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How effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939?
Timeline
1933: April: Anti-Jewish Boycott October: Germany withdraws from the League of Nations 1934: August: Law on the Head of State of the German Reich proclaims Hitler to be Fuhrer 1935: January: Reich Local Government Law gives local Nazi officials (Kreisleiter) more power April: Anti-German Stresa Front formed June: Anglo-German naval agreement September: Nuremburg Rally and Nuremburg Laws 1936: March: Remilitarisation of the Rhineland June: Hitler appoints SS leader Himmler as Chief of Police 1937: November: Hossbach Conference 1938: March: Anschluss with Austria June: Decree forbidding Jewish doctors from treating Aryan patients September: Czech crisis meetings in Germany Sudetenland given to Germany November: Kristallnacht 1939: January: Goring sets up the Reich Central Office for Jewish Emigration and places Heydrich at its head March: Germany invades the rest of Czechoslovakia May: Pact of Steel with Italy signed August: The Ministerial Council for the Defence of the Reich September: Leading Gauleiter become Reich Defence Commissioners
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939?
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939? (Haffner, The Meaning of Hitler, pub 1979) - Hitler deliberately destroyed states ability to function = for his omnipotence from the start - Various authorities against one another competition overlapping - Hitler head of them - Absolute rule = only amid controlled chaos - Hitler replaced state by chaos and knew how to control it.
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939? (Mommsen, The Civil Service in the Third Reich, pub 1966) - 2 different political directions fundamentally incompatible = institutional degeneration reduced effectiveness of state - SA, SS and DAF = no longer close, unitedly led organisation Organisation of Nazi Party Fuhrer Hitler: Undisputed leader of party Reichsleitung (Reich Leadership): Several Reich leaders had specific responsibilities [party treasurer; Fuhrers deputy for party affairs] Landesinspekteur (Regional Inspector): Originally 9 regional inspectors replaced by Gauleiters Gauleiter (District Leader): (September 1939: became Reich Defence Commissioners) 36 leaders of (Gaue) districts ie Saxony no. grew with inclusion of Austria, Sudetenland and Danzig Kreisleiter (Circuit Leader): Equivalent to rural council Ortsgruppenleiter (local group leader): leaders responsible for town section Zellenleiter (cell leader): based on neighbourhood/employment unit Blockwart (block warden): 4lowest official PG-Parteigenosse (Party Comrade): Ordinary members
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939?
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939?
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939?
Diplomacy 1933-35
Germany was weak in 1933 = have to move cautiously Army was limited to 100,000 (ToV) Economy still in depression Germany had no allies Hostile alliances Hitlers short term objective = secure alliances, undermine rivals, achieve more acceptable aims, give appearance of moderation: - Signed Four Power Pact (Britain, France, Germany , Italy) sought to revise Treaty of Versailles diplomatically - 1934: signed non-aggression pact with Poland [to last 10 years] - ^These were to distract reaction from Germanys withdrawal of League of Nations (Oct 1933) = League was weak and didnt secure multinational disarmament 1935: Hitler ordered conscription and rearmament
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939? 1935: Nazi assassination of Austrian chancellor Nazis threatened to invade Italy moved troops to Austrian border = to prevent German invasion of Austria = German isolation Austrian assassination = reinforced defensive alliances against Germany 1945: Anti-German Stresa Front signed [condemned German rearmament; reconfirmed Franco-German border; defended Austrian independence] 1935: France/Russia allied Russia agreed to defend Czechoslovakia
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939? Anschluss = Czechoslovakia vulnerable to German expansionism Hitler wanted its coal/iron resources and incorporation of 3 million German speakers in Sudetenland Czechs reinforced them with frontier defences: - March 1938: Sudetenland Germans wanted union with Reich - Czechs mobilised army for defence but new rising = Sudeten crisis - German intervention = risked European war [Czech. Guaranteed by ToV + Czech,France,Russia alliance] - Britain agreed to let Germany annex German-speaking areas who voted in plebiscite to join. - Hitler demanded immediate occupation of Sudetenland without plebiscite - Czechs mobilised army - German Generals plotted against Hitler to save Germany from defeat - Finally Britain and France agreed to appease Hitler [not ready for war espec when Russia was bigger threat] - Hitler disappointed = Czech crisis didnt lead to war.
