Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2024
First exams 2026
The Nazi Police State (Edexcel GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Natasha Smith
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
Aspects of the Nazi Police State - Summary
Hitler became Führer of Germany on 2nd August 1934. Once the SA and army had sworn an oath of loyalty to him, Hitler wanted to transform Germany into a Police State to ensure that there would be no obstacles to creating his Third Reich. As dedicated Nazis, the SS formed the backbone of Hitler’s police force and oversaw the roles of the Gestapo and SD. Their intimidating presence on the streets of Germany, combined with their ability to bypass legal proceedings, spread fear into those who thought about resisting or opposing Nazi policy. Of all the components of the police force, the Gestapo were perhaps the most infamous and feared. They were infamous for their late-night visits to suspected opponents of the Nazi Party, as well as their ability to blend into public life and remain unseen. Concentration camps - beginning with Dachau in 1933 - were created to imprison all opponents of the Nazi regime. Details of the poor living conditions and violence committed were leaked back to the public, creating fear and ensuring compliance. |
Role of the SS
The SS was created in 1925 to act as personal bodyguards to Hitler
Members had to be both ‘racially pure’ and radically loyal to the NSDAP
Heinrich Himmler became leader of the SS from 1929
The SS wore black uniforms to be easily identifiable from the SA
The SS had several roles:
Protect Hitler and other Nazi leaders
Provide security during political meetings
Urge people to subscribe to the Nazi newspaper, Der Völkischer Beobachter
Marry ‘racially pure’ wives to create ‘racially pure’ children
Manage and control other police forces, including the SD and Gestapo
The SS were responsible for carrying out the arrests and murders of SA members during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934
Increasing Membership of the SS 1925-1939
Year | SS Membership |
|---|---|
1925 | 240 |
1933 | 52,000 |
1939 | 290,000 |
Worked Example
Give two things you can infer from Source A about the SS
4 marks
Source A: Adolf Hitler inspects a group of SS during a rally in 1938 AWAITING IMAGE |
Answers:
(i) What I can infer:
The SS were very important to the Nazi Party (1)
Details in the source that tell me this:
Hitler is shown taking the time to inspect them (1)
(ii) What I can infer:
The SS were organised (1)
Details in the source that tell me this:
The SS are standing in line and are all uniformed (1)
This answer would receive full marks because it contains two relevant inferences, supported by details from the source.
The student’s inferences may appear simple and obvious, but they are accurate and use evidence from the source.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
For this question, there is no need to use your own contextual knowledge of the SS. For visual sources, use a piece of evidence from the source and make a well-educated guess based on that. In the student’s answer above, it is accurate to infer that the SS were organised, based on the evidence that they are standing in a perfect line.
Role of the Gestapo
Hermann Goering initially created the Gestapo to “investigate and combat all attempts to threaten the state”
By 1934, Reinhard Heydrich led the Gestapo
They were infamous for wearing plain clothes so they could not be easily identifiable
The Gestapo had several roles:
Tapping phones and spying on opponents
Arresting, questioning and torturing suspects:
Around 160,000 people were arrested in 1939 for political crimes
Sending people directly to concentration camps using protective custody
Releasing information about concentration camp conditions to spread fear
They relied on denunciations from the public to target suspects:
Only around 10% of political crimes committed were discovered by the Gestapo, compared to 80% reported by ordinary citizens
Towns such as Hamburg and Frankfurt only had 40-50 Gestapo agents, which demonstrates the reliance on fear to reduce opposition
Increasing Membership of the Gestapo, 1937-1939
Year | Gestapo Membership |
|---|---|
1937 | 6,500 |
1939 | 20,000 |
The Development of Concentration Camps
Most arrests made by the police services were related to ‘political crimes’, which involved speaking out against the Nazi Party
Dachau was opened in 1933 and became the first concentration camp in Nazi Germany:
Concentration camps were created to imprison many groups:
Minority groups such as Jewish people and Jehovah’s Witnesses
‘Undesirables’ such as homosexuals, prostitutes and Romani
Political opponents, including journalists, writers, intellectuals and communists
Conditions in concentration camps were awful and inmates were forced to do hard labour
Controlling the Legal System
Control of the legal system allowed the Nazi Party to remove opposition under the illusion that it was fair and just:
However, cases were often pre-determined and biased in favour of a conviction
Judges and lawyers
Judges and lawyers were required to prioritise the interests of the Nazi Party above all else:
Judges joined the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law
Judges were dismissed if they did not join
Lawyers joined the German Lawyers Front
Judges had to wear the swastika from 1936
Judges decided the outcome of cases, not the jury
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Don’t confuse judges with lawyers:
Judges are responsible for overseeing the case and deciding the outcome
Lawyers should represent the defendant involved in the case
Law courts
Trial by jury was removed so that judges could decide the outcome of the case
The People’s Court was introduced to hear cases of treason:
Judges radically loyal to the Nazi Party were selected
Trials were held in secret
The right to appeal was removed
Control of the legal system led to a rapid rise in the number of political opponents executed:
Between 1930 and 1932, only eight people were executed
Between 1934 and 1939, this increased to 534 people
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