5. Groups instrumental to Hitler’s rise:
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT:
2. Study the timeline on pages 114, 135 - 136. Select three dates that
helped make the Nazis popular. Explain why.
3. Look at the SKILLS BUILDERs on pages 136 - 139 for Sources A - G.
4. Read p. 73 from the Edexcel Revision Book - Linking Sources.
Use Sources 1, 2 and 3 and your own knowledge.
To what extent do you agree with the view that the Nazi regime
rested on ‘a good deal of consensus’ between 1933 and 1939? (40)
• Show links of how they agree.
• Show links of how disagree.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
MAIN MESSAGES - Source A - G, pages 136 - 139:
• Source A, p. 136 - Hitler is beloved and popular - Nuremburg Rally
held from Aug 30 – Sept 3, 1933 as the 5th Party Congress
• Source B - Noakes and Pridham, p.136 - Consent came from the
positive image of Hitler as Führer, “portrayed as a national leader …
selfless in his dedication to the service of the German people” through Goebbels propaganda.
• Source C - Kershaw, p. 137 - Spheres of consensus were more
powerful than dissent, even when aspects of Nazism were rejected
because the Nazis improved living standards (or at least raised hopes
they would).
• Problems of Evidence. p. 137 - Debate persists about the popularity
of the Nazi regime between 1933 - 1939 because so much of what
we study came from ‘propaganda’ and genuine, popular opinion
could NOT be expressed openly (no widely credible opposition perspectives).
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
MAIN MESSAGES - Source A - G, pages 136 - 139:
• Source D - Noakes and Pridham, p. 137 - Independent public opinion
did NOT exist in the Third Reich.
 Historians faced with problems - no opinion polls, no freedom of
expression, elections rigged, media strictly controlled and
editors severely disciplined by Propaganda Ministry.
• Opposition Crushed, p. 138 - By the end of 1933 the Nazis
consolidated power and opposition was crushed. Hitler’s attack on
the Communists/Socialists sent a message to ALL Non-Nazi groups
to ‘fall in line’ with the regime. Sources E and F describe public
reaction to Nazi dominance.
• Source E - Kershaw, p. 138 - the Emergency Decree for the
Protection of People and State of Feb 28, 1933 was welcomed as it
gave the Nazis a legal platform to crush “… the German disease …
the ulcer … Bolshevism …”
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
MAIN MESSAGES - Source A - G, pages 136 - 139:
• Opposition Crushed, p. 138 - Sources E and F describe public
reaction to Nazi dominance.
• Source F - H. Beck, p. 138 - The Reichstag fire (Feb 27, 1933) helped
spread fear and resentment against communism (KPD and SPD). The
Nazis were aided by years of anti-Soviet reports (from 1918) and by
Russian emigrants confirming tales of horrors perpetrated in the
USSR.
• Source G - R. Evans, p. 139 - Germany’s road to dictatorship was
augmented (sped up) by the Reichstag fire decree and the March
elections. Both gave Hitler political legitimacy.
DATE: March 9 - 15, 2015
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES:
4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
REVIEW:
• Main Messages - Source A - G, pages 136 – 139
• Use pages 160 - 175, Walsh Textbook
• As Elly Hardy wrote (Thurs 12 March, 2015) - Quinn says,
“Historians do an autopsy of history.”
VIDEO REVIEW:
WW2: The Night of the Long Knives 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCMqV0r-9V4
Hitler's Bodyguard: The Night Of The Long Knives
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dk8lEH5cSg
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT:
“Coordinate to accumulate.” Elly Hardy, March 19, 2015
1. In what ways did the Nazis continue the process of Gleichschaltung
during 1933? p. 139 - 140
2. In 1933, Joseph Goebbels was appointed Minister of Enlightenment
and Propaganda. How did Goebbels coordinate propaganda to achieve
Volksgemeinschaft (a national community) during 1933? p. 140
3. What had Hitler done to further secure his power in 1933? What critical
obstacles remained? p. 141 - 142
4. What impact did von Papen’s Marburg Speech (June 17, 1934) have on
Hitler? p. 143 - 144
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 1:
1. Ways the Nazis continued the process of Gleichschaltung, 1933: p. 139 - 140
• To maintain a general consensus the Nazis portrayed themselves as
respectable and propaganda was instrumental in projecting the
image of a legal seizure in 1933. This made opposition harder to
justify.
• Potsdam Day (March 21) stages to demonstrate reconciliation and
unity between the revolutionary Nazi movement and "Old Prussia"
with its elites and virtues.
• The Enabling Act (March 23, 1933) - ‘Law to Remedy the Distress of
People and Reich’. allowed the Cabinet to introduce legislation
without it first going through the Reichstag.
• This approach worked – between Jan and May, 1933 – over 1.6
million people joined the Nazi Party.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 2:
1. Ways the Nazis continued the process of Gleichschaltung, 1933: p. 139 - 140
• April 1933 – Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
– a purge of the civil service unreliable elements.’
• The business community created the Reich Corporation of German
Industry.
• All independent organisations either dissolved or joined equivalent
Nazi groups (Women’s Front, bowls clubs, choirs, veterans
associations)
• Court System – Lawyers were coordinated’ into the Nazi Lawyers
Association, 1933. The emergency decree ‘For the Protection of
People and State’ on Feb 28th, put Germany under a permanent
state of emergency, with full legal endorsement.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 2:
Process of Gleichschaltung, April 7, 1933 – Law for the Restoration of the
Professional Civil Service – a purge of the civil service
http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks4/the-nazification-of-germany/impact-of-anti-jewish-policies/thedevelopment-of-anti-jewish-laws/
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 3:
1. Ways the Nazis continued the process of Gleichschaltung, 1933: p. 139 - 140
• The process of Gleichschaltung took place with ease because people
either FEARED the Nazis or were ENTHUSIASTIC about being
connected to the new regime.
