Issue 3 The Nature of the Dictators Regime

1. Issue 3The Nature of the Dictators Regime

2. Summary • Within a one-party state, Hitler used terror to keep power, underpinned by propaganda and indoctrination of the young.   There were special measures to keep the workers happy.   Hitler signed a Concordat with the Pope, which stopped Catholics opposing him, and he persecuted the Jews (which many Germans approved of). Lets recap how he got there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CFWH4Fhkak • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ8ewZySQls

3. Hitler’s Regime The Leader Propaganda Foreign Policy Army and secret Police Terror Education Industry Past Traditions Women and children Ideology

4. Hitler’s party • The Enabling Act (23 March 1933) made Hitler was the all-powerful Fuhrer of Germany.   The Law against the Formation of Parties (14 July 1933) declared the Nazi Party the only political party in Germany.   It was an offence to belong to another Party.   All other parties were banned, and their leaders were put in prison.    • Nazi Party members, however, got the best jobs, better houses and special privileges.   Many businessmen joined the Nazi Party purely to get orders. • (Leaders of the Nazi Party) • (Nazi Economic Policy)

5. Propaganda • The German people were subjected to continual propaganda, under the control of Josef Goebbels.  It was the cult of personality - everything was organised to make Germans permanently grateful to Adolf Hitler.   Germans were made to feel part of a great and successful movement • The Nazis used the most up-to-date technology to get their message across.  

6. They used Visual and Aural: VISUAL:flags, banners, uniforms, Berlin Olympics, rallies, films, posters, bands, marches and classical Art. AURAL:Goebbels had a radio set up in every house. Broadcasts emphasis on past greatness, the denunciation of communism, the wrongs of Versailles, racial purity and getting rid of traitors of the state (ie Jews). Promises were also made of a ‘glorious future’. (Nazi propaganda PowerPoint)

7. TERROR • The Nazis took over local government and the police.   On 26 April 1933, Hitler set up the Gestapo and the the security police (SS), and encouraged Germans to report opponents and 'grumblers'.   Tens of thousands of Jews, Communists, gypsies, homosexuals, alcoholics and prostitutes were arrested and sent to concentration camps for 'crimes' as small as writing anti-Nazi graffiti, possessing a banned book, or saying that business was bad. • Concentration camps were employed throughout Germany and conquered territories such as Poland. In these camps there were evidence of mass starvation, torture and medical experiments. • On the Night of the Long Knives (13 June 1934) Hitler used his legal • power to assassinate all his opponents within the Nazi Party (Gestapo)(SS)(SA)( why Hitler turned on the SA)

8. Picture Gestapo • Ss • Sa

9. EDUCATION • All schools were bought under State control • The Nazis replaced anti-Nazi teachers and University professors • History books were re written to emphasize past greatness- inline with Nazi Ideology. • school lessons included hidden indoctrination - requiring children to calculate how much mentally disabled people cost the state, or to criticize the racial features of Jewish people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU1LHeim_hA The poisonous mushroom Education in Nazi Germany Nazi German School System

11. Youth Movements • 'When an opponent declares, 'I will not come over to your side', I calmly say, 'Your child belongs to us already‘ • German boys were required to attend the Hitler Youth, (compulsory by 1939) which mixed exciting activities, war-games and Nazi indoctrination.   • German girls went to the BDM and learned how to be good mothers, and to love Hitler. (Hitler Education and Youth)

13. Women • In Nazi Germany women were regarded an inferior to men. • They were to be obedient, give up their jobs and be wives and mothers • Girls were taught domestic and physical fitness skills. • Marriages were arranged to create a master race of blond-headed, blue eyed Germans. • Jewish women were forcibly sterilised. (The role of Nazi Women)

15. RELIGION • Hitler signed a Concordat with the Pope, agreeing to leave the Roman Catholic Church alone if it stayed out of politics - so most Catholics were happy to accept the Nazi regime.    • Protestants and Jehovah's Witnesses - if they opposed the Nazis - were sent to concentration camps

16. Hitler’s Rule- Ideology • Nazi Ideology can be classed as an anti-philosophy. It was anti-liberal because it sacrificed the individual to the needs of the state. • It was also anti-communist, anti-democratic, lessened capitalism to the needs of the state. • However the ideology also emphasized internal unity and strengthening the state through the leader and cooperative struggle.

