The rise of the Nazis - Cambridge IGCSE History

WW1 on Germany - effects

Political instability - Kaiser had abdicated and fled so Germany had to form a new government and republic, new government was unstable due to proportional representation, Germans believed they had been betrayed
Worsening economic conditions - Germany had to pay heavy reparations due to the Treaty of Versailles, led to hyperinflation, popularity of extremist groups like the Nazis rose

German Revolution - causes

WW1 had caused terrible suffering for the German people such as food shortages due to low domestic production as the Allies had imposed a naval blockade preventing imports of food
False promises as when Germany entered the war in 1914 they had been promised a quick victory, by early November 1918 German troops were forced to retreat and they faced the threat of military occupation, delayed peace a Kaiser refused to stand down

German Revolution - features

Mutiny at Kiel led by the sailors who refused to fight against the British naval forces as they had been ordered, over the next fortnight there were strikes and protests across Germany
Worker's councils were established by many ordinary Germans who refused to accept the authority of the Kaiser's officials, Kaiser had lost control

German revolution - effects

Abdication of the Kaiser - on 9th November 1918 the Kaiser finally accepted that he could not continue to rule, abdicated and fled to Holland
End of WW1 - on 10th November a new republic was set up with Ebert in charge and the next day an armistice was agreed by Germany and the Allies and was signed to officially end the war
New government undermined by the stab in the back myth - government blamed for the defeat of the war, had to surrender to save Germany from more misery, led to the Treaty of Versailles, many Germans chose to believe that Germany was in fact close to victory and wouldn't accept that Germany had actually lost, labelled the "November Criminals"

New republic and constitution - causes

Abdication of the Kaiser due to the German Revolution, dissatisfaction with the length of WW1 and his poor choices made when ruling
National elections - a Council of People's Representatives took control of Germany in November 1918, temporary measure until a new permanent government could be put in place

New republic and constitution - features

Parliamentary democracy where the elected Reichstag made the laws and appointed the government, consisted of 18 states which each had its own parliament passed their own laws and ran its own police force
Article 48 where in an emergency the president had powers to pass laws without Reichstag approval

New republic and constitution - effects

Unpopular as many of the country's senior figures such as army leaders and judges did not support the new democratic government, many other Germans wanted the Kaiser to return, people who had been influenced by the Russian Revolution of 1917 wanted a communist revolution to rid Germany of the industrialists and the traditional ruling class
Unstable - because of proportional representation so there were lots of small parties represented in the Reichstag so it was difficult to decide on something, Germany had no experience of running a political system this way, coalitions that were formed often broke down as the government no longer had a majority

Treaty of Versailles - causes

Allies not prepared to "forgive and forget", Georges Clemenceau, the prime minister of France, was determined to make Germany pay for the terrible destruction that had occurred in France during the war, Wilson was prepared to make compromises
Allies hoped to weaken Germany so that France especially would not have to fear another attack from Germany, keen to avoid a peace settlement that might lead to war in the future
Germans hoped treaty wouldn't be too harsh as many believed they had been forced into war and that all the countries involved should take responsibility, they had a new government and thought that the Allies wouldn't blame the new government for the actions and decisions of the Kaiser

Treaty of Versailles - features

Article 231 also known as the War Guilt Clause was particularly humiliating, stated that Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war
Germany lost territory - Alsace and Lorraine lost to France, Eupen and Malmedy lost to Belgium, Posen West Prussia and Upper Silesia lost to Poland, overall lost 13% of its European territory, all 11 colonies in Africa and the far East
Military restrictions as German military forces were cut, navy was limited to 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, 12 destroyers, 12 torpedo boats, army limited to 100 000 men that could only be used internally, no air force, no tanks, no submarines