• Dissenting intellectuals were forced out of their jobs and on May 10,
1933, the Nazi-supporting German Students’ Association (DS)
burned the books of ‘forbidden’ authors.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
Gleichschaltung, 1933 - Book Burning of ‘forbidden’ authors:
On the evening of May 10, 1933, some 70,000 people gathered at the
Opernplatz in Berlin. Students had carted over 20,000 books to the public
square, including works by famous German authors like Heinrich Mann, Erich
Maria Remarque and Joachim Ringelnatz. These burnings were largely
organized by university students.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 4:
2. Goebbels coordinates propaganda to achieve Volksgemeinschaft: 1933
• Nazis deployed propaganda to denigrate, indoctrinate, enforce
conformity and protect their ideology.
• March 1933 – Reich Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and
Propaganda was created to seize all forms of communication.
• June 1933 – the Association of German Publishers was purged and
Max Amann (head of Eher Overflag – the Nazi publishing house) was
appointed its chairman.
• Oct 1933 – ‘Editors’ Law called for ‘racially pure journalism’, with
Jews, communists and socialist journalists being dismissed.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
Reich Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda - seize all forms
of communication.
Joseph Goebbels
Goebbels was appointed Gauleiter of Berlin
in 1925 and was given the task of building up
Nazi support. He did this between 1926 and
1930. In 1928, he was elected to the Reichstag something that he repeated in 1930. In 1929,
he had been given overall charge of the party’s
propaganda machine. It was here that Goebbels
excelled. In 1933, after Hitler was appointed
chancellor, Goebbels was appointed Minister
of Enlightenment and Propaganda. He held this
post until 1945.
On April 30, 1945, the day Hitler killed himself
in his bunker, Goebbels was among a small
coterie who retrieved the body and placed it in
the garden outside where it was burned. On May 1, Goebbels
followed Hitler's lead. He poisoned his six children, and then shot
his wife and himself. His adjutant set fire to the bodies. The next day
Russian troops found the family's charred remains.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holoca
ust/peopleevents/pandeAMEX98.html
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 5:
3. Hitler further secures his power in 1933:
• The Nazis destroyed opposition and dominated the ideology by the
end of 1933.
• Nov 12, 1933 - Reichstag Plebiscite – 88% of voters approved a
measure making Germany a one-party state.
Critical obstacles: p. 141 - 142
• The Church and the German Army (Reichswehr - Reich Defence,
formed the military organization of Germany from 1919 until 1935).
• The Army was loyal to von Hindenburg and wanted to quell the SA
threat.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 6:
3. Hitler further secures his power in 1933 / critical obstacles: p. 141 - 142
• Many generals welcomed Hitler’s denunciation of the TOV, but the
aristocratic generals (along with von Hindenburg) wanted to tame
the Nazis and ‘use’ their popularity to form a conservative coalition.
• General Werner von Blomberg was appointed Hitler’s Defense
Minister, giving the army some weight in Hitler’s Cabinet.
• Doubters were calmed by Hitler’s apparent ‘legality’ and the
Potsdam Day (March 21) reconciliation and unity ‘gestures’.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 7:
3. Hitler further secures his power in 1933 / critical obstacles: p. 141 - 142
• Hitler wanted the ‘Nazi Revolution’ to bring wholesale, fundamental
changes to Germany.
 With the consolidation of power, he intended cultural change
based on race, destruction of democracy and shedding of
Gleichschaltung.
• Being pragmatic, however, Hitler knew that compromises in the
‘short term’ were necessary.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 8:
3. Hitler further secures his power in 1933 / critical obstacles: p. 141 - 142
• Another fierce obstacle were the Brown-shirted SA, led by Röhm.
 The SA called for a ‘second revolution’ with no compromise to
business or the establishment; and an immediate purging of
‘enemies of the state’.
 Röhm clashed with Hitler and saw him compromising from the
early days on the Twenty-Five Point Programme (Feb 1920
manifesto written by Anton Drexler and Adolf Hitler calling for
revising TOV, ending reparations, Lebensraum,
Volksgemeinschaft and anti-Semitism).
• Röhm went as far as threatening / continuing revolution and Hitler
reacted. On July 6, 1933, Hitler spoke to the Reich Governors and
ended the revolution. He brought Röhm into the Cabinet as Reich
Minister without Portfolio.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 9:
3. Hitler further secures his power in 1933 / critical obstacles: p. 141 - 142
• The Brown-shirted SA remained a menace. By 1934 they had over
2.5 million members, their own police force (Feldjäger) and Röhm
even contacted Defense Minister von Blomberg with the demand
that the SA take over responsibility for national defense.
• Hitler was caught between the army, whom he praised in a January
1934 speech; the SS / SD, under Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich
and the SA.
• The SA, who technically were under the supervision of Himmler’s SS,
made enemies by 1934, especially among Hitler’s closest advisors
(Führer Deputy, Rudolf Hess and Prussian Governor, Hermann
Göring). Hitler suspended the SA in May 1934.
Heinrich Himmler
In 1933, Himmler became police president in Munich
and head of the political police in Bavaria. He used his
position to build a state within a state, expanding the SS
and establishing its autonomy within the Nazi party and
its dominance in Germany. In 1933, he set up Dachau,
the first Nazi concentration camp. By 1936, he was
given overall control of the newly unified national
police.
Himmler was obsessed with racial purity in Germany
and encouraged Aryan 'breeding programmes'. The
outbreak of World War Two allowed Himmler to pursue
another racial goal - the elimination of Jews and other socalled 'sub-humans‘ (Untermenschen). By June 1941,
Himmler controlled not only the police but the political administration of the occupied
territories and, through his control of the SS, the concentration camp system. In 1943,
Hitler appointed Himmler minister for the interior. In this post he oversaw the 'Final
Solution' - the attempt to exterminate all the Jewish people in Europe - and
administered the system of forced labour.
As Germany's defeat became imminent, Himmler made attempts to negotiate with the
Allies. Hitler was furious and stripped Himmler of all his offices. Following Germany's
surrender, Himmler tried to escape under a false identity but was captured by the
Allies. On 23 May 1945 he committed suicide in custody. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/hi
mmler_heinrich.shtml
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
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
SD - Sicherheitsdienst (SS Security Service) - leader Reinhard Heydrich
Führer Deputy,
Rudolf Hess
Prussian Governor, Hermann Göring
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 10:
4. Impact of von Papen’s Marburg Speech (June 17, 1934) on Hitler: p. 143 - 144
• Some conservative ‘elites’, linked to the army, began to express
unease about the Nazi regime and discussed replacing the aging von
Hindenburg with a conservative from the ‘establishment’ to block
Hitler’s further ambitions.