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939? - Left ordinary business to competing ministries [like 4YP = chaos] - Hitler concentrated on diplomatic/foreign policy (Kershaw, Nemesis, pub 2000) - Regime depended on = Hitlers popularity, successes and triumphs - Regime would survive = only expansion - Gamble for expansion = inescapable - Any potential limits on Hitler disappeared
Working towards the Fuhrer (synthesis of intentionalist/structuralist) Recognition of importance of Hitler as arbiter btw power blocs/leader Acceptance that regime had chaotic characteristics Recognition that Nazis evolved over time change came from above and below Acceptance that the coherent element of Nazi Germany was a tacit ideological belief and was identified with the Fuhrer (Kershaw, Hubris, pub 1998) extent to which Hitler shaped Nazi ideology Strands of Nazi ideology existed before but Hitler was indispensable to rise of Nazism Nazi ideology emerged as part of broader European political culture before Hitler Hitler =defined Nazis in power He could control party (because of Fuhrerprinzip) at Bamberg Meeting to assassination of Gregor Strasser Power over Nazis was sealed by Night of The Long Knives and destruction of SA power Hitler asserted his weltangshauung as sole source of ideology/power Nazism became Hitlerism = although groups in Nazi movement/German society believed in own aspects of Nazism they were refined to meet weltangshauung. Acquisition of power changed Nazi ideology because purpose of ideology changed: Before 1933: ideology = to gain power After 1933: ideology = to strengthen Hitlers power Once Power is achieved dynamic of new state/ political system/ Nazi society = to work towards the Fuhrer. (Speech Feb 1934 by Minister for Prussian Agriculture) Would be difficult for Fuhrer to order from above everything he tries to implement Everyone has worked towards the Fuhrer People have just waited for instruction but it was everyones duty to work towards the fuhrer along the lines he would wish [2 central themes from quote^: -1. Idea of New Germany was central to Nazism -2. The minister and other believed that New Germany could be achieved by working towards the fuhrer Concept of working towards the fuhrer = accepted by most historians
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939?
Hitlers Authority
Fuhrer authority unquestioned and unconstrained ([Huber, constitutional theorist] Pridham, Nazism 1919-45, pub 2000) Position of Fuhrer = includes in itself all sovereign powers of the Reich All public power = derived from Hitlers power Political power given to Fuhrer as executor of nations common will Fuhrer power not restricted by safeguards and controls Fuhrers power = free/independent/unlimited/exclusive
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939?
Hitlers power = absolute in theory and practice Hitlers world view given central prominence: ([1938: Speech by head of Nazi Lawyers Association] Pridham, Nazism, pub 2000) Fuhrer = supreme judge of the nation No position in law independent of will of Fuhrer Constitutional law was legal formulation of will of Fuhrer Fuhrers will = clearly defined and understood Efficiency of regime = attempt of all involved to realise Fuhrers will even if it drove Germany into war of annihilation and destruction. Valid to point to central importance of Hitler Debate over whether Hitler was strong/weak been ended by concept of working towards the fuhrer Hitler had Supreme role because those below tried to interpret his world view Structures of power = chaotic but position of Fuhrer and world view = unchallenged (Kershaw, Nemesis, pub 2000) Hitlers expansion had freed itself from all institutional constraints and had unchallenged supremacy over whole power cartel Hitelrs personalised form of rule = eroded collective decision making Competing power blocs = beneath Hitler and enhanced his position and divided interests of all power blocs (individually/sectionally) Hitler offered bilateral relations with Nazis beneath him he remained the sole arbiter even when he let supporters battle it out themselves Less a planned strategy of divide and rule than an inevitable consequence of Fuhrer authority
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939? Causes: Attacks driven mainly by SA Jews attacked in synagogues, streets, homes no attempt from authorities to restrict violence March 1933: Jewish lawyers/judges attacked and expelled Violence brought condemnation from abroad March 1933: US Jewish groups/Europe boycotted German goods Response: Nazi radicals like Streicher demanded boycott of Jewish businesses Boycott lasted 1 day middleclasses didnt like violence
