Tackling document questions at AS

Hitler, Röhm and the SA, 1934
by Dr David Williamson

An important component in both the new and old A Levels is the source paper. In the AS Level it is worth 40 per cent of the total marks awarded for the exam.

Compared to your GCSE papers it is a short exam of just one hour and 15 minutes, but there is a lot to do in it! You will be given up to five documents varying between five and 15 lines each, although one may well be a cartoon or picture. The total mark for the whole paper is 30 and the marks for each question progress from three to 12.

1. The first requirement is to know your subject. If you are studying the Third Reich, for example, make sure that you have revised the syllabus thoroughly, as the documents set you in the exam will cover some key aspect of the course. Without having a good background knowledge, you will not be able to interpret the documents effectively.

2. Read through the documents in the exam paper carefully. They usually contain several different points. Note the mark allocation, as it indicates how much you should write. Each question also tells you which document(s) it is asking you to analyse. Only bring in information from the other documents if it is relevant, or tests the reliability of the document you are evaluating. If you are asked to use your own knowledge as well, you are expected to use relevant background information from your course.

 

1. Accurate comprehension. This is the basis of all interpretive skills. You need to understand what the sources are saying. Are they a factual account, propaganda or satire?

2. Evaluation. This means making an assessment of the evidence in a document. Ask yourself what the particular document you are studying actually shows and how reliable is it as a source. For instance where does it come from and what is its date? Use your background knowledge and, if relevant, the other documents, to check its reliability and utility, for example, what use is it to you in solving the question you are asked? A satirical cartoon may be helpful in shedding light on why a particular policy is unpopular. Similarly, a government propaganda document can indicate what a government wants to hide. In evaluating a cartoon or picture, ask yourself what is the overall message the artist wants to communicate. Then go on to see what it tells you about the events and people portrayed.

The following documents are from the period June 1933 to July 1934 and relate to the mounting tension between Hitler and Röhm which led to the ‘Night of the Long Knives’, 30 June/1 July 1934.

Source 1. From a newspaper article by Ernst Röhm in June 1933.

Already here and there Philistines and grumblers are daring to ask in astonishment what the SA and SS are still there for, since Hitler is now in power. We are, after all, they point out, nationalist again. Swastika flags fly over the streets. There is law and order everywhere. And, if it is disturbed, the police will take care that it is restored as quickly as possible.

 

Source 2. From Hitler's speech to the Reich Governors on 6 July 1933.

More revolutions have succeeded in their first assault than, once successful, have been brought to a standstill and held there. Revolution is not a permanent state, it must not develop into a lasting state. The full spate of revolution must be guided into the secure bed of evolution. … A businessman must not therefore be dismissed if he is a good businessman even if he is not yet a good National Socialist; especially not if the National Socialist put in his place knows nothing about business.

 

Source 3. From a report sent to Hitler by Blomberg, the Minister of War, on 30 February 1934.

I feel obliged to refer again to the significance of the armed staff guards of the SA. According to an order of the Chief of staff [of the SA] every ... group is to set up its own armed staff guards with a heavy machine gun company. This has already begun in certain areas. According to a report by the Commander of Military District VI, leaders of SA brigades are planning the formation of such a staff guard as well and are swearing in SA people for 1-1/2 years for that purpose.

 

Source 4. From a speech by von Papen to the University of Marburg on 17 June 1934.

No nation that would survive before history can afford a permanent uprising from below. At some stage the movement must come to an end; at some point there must emerge a firm structure held together by a legal system secure against pressure and by a state power that is unchallenged.

 

Source 5. A cartoon from the Evening Standard, 3 July 1934, with the caption written below 'They salute with both hands now'.

1. Study Source 2. What does Hitler mean by ‘revolution is not a permanent state’?  
(3 marks)

This question tests your comprehension of the document. Much of the answer lies in the text, but to achieve the top level mark you need to understand the background of the document. Thus, you need to explain briefly that Hitler wanted to control the radical demands of the SA and party activists and so slow down the pace of change from ‘revolution’ to a more orderly ‘evolution’, as he needed time to consolidate power before making any fresh changes.

2. Study Source 3. Use your own knowledge to explain why Blomberg was so worried by the prospector ‘the armed staff guards of the SA’. (4 marks)

The task here is to explain a key issue while using one source as a stimulus. The issue which this document is concerned with is the growing rivalry between Röhm and the Generals, who feared that the SA would become the new Nazi army. To achieve the top level with 3-4 marks you must explain briefly the origins of the rivalry between the Army and SA, show how it became one of the key issues between Röhm and Hitler and how other Nazis, Göring, Himmler and Hess, for example, wanted Röhm eliminated and so were playing on the fears of the Army about the SA’s ambitions.

3. Study Sources 2 and 4. Does a study of these sources offer support for the view that Hitler failed to stop the ‘second revolution’ until June 1934? (6 marks)

This question tests your skill to evaluate the light that two different documents shed on a historical issue. Here you must show by a comparison of the two texts how Hitler failed to reassure von Papen and by extension Conservative/Nationalist Germany that he had Röhm under control. Yet Röhm himself felt betrayed by Hitler’s refusal to back him. The candidate who reaches the top level (5-6 marks) will have evaluated both sources and put them into the context of the developing struggle between Hitler and Röhm. He/she will also show how Papen in effect criticised Hitler for not doing what he said he would do in Document 2 - ‘guide revolution into the secure bed of evolution’. He feared that Hitler could not control Röhm.

4. Study Sources 1 and 5. Assess the value of these sources to a historian studying the reasons why Hitler had Röhm and the top SA leadership eliminated. (6 marks)

The examiner is testing you here on the evaluation of the utility and reliability of two very different sources. To gain a top level mark (5/6) you must give a balanced answer which looks at both documents. Source 1 is of value as it shows how critical Röhm is of those who believe that the Nazi revolution is over. It thus reveals the key issue that ultimately leads to Röhm’s elimination. Source 5, being a cartoon, is a very different document, but it comments from a foreign perspective on the end result of the disagreement between Hitler and Röhm. You should stress the value or ‘utility’ of this cartoon by indicating that it shows the line-up against the SA - Hitler, Göring, Goebbels and the Army. However, also indicate what it does not show. There is no hint about the pressure brought to bear on Hitler by von Papen, for instance.

5. Using these sources and any other evidence known to you explain why Hitler was so anxious to avoid a ‘second revolution’. (12 marks)

This answer is in effect an essay. Make sure that you have left sufficient time to answer it (20 minutes at least). You will need to think carefully how to plan your answer and what background knowledge you will use. To reach the highest mark level (10-12) you will need to develop a sustained and integrated argument based on analysis of the sources and your own knowledge in which you show that you understand why Hitler needed the Army and the industrialists for rearmament. He also had to keep the support of the Conservatives and Nationalists at least until President Hindenburg had died because he aimed to take over the Presidency himself. You must then explore why the ideas of Röhm and the party activists were feared so much by the Army, industrialists and Conservatives and how, as von Papen’s Marburg speech indicated, this could alienate them from the Nazi regime. In conclusion, your essay must be well organised, coherent and have an overall sense of direction with few spelling and grammatical mistakes!

The documents come from Nazism, Vol 1, ed J. Noakes and G. Pridham, Exeter University Press, 1998, pp 168, 170-1, 173, 175.

Dr David Williamson is the author of several texts including War and Peace. International Relations, 1914-45, Hodder & Stoughton, 1994, and Bismarck and Germany, Longman, 1997.