Paper 3, Option 37.2: Germany, 1871–1990: united, divided and reunited - 3 A new Reich, 1933–35 — Edexcel A-Level History
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Paper 3, Option 37.2: Germany, 1871–1990: united, divided and reunited - 3 A new Reich, 1933–35 explained
Paper 3, Option 37.2: Germany, 1871–1990: united, divided and reunited - 3 A new Reich, 1933–35 covers 3 specification points, including Creating a totalitarian state; abolition of… and Hitler’s role as Führer, including his….
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Open a point below for its explanation and revision guidance.
Gleichschaltung, 1933–34: creating a totalitarian state; abolition of political parties and trade unions; the establishment of DAF; the 'coordination' of regional and local government; impact of the Night of the Long Knives.
Gleichschaltung means 'coordination': by 1933–34 the Nazis aligned German institutions under one-party control, creating a totalitarian state. Political parties were banned or dissolved, leaving the NSDAP; trade unions were abolished and replaced by the German Labour Front (DAF), which controlled workers rather than bargaining for them. Regional and local government was coordinated: Länder parliaments lost power, Reich governors were appointed, and councils were purged. The Night of the Long Knives in June–July 1934 removed the SA leadership and other rivals, securing Hitler's position and the army's support. Example: after Hindenburg died in August 1934, Hitler combined Chancellor and President, showing coordination complete.
Hitler’s role as Führer, including his approach to government, decline of cabinet meetings, relations with the army; the extent of his power by 1935.
Hitler’s Führer role fused party and state leadership. His governing style was charismatic and personal: he set broad ideological directions, delegated detail, and encouraged rival agencies to compete for his favour. Cabinet meetings, frequent in 1933, became rare after 1934 and ceased by 1938; legislation was increasingly issued by decree or through Reich ministries and party offices. Relations with the army were tense: the SA’s ambitions alarmed generals, so in June 1934 the Night of the Long Knives removed Röhm and other SA leaders, buying army loyalty. After Hindenburg died in August 1934, Hitler combined chancellor and president as Führer, and the army swore a personal oath. By 1935 his power was extensive: he controlled the party, state apparatus, and armed forces, though internal rivalries and the army’s separate ethos remained limits.
The nature of the new Nazi state: the relationship of state and party; attempts to create a Volksgemeinschaft; racial policy, including the significance of the Nuremberg Laws.
The Nazi state was a dual system: traditional state institutions (ministries, civil service, army, Gestapo) coexisted with party organisations (NSDAP, SA, SS). This created overlapping responsibilities and rivalries, as Hitler often allowed both to operate. The Volksgemeinschaft aimed to unite ethnic Germans through propaganda, rituals, and welfare schemes such as Winterhilfswerk, while excluding Jews, Roma, and others. Racial policy escalated from the 1933 boycott of Jewish businesses and the 1935 Nuremberg Laws, which stripped Jewish citizenship and banned marriage or sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews. These laws defined who was Jewish and institutionalised persecution, marking a radicalisation of the regime.
Your focus
- Describe the main measures of Gleichschaltung in 1933–34.
- Explain how parties, unions, the DAF and local government were coordinated.
- Assess the impact of the Night of the Long Knives on Nazi control.
Show all 9 objectives
- Explain how Hitler’s approach to government changed between 1933 and 1935.
- Describe the decline of cabinet meetings and the shift to decree-based rule.
- Analyse the significance of the Night of the Long Knives and the army oath for Hitler’s power by 1935.
- Explain the relationship between state and party in Nazi Germany.
- Describe the aims and methods of the Volksgemeinschaft and who was excluded.
- Analyse the significance of the Nuremberg Laws for racial policy and Jewish life.
Paper 3, Option 37.2: Germany, 1871–1990: united, divided and reunited - 3 A new Reich, 1933–35 exam tips
Marking Points
- Defines Gleichschaltung as the Nazi process of coordinating political, social and governmental institutions under party control to create a totalitarian state.
- Explains the abolition of political parties and trade unions, leaving the NSDAP dominant and removing organised labour opposition.
- Describes the establishment of the DAF, which replaced independent unions and regulated workers within the Nazi state.
- Explains the coordination of regional and local government through Reich governors, purged councils and loss of Länder autonomy.
- Assesses the impact of the Night of the Long Knives: the SA leadership was eliminated, Hitler gained the army's loyalty and internal rivals were removed.
- Explains Hitler’s approach to government as charismatic and personal, with broad ideological direction and delegated detail.
- Describes the decline of cabinet meetings: frequent in 1933, rare after 1934, and effectively ended by 1938, with decisions increasingly made by decree or through individual ministries and party agencies.
- Analyses relations with the army, including the SA threat, the Night of the Long Knives in June 1934, and the army oath after Hindenburg’s death in August 1934.
- Assesses the extent of Hitler’s power by 1935, noting the fusion of chancellor and president as Führer, control over party and state, and remaining limits such as internal rivalries and the army’s separate ethos.
- Explains the relationship between state and party as overlapping and competitive, with party agencies often duplicating or bypassing state functions.
- Describes attempts to create a Volksgemeinschaft through propaganda, mass organisations, and welfare schemes, and notes who was included and excluded.
- Analyses racial policy, including the 1933 boycott of Jewish businesses and the exclusion of Jews from public life.
- Assesses the significance of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 in defining Jewishness, removing citizenship, and criminalising relations between Jews and non-Jews.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Define Gleichschaltung briefly, then show it operating across parties, unions, and regional government.
- 💡Use the Night of the Long Knives as evidence of how coordination was enforced by violence as well as law.
- 💡Judge how far by 1934 Germany had become a totalitarian state, noting limits as well as controls.
- 💡Use precise dates and terms: 30 June 1934, 2 August 1934, Führer, Reichswehr, SA.
- 💡Link each example back to the question of Hitler’s power: explain how the event increased or limited his control.
- 💡Compare interpretations: some historians stress Hitler as a strong dictator, others emphasise polycratic chaos; use evidence to support your judgement.
- 💡Use specific examples: the Enabling Act, the Reichsbürgergesetz, the Blutschutzgesetz, the Hitler Youth, and the Winterhilfswerk.
- 💡Explain how state and party rivalry affected policy implementation, not just that it existed.
Common Mistakes
- Treating Gleichschaltung as only a legal change; the correction is to see it as political, social and administrative control.
- Confusing the DAF with a genuine trade union; the correction is that it controlled labour and banned strikes rather than negotiating freely.
- Seeing the Night of the Long Knives as only a purge of the SA; the correction is that it also removed other critics and secured army and elite support.
- Error: claiming that Hitler was a weak dictator with no control over policy. Correction: by 1935 he held ultimate authority as Führer, set broad directions, and could remove rivals, even if day-to-day administration was chaotic.
- Error: stating that the Night of the Long Knives was solely about the SA’s radicalism. Correction: it also secured army support by eliminating the SA leadership, which the army saw as a rival.
- Error: saying that the army oath was to the constitution or the state. Correction: after August 1934 the oath was sworn personally to Hitler as Führer.
- Error: treating the Nazi state as a single, efficiently coordinated machine. Correction: it was a polycratic mix of state and party bodies with overlapping jurisdictions and rivalries.
- Error: assuming the Volksgemeinschaft benefited all Germans equally. Correction: it was racially exclusive, promoting ethnic Germans while excluding and persecuting Jews, Roma, and others.
- Error: classifying the Gestapo as a party organisation. Correction: the Gestapo was a state secret police agency, although it came under the control of the SS (a party organisation).