Hindenburg is on his side because when Hitler became the new chancellor of Germany on his first day as chancellor, Hitler manipulated Hindenburg into dissolving the Reichstag and calling for new elections he had wanted to be held on march 5, 1933. Later on, President Hindenburg had fallen under Hitler’s spell and was signing just about anything put in front of him. In the source Hindenburg must be receiving orders from Hitler etc.
However source D is a book published by a Nazi, it is biased, both sources must agree that that Hitler is strong and tough but on the other hand they are not talking about Hitler they are saying that even though the Nazis were arresting the communists because of the fire. The number of weapons was increasing.
So C + D don’t really agree on most the things but they have completely opposite meanings.
Q3. Study source D
Use the source and your own knowledge of the period to explain why the Nazis would want to publish a book like this one?
The book has been written by a Nazi therefore it is obvious that there will be a bad statement written in the book about the communists. In the source the figure on the right is described as Van De Lubbe. They show Van De Lubbe disgracefully, their main aim is to tell everyone that Van De Lubbe is the person who set fire to the Reichstag building including all the communists.
The Nazi’s really hate the communists and the Nazi’s will make any excuse to make other people hate them and get them punished. The Nazis will make any excuse to make other people hate them and get them punished. The Nazis exploited the torching of the Reichstag to describe the act as a manifestation of an attempted communist putsch and, on the basis of this allegation, to legitimize an all – out war against the communists.
The Nazis want to desperately win the elections so they made up many made – up stories to make people want to vote for them. They made stories and put them in newspapers to make sure that people hate the communists as much as they hate them.
I think that they also published this book to say that more people are getting armed and to remind people that Van De Lubbe is the one that needs to be killed and not only him but all the communists who were there at the scene of the crime, therefore they should all be killed. Which did in fact come true for Van De Lubbe, the communist arsonist, he was tried and convicted, then beheaded.
Q4. Study sources E, F and G.
Do sources E and G prove that Goering (source F) was telling lies? Explain your answer.
According to my research I think yes! The sources do prove that Goering was telling lies. Because of the fact that General Franz provided evidence on the Reichstag fire at the Nuremburg war crimes trial in 1946, states that “At a luncheon on the birthday of Hitler in 1942 the conversation turned to the topic of the Reichstag building and its artistic valve. I heard with my own eyes when Goering interrupted the conversation and shouted “The only one who really knows about the Reichstag is I, because I set it on fire!” with that he slapped his thigh with the flat of his hand.
Franz Halder actually heard him along with the ‘confession’ of Karl Ernst. After giving this confession (source G) Karl Ernst had been killed (maybe because of the confession). Two people confessed which makes it more likely that Goering was telling lies.
However Hermann Goering provided evidence on the Reichstag fire at the Nuremburg war crimes trial in 1946 he states
“I had nothing to do with it. I deny this absolutely. I can tell you in all honesty, that the Reichstag fire proved very inconvenient to us. After the fire I had to use the Kroll Opera seemed to me much more important than the Reichstag. I must repeat that no pretext was needed for taking measures against the communists. I already had a number of perfectly good reasons in the forms of murder etc.
Goering was a very tricky and cunning man he gave many clues to show that he is tricky and cunning and just cared about himself. In March 3, 1933. Hermann Goering said “I don’t have to worry about justice; my mission is only to destroy and exterminate nothing more!” he also said “Every bullet which leaves the barrel of a police pistol now is my bullet. If one calls this murder, then I have murdered. I order this. I back it up. I assume the responsibility, and I am not afraid to do so.”
These two statements show us that Goering just cares about himself; he is cunning and tricky so therefore the sources do show that Goering was telling lies.
Q5. Study sources H, I and J.
Do these sources make it more or less likely that the Nazis planned the fire? Explain your answer.
I think it makes it more likely because of the sources, there is evidence in source H that the Nazis said that they hoped to destroy the communists after the elections. They didn’t want to do anything before the elections because then they won’t get any votes and loose to the communists even though they were big enemies they didn’t want there enmity to get involved into the elections.
Source H is reliable because it is from a history book. A history book which contains facts. Same also goes for source I which is saying that it is impossible for one man who doesn’t know the place and is handicapped can light a really big fire on the Reichstag building all by himself. This source is reliable because it is from a factual history book.
Source J is showing us the remains of the Reichstag on the morning after the fire. This source is just showing us how it was, there is no evidence of who did it they are just accusing Van De Lubbe for no reason. The Nazis are doing this just to get back to the communists. After the fire Hitler claimed that it proved that that the communists were planning to take over the state. He proclaimed a state of emergency giving him wide powers. He imprisoned anti – Nazis and censured anti – Nazis newspapers. In the election the Nazis won 330 out of 647 seats. They used Van De Lubbe.
The sources do show that the Nazis planned the fire to help Hitler make Germany into a Nazi dictatorship which will be easy for him because Hindenburg is on his side 24/7.
Q6. Study the following interpretations of the Reichstag fire.
Van De Lubbe was a madman, and he set fire to the Reichstag all be himself, but the Nazis genuinely believed the fire was the start of a communist upspring.
