Opposition in Nazi Germany (AQA GCSE History)

Revision Note

Zoe Wade

Written by: Zoe Wade

Reviewed by: Natasha Smith

Did More People Support Than Oppose the Nazis? - Summary

From 1933 to 1945, the Nazi Party received a high level of support, and there was conformity from the German people. Control over the distribution of information enabled the Nazis to communicate their beliefs and ideas to society. The Nazi Party used the police forces as a tool to spread fear and censor opposition. Hitler placed Nazi judges in court trials to fix the outcome of legal cases. The Nazis sent many political opponents to concentration camps.

Resistance came from all areas of society, even from inside Hitler’s armed forces. The majority of the opposition was private. It was incredibly dangerous to oppose the Nazi regime openly.

1943 marked a significant turning point. Germany was performing poorly in the Second World War. This increased opposition from more areas of society.

Low level opposition in Nazi Germany

  • The majority of the opposition to the Nazi government was low level or in private

Why was most opposition private?

A concept map showing what prevented some people from openly opposing Hitler’s dictatorship
A concept map showing what prevented some people from openly opposing Hitler’s dictatorship
  • Despite these reasons, there are many examples of low level opposition to the Nazi government

Examples of low level opposition

  • Having anti-Nazi conversations in the home

  • Complaining to family or friends about Nazi policies

  • Telling anti-Nazi jokes

  • Refusing to do the Nazi salute

Open opposition in Nazi Germany

There are examples of groups who openly opposed the Nazi regime

Youth opposition

The Edelweiss Pirates 

  • Used the symbol of the edelweiss flower 

  • Had different names depending on where they came from:

    • members in Essen were called ‘Travelling Dudes’

    • members in Cologne were called ‘Navajos’

  • Resented the military discipline of the Hitler Youth

  • Wanted a sense of freedom similar to the youth in Britain and the USA

  • By 1939, there were only 2,000 Edelweiss Pirates compared to eight million Hitler Youth

The Swing Youth 

  • They admired American culture, especially music:

    • played jazz music from their record players

    • gathered together to smoke and drink alcohol

  • Organised illegal dances of up to 6,000 members:

    • the 'jitterbug' was a favourite dance

  • Heinrich Himmler disliked the Swing Youth’s focus on jazz music because it was associated with Black people

  • They presented more cultural opposition rather than a genuine threat to the Nazi regime

A comparison of the Swing Youth and the Edelweiss Pirates

Comparison chart of Edelweiss Pirates and Swing Youth showing their differences in class, meeting places, and resistance types, with similarities in music, non-conformity, clothing, and membership.
A diagram showing the similarities and differences between the Edelweiss Pirates and Swing Youth

White Rose group

  • Formed at Munich University in 1943

  • They publicly opposed the Nazi government through leaflets and marches

  • Its leaders, Hans and Sophie Scholl, were arrested and executed by guillotine in 1943

Church opposition

Espionage and sabotage

  • Officers like General Ludwig Beck secretly communicated with the British

  • Admiral Canaris attempted to persuade key army officials to join in a coup against Hitler in 1939

    • Canaris delayed the planned coup due to the war's progress

    • In 1944, Canaris was arrested and executed

  • Illegal trade unions encouraged workers to:

    • Claim to be sick to stay off of work

    • Damage factory machinery

    • Strike

  • Other opponents attempt to destroy train lines

    • This aimed to stop the transportation of minorities and political prisoners to:

      • Concentration camps

      • Extermination camps

Examiner Tips and Tricks

An exam question could ask you if secret opposition or open opposition was the most dangerous to the Nazi regime.

This is a 12-mark question that expects you to refer to these two bullet points and another factor. Ensure you write three paragraphs that:

P - make a point about the question

E - use evidence that supports the point that you have made

E - explain why this evidence caused an impact on the Nazi government. Avoid repeating the point. Explain how damaging this factor was to the control that the Nazi police state had

L - link your explanation back to the question by stating how significant this factor was in weakening the Nazi government

Write a conclusion about which factor you believe was the most important and dangerous to the Nazi regime. Make sure that you consider short- and long-term consequences, importance and impacts in your conclusion.

