World Depth Study: Living under Nazi Rule, 1933–1945 — OCR GCSE History B Schools History Project

This depth study explores the transformation of German society under National Socialism from Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in 1933 to the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945. It examines the methods the Nazis used to consolidate power, including terror, propaganda, and the creation of a 'National Community' (Volksgemeinschaft), and assesses the impact of these policies on different groups such as women, youth, workers, and minorities. A central theme is the extent to which the regime achieved total control over everyday life and the ways in which ordinary people responded, from enthusiastic support to active resistance.

Studying this topic is crucial for understanding how a modern democratic state can be dismantled and how propaganda and fear can shape public behaviour. It also provides essential context for the Holocaust and the Second World War. In the OCR GCSE History B Schools History Project, this depth study develops skills of source analysis, interpretation evaluation, and the ability to construct substantiated arguments about causation, change, and significance, which are assessed in the 'History Around Us' and 'Thematic Study' components.

• →Gleichschaltung (coordination): The process by which the Nazis brought all aspects of German society - political, economic, and social - under their control between 1933 and 1934, including the banning of trade unions and political parties.
• →Volksgemeinschaft (National Community): The Nazi ideal of a unified, racially pure German society that excluded Jews, Roma, homosexuals, and other 'undesirables', promoted through propaganda and social policies.
• →Terror and repression: The use of the SS, Gestapo, concentration camps, and the People's Court to eliminate opposition and instil fear, which was essential for maintaining Nazi control.
• →Propaganda and censorship: The manipulation of media, art, and education by Goebbels' Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda to spread Nazi ideology and create a cult of personality around Hitler.
• →Opposition and resistance: The various forms of dissent, from passive non-conformity to active plots like the July Bomb Plot, and the reasons why they largely failed to overthrow the regime.

• Identify 30 January 1933 as the date Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany.
• Explain the role of President Hindenburg and Franz von Papen in Hitler's appointment.
• Recognise that the Nazi Party was the largest in the Reichstag but did not have an absolute majority in January 1933.
• Describe the conservative elite's misconception that they could control Hitler within a coalition government.
• Outline the immediate position of the Nazi Party in the cabinet, noting they initially held only a minority of ministerial posts.
• Identify the Reichstag Fire Decree as the mechanism used to suspend civil liberties and target political opponents.
• Recognise the Enabling Act of March 1933 as the law that allowed Hitler's cabinet to bypass the Reichstag.
• Recall that trade unions were banned and replaced by the German Labour Front (DAF) in May 1933.
• State that the Law Against the Formation of Parties in July 1933 officially made Germany a one-party state.
• Identify the Night of the Long Knives (June 1934) as the event where Hitler eliminated the SA leadership.
• Explain that the purge of the SA was necessary to win the support of the regular German army.
• Recognise that the death of President Hindenburg in August 1934 allowed Hitler to combine the roles of Chancellor and President.
• Note that the army swore an oath of personal allegiance to Hitler, cementing his total power.
• Identify the SS as the primary organisation responsible for internal security and running the concentration camps.
• Recognise the Gestapo as the secret police force that relied on a network of informants to detect opposition.
• Explain how the law courts were manipulated, including the removal of Jewish judges and the creation of the People's Court.
• Describe the purpose of early concentration camps, such as Dachau, in detaining political prisoners without trial.
• Identify the various methods of Nazi propaganda, including radio, rallies, posters, and film.
• Explain the role of Joseph Goebbels and the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in controlling media.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of propaganda in creating the 'Hitler Myth' and promoting the concept of the Volksgemeinschaft.
• Recognise the limitations of Nazi propaganda, particularly its failure to completely override strong religious or class loyalties.
• Identify the methods used by left-wing groups, such as distributing illegal leaflets and forming underground cells.
• Explain the role of the Confessing Church in resisting the Nazification of German Protestantism.
• Describe how Catholic leaders like Bishop Galen successfully opposed specific Nazi policies like the euthanasia programme.
• Contrast the cultural rebellion of the Swing Youth with the more active, sometimes violent, resistance of the Edelweiss Pirates.
• Describe the role of the National Labour Service in reducing male unemployment and militarising the workforce.
• Explain how the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage used financial incentives to promote traditional family structures.
• Identify the methods used to remove women from professional careers, such as medicine and the civil service, during the 1930s.
• Analyse the shift in policy regarding female employment necessitated by the demands of the Second World War.
• Identify changes to the school curriculum, such as the introduction of Race Studies and the increased emphasis on Physical Education.
• Recognise the role of the Nazi Teachers' League in ensuring ideological conformity among educators.
