HI136 The History of Germany Lecture 11

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HI136 The History of GermanyLecture 11

• The Coming of the Third Reich
• Nazi Consolidation Terror

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The 1933 Election

• New elections called within 24 hours of Hitler
  becoming Chancellor.
• The election campaign took place in an atmosphere
  of violence and intimidation.
• The Nazis used their access to the organs of the
  state to get their message across intimidate
  their opponents.
• 31 Jan. 1933 Hitlers Appeal to the German
  People blamed Germanys problems on the
  Communists and presented his government as a
  National Uprising that would restore German
  pride unity.
• As Minister of the Interior of Prussia Göring
  recruited 500,000 extra police in Germanys
  largest state, most of them drawn from the ranks
  of the SA and the SS.
• Violence intimidation of political opponents
  SPD and KPD meetings broken up, voters
  intimidated etc. 69 people killed during the 5
  week campaign.

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The Reichstag Fire

• 27 Feb. 1933 The Reichstag burned down.
• An unemployed Dutch bricklayer named Marius van
  der Lubbe arrested.
• The Nazis claimed this was part of a Communist
  plot.
• Decree for the Protection of the People and the
  State suspended civil liberties increased the
  power of central government the Nazis rounded
  up political opponants.
• Van der Lubbe Bulgarian Communist Georgi
  Dimitrov put on trial for the fire.
• But on-going debate about who was responsible.

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Election Results, 5 March 1933
Party Votes
NSDAP 43,90
DNVP 8,00
DVP 1,10
BVP 2,70
Zentrum 11,20
Deutsche Staatspartei 0,90
SPD 18,30
KPD 12,30
Other 1,60
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The Day of Potsdam, 21 March 1933
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The Enabling Law (Ermächtigungsgesetz)

• Without the two-thirds majority in the Reichstag
  necessary to change the Constitution, Hitler
  proposed an Enabling Law that would enable him
  the government to pass legislation without the
  approval of either parliament or the President.
• 23 March 1933 Law for the Removal of Distress
  from People and the Reich
• Article 1 In addition to the procedure
  prescribed by the constitution i.e. decision by
  parliament, laws of the Reich may also be
  enacted by the government of the Reich. This
  includes laws as referred to by Articles 85
  sentence 2 and Article 87 of the constitution.
• Article 2 Laws enacted by the government of the
  Reich may deviate from the constitution as long
  as they do not affect the institutions of the
  Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The rights of the
  President remain undisturbed.

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Gleichschaltung

• After the passage of the Enabling Law the Nazis
  acted to co-ordinate as many areas of German
  life as possible and bring them into line with
  Nazi ideology.
• April 1933 Laws passed enabling Nazi-dominated
  State governments to pass legislation without the
  approval of provincial parliaments.
• Jan. 1934 State parliaments abolished local
  government subordinated to the federal Minister
  of the Interior.
• 2 May 1933 Leading Trade Unionists arrested
  workers organizations merged to form the
  Deutscher Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front,
  DAF).
• 22 June 1933 The SPD officially banned.
• June-July 1933 Other political parties dissolved
  themselves.
• 14 July 1933 The Nazi Party proclaimed the only
  legal political party in Germany.

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The Night of the Long Knives,30 June 1934

• Pressure from the party rank-and-file (and
  particularly from within the SA) for a second
  revolution.
• Fears that the radicalism of the SA would bring
  about a military coup against the Nazis.
• This led to a purge of the party on 30 June 1934
  the SS carried out raids against targets across
  Germany. Critics of the regime such as
  Vice-Chancellor Papen were arrested, while old
  enemies such as Gregor Strasser Gustav Ritter
  von Kahr were summarily executed. Over 1000
  people were arrested at least 85 killed.

Ernst Röhm (1887-1934)
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Party and State

• In theory Germany was a one party state that
  party had a monopoly on power.
• Dec. 1933 Law to ensure the Unity of the Party
  and the State declared that the party and state
  were inseparably linked, but exact relationship
  still vague.
• In practice parallel organizations institutions.

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Party and State
Soucre R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of
the Third Reich (1996)
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Party and State

• In theory Germany was a one party state that
  party had a monopoly on power.
• Dec. 1933 Law to ensure the Unity of the Party
  and the State declared that the party and state
  were inseparably linked, but exact relationship
  still vague.
• In practice parallel organizations
  institutions.
• Attempts to extend control over the organs of the
  State from the mid-1930s onwards
• In 1935 Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess given special
  powers to vet the appointment promotion of
  civil servants.
• From 1939 all civil servants had to be Party
  members.
• Department of Internal Party Affairs.
• Department for Affairs of State.

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The Role of Hitler

• August 1934 After the death of Hindenburg the
  posts of President Chancellor were combined
  Hitler formally adopted the title Fuhrer.
• He was both Head of State Head of Government,
  as well as Commander-in-Chief of the armed
  forces, head of the civil service party leader.
• In theory he had unlimited power.
• But the demands of running a country as large as
  Germany Hitlers personality and lifestyle
  meant his actual influence was more limited.
• One of the central debates surrounds Hitlers
  role.

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• I swear by God this sacred oath I will render
  unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the
  Führer of the German nation and people, Supreme
  Commander of the armed forces, and will be ready
  as a true soldier to risk my life at any time for
  this oath.
• Military Oath of Allegiance

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Relations with the Army

• The Army one of the few institutions with the
  power to challenge the Nazi regime.
• It enjoyed a degree of independence until 1937.
• Feb. 1938 War Minister Werner von Blomberg
  Commander-in-Chief of the Army General von
  Fritsch dismissed.
• Reorganization of the Army command to bring it
  under Nazi control.
• The post of War Minister abolished, Hitler
  assumed personal command of the armed forces. 16
  generals retired 44 transferred.

General Werner von Fritsch (centre) and General
Werner von Blomberg (right), 1 June 1934
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Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945)
SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich (1904-1942)
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The Debate on the Functioning of the Third Reich
Intentionalist Interpretation Functionalist Interpretation
1.Hitler's role Strong dictator can implement his will Weak dictator depends on competing organizations
2.Structure of the state Obedience to the dictator Four competing and relatively independent power blocks economy, army, Nazi party/SS, state administration
3.Implementation of policies Hitler's willLong-term planningRealization of long-term goalsPrimacy of ideology Spontaneous initiatives of organizations, improvisation, primacy of opportunism
4.Critique Too personalistic, too much centred on Hitler, too rational, too apologetic of Germans in general Ignores deliberate policies and the popularity of Hitler, overestimates independence of single organizations and apparatuses, too much focused on anonymous structures
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Synthesis (according to Bracher and Jäckel)
Hitler derived much of his strength from the
rivalry and the overlapping responsibilities of
state and party institutions. He thus could
assume the role of a mediator. Single offices
competed to win him over to their policies. Often
they tried to implement what was considered to be
his wish ...
http//www.colby.edu/personal/r/rmscheck/GermanyE5
.html
Current consensus (Ian Kershaw) (see Hinton
Weimar Nazi Germany, p. 190) Hitler is the key
activator Policy reflects Hitlers overall
vision His decisions are accepted by
rivals Mobiliser and legitimator but not
necessarily initiator of many policies