How did the Nazi political policy effect Germany?

How did the Nazi political policy effect Germany?

1. Extending political control

   • The Nazi police state used force and terror
   • They used their own organisations such as the SS and the Gestapo
   • The SS and the SD and the Gestapo were the main forces
   • They were all brought under control by heinrich Himmler

2. The Nazi police state

   • The SS
     • The SS was formed in 1925 to act as a bodyguard unit
     • It was led by Himmler after 1929
     • Members wore black uniforms
     • SS stood for protection squad
     • Showed total obedience to the Fuhrer
     • By 1934 the SS had more than 50,000 members
     • All were from the Aryan race
     • After the Night of the Long Knives, they became responsible for the removal of opposition
   • Gestapo
     • Secret police state set up in 1933 by Goering
     • 1936 it became under the control of the SS
     • By 1939 it was the most important police state in Germany
     • The gestapo could arrest those who are in question of opposition
     • Those they arrested would be sent to a concentration camp
     • By 1939 there were over 160,000 people under arrest for political crimes

3. Control of the legal system

   • The Nazis controlled the Reichstag and could makes laws, Hitler wanted all laws to be under Nazi fashion
   • Some judges were removed
   • All had to become apart of the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of Law.
   • Oct 1933 the German Lawyers front was created
   • 1934 Hitler controlled the Reichstag, the army and legal system
   • It was impossible to escape the power of the Nazis

4. Concentration Camps

   • The SA and SS ran the new prisons called Concentration camps
   • 1st opened in April 1933 in Dachau
   • Prisoners were sectioned by different coloured triangles
   • They were taken for questioning, hard labour and torture
   • If someone died, family would receive a note, saying they died of illnesses or shot when escaping
   • Few survived the Concentration Camps
   • Prisoners were used for slave labour
   • The were used to extract raw materials such as coal
   • Used to manufacture weapons