• Describe the activities of the Hitler Youth, including military training, camping, and political indoctrination for boys.
• Explain the purpose of the League of German Maidens in preparing girls for motherhood and domestic duties.
• Recall that membership in Nazi youth organisations became legally compulsory in 1939.
• Identify early economic and social persecution, such as the 1933 boycott of Jewish businesses and exclusion from professions.
• Describe the impact of the 1935 Nuremberg Laws, specifically the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour.
• Recognise the events and significance of Kristallnacht in 1938 as a turning point towards state-sponsored violence.
• Explain the escalation of persecution following the outbreak of war, including forced relocation into ghettos.
• Understand the underlying Nazi racial ideology that categorised Jews as subhumans and a threat to the Aryan race.
• Identify the initial reluctance to fully mobilise the economy to protect civilian morale.
• Describe the introduction and tightening of rationing for food, clothing, and fuel.
• Explain the shift towards a total war economy, particularly after Albert Speer's appointment in 1942.
• Keep the timeframe clear: forced labour and longer working hours increased in 1939–42; female conscription and the full shift to Total War belong mainly to 1943–45.
• Identify key youth opposition groups, such as the Edelweiss Pirates and the White Rose group, and their methods of resistance.
• Describe the role of religious figures, like Bishop Galen, in speaking out against specific Nazi policies.
• Explain the motivations and actions of opposition within the army, focusing on the July 1944 Bomb Plot led by Claus von Stauffenberg.
• Recognise the severe consequences of opposition, including execution and imprisonment in concentration camps.
• Identify the shift in Nazi policy towards women, specifically their conscription into the workforce from 1943.
• Recognise the effects of Allied bombing on German cities, including mass homelessness and civilian casualties.
• Describe the severe rationing and shortages of food and consumer goods experienced by civilians.
• Explain the role and composition of the Volkssturm, highlighting the conscription of the young and elderly.
• Contrast the racial motivations behind the occupation policies in eastern and western Europe.
• Detail the economic exploitation and use of collaborationist governments in western European countries like France.
• Explain the concept of Lebensraum and its application in eastern Europe, leading to displacement and enslavement.
• Describe the extreme brutality and systematic extermination policies directed at Slavic populations and Jews in the east.
• Identify the purpose and conditions of ghettos established in occupied Eastern Europe.
• Describe the role of the Einsatzgruppen in carrying out mass shootings behind the Eastern Front.
• Explain the function of death camps as centres for industrialised mass murder.
• Trace the escalation of Nazi anti-Semitic policies from segregation to the 'Final Solution'.
• Define collaboration and provide examples of individuals or groups assisting the Nazi regime.
• Explain accommodation as a survival strategy involving passive compliance with Nazi policies.
• Identify different forms of resistance, from armed struggle to non-violent opposition.
• Analyse the motivations behind the different responses to Nazi occupation and rule.

• 💡Emphasise the legality of Hitler's appointment as Chancellor to demonstrate an understanding of the Weimar Constitution's mechanisms.
• 💡Mention the specific roles of key individuals like Hindenburg and von Papen when explaining the political intrigue of January 1933.
• 💡Highlight the contrast between the conservative elites' belief that they could 'tame' Hitler and his actual intentions to establish a dictatorship.
• 💡Ensure you can sequence the key events from January to July 1933 chronologically.
• 💡Focus on how legal mechanisms, such as emergency decrees and the Enabling Act, were used alongside violence to secure power.
• 💡When evaluating Hitler's consolidation of power, distinguish between actions taken against communists and those against other political parties.
• 💡Clearly distinguish between the events of 1933 (establishing the dictatorship) and 1934 (achieving total power).
• 💡Emphasise the significance of the army's oath of loyalty in August 1934 as the final step in Hitler's consolidation of power.
• 💡Be prepared to explain why Hitler viewed Ernst Röhm and the SA as a threat despite their earlier support.
• 💡When discussing terror, link the different elements together, showing how the Gestapo gathered information, the courts provided a veneer of legality, and the camps provided the punishment.
• 💡Use specific examples, such as the People's Court or Dachau, to support your points about the machinery of terror.
• 💡Remember to specify the time period (1933 to 1945) when discussing the evolution of these organisations.
• 💡Provide specific examples of propaganda methods, such as the 'People's Receiver' (Volksempfänger) or the Nuremberg Rallies, to strengthen your answers.
• 💡When evaluating effectiveness, consider both the successes, such as the Hitler Myth, and the failures, such as anti-church campaigns.
• 💡Discuss how propaganda and terror complemented each other to maintain Nazi control over the population.
