The Nazi Terror
State
Learning Objective: To
understand how the Nazis
dealt with opposition and
the key features of the
terror state.
The Nazi terror state
• The vast majority of
the German people
supported the Nazi’s in
the 1930s
• At least the majority of
people agreed with what
went on or at least went
along with it
• Why did they do this?
• One of the answers is
the terror state
How did the Terror State Work?
You are imprisoned
for up to six
months doing hard
physical labour.
You are handed
over to the SS
who run the
concentration
camps.
By signing this
form you are
giving your consent
to be put into a
concentration
camp.
When you are
released you tell
everybody what
has happened to
you
Fear
Days or maybe
weeks later you
are interviewed
and asked to sign
form D11
Gestapo Spies
inform on you
You are woken up by
the Gestapo at 1 am
in the morning and
told that you have 5
minutes to pack your
bags.
You are
arrested and
thrown into a
cell at the
police station
The SS
Concentration
Camps
The Gestapo
The police and the
Law courts
Page 276-277
The SS
The police and the courts
Methods:
Methods:
Controlled by:
Controlled by:
Duties:
Duties:
How it helped Hitler to secure his position:
How it helped Hitler to secure his position:
The Gestapo
Concentration camps
Methods:
Methods:
Controlled by:
Controlled by:
Duties:
Duties:
How it helped Hitler to secure his position:
How it helped Hitler to secure his position:
How far does this source explain the methods
used by the Nazi’s to control the German
people?
Support for the Nazis (p.278)
• Fear was very powerful but there were
other reasons too for explaining Nazi
support. What were the other motives
why people supported the Nazis. Use
the notes to complete the spider
diagram
Propaganda
Economic fears
Why was there so
little opposition?
Nazi successes
How effectively did the Nazi’s
deal with their opponents?
• Using pp. 274—79 complete the
following table
Opponent
Trade Unionists
Political
Opponents
Church leaders
Army officers
Reasons for
opposing the
Nazis
How the Nazi’s
reacted to the
opponents
Was the Nazi
action
effective?
Oppone Reasons for
nt
opposing the
Nazis
How the Nazi’s reacted to
the opponents
Was the Nazi action
effective?
Trade
Unionist
s
They represented the
workers rights and
disliked Nazi control
They closed down the Trade Unions on 2
May 1933. all German workers were
forced to join the German Labour Front
(DAF)
The workers had no one to
represent them- they were
under the control of the Nazis
and won support of employers
Political
Opponen
ts
Communists and
Socialists who disagreed
with the values of the
Nazi’s. Anyone that
didn’t agree or conform
Gestapo was used to spy on them and
root out opposition. Many were sent to
concentration camps like Dachau where
they were over worked or starved to
death. Others were executed.
Created fear so that society in
general went along with the
regime.
Regime had very few opponents.
No one really spoke out. There
was no opposition.
Church
leaders
Moral grounds, fears of
Nazi control over the
church, disliked the
Nazi Pagan religion
Made a deal with the Catholic churchConcordat 1933 ( they would not
interfere with the other)
Tried to form all the Protestant
churches together called the Reich
church- however, many Germans were
still loyal to their churches
A big social group remained
uncontrolled by the Nazi’s which
in some ways limited their
control. People were loyal to
their churches and the Nazi’s
couldn’t replace this loyalty.
Several church leaders rebelled
on specific issues such as Bishop
Galen and Deitrich Bonhoeffer
Army
officers
Suspicious of the Nazis
and in particular the SA.
The Nazi’s won their loyalty in the
Night of the Long Knives when they
purged the SA and bought them under
control. They then made an oath of
loyalty to Hitler
The army agreed to be loyal to
Hitler and serve him and to stay
out of politics. A powerful group
in Germany had been won overthey would not oppose him.
How had the Nazi’s dealt
with their opponents?
Overall, had they been
effective?