Why people obeyed

G2 Elective History - syllabus K230, 2027

What this lesson teaches

  • I can explain how authoritarian regimes rose and how they changed politics, the economy and society.

    Syllabus K230, Rise of Authoritarian Regimes, Learning Outcomes. Explain the rise of authoritarian regimes and their impact on the political, economic and social context of countries.

Make a guess

Most Germans did not openly oppose the Nazis in the 1930s. What do you think best explains why?

  1. Most Germans believed in Nazi ideas and welcomed the regime.
  2. A mix of real support, wanting the benefits, and fear of punishment.
  3. People simply did not know what the regime was doing to its opponents.
Show the answer

A mix of real support, wanting the benefits, and fear of punishment.

Propaganda persuaded some, jobs won others, and the Gestapo and camps frightened many into silence. Responses varied.

Some Germans supported the Nazis, some wanted the benefits, many feared punishment, and a few resisted.

Joseph Goebbels ran the propaganda ministry. It used newspapers, radio, films and culture to spread Nazi messages. Censorship limited what could be published or heard, so people heard little criticism. Schools and youth groups taught loyalty to Hitler and Nazi racial ideas. Boys were prepared for military service, and girls for motherhood. Activities and a sense of belonging also attracted young people.

Fear worked alongside persuasion. The Gestapo was the secret state police. The SS was a powerful Nazi organisation that ran policing, persecution and the concentration camps. In the camps, prisoners had no normal legal protection and were treated brutally. Knowing that a neighbour or colleague might report them made many people stay silent.

Responses varied. Some people believed in Nazi aims. Others cooperated to keep a job or get ahead. A worker might welcome a job but dislike losing rights, or stay quiet because protest was dangerous. Accepting one policy did not mean agreeing with all of them.

Some people opposed or resisted the regime. Otto Wels, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), spoke against the Enabling Act in March 1933. After being forced into exile, the party's leaders, known as Sopade, collected reports on life in Germany. One 1938 report describes workers who valued their jobs but were afraid to speak openly. Church critics, secret political activists and some young people also challenged parts of Nazi rule, for different reasons.

When using this evidence, separate what you can see from what you infer. A public salute might show belief, pressure or fear; it cannot prove what someone thought. A report of criticism shows criticism existed, but does not prove most Germans resisted. These points explain behaviour; they do not excuse taking part in persecution.

Goebbels
Ran Nazi propaganda.
Gestapo and SS
Secret police and the organisation running the camps.
Otto Wels
SPD leader who spoke against the Enabling Act.

Real examples to use

Hitler Youth

Membership grew from about 2.3 million at the end of 1933 to 8.7 million by 1939, after membership was made compulsory.

The People's Receiver

The regime sold cheap radios with a short range that made foreign stations hard to hear. By 1942 about 16 million households, roughly 70 per cent, had radio.

Otto Wels, 23 March 1933

The SPD leader spoke against the Enabling Act while SA and SS men surrounded the building; his party's 94 votes were the only ones against.

Worked example: What does silence tell you?

A worker values a job but avoids criticising the regime in public.

  1. The job may explain why they accept some Nazi policies.
  2. Fear of arrest may explain the silence.
  3. So silence does not prove support. Look for private views and working conditions too.

Watch out for this

Every German either fully supported Hitler or openly resisted.

Most people were in between: some agreed with parts, some wanted benefits, and many stayed quiet out of fear.

Check your understanding

Why can a public Nazi salute not prove someone supported Hitler?

  1. They might have saluted out of fear or pressure.
  2. Salutes were banned for ordinary citizens, so mainly officials gave them.
  3. The salute was a secret sign used mostly by people resisting the regime.
Show the answer

They might have saluted out of fear or pressure.

Yes. Public actions do not always show private beliefs.

Sources and context

Background reading for this chapter.

  • Hitler asks for trust

    Paraphrase of Hitler's radio appeal on behalf of the new Reich government, 1 February 1933, reproduced by GHDI.

  • USHMM, Enabling Act; law translated from Reichsgesetzblatt I, 1933, p141

    Paraphrase of Articles 1-3 of the Enabling Act, promulgated 24 March 1933; text translated from the official law gazette by USHMM.

  • Wels opposes the Act

    Paraphrase of SPD leader Otto Wels' Reichstag speech, 23 March 1933, as reproduced in the German Bundestag historical exhibition, p2.

  • workers' mixed responses

    Paraphrase of a Central Germany report commissioned by the exiled Social Democratic leadership (Sopade), September 1938; published in GHDI.

  • Hitler's confidential memorandum on autarky, August 1936, GHDI

    Paraphrase of the concluding instructions in Hitler's confidential memorandum on autarky, August 1936, published in GHDI.

  • a Nazi election poster, July 1932

    An original poster drawn for these notes in the style of Nazi Party posters for the Reichstag election of 31 July 1932. It is not a copy of a real poster, but its promises match what Nazi posters of that campaign offered unemployed voters.

  • the Enabling Act, March 1933

    Extract from the "Law to remove the distress of people and State" (the Enabling Act), 24 March 1933, signed by President Hindenburg and Chancellor Hitler. English translation of document 2001-PS from Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, volume IV, published by the US Office of Chief Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality (1946); text from the Avalon Project.

  • the American ambassador reports, 30 June 1934

    Extract from a telegram from William Dodd, US Ambassador in Germany, to the Secretary of State, Berlin, 30 June 1934, 5 p.m., sent on the day the purge began. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1934, volume II, document 194. A US government document in the public domain.

  • the ambassador looks again, 2 July 1934

    Extract from a telegram from Ambassador Dodd to the Secretary of State, Berlin, 2 July 1934, two days later. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1934, volume II, document 197. A US government document in the public domain.

  • the German Foreign Minister explains, July 1934

    Extract from a telegram from Ambassador Dodd to the Secretary of State, Berlin, 6 July 1934, reporting what the German Foreign Minister, Konstantin von Neurath, told him. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1934, volume II, document 199. A US government document in the public domain.

The Wise Otter

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