Download GERMANY: Key points

GERMANY: Key points
Still to come:
•Women in Nazi
Germany
•The Holocaust
The end of the First World War and
the start of the Weimar Republic
1918
The First World War ended. Germany lost. Britain, France and the USA won.
The Kaiser (king) of Germany left and Germany became a republic.
Many soldiers blamed the politicians for surrendering and called it the ‘stab in the back’
There were elections and the first President was Friedrich Ebert.
1919
Fighting in Berlin between Communists and Nationalists.
Communists (Spartacists) wanted a workers’ revolution. They tried to take control but their leaders
(Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht) were murdered by nationalists.
Nationalists (the Freikorps) wanted to bring back a strong leader like the Kaiser. Led by Wolfgang
Kapp they tried to take control but failed when the workers went on strike.
Berlin was so dangerous the government left the city and met in Weimar.
They made the rules for the new republic. It was known as the Weimar Republic.
The Treaty of Versailles.
The winners in the war punished Germany.
Germany had to accept blame for the war.
Germany had to lose land and most of its armed forces.
Germany had to pay a lot of money every year (reparations).
The crisis in 1923
The Occupation of the Ruhr and Hyperinflation.
Germany could not pay reparations to France… SO
France sent its army into the Ruhr, an industrial part of Germany… SO
German workers in the Ruhr went on strike… SO
The German government printed money to pay its workers… SO
The value of German money went down and down. Prices went up and up. Hyperinflation.
Gustav Stresemann, the new Chancellor, solved the problem. He changed the money
system and borrowed lots of money from the USA. The Dawes Plan.
The Munich Beer Hall Putsch.
Adolf Hitler tried to take power in the city of Munich.
He failed and went to prison. There he wrote his book ‘My Struggle’.
The ‘Golden Twenties’
1924-29
Things seemed to be going better in Germany. Stresemann made deals with France, Britain and the
USA and the German economy began to grow. Berlin became a big arts and entertainment centre.
Hitler’s Nazi Party did not get much support. However he and the other Nazi leaders began building
their party.
They decided to win power through elections and worked out their programme:
Destroy the Treaty of Versailles and end reparations
Only those of German blood allowed to be members of the nation (not Jews)
No more non-German immigration
Take over land in from other countries to give ‘living space’ to Germans
The punishments for criminals against Germany should be death
Provide generous old age pensions
No money for those who do not work
Help to small businesses
New education system. Pupils taught to love their country. A big emphasis on physical fitness.
Sports and gymnastics compulsory
The Wall Street Crash and the
Depression
1929.
The Wall Street Crash – a massive financial crisis in the USA.
As a result the whole world went into economic depression and Germany was worst hit because it had
depended so much US money.
Millions of Germans became unemployed.
1929-1933
People lost confidence in the Weimar government. It seemed unable to solve Germany’s problems.
The Proportional representation voting system meant that governments were weak.
There was more and more support for the Nazis and Communists.
The Nazi SA (brownshirts) were fighting the Communists in the streets.
Hitler promised bread, work and land. He said he would tear up the Treaty of Versailles. He
blamed the Jews for Germany’s problems.
The Nazis started to do well in elections. Many workers liked their promises of work.
The Nazis got a lot of money from big businesses because they were against the Communists. They
got a lot of middle class support for the same reason.
The racism of the Nazis was also popular with many people.
The Rise of Hitler
1932
In elections the Nazis were the biggest party. Their promises and propaganda had won many
supporters.
President Hindenburg tried to stop Hitler being Chancellor but failed. In the end there was a deal
that made Hitler Chancellor and von Papen Vice-Chancellor.
Hindenburg and von Papen thought they were going to be able to control Hitler.
1933
Hitler became Chancellor. He immediately called new elections, hoping to get enough seats to have a
majority in Parliament.
The Reichstag (Parliament building) caught fire. No one knows really who started the fire. A man
from Holland called Marius van der Lubbe confessed.
Hitler blamed the Communists and took special powers.
Communists were arrested. Meetings were not allowed. The Nazis used terror to scare people.
Hitler takes control
1933-35 – the 8 points
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Hitler used the Reichstag Fire to attack the Communists. Their leaders were arrested and their
party was banned.
New elections: using terror, killings and anti-Communist propaganda the Nazis did better but they
still did not get a majority
Hitler forced the Parliament to agree a new law. This was the Enabling Act. It said Hitler could
make any law he wanted without asking Parliament.
Trade unions and clubs were all taken over by the Nazis.
All other political parties were banned.
Hitler organised the murder of hundreds of top Nazis including Rohm, the head of the SA and his
friend. (the ‘Night of the Long Knives’). The SA was closed down and replaced by the SS.
President Hindenburg died and Hitler was now President and Chancellor.
He got all the soldiers in the army to swear to die for him personally.
He now had total control. He was a dictator.
