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54 Cards in this Set
- Front
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What were Adolf Hitler's key aims as set out in Mein Kampf? |
- A new Germany and a Volksgemeinschaft, based on racial divisions and cleansed of Jews - A Thousand Year Reich - An Aryan German Nation with no Communism - Reversal of TofV - Lebensraum in the East |
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What is the general name for historians who believe in the key role of Hitler in the state? What are the major points of their interpretation? |
Intentionalist historians - The state was guided by Hitler's world view - Diversions from Hitler's programme were mainly pragmatic - E.g. Andreas Hillgruber and Karl Dietrich Bracher |
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What was Hitler's clear main policy focus? |
Foreign policy and preparation for war. |
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How do many intentionalist historians believe that Hitler ensured his omnipotence over the state? |
Eberhard Jäckel and Klaus Hildebrand argued that Hitler created controlled chaos in order to divide and rule the state. - Through the controlled chaos, Hitler ensured the monocratic nature of the state. - Divide and rule often involved multiple agencies being responsible for the same thing |
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Example of Hitler's divide and rule at work. |
- Hjalmar Schacht dominated economic policy from 1933-6 as Reichsbank President until '34 then Economics Minister afterwards; New Plan, investment and Battle for Work laid foundations for autarkic economy - Undermined by appointment of Hermann Göring as Minister for the 4 Yr Plan in 1936, which controlled resources; Göring and co shifted Plan towards war - Schacht resigned in 1937, replaced by a Minister subservient to the Plan and thus the more radical solution, favourable to Hitler's ideas, took over |
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Why must one be careful when discussing Hitler's strategy of divide and rule? |
Because Hitler didn't believe in strict political structures but rather that the laws of politics were shaped by the laws of nature and that the strongest would survive. - Thus allowed things to flow with the movements within government |
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What was the group of historians that rose to challenge the intentionalist views of the Nazi state? What did they believe? |
Structuralist historians like Martin Broszat and Hans Mommsen - Believed that the chaos in which the different groups and agencies worked in arose because of Hitler's lack of will to intervene and take control - Also believed in a lack of planning or direction on Hitler's part |
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What was a major conflict within the Nazi state under the polycratic argument? |
NSDAP v state bureaucracy - NSDAP grew in power as the regime went on but the state bureaucracy and state officials did not go away - Eg Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess and his Chief of Staff Martin Bormann became more powerful from 1934 (e.g. Hess could supervise new laws) |
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Example of a NSDAP-state political conflict? |
Wilhelm Frick tried to bring Reich Governors under his control in 1934 - Failed as most Governors were also Party Gauleiter with their own local power bases - Directly appointed as Hitler's representatives; struggled to resist Frick - Hitler eventually put them nominally under Frick but in reality, they could go straight to him |
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Examples of growth of Nazi Party power. |
- Kreisleiter could appoint local mayors from 1935 - From 1935, Hess and Bormann were dominant over the civil service; Bormann's organisation rivalled the Reich Chancellery - All state officials responsible to Hitler from 1937; all civil servants Party members from '39 - With outbreak of war, Gauleiter because Reich Defence Commissioners (total control of region) |
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What attitude did Hitler take in the battle between the state and the Party? |
He did not show real preference to either - Would be happy to use the state when it gave the legitimacy and results that he desired - Very happy to let many rival organisations rise up, like the SS (became states within the state, depending on the Führer for access and thus influence) |
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Example of Hitler interfering in state/Party feuds. |
1936: Hitler ended the battle for the police by appointing Heinrich Himmler chief of police - Moving the police completely out of Frick's jurisdiction was symbolic - Marked the police becoming part of the Party's vision of a new Germany, free of its enemies |
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What was the nature of Hitler's lifestyle? |
Very bohemian - While in Berlin, would meet with dignitaries for max 30 mins a day, watch films late and go to bed around 2am - Preferred his retreat at the Berghof in Bavaria - Didn't seem to actively govern at all but would interfere on areas with which he agrees |
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What is a logical conclusion about Hitler's power to be made from the structuralist approach to history? |
That Hitler was a weak dictator. |
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What was the evidence used by former Hitler ally Hermann Rauschning to show how Hitler was a weak dictator? |
The role of the Gauleiter like Joseph Goebbels (Berlin) and Albert Forster (Danzig and West Prussia) - lack of collective leadership of the Reich meant that the Gauleiter could together, in theory, exert massive influence over Hitler |
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How convincing is Rauschning's analysis of the power of the Gauleiter? |
While it is true that they were very powerful (Kershaw: "the backbone of Hitler's power"), they were often true, veteran Nazis who showed little evidence of massively manipulating Hitler. |
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Why is there a public perception that Hitler had little to do with decision making? |
In the establishment of the regime, the creation of the Führer office etc, propaganda preserved Hitler's god-like image. |
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What are example of Hitler in fact being strong in the decision making process? |
