Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Germany Notes
reporters underestimated Hitlers power and significance as
chancellor
o Papen thought he would be able to gain new powers by
turning Hitler into a mere shadow. Papen underestimated
Hitler even though they frequently interacted
o Hitler abolished all independent agencies and institutions
bc he feared they would get in the way of his ambitions for
the Third Reich
Hitler called for the elimination of the Reichstag before he even
took oath
o Hugenberg sensed that this would benefit the Nazi party
enormously, but failed to garner the support of non-nazi
members to oppose it
o Hitler started distancing himself from non-nazi cabinet
members by suggesting that they still languished in the
ideals that did a disservice to Germany and didnt
understand Fricks idea of the will and strength to act
o He started started persuading the army to support him bc
authoritarianism was the only way to stem the tide of
Marxism
In February 1933, Hitler assured ppl that the Werhmacht was the
only legitimate instrument of armed power within the state
o Didnt hesitate to take over forces outside of Werhmacht,
such as police
Hermann Goering was Prussian Minister of the
Interior, and had command over all police forcexs. He
laid off all officials and elements that were
unreliable (didnt agree with his orders), and gave
orders to all police officers to collaborate with the SS,
SA in combatting the left, even if by force with
weapons.
Start of Nazi terrorism in the streets
o Meetings of other parties such as Communist and Centre
parties, and newspapers that included unfavorable
information about Nazi party were continuously filtered and
broken up
o Public harassment gave way to little public opinion. Radios
were used as revolutionary propagandist tools by Josef
Goebbels
February 27, Reichstag was burned down.
o Hitler and Goebbels used this excuse to blame and
persecute all remaining Communist members as well as
intellectuals and professionals who went against the Nazi
party (over 4000 ppl prosecuted by dawn of Feb 28.
Germany was not the efficient political machine that ppl feared it
to be. Party and state constantly disagreed, mutual suspicions,
competition.
Bulk of reich business performed by Ministries of State. Goebbels
(minister of propaganda) was most efficient. Different
departments did not synergize properly, didnt coordinate
policies, and Reich Chancellery, which was to provide Hitler a link
to the ministers, didnt coordinate both well either. Minister of
chancellery Heinrich Lammers spent more time in relaying
information to Hitler than communicating with ministers and
keeping them properly informed.
Ministries were marred by tampering from other officials to take
over their powers, either out of jealousy or for the desire of
power, Martin Bormann constantly chastised Wilhelm Frick until
he assigned one of Bormanns advisors to advise his personell
department. As more and more roles began to be assigned to
ministries, sometimes they would get assigned roles they were
not competent in carrying out. These roles were often
redelegated from the civil service. Ministers became focused on
gaining power and more roles insteadof focusing on their jobs,
other ministers would get jealous
o More technical Ministries were immune to these struggles
because it was hard to delegate technical roles to other
ministires.
o Foreign policy sometimes was not uniform in the state as
different figures and parties made german foreign policy
suffer to the competition of party agencies that carried on
ferign policies of their own acclaim. The Aussenpolitisches
Amt der NSDAP and Auslandsorganization der NSDAP,
Alfred Rosenberg, Dienststelle Ribbentrop, Volksdeutsche
Mittelstelle all resulted in conglomeration of clashing
foreign policy directions. Party diplomacy made for
disruption of regular diplomatic business. Results from the
proliferation of offices wasnt relieved until Ribentrop
became Foreign Minister.
o In all disputes for titles and duties, Ministers were
dependent on the backing and permission of Hitler to gain
job security and permission to receive more titles and
duties. Dienststelle Ribbentrop became minister because
Hitler was impressed by his knowledge of foreign
languages and supposed connection with international
haut monde. He becamse Speical Envoy for disarmament
and ambassador to GBR. And a good deal of ministers
became more powerful because they had the security of
Hitlers backing.
its central office after Heydrich and Himmler had gained power
over all police forces in Germany and Prussia by April 1934, Frick
became worried about Himmlers power. He warned Hitler that
Himmler would be a greater danger than Roehm. On June 17
1936, hitler gave Himmler power to coordinate all police activites
(criminal and political) throughout the country and made him
Reichsfhrer-SS. Frick was deported to Bohemia and became
Reichsprotektor in 1943 when Himmler became Minister of the
Interior.
o Himmler also organized all concentration procedures, and
work routines to unit and became one great machine of
terror and suffering in 1933. Established the Order of the
Deaths Head, and in 1938, Himmler received permission
from Hitler to exceed existing limits on the SS by the
transfer of SS men on general duty to the armed units and
by recruitment. Verfgungstruppen and Deaths Head units
numbered 20,000 men and would be nucleus of Wafen-SS
which Himmler hoped would replace army. Hitler had gone
back on his words a bit to the army that he would not
muddle in their monopoly of military force. SS only was
responsible to commander, and not restricted by normal
laws of the state. They performed acts of terror and
established a state in which they created a new political
order through fear.
