Section Three: Dictatorship, Control and Opposition
At the end of this session you should know:
How the Reichstag Fire, Enabling Law and Night of Long Knives helped to create a dictatorship.

How Hitler removed his military and political opposition.

How the terror state controlled the German people.

How different groups opposed the Nazi party.

How the Nazis dealt with their opponents.
Hitler’s Position in 1933
When Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933 he was in a very weak position.
Support for the Nazis had actually fallen from 37% to 33% during 1932.
Only two government posts were held by Nazis.
Hindenburg could sack Hitler at any time.
Hindenburg and von Papen planned to use Hitler as a puppet.
The Reichstag Fire
The Reichstag building was destroyed by fire in February 1933.
A Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was found in the building. The Nazis claimed this was
part of a communist plot to take over. That night 4000 communist leaders were arrested and
imprisoned.
Hindenburg granted Hitler emergency powers to arrest people and hold them without trial.
Thousands of people who opposed the Nazis were arrested. The Nazis also banned meetings held by
their political opponents and closed down their newspapers.
New Elections
The Nazis used the SA and the police to put pressure on their political rivals.
More than 50 opponents of the Nazis were killed and many more were injured.
The Nazis achieved their best ever election result with 44% of the vote.
The Enabling Law
This law would give Hitler the power to pass laws without going through the Reichstag or the
President.
The communist party were banned from voting, the Centre Party was persuaded to vote with the
Nazis.
The Reichstag voted itself out of existence by 444 votes to 94. Democracy was at an end.
Trade Unions taken over
Trade union offices were taken over and union leaders arrested.
All trade unions were merged into one organisation – the German Labour Front (DAF)
The DAF was run by Nazis.
All Political Parties banned
A law was introduced preventing the formation of new political parties.
The communist and Social Democratic Party had already been banned.
There was only one party now in Germany – the Nazi party.
Night of the Long Knives
Hitler became concerned at the power of the SA. It had 3 million members and its leader, Ernst
Rohm, wanted to merge the SA and the army together under his control.
The army was smaller than the SA but more disciplined and well trained. It was the only
organisation that had the power to overthrow Hitler, they were concerned about merging with the
SA.
The army was supported by powerful businessmen who wanted Hitler to expand the army and buy
new weapons.
On the Night of 29-30 June 1934, 400 SA leaders were dragged from their beds and shot (including
Rohm).
It sent a warning to Germany about how ruthless Hitler was prepared to be, the SA were replaced
by the SS.
Death of Hindenburg
2nd August 1934, Hindenburg died. Hitler made himself President as well as Chancellor.
He was now the undisputed head of the government and took the title Fuhrer.
The army took an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler. He became the Supreme Commander of the
Armed Forces.
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler was in charge of the terror network that controlled Germany, it was designed to
make people too afraid to express any kind of criticism or opposition.
Himmler trained the SS to be ruthless and fiercely loyal to Hitler. They could arrest people without
trial and search houses.
Concentration Camps
Special concentration camps were created in isolated areas to hold the opponents of the Nazis.
Initially inmates were held for short periods of questioning, torture and forced instruction in Nazi
ideas. By the late 1930s some camps were being run as forced labour camps for Nazi-owned
businesses.
The Gestapo
This was the state secret police.
They could tap telephones, open mail and collect information from a huge network of informers.
Informers reported on local people who they believed were anti-Nazi.
The Gestapo arrested without trial, tortured and sent people to camps.
The Police and the courts
The ordinary police continued with their normal work but their bosses were all Nazis. This meant
that they collected information on Nazi opponents and ignored crimes committed by Nazis.
Nazis were appointed as judges so a fair trial was impossible. The number of crimes carrying the
death penalty went up to include: telling an anti-Nazi joke and listening to foreign radio stations.
Informers
Every town was divided into blocks. The block-warden, a local Nazi, checked up on every home each
week.
The block warden wrote a report on everyone. It took note things like not flying the Nazi flag on
celebrations or not being enthusiastic enough about Hitler.
Former Political Opponents
The Socialist Party, the Communist party and the Trade Unions.
They held secret meetings, organised 400 strikes between 1933 and 1935, handed out leaflets and
wrote anti-Nazi graffiti on walls.
Thousands were arrested and put in concentration camps. Many were beaten up; some were
tortured; a few were killed.
The Churches
The two largest churches in Germany were the Protestant and Catholic churches.
Overall church opposition did not go very far. Only 50 pastors (out of 17,000) and one bishop were
actually put in prison for opposition activities.
Martin Niemoller set up an opposition Confessional Church which had 6000 pastors. He was arrested
in 1937 and spent the rest of the Nazi years in a camp.
Dietrich Bonhoffer spoke out against Nazism. He was arrested in 1943 and executed in 1945.
Army Officers
Although they swore an oath of loyalty, the army officers were horrified by the actions of the SS in
Russia and resented Hitler’s interference in military affairs.
In 1943 Claus von Stauffenberg decided to plant a bomb at a meeting Hitler would be attending. The
bomb went off killing 4 people but not Hitler.
The plotters were rounded up and executed alongside 5,000 other opponents.
The White Rose Group
A small group of students led by Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst formed the White
Rose Group to shame the German people by protesting against the Nazis.
They spread anti-Nazi messages through handing out leaflets, putting up posters and writing graffiti
on walls.
Hans and Sophie were arrested and tortured before being executed.
Do you know: How the Reichstag Fire, Enabling Law and Night of Long Knives helped to create a
dictatorship?
 How Hitler removed his military and political opposition?
 How the terror state controlled the German people?
 How different groups opposed the Nazi party?
 How the Nazis dealt with their opponents?