• 💡When discussing opposition, always specify the group and their specific methods, rather than using vague terms like the people.
• 💡Use Bishop Galen's campaign against the T4 programme as a concrete example of successful, albeit limited, church opposition.
• 💡Compare the motivations for opposition: political for the Left, religious for church leaders, and social or cultural for youth groups.
• 💡Use specific policy names, such as the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage, to support your explanations of domestic policies.
• 💡Contrast the experiences of men and women in the 1930s to highlight the gendered nature of Nazi employment policies.
• 💡Always consider how the onset of war in 1939 changed the impact of these policies, particularly regarding female labour.
• 💡When discussing education, provide specific examples of how subjects like Biology and History were manipulated to teach Nazi ideology.
• 💡Contrast the aims of the Hitler Youth with those of the League of German Maidens to demonstrate an understanding of Nazi gender roles.
• 💡Remember to mention the year 1939 as the turning point when youth group membership became legally compulsory.
• 💡Use a chronological approach to show how the persecution of Jews escalated from legal discrimination to violent attacks.
• 💡Memorise key dates and terms, such as the 1935 Nuremberg Laws and the 1938 Kristallnacht, to support your answers with precise factual detail.
• 💡Link specific actions, like the banning of intermarriage, directly to the Nazi obsession with maintaining Aryan blood purity.
• 💡When discussing the war economy, explicitly link economic policies to their direct impact on the daily lives of German civilians.
• 💡Use Albert Speer's appointment in 1942 as a key turning point in the organisation of the German war economy.
• 💡Contrast the early war period (1939-1941) with the shift towards total war in 1942 to show change over time.
• 💡Provide specific examples of opposition groups and individuals, such as the White Rose or Claus von Stauffenberg, rather than just referring to 'the people'.
• 💡Explain the different motivations for opposition, ranging from moral objections to military pragmatism.
• 💡Emphasise the role of the Gestapo and the terror state in keeping opposition fragmented and preventing mass uprisings.
• 💡Ensure you specifically focus on the years 1943 to 1945 when discussing total war, rather than earlier wartime experiences.
• 💡Use specific examples of the impact of bombing, such as the destruction of Dresden, to illustrate civilian suffering.
• 💡Link the concept of total war directly to the reversal of earlier Nazi social policies, particularly regarding women's employment.
• 💡Use specific countries as examples, such as Poland for the east and the Netherlands for the west, to anchor your comparisons.
• 💡Always link the differences in occupation style back to core Nazi racial ideologies and the concept of Untermenschen.
• 💡When writing an extended response, structure your answer to explicitly compare the two regions rather than just listing facts about each separately.
• 💡Ensure you can distinguish between the different phases of the Holocaust, from ghettos to the Einsatzgruppen and death camps.
• 💡Use specific examples, such as the Warsaw Ghetto or Auschwitz-Birkenau, to support your answers.
• 💡Remember that the Holocaust also targeted other groups, such as Roma and Sinti, though the specification focuses heavily on the Jewish experience.
• 💡Be prepared to provide specific historical examples for each type of response: collaboration, accommodation, and resistance.
• 💡Consider the context of the occupation when explaining why people chose to accommodate rather than resist.
• 💡Use precise terminology when describing the spectrum of responses to Nazi rule.
• 💡Always use specific dates, names, and terms (e.g. 'Enabling Act, 1933', 'Goebbels', 'Kristallnacht') to demonstrate precise knowledge. Avoid vague statements like 'in the 1930s'.
• 💡When evaluating interpretations, consider the provenance (author, date, purpose) and compare them to your own knowledge. Do not just summarise the interpretations; explain which is more convincing and why.
• 💡For essay questions, structure your answer thematically (e.g. political, social, economic) or by factor (e.g. terror, propaganda, popular support) and always reach a clear, substantiated judgement.

• Mistake: Believing Hitler seized power by force in January 1933. Correction: Understand that Hitler was legally appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg through political maneuvering.
• Mistake: Assuming the Nazi Party had a majority of seats in the Reichstag in January 1933. Correction: Recognise that while they were the largest party, they did not hold an absolute majority and relied on a coalition.
• Mistake: Thinking Hitler had absolute dictatorial power immediately upon becoming Chancellor. Correction: Note that in January 1933, Hitler was in a coalition government and had to consolidate his power over the following months.
• Mistake: Believing Hitler became a dictator immediately upon becoming Chancellor in January 1933. Correction: Understand that he was appointed Chancellor in a coalition government and had to pass the Enabling Act to gain dictatorial powers.
