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Domestic Policies

Explore Hitler's progression from Chancellor to Dictator and his implementation of key domestic policies, such as the Enabling Act, the ban on trade unions, the Night of the Long Knives, and the persecution of Jews. Understand how Hitler's ideology shaped these policies and the use of fear to control the German population.

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Domestic Policies

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  1. Domestic Policies And Response to Opposition

  2. From Chancellor to Dictator • 1933 • January Hitler appointed Chancellor • February Reichstag fire • Communists and union leaders arrested • March Reichstag elections • Nazis won 44%, Nationalists only 8% • March Enabling Act • Hitler could then bypass the Reichstag to make laws • March State parliaments are Nazi majority • (all state parliaments abolished in 1934)

  3. From Chancellor to Dictator • 1933 • April Hitler replaced all 18 state governors with Nazis • May Trade unions banned and replaced by the German Labour Front • June All parties except Nazis banned • July Law passed making the Nazi Party the sole legal party

  4. From Chancellor to Dictator • 1934 • June Night of the Long Knives • Ernst Rohm and other SA leaders arrested or killed • Hitler claimed they had been planning a putsch • SA absorbed into the military • August President Hindenburg died • Hitler made himself Fuhrer, combining positions of President and Chancellor • Army swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler

  5. Hitler’s Ideology This is not clearly defined, although his reasoning is set forth in Mein Kampf. It was different from Mussolini’s fascism in that Hitler had a unique racial and anti-Semitic program not present in Italy. The Nazi’s 25 Points of 1920 were a strange mix of nationalist and socialist elements. It became clear though that Hitler was not committed to the socialist element.

  6. Hitler’s Ideology The Volk community was everything to Hitler, the individual was nothing. His aim was to create a society in which every individual saw the purpose of their life as contributing to the greater good of the German volk. He attacked individual rights and his Volksgemeinschaft had no room for asocials, disabled, or non-Aryans

  7. Policy Toward Asocials • 1936 “asocial colony” of Hashude • For chronic alcoholics • Late 1930s they were sent to concentration camps • 10,000 tramps were sent to concentration camps • 25,000 gypsies (Germany had about 30,000) died in camps in WWII

  8. Policy Towards the Disabled • 1932 the Prussian Health Council proposed voluntary sterilization for certain hereditary diseases • July 1933 Nazi Sterilization Law made it compulsory (320,000 were sterilized) • Euthanasia 1939-41 • Physically and mentally handicapped (72,000)

  9. Anti-Semitism • May 1933 SA organized one day boycott of Jewish businesses • Shortly after Hitler in power, Jewish civil servants are fired • 1935 Nuremberg Laws deprive Jews of German citizenship • 1938 Kristallnacht • Attack on Jewish properties and synagogues • 20,000 Jews arrested • Jews made to pay for cleanup • Jewish doctors and lawyers were forbidden to work for Aryans • Jewish children had to attend separate schools • 1942 Wansee Conference • Final Solution (extermination of Jews) was decided

  10. The Use of Fear • Decree for the Protection of People and State • Feb 1933 allowed for indefinite detention w/o trial • Dachau • 1st concentration camp opened in March 1933 • Never fewer than 10,000 prisoners • Overall about 225,000 imprisoned for political reasons (far fewer than Stalin) • Hermann Goering set up Gestapo in 1933 • Heinrich Himmler took over • In some cases over 50% of all charges were brought to the police by citizens

  11. The Use of Fear • SS created in 1925 (Himmler in control after 1929) • Immense power after Night of the Long Knives • 200,000 members by 1935 • Ran the concentration camps • Enforced racial policies • SD set up in 1931 by Himmler • Gathered intelligence and monitored public opinion • After 1933, judges could be removed for political beliefs • Judges ordered to interpret the law according to ‘the will of the Fuhrer’

  12. Control of the Media • Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda • March 1933 • Josef Goebbels • Reich Radio Company brought all broadcasting under Nazi control • Volksefpfanger (cheap radio) mass-produced • In 1932 only 25% of households had a radio • By 1939 more than 70% had a radio • In 1933 there were 4700 daily newspapers • By 1944 there were only 1000 newspapers • Eher Verlag (Nazi publishing house) controlled 66% of the press by 1939

  13. Nazi Policies Toward Women • Kinder, Kirche, Kuche • Employment was restricted • Excluded from civil service • Marriage encouraged • From 1933, women who left work to marry were given an interest free marriage loan (amount to be repaid fell 25% with each child born) • Women’s Enterprise (DFW) trained women in domestic skills • By 1935 3.5 million women taken courses

