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Germany:
The Treaty Of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after
World War One, in 1918. The treaty was signed at the vast
Versailles Palace, near Paris, between Germany and the Allies.
The Treaty of Versailles was supposed to ensure a lasting peace
by punishing Germany and setting up a League of Nations to solve
diplomatic/political problems. It was signed on the 28th June 1919.
The Big Three
The three most important politicians there were David Lloyd
George (Britain), Georges Clemenceau (France) and Woodrow
Wilson (America). Negotiations were difficult. Due to their different
aims, by 19th March it looked as though the conference was going
to break up.
Lloyd George saved the conference and with persuasion and
compromise, they all came to an agreement.
Lloyd George
+A 'just' peace that would be tough enough to please the electors
who wanted to 'make Germany pay', but would leave Germany
strong enough to trade.
+Land for Britain's empire.
+To safeguard Britain's naval supremacy.
Clemenceau
+Revenge and to punish Germany.
+To return Alsace-Lorraine to France.
+No League of Nations.
+An independent Rhineland.
+Huge reparations.
+To disband the German army so that Germany would never be
strong enough to attack France again.
Wilson
+To end war by creating a League of Nations based on his
Fourteen Points.
+To ensure Germany was not destroyed.
+Not to blame Germany for the war - he hated the Guilt Clause.
Blame
Had to take full
responsibility for
the war- due to
the War Guilt
Cause Act 231.
They blamed
the war on
Russia.
Could not join the
league of nations.
Land
Germany lost
13% of its landlost important
raw materials.
Why The Germans
Were Angry With
The Treaty Of
Versailles
Money
Had to pay
£6.6billion in
reparations/comp
ensation.
Left
feeling
powerless
No
negotiations
Were not
allowed to join
with Austria.
Arms
Army reduced to 100,000
men.
Navy cut to 15,000 sailors
and 6 battleships.
Could not have an air force.
Not allowed submarines.
No troops were allowed into
the Rhineland- a
demilitarised zone.
Which Extremist Political Group Was The Biggest Threat To The Weimar Republic?
Group
Who Were
They?
Why Did They
Attack?
What Happened?
How Successful Were They?
Danger
Rating!
1-5
The
Sparticists
(1919)
The Sparticist
League
A communist group
set up by Rosa
Luxemburg & Karl
Liebknecht.
Wanted a full-scale
communist Revolution- like
that of the Russian
Revolution in 1917.
Did not trust the new
Government.
Thought Friedrich Ebert
would not improve the lives
of working people.
Jan 1919- Workers protested
throughout Germany.
The Sparticists tried to turn it into a
revolution.
In Berlin they took over the
Government’s newspaper and telegraph
head quarters.
Protestors did not join to help take over
other buildings.
The Government ordered the army to
stop the uprising.
With help from the Freikorps (anticommunist ex-soldiers).
Over 100 workers killed.
Uprising was badly planned.
No support from other communist groups.
Freikorps captured and shot Rosa- her body was
dumped in a Berlin canal.
Karl was murdered.
Without its leaders, The Sparticists were defeated.
2
The Red
Army
(1920)
Groups of workers
led by a member of
the Communist
Party.
German workers were
angry over bad pay and
bad working conditions.
Workers had been
protesting throughout
Germany.
1920- Communist ‘Red Army 50,000
workers filled the Ruhr Region (one of
Germany’s main industrial areas)- took
control of its raw materials.
The German army and Freikorps
crushed the uprising.
1000+ workers were killed.
Weak leadership.
No clear plan.
Protests did not have enough support.
The Unrest never threatened the Weimar Government’s
control.
2
The Kapp
Putsch
(1920)
Freikorps units led
by Wolfgang Kapp.
1920- The Government
ordered that the Freikorps
brigaded be
disbanded/broken up.
The Government had little
use for them once the leftwing groups had been
crushed.
Around 12,000 Freikorps marched to
Berlin.
The Government was forced to flee.
Freikorps put forward Kapp as the new
leader of Germany.
Kapp+ Freikorps didn’t have much support.
In Berlin workers went on strike in protest at the Putschthis made it impossible for Kapp to rule.
After 4 days, Kapp fled from Berlin and Ebert’s
Government returned.
4
The Nazi
Party
(1923)
Nazi Party led by
Adolf Hitler and
General
Ludendorff(a
popular war hero
who had been
involved in the
Kapp Putsch).