Treaty of Versailles -effects

Anger which led to the Kapp Putsch - caused great anger to those on the right wing or German politics who believed in the stab in the back myth, culminated in the Kapp Putsch which was a direct response to military restrictions, German public felt that the responsibility of the war should be shared by all and not just pinned on Germany, labelled the politicians who signed the treaty "November Criminals", determined to undermine the new government
Reparations schedule - led to occupation of the Ruhr and hyperinflation, Germany unable to keep up with the high demand, took away Germany's income generating areas so they would heavily struggle in the future to make payments
Initial refusal to sign the treaty as they thought the terms were too harsh but the Allies threatened to restart the war if the Germans did not sign and the German politicians knew that Germany was not in a state to continue fighting, eventual reluctance to accept and sign the treaty
Decrease in German resources, due to the drastic loss of land and colonies across Europe Africa and the Middle East due to the Treaty of Versailles, they lost almost 50% of its iron reserves and 15% of its coal reserves

Spartacist Uprising - causes

Inspired by Russia, in 1917 left-wing revolutionary activity in Russia had resulted in the overthrow of the Tsar and many people saw the poverty and discontent in Europe as an ideal opportunity to spread communism, wanted a similar revolution in Germany
Focus on workers, believed that workers should hold political power and all people should be treated as equals, promoted the interests of workers and argued that they should own the land and businesses themselves

Spartacist Uprising - features

Revolt in Berlin on 5th Jan 1919 organised by Germany's communist party (the Spartacus League), they occupied the headquarters of the government newspaper and telephone offices and attempted to bring about a general strike
Involvement of the Freikorps as the government found it very difficult to put down the revolt due to the limitations the Treaty of Versailles placed on their military, turned to units of volunteer soldiers, the Freikorps hated the communists and soon ended the revolt
Death of the Spartacist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Lark Liebknecht who were shot dead by Freikorps fighters

Spartacist Uprising - effects

Tension between the SPD and KPD - social democrats and communists, undermined support for democracy as Ebert's use of right wing military forces to crush revolt alienated working class who looked more and more to KPD instead, reduced size and power of more moderate and pro-democratic SPD
Violence between extreme left and right, led to a series of communist uprising, faced by a more confident Freikorps
Germany society became more polarised - working class angry at the government's failure to address their problems, both sides gained support
Right wing forces strengthened - government put power behind the Freikorps, saw the revolution as a way to gain support

Kapp Putsch - causes

Strong feelings from Germans with right-wing views who did not approve of the new "liberal and democratic" way of governing the country
Strong capitalist views, wanted the return of a political system led by a powerful individual ruler like the Kaiser had been previously, wanted a strong authoritarian government, believed in protecting the interests of private businesses and land owners
Hated the communists who had opposed the Kaiser and mutinied at the end of WW1
Ebert felt threatened by the Freikorps so he attempted to disband two Freikorps units in 1920

Kapp Putsch - features

Freikorps revolt after Ebert attempted and failed to disband them, they marched to Berlin and declared Dr Wolfgang Kapp as Germany's new leader who was an extreme nationalist with the support of a number of army officers
Ebert appealed to the people for support as the German army refused to do anything because they sympathised with the Freikorps, Ebert moved the government out of the city and encouraged people to go on general strikes, gas water and electricity were disrupted and Kapp realised he didn't have the support he needed to govern Germany

Kapp Putsch - effects

Political - weakened the Weimar republic, highlighted the governments weakness and lack of authority, emboldened right wing and anti-democracy groups, couldn't rely on army to defend government, showed the government had little military power and couldn't control their own capital
Social - showed the government seemed to have the support of the majority of people in Berlin, or at least they preferred Ebert's government to Kapp's extreme right wing politics

French occupation of the Ruhr - causes

Germany's economic problems as by 1918 they were close to bankruptcy due to the cost of WW1, the huge reparation payments from ToV as well as taking away Germany's income generating areas meant that they struggled to make the reparation payments and asked for them to be reduced
Allies' loans meant that they couldn't reduce the reparation payments for Germany as they needed it to repay the money they owed to other countries like the US
Missed payments in late 1922 and another one in December 1922 led to French retaliation