• Mistake: Confusing the Reichstag Fire Decree with the Enabling Act. Correction: The Fire Decree suspended civil liberties in February, whereas the Enabling Act allowed Hitler to make laws without the Reichstag in March.
• Mistake: Assuming the Nazis won a majority in the March 1933 elections. Correction: The Nazis won 43.9% of the vote and relied on a coalition and SA intimidation to pass the Enabling Act.
• Mistake: Stating that Hitler became Führer immediately after the Enabling Act. Correction: Hitler only became Führer after President Hindenburg died in August 1934.
• Mistake: Believing the Night of the Long Knives targeted Jewish people or communists. Correction: The purge primarily targeted internal Nazi rivals, specifically Ernst Röhm and the SA leadership, as well as conservative opponents.
• Mistake: Assuming the SA was completely disbanded after June 1934. Correction: The SA continued to exist but was significantly reduced in power and influence, superseded by the SS.
• Confusing the SS and the SA (Sturmabteilung); the SA was largely neutralised after the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, while the SS expanded its power.
• Believing the Gestapo had millions of officers; in reality, they were relatively small in number and relied heavily on ordinary citizens denouncing their neighbours.
• Assuming concentration camps before 1939 were primarily extermination camps; early camps were mainly for political prisoners and forced labour, not systematic extermination.
• Assuming propaganda was universally believed by all Germans; many were sceptical, and its effectiveness depended on the audience's prior beliefs.
• Confusing propaganda with terror; while they worked together, propaganda aimed to persuade and indoctrinate, whereas terror aimed to coerce and frighten.
• Stating that the Nazis invented propaganda; they utilised modern technology to expand its reach, but the concept existed long before 1933.
• Mistake: Believing that all Germans supported the Nazis without question. Correction: Acknowledge that various groups, including the Left, churches, and youth, actively opposed the regime despite the terror apparatus.
• Mistake: Confusing the Edelweiss Pirates with the White Rose group. Correction: Remember that the Edelweiss Pirates were working-class youths who engaged in street brawls and sabotage, whereas the White Rose was a student group focused on intellectual leaflet campaigns.
• Mistake: Assuming the Catholic Church as a whole officially opposed the Nazis from 1933. Correction: Note that the Catholic Church signed the Concordat in 1933, and opposition usually came from individual leaders like Bishop Galen later on.
• Mistake: Stating that the Nazis completely eradicated unemployment. Correction: Recognise that while unemployment fell drastically, the statistics were manipulated by excluding women and Jewish people from the register.
• Mistake: Assuming women never worked under the Nazi regime. Correction: Understand that while women were pushed out of professions in the 1930s, agricultural work continued, and wartime shortages forced women back into factories.
• Mistake: Confusing the roles of men and women in Nazi ideology. Correction: Clearly distinguish that men were expected to be workers and soldiers, while women were expected to be mothers and homemakers.
• Mistake: Believing that all young people enthusiastically supported the Hitler Youth. Correction: While many did, there was significant opposition from groups like the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Youth who rejected Nazi control.
• Mistake: Thinking the school curriculum remained largely academic. Correction: The curriculum was heavily altered to prioritise physical fitness, racial ideology, and preparation for war or motherhood over traditional academic subjects.
• Mistake: Assuming boys and girls received the same education and youth training. Correction: Training was strictly segregated by gender, with boys prepared for military service and girls for domestic roles and childbearing.
• Mistake: Stating that the mass murder of Jews in extermination camps began immediately in 1933. Correction: The persecution was a gradual process of radicalisation, starting with discrimination and segregation before escalating to mass murder during the Second World War.
• Mistake: Confusing the Nuremberg Laws with the events of Kristallnacht. Correction: The Nuremberg Laws (1935) were legal measures stripping Jews of rights, whereas Kristallnacht (1938) was a violent pogrom involving the destruction of property and arrests.
• Mistake: Believing that Jews were the only victims of Nazi racial policy. Correction: While Jews were the primary target, Nazi racial policy also persecuted Roma and Sinti people, black people, and those with disabilities.
• Error: Believing total war was declared and implemented immediately in 1939. Correction: Total war measures and full economic mobilisation were only fully implemented later, particularly from 1942 onwards under Speer.
• Error: Assuming women were conscripted into factory work during 1939–42. Correction: the regime initially resisted female conscription; compulsory service for women and full Total War mobilisation belong mainly to 1943–45.
• Error: Thinking rationing only began late in the war. Correction: Rationing of some items like food and clothing began in 1939, though it became much more severe as the war progressed.