The Nazis had
55,000 members
and its own private
army- SA.
Adolf Hitler + The Nazi
Party believed that
democracy led to weak
government.
They thought that there
should be only one political
party, with only 1 leader.
Planned to take over the Government
and to make General Ludendorff the
leader of Germany.
It all started in Munich.
Hitler and 600 SA soldiers burst into a
meeting where the leader of Bavaria
(Kahr) was speaking.
They forced Kahr to promise to support
their plan.
Not properly planned.
Kahr was allowed to leave the beer hall and the next
day he withdrew his support.
The German Government responded quickly ordered
the army to crush the revolt.
When armed Nazis marched to a Military Base in
Munich they were met by armed police and soldiers.
Fighting followed and 14 Nazis were killed.
The leaders of the Putsch were arrested.
Hitler was sentenced to 5 years in prison. He was
released after just 9 months.
The Nazis nearly fell apart without their leader.
4
Political Problems: The Constitution
Proportional Representation- All votes were counted up centrally to
divide the seats fairly between parties.
Article 48- A clause that gave the president of the Weimar
Republic the right to dismiss parliament and rule by himself if he
decided there was a ‘state of emergency’.
Left Wing
Right Wing
Invasion Of The Ruhr
+ French and Belgian troops invaded the Ruhr in January 1923.
+ They would get their reparations by taking German goods.
+ The Germans could not use force so they used passive
resistance.
+ French soldiers shot German civilians and made 150,000 people
homeless.
Hyperinflation
Communist
Part (KPD)
German
Democrat
Party (DDP)
Social
Democrat
Party (SPD)
People’s
Party (DVP)
Central Party
(Zentrum)
National
National Socialist
People’s German
Party Workers Party
(DNVP) (NSDAP)
Communist Views:
+ Belief that the nation should own all factories/profit making
companies.
+ That wealth should be shared equally- everyone is equal.
+ Put the good of society before the individual.
Fascists/Nazi Views
+ Nationalistic- Put the good of the nation before the individual.
+ Believe in a strong leader.
+ Believe that your nation is better than others.
+ Need for armed forces to defend your nation.
+ Believe that individuals should be able to make as much money
as they like to become very rich.
Both
+ Believe that your party should control the media.
+ Belief that your party should have the power to detain/lock up
individuals who threaten your beliefs.
+ Believe that only your party should exist.
+ With workers on strike, shortages quickly developed and priced
soared.
+ The Government printed money so people could by food and
prices rose out of control.
+ Millions of Germans faced starvation, particularly middle classes
and pensioners.
+ The worst affected were those on pensions, fixed incomes and
those with savings in the bank.
+ By August 1923, Germany’s economy had collapsed.
Problems With The Weimar Government
+ Invasion of the Ruhr.
+ Treaty Of Versailles.
+ Extreme political violence.
+ Stab in the back.
+ Hyperinflation.
-In
-The
-End
-Stood
-Hitler
Acronym to
remember
To What Extent Did Stresemann Solve The Problems Facing The Weimar Republic?
Problem
Stresemann’s Policy
Positive Results
Hyperinflation
Acted quickly.
Old money was replaced by the
‘Rentenmark’.
Old notes were
recalled/collected and burned.
New currency was accepted by the German
people.
Inflation was brought under control.
French Invasion Of The
Ruhr
Called of passive resistance
because they could not force the
French to leave the Ruhr- this
created serious problems
because they promised to keep
up reparations to France.
The French left the Ruhr.
Very unpopular policy in Germany.
Lots of opposition to it- especially from right-wing extremists who
claimed it was a sign of a weak government and that Stresemann had
‘given in’ .
Germany is not trusted
by other countries
Decided to cooperate with other
European countries.
Accepted that Germany could
not reclaim the land they lost
from the Treaty of Versailles.
He hoped that he would change
the terms of the treaty.
1925- Stresemann signed the Locarno
Pacts- these were a series of treaties in
Britain, France, Belgium, Italy in which they
promised to not invade one another.
1926- Germany joined the League of
Nations. This gave Germany great power
status and therefore this meant that
Germany could have a say in major
decisions that had to be made.
1926- Stresemann was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize.
Some said, ‘Stresemann is weak’ by saying that Germany would not
try to regain the land it had lost.