• Catholic conservatives - von Papen, Herbert von Bose, Edgar Jung
and Wilhelm von Ketteler - formed an opposition cell and challenged
Hitler through von Papen’s Marburg Speech of June 17, 1934. von
Papen criticised the rowdy, anti-intellectual behavior of the SA and
denouncing Nazi excesses (strict press censorship). Papen also
focused on the possibility of a 'second revolution' by Röhm and the
SA and urged Hitler to put a stop to it.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 11:
4. Impact of von Papen’s Marburg Speech (June 17, 1934) on Hitler: p. 143 - 144
• Hitler was forced to take action. He needed the business
establishment for continued economic growth.
• Operation Hummingbird (The Night of the Long Knives ) was launched on
June 30, 1934 to purge SA leadership and targeted conservatives.
 As many as 200 people were murdered, including Röhm, Kurt
von Schleicher, Gregor Strasser, Berlin SA leader Karl Ernst and
Herbert von Bose.
• July 3, 1934 - Law Concerning Measures for the Defense of the State
 Any action taken by the ‘state’ was legal as long as it was taken
in self-defense - even murder.
• July 13, 1934 - Hitler justified the murders to the Reichstag. The rule
of law was dead in Germany. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/n
uremberg/meetthedefendants.html
The Night of the Long Knives
The behavior of the SA was a problem for Hitler that threatened his own
political survival and the entire future of the Nazi movement.
The anti-capitalist, anti-tradition sentiments often expressed by SA leaders and
echoed by the restless masses of storm troopers also caused great concern to
big industry leaders who had helped put Hitler in power. Hitler had promised
them he would put down the trade union movement and Marxists, which he had
done. However, now his own storm troopers with their talk of a 'second
revolution' were sounding more and more like Marxists themselves.
The SA was headed by Ernst Röhm, a battle scarred, aggressive, highly ambitious
street brawler who had been with Hitler from the very beginning. Röhm and the
SA had been very instrumental in Hitler's rise to power by violently seizing
control of the streets and squashing Hitler's political opponents.
However, by early 1934, a year after Hitler came to power, the SA's usefulness as
a violent, threatening, revolutionary force had effectively come to an end. Hitler
now needed the support of the regular Army generals and the big industry
leaders to rebuild Germany after the Great Depression, re-arm the military and
ultimately accomplish his long range goal of seizing more living space for the
German people.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timelin
e/roehm.htm
The Night of the Long Knives - continued
At the end of February, 1934, Hitler held a meeting attended by SA and regular
Army leaders including Röhm and German Defense Minister General Werner von
Blomberg. At this meeting Hitler informed Röhm the SA would not be a military
force in Germany but would be limited to certain political functions. In Hitler's
presence, Röhm gave in and even signed an agreement with Blomberg.
However, Röhm soon let it be know he had no intention of keeping to the
agreement. In April he even boldly held a press conference and proclaimed, "The
SA is the National Socialist Revolution!!"
Within the SA at this time was a highly disciplined organization known as the SS
(Shutzstaffel) which had been formed in 1925 as Hitler's personal body guard. SS
chief Heinrich Himmler along with his second-in-command, Reinhard Heydrich,
and Hermann Göring, began plotting against Röhm to prod Hitler into action
against his old comrade, hoping to gain from Röhm's downfall.
On June 17, Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen, who had helped Hitler become
Chancellor, stunned everyone by making a speech (Marburg Speech) criticizing
the rowdy, anti-intellectual behavior of the SA and denouncing Nazi excesses
such as strict press censorship. Papen also focused on the possibility of a 'second
revolution' by Röhm and the SA and urged Hitler to put a stop to it.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/roehm.htm
The Night of the Long Knives - continued
"Have we experienced an anti-Marxist revolution in order to put through a
Marxist program?" Papen asked.
On Saturday, June 30, Hitler first ordered the arrest of the SA men who were
inside Munich Nazi headquarters, then proceeded to the Ministry of the Interior
building where he confronted the top SA man in Munich.
Next it was on to Röhm. A column of troops and cars containing Hitler, Rudolf
Hess, and others, sped off toward Röhm and his men.
At this point, the story is often told (partly conceived by the Nazis) of Hitler
arriving at the resort hotel about 6:30 a.m. and rushing inside with a pistol to
arrest Röhm and other SA leaders.
However it is more likely the hotel was first secured by the SS before Hitler went
near it. Hitler then confronted Röhm and the others and sent them to
Stadelheim prison outside Munich to be later shot by the SS.
By Saturday morning a phone call was placed from Hitler in Munich to Göring in
Berlin with the prearranged code word 'Kolibri' (hummingbird) that unleashed a
wave of murderous violence in Berlin and over 20 other cities. SS execution
squads along with Göring's private police force roared through the streets
hunting down SA leaders and anyone on the prepared list of political enemies
(known as the Reich List of Unwanted Persons).
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/roehm.htm
The Night of the Long Knives - continued
Included on the list: Gustav von Kahr, who had opposed Hitler during the Beer
Hall Putsch of 1923 - found hacked to death in a swamp near Dachau; Father
Bernhard Stempfle, who had taken some of the dictation for Hitler's book Mein
Kampf and knew too much about Hitler - shot and killed; Kurt von Schleicher,
former Chancellor of Germany and master of political intrigue, who had helped
topple democracy in Germany and put Hitler in power - shot and killed along
with his wife; Gregor Strasser, one of the original members of the Nazi Party and
formerly next in importance to Hitler; Berlin SA leader Karl Ernst, who was
involved in torching the Reichstag building in February, 1933; Vice-Chancellor
Papen's press secretary; Catholic leader Dr. Erich Klausener.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timelin
e/roehm.htm
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS:
4. Twenty-Five Point Programme called for: p. 115
• Presented in February 1920, it was a manifesto written by Anton
Drexler and Adolf Hitler.