The Night of the Long Knives - Yes, there was rivalry and tension between the elites and SA - Yes, Göring and Himmler both wanted it - But it was Hitler's decision to strike with the ruthlessness that they did |
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Why was the Nazi Party's system of command so confusing when it came to Hitler? |
So called 'Führer orders', where Hitler would give verbal commands to subordinates rather than actually signing orders - Could be confusing; e.g. 1935, Rudolf Hess thought Hitler ordered deportation of Jews ASAP but Interior Ministry thought he'd said to keep them as hostages; confusing implied orders |
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Example of Hitler's orders that shows he may be a weak dictator. |
1934 DAF measure - Robert Ley convinced Hitler to agree to strengthening the DAF without consulting others - Hess, Schacht and business leaders opposed the law and got Hitler to sideline it |
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What was the key focus of Hitler's foreign policy from 1933 to 1935? |
Securing alliances to undermine rivals while Germany was still weak. - 1933 Four Power Pact to try and revise TofV with diplomacy - 1934 non-aggression pact with Poland |
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What was one of the more hostile early diplomatic decisions made by Hitler? |
Withdrawal from the League of Nations in October 1933 - Hitler believed that the League was too weak - Supported in a plebiscite by 95% of Germans |
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What was a major flashpoint of diplomatic hostility in the early Nazi period? |
1935: Assassination of Austrian Chancellor triggered fears of a German invasion - Italy moved to prevent invasion; stronger than Germany at the time - Germany, France and Italy signed the Stresa Front, condemning German actions and preventing further advancement - France allied with Russia and Russia with Czechoslovakia |
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How was Germany's position strengthened by 1935? |
- Rearmament and conscription reintroduced in 1935 - Saarland voted 90% to reunify with Germany from the LofN mandate - Anglo-German Naval Agreement, June 1935, allowed Germany to build up a Navy 35% of the British Navy; undermined TofV and Stresa Front |
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What was the first major step toward Hitler's more aggressive foreign policy? |
The reoccupation of the Rhineland, 1936 - Hitler took advantage of the Abyssian Crisis and associated chaos to remilitarise the Rhineland, breaking the TofV - France and Britain didn't resist - Consolidated Hitler's dictatorship - doing what he promised - Supported by 99% in referendum |
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How was Germany's network of alliance developing from 1936? |
Development of the Berlin-Rome Axis with Italy and the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan - Stronger alliances triggered Hitler's acceleration of his foreign policy at the Hossbach Conference, 1937 |
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What was the first post-Hossbach expansion? |
Anschluss with Austria, 1938 - Hitler pressured Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg to accept union; Schuschnigg tried to resist and call a referendum to show that it wasn't what the people wanted - Hitler ignored this and ordered the invasion of Austria, cancelling the referendum and proclaiming the annexation - Hitler decided the timetable for expansion and to annex Austria |
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How did Hitler legitimise the Anschluss? |
Plebiscites held at the same time in both Austria and Germany in March 1938 showed 99% support for the union |
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What did Hitler set his sights on after the Anschluss was complete? |
Czechoslovakia; especially its coal and iron, and the 3.5 million Germans living in the Sudetenland. |
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How did the Sudetenland come under German control? |
- Sudeten Germans began agitating for union in March 1938 after Anschluss - Tensions between Germany and Czechoslovakia grew - Initially agreed that areas that voted for union could join, but then Hitler demanded immediate annexation - Tensions alleviated when Britain/France appeased Germany at Munich in September 1938 and Sudetenland became part of Germany in October |
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How was the Sudetenland Annexation perceived by the European establishment and how was it perceived by Hitler? |
- Europe thought it was Hitler's last territorial demand - Hitler was disappointed that it did not lead to war |
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What was the immediate development following the annexation of the Sudetenland? |
The invasion of Czechoslovakia - Bohemia and Moravia incorporated into Germany and Slovakia made a puppet state. - Triggered Britain and France guaranteeing Poland's independence |
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How did Germany seek to shore up against the Allies after invading Czechoslovakia? |
- Pact of Steel with Italy in May 1939 - Nazi Soviet Pact in August 1939: agreement to divide Poland and no attacks on each other for at least two years. |
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What was the final act of Germany's peacetime foreign policy? |
The invasion of Poland, September 1939 - In August, Hitler demanded the return of certain territories from Poland - Invaded in September, with Russia attacking the East at the same time; Polish army was way too underdeveloped; surrendered within a month - Britain declared war two days after the invasion began |
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How do we show that Germany's foreign policy is an example of Hitler as a strong dictator? |
It was his decision always to advance in the direction of war - Ignored the advice of people like Göring who advised that invading Poland would trigger war - Was spurred on by figures like von Ribbentrop but ultimately, to was his decisions that drove Germany forward to war |
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How does Ian Kershaw rectify the contrasting interpretations of Hitler as the key guiding figure of the regime and that of the regime being chaotic and fluid of its own accord? |
Working toward the Führer - Once in power, Hitler provided the vision for National Socialism - Then the regime worked around him - The product was the creation of policy that advanced Hitler's position and that strove to be as close to Hitler's Weltanschauung as possible |
