How effectively did Hitler establish and consolidate Nazi authority 1933-45?

How effectively did Hitler establish and consolidate Nazi authority 1933-45?

1. Ams of the Nazis

   • Expand State and take Lebensraum from Western Russia
   • Replace democracy with a totalitarian state
   • Gleischaltung
     • Destruction of power of trade unions and other non-nazi institutions
   • Regeneration of Germany
   • Volksgemeinschaft
     • Creation of a 'racially pure' state

2. Admission to power 1933

   • Nationalist-Nazi coalition
     • Hitler demanded place of chancellor
       • Von papen agreed
         • Nationalists = 9 posts in cabinet
           • Nazis = 2 chairs in cabitnet
             • Von papen believed he could control the nazis
               • Hitler became chancellor 30th Jan 1933

3. Consolidation of power

   • 27 Feb 1933: Reichstag fire
     • Communists blamed and banned
   • 28 Feb 1933: Decree for the Protection of People and State
     • Hitler granted emergency powers
   • 5 March 1933: Election
     • Nazis vote increased to 43.9%
   • 23 March 1933: Enabling act
     • Nazis intimidated people to vote for them
     • Full power transferred to Hitler
   • 14 July 1933: Nazi party became only legal party
     • Hitler banned other political parties

4. Hitler and Government

   • Hitlers role in government was limited
     • No all-embracing constitution
     • No individual could control all areas of government
     • hitler relied on subordinated to put his wishes into practice
     • Hitler slept for long hours and was often absent from Berlin
       • Hitler had lack of leadership
         • Cabinet met 72 times in 1993 + 4 times in 1936
           • Final meeting 1938
             • Decisions were made by seeing Hitler only

5. Police state

   • Courts
     • Judges to be harsher
     • new laws for political offences
     • Peopls Courts to try enemies of the state
     • 1939+ judges had to study nazi beliefs
     • Nazis replaces senior officials
     • SS group leader appointed Minister of Justic
   • SS
     • 1929 Himmler became leader
       • Created SD in 1931
         • SD = secret intelligence wing of SS
       • 1934 took control of police including Gestapo
     • 1936 only Aryans could join
     • SS = main organisation of terror
       • SD
       • Gestapo
         • Secret police
           • found opponenets of nazis and arrested them
             • some were sent to concentration camps without trial
         • Made up of around 20,000-40,000 agensts
       • Kripo
       • Waffen SS
   • Concentration camps
     • 1933
       • Acted as prisons
     • 1936
       • focused on asocials, criminals and homosexuals
     • 1937
       • individuals who did not fit peoples community imprisoned
         • Homosexuals
         • Jews
         • Asocials
         • Disabled
         • Racial minorities
           • gypsies
         • beggars
         • long-term unemployed
     • 1942
       • extermination camps for jews
       • prisoners and foreign workers transferred to camps as source of labour

6. Resistance up to 1945

   • Communists
     • produced leaflets against nazis
     • Red Orchestra
   • Social Democrats
     • produced anti-nazi propaganda
   • trade unions
     • strikes between 1935-45
   • churches
     • Bishop Galen of Munster attacked policy of euthenasia
     • most continued religious practices
   • youth
     • swing youth
       • Edelweiss pirates
         • Roving Dudes
           • Navajos
     • anit- nazi e.g played dance and jazz music
   • Students
     • White Rose Group
       • Issued anti-nazi pamphlets
   • Conservatives
     • The Kreisau Circle
       • officers
       • aristocrats
       • academics
       • churchmen
       • drew up plans for post-nazi germany
   • Army
     • Bomb plot under Stauffenberg
   • All resistance either stopped before it became a threat or failed