• It called for revising TOV, ending reparations, Lebensraum,
Volksgemeinschaft (a national community); and anti-Semitism.
http://www.forvo.com/word/volksgemeinschaft/
DATE: March 22, 2015
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES:
4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
REVIEW:
• Nazis continue Gleichschaltung
• Joseph Goebbels propaganda to achieve Volksgemeinschaft
• Hitler further secures his power / critical obstacles
• Impact of von Papen’s Marburg Speech (June 17, 1934)
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT 1:
1. What position was the Army left in after the Night of the Long
Knives (NLK)? p. 144
2. How did Himmler establish himself and the SS as the main ‘police
arm’ of the Nazi state? p. 145 - 146
SOURCES CAUTION – Understand that many historians writing in the 1950s and
1960s were greatly influenced by the concept of totalitarianism and oppressive
regimes in Europe at the time (mostly communist ones). We might call them
‘TRADITIONAL’ Historians. Therefore, it is important to know that their research
into Nazism was likely focused on, or even exaggerated Nazi levels of
Totalitarianism and consensus.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT 2:
3. What point is Robert Gellately trying to make about the Gestapo
from the Denunciations heading on page 147?
4. Describe the concept of Resistenz. p. 148
5. How does Mallmann and Paul’s ‘loyal reluctance’ differ from
Broszat’s concept of Resistenz? p. 148 - 148
MAIN MESSAGES - Source H - N, pages 146 - 149:
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 1:
Defense Minister Blomberg
1. Position of the Army after the NLK: p. 144
• The Army was happy to see the SA threat removed, but they
were then complicit to the events and afterward made
subordinate to Hitler and the Nazis.
• Some in military intelligence (Abwehr) turned their support to
Hitler. http://www.forvo.com/word/abwehr/
• Aug 2, 1934 - von Hindenburg died and Hitler declared himself
‘Führer and Reich Chancellor.’
• Defense Minister Blomberg ordered every member of the
military to take an oath of loyalty to the Führer. This was an
attempt to establish influence over Hitler.
• Aug 19, 1934 - 89.9% of Germans voted Ja (approval) that
Hitler be made Führer.
TOPIC: Effectiveness of the Nazi State - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 7. Describe the arguments for Nazi state efficiently reflecting the Führer’s will.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 7:
6. Hitler - ALL the POWER - 3 steps to assumption of power:
• Aug 2, 1934 - von Hindenburg died.
• Hitler absorbed the powers of Chancellor and President as Führer of
Germany.
• Aug 1, 1934 - Law of the Head of State of the German Reich was
signed by Hitler’s leading ministers.
• Aug 2, 1934 - General Blomberg gets the army to swear allegiance.
• Aug 19, 1934 - a plebiscite was held where 89% of Germans voted Ja
(approval) to reform the constitution.
• All these steps saw Hitler assume power (under the guise of legality);
yet his role would change thereafter, as well as the functioning of
the government diminished. The 72 Cabinet meetings in 1933 saw
none by 1938
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 2:
2. Himmler - SS as the main ‘police arm’ of the Nazi state: p. 145 - 146
• April 1933 - Prussian Governor Göring incorporated the
Prussian political police into the state secret police, the
Gestapo.
• Himmler was put in control of the Bavarian police.
• April, 1934 - Himmler was made ‘Inspector of the Gestapo’
and he was able to put more control into the hands of the SS.
• The SS created a concentration camp system (1933, Dachau)
for those considered undesirable or ‘asocial.’
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 3:
2. Himmler - SS as the main ‘police arm’ of the Nazi state: p. 145 - 146
• After the NLK, the SS became the police arm of the Nazi party
and attempted to eliminate all opposition through the SS
Security and Intelligence Service (SD) and the Gestapo.
•
SD - Sicherheitsdienst (SS Security Service) leader - Reinhard Heydrich
http://www.forvo.com/search/Sicherheitsdienst/
• June 1936 - Hitler appointed Himmler head of the German
police.
 He controlled the security service (Sipo), the regular police
(Orpo) and the security police (SD).
 Himmler controlled bureaucrats, torturers, policemen,
spies and informants. Germany became a ‘Terror State.’
• 1939 - All police and security was put under the umbrella of
the Reich Security Head Office (RSHA).
Himmler / SS - ‘police arm’ of the Nazi state:
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
MAIN MESSAGES - Source H - N, pages 146 - 149:
• Source H - Richard Evans, p. 146 - The Terror State was
achieved through FEAR and Deprivation.
 “… the threat of arrest, prosecution and incarceration …
loomed over everyone in the Third Reich.”
 “ … regime intimidated Germans into acquiescence …”
• Source I - Jacques Delarue, p.146 - Never before in history had
such total and complete power been witnesed.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
MAIN MESSAGES - Source H - N, pages 146 - 149:
3. Point Robert Gellately is trying to make - Gestapo - Denunciations p. 147
• The Gestapo was under-manned and not as pervasive or intrusive as
traditional views suggest.
• Statistics suggest that denunciation reports came from hostile or
jealous neighbours. For example, in Saarbrücken, 87.5% cases of
slander against the regime came from denunciations, while only 8%
came from Gestapo activism.
• Look at the numbers – Gestapo was only 32,000 strong. In 1935
Hanover had only 42 officers, Würzburg only 21 and by 1939,
Saarbrücken had only 50 informants.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
MAIN MESSAGES - Source H - N, pages 146 - 149:
• Source J - Robert Gellately, p. 147 – The Gestapo relied heavily
on denunciations and public cooperation.
 “… denunciations from the population constituted the
single most important cause for the initiation of [Gestapo]
proceedings …”
 “… functioning was structurally dependent on the
continuing cooperation on German citizens. ”
• Source K - Michael Burleigh, p. 147 – There are limitations, or
even misconceptions about denunciations. Yes, the Gestapo
used them (“… casual denouncers, informants and agent
provocateurs.”) but relied on, “… opening mail and tapping
telephones … the most effective resources were contact agents
or V Leute … “
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
MAIN MESSAGES - Source H - N, pages 146 - 149:
4. Broszat’s Concept of Resistenz: p. 148 – 149
• It’s important to distinguish between ACTIVE and PASSIVE
resistance.
• The idea that the authority and impact of the regime was limited by
indifference, dissent and non-conformity is what Broszat calls
Resistenz. People resisted by NOT conforming ... a form of SUBTLE
ACTIVISM.
