How succesful was feare used in Nazi Germany?

Essay by wahida88A, June 2005

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How successful was Fear used

In 1921 Adolph Hitler formed his own private army called Sturm Abteilung (Storm Section). The SA, also known as storm troopers or brown shirts, were instructed to disrupt the meetings of political opponents and to protect Hitler from revenge attacks. Hitler's storm troopers were often former members of the Freikorps (right-wing private armies who flourished during the period that followed the First World War) and had considerable experience in using violence against their opponent. The SA wore grey jackets, brown shirts, swastika armbands, ski-caps, knee-breeches, thick woollen socks and combat boots. Accompanied by bands of musicians and carrying swastika flags, they would parade through the streets of Munich. At the end of the march Hitler would make one of his passionate speeches that encouraged his supporters to carry out acts of violence against Jews and his left-wing political opponents.

From 1933 the German courts were Nazified.

Hitler set up the People's Court to try people who opposed the Nazi regime. Judges had to be loyal Nazi and could be guaranteed to give the right verdict. Under such a system, the number of political prisoners increased dramatically. Between 1930 and 1932 just 8 people were found guilty and executed. Between 1934 and 1939, 534 people were executed. By 1939 there were 162,734 people under protective arrest.

The Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) was a state police force set up by Hermann Goering in 1933. It was led by Reinhard Heydrich and was ruthless in dealing with opposition to the Nazis. Its task was to discover the enemies of the state watch them and render them harmless. The Gestapo had the power to arrest and detain suspects without trial.

Use of Propaganda:

Propaganda: The systematic propagation of information or ideas by an interested party especially in a tendentious way...