French occupation of the Ruhr - features

Invasion of French and Belgian troops who marched into the Ruhr which was the centre of Germany's production of iron steel and coal, they had decided to take industrial products instead of cash payment
Angered the government especially as they couldn't do anything about it and couldn't take military action
Campaign of passive resistance encouraged by the government, German workers went on strike and stopped producing goods that the French could seize, some used arson and sabotage to damage factories and mines so that production had to stop
Violence from the French, they brought in their own workers, fighting between the French and the Germans and over 100 French civilians were killed by the occupying forces

French occupation of the Ruhr - effects

Hyperinflation - the German economy had been struggling before 1923 and the invasion of the Ruhr only made things worse, Germany lost income as a result of France and Belgium taking industrial products from the Ruhr and the German government was forced to print more money to pay the striking workers, the more notes were printed the more they lost their value
Temporary popularity as the public supported the German government's reaction to the occupation of the Ruhr, they had resisted France as well as providing strike pay for the workers involved in passive resistance, united the German nation against the invading French and Belgians

Hyperinflation crisis - causes

Invasion of the Ruhr - only made Germany's already struggling economy worse, Germany lost income as a result of France and Belgium taking industrial products from the Ruhr
Low income of the German government - it was only one quarter of what it needed, government decided to print more banknotes, by 1923 they had 300 paper mills and 200 printing shops solely for printing money

Hyperinflation crisis - features

The number of marks per dollar went from 4 in 1914 before the war, to 493 in 1922 before hyperinflation, to 4.2 billion by November 1923.
by that time 201 billion marks were needed to buy a loaf of bread.

Hyperinflation crisis - effects

Economic collapse - increase in printing money meant that money was worth less, pensions became redundant, rapid price increase forced millions of Germans into poverty, fixed income workers affected badly
Rise of Stresemann - Dawes Plan stopped passive resistance, reduced reparations, Ruhr to be evacuated, Germany needed someone to step in and fix their crisis
Some benefitted - allowed them to pay off debt such as mortgages and loans, businessman Hugo Stinnes changed foreign money into German marks and used it to buy businesses
Majority lost out - workers' wages did not rise as quickly as prices, savings were now worthless, old people who lived off a fixed monthly pension were plunged into poverty, huge piles of banknotes were needed to buy things

Work of Stresemann - causes

Hyperinflation crisis - extreme and widespread poverty in Germany, they were desperate and blamed the Weimar government, Stresemann knew other countries would benefit from the recovery of Germany's economy

Work of Stresemann - features

Rentenmark - German mark was worthless and Stresemann needed to stabilise the value of the new currency, in Nov 1923 he introduced the Rentenmark as a new temporary currency, amount of money printed was tightly controlled, value based off Germany's industrial and agricultural worth
Reichsbank - was the new independent national bank established in 1824, in charge of the new permanent currency the Reichsmark, people in Germany and other countries could rely on the new bank and currency, restored faith in their financial system and was vital in making their economy stronger
US loans - Stresemann believed that Germany could not recover until the issue of reparation payments was solved, US France and Britain had a lot to gain from the recovery of Germany, came in the form of the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan

Work of Stresemann - effects

Political - managed to improve the international relations between Germany and France with the Locarno Treaty, Rhineland would remain demilitarised, Germany was invited into the League of Nations, Kellog-Briand pact signed
Economic - restabilised the German economy, introduced the Rentenmark and the Reichsmark, Dawes and Young Plan, established Germany as a new trading partner to rely on

The Dawes Plan - causes

Issue of reparations - needed to be solved in order for Germany's economy to be able to recover, the Allies would benefit if Germany was able to become a strong trading partner again

The Dawes Plan - features

US loans - they loaned Germany 800 million gold marks which gave a massive boost to German industry, helped kickstart economic growth
Review of payment rate - they would take into account Germany's economic situation and their ability to pay, would only pay an instalment if they could afford to
Control given to the Allies - were given control of some of the Reichsbank and the railways in Germany in exchange for them withdrawing from the Ruhr

