Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian ideology of the National Socialist German Workers Party, or Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator.

Pre-War Politics 1933-1939

On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg after attempts by General Kurt von Schleicher to form a viable government failed and under heavy pressure from former Chancellor Franz von Papen. Even though the Nazi Party had gained the largest share of the popular vote in the two Reichstag general elections of 1932, they had no majority in parliament.

Related Topics:
January 30 - 1933 - Adolf Hitler - Paul von Hindenburg - Kurt von Schleicher - Franz von Papen - Nazi Party - Reichstag - 1932

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Consolidation of power

The new government installed dictatorship in a series of measures in quick succession (Gleichschaltung for details). On February 27, 1933 Hermann Göring orchestrated the Reichstag fire, which was followed immediately by the Reichstag Fire Decree, which rescinded habeas corpus, and other protective laws.

Related Topics:
Gleichschaltung - February 27 - 1933 - Hermann Göring - Reichstag fire - Reichstag Fire Decree - Habeas corpus

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Further consolidation of power was achieved on January 30, 1934, with the Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reichs (Act to rebuild the Reich). The act changed the highly decentralized federal Germany of the Weimar era into a centralized state. It disbanded state parliaments, transferring sovereign rights of the states to the Reich central government and put the state administrations under the control of the Reich administration. A previous step, which turned Germany into a dictatorship virtually overnight, was the Enabling Act passed in March of 1933. The act gave the Chancellor of Germany the same legislative powers as the Reichstag, stated that the Chancellor could approve amendments to the constitution at will, and authorized several far reaching emergency powers which suspended most civil liberities and turned Germany into a one party state.

Related Topics:
January 30 - 1934 - Enabling Act

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[[Image:Germany flag 1933 1.png|thumb|right|"Norddeutscher-Bund" flag since 1867

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(then 1935 forbidden by the Nazis as "reactionary")]]

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Only the army remained independent from Nazi control, and the Nazi quasi-military SA expected top positions in the new power structure. Wanting to preserve good relations with the army, Hitler, on the night of June 30, 1934, initiated what is known as the Night of the Long Knives, a purge of the leadership ranks of the SA as well as other political enemies, carried out by another, more elitist, Nazi organisation, the SS. Shortly thereafter the army leaders swore their obedience to Hitler.

Related Topics:
SA - June 30 - 1934 - Night of the Long Knives - SS

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At the death of president Hindenburg on August 2, 1934, the Nazi-controlled Reichstag merged the offices of Reichspräsident and Reichskanzler and reinstalled Hitler with the new title Führer und Reichskanzler.

Related Topics:
August 2 - 1934 - Führer

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The inception of the Gestapo, police acting outside of any civil authority, highlighted the Nazis' intention to use powerful, coercive means to directly control German society. Soon, an army estimated of about 100,000 spies and infiltrants operated throughout Germany, reporting to Nazi officials the activities of any critics or dissenters. Most ordinary Germans, happy with the improving economy and better standard of living, remained obedient and quiet, but many political opponents, especially communists and socialists, were reported by omnipresent eavesdropping spies, and put in prison camps where they were severely mistreated, and many tortured and killed. It is estimated that tens of thousands of political victims died or disappeared in the first few years of Nazi rule.

Related Topics:
Gestapo - Communists - Socialists

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:For political opposition during this period, see German resistance movement.

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Social policy

:See also Racial policy of Nazi Germany

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The Nazi regime was characterized by political control of every aspect of society in a quest for racial (Aryan, Nordic), social and cultural purity. Modern abstract art and avant-garde art was thrown out of museums, and put on special display as "Degenerate art", where it was ridiculed. However, the crowds attending these displays of "decadent art" frequently eclipsed those attending officially sanctioned displays. In one notable example on March 31, 1937, huge crowds stood in line to view a special display of "degenerate art" in Munich while a concurrently running exhibition of 900 works personally approved by Adolf Hitler attracted a tiny, unenthusiastic gathering.

Related Topics:
Aryan - Nordic - Abstract art - Avant-garde art - Degenerate art - March 31

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The Nazi Party pursued its aims through persecution and killing of those considered impure, targeted especially against minority groups such as Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals.

