Hitler consolidates power

German Worker’s Party Being a naturally skilled political

agitator and an orator, he moved up in the party quickly. In 1921, Hitler led that party, renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP or Nazis). In 1923, there were 55,000 supporters

At this point, Hitler saw himself as the propagandist to help to power the extreme nationalists who would rescue Germany from “Bolshevism,” the Jews, and the Versailles Treaty

The early yearsBeer Hall Putsch In November 1923, Hitler

sought to seize power and attempted the Beer Hall Putsch (coup)

The coup failed when the police and army didn’t join Hitler’s putsch(refer to your Weimar notes and readings for more details)

Hitler’s trial gained him notoriety amongst the German people and his 9 months in jail allowed him to rethink his strategies and write Mein Kampf

Gaining Power Legally In 1925, Hitler judged that the government was

too strong to be seized by illegal force, so he would follow the legal path to power

He never showed anything but contempt for the Reichstag, and though leader of the majority party, would never himself take part in its proceedings

During the period from 1925 to 1928, he built up his party and made a propaganda machine

Party membership reached 97,000 in 1929. The economic crisis helped the Nazis

Reichstag Fire After a series of ineffective

chancellors, Hindenburg granted Hitler the chancellorship in 1933 (again see your notes for more detail)

Occurred on February 27, 1933 The Nazis blamed the Communists

and used this charge to crack down on Communist party officials and suspend civil rights as well

New Elections As a condition for accepting office, Hitler had

insisted on new elections, intending to gain an absolute majority

Because of the Reichstag fire and under cover of emergency decree, the Nazis terrorized their opponents. Joseph Goebbels manipulated the press and radio to help secure a Nazi victory

However, the Nazis didn’t gain a 2/3 majority needed to pass an Enabling Bill that would give Hitler dictatorial powers in times of emergency

With the Nationalist Party, the Nazis could gain a majority, but not 2/3

So how did they get the Enabling Act?

Well… All communists were arrested by the

Gestapo (secret police) or were being hunted down. In addition, more than 20 Socialists were under arrest or prevented from attending the Reichstag vote.

On the day the vote took place, SS personnel surrounded the building in which the Reichstag met, while SA troopers stationed themselves inside and chanted, “We want the bill or fire and murder!”

Eventually, the Center Party gave in to Hitler and agreed to vote for the Enabling Act

Only the Social Democrats voted against the bill. It passed by 347 votes on March 23, 1933

Hitler proclaimed the Third Reich

Lets define Totalitarianism…

totalitarian state - a government that subordinates the individual to the state and strictly controls all aspects of life by coercive measures

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/totalitarian+state

Gleischaltung Means coordination (firmly established a dictatorship) Nazi bodies were set up to supervise all the

activities of society, which were to be forcibly subordinated:

Government Administration Press Trade unions Education

Hitler insisted on his own final say and to maintain some of the traditional structures of German society if he needed to overcome doubt

He decided not to interfere with the army at first, but later applied Gleischaltung to them as well

Not Being Too Bold Knew the German people would need to accept

the harshness and brutality of his regime in stages

Would use euphemisms Becoming dictator – “an act for relieving the distress

of the nation” Invading a country – “protecting it” Destroying a town – “pacifying it” Concentration camps – “preventative detention” or

“reeducation” Death camps – “final solution” or “resettlement”

Although he was breaching civil rights against Jews with the Nuremberg Laws, he gave the outward appearance of acting mildly and reasonably, and always in conformity with proper laws

Consolidating Power German states - In March 1933, Hitler

abolished independent powers of the federal states

Jews - In April, a decree purged the civil service “unreliable elements” - Jews and those of Jewish descent

Political parties - By the summer, the remaining parties were disbanded. Communist leaders were already in the new concentration camps

Religion - The Vatican decided to conclude a treaty – the Concordat – with Hitler in an effort to protect Catholic interests

Consolidating PowerLabor unions - The trade unions were quickly

suppressed, and the workers enrolled in the Nazi Labor Front

Mass media - The press and broadcasting were placed under Goebbel’s direction

Education –The universities did not put up any resistance.

Many professors out of opportunity and for the sake of their careers supported the Nazis

Curriculum from the elementary through the university level fell in line with Nazi ideas; stressed character building and physical skills the Nazi way (volkisch themes)

Book Burnings Academics participated in the famous

burning of the books by Jewish and anti-Nazi authors

Scientists, writers, and artists joined the “national revolution” of the Nazis

Theologians made Christ an Aryan.

Heinrich Himmler Dachau was the first concentration camp,

established near Munich in 1933 It was headed by Heinrich Himmler, head of the

Bavarian political police It became a model for others. By the end of the

summer, 30,000 Germans were held in concentration camps

Himmler soon advanced to become the head of the SS and the police throughout the Reich

Knowledge of concentration camps was a deterrent to any thought of opposition from all except the courageous

Nazi Groups Gestapo – secret police that tracked down

enemies of the regime SS – original purpose was to serve as Hitler’s

bodyguard; later took the SA’s place SA (Brownshirts or Stormtroopers) – remember the

first SA members were former Friekorps paramilitary members that was to:

Discourage opposition withviolence

Staff concentration camps Protect the Nazi party

Night of the Long Knives Hitler decided to get rid of

some sources of opposition He feared Röhm might use

the SA to seize power Some SA members were

still keen on the original ideas of the Nazis – a Socialist Revolution

They wanted rich landowners and big businesses to be swept away or taken over

Ernst RöhmErnst Röhm, the leader

of the SA, also clashed with Hitler

Hitler wished to draw on the young stormtroopers (SA) who would be trained as a large armed force that could quickly augment the regular army in time of crisis

Röhm wanted his Brownshirts to become the new German army. With him in charge, of course

Getting Rid of the SA He got his friends to compile hit-lists of disloyal SA men. Himmler (SS leader), Heydrich (Director of Gestapo and SS,

Holocaust mastermind) and Goering (Second-in-command, at various points was commander of Gestapo and the Luftwaffe, economic minister…) were keen to do this.

Night of the Long KnivesJune 30, 1934

The SS and the police arrest dozens of SA leaders.

Many are shot dead in their homes, others are taken to camps for execution.

Röhm is jailed, and shot the next day.

Hitler even takes the opportunity to have von Schleicher, the ex-chancellor, killed.

Over 1,000 opponents were killed.

Hindenburg On August 2, 1934, Hindenburg dies. He was

the only other man still more popular than Hitler

After Hindenburg died, Hitler announced that the offices of president and chancellor were merged in one person, Hitler, who now became Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor

This violated Article 48, but the people approved through a plebiscite

Hitler also had the army on his side because he promised to increase the size of the army and provide it with modern equipment

As a result, they took an oath of allegiance and loyalty to Hitler

Hindenburg’s Burial - Tannenberg, East Prussia (today: Stębark, Poland) – His coffin was dig up as the Soviets approached and was later found by American troops at a salt mine

The Führer OathI swear by almighty

God this sacred oath:

I will render unconditional

obedienceto the Fuehrer of the German Reich and

people, Adolf Hitler,Supreme Commander

of the Wehrmacht,and, as a brave

soldier,I will be ready

at any time to stake my life

for this oath.