NS Consolidation and Terror

1
NS Consolidation and Terror

• History of Germany
• Lecture 9

2
Schedule

1. The Road to Absolute Power 1933-1934
2. Economy and Social Policy
3. NS Terror
4. Resistance
5. Controversies

3
Reichstag fire
4
Nazi propaganda poster The Reichstag in flames
(March elections 1933)
Fight for Germany Booklet on German politics
before 1933 München, 1933
5
Marinus van der Lubbe (1909 1934)
Georgi Dimitrov (1882 1948)
6
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
Elections to the Reichstag, March 5, 1933
7
"At this historic hour, we German Social
Democrats pledge ourselves to the principles of
humanity and justice, of freedom and Socialism.
No Enabling Law can give you the power to destroy
ideas which are eternal and indestructible ...
From this new persecution too Germany Social
Democracy can draw new strength. We send
greetings to the persecuted and oppressed. We
greet our friends in the Reich. Their
steadfastness and loyalty deserve admiration. The
courage with which they maintain their
convictions and their unbroken confidence
guarantee a brighter future."
Otto Wels
"You can take our lives and our freedom, but you
cannot take our honour". "Wir sind wehrlos aber
nicht ehrlos." - "We are defenceless but not
honorless."
8
Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich -
Law to remedy the need of the people and the
Reich (Ermächtigungsgesetz) 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
9
Potsdam, March 12, 1933
10
(No Transcript)
11
In our eyes the German boy of the future must be
slender and supple, swift as greyhounds, tough as
leather and hard as Krupp steel. We must bring up
a new type of human being, men and girls who are
disciplined and healthy to the core. We have
undertaken to give the German people an education
that begins already in youth and will never come
to an end. It starts with the child and will end
with the old fighter. Nobody will be able to
say that he has a time in which he is left
entirely alone to himself. Hitler at the
Nuremberg Party Rally in 1935
12
Nazi organisations for the youth

• 10-14 Jung Mädel (Young Girls)
• 14-18 Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German
  Girls)
• 18-21 Glaube und Schönheit Faith and Beauty
• NS Frauenwerk NS Womens organisation

• 6-10 Pimpfen (Cubs)
• 10-14 Deutsches Jungvolk (Young German Boys)
• 14-18 Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth)
• Reich Labour Service
• Wehrmacht

German Labour Front NSDAP German Studentss league
13
It is extremely difficult for parents who are
opponents of the Nazis to exercise an influence
on their children. Either they ask the child not
to talk at school about what is said at home.
Then the children get the feeling, aha, the
parents have to hide what they think. The teacher
permits himself to say everything out loud. So
hes bound to be right. Or the parents express
their opinion without giving the child a warning.
Then its not long before they are arrested or at
the very least called up before the teacher, who
shouts at them and threatens to report them.
Send your father to the school! That is the
normal answer to suspicious doubts and questions
on the part of the child. If the father is quiet
after such a visit, then he gives the child the
impression that he has been convinced by what the
teacher has told him, and the effect is far worse
than if nothing had ever been said. Report from
a social democratic observer from 1938
(Deutschland Berichte der SPD)
14
Ernst Röhm, leader of the SA (1887-1934)
15
Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defense (in
German Gesetz über Maßnahmen zur Staatsnotwehr),
3 July 1934
German English Translation
Die Reichsregierung hat das folgende Gesetz beschlossen, das hiermit verkündet wird The Reich government has decided upon the following law that is herewith announced
Einziger Artikel. Die zur Niederlegung hoch- und landesverräterischer Angriffe am 30. Juni, 1. und 2. Juli 1934 vollzogenenen Maßnahmen sind als Staatsnotwehr rechtens. Single article. The measures taken on 30 June and 1 and 2 July 1934 in order to put down attacks of high treason shall be legal State self-defense.
The bill is signed by Reichskanzler Hitler,
Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick, and
Minister of Justice Dr. Franz Gürtner.
16
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.
Oath of German soldiers since 1934
17
The Führer is supreme judge of the nationThe
Führer is not backed by constitutional clauses,
but by outstanding achievements which are based
on the combination of a calling and of his
devotion to the people. The Führer does not put
into effect a constitution according to legal
guidelines laid before him but by historic
achievements which serve the future of his
people Constitutional law in the Third Reich is
the legal formulation of the historical will of
the Führer. Justice Minister Hans Frank in a
speech in 1938
18
John Hite, Chris Hinton, Weimar Nazi Germany
(London, 2000), p. 180
19
Schedule