Related Topics:
Jew - Gypsies - Jehovah's Witnesses - Homosexuals

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By the Nuremberg Laws passed in 1935, Jews were stripped of their German citizenship and denied government employment. Most Jews employed by Germans lost their jobs at this time, their jobs being taken by unemployed Germans. On November 9, 1938, the Nazi party incited a pogrom against Jewish businesses called Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass, literally "Crystal Night"); the euphemism was used because the numerous broken windows made the streets look as if covered with crystal. By September 1939, more than 200,000 Jews had left Germany, with the Nazi government seizing any property they left behind.

Related Topics:
Nuremberg Laws - 1935 - November 9 - 1938 - Pogrom - Kristallnacht - Euphemism

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The Nazis also undertook programs targeting "weak" or "unfit" members of their own population, such as the T-4 Euthanasia Program that killed off tens of thousands of disabled and sick Germans in an effort to "maintain the purity of the German Master race" (German: Herrenvolk) as described by Nazi propagandists. The techniques of mass-killing developed in these efforts would later be used in the Holocaust. Under a law passed in 1933, the Nazi regime carried out the compulsory sterilization of over 400,000 individuals labeled as having hereditary defects, ranging from mental illness to alcoholism.

Related Topics:
T-4 Euthanasia Program - Master race - Herrenvolk - Nazi propagandists - The Holocaust - Compulsory sterilization - Mental illness - Alcoholism

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Recent research has also emphasised the role of the extensive Nazi welfare programmes that supposedly helped maintain public support for the regime until late in the war.

Related Topics:
Recent research - Welfare

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Economic policy

When the Nazis came to power the most pressing issue was an unemployment rate of over 40%. The economic management of the state was first given to respected banker Hjalmar Schacht. Under his guidance, a new economic policy to elevate the nation was drafted. One of the first actions was to destroy the trade unions and impose strict wage controls.

Related Topics:
Unemployment - Hjalmar Schacht - Trade union - Wage control

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The government then expanded the money supply through massive deficit spending. However at the same time the government imposed a 4.5% interest rate ceiling, creating a massive shortage in borrowable funds. This was resolved by setting up a series of dummy companies that would pay for goods with bonds. The most famous of these was the MEFO company, and these bonds used as currency became known as mefo bills. While it was promised that these bonds could eventually be exchanged for real money, the collapse was put off until after the collapse of the Reich. These complicated maneuvers also helped conceal armament expenditures that violated the Treaty of Versailles.

Related Topics:
Money supply - Deficit spending - Interest rate - Bond - MEFO - Mefo bills

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Normally the effects of price controls combined with a large increase in the money supply would produce a large black market, but harsh penalties, that saw violators sent to concentration camps or even shot on the spot, prevented this development. Repressive measures also kept volatility low, reducing inflationary pressures. New policies also limited imports of consumer goods and focusing on producing exports. International trade was greatly reduced remaining at about a third of 1929 levels throughout the Nazi period. Currency controls were extended, leading to a considerable overvaluation of the Reichsmark. These policies were successful in dramatically cutting unemployment.

Related Topics:
Black market - Concentration camp - Volatility - International trade - Reichsmark

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Industry was mostly not nationalized, and businesses were still motivated by pursuing profits. However industry was closely regulated with quotas and requirements to use domestic resources. These regulations were set by administrative committees composed of government and business officials. Competition was limited as major companies were organized into cartels through these administrative committees. Selective nationalization was used against businesses that failed to agree to these arrangements. The banks, that had been nationalized by Weimar, were returned to their owners and each administartive committee had a bank as member to finance the schemes.

Related Topics:
Nationalized - Cartel - Bank

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The German economy was later transferred to the leadership of Hermann Göring when, on October 18, 1936, the German Reichstag announced the formation of a Four-year plan to shift the German economy towards a war production base. The four-year plan technically expired in 1940, but by this time Hermann Göring had built up a power base in the "Office of the Four-Year Plan" that effectively controlled all German economic and production matters.

Related Topics:
Hermann Göring - October 18 - 1936 - Four-year plan

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Under the leadership of Fritz Todt a massive public works project was started, rivaling the New Deal in both size and scope; its most notable achievement was the network of Autobahnen. Once the war started, the massive organization that Todt founded was used in building bunkers, underground facilities and entrenchments all over Europe. Another part of the new German economy was massive rearmament, with the goal being to expand the 100,000-strong German Army into a force of millions.

Related Topics:
Fritz Todt - New Deal - Autobahn

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In 1942 the growing burdens of the war and the death of Todt saw the economy move to a fully command economy under Albert Speer.

Related Topics:
1942 - Command economy - Albert Speer

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