Once again, had ‘given in’ to France.
Some army generals believed that Stresemann should have built up
the army instead and tried to regain the land it lost due to the Treaty of
Versailles.
Germany is facing
huge reparations
Stresemann realised he couldn’t
force the allies to change the
treaty.
Promised to pay the reparations.
Hoped that the allies would
lower the payments in the future.
The Dawes Plan of 1924 recognised how
Germans had to pay reparations. Germany
was given longer to pay by the allies.
1929- Young Plan lowered the amount
Germany had to pay in reparations from
132,000million to 37,000million marks.
Dawes Plan did not reduce the amount of money Germany had to pay.
Opponents of the Weimar Republic called the Dawes Plan a ‘Second
Versailles’.
Young Plan was hated by many Germans who thought that Germany
should not have to pay reparations at all.
Under the terms of the Young Plan, Germany would be paying
reparations until 1988.
Germany needs to
rebuild its economy
Stresemann organised big loans
for Germany from the USA- this
was part of the Dawes Plan.
The German Government used the money
to improve housing, hospitals, schools and
roads.
Loans were given to private German firms.
Many US firms set up factories in Germany.
Pensions and wages rose.
The German economy was very dependent on the US economy.
Problems in the US would later cause massive problems in Germany.
Stresemann admitted that Germany was ‘dancing on a volcano’.
Wages did not rise for everyone.
Farmers lost out because food prices stayed low.
By 1929, farm workers earned only half of the national average.
Many farmers were very angry and started to support extreme groups,
such as Nazis who offered to help them.
Unemployment never fell below 1 million.
From 1928, unemployment started to rise even higher.
Rich people in Germany had to pay higher taxes. They complained
that the Government was spending too much money on helping the
poor and unemployed.
Negative Results
Germans never forgot hyperinflation.
People with savings were never compensated and therefore felt
cheated and blamed the Weimar Republic.
How Germany Recovered While
Under Stresemann
Problems Still In Weimar:
+ Huge spending on welfare and health care- it was too expensive.
+ Unemployment was rising.
+ From 1927 exports were falling.
+ Weimar culture angered extremist groups (they wanted to
abolish the Treaty of Versailles)
+ Economic prosperity and stability was based on foreign loans.
+ There was a depression in farming. Many farmers were in debt.
+ By 1928 there were serious disputes between worker and trade
unions.
Weimar Recovered:
+ Gradual rise in the standard of living.
+ Culture flourished- Marlene Dietrich, Brecht, Grosz.
+ People had more freedom than under the Kaiser.
+ Foreign countries were prepared to invest money in Germany.
+ Extremist political parties lost votes.
+ In 1926 Stresemann won the Nobel Peace Prize.
+ Germany was welcomed back into the international community
and the League of Nations.
+ The public voted for moderate parties.
The Advantages Of Stresemann’s Policy
+ French were persuaded to leave the Ruhr.
+ Rentenmark replaced the old mark.
+ Economic stability.
+ Dawes Plan brought in loans from America.
+ Young Plan lowered reparations.
+ Inflation was under control.
+ Foreign affairs. Better relationships with other countries.
+ Political reforms/changes and amendments.
+ Strength at the centre of the country.
The Wall Street Crash
+ October 1929- Share prices began to fall on the Wall Street
Stock Exchange.
+ Falling shared meant that people’s investments fell in value.
+ Worried about losing money, people rushed to sell their shares
before the value fell any further.
+ On ‘Black Thursday’, 24th October 1929, 13million shares were
sold.
+ The panic selling made things worse and sent prices even lower.
+ Shares worth $20,000 in the morning were worth $100 by the
end of the day’s trading.
+ Within a week, investors had lost $4million.
The Effects Of The Great Depression
+ People lost everything- Homes, food, savings...
+ The number of exports decreased.
+ Factories closed.
+ Prices of necessities went up.
+ Decrease in industrial production.
+ Anger and violence on the streets.
+ Farmers suffered even more.
+ People lost faith in the Government.
+ Young people struggled to find work.
+ 6million workers were unemployed ( 4 out of 10 German
workers).
+ Unemployment.
+ Nazis gained in popularity.
+ The Government cut employment benefits and increased taxes.
+ Germany needed to repay their loan quickly.
The Nazis
Area Of Research
Evidence
Leadership
+ Who was Hitler?
