Main Features of Nazi Germany

1. What were the main
features of the Nazi
Dictatorship of Germany?

2. The Enabling Law changed Germany from a
Democracy into a Dictatorship where Hitler had
total control. The Nazis ruled through control,
persuasion and propaganda.
1.The SS
2.The Gestapo
3.Persecution
(Jews/Religion/Church)
4.Nazi Education
5.Women
6.Propaganda

3. 1.The S.S
Nazi Germany was a Police State. This
meant that the powers of the Government
were supreme. The Nazis used their powers
not only to arrest criminals, but also those
who disagreed with them or done something
that they did not like. The organisation which
enforced Law and order was the SS.
It was originally Hitler’s private Bodyguard
Unit as it played a major role in the removal
of the SA in the Night of the Long Knives.
Its powers were unlimited as they could
search houses, confiscate property, arrest
people without charging them etc. They were
also in charge of the Concentration Camps
where the special ‘Death Head Units’
controlled the killings of those people that the
Nazis despised (Jews etc).

4. 2.The Gestapo
The Gestapo was a part of the SS which also
had the power to arrest anyone it wanted. It
mainly spied on people, read their mail and
tapped their telephones. It encouraged
people to report on their neighbours and their
fellow workers. Children were even
encouraged to spy on their parents. The
Gestapo became the most feared
organisation in Germany.
The Police, SS and the Gestapo
made sure that the Nazis
remained in TOTAL CONTROL of
Germany

5. NAZI EDUCATION
Teachers were instructed
to teach children about
Nazi ideas. Those who
refused were simply
sacked.
Hitler wanted the Nazis to
last for a thousand years.
He believed he could
only do this if he
controlled the way
Germans were educated.
Biology lessons were
used to explain Nazi
ideas on race,
making it clear that
the German Aryan
race was the ‘Master
Race’.
PE lessons were
increased as Hitler
wanted strong and
healthy Germans for
the future.
(??War??)
Teaching people
to believe
something is
called
INDOCTRINATIO
N.

6. The Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth Movement was organised and run by members of the
SS. Its aim was clear; to indoctrinate young people into accepting the
ideas of Hitler and the Nazis. Also, they wanted to make sure that young
people were loyal to Hitler. By 1935 it was compulsory to join as every
child had to be a member of it. By 1939 eight million people were part of
the Hitler Youth.

7. Women in Nazi Germany
The Nazis encouraged women to
stay at home and have children.
They encouraged people to marry
and newly weds were given
payments of 1000 marks. Money
was also issued to newly born
babies.
Special homes were set up for
unmarried Mothers to allow
unmarried women to become
pregnant, often by ‘racially pure’
members of the SS. The birth rate
increased throughout the 1930s.
Women were also encouraged to
stay at home and look after their
husbands. They were even given
advice on how to appear – no
make up and hair arranged in a
bun or plaits.

8. PROPAGANDA
(Trying to persuade people to do or believe
in something)
CINEMA
The Nazis made hundreds of
films that carried Nazi
messages. Anti-Jewish films
were also made. Because
Cinema was very popular,
Nazi messages were very
effective.
RADIO
Goebbels (the man in
charge of Propaganda) used
Radio to broadcast Hitler’s
speeches and Nazi
messages. Foreign radio
stations were banned.
NEWSPAPERS
Goebbels made sure that
newspapers printed
favourable stories about
the Nazis. Those that did
not were closed down.
POSTERS
The Nazis produced
thousands of posters
that were designed to
persuade people to think
or believe in the Nazis
RALLIES
These were
impressive gatherings
of German people
who went to listen to
Hitler’s speeches