17. WeltanschauungHitler’s World View

18. Army and Security Police • The army was a symbol of the state • It was supplied with the latest technology and trained to a state of readiness for war • Because the Army was a prospective rival to power, its members were made to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler. • Hitler had secret police infiltrate the armed forces to confirm their loyalty.

19. INDUSTRY • Hitler banned all Trade Unions on 2 May 1933.   Their offices were closed, their money confiscated, and their leaders put in prison.   In their place, Hitler put the German Labour Front which reduced workers' pay and took away the right to strike.  The National Labour Service sent men on public works programmes.

20. German Labour Front • On 2nd May, 1933, Adolf Hitlerordered the SA to arrest Germany's trade union leaders. He then gave Robert Ley the task of forming the Labour Front (DAF), the only union organization allowed in the Third Reich. • A pay freeze was introduced in 1933 and this was rigorously enforced by the Labour Front. Wages were now decided by the Labour Front and compulsory deductions made for income tax, and for its Strength through Joy programme. • The Labour Front also issued work-books that recorded the worker's employment record and no one could be employed without one.

21. Strength Through Joy • Agriculture and industry was under the control of the state. They fixed wages and conditions, issued the workers with passes and provided them with rest and recreational facilities. (strength through Joy) • The agricultural front protected the small farmer, stabilised prices and ran marketing • In agriculture and industry a quota system was set up under a series of Four Year Plans. To enhance industrial production. (through STJ) workers could attend the theatre at reduced prices, participate in sports, and take complimentary holidays and cruises.

22. During this period, there were many economical achievements: • Public works were built (roads, hospitals, schools) • Armaments, shipping and areoplanes were produced (although treaty did not permit it) • The people’s car (Volkswagen) industry was developed • In agriculture Germany reached 80% self sufficiency • (Prora holiday resort)

23. Racism • The Nazi regime was from the start based on anti-semitism.   The Racial Purity Law (15 September 1935) took away German citizenship from the Jews, and forbade sex between Germans and Jews.   • Many Germans approved of this racism. (Kristallnacht) (orders to the Gestapo)

24. Past Tradition • Huge emphasis was made in education to remind Germans of their past greatness. • Hitler’s hero was King Frederick the Great- famous for developing the strongest army in Europe and using war as a key ingredient.

25. Foreign Policy • Germany aimed to takeback territories taken back at the Versailles treaty. • They also wanted to expand into the ‘black soil plains’ of Russia. • He moved troops into the Rhineland, then Austria. He then made agreements to take over German populated areas of France, Britain and Italy. • He took over Western Czechoslovakia • But his movement into Poland forced the Allies to declare war on Germany.

26. Before Hitler was finally defeated, he had managed to conquer France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway. He had also moved forces into North Africa, Greece and Yugoslavia, he had won large tracts of USSR but was halted at Moscow.

27. Opposition? Despite having almost total control, Hitler did face opposition from the various groups

28. The confessing Church • Churches opposed Nazism • Leaders of the church had been confined to concentration camps • Property was confiscated • In 1938 attacks were made on all churches • Ministers had to apply for licences • Religious holidays were banned

29. Ordinary Citizens • Some were opposed to Nazi atrocities against Jews and gave them refuge

30. Left Wing • Communists, Socialists, Trade Unionists • Many were thrown into concentration camps and had their property confiscated. • Their political parties were banned

31. The Army • The original power base of Germany. • Many officers resented Hitler for introducing his SA • They plotted to kill him

32. Youth Groups • White Rose movement, Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing movement • Many of these groups were tried and executed or sent to youth concentration camps

33. (Analysis of Hitler (essentials with questions) Analysis of Hitler in Power

34. How did Nazi Rule Affect Germans? Summary The key here is to understand that the Nazi state affected different people in different ways.   For the majority of people, in fact, life was good - that is why they turned a blind eye to the fact that - for groups which were not accepted by the Nazi state - life was horrific.

