Hitler and Nazi GermanyPART THREE: Consolidation of Power

Reichstag Fire Enabling Act Opposition Police State

• The Reichstag Fire took place on the 27th February 1933.

• Historians are still unsure about what caused the fire but Hitler used it to his advantage.

• A young Dutch communist called Marinus van der Lubbe was caught at the scene with matches and firelighters. He confessed and was executed.

• Hitler claimed that van der Lubbe was part of a wider Communist conspiracy to take over the government.

• 4,000 communists were arrested. After Hitler pressured Hindenburg to declare a state of emergency.

• New elections were called for the 5th March 1933 in which the Nazis increased their numbers to 288.

• Hitler was able to issue the ‘Decree for the Protection of the People and the State’ allowing him to imprison political opponents and ban communist newspapers.

• In March 1933, Hitler proposed the Enabling Act.

• This Act was designed to remove the power of the Reichstag so Hitler used the storm troopers to intimidate political opposition.

• The Act stated that: The Cabinet could pass any laws and the Act could overrule the constitution.

• It would give Hitler the power to make laws for four years without consulting the Reichstag.

• On the 24th March 1933 (without the presence of Communist members) the Reichstag voted to pass the Enabling Act. This was the end of the Weimar Constitution.

• Trade unions were banned.• May 1933: the offices of the

Social Democratic Party were broken into and their newspaper destroyed.

• July 1933: All political parties were illegal apart from the Nazis.

• In 1934, Rohm the leader of the SA was opposed the Hitler policies and had 3,000,000 troops. He was a serious internal threat to Hitler.

• 30th June 1934: Hitler ordered the Night of the Long Knives in which 100 senior SA officers, including Rohm, were arrested and executed.

• There were two main youth groups that opposed the Nazis.

• The Swing Youth were a group of teenagers who listened to banned music and dressed like Americans.

• They organised secret dances that were attended by 4,000 young people.

• The Edelweiss Pirates were teenagers who disliked the Hitler Youth. They would taunt them or even attack them.

• They would go on long hikes and sing parody songs about Hitler.

• By 1939, their membership was around 2,000.

• The Police State was made up of four main groups.

• The SS were Hitler's private protections squad. Their leader was Hienrich Himmler. They were given black uniforms.

• They were totally loyal to Hitler and numbered around 240,000 men during the 1930s.

• The SD were a security force that kept an index of all people suspected of opposing the Nazis.

• The Gestapo were the secret police, whose aim was to identify anyone who opposed the Nazis. They were non-uniformed so anyone could be a member of the Gestapo. They tapped phones and used informants to arrest 160,000 in 1939 alone.

• Concentration Camps were were first used for political prisoners. They were run by the SS and the SD.

• 1933 – Dachau was opened.

Spellings for PART THREE:Consolidation of Power

Spellings for this part of the unit have been set for you to practise and learn. You will have a test in lesson time at some

point during this part of the unit and a test online.

Censorship Church

• Joseph Goebbels was the Head of Propaganda and Censorship.

• He used the media to influence peoples opinions. Newspapers were told what to print and radios had to be short range so not to pick up foreign stations.

• By 1939, 70% of German homes had Nazi radios.

• Rallies were used to show the power of the Nazis.

• At the Nuremburg Rally 200,000 people attended.

• Nazi use of sport: The Berlin Olympics were held in 1936 and used to show Germany in a good light.

• The Nazis controlled art, music and culture in Germany.

• They even burnt 20,000 books written by Jews communists and anti-Nazi authors.

• Films were also used to show Nazi ideas. 1,300 Nazi films were made by 1939.

• In July 1933, Hitler reached the Concordat with the Pope. It stated that the Pope would not interfere with politics if Hitler granted freedom of religion to Catholics. • 1937: Pope Pius XI wrote ”With

Burning Anxiety” which criticised Hitler. • The Pastors’ Emergency League

was set up in 1933, by a group of Protestant pastors, including Martin Niemoller who were opposed the the Nazis.• However, Hitler set up the Reich

Church in 1936. Some ministers allowed Swastikas to be flown in their churches. Its leader was Ludwig Muller who was made Reich Bishop of Germany.• The churches did try to opposed

Hitler. 400 catholic priests were sent to concentration camps. The Confessing Church was set up in direct competition with the Reich church in 1934.

Hitler and Nazi GermanyPART THREE: Consolidation of Power

1. propaganda2. Holocaust3. Gestapo4. influence5. ideology6. dictatorship7. Enabling8. elimination9. political10. opposition

11. trade union12. Rohm13. Goebbels14. Himmler15. economy16. rearmament17. concentration18. policy19. Olympics20. discrimination