5. ‘loyal reluctance’ differs from the concept of Resistenz: p. 148 - 149
• It’s argued that the vast majority of those considered ‘indifferent’ were
generally indifferent or apathetic to politics anyway. This shows that the
Nazi regime was unable to control people’s lives totally.
• Some groups (peasants or even factory workers) were not happy with Nazi
policies but did not attempt rebellion either. They were loyal but some
times or some issues angered them. They represent PASSIVE ENTHUSIASM
or Resistance.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
MAIN MESSAGES - Source H - N, pages 146 - 149:
• Source L - Martin Broszat, p.148 – Relatively independent
institutions (church, bureaucracy or even military) did NOT FULLY
participate in Nazism, thus suggesting that the Nazis had limitations.
 “… effective Resistenz could find its expression in active
counteraction …”
 “… they played a role in curtailing the impact of the
national socialist regime and National Socialist ideology.”
• The newsreels which preceded feature films were full of the
greatness of Hitler and the massive achievements of Nazi Germany.
There is evidence that Germans avoided these productions by
arriving late!
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
Walsh Text - page 162:
• The Nazis faced relatively little open opposition.
• Serious criticism was always in private, never in public.
• The Nazis’ relied on Terror - main opponents had been killed, exiled
or put in prison. The rest had been scared into submission.
• Many Germans admired and trusted Hitler. They were prepared to
tolerate rule by terror and to trade their rights in political freedom
and free speech in return for work, foreign policy success and what
they thought was strong government.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
MAIN MESSAGES - Source H - N, pages 146 - 149:
• Source M - Klaus Tenefelde, p. 149 - Resistenz is by no means a
definite political rejection of the Nazis, but rather a defense
mechanism to protect customs or habits.
 “… Resistenz signified more the desire to protect customary
habits against challenges of the regime than any political
criticism …”
• Source N - Klaus-Michael Mallmann, p. 149 – Resistenz is
overstated. People didn’t RESIST through their behaviour as a
political move, but rather simply didn’t fully adopt Nazism.
This, in turn, didn’t cause trouble or difficulty for the Nazis.
 “… it was and issue of forms of behaviour which at most
caused the National Socialist regime peripheral trouble …”
DATE: March 24 - 26, 2015
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES:
4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
REVIEW:
• Position of the Army left in after NLK
• Himmler consolidates SS as the main ‘police arm.’
• Robert Gellately’s - Gestapo and Denunciations
• Broszat’s concept of Resistenz
• Mallmann and Paul’s ‘loyal reluctance’ vs. Broszat’s Resistenz
• MAIN MESSAGES - Source H - N, pages 146 - 149
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT:
1. What effect did opposition to the Nazi regime have?
Use p. 150 - 151. p. 108 (Hitler and the Nazi State) and previous notes
from Sources H - N, p. 146 - 149
2. Describe how Goebbels - Reich Ministry of Popular Enlightenment
and Propaganda - developed the Hitler Myth. p. 151 - 152 and p.
74 of Edexcel Revision Notes
3. What steps did the Nazis take to improve the economy and
reduce unemployment? p. 153 - 154
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 1:
1. Effect of opposition to the Nazi regime:
• Broszat’s Resistenz vs. Mallmann and Paul’s ‘loyal reluctance’
• The Nazis faced relatively little open opposition and relied on Terror
(main opponents had been killed, exiled or put in prison) and
Propaganda. Others were scared into acquiescence.
• The speed of Gleichschaltung in 1933 - 1934 and immediate popularity of
the Nazis made any opposition almost impossible. The improvement of the
ECONOMY, the REMOVAL of the supposed ‘socialist threat’ and the
curtailment of the SA (NLK) acted to reassure ‘Middle Germany’ of the
regime’s acceptability.
• Understand that there were NO OPINION Polls or ELECTION Results
to study.
• Some opponents became disillusioned and opposition can be
represented through the fact that industrial accidents, illness and
absenteeism DOUBLED between 1936 – 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 2:
1. Effect of opposition to the Nazi regime: p. 150 - 151 and previous notes from Sources H N, p. 146 - 149
• Even though the KPD and SPD won 201 seats and over 12 million votes in
the March, 1933 Reichstag elections, they had divisions between them
politically that hampered any attempts to face the Nazis in a concerted
way. Communists (KPD) and Socialists (SPD) miscalculated and misread
Hitler’s appointments as Chancellor.
• The KPD viewed Hitler’s appointment as a sign of deteriorating democraticcapitalism, and decided to wait for the impending failure.
• By 1934 Nazi authorities seized some 1.25 million communists leaflets, but
larger scale subversion was hampered by difficulties to infiltrate the
German Labour Front (DAP) due to active DENUNCIATIONS.
• Even the Communist newspaper, Rote Fahne (‘Red Flag’) was still
distributed up to 1935.
• In 1936 there were strikes at Rüsselsheim and Berlin.
• SPD leaders fled to Prague and set up SOPADE. They reported that many
workers abandoned the ‘class struggle’ and converted to the regime.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 3:
1. Effect of opposition to the Nazi regime: p. 150 - 151 and previous notes from Sources H N, p. 146 - 149
• Economic recovery was deeply appreciated.
• Many felt that the Nazis were bringing some much needed discipline
back to Germany by restoring traditional values and clamping down
on rowdy Communists.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 4:
2. Goebbels - Reich Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda develops the Hitler Myth. p. 151 - 152 and p. 74 of Edexcel Revision
• Hitler was shown as a modern day Teutonic Knight and associated
with popular aspects of the Nazi Regime:
 Foreign Policy (TOV and Remilitarisation)
 Reduction in unemployment
 1936 Olympics - held in an atmosphere
of political stability and growing
prosperity, and even suspended
anti-Semitic programmes.
• Goebbels, however, used the Führer sparingly to preserve his
‘mystique.’
1936 Olympics - held in an atmosphere of political stability and growing
prosperity, and even suspended anti-Semitic programmes.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 5:
2. Goebbels - Reich Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda develops the Hitler Myth.
• The cut of the Führer was reinforced through the media and the
RMPEP.
 Films and Newsreels - Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will
(1935) and Olympia (1938). The cinema was also closely
controlled. All films – factual or fictional, thrillers or comedies –
had to carry a pro-Nazi message.The newsreels which preceded
feature films were full of the greatness of Hitler and the massive
achievements of Nazi Germany.