35. 1. Nazi Party Members • were especially happy - they got all the best houses, preferential treatment, good jobs in the government and power over other people.

36. 2. Ordinary People For ordinary people, life was good, and many Germans even today look back and remember the years before 1939 as happy years: • Nazi Economic Policies gave full employment (work programmes/ Strength through Joy), prosperity and financial security - many observers stated that there seemed to be no poverty in Germany, • the Strength Through Joy programme gave some people fun and holidays. • the 'Beauty of Work' movement gave people pride in what they were doing. • law and order (few people locked their doors), • autobahns improved transport, • frequent ceremonies, rallies, colour and excitement, • Nazi propaganda gave people hope, • Nazi racial philosophy gave people self-belief • Trust in Adolf Hitler gave a sense of security (one German woman told the American reporter Nora Wall: 'He is my mother and my father.   He keeps me safe from all harm.')

37. However for Ordinary People… • There were few drawbacks: Wages fell, and strikers could be shot - the Nazis worked closely with the businessmen to make sure that the workforce were as controlled as possible. • Loss of personal freedoms (eg freedom of speech). • All culture had to be German - eg music had to be Beethoven or Wagner or German folk songs - or Nazi - eg all actors had to be members of the Nazi party/ only books by approved authors could be read.

38. 3. Women • The Nazis were very male-dominated and anti-feminist.   Nazi philosophy idealised the role of women  as child-bearer and creator of the family:    • The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage gave newly-wed couples a loan of 1000 marks, and allowed them to keep 250 marks for each child they had.    • Mothers who had more than 8 children were given a gold medal.

40. However women weren't all happy.. • But not all women were happy with the Nazi regime: • Job-discrimination against women was encouraged.   Women doctors, teachers and civil servants were forced to give up their careers. • Women were never allowed to serve in the armed forces - even during the war.

41. 4. Youth • Most German young people were happy:    • Nazi culture was very youth-oriented.    • The HJ provided exciting activities for young boys.    • The HJ and the BDM treated young men and women as though they were special, and told then they had knew more then their parents.    • Many parents were frightened that their children would report them to the Gestapo, which gave young people a power that they enjoyed.

43. ...and Aryan girl

44. But not all youth were happy… • But not all young people were happy with the Nazi regime: • SOME girls were unhappy with the emphasis on the three Cs (Church, children, cooker).   • Girls who were regarded as true Aryan girls were sent off to special camps where they were bred (like farm animals) with selected 'Aryan' boys. • Towards the end of the war, youth gangs such as the Eidelweiss Pirates grew up, rejecting the HJ and Nazi youth culture, drinking and dancing to American jazz and 'swing' music.   • In Cologne in 1944 they sheltered army deserters and even attacked the Gestapo.   • If they were caught, they were hanged. • (The Lebensborn Program)

45. 5. Opponents • The Nazi's used 'fear and horror' against anyone who disapproved of their regime: • Hitler banned all Trade Unions on 2 May 1933.   Their offices were closed, their money confiscated, and their leaders put in prison.  • Communists were put into concentration camps or killed. • Many Protestant pastors were persecuted and executed. • Each block of flats had a 'staircase ruler' who reported grumblers to the police - they were arrested and either murdered, or sent to concentration camps. • Children were encouraged to report their parents to the Gestapo if they criticized Hitler or the Nazi party. • But remember that: Many Germans welcomed this because it brought political stability after the Weimar years.

46. 6. The Subhuman(Untermensch) • The Nazi regime despised many groups which it thought were racially or socially inferior (untermensch = subhuman) - people they called the 'germs of destruction'. • Jews • Gypsies • Black people • Mentally disabled/ill • Deaf people • Beggars • Homosexuals • Prostitutes • Alcoholics • Criminals

47. Jews • Jews, such as Anne Frank, whom the Germans systematically persecuted, were forced into walled ghettos, put into concentration camps, and used for medical experiments.   In the end the Nazis devised the ‘Final Solution’ of genocide - it was the Holocaust.

50. Gypsies • Gypsies were treated almost as badly as the Jews - 85% of Germany's gypsies were killed. • (Gypsies)