+ Background
+ Was he a good leader?
Hitler- Austrian. Disliked his dad but was fond of his mum. Both parents died before he was 19. Hated
school- shy and lonely. Failed to get into art school. Spent time homeless. Joined the German army.
Injured twice in WW1 and continued to work for the army when the war ended. Discovered the Nazis
through his work as a spy and liked their ideas.
Good leader- he was a good speaker, knew the best tactics and took on various roles. He was very
charismatic and strong minded.
Beliefs
+ What did they stand for?
+ Destroy the Treaty of Versailles
+ Only true Germans allowed to live in Germany- no Jews
+ Help for small businesses
+ Change education- children taught to love their country, physical fitness to be encouraged, sport and
gymnastics must be compulsory.
+ Join with Austria
+ Stop immigration.
+ Good pensions
+ Stop incomes not earned through work
Organisation
+ Was the Nazi Party well organised?
Yes. They focused on various aspects of gaining control and did so in an orderly, well-structured
manner.
+ Meetings
+ Speeches
All carefully
+Propaganda
planned.
+ SA
Hitler realised that they had to do things properly and with less force in order to get the status je
wanted for the party.
Support
+ Who supported the party?
+ How much support did they get?
Although their votes doubled between 1923-1928, the Nazis were still only getting under 3% of overall
votes.
People were often either pleased with Stresemann or wanting big changes and voted for the
Communist Party.
Nazis were the most successful with farmers and owners of small businesses. These people had
struggled hugely recently and therefore had started to turn to the Nazis who’d promised to help and
support them.
Farmers, small business owners, ex-soldiers...
Propaganda
+ 1928- Hitler chose Josef Goebbels to run the Nazi Ministry of
Propaganda. Goebbels took control of all mass media and ensures
newspapers and posters carried the strong, simple slogans of the
Nazis. Through censorship, he was able to prevent Germans from
hearing any conflicting messages.
Newspapers
+ Anti-Nazi newspapers were shut down.
+ Jews were banned from owning and working for newspapers.
+ MPs sent the remaining newspapers instructions telling them
what to print, what pictures should be published and what angle
they should take on the news.
+ In public places, display boards were set up so that everyone
could read these newspapers.
Rallies
+ Nazis always presented an image of order and control to
German people- from the uniforms, meetings, torchlight
processions and rallies.
+ Once in power, they made their rallies even more impressive.
+ A huge stadium at Nuremberg was specially built for them.
+ Goebbels stage-managed these rallies to give a dramatic
impression of overwhelming power and unity.
Books
+ As soon as they came to power, the Nazis organised official
book-burnings: books were burned in public on massive bonfires.
+ They burned: books by communists and socialists, books by
Jews, books by anyone they disapproved of and books containing
ideas they disapproved of.
+ By burning them, they prevented German people from reading
and thinking beyond the Nazi message.
+ All new books published had to be censored by Goebbels’s
Ministry.
Radio
+ Goebbels took over all radio broadcasting.
+ Regular programmes included Hitler’s speeches, German music
and German history- Foreign programmes couldn’t be picked up.
+ Cheap radios were made so that as many Germans as possible
could listen to Nazi propaganda.
+ By 1939: 70% of Germans owned a radio.
+ Large speakers were set up in public squares all over Germany
and people were encouraged to listen to important radio
programmes and announcements.
Films
+ 1930s: The cinema was popular in most countries.
+ Goebbels controlled all German made films.
+ Most were adventure stories, comedies or romances.
+ There was always a newsreel film, News Of The Week.
+ The newsreels were made by Goebbels’s film-makers and
shown before the main films.
+ Goebbels ordered openly pro-Nazi films to be made and with
strict control of the scripts.
How Hitler Ended Up With Power
Fire of the Reichstag
Elections
Enabling Law
Trade Unions taken over
Banned all other political parties
Long Knives (Night Of The Long Knives)
Army oath
Death of Hindenburg
Fire of the Reichstag 27th February 1933
+ The Reichstag building was destroyed by fire.
+ Marinus Van der Lubbe, a Dutch communist, was found at the
scene.
+ Nazis claimed that it was the start of a communist plot to take
over Germany.
+ That night- 4,000 communist leaders were arrested.
+ Next day- Hitler got Hindenburg to grant him EMERGENCY
POWERS- this gave police the power to hold people with no time
limit and without trial.
