HOW WAS GERMANY GOVERNED

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HOW WAS GERMANY GOVERNED?
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AIMS

• To look at the way German society was structured
  and governed.
• To understand how Hitler ran Nazi Germany.
• To understand the role played by the Gestapo.

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TRADITIONAL POWER STRUCTURES

• Reichstag rarely met, an applause machine
• Cabinet rarely met.
• Civil Service most civil servants supported the
  new regime.
• Local government Gauleiter held power.
• Courts judges adapted to the new system.
  Everything which is useful for the nation is
  lawful everything which harms it is unlawful.

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REICH CHANCELLERY

• Responsible for co-ordinating new laws.
• Run by Hans Lammers.
• Ministers submitted proposals to Lammers.
• He drafted proposal and circulated to other
  ministers for comments.
• New version presented to Hitler.
• Hitler would make a decision sometimes just
  oral.

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Control in Nazi Germany
Gau (region)
Kreis (district)
Ortsgruppe (small town)
Zelle (cell)
Block (street blocks)
Gauleiters were in charge of the Gau. They
frequently resisted implementing central
government instructions.
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REPRESSION

• Be careful! There was repression but1. Most
  Germans supported the regime.2. Many Germans did
  not encounter repression and believed it
  justified if it did occur.3. Thousands of
  Germans assisted the Gestapo.4. Repression could
  be random some people could protest and get
  away with it.

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ORGANISATION
Himmler head of SS and Chief of Police
Orpo municipal police
Sipo security policeHeydrich
SD Security serviceHeydrich
SS
Kripo criminal police
Gestapo secret police
Foreign Intelligence
Domestic Intelligence
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To create master race.Ran much of the conquered
lands.Organised labour/death camps.Organised
Einsatzgruppen.Enacted Holocaust.Ran elite
schools.Set up 12 lebensborn clinics.
Defend HitlerRoot out enemies.Arbitrary
arrests special courts camps.SD intelligence
reports on public feelings.
THE ROLE OF THE SS
EconomicOver 150 firms.Slave labour, armaments
production
Elite military forceGrew to rival the
WehrmachtSuppressed Warsaw Uprising, 1943.
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Instruments of repression Gestapo SS/SD Other
police SA NSDAP Informers
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CONTROL OF SOCIETY

• Was repression or consent more important?