 The state press agency (DNB) - Dec 1933 monitored news and
held daily press conferences.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 6:
2. Goebbels - RMPEP - develops the Hitler Myth.
 Newspapers - Max Amann (head of Eher Overflag – the
Nazi publishing house) and Vőlkischer Beobachter’
translated as ‘People's Observer.’
 Festivals were held in the spirit of popular routine, which
commemorated Nazi accomplishments, and undermined
traditional Christian holy days.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 7:
2. Goebbels - RMPEP and the Hitler Myth.
 Radio broadcasts - Germany had the largest radio audience in
Europe and the government produced the ‘People’s Radio’
for only 35 marks.
 All Germans could buy a radio and that of course, he controlled
all the radio stations.
 Listening to broadcasts from the BBC was punishable by death.
 Hitler’s speeches and those of other Nazi leaders were repeated
on the radio over and over.
 Loudspeaker Pillars were erected in public places.
Poster advertising cheap
Nazi-produced radios. The
text reads ‘All Germany
hears the Führer on the
People’s Radio.’ The radios
had only a short range and
were unable to pick up
foreign stations.
© Hodder Murray
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 8:
3. Steps the Nazis took - improve the economy / reduce unemployment:
• Hitler and the Nazis came to power because they promised to use
radical methods to solve the country’s two main problems –
desperate unemployment and a crisis in German farming.
• 5 million were unemployed in 1933. Hitler was fortunate in that by
1933 the worst of the Depression was over.
• By 1936 the unemployment level fell from 25.9% (1933) to 7.4%,
creating nearly 6 million jobs.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 9b:
3. Steps the Nazis took - improve the economy / reduce
unemployment:
• Dr Hjalmar Schlacht introduced Hitler to wealthy
industrialists. A conservative, Schacht joined the
‘Harzburg Front’ in October 1931. This was an
alliance of right wing nationalists who were
opposed to the government of Heinrich Brűning.
• Schacht said: “I am no National Socialist, but the basic ideas of
National Socialism contain a great deal of truth.” As well as being
appointed head of the Reichsbank, Hitler appointed Schacht Reich
Minister of Economics – a post he held from August 1934 to
November 1937.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 9:
3. Steps the Nazis took - improve the economy / reduce unemployment:
• The brilliant economist Dr Hjalmar Schlacht organised Germany’s
finances to fund a huge programme of work creation. The National
Labour Service sent men on public works projects and conservation
programmes, in particular to build a network of motorways or
autobahns.
• Railways were extended or built from scratch. There were major
house-building programmes and grandiose new public building
projects such as the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 10:
3. Steps the Nazis took - improve the economy / reduce unemployment:
• Other measures brought increasing prosperity.
 Rearmament and conscription - 1935 - reduced unemployment.
 In 1936 he announced a Four Year Plan under the control of
Goering to get the German economy ready for war.
 The need for weapons, equipment and uniforms created jobs in
the coal mines, steel and textile mills. Engineers and designers
gained new opportunities, particularly when Hitler decreed that
Germany would have a world-class air force (the Luftwaffe).
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 11:
3. Steps the Nazis took - improve the economy / reduce unemployment:
• All workers had to join the DAF (General Labour Front) run by Dr
Robert Ley. This organisation kept strict control of workers. They
could not strike for better pay and conditions. In some areas, they
were prevented from moving to better-paid jobs.
• Many middle-class business people were grateful to the Nazis for
eliminating the Communist threat to their businesses and
properties.
• Big business really benefited from Nazi rule. The big companies no
longer had to worry about troublesome trade unions and strikes.
Other household names today, such as Mercedes and Volkswagen,
prospered from Nazi policies.
• These measures also boosted Hitler’s popularity and national pride.
Unemployment and government expenditure in Germany, 1932–1938.
Economic recovery was almost entirely funded by the state rather than from
Germans investing their own savings. Despite this, unemployment fell steadily
and Germany was actually running short of workers by 1939.
DATE: March 29 - 30, 2015
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES:
4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
REVIEW:
• Opposition - Nazis faced relatively little open opposition, relied
on Terror and many acquiesced.
• RMPEP - Hitler Myth - popular aspects of the Nazi Regime:
 Foreign Policy (TOV and Remilitarisation)
 Reduction in unemployment
 1936 Olympics - political stability and growing prosperity
• Steps to improve the economy / reduce unemployment
 Two main problems – unemployment and a crisis in farming.
 1936 - unemployment from 25.9% to 7.4%, creating nearly 6 million
jobs.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD:
1. How did State Paternalism contribute to the economic recovery?
p. 154 - 155
2. Identify the Main Message of Sources P - T and discuss their
areas of agreement and disagreement. p. 156 - 157.
3. Use Sources P, Q, S, T and U to explain the significance of the Cult
of the Führer. p. 156 - 157, 159
4. How was Hitler able to curtail the Army and gain ‘total control’ by
February, 1938? p. 157 - 158
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS 1a - p. 154:
1. State Paternalism was the idea that the State would help look after
you, like a ‘father.’ This approach contributed to the economic
recovery:
• Hitler wanted a disciplined workforce that would not challenge his
dictatorship or threaten rearmament with excessive wage demands.
• In May 1933 Trade Unions were put under Nazi control – within the
German Labour Front (DAF) – led by Robert Ley. Workers were
compensated for their loss of rights by state paternalism.
• Schönheit der Arbeit (Beauty of Labour): Persuade employers to
improve working conditions. This was done by promoting better
lighting, cleanliness and the benefits of wholesome meals.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS 1b:
1. State Paternalism contributed to the economic recovery: p. 154
• KdF (Kraft durch Freude - Strength through Joy): Rewarded loyal
workers with evening classes, theatre trips, sporting competitions and
package holidays. By 1938, 180,000 enjoyed a KdF cruise and 10
million enjoyed state-financed holiday,
• Winterhelp: Offered charity to the unemployed
• Days of National Solidarity: Leading party members would collect
money for the party
• The promotion of cheap housing and the production of mass
produced goods (people’s radio and people’s car) was the attempt to
embrace all classes.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS 2a:
2. Main Messages - Sources P - T / areas of agreement and disagreement. p. 156 - 157.
• Sources P and S - Kershaw - argues that the grumblings of
material dissatisfaction did not signify a rejection of Nazism
which stood outside this day to day normality. Complaints aside,
the TERROR factor limited resistance. Hitler was above the
criticism since he had the ‘charisma’ and the ‘Hitler Myth’.