• Error: Assuming there was a widespread, unified mass resistance movement against the Nazis. Correction: Opposition was highly fragmented, consisting of isolated groups and individuals rather than a coordinated national movement.
• Error: Believing the army was entirely loyal to Hitler throughout the war. Correction: Elements within the army, particularly aristocratic officers, formed a significant resistance movement that attempted to assassinate Hitler.
• Error: Confusing the methods of different youth groups. Correction: The Swing Youth focused on cultural rebellion through jazz music, while the White Rose group engaged in active political resistance by distributing leaflets.
• Assuming women were never allowed to work under the Nazis; in reality, total war forced the regime to conscript women into factories from 1943.
• Believing rationing only began in 1943; rationing started in 1939, but it became significantly more severe during the total war period.
• Thinking the Volkssturm was a highly trained elite force; it was actually a desperate militia of young boys and old men with poor equipment.
• Stating that Nazi occupation was identical across all conquered territories; occupation policies were heavily influenced by racial hierarchy, making eastern rule far more brutal.
• Ignoring the role of collaboration in western Europe; many western nations had local administrations that worked with the Nazis, unlike the direct, destructive control in the east.
• Confusing the timeline or geography of Lebensraum; this policy was specifically targeted at eastern Europe, not the west.
• Confusing concentration camps with death camps. Correction: Concentration camps were primarily for forced labour and political prisoners, whereas death camps (extermination camps) were specifically designed for mass murder.
• Believing the 'Final Solution' was planned from 1933. Correction: The policy of systematic mass extermination evolved during the war, particularly after the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
• Thinking the Einsatzgruppen operated mainly in Germany. Correction: The Einsatzgruppen operated in occupied territories, primarily in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
• Assuming everyone in occupied territories either fully collaborated or actively resisted. Correction: The majority of people engaged in accommodation, simply trying to survive the occupation without taking a strong stance.
• Equating all resistance with armed conflict. Correction: Resistance included many non-violent acts, such as listening to banned radio broadcasts, producing underground newspapers, or hiding persecuted individuals.
• Believing collaboration was always driven by ideological agreement with Nazism. Correction: Collaboration was often motivated by opportunism, self-preservation, or coercion, rather than shared beliefs.
• Students often assume that all Germans were either enthusiastic Nazis or secret resisters. In reality, most people were somewhere in between, conforming for a mixture of reasons including fear, opportunism, and genuine belief, while some quietly dissented in private.
• There is a misconception that Nazi persecution of the Jews began with the Holocaust. In fact, it was a gradual process of legal, economic, and social exclusion from 1933 onwards, escalating through the Nuremberg Laws (1935) and Kristallnacht (1938) before the 'Final Solution'.
• Students sometimes believe that the Hitler Youth was universally popular and that all young people were indoctrinated. However, attendance was made compulsory only in 1939, and many young people resented the regimentation, forming alternative groups like the Edelweiss Pirates.

1. 1Step 1: Create a timeline of key events from 1933 to 1945, including the Enabling Act, Night of the Long Knives, Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht, and the July Bomb Plot. This will help you understand the chronological development of Nazi control.
2. 2Step 2: Make a detailed table of Nazi policies towards different groups (women, youth, workers, Jews, minorities) with columns for aims, methods, and impact. Use your textbook and class notes to fill it in.
3. 3Step 3: Practice source analysis by finding contemporary photographs, speeches, and propaganda posters. For each, ask: What is the message? Who is the audience? How useful is it for understanding Nazi control?
4. 4Step 4: Write practice answers to past paper questions, focusing on the 6-mark 'Explain why' and 10-mark interpretation questions. Use mark schemes to self-assess and identify gaps.
5. 5Step 5: Use active recall techniques, such as flashcards for key terms and dates, and create mind maps linking themes like propaganda, terror, and opposition. Review these regularly in the week before the exam.

• 📋Explain why... (6 marks): You must provide two or three developed reasons with specific evidence. For example, 'Explain why the Nazis were able to consolidate power in 1933-34.' Use connectives like 'because' and 'this led to' to show causation.
• 📋Study Interpretations A and B... (10 marks): You must evaluate two historical interpretations and reach a judgement on which is more convincing. Use your own knowledge to support or challenge each interpretation, and consider their provenance.
• 📋Describe two... (4 marks): You need to provide two key features with supporting detail. For example, 'Describe two ways in which the Nazis controlled the German people.' Be precise and avoid repetition.
• 📋Essay question (e.g. 'How successful were Nazi policies towards women?'): You must construct a balanced argument, considering both successes and limitations, and reach a clear conclusion. Use paragraphs with topic sentences and evidence.