Economy
- Reinhardt plan similar to Roosevelts new deal, focused on
building infrastructure, agriculture and construction of
autobahnen
- More focus on self-reliance for production and industrialization
o Prey on small businesses to rationalize big industry
o Capitalist structure and managerial and technological skills
of industry the focus
- Command economy based upon massive rearmament effort
o Turning point: October 1933 termination of German
membership in Disarmament Conference and League of
Nations so no Western reprisals in rearmament on a serious
scale
o Full employment in 1933-1934 with amount of state
expenditure put into it
- Not enough raw materials due to boycotts and less exports, new
plan of September 1934 by schact
o Made impossibly by military service, increase in import of
food, arms clauses of Versailles repudiated
- Walther Darr, Reich Peasant Leader and Minister for Food and
Agriculture tried to make return to agriculture by forcing debt
Hitler had hatred for Jews before Krystallnacht, but didnt take
drastic action bc he didnt want to alert interanational
community and didnt want economic condequences
As Hitler began taking more drastic action, international
community alreted and boycotts of German products happened.
Schactht told Hitler that it would have a bad effect on economy
Hitler allowed Financial and Jews in clothing and retail trades
from shutting down bc they were integral to German business
until 1938
o Jewish basic rights were being stripped systematically (pg
633-34 for decrees)
Part Convention of Sept 1935 stripped German Jews of
nationality. REichsburgeresetz of 15 Sept made Aryan blood
requirement for citizenship, only citizen is beneficiary of ful
political rgiths by law
Too direct condemnation of Jews (blaming individual Jews for
economic failures) was too extreme and didnt work
Dcree regarding the Reporting of Jewish Property (26 Apr 1938)
required Jews to report domestic and foreign property in excess
of 5000 RM
o By beginning of 1939, Jews were abused, plundered,
deprived of citizenship and deprived of livelihood after all
Jews had to pay collective fine of 1,000,000 RM for
assinatio nof German diplomat by Polish Jew. All Jews were
to be exlucded from economy, and professionals couldnt
work anymore.
Hitler had decided by end of 1918 that Jews needed to be
destroyed, and were reason for WWI. He said that Jews would
plunge the world into war again, that the destruction fo the
Jewish race would have to happen. REinhard Heydrich, head of
the Security Service of SS, came up with half solution, to force
Jewish emigration or send them to work camps, but by 1939,
start of war made emigration impossible.
Hitlers War
Hitlers war tactics were revolutionary in their military tactics,
especialy in dismantaling Poland
o Resulted in psychological effects that destroyed morale in
France and Britain, which led to their reluctance in
completely joining the war, despite the faults htat
Germanys army had (communication problems, supply
short, faulty machinery)
Slight initial objections to invading france so directly and early,
but nothing came of it
1940: Germany invaded Norway to secure ports after British
made it publicly known that they would take Norway for offshore
New
-
Home front
Since victory against France, Hitler was worried about attitudes
in Germany
o Production of armaments and consumer goods both didnt
decline because spoils from victories in France, Poland and
Scandanavia all paid for themselves
Albert Speer spearheaded Hitlers call to massively increase war
production in 1942 as Minister of Armaments and Munition. He
streamlined the Four Year Plan and production of armaments and
munitions and increased production threefold.
Shift from focus on Stimmung (or public mood) to Haltung (true
attitude)
Goebbels aware that German ppl were not initially enthusiastic
about going to war
o British Prime Minister announced they were going to war
against Hitlerism, not Germany.
o Nov 8 1939, 6 Nazis killed and 60 wounded in attempt on
Hitlers life.
Goebbels directed press to make clear that Brtish
Secret Service and Jews behind it
2 wives of Nazis said the Fuhrers life was more
important than their deceased husbands
brought German ppl together more
order in Europe:
used fight gainst communism as rationale for conquering of
countires
o voices echoed around all Nazi occupied countries of the
great benefits that the joint venture against Communism
and uniting Europe under Nazism would have (all other
countries outside Germany inferior)
countries that required Germanys help (Italy, Hungary) needed
to give Nazis power in the countries, and both countries became
german occupied, with Italy having Luftwaffe base
trusted and respected countries such as Romania, Bulgaria,
Finland, they were widely untouched and depended on for
economic, military and political resources
Rest of Europe was under direct or thinly veiled German control:
Luxembourg, Belgium, Alsace , Lorraine, Holland, Norway,
France, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Yugoslavia (divided
into 3 states: Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro), Greece all came
under Nazi rule to some strong degree eventually. All efforts to
work towards combatting the Bolshevik revolution