• Source Q - Peukert - agrees and says that this grumbling
increased as time went on but Hitler was exempt from this
criticism. Germans accepted ‘Passive Adjustment’ as reality that
couldn’t be changed.
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS 2b:
2. Main Messages - Sources P - T / areas of agreement and disagreement. p. 156 - 157.
• Source R - Burleigh - argues that even though workers had
concerns (exploited by capitalist and lack of consumer goods)
state paternalism provided enough compensation to appease
working class resistance (foreign policy).
• Source T - Lee - argues that the Führer Cult was due to many of
Hitler’s perceive attributes (vision of the Kaiser, moderate,
traditional virtues, revisionist and foreign policy) but resistance
was constrained, even though they saw through Hitler as an
apparent moderate.
• Source U - Kershaw - argues that the Army was silenced and
froze over the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair. Hitler proceeded to
cement his absolute power over the last bastion of hope - the
non-Nazi elite Army.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS 3:
3. Sources P, Q, S and T - significance of the Führer Cult. p. 156
• Sources P - “… stood in every sense above and outside the
system, detached from the everyday sphere of dismal
normality.”
• Source Q - “The personal figure of Hitler … was largely exempt
from criticism.”
• Source S - “The ‘Hitler Myth’ secured the loyalty to the regime
even of those who opposed the Nazi movement.”
• Source T - “The main reason for the popular support was the
personal popularity of Hitler.”
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS 4a:
4. Hitler curtails the Army and gains ‘total control’ by Feb, 1938:
• In January 1935 Hitler met with the German leadership at
Berlin’s State Opera House. There he promised his faith in the
Wehrmacht (the new name of Germany’s armed forces,
replacing Reichswehr - which formed the military organization
of Germany from 1919 until 1935).
• Hitler proceeded to establish Foreign Policy success:
 Rearmament to 500,000, Naval agreement with Britain,
Saar plebiscite, Rhineland, destroying TOV
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS 4b:
4. Hitler curtails the Army and gains ‘total control’ by Feb, 1938:
• In 1937 at the Hossbach Conference Hitler clarified his thoughts
on foreign policy, including Lebensraum.
• However, leading members of the armed forces were skeptical
about his plans including the Reich War Minister (Blomberg)
and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army (Fritsch). In their view
Germany was not ready to go to war against Britain or France.
• In January 1938 the Gestapo tipped off to Hitler that Blomberg
(recently married) used to be a Prostitute; he was sacked. There
were rumours that Fritsch used to be involved with a rent boy;
he faced military trial. Consolidation of power had been
completed.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS 4c:
4. Hitler curtails the Army and gains ‘total control’ by Feb, 1938:
• Suspicions remained as a result of the Hossbach Conference but
this was dealt with during the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair.
• Hitler gained total control of the Army by February, 1938,
Himmler provided Hitler with compromising evidence about
Blomberg and Fitsch. (Blomberg’s former prostitute wife,
Margarethe Gruhn and Colnel-General Fritsch’s rent boy).
Blomberg was sacked and Fritsch faced a military trial.
• On Jan 27, 1938 Hitler took over leadership of the Army and 12
generals were dismissed for lack of loyalty.
• By February 1938 - Hitler had his last ever Cabinet meeting,
poised to wage war.
DATE: March 31 - April 2, 2015
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES:
4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
REVIEW:
• Impact of State Paternalism on economic recovery
• Sources P, Q, S, T and U - Cult of the Führer
• Hitler curtails the Army, Hossbach Conference, BlombergFritsch Affair and ‘total control’ by Feb, 1938
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD:
1. Describe the extent of Opposition from the following:
a) Churches
b) Protestants
c) Catholics
d) Youth
e) Women
2. Evaluate the success of Nazi Indoctrination. Use Sources V, W, X ,
Y, Z and AA as evidence. p. 163 - 165
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 1:
1. Extent of Opposition from the following:
a) Churches – leaders of Germany’s Christian churches mostly
welcomed the Nazi seizure of power.
• The Weimar government had alienated church leaders
because of the perceived ‘liberalisation’ and the feared spread
of atheism and Bolshevism.
• Hitler seemed to offer spiritual and moral salvation. Even the
anti-Semitism was tolerated as long as it was constrained by
legal means.
• The churches were seduced by the legality and conservatism
of the Nazis.
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 2:
1. Extent of Opposition from the following:
b) Protestants - The Protestant church was sympathetic to the
Nazi revolution as they had always been enshrined with the
state and thus were attracted by national revival.
• They believed Weimar to be un-German and resented the rise
of the Centre party. They had been tricked by the appearance
of legality.
• Many believed the anti-Semitic programme as evidence of
God’s curse of the Jews. The churches remained silent when
Kristallnacht took place.
• The German Christians (branch of Protestantism) advocated
the wholesale restructuring of German Protestantism to
embrace Nazi ideology.
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 3:
1. Extent of Opposition from the following:
b) Protestants
• Muller led the German Christians and he was Hitler’s nominee for
National Bishop, winning widespread support. He coordinated 28
Protestant churches into a single Reich Church and incorporated
700,000 members of Protestant youth groups into the Hitler
Youth.
• Dissident Protestants formed the Confessional Church led by
Pastor Niemoller and Pastor Barth. They were not opposed
ideologically to Nazism; they just wanted to remain independent.
• In any case leading dissidents were imprisoned and over 700
priests were arrested in 1935 for condemning the teaching of
paganism in schools.
• Protestant Pastor, Erich Klapproth wrote a letter of protest to
Hitler and other leading Nazis, but most churches remained silent
as Jews excluded from society.
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 4:
1. Extent of Opposition from the following:
c) Catholics - The Catholic Church was more resilient as it had an
internationalist following led by the Pope, its interests were
also defended by the Centre Party.
• This party had been crucial in allowing Hitler to consolidate his
power and the Concordat (June 1933)had agreed that they
could maintain social control in return for giving up political
control.