Our exam skills pages give further guidance and advice on the 'bullet point' question

Assassination attempts against Hitler

  • There were around 50 plots to kill Hitler

    • Some attempts were individual, opportunistic attempts

    • Some attempts had detailed plans involving a large number of people

  • Assassination attempts increased after the failure of Operation Barbarossa

The Kreisau Circle

  • This group contained powerful and influential Germans such as:

    • army officers

    • university professors

    • conservatives

  • The Kreisau Circle met several times between 1942 and 1943

  • They discussed their opposition to Hitler, including if they should assassinate him

    • The group did not attempt to kill Hitler

  • The Kreisau Circle was discovered by the Gestapo and broken up

The Beck-Goerdeler group

  • This group contained two key people:

    • Carl Friedrich Goerdeler

      • The mayor of Leipzig from 1930 to 1937

      • He resigned due to disagreeing with Nazi policies

    • Ludwig Beck

      • A former general in the Army

      • He resigned due to disagreeing with Hitler's aggressive foreign policy in 1938

  • The group:

    • communicated with the British to create a plan to remove Hitler

    • attempted to kill Hitler in:

      • March 1943

      • November 1943

    • Designed the July Bomb Plot in 1944

The July Bomb Plot, 1944

  • Also known by its codename, Operation Valkyrie

  • By the summer of 1944, many army officials lost trust in Hitler’s leadership

    • They believed that killing Hitler would give Germany a better negotiating position with the Allies

  • On 29th July, army officer Claus von Stauffenberg brought a briefcase containing a bomb into the key military headquarters of Wolf’s Lair, Rastenberg

  • Hitler survived the assassination attempt

    • Stauffenberg placed the briefcase behind the large wooden leg of the conference table

      • The wooden table leg absorbed the majority of the blast

      • Four men were still killed in the explosion

  • After the incident, Hitler ordered the execution of 4,900 Germans

    • Stauffenberg and Beck were executed in 1944

    • Goerdeler was executed in 1945

Worked Example

Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation about the type of opposition in Nazi Germany?

Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge

[4 marks]

Interpretation A - An extract from ‘The Secret War against Hitler’, by Fabian von Schlabrendorff, published in 1959.

Schlabrendorff was a German army officer who was part of the group that tried to assassinate Hitler in July 1944.

'As a university student I read Nazi books which had ridiculous race theories and attacked Christian beliefs. Our anti-Nazi opposition in Germany was based on our Christian faith. It was not started by army generals worried about military defeat. We had a clear conscience about trying to assassinate Hitler.'

Interpretation B - An extract from 'The White Rose: Munich, 1942-1943' by Inge Scholl

Inge was the eldest sister of Hans and Sophie Scholl, who created the White Rose group.

'What the circle of the White Rose strove for was increasing public consciousness of the real nature and actual situation of National Socialism. They wanted to encourage passive resistance among wide circles of the populace.'

Answer

Interpretation B differs from Interpretation A due to the author's background and occupation. The author of Interpretation B is Inge Scholl, the sister of Hans and Sophie Scholl who began the White Rose group (1). Therefore, it is more likely to emphasise how the importance of passive resistance as opposition to the Nazis as this is the way that the White Rose group operated (1).

However, interpretation A is more likely to show the importance of direct, violent opposition to Hitler. Interpretation A was written by Fabian von Schlabrendorff who was part of the July 1944 plot (1). Therefore, it is likely to highlight that open and violent opposition to Hitler existed, considering the 50 attempts on Hitler's life during his leadership (1).

Examiner Tips and Tricks

To gain full marks in a "Why are the interpretations different" question, consider choosing a difference which is visible and the same in both provenances.

For the example question, they knew or were the conspirators for different types of opposition to Nazi Germany. Therefore, they would have conflicting perspectives about which type of opposition worked.

Our exam skills pages give further guidance and advice on comparing interpretations questions

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Zoe Wade

Author: Zoe Wade

Expertise: History

Zoe has worked in education for 10 years as a teaching assistant and a teacher. This has given her an in-depth perspective on how to support all learners to achieve to the best of their ability. She has been the Lead of Key Stage 4 History, showing her expertise in the Edexcel GCSE syllabus and how best to revise. Ever since she was a child, Zoe has been passionate about history. She believes now, more than ever, the study of history is vital to explaining the ever-changing world around us. Zoe’s focus is to create accessible content that breaks down key historical concepts and themes to achieve GCSE success.

Natasha Smith

Author: Natasha Smith

Expertise: History Content Creator

After graduating with a degree in history, Natasha gained her PGCE at Keele University. With more than 10 years of teaching experience, Natasha taught history at both GCSE and A Level. Natasha's specialism is modern world history. As an educator, Natasha channels this passion into her work, aiming to instil in students the same love for history that has fuelled her own curiosity.