Summary Unit 4 AQA A-Level Weimar and Nazi Germany A* Grade Notes - 'The Nazi Dictatorship'
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Course
Depth Study
Institution
AQA
This summary synthesises information from the Oxford AQA History textbook and the SHP Advanced History Core Texts book as well as classwork and further research from other sources to provide everything you need to know to smash your Weimar and Nazi Germany History paper!
These notes helped me achi...
Section 4
The Nazi Dictatorship:
Social Policies
Terror State
1933-39
Master Document
Social Policies (chaper 16)
Extent of Opposition and Nonconformity (chapter 14)
The ‘Terror State’ (chapter 14)
1
,This document is an amalgamation of the Oxford AQA A-Level History textbook and SHP Advanced History
Core Texts on Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-45 as well as classwork and research from other sources
and texts.
There is a lot of information here so I suggest you condense these notes into a format from which you
simply memorise statistics, names, dates, etc… This could be physical flashcards or online flashcards (e.g:
Quizlet). To do this, I recommend first reading the whole document through and highlighting the key
information you want to memorise, then converting it into flashcards. Once you have reviewed your content,
‘blurt’ the information out on a blank piece of paper without your flashcards to see how much you can
remember. Then review your blurting with a different coloured pen to fill in the gaps in your knowledge and
memorise what you forgot. There’s also space in this document to form plans for sample essay questions.
These notes and techniques helped me achieve an A* in AQA A-Level History in 2023, achieving 73/80 on
this paper.
If you enjoy using these A* grade notes, leave a review on www.stuvia.com and check out my other
documents for Weimar and Nazi Germany and for the Tudors. Good luck for your exams!
Key abbreviations:
Gov - government For example - e.g:
TUs - trade unions Mil - million
Information - info DNVP - German National People’s Party
No. - number DVP - German People’s Party
WR - Weimar Republic (1918-33) Zentrum (Z) - Centre Party
Pop. - population SPD - Social Democratic Party
Esp. - especially KPD - German Communist party
RM - Reichsmarks HJ - Hitler Youth
Index:
Social Policies................................................................................................................................................ 3
Social Policies towards workers:................................................................................................................. 3
Resistance of the Workers............................................................................................................................ 6
Social Policies towards Churches................................................................................................................6
Resistance of the Churches..........................................................................................................................9
Social Policies Towards Women.................................................................................................................11
Social Policies Towards Youth................................................................................................................... 14
Youth Organisations................................................................................................................................. 15
Resistance of Young People....................................................................................................................... 16
Political Resistance..................................................................................................................................... 18
Terror State................................................................................................................................................... 21
SS............................................................................................................................................................ 21
SD............................................................................................................................................................ 22
Gestapo....................................................................................................................................................22
Courts and Justice System...................................................................................................................... 22
Key Men of the Nazi Terror State................................................................................................................ 23
Heinrich Himmler 1900-45....................................................................................................................... 23
Reinhard Heydrich 1904-42..................................................................................................................... 23
Hermann Goering 1893-1946.................................................................................................................. 23
Where power lay in the Third Reich........................................................................................................... 24
Propaganda..............................................................................................................................................26
The Hitler Myth......................................................................................................................................... 29
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, Social Policies
Hitler wanted no independent organisations standing between the State and the individual. All Germans
must conform to the norms of the regime in order to create a ‘Volksgemeinschaft’ (people’s community) that
would be unified by blood, race and ideology with a common bond of loyalty to the Fuhrer.
By coordinating German society using propaganda, indoctrination, terror and repression, the Nazis aimed to
eliminate all opposition and create a community in which all ‘Volksgenossen’ (national comrades) would be
loyal and ready to make personal sacrifices. The Nazis aimed for the creation of a new German man and
woman.
Social Policies towards workers:
The Volksgemeinschaft would erase class differences, religious loyalties, regional, age and gender
differences and replace them with national unity. Industrial workers presented the greatest challenge to the
process of ‘Gleichschaltung’ (‘bringing into line’) - due their ties with trade unions and non-Nazi political
parties.
They were also a very important part of society.
2nd May 1933, free trade unions were banned.
DAF created.
German Labour Front (DAF)
Established: 6 May 1933
Led by: Robert Ley
Became the largest organisation in the Third Reich - membership wasn’t compulsory at first, but
membership grew rapidly as it was the only officially recognised organisation representing workers.
2 main aims:
- Win over workers to Volksgemeinschaft
- Encourage increased production
It replaced the trade unions but was not one itself - it had no role in bargaining wages and had little
influence over the regime’s social and economic policies.
In 1936, DAF started to provide vocational training courses to improve workers’ skills.
DAF also had banks, housing associations, construction companies, the Volkswagen car plant and its own
travel company.
By 1939, DAF had 44,500 paid employees.
The Nazi system of labour relations was in favour of the employer and state meaning workers had to work
harder and accept a squeeze on wages and living standards. Propaganda tried to promote the message
that the reward for working wasn’t material gain but the knowledge that they were serving the community.
The DAF had its own propaganda department to spread Nazi ideology among working-class Germans:
Strength Through Joy which organised leisure activities.
Strength Through Joy (KdF)
It believed workers who were refreshed by holidays, sport and cultural activities would be more efficient
when they returned to work.
The KdF also aimed to:
- Submerge the individual in the mass, encourage workers to see themselves as part of a
Volksgemeinschaft. With leisure and work time regulated by the state, there was no spare time or
space to develop private lives. The KdF was a propagandist organisation which used its activities to
indoctrinate workers and their families into Nazi ideology.
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