Germany was a country of terror where everyone was afraid to speak out.
He started building up the army. This – as well as huge construction work and new roads – gave jobs to
everyone, even though wages went down.
But most Germans supported him. They wanted a strong leader.
The Nazi system 1933-1945
Terror – controlled by Heinrich Himmler
The SS (Schutz Staffel = protection squad) – black uniforms, 240,000 members
Concentration camps – forced labour camps for anyone who criticised the Nazis )Jews, Communists,
Socialists, trade unionists, gays, church leaders etc)
Gestapo – the state secret police with a network of informers
Police and courts controlled by the Nazis
Propaganda – controlled by Josef Goebbels
Newspapers
Meetings, marches and rallies
Radio
Films
Book burning
“The powers of understanding of the people are feeble. And they quickly forget. Effective propaganda
should be limited to a few bare points, as simple as possible. These slogans should be repeated until
the very last person has grasped the idea,”
( Adolf Hitler)
Young people in Nazi Germany
Youth movements
All boys had to join the Hitler Youth. Military training, camps, sports and Nazi ideas. The aim as to
become good soldiers.
Girls joined the League of German Maidens. Keeping fit and home-building. The aim was to become
good wives and mothers.
School
Nazi control of the school curriculum. Teachers who refused were sacked.
The most important subject was PE. Boxing was compulsory for boys. Girls had to do home-making and
childcare.
History lessons were about the unfair Treaty of Versailles, the rise of the Nazis and the evil of
Jews and Communists.
Biology was about the superiority of the blond, blue-eyed ‘Aryan’ race.
German lessons were about war heroes and the Nazi Party.
Geography lessons were about the land in other countries that the Nazis said should be taken by
Germany.
Maths lessons had problems about bombs and how to save money by not spending it on the mentally ill.
Resistance
Many young people hated the Hitler Youth and did not join. Some young people joined gangs like the
Edelweiss Pirates, the Texas Cowboys, and the Navajos – preferring to have a good time. Some even
beat up Nazis.
Students in the White Rose Club spread leaflets against the Nazis and their leaders were executed.
Opposition to the Nazis
1.
2.
3.
4.
Political groups - Socialists, Communists, trade unions. They were arrested in large
numbers or left the country. There were some secret meetings and handing out of
anti-Nazi leaflets.
The churches. Some church leaders supported the Nazis and others were against
them. To deal with Catholics, Hitler made a deal with the Pope saying he would leave
the Catholics alone if they did not interfere with politics. He brought all the
Protestant Churches together under Nazi control and made the pastors swear
loyalty to him. Church schools and youth clubs were closed down. Still some
Christians opposed the Nazis and ended up in camps.
Army officers. Some wanted to get rid of Hitler and tried to kill him with a bomb.
They failed and were executed.
Young people: Edelweiss Pirates and White Rose Club (see previous slide).
How did it end?
1934-39 Hitler built up the German armed forces and took over Austria and
Czechoslovakia. In September 1939 Germany invaded Poland and the Second World
War began.
1940-42 Germany invaded Western Europe and took over most of the continent except
for Britain. They failed to invade Britain. Hitler then invaded Russia. When Japan
attacked the USA Hitler declared war on the USA too.
1942-45 All over Europe in countries occupied by Germany millions were sent to death
camps (run by the SS) because they were Jewish, gypsy, gay or against the Nazis.
Meanwhile the Russians beat the Germans in battle and started pushing them back.
1944-45 US and British forces invaded German-occupied France on ‘D-Day’. Germany
was now being attacked from the east (by Russia) and the west (by the US and British
forces). Eventually the whole of Germany was taken and Hitler killed himself in Berlin.
The ‘thousand year empire’ of the Nazis had lasted 12 years and cost millions of lives.
People are still arguing about the many lessons to be learnt from the story of Hitler
and the Nazis.
Key questions to think about
(foundation)
What difficulties did the new German government
face in 1919?
What was the crisis in 1923?
How did the Wall Street Crash affect Germany?
How did Hitler come to power in 1933?
How did Hitler take full control of Germany after
1933?
How did the Nazis control young people?
What opposition was there to the Nazis?
Questions like these will carry 5 to 8 marks
Key questions to think about
(intermediate)
Why did the Weimar government face so
many problems?
Why did support for Hitler and the Nazis
grow between 1929 and 1933?
How important was the Reichstag Fire in
helping Hitler take control of Germany?
Why was opposition to the Nazis so weak?
Questions like these will carry 10 to 15 marks
Key questions to think about
(higher)
If the Treaty of Versailles had not been imposed on
Germany, would Hitler have ever come to power?
Was Stresemann to blame for what happened to Germany
after the Wall Street Crash?
Did Hitler come to power mainly due to his own actions or
because of other factors?
Was opposition to Hitler weak because most people were
afraid or because they supported him?
Did the Nazis succeed in indoctrinating the country’s young
people?