+ Thousand who opposed the Nazis were arrested.
+ Nazis banned meetings held by political opponents and closed
down their newspapers.
New Elections 5th March 1933
+ Nazis used police and SA to pressurise political opponents.
+ More than 50 opponents were killed, with many more injured.
+ The Nazis used radios to broadcast their anti-communist
messages.
+ This helped the Nazis achieve their best ever election result44% of the vote.
The Enabling Law 24th March 1933
+ Hitler wanted an Enabling Law. This would give him the power to
pass laws without the Reichstag or President.
+ All the power was in his hands.
+ Hitler needed 2/3 of Reichstag to support it.
+ They did need persuading to give up their power.
-How:
- The Communist Party were banned from voting.
-Centre Party were persuaded to vote in favour of the law- Hitler
promised to protect the Catholic Church.
- Only social democrats voted against it.
+ The Enabling Law was passed by 444 voted to 94.
+ The Weimar Republic and democracy it brought was ended.
+ The Reichstag had vote itself out of existence.
+ Germany was a dictatorship.
+ All decisions were made by Hitler and his closest advisers.
Trade Unions taken over 2nd May 1933
+ Trade Union offices were taken over.
+ Union leaders were arrested.
+ All trade unions were merged into one organisation- the new
German Labour Front (DAF).
+ DAF was controlled by the Nazis.
All Political Parties Banned July 1933
+ A law was introduced whereby people were banned from forming
new political parties.
+ By this time, Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party
were banned.
+ Other political parties were broken up.
+ The new law meant that no new parties could be set up to
challenge the Nazis.
+ There was now only one party in Germany.
Night Of The Long Knives 29th-30th June 1934
+ By 1934: Hitler was concerned over the SA’s increasing power- it
had 3million members and wanted control of the army.
+ Ernst Rohm was a potential rival.
+ Hitler also needed to reassure the army. The army was smaller
than the SA but it was well trained and disciplined. It was an
organisation with the power to overthrow Hitler.
+ Army leaders feared that the SA would take over and resented
the violence they used.
+ The army was supported by powerful businessmen who wanted
Hitler to grow the army and buy new weapons.
+ On the night: SA leaders were dragged from their beds, taken to
Nazi headquarters and shot dead.
+ Rohm was arrested. When he refused to commit suicide, he was
shot in prison.
+ The night sent a warning message to the rest of Germany about
how ruthless Hitler was in his pursuit of power.
Army Oath August 1934
+ The army took a personal oath to Hitler .
+ Hitler was now the supreme commander of the armed forces.
+ All German soldiers swore to obey Hitler and to risk their lives at
ay time.
Death of Hindenburg 2nd August 1934
+ When Hindenburg died, Hitler made himself president as well as
chancellor.
+ Hitler was now the absolute head of the Government.
Nazi Policies Towards The Youth In Germany
Education
+ Everyone had to attend school until the age of 14, after that,
schooling was optional.
+ Boys and girls were taught at separate schools.
Teachers
+ Teachers had to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler and had to join
the Nazi Teacher’s League.
+ Teachers had to promote Nazi ideals in the classroom.
Curriculum
+ The curriculum changed to prepare students,
+ Lots of PE.
+ Boys were prepared for the military.
+ Girls were prepared for being good wives, mothers and
homemakers.
+ New subjects were introduced, such as race studies.
+ Children were taught how to measure their skulls to clarify racial
types. Anyone who was Aryan was classed as the superior race.
Textbook
+ They were written to fit Nazi views of history and racial purity.
+ Mein Kampf was a standard textbook.
Lessons
+ Each lesson started and finished with ‘Heil Hitler’.
+ There was a Nazi theme to every subject.
+ Maths problems dealt with social issues.
+ Geography taught about hostile neighbours.
+ In history lesson, children were taught about the evils of
communism and the Treaty of Versailles.
Eugenics
+ Race studies.
+ How to improve their race.
+ Nazi beliefs on the inferiority of black people, eastern Europeans
and Jewish people.
The Ideal Nazi Woman
+ Aryan
+ Flat shoes
+ Natural hair
+ Simple image
+ No makeup
+ No trousers
+ No smoking
+ Young
+ Healthy
+ Christian
+ Fertile
+ The 3 Ks- Children, Church & Cooking/ Kinder, Kirche & Küche
+ Women would receive certain medals the more they had.