  14. Nazi Policies Toward Women • European birth rate was low, but especially in Germany, so… • Medals for prolific mommies • Bronze 4-5 kids • Silver 6-7 • Gold for 8 or more • Divorce was made easy for childless marriages • Results • 990,000 born in 1932 • 1.28 million born in 1937 • By 1936, women were needed due to labor shortages (1943 they were conscripted)

  15. Youth in Nazi Germany • Hitler Jugend was set up in 1925 • By 1933 there were only 55,000 • Other youth groups totaled 5-6 million • 1933 all other youth groups closed, except those run by Catholic Church, and absorbed into the HJ • By 1939 82% of 11-18 year-olds in the HJ or the League of German Maidens (for girls) • 1939 membership was compulsory, but attendance was far from perfect • Boys were trained for war and girls for motherhood

  16. Education • Main aim was to develop loyalty to the regime • No emphasis on the individual • 1933 Law for Restoration of a Professional Civil Service led to a purge of teachers • History and Biology lessons especially became politicized • Emphasis on physical education • Eugenics (idea of selective breeding) was introduced and taught

  17. Nazis and Religion • Catholic Church: • 1933 Concordat with the Pope • Bishops had to take oath of loyalty to Nazi state • Nazis broke the agreement in 1936 by closing down Catholic youth groups and monasteries • Pope denounced the Nazi regime in 1937 ‘With Burning Concern’ • The Catholic press was closed down in 1941

  18. Nazis and Religion • Protestant Churches • Nazis tried to control from within • 1933 Nazis won 75% of votes in Church elections and their leader, Ludwig Muller, was made Reich Bishop • Church leaders opposed and established the ‘Confessional Church’ • Its leaders were imprisoned

  19. German Economy • By 1933, Hitler knew he needed to tackle economic problems (unemployment) • Hitler ignored socialist elements of the Twenty-Five Points and rejected SA calls for nationalization of industry (industrialists obviously liked this) • 1936 New Plan • Govt control of foreign exchange and trade agreements • Peasant farmers protected by tariffs and helped by cheap loans and tax exemptions

  20. German Economy • What did Hitler do to solve unemployment? • 1932 5.6% • 1934 2.3% • 1937 0.9% • 1938 0.2% • Public works spending: • New houses, planting forests • Expansion of car industry: • Removed tax on luxury cars and cut tax on gas • Autobahn

  21. German Economy • Cash incentives to women for giving up their jobs • Massive re-armament program after 1935 • Re-introduced conscription in 1935 – young men 18-20 no longer in workforce • By 1937, there was actually a shortage of skilled labor • By 1938 GNP had risen to 80 billion from a low of 44 billion in 1933 • By 1939 wages had recovered to 89% of their 1928 level

  22. Four Year Plan (1936) • Germany’s balance of payments (imports and exports) was out of whack • Hitler could not risk cutting back on food imports, so decided to cut industrial raw materials imports (rubber, oil, iron) • Planned to produce synthetics domestically • Overall the plan was not a success, though rubber and oil production did increase • By 1939 Germany was still importing 19% of its food requirements

  23. Rearmament • Government spending in billions of Reichsmarks • 1932 0.8 • 1933 1.9 • 1935 6.0 • 1938 17.2 • 1933 Germany had 100,000 army, no tanks, no warplanes, limited navy • By 1939 it had 1200 bombers, 980,000 army, navy was three times larger • 66% of German industrial investment was devoted to war production from 1936-1939

  24. Historical divide: • Most historians say that Hitler was actually only gearing up for a limited war (series of short blitzkrieg campaigns) that would allow Germany to exploit economic resources of conquered countries before moving on. USSR spoiled this when Germany got bogged down in a war of attrition with them. • Some historians point to the overwhelming percentage of spending on war preparation as proof of total war plans, and that Hitler miscalculated his invasion of Poland dragging all of Europe into war.

  25. Opposition to the Nazis • Came from many places: • Socialists • Communists • Working class people • Church • Both Catholic and Protestant • There was some slight opposition from within the army, but since rearmament policies favored Nazi officers, it was few and far between (at least until middle of 1944!) • By 1945 500,000 Germans were in concentration camps for opposition

  26. Limited Opposition • Over the years the Nazis became fairly popular due to: • Propaganda • Their results on unemployment and in foreign policy • Organized opposition was eliminated • 1933 political parties, trade unions, etc. • Opposition was illegal and the SS and Gestapo inspired fear and terror

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