The Reichstag fire was started by the Nazis to give them an excuse to take emergency powers and lock up or kill the communists, Van De Lubbe was used by the Nazis.
Which interpretation is best supported by the evidence in these sources and your own knowledge of the period? Explain your answer.
I think that the best interpretation that is best supported by the sources and my own knowledge is interpretation ii. I never chose the first one because of the fact that there were sources to prove about what Van De Lubbe did, but those sources are biased or unreliable. However Rudolf Diels did say that he thought that Van De Lubbe was a madman but he thought it so interpretation 1 is shown in a negative form.
I chose interpretation ii because of the fact that I had more information on it and sources and evidence to back up my point. The first reason of why I chose interpretation ii is because of the sources that give proof that the Reichstag fire was started by the Nazis such as sources H and I which tell us that the Nazis wanted to destroy the communists and will make any excuse to gat them punished or killed and that how can one man who was handicapped and didn’t know about the place just burn such a big building to bits its impossible. The sources H and I are not biased and are reliable and are shown in a positive form we can see this because it was from a factual history book which was published in 1974.
I also chose interpretation ii because I also had my own research to back up my points to say that interpretation ii is best supported by evidence. My evidence is that firstly, Seftan Delmer, daily express (23 February, 1933) claims to have said
“The arson of the German parliament building was allegedly the work of a communist- sympathizing Dutchman, Van De Lubbe .more probably; the fire was started by the Nazis, who used the incident as a pretext to outlaw political opposition and impose dictatorship.”
“This is a god-given signal! If this fire, as I believe, turns out to be the handy work of communists then there is nothing that shall stop us now crushing out this murder pest with an iron fist.” Adolf Hitler, Fascist chancellor of Germany, made this dramatic declaration in my presence tonight in the hall of the burning Reichstag fire.
This evidence shows that the Nazis definitely did start the fire and therefore used Van De Lubbe.
There are also many evidences such as Hitler being in the Reichstag at that time, Karl Ernst being killed, Goering saying loud that he set fire to the Reichstag and then denying it and many more…
The Nazis did the fire so they have a big name and has a higher dictatorship. Hitler wanted all fame. They thought they can win the public over and wanted more power. He wanted to get rid of the communists and wanted to have something against them. Hitler is very cunning he gets what he wants such as he wanted to be chancellor so he executed Von Schleicher so he could be one. Hitler also had a option of who he wants support of the army or the SA, he chose the SA because they weren’t a part of the police.
These evidences from the sources and my research do prove that the second interpretation is best supported with evidence.
Q7. Use the sources and your own knowledge of German history to explain why there has been so much disagreement over the Reichstag fire?
There are many reasons of why there has been so much disagreement over the Reichstag fire the main one is that who actually did put it on fire.
Firstly the situation is that Hitler is chancellor but Nazis are only a minority in the government. They crucially control the ministry of the interior of Prussia. This gives control of the police in two thirds of Germany to the Nazis.
What happened next was the Reichstag fire. Hitler and Goering arrive on the scene. Goering at once accuses the communists. The next day the ageing president signs a decree which allows the Nazis to suspend freedom of speech which they use to ban virtually the entire opposition press. Communists are arrested wholesale though the party is not banned until after the elections so that the left vote will remain split.
Later on were arguments of who did the fire it was confusing for some people because there were many suspects:
The communists:
Torgler, the chairman of the communist deputies to the Reichstag and a number of other communists are arrested including several Bulgarians. There is absolutely no evidence that they were involved and at the trial bought by the Nazis collapsed some months later the prosecution case collapsed for this reason.
Van De Lubbe:
Lubbe was guilty there is little doubt. Not only was he discovered on the spot he also proudly claimed of taking responsibilities for things he had not done. Van De Lubbe seems to have been suffering from a mental disorder that led him to seek both fame and the role of victim. But we don’t know if he acted alone however he did say in his trial “I can only repeat that I set fire to the Reichstag all by myself.”
The Reichstag fire was very cleverly done it had been planned and speedily done. Van De Lubbe was half blind due to an incident at work he had to read very closely. He barely showed any interest for himself and how can he do such a big thing like burning the Reichstag building. Lubbe did have a desperate desire for fame but never achieved it.
The Nazis:
The Nazi clearly gained and for that reason were the prime suspects from the first. However given Gemini was immediately plunged into a state of total dictatorship it was initially difficult to gather hard evidence. There is circumstantial evidence that points to the Nazis. First Van De Lubbe was, in the period, immediately before the fire in the clutches of a couple of SA men. Karl Ernst head of the SA in Berlin when asked by a fellow Dutch rightist whether his storm troopers were responsible for the fire answered “if I said yes, I’d be a bloody fool, if I said no I’d be a liar.”
The SA had access to incendiary materials as they made a habit of setting fire to election displays of rival political groups.
The German State:
The Nazis were in power, they directly controlled the police in Berlin. They could have used the state there self but there is no evidence for this and in any case the SA were to hand to the job. The evidence suggests the fire was the work of the Nazi party but not the state.
There are man suspects these are the main ones that is the whole reason of why there were many disagreements because there were many suspects.