strength Through Joy” programme;
-Charged with war crimes he hanged himself in
his cell 25th October 1945.
The New Plan, 1934-6
• Dr Hjalmar Schacht
• President of Reichsbank
• Minister of the
Economy
• Imports limited
• Trade agreements
• Unemployment
reduced
• Mefo bills
Four-Year Plan, 1936-9
• Hermann Goering
• WWI fighter pilot
• Head of German
airforce (Luftwaffe)
• Self-sufficiency
• Synthetic raw materials
(ersatz)
• Reduce imports
• Tighten control on
wages
The War Years
• The economy was
set up to fight a
short (blitzkrieg) war.
• Albert Speer was put
in charge of the
economy in 1942.
• Germany was
running out of
resources.
-Set up to ‘protect’ those
in work;
-Contracts drawn up under
the Weimar Republic were
ripped up and rewritten;
-Employers could demand
more of their workers…
-…but workers enjoyed
increased security at work
and benefits;
-Membership
was
voluntary in theory, but
anyone not a member
would struggle to find a
job
without
being
a
member.
•In
a
bid
for
full
employment
government
spending
rose,
1932–38
from about 5 billion to 30
billion marks.
•The GLF increased
the number of hours
worked from 60 to
72
per
week
(including overtime)
by 1939.
•Strikes
were
outlawed.
•The
average
factory worker was
earning 10 times
more than those on
dole money and few
complained…
•…though, as always,
to do would put you
at risk.
Autarky
…to be self-sufficient
- In WWI Germany was crippled
by the British Naval Blockade;
-Hitler was determined that this
would not happen again…
Autarky means economic self sufficiency. This
means that a country produces enough goods of its
own so that it doesn’t have to import goods
(especially raw materials – coal, oil, iron ore)
from other countries. Hitler wanted to achieve
autarky so that if war came Germany would not be
dependent on imports.
•The New Plan of 1934 stopped
imports and subsidised industry;
•Production rose, especially of oil,
steel, coal and explosives.
•In 1936, Goering was put in charge.
His Four Year Plan proposed to get
the army and industry ready for war
in four years.
•Employers
were
happy
when
workers were well disciplined.
•BUT businesses were strictly
controlled; they could be told to
make something different/ were not
allowed to raise wages/ workers
could be sent to other factories.
•Goering said: ‘Iron makes an empire
strong; butter only makes people
fat’.
Kraft durch Freude (KDF)
-A large, state controlled leisure
organisation in Nazi Germany
-Wages were decided by the
GERMAN LABOUR FRONT;
-Compulsory deductions were
made for tax and for the
Strength
Through
Joy
Programme;
-Aimed to provide affordable
concerts, plays, libraries, daytrips, holidays to the masses;
-Aimed to make middle-class
activities affordable to the
masses.
•In 1938 an estimated 180,000 people
went on cruises to places such as
Maderia and the Norweigian fjords;
•Others were given free holidays in
Germany;
•By 1934, over two million Germans
had participated on a KdF trip;
•by 1939 the reported numbers lay
around 25 million people.
Sports Stadiums were built
Holiday
complexes
were built
(e.g. Prora)
Cruise Liners were
built to take people
to Maderia &
Norwegian Fjords
The Volkswagon
(KDF Wagon /
People’s Car)
was subsidised
by the
programme)
Jobs / Economy, What life was like
under the Nazis
For ordinary people, life was good:
•full employment (work programmes/ Strength through Joy) gave prosperity
and financial security - many observers stated that there seemed to be no
poverty in Germany,
•law and order (few people locked their doors),
•autobahns improved transport,
•frequent ceremonies, rallies, colour and excitement,
•Nazi propaganda gave people hope,
•Nazi racial philosophy gave people self-belief
•Trust in Adolf Hitler gave a sense of security (one German woman told the
American reporter Nora Wall: 'He is my mother and my father. He keeps me
safe from all harm.')
There were few drawbacks:
 Wages fell, and strikers could be shot - the
Nazis worked closely with the businessmen to
make sure that the workforce were as
controlled as possible.
 Loss of personal freedoms (eg freedom of
speech).
 All culture had to be German - eg music had to
be Beethoven or Wagner or German folk songs or Nazi - eg all actors had to be members of
the Nazi party/ only books by approved authors
could be read.