Opposition to the Nazi Regime (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE History)

From 1933 to 1945, the Nazi Party received a high level of support, and there was conformity from the German people. Control over the distribution of information enabled the Nazis to communicate their beliefs and ideas to society. The Nazi Party used the police forces as a tool to spread fear and censor opposition. Hitler placed Nazi judges in court trials to fix the outcome of legal cases. The Nazis sent many political opponents to concentration camps.

Resistance came from all areas of society, even from inside Hitler’s armed forces. The majority of the opposition was private. It was incredibly dangerous to openly oppose the Nazi regime.

Both the Catholic and Protestant churches had members who opposed Nazi attempts to control Christianity. The Nazis sent many pastors and priests to concentration camps for speaking out against the Nazi Party. A section of the German Protestant community set up the Confessing Church in opposition to Nazi interference in the Church. 

While most of Germany’s young adults attended groups such as the Hitler Youth and League of German Maidens, some people hated the strictness and focus on military activities. The Swing Youth, Edelweiss Pirates and White Rose group demonstrated more physical, public and cultural resistance to the Nazi regime.

1943 marked a significant turning point. Germany was performing poorly in the Second World War. This increased opposition from more areas of society.

Trade unions

Hitler banned trade unions in 1933. Some trade unions operated illegally. They encouraged workers to stay off work sick or damage factory machinery. Some trade unions distributed leaflets that encouraged strikes

Political groups

The Social Democrats campaigned against the Nazis from abroad. Some Communists and left-wing parties met in secret and spread pamphlets, anti-Nazi newspapers and jokes about Hitler

The young

Youth groups formed in opposition to the Hitler Youth. The Swing Youth listened to jazz music, which Hitler had banned. The Edelweiss Pirates passively and violently resisted against the Hitler Youth. They went on camping trips and sang folk songs. The White Rose group published anti-Nazi leaflets

Conservatives

Officers like General Ludwig Beck secretly communicated with the British. Businessmen and upper classes met in secret in opposition to the Nazis. An example of this was the Kreisau Circle

The Church

After the Concordat failed, the Nazis targeted Catholic priests and shut down Catholic schools. The Reich Church was created to ‘Nazify’ the Protestant Church. Pastor Martin Niemöller created the Confessing Church against the Reich Church. Cardinal Galen led the Catholic opposition against the Nazi’s T-4 programme. Pope Pius XI denounced the Nazis as anti-Christian

German citizens

Some German citizens undertook small acts of opposition against the Nazis. Telling anti-Nazi jokes was common, even with the risk of being reported to the Gestapo. Some people refused to do the straight-armed salute or say ‘Heil Hitler’

Hitler continually ignored military advice and invaded Poland in September 1939. Canaris feared a repeat of the failure of the Schlieffen Plan. He attempted to persuade key army officials to join in a coup against Hitler

Canaris delayed the planned coup due to the war's progress. He remained in the Abwehr until 1944 when he was arrested and executed

By the summer of 1944, many army officials lost trust in Hitler’s leadership. They believed that killing Hitler would give Germany a better negotiating position. On 29th July, army officer Claus von Stauffenberg brought a briefcase containing a bomb into the key military headquarters of Wolf’s Lair, Rastenberg

Hitler only survived the assassination attempt because von Stauffenberg placed the briefcase behind the large wooden leg of the conference table. After the incident, Hitler ordered the execution of 4,900 Germans

“The assassination must be attempted, at any cost. Even should that fail, the attempt to seize power in the capital must be undertaken. We must prove to the world and to the future generations that the men of the German resistance movement dared to take the decisive step and to hazard their lives upon it. 

Compared with this, nothing else matters.”

A telegram sent to von Stauffenberg from Tresckow, a key plotter in Operation Valkyrie

The main youth opposition group in Germany. Members of the group in Cologne killed the Gestapo chief in 1944

In 1942, the German state arrested over 700 members. In response to the murder of the Gestapo chief, 12 members were publicly hanged

Formed at Munich University in 1943. They publicly opposed the Nazi government through leaflets and marches

Its leaders, Hans and Sophie Scholl, were arrested and executed by guillotine in 1943