Nazi rule in Germany 1933-1945

Once in power, the Nazis sought to control every aspect of German life — from the classroom to the church, from the factory to the family. CCEA examiners expect you to understand HOW the Nazis maintained control, and to assess which methods were most effective.

Terror and the police state

The Nazi state rested on a foundation of fear. Key instruments:

The SS (Schutzstaffel): Led by Heinrich Himmler, the SS evolved from Hitler's personal bodyguard into a vast police and security empire. The SS ran the concentration camps, the Gestapo, and — ultimately — the death squads (Einsatzgruppen) that carried out mass shootings in the East.

The Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei): The secret state police. Despite its fearsome reputation, the Gestapo was surprisingly small — around 32,000 agents for the whole of Germany. It relied heavily on denunciation — ordinary Germans informing on neighbours, colleagues and family members. Historian Robert Gellately argued the Gestapo was as much a reactive institution (responding to tip-offs) as a proactive surveillance apparatus.

Concentration camps: Dachau opened in March 1933 — the first of many. Initially holding political opponents (communists, socialists, trade unionists), they expanded to include Jews, Roma, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and others deemed "asocial." By 1939, around 25,000 people were held in camps; by 1945, millions had been murdered.

Propaganda

Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, controlled all media and culture.

Key methods:

• Radio: By 1939, Germany had one of the highest rates of radio ownership in the world. Cheap "People's Receivers" (Volksempfänger) carried Nazi broadcasts into every home. Foreign broadcasts were banned.
• Film: Leni Riefenstahl directed Triumph of the Will (1935), a landmark of propaganda filmmaking that presented the Nuremberg rally as a quasi-religious event.
• Rallies: Nuremberg became the annual showcase of Nazi power — torchlit processions, massed crowds, orchestrated emotion.
• Censorship: The Reich Chamber of Culture controlled all artistic output. Artists who did not conform were banned; "degenerate art" (modern, abstract, or by Jewish artists) was publicly exhibited as a warning.
• Newspapers: All press was coordinated under Nazi direction. Independent journalism ceased.

Education and youth

The Nazis understood that long-term control required winning the next generation.

Schools: Curriculum was rewritten. History was taught as racial struggle; biology included racial theory; PE was prioritised over academic subjects to produce physically strong soldiers and mothers. Jewish children were expelled from state schools in 1938.

The Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) for boys aged 14-18 and the League of German Girls (BDM) for girls provided ideological indoctrination outside school hours. Membership became compulsory in 1936. By 1939, 8 million young people were enrolled.

The youth movements emphasised physical fitness, racial purity, loyalty to Hitler and — for boys — military preparation. For many young Germans, the sense of belonging, adventure and purpose was genuinely appealing.

The role of women

Nazi ideology assigned women a defined role: Kinder, Küche, Kirche (Children, Kitchen, Church).

Key policies:

• Women were encouraged to leave paid employment and focus on motherhood.
• The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage (1933) offered loans to couples who married — repayable in children (each child cancelled part of the debt).
• The Mutterkreuz (Mother's Cross) awarded medals to mothers with large families: bronze (4 children), silver (6), gold (8+).
• Women were excluded from senior party and government positions.
• Abortion and contraception were heavily restricted for "racially desirable" women.

The birth rate did initially rise, though historians debate how much was due to Nazi policy versus economic recovery. Many women genuinely embraced the ideology; others found ways to maintain careers, particularly as wartime labour shortages forced a partial reversal.

Religion

The Nazis had a complex relationship with the churches. Germany was roughly half Protestant, half Catholic.

The Reich Church: The Nazis created a unified Protestant Reich Church under Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller, incorporating Nazi ideology. The "German Christians" movement tried to purge the Old Testament as "Jewish." This alarmed many Protestants.

The Confessing Church: Led by Pastor Martin Niemöller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Confessing Church resisted Nazi interference in church affairs. Niemöller was eventually sent to a concentration camp (1937-1945). Bonhoeffer was executed in April 1945.

The Catholic Church: The Concordat of July 1933 (agreement between the Vatican and Germany) guaranteed the Church's right to operate schools and institutions — in exchange for the Church withdrawing from political life. The Nazis gradually broke the terms; Cardinal Galen's 1941 sermons condemning the euthanasia programme (T4) are a rare example of public opposition forcing a policy change.