NAZI GERMANY Consolidation of Power

Hitler Becomes Chancellor  1932 – von Papen the chancellor at the time could not get enough support in the Reichstag  He tried to make Hitler his vice-chancellor in order to use his popularity  Hitler refused  This is an example of political scheming  1933, after von Papen resigned he convinced Hindenburg to make Hitler chancellor, in order to control him  However this backfired.

Reichstag Fire  Hindenburg agreed to another election in 1933  Hitler wanted this so that he would get more seats in the Reichstag  At the end of February the Reichstag building was destroyed by fire.  A communist named van der lubbe was arrested and charged  Hitler used this to attack the communists  Some say Hitler planned the attack  Hitler also used the fire to say there was a state of emergency and Hindenburg signed the presidential decree for the protection of the people of the state  This allowed him to take away freedom of speech, arrest communists and arrest people without trial  Many communists were banned and put into prison, along with the party being banned  Election was held in an atmosphere of fear due to the SA  Nazis did not get absolute majority which meant Hitler had to rely on other parties to get laws passed.

Enabling Law  Enabling Law – the Nazi government could introduce laws without the approval of the Reichstag for the next four years.  To get this law Hitler needed 2/3 majority of votes from the Reichstag  This was hihgly unlikely  However, most communists were in prison  On the day of the vote SA surrounded the Kroll Opera House and those who were going to vote against the law were too afraid to enter  Hitler managed to get the law passed.  This law made Hitler, dictator  The enabling law was used to;  Remove jews and opponents of Nazis from jobs  Trades unions banned and strikes illegal  Other parties banned  Germany became on party state  Censorship and control of the press

The Night of Long Knives  SA helped Hitler but was now way to big to control  Most of the members were thugs and were becoming an embarrassment to Hitler and the Nazi party.  They were also not needed because Nazi enemies had been dealt with  Leader of SA Ernst Rohm was to socialist according to Hitler.  June 1934 – Rohm and other SA leaders killed by SS  The event was also used to wipe out all enemies of the party.

Death of Hindenburg  Hindenburg died in August 1934  The army agreed that Hitler should be made President and the Chancellor  This made his the Fuhrer.  The army took an oath of allegiance to Hitler  It became dangerous to oppose Hitler  Gestapo (secret police) controlled all aspects of every day lives

Help of Leading Nazis  Goering – Hitler's deputy who set up first concentration camp, new air force, the luftwaffe and directed the Four Year Plan to prepare Germany for War  Himmler – leader of SS and German police, he was the one to establish death camps  Heydrich – head of Gestapo and responsible for the details behind the extermination of the Jews  Goebbels – in charge of propaganda and was a brilliant speaker. Very anti- sematic and ordered the Kristallnacht  Bormann – Hitler's secretary  Hitler was party leader  Gauleiters – responsible for leading the party in a district/area of Germany  Zellenleiters – in charge of town suburbs  Blockelters – in charge of a block of flats or group of houses

The SS  Strong highly disciplined group used for protection of Hitler and Nazis  Under the control of Hitler they put into practice Nazi policies  Played an important role in the Night of Long Knives  Replaced the SA as he most important security force in Germany  took over police force and Gestapo  They were the main way in which the Nazis terrorised opponents or intimidated people  Had unlimited power to arrest people without trials etc  SS had its own schools, factories and farms to breed perfect German children  The Warfenn SS was the most committed unit  Responsible for carrying out many Jewish deaths

The Gestapo  After 1936, they became state secret police under the control of Himmler  They;  Tapped phones  Intercepted mail  Spied on people  Any opposition would be reported to the Gestapo who would arrest the suspect  There was no way to be protected against them  Those arrested by the Gestapo were often taken at night and tortured  Punishments included concentration camps or execution

Censorship and Propaganda  Goebbels was in charge of censorship and propaganda  He ran the Ministry of People’s Enlightenment and Propaganda  All types of media were supervised  Media was given very cheaply so everyone could hear Nazi messages  Books were banned due to being un-Nazi  These methods controlled public opinion and generated support for Hitler  1936 – 1 million people attended Nuremburg Rallies where Hitler was a superstar