Lesson 3.4.1: What were the features of life in Nazi Germany?

Do now task. Spend no more than 5 minutes on this section

1. NFascism did not grow in the UK for various reasons, including the strong presence of democratic
institutions, a diverse political landscape, and a historical aversion to authoritarian regimes.ame a
reason why fascism did not grow in the UK
__________________________________________________
2. What was the name of the UK fascist party?
____
The UK fascist party was known as the British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley in the
1930s.______________________________________________
3. How many UK soldiers died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme?
_
On the first day of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916, approximately 19,240 British soldiers
were killed, making it one of the bloodiest days in British military
history._________________________________________________
4. Name two things you would see in a trench
_______In a trench, you would typically see sandbags used for fortification and protection, as well as
soldiers' equipment such as rifles, helmets, and gas
masks.___________________________________________
5. Whose death was a catalyst for WWI?
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo on
June 28, 1914, is considered a catalyst for the outbreak of World War I.
__________________________________________________
th
On 30 January 1933, the President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg appointed
Hitler the Chancellor of Germany. Hitler was the leader of the largest party in
the German parliament, called the Reichstag. However, the Nazi party did not
have a majority. He became Chancellor because enough smaller parties with
right-wing views backed him up. During 1933 Hitler and his party officials
managed to consolidate [strengthen] their power:
1. They took advantage of a fire that destroyed the parliament building
The Nazis claimed this was started by a man called Marinus van der
Lubbe, a Communist who didn’t like the Nazis. While historians believe
van der Lubbe was involved, most now think that the Nazis ensured the
fire was bigger than one caused by just one man.

2. The Nazis persuaded the President to give them emergency powers.

 President Hindenburg believed Hitler when he said that other
Communists might do something like the Reichstag fire again. He agreed
to give Hitler the power to arrest people he suspected of being
communist. Hitler used these powers to lock up over four thousand
communists and other political opponents

3. The Nazis held new elections

With the political opponents in jail and the Nazis in charge of the police,
the Nazis knew now was a good time to have an election. They won 42%
of the vote, which gave them more seats in the parliament than ever
before, but still not a majority

4. Hitler passes a law giving him full powers to make laws.

On the 18th March 1933 the
parliament voted to pass the
Enabling Act, which enabled
Hitler to make laws without
needing support from the
parliament or the president.
Other right-wing parties gave
him the extra votes he needed
for a majority.

5. The Nazis take over control of the police and set up concentration
camps
With full power to do what they liked, the Nazis now began to arrest
even more people who they considered their political enemies. In
Dachau on 21st March 1933 a disused armaments factory was converted
into a temporary camp for communist and social democratic enemies.
By the end of 1933, over 100,000 people would be held in similar camps
across Germany.

1. How did the Reichstag fire help the Nazis to take power?

The Reichstag fire in 1933 was used by the Nazis as a pivotal

event to consolidate their power. They exploited the
situation by blaming the fire on a Communist, Marinus van
der Lubbe. This event allowed the Nazis to portray
Communists as a threat to national security, leading to the
passing of the Reichstag Fire Decree. This decree suspended
civil liberties and allowed the Nazis to arrest political
opponents, primarily Communists, paving the way for Hitler
to consolidate power and suppress opposition.
2. How did President Hindenburg help the Nazis to take power?

President Hindenburg played a crucial role in helping the

Nazis to take power. Despite initial reluctance, Hindenburg
eventually appointed Hitler as Chancellor in 1933. He
believed Hitler could be controlled and saw him as a way to
stabilize the political situation in Germany. Hindenburg's
decision to give Hitler emergency powers after the Reichstag
fire allowed the Nazis to suppress opposition and consolidate
their control. Ultimately, Hindenburg's actions contributed to
the Nazis' rise to
power.____________________________________________
______
_________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
3. Ho3. How did other right-wing parties help the Nazis to take power? w did
other right-wing parties help the Nazis to take power?

__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Once the Nazis were in charge, they changed society to ensure that they would
stay in power. They did this in a number of ways:

 They created a police state. This meant that the forces that control
people’s behaviour, such as the police, had more powers to control
people than ever before. New laws were written that meant people
could be arrested for very little reason. They were watched by groups
that were run exclusively for the Nazi party, such as the SS [Protection
 Brigade] and the SA [Storm Division]. They could often use physical and
emotional violence and get away with it.

 They ensured everyone heard their message. A persuasive Nazi called

Joseph Goebbels was given the job of persuading people to support the
Nazis. His new Ministry for People’s Enlightenment made posters and
slogans to show the good things the Nazis were doing. They did this by
banning all other messages and censoring opinions they did not like.
They also did sly things, like producing a very cheap radio called the
People’s Receiver 301. This meant that not only did people have a new
piece of tech – like a state-subsidised iPhone – but they could listen to
Nazi propaganda with ease.

 They did things that showed Germany was

tough. In 1935 the Nazis sent soldiers into
the Rhineland in Western Germany, a clear
violation of the Treaty of Versailles. This was
very popular. People had voted for the Nazis
because they had felt Germany needed to
be tough and deserved respect, and this
showed people Germany meant business.

Explain in your own words how the

following things made the Nazis more
popular in the years after 1933
Giving power to the SA and the SS
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Producing a cheap radio for people to buy
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Sending German soldiers into the Rhineland in 1935
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Many Germans saw what Hitler was doing as good. They had been used to
over fifteen years of political chaos and uncertainty, and now there was a
strong leader who seemed to be in control. Also, Hitler made it clear he
wanted Germans to work together. He told the German people that he saw
them as a ‘people’s community’. This meant Germans were bound together by
their common race, language and ethnicity.

The Nazis also believed that Germans were racially superior to other
Europeans. They pointed out how Germans lived in all parts of Europe in
different groups. The people we now call ‘Austrians’ once called themselves
‘Germans in Austria’ or ‘Austrian Germans’. The borders of what is now
Germany stretched as far as modern-day Lithuania, Poland and Russia. For this
reason, the Nazis believed the German people needed Lebensraum, or ‘living
space’ for the Germans to live in.

However, Germany was a multi-ethnic and multilingual society. There were

millions of people whose ancestry was Polish, French, and Czech, not to
mention people whose families came from Germany’s former colonies in what
is now Cameroon, Namibia and Togo. The Nazis did not include these people in
their ‘people’s community’. In addition, being a German meant behaving in a
certain way, and believing certain things. If you were a communist, or a social
democrat, or a Jew, or anything other than the Nazi idea of who a German
was, then you were in trouble.
Explain two reasons why the Nazis were in full control of Germany by 1935.
Use the information above to help you
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________