Opposition in Nazi Germany (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
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?
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
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
Despite attempts by Hitler to control the Protestant and Catholic churches, there was opposition from the Church
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
Last updated:
You've read 0 of your 5 free revision notes this week
Sign up now. It’s free!
Did this page help you?