1. The Road to Absolute Power 1933-1934
2. Economy and Social Policy
3. NS Terror
4. Resistance
5. Controversies

20
ReichsnährstandAmtsschild1933-1945DHM, Berlin
21
Hitler and the president of the Reichsbank,
Hjalmar Schacht
Hjalmar Schacht1877-1970 President of the
Reichsbank 1923-1930, 1933-1939 Minister of
Economy 1934-1937
22
Stand Ende km Entw. km
1935 108 108
1936 979 1087
1937 923 2010
1938 1036 3046
1939 255 3301
1940 436 3737
1941 90 3827
1942 34 3861
1943 35 3896
Gesamt 3896
Stand Ende km Entw. km
1935 108 108
1936 979 1087
1937 923 2010
1938 1036 3046
1939 255 3301
1940 436 3737
1941 90 3827
1942 34 3861
1943 35 3896
Gesamt 3896

• Reichsautobahnen
• Year km total
• 1935 108 108
• 1936 979 1087
• 1937 923 2010
• 1938 1036 3046
• 1939 255 3301
• 1940 436 3737
• 1941 90 3827
• 1942 34 3861
• 35 3896
• Total 3896 

23
RECYCLING Jeder muß helfen! Deine Pflichten im
VierjahresplanPropagandaschrift für die Sammlung
von Altstoffen zur Erfüllung des Vierjahresplanes
24
Hermann Göring, Hamburg, 1934, DHM, Berlin
25
Aviation industry Junkers-Flugzeugbau, Bayreuth,
1939
26
John Hite, Chris Hinton, Weimar Nazi Germany
(London, 2000), p. 214
27
John Hite, Chris Hinton, Weimar Nazi Germany
(London, 2000), p. 214
28
John Hite, Chris Hinton, Weimar Nazi Germany
(London, 2000), p. 214
29
Social Policy Public welfare organisations
Power through Joy Frankfurt/Main, 1937
30
Schedule

1. January 1933
2. The Road to Absolute Power 1933-1934
3. Economy and Social Policy
4. NS Terror
5. Resistance
6. Controversies

31
Heinrich Himmler 1900-1945
32
Reinhard Heydrich 1904-1942
33
(No Transcript)
34
(No Transcript)
35
Schedule

1. The Road to Absolute Power 1933-1934
2. Economy and Social Policy
3. NS Terror
4. Resistance
5. Controversies

36
Opposition in the Third Reich (Sample)

• Organising a coup
• Attempting to assassinate Hitler and other
  leaders
• Going on strike
• Helping victims of Nazism
• Spying for foreign governments
• Deserting from the armed forces
• Committing suicide
• Emigrating
• Distributing anti-Nazi leaflets
• Underachieving in the workplace
• Publicly criticising the regime, telling
  anti-Hitler jokes
• Listening to American jazz and the BBC
• Not giving the Hitler greeting
• Refusing to join Nazi organisations
• Reading banned Nazi literature

37
Harro Schulze-Boysen (1909-1942) with his wife
Libertas Haas-Heye
38
Georg Elser 1903-1945
39
Sophie Scholl, 1921-1943
Hans Scholl, 1918-1943
40
Claus Schenck von Stauffenberg 1907-1944
41
Schedule

1. January 1933
2. The Road to Absolute Power 1933-1934
3. Economy and Social Policy
4. NS Terror
5. Resistance
6. Controversies

42
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 centered 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
43
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