+ Women could visit Lebensborns where they could be
impregnated by a strong, Aryan soldier.
Nazi Oppositions & How Successful They Were
Group
What They Did?
How much of a threat were they?
White Rose Group
+ Protested to encourage sabotage.
+ Anti-Nazi messages, leaflets, posters and graffiti.
+ Summer 1942, Jan-Feb 1943
+ Small group of students
+ Led by Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christopher
Probst
+Little support
+ Weak methods
+ Didn’t last very long, methods weren’t successful
Edelweiss Pirates
+ Working class young people
+ Couple of hundred people at most
+ Avoided Hitler Youth meetings
+ Having fun
+ 1938-1944
+ Songs, sex, Hitler jokes, drinking alcohol
+ Some beat up Nazis
+ Didn’t do anything threatening
+ Just a bit of teenage fun
+ Wasn’t a huge group
+ Not very influential
Army Officers
+ Group of army officers
+ Wanted to replace Hitler and seize power
+ Attempted to assassinate Hitler
+ 1943-1944
+ Got very close to Hitler
+ Had a number of attempts
+ Were nearly successful
The Churches
+ 22million Catholic people
+ 40million Protestants
+ Largest non-Nazi group
+ Encouraged people not to mix politics and religion
+ Baptisms, marriages, funerals
+ 2/3 children attended a church school
+ Lots of support
+ Largest non-Nazi organisation
+ Strong willed (faith) and therefore extremely determined
+ Socialist Party+ Communist Party+ trade unionists
+ Huge organisation- millions
+ Wanted the restoration of democracy, free speech and
workers’ democratic rights, workers’ revolution
+ Secret meetings, strikes, leaflets and anti-Nazi graffiti
+ Lots of support
+ Didn’t do anything huge
+ Not very successful
+ Not really harmful
Former Political
Opponents
Policies Introduced To Reduce Unemployment
1933- 6,014,000
1934- 3,773,000
1935- 2,974,000
1936- 2,520,000
1937- 1,853,000
1938- 1,052,000
1939- 302,000
The reduction in
unemployment from
1933 to 1939
The Labour Service Corps
+ A scheme to get young men into manual labour work.
+ From 1935: compulsory for men between the ages of 18-25 to
serve for 6 months.
+ Workers lived in camps.
+ Wore uniforms.
+ Low pay.
+ Had to take part in military drill and work.
Job Creation Scheme
+ First spent billions on them.
+ 1934-18.4billion
+ 1939- 37.1billion
+ Massive road building programme to provide Germany with
7,000km of motorway.
+ Gave private firms some money- especially in the construction
industry.
Invisible Unemployment
+ Hid some figures to make unemployment rates look better.
+ Didn’t include certain people:
- Jews who had been sacked from work
- Unmarried men under the age of 25 in the National Labour Scheme
- Women who had been dismissed from work
- Women who left work to marry
-Nazi opponents in concentration camps
+ Figures included part-time workers as full-time employees.
Rearmament
+ Determined to build up armed forces (in preparation for the
future).
+ In turn, this reduced unemployment.
Extra
+ 1933: army of 100,000
+ 1939: army of 1,400,000
+ Heavy industry increased to meet the needs of rearmament.
+ Coal and chemicals doubled from 1933-1939
+ Oil, iron and steel trebled
+ Billions were spent on making tanks, aircrafts and ships
+ 1933: 3.5billion on rearmament
+ 1939: 2.6billion on rearmament
The KDF: Strength Through Joy Movement
+ Set up in Nazi Germany to ensure that all parts of a worker’s free
time was well spent.
+ It organized after-work activities, holidays and leisure time.
+ Had two main purposes: to make sure that no one had too much
time to get involved in activities against the state and to make it so
that within Nazi Germany, workers were grateful to the Nazis for
giving them opportunities, like activities and holidays.
+ Before the Nazis, they would not have been able to afford it all.
Better Or Worse Off?