• Tensions grew as Hitler broke the Concordat: crucifixes were
banned from schools in 1935 and youth groups were banned
in 1936.
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 5:
1. Extent of Opposition from the following:
c) Catholics
• The papal encyclical With Burning Concern (1937) was prompted by the
banning of Catholic Youth Groups and the undermining of Catholic schools.
Pope Pius XI had Catholic clergymen read it on Palm Sunday in every
church.
• The pope's encyclical was but one of his statements against Nazism. In a
widely disseminated 1938 speech he reminded Christians that we are
spiritual seed of Abraham and that therefore anti-Semitism is intolerable:
"No, no, I say to you it is impossible for a Christian to take part in antiSemitism. It is inadmissible. Through Christ and in Christ we are the
spiritual progeny of Abraham. Spiritually, we are all Semites."
• However once again dissent was not caused by an objection to Nazism but
by a desire to exist and remain independent. There were many examples of
Catholic support including for the Anschluss and the seizure of the
Sudetenland. Dissent was individual, not institutional.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 6:
1. Extent of Opposition from the following:
d) Youth - Boys were trained as fearless soldiers in the ‘German
Young People’ (10-14) and the Hitler Youth (14-16)
• By 1935, 60% of all young people belonged to the Hitler Youth
and it was made compulsory by the Hitler Youth Law (1939).
• Girls were taught to be loyal, submissive and prolific mothers.
At age 10 they joined the ‘League of Young Girls’ and at 14 the
‘League of German Girls’. Membership became compulsory in
1936 and an oath of allegiance to Hitler had to be sworn from
1939.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 7:
1. Extent of Opposition from the following:
d) Youth • A minority of young people rebelled against the brutality of the regime.
Working-class dissidents joined pirate groups such as the ‘Edelweiss
Pirates’. Disillusioned middle-class groups joined ‘Swing Groups’ to
celebrate American style culture.
• The school curriculum was amended to place an emphasis on racial
theory, physical education and history
• In 1937 the elite school system was set up. The Adolf Hitler Schools
were established to train the political leaders of the next generation.
The students were given military and political instruction to prepare
them for leadership in the Third Reich
• The majority of Germany’s youth remained loyal to the dictatorship.
Edelweiss Plant - a white flower found high in the Alps.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 8:
1. Extent of Opposition from the following:
e) Women - Nazi ideology stressed that women should produce
healthy Aryan children, uphold conservative principles and
comfort husbands.
• The Nazi slogan - Kinder, Küche, Kirche (children, kitchen, church.
• The Women’s Front was created by Ley in 1933. All 230
women’s organisations in Germany were expected to expel
their Jewish members and integrate into the Women’s Front or
face being disbanded.
• Most women’s organisations were happy to become part of the
Women’s Front as they were pleased to support a regime that
was nationalistic and supportive of the traditional role of women
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 9:
1. Extent of Opposition from the following:
e) Women • By 1934 there were NO women working in the Prussian civil
service. The economic improvement after 1933 was first felt in
rearmament-based industries. Labour shortages, however,
forced the Nazis to persuade women back to work. By 1939
there were nearly 7.5 million women employed.
• Teachers were encouraged to join the National Socialist
Teachers’ Alliance (NSBL). By 1937, 97% of 320,000 teachers
had joined.
• The NSLB took responsibility for indoctrinating teachers in Nazi
ideology. 15% of women teachers lost their jobs
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 10:
2. Success of Nazi Indoctrination - Sources V, W, X , Y, Z and AA:
• Many Germans were enthusiastic Nazi supporters, while other
accepted the system through fear, ignorance, lethargy or
indifference (‘loyal reluctance’).
• There limits, however, to Nazi indoctrination - Christian values
and the decency of most Germans precluded them from being
indoctrinated. Expansionism, war, racial persecution and
dictatorship failed to attract many Germans; and FEW
Germans actually wanted another war.
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 11:
2. Success of Nazi Indoctrination - Sources V, W, X , Y, Z and AA:
• Source V - Dülffer - argues that Indoctrination was tested by the
consent of the Germans toward war, and Germans seemed
dismayed and not at all enthusiastic. Dülffer further suggests
that Hitler’s Policy of Extreme Risk was met with ‘anxiety’, and
absent was the Euphoria from 1914.
• Source W - McDonough - argues that Youth Opposition existed
as many objected to Indoctrination and Discipline (Edelweiss
Pirates and Swing Youth). TQ Notes – this opposition should not
be surprising since youth ALWAYS resist conformity. The more
interesting point is that the Hitler Youth were so loyal from
1933 – 1945. (1936, became compulsory to join)
TOPIC: Popularity of the Nazi Regime - 1933 to 1939
OBJECTIVES: 4. Explain the reasons for and extent of Nazi support from 1933 - 1939.
5. Describe the extent and nature of opposition to the Nazi regime, 1933 - 1939.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 12:
2. Success of Nazi Indoctrination - Sources V, W, X , Y, Z and AA:
• Source X - Bartov - argues that Nazi ideas (Indoctrination) had
an impact on working class but likely out of economic selfinterests. Nazis exploited phobias and prejudices, and used the
Führer Cult to keep support.
KD ANSWERS / NOTES 13:
2. Success of Nazi Indoctrination - Sources V, W, X , Y, Z and AA:
• Source Y - Schäfer - argues that political problems were ignored
because the Nazis successfully stabilised relations with Germans
through popular policies that had previously reserved to rich people
(payments, contributions, KdF holidays, theatre and concert, sailing,
tennis, skiing).
• Source Z - Fest - argues that Control was achieved through
PACIFICATION and COMPENSATION for POLITICAL DEPRIVATION (
trips, sport, festivals, factory celebrations, dancing, political
education).
• Source AA - Evans - argues that Germans appreciated the KdF but did
not do so for Nazi Ideological aims. Gestapo agents reported widespread drunkenness – suggesting that most just wanted to unwind
and have fun on a holiday. The notion of a ‘nuclear family’ enjoying a
Nazi vacation was not realistic.
• p. 165 PPQ – ‘The Nazis enjoyed broad consent brought about by popular policies.’
How far do you agree? Use Y, Z and AA and own knowledge.