Outcome: Boycott triggered more radical response from the state Unease about street violence = led to laws passed discriminating against Jews SA and Civil Servant aim = to remove Jewish professionals Laws to exclude Jews reflected initiatives taken at local level Frick = framed Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service * included Aryan Clause preventing Jews from working in civil service+ Decree also to prevent Jewish lawyers Racial policy = made on the hoof rather than following plan Jews= some believed attacks would blow over, but others understood process of excluding Jews from German life By 1933: 40,000 Jews left Germany ; including 20 Nobel Prize winners Einstein
Response:
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939? Many Germans disliked violence of SA Conservatives in government (like Schacht) argued that violence was denigrating German image abroad more legal approach to Jewish Question preferable: - Meetings (chaired by Schacht) agreed that government needed to decide a plan on Jewish Question - Hitler ended random attacks: but needed to appease radicals - Hitler ordered civil servants to draft legislation to deal with issue of relationships btw Jews and Aryans - Hitler accepted Law for the Protection of German Blood that illegalised relationships btw Jews and Aryans - Hitler also demanded Reich Citizenship Law = deprived Jews of citizenship - Became law at Nuremburg Party Rally Outcome: Nuremburg served purpose = ended local attacks on Jews that undermined credibility of government Radicals = pleased with new discrimination Conservatives = satisfied with end to violence against Jews off the streets and legislated Olympics 1936: anti-Semitic policy reduced = maintain civil image to world Nuremburg Laws ensured legality of anti-Semitism = turning point in radicalisation of antiSemitic policy.
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939? Heydrich leader of SD most anti-Semitic radical SS and SD increasingly acted outside the law Focussed on removing Jews from economy and encouraging emigration [radical Eichmann set up Central Office of Austrian Jewry = encourage emigration] 1938: Hitler/Nazis envisaged solution to Jewish Question = emigration [but restricted by necessities of diplomacy] - 1938: Goebbels influence restricted by Hitlers relationship with film maker and success of Nazis in interpreting Fuhrers will [ie Himmler/Goring] also uncertain of position with Hitler after disclosure of Goebbels affair - Goebbels used position as Gauleiter of Berlin to agitate Jews = win Hitlers approval June 1938: Berlin Jewish shops attacked so badly Hitler feared international backlash and ordered its restraining - Momentum for radicalisation of anti-Semitism = provoked anti-Semitic policy and nationwide pogrom. Kristallnacht trigger = assassination of German ambassador by Polish Jew Press suggested nationwide Jewish conspiracy = outbursts of anti-Semitic violence Response: Ambassadors death = Goebbels had reason to seize radical agenda Goebbels gave go ahead for radicalisation of persecution of Jews Kristallnacht = violence against Jews widespread/extreme: 100s of Jews murdered, thousands of synagogues destroyed, 30,000 Jews arrested and taken to concentration camps SS/SA involved with Kristallnacht but Himmler/Heydrich unaware till it started Goring angry Goebbels had not considered effect on economy = important initiatives could be started from anywhere but needed approval of Fuhrer Outcome: Despite Goebbels provoking pogrom Goring instructed by Hitler to coordinate next stage November 1938: meeting [Goring, Heydrich, Goebbels...] held to discuss further measures against Jews: Jewish community pay: 1000m mark fine (Goebbels idea] and excluded Jews from economic life 1939: Goring set up Office for Jewish Emigration + Reich Association for Jews in Germany Heydrich = Head Kristallnacht = altered focus of Jewish affairs from removing Jews from economic life to removing Jews altogether [SS had control of process]
Unit 8: Controversy: how effectively did the Nazi state operate from 1933 to 1939?
There was no blueprint/plan for racial policy but clearly defined ideology Nazis tried to gain Fuhrers approval = initiating more radical policy -[Hitlers deep antiSemitism = lay at heart of weltangshauung]