+ Wages rose (Avg. 1932: 86marks- 1938: 109marks)
+ Organised the improvements of working conditions- Beauty Of
Work
+ Opportunities to take part in activities and to go on trips
+ Volkswagen Scheme- Opportunity to get a car through payment
instalments
-Nazis stopped helping many people once they had power
- People never did get the Volkswagen they were promised
- Cost of living rose
- Had to work longer hours
- Labour Front Camps- Early get up, long days, military drill and
work, tiring, bad pay, too much physical activity and little free time
- People could rarely afford the better trips and activities
- No trade unions: couldn’t protest, negotiate for better pay. They
could simply be sent to concentration camps
The Effects Of Policies On School Children
+ Aryans and non-Aryans split
+ Jewish children were humiliated
+ Jews described horribly by teachers + schoolbooks + pictures
etc.
+ Jewish children expelled
+ Stereotypical vision of Jewish people was displayed
This Led To:
+ Children scared of Jews
+ Jewish children left feeling humiliated
+ Aryans and non-Aryans wouldn’t have mixed as much
+ Awful images of Jews were printed in childrens’ heads- scaring
them and left them having certain views and expectations
The Labour Service Corps
+ A scheme to get young men into manual labour work.
+ From 1935: compulsory for men between the ages of 18-25 to
serve for 6 months.
+ Workers lived in camps and wore uniforms.
+ Low pay.
+ Had to take part in military drill and work.
Job Creation Scheme
+ First spent billions on them.
+ 1934-18.4billion
+ 1939- 37.1billion
+ Massive road building programme to provide Germany with
7,000km of motorway.
+ Gave private firms some money- especially in the construction
industry.
Invisible Unemployment
+ Hid some figures to make unemployment rates look better.
+ Didn’t include certain people:
- Jews who had been sacked from work
- Unmarried men under the age of 25 in the National Labour Scheme
- Women who had been dismissed from work
- Women who left work to marry
-Nazi opponents in concentration camps
+ Figures included part-time workers as full-time employees.
How Nazi Policies Affected Jewish People
+ Destruction of shops and businesses + Decrease in customers
+ Civil servants sacked
+ Banned from doing professional jobs
+ ‘Jude’ written on the windows of Jewish businesses to put
people off
+ No Jews allowed to do Government jobs
+ No Jews in the army
+ Jews couldn’t vote
+ Had to register all of their possessions
+ ‘J’ on their passports
+ Councils banned them from certain places
+ Jewish children banned from schools and universities
+ School textbooks + teacher influences
+ No Jews allowed in restaurants
+ ‘Isreal’ put before Jewish mens’ names and ‘Sarah’ put before
Jewish womens’ names
The Nuremberg Laws:
+ No Jews allowed to be German citizens
+ German blood- German citizenship
+ No relationships allowed between Jews and non-Jews
Deportation 1939:
+ Lots of people felt they needed to leave Germany because life
was so bad
+ Germany made it very difficult to leave- took all of their
possessions of them if they wanted to leave
+ Many were forced to leave to (people who the Nazis did not like)
Kristallnacht ht ‘Night Of The Broken Glass
+ 9th November 1938 an angry young Jewish student shot a
German diplomat in Paris.
+ As revenge, Nazi leaders encouraged people to attack German
Jews and smash up their shops, homes and synagogues.
+ Police were told not to intervene.
+ 91 Jews were dead
+ Many streets littered with broken glass.
+ The following months: 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to
concentration camps- life was about to get a whole lot worse!
Other Groups Which Were Persecuted
Sterilisation Law:
+ Allowed Nazis to sterilise (stop them from being able to have
children) people with certain illnesses, like mental illnesses,
hereditary diseases and physical disabilities. ‘Simple mindedness’
and ‘chronic alcoholism’.
+ 1934-1945: nearly 700,000 men and women compulsorily
sterilised.
Concentration Camps:
+ ‘Undesirables’ sent to concentration camps
+ Prostitutes, homosexuals and juvenile delinquents
+ 1938: Gypsies, tramps and beggars added to the list
Euthanasia Camps:
+ From 1939: Nazis started to secretly exterminate the mentally ill
in the euthanasia campaigns.
+ Roughly 6,000 disabled babies, children and teenagers were
murdered by starvation or lethal injection
Gypsies
+ Around 30,000 in Germany
+ Disliked because they were non-Aryan, threat to racial purity,
homeless and workshy
+ 1935: Nazis banned Germans and gypsies from marrying
+ 3 years later: Decree for the ‘Struggle against the Gypsy Plague’
was issued- All Gypsies had to register with authorities.
Nazis wanted ideal Germans who were ‘socially useful’. They had
a job and contributed to the state.