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How did policies in the working toward the Führer process come closer to Hitler's line? |
Cumulative radicalisation - Different officials would compete to make the policy they thought closer to Hitlers (push factor) - Hitler was one of the most radical thinkers in the Party, so policy had to get more radical |
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What was the nature of Hitler's authority in the Nazi state? |
Absolute - Unchecked by any constitution or law - Seen as interpreting the will of the nation - Hitler's will was the ultimate commnd |
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Where is it that working toward the Führer can be most clearly seen? |
Racial policy - Driven from above by radical policy makers, and from below by anti-Semites within the public |
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What was the first anti-Semitic action of working toward the Führer? |
The Jewish Boycott, 1933 - Violence against Jewish people began when the regime came to power in January - The response by radical officials was a state-sponsored boycott of Jewish businesses; Hitler approved but was encouraged to limit it to one day - 1st April - Not massively popular - Led to further measures against Jews like Civil Service Law (9th April) and 37k Jews leaving Germany by the end of '33 inc Einstein |
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What was the major move taken against the legal rights of Jewish people in society? What triggered it? |
The Nuremberg Laws, 1935 - Triggered by localised violence against Jewish people, stirred up by the Gauleiter, which had begun to be a problem again - In August, Hitler ordered an end to the attacks, which were undermining the govt in the eyes of those who opposed SA hooliganism; legal approach to Jewish question was preferred (Schacht and others believed) - The leadership however decided to try and placate the radicals with a legal curb on mixed relations |
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What process saw the Nuremberg Laws take shape? |
- At the party conference in September, there were no official plans to pass such laws, but a speech by Reich Doctors leader Gerhard Wagner forced Hitler to act - Called upon civil servants to draft such laws - Hitler picked Draft D, the most conservative draft (banned all marriages and sexual relations with Jewish people) |
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What, from the finished Nuremberg Laws, shows Hitler as a strong dictator? |
The clause he had added denying Jewish people German citizenship. |
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What from the process of creating the Nuremberg Laws shows Hitler to be a weak dictator? |
The fact that he had wanted to speak on foreign policy at the rally rather than anti-Semitic policy. |
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What was the outcome of the Nuremberg Laws? |
- Violence stopped - Radicals were satisfied that action was taken - Conservatives were happy that the moves against Jews had moved from the streets to the statute books - Everything looked legitimate and legal for the Olympics |
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What was the final major peacetime anti-Jewish attack? |
The Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938 |
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What were some of the factors existing in the run up to Kristallnacht? |
- No more Schacht to hold back radicalisation - Göring restricting Jewish companies - 200k new Jews from Austria; Austrian Nazis very eager to radicalise with Anti-Semitism - People competing for different anti-Semitic policies: Gerhard Wagner pushing for no Jewish doctors to Aryan patients; Hess passed a law restricitng Jewish names to Israel and Sarah and stamping Jewish passports with Js; Heydrich leading very anti-Semitic SD; Eichmann promoting deportation of Jews to Palestine or Madagascar |
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Where was Goebbels in the run up to Kristallnacht? |
- Had been in decline in influence due to Leni Riefenstahl in propaganda - Had fallen out of favour with Hitler due to affair with a Czech actress - Tried to get back in Hitler's good books by instigating anti-Semitic violence in Berlin as Gauleiter in May/June 1938 (got so intense that Hitler told him to stop it) - but the idea spread to other cities |
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What was the trigger for Kristallnacht? |
Shooting of German Embassy official Ernst von Rath in November in Paris by a Polish Jew - Protest about expulsion of 18k Jews from Germany - Led to spontaneous anti-Semitic violence across Germany |
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How did the pogrom come about? |
Goebbels encouraged the Gauleiter to go ahead with further radicalisation of anti-Semitic policy and spurred on those who hesitated - 8k Jewish businesses attacked - 30k Jews arrested and sent to concentration camps |
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What makes Kristallnacht a key example of working toward the Führer as Kershaw called it? |
- Hitler gave a vague implication of consent - Goebbels acting largely independently - SS and SA were involved at local level but Heydrich and Himmler didn't know until late - Göring was furious that Goebbels had not considered the economic consequences but Hitler's support for Goebbels meant he had to go along with it |
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How did anti-Semitic policy progress following Kristallnacht? |
Göring called a meeting, with Heydrich and Goebbels in attendence, where future anti-Semitic policy was discussed - Goebbels suggested a 1000m mark fine to the Jews for damage, which was decreed In January '39, Heydrich was appointed head of the Reich Central Office for Jewish Emigration; gave SS control of anti-Semitic policy |
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Where can working toward the Führer be seen in relation to eugenics? |
Aktion T4 from 1939 - Letter from father of ill child brought to Hitler on authority of Philipp Bouhler, asking for his son's right to die - Hitler permitted it and this set the precedent for the Aktion T4 policy led by Bouhler |
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What was the nature of Aktion 14? |
From August 1938, doctors would have to report children with abnormalities to a Reich commission. - 90k children murdered by doctors for defects - Policy born out of desire by doctors to work toward Hitler's Weltanschauung |
