Facts about the deal made between the Nazis and Catholic Church

1. Concordat with
the Vatican

2. Churches in Germany had a key
role in everyday German life.
Protestantism was more
common in the north whilst
Catholicism was generally
stronger in the south.
In gaining support from the
Catholic Centre Party for the
Enabling Act, Hitler had
promised to protect the
Catholic Church.

3. Over time Hitler was able to
take control of the many
different branches of the
Protestantism in Germany,
creating a new national faith
based around Nazism.
However as the Catholic
Church was a global and
powerful organisation, it was
harder to control them.

4. Hitler instead sought to work
with the Catholic Church, led by
Pope Pius XI.
The Pope agreed that the Centre
Party would be abolished and in
July 1933 both sides signed a
concordat to work together. The
Catholic Church promised to
stay out of politics, in return for
keeping its freedom.

5. In theory this meant that the
Church would continue to
control educational, youth and
other organisations.
Over time though the Nazis
began to change this. Parents
were pressured to not use faith
(Catholic) schools. In addition
many priests were put on trial,
often for false reasons.

6. Dealing with the Churches (of
all Christian faiths) posed
problems for the Nazis.
On the one hand they wanted to
control all aspects of society,
and the Churches were a
potential opposition. However
attacking the Churches often
caused public anger, which the
Nazis did not want.

7. Historians’ views
• Richard J Evans: Even though the Nazis would go back on their
promises in the Concordat, signing the deal stopped the
Catholic Church from facing even more extreme attacks
• Gregory Paul (an atheist writer): Argues that the Church was
at fault for signing the deal as it gave legitimacy to the Nazis,
describing it as a “classic political kickback scheme.”
• Geoff Layton: The Concordat was an initial success but masked
the Nazis’ ultimate plans to undermine the Church.