The Dawes Plan - effects

Recovery in German industry - by 1928 German industry was back to the level it had been at in 1914, by 1930 Germany was one of the world's leading exporters of manufactured goods, increase in industrial output meant that for many Germans the years 1924 -1929 were of prosperity and growing confidence, much investment was in boosting industry and building factories, government was able to build new roads schools and public buildings
Improvements in economy - wages rose, cost of living went down and standard of living improved, confidence in economy was restored, new laws could be introduced to allow people to claim unemployment benefit, "labour exchanges" were set up to help the unemployed find jobs,
Foreign investment was risky - left the German economy open to risks if there were problems in the world economy, recovery based largely on American loans, loans were invested in projects that would create wealth and allow the loans and interests to be paid off

The Young Plan - causes

Needed extra help - despite the Dawes Plan and US loans the German government still didn't find it easy to make reparation payments

The Young Plan - features

Changes in reparations - total reparations bill was reduced to around $8 billion, payments to be made over 59 years at a rate of $473 million per year, Germany was only obliged to pay a third of the annual sum a year and would only pay the rest if they could afford to
Ruhr - French agreed to leave the Rhineland by June 1930 which was 5 years ahead of the previously agreed date of 1935

The Young Plan - effects

Boost in industry - the added reduction in annual payments allowed the government to reduce taxes and released funds that were used to boost the Germany industry and create jobs for workers
Opposition from many Germans - some nationalist groups were angry that Germany would continue to pay reparations, felt the timescale for the payments was far too long and would limit Germany's progress as a nation
Overdependency on US loans - in 1929 when the Wall Street Crash occurred, the US could no longer afford to loan Germany any money, Germany's economy crashed and reparation payments had be suspended

Locarno Treaty - features

Agreed to avoid military force except in self-defence, Germany agreed to accept its western borders, provided important reassurance for France and Germany as they shared a long border and the French had previously invaded the Ruhr
Ruhr - Alsace Lorraine would be French in return for the agreement of the French to not occupy the Ruhr again

Locarno Treaty - effects

Improved relations with other countries - made peace in Europe more likely, Germany was now being treated as an equal to other European powers rather than being ordered about by them, led to Germany being invited to join the League of Nations
Some opposition in Germany - some nationalist parties and groups in Germany were very resentful as they were unhappy that Stresemann was accepting the terms of the Treaty of Versailles especially in relation to Germany's borders

League of Nations - causes

Success of the Locarno Treaty - Stresemann persuaded the other great powers to allow Germany to join the League of Nations, was a big step

League of Nations - features

Significant - members of the council of the League of Nations were able to make the most important decisions, nothing could have been done to protest against the invasion of the Ruhr in 1923 as Germany was excluded from the League

League of Nations - effects

Positive step - further gained the approval and support from moderate political parties who supported Stresemann's diplomatic policies and his attempts to improve relations with other great powers
Gained support from the German population - increased many German's confidence in the Weimar regime, they could see that their country was once more accepted into the "international family"

Kellogg-Briand Pact - features

Hoped to prevent a future war by getting countries to promise not to use military force to settle disagreements, US saw this pact as a way for it to be involved in building peace with other countries
Signed by 62 countries who all vowed to never go to war again

Kellogg-Briand Pact - effects

Clear improvement in Germany's international relations - Germany had been excluded from the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Versailles but they were now included among the main powers
Restored Germany's reputation - it was clear that the Weimar Republic was now a respected, stable state that had recovered from its troubled beginning, pact gave the German public more confidence that the moderate political parties could be trusted to make Germany strong again

Hitler and the German Worker's Party - causes

Angered after the loss of WW1 - Hitler could not believe the news when he heard that Germany had lost the war, thought his sacrifices would pay off
Believed in the beliefs of the German Workers' Party - Hitler worked for the army to monitor the activities of extreme political parties and was spying on the German Worker's Party

Hitler and the German Worker's Party - features

Beliefs of the party - democracy was weak and a powerful leader was needed to rebuild their strength, the jews were to blame for making Germany weak, communists and socialists had brought about the fall of the Kaiser, the socialist Weimar politicians had betrayed Germany by signing the Treaty of Versailles
Propaganda - Hitler was put in charge in Feb 1920, rewrote the aims of the party which were then published in the 25 Point Programme, party renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazis), people could buy the "People's Observer"
Talented speaker - able to attract many new members to the Nazi Party, argued that Germany needed a strong authoritarian government, his message was popular to the critics of the Weimar Republic

Hitler and the German Worker's Party - effects

Larger appeal to the German population - party aims were deliberately kept vague to appeal to as many people as possible, supported by nationalists who were keen on the destruction of the Treaty of Versailles, people who wanted someone to blame for Germany's defeat and problems were drawn to their anti-semitism, middle classes and big businesses liked Hitler's anti-communist ideas
Establishment of a military wing in the party - many ex-soldiers shared Hitler's sense of nationalism and resented the settlement after WW1, set up the SA (stormtroopers) in 1921, they were a paramilitary force whose role was to disrupt the meetings of opposing political parties and control crowds at Nazi meetings, their power and organisation impressed many, were a show of force and demonstrated Hitler's strength

Munich Putsch - causes

Anger towards the Weimar Republic - Germans were angry about issues such as the "stab in the back", reparations and the loss of Germany's colonies, led to a growth in support for nationalist parties
Bavaria - the leaders of the Bavarian state government were hostile to the Weimar government, agreed with the Nazi's views and often chose to ignore SA violence
Worsening of Germany's economic position - French troops had marched into the Ruhr and taken over businesses there, those who resisted were deported and imprisoned, government seemed unable to resolve the situation, saw the government as weak and powerless
Italian influence - copied the Fascists' salute and use of flags which helped to give the Nazis' a clear identity, Hitler used a similar approach of using violence to take power for himself
Thought the Nazis were ready to seize power - they had 20 000 supporters and the SA, he had built a close relationship with Ludendorff who Hitler believed could persuade the army to support the Nazis

Munich Putsch - features

8th Nov - Hitler stormed the beer hall, forced Kahr and Lossow to support his plan and march to Berlin and install Ludendorff as Germany's new leader, SA used violence and intimidation, Lossow and Kahr swore loyalty
9th Nov - Ebert declared state of emergency, Lossow and Kahr announced opposition to the putsch, Ludendorff told Hitler not to give up, 2000 Nazis and their supporters marched into Munich, armed police and soldiers confronted them, fire exchanged and 14 Nazis were killed
11th Nov - Hitler was arrested and awaited his trial

Munich Putsch - effects

Increased popularity - Hitler's trial was publicised and he took the opportunity to spread Nazi ideology, attention from the media, wrote a book in prison called Mein Kamfe which outlined his ideas and plans, also the fact that Hitler received such a light sentence showed that there were still powerful forces in Germany who wanted the Weimar government destroyed
Change in strategy - Hitler realised that he wouldn't be able to overthrow the government through violence and they would have to do it legally, changed their strategy and created groups to appeal to more people, gained more votes and won more elections
Ban on the Nazi party - party fell into disarray without a clear leader as they were all imprisoned,
Hitler sent to jail - he was guilty of high treason which could have been punished by the death penalty, was given a light sentence of only 5 years but later also won an early release, only spent 9 months in prison

Reorganisation of the Nazi party - causes

The failure of the Munich Putsch - they had tried violent revolution and it didn't work so Hitler made the vital decision that they would try to come about power using legal methods, made Hitler want to reorganise the party to make it more attractive to German workers

Reorganisation of the Nazi party - features

Division of Germany - he split Germany in 34 districts (Gaus) and appointed a leading Nazi (known as a Gauleiter) who was made responsible for winning support and spreading the party message
SS and SA - Hitler established his own new private bodyguard known as the SS, encouraged more young people to join the SA and created Hitler Youth for boys to encourage this, from 1927 onwards there was an annual rally of the SA at Nuremberg
New organisations were created to appeal to particular groups and included Hitler Youth, League of German Maidens, Order of German Women, Nazi Teachers' Association and the Union of Nazi Lawyers
Propaganda - Goebbels put in charge of propaganda in 1930, proved to be a genius is this respect, produced posters films and articles which explained the Nazi message in simple yet effective terms, skilful public speaker, created the image of Hitler as a superