1. What did National Socialism stand for?
A. What were the movements four general principles?
i. All classes in society must be united into a 'national community' (Volksgemeinschaft)
ii. In order to achieve greatest violence and terror may be needed. Interests of individuals comes second state is first and supreme.
iii. The entire state must be organised on a military footing.
iv. Race is vitally important either your Aryan or non-Aryan.
B. What evidence suggests Nazism was a "natural development of German history"?
i. It seem to be like Prussian militarism and German traditions.
ii. And a final stage in western capitalism.
C . What evidence suggests Nazism was a "distortion of normal development" of German history?
Because the way the events in Germany feel, basically it was inevitable and Hitler was the one to act on Germany under the conditions it was in.
D . What evidence suggests Nazism was a bit of both?
Both ideas took German politics and German history for Nazism. They needed a leader which plays with politics and Germans history on the structural government.
2. How did Hitler consolidate his power?
A. Actions leading up to the March election of 1933
i. He put in power reliable Nazis for police forces
ii. USed violence to beat up opposition
iii. And he controlled the media.
B. The Reichstag fire
i. what happened?
A communist was suspected of burning down the Rechistag who was arrested.
ii. what did it mean?
Hitler used this to his advance to get the people against the communists and socialists his biggest opponents.
3. How was Hitler able to stay in power?
A. What was the Enabling Law?
Laws could be introduced without going through the Reichstag for four years.
B. How did the Enabling Law pass?
Hitler had the meeting house surrounded by SS troops so the majority of people voting were SS who demanded it be passed.
C. What was gleichschaltung?
Its forced co-ordination which turned Germany into a totalitarian state.
D. What were the characteristics of gleichschaltung?
i. Germany was to be a SPS only National Socialist party allowed.
ii. Separate state parliaments still existed but lost all power, their functions were taken over by Nazi Special Commissioner.
iii. Civil Service was Purged
iv. No more trade unions
v. Controlled education so children learned about Nazis and Nazi views only.
vi. Encouraged families to have tons of children and they were rewarded.
vii. All communications and media was to be controlled by the Minister of Propaganda, Dr. Joseph Goebbels.
viii. How was the economic life of the country organized?
a. They told the industries what to produce and if they weren't necessary they were closed.
b. moving workers were the where jobs and labor.
c. encouraging farmers to increase agricultural yields.
d. controlling food prices and rents.
e. manipulating foreign exchange rates to avoid inflation.
f. Introducing vast schemes of public works.
g. forcing foreign countries to buy German goods.
h. manufacturing synthetic rubber and wool and experimenting to produce petrol from coal in order to reduce dependence on foreign countries.
i. increasing expenditure on armaments.
ix. How was religion handled?
a. Catholics
They were forced into a Nazi education and were promised that the Nazis wouldn't interfere.
b. Protestants
x.
xi. Anti-Semitism
a. how was it legalized?
Hitler got the support of many German people who were desperate and feed into Hitlers claim of the Jews being scapegoats.
b. examples of the law being carried out
1. Kistallnacht- were Germans were allowed to attack Jew property
2."Final Solution"- to exterminate the Jewish race
3. Holocaust- crimes against humanity or the scapegoats as Hitler saw them.
E. How popular were Hitler's policies?
i. personal appeal - Hitler had ralley's with which had displays of fireworks torchlight, and military parades.
ii. unemployment - His policies essential eliminated unemployment by 1939.
iii. working people - even though Hitler got rid of Trade Unions he made new policies to help out workers.
iv. upper class - made money and spent money which helped Germany economy
v. farmers - were favored the most because Germany wanted to be self-sufficiency in food production.
vi. the Army -
a. officers - was well disposed towards Hitler because of his much publicized aim of setting aside the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty by rearmament and expansion of the army to its full strength.
b. lower ranks - there had been a steady infiltration of National Socialists into the lower ranks and this was beginning to work through to the lower officer classes.
c. Night of Long Knives -
The Camry leaders were much impressed by Hitler's handling of the troublesome SA in the notorious Rohm Purge. Hitler had any SA leaders killed because he feared they may try to overthrow him.
vii. foreign policy -
A brilliant success. Whit each successive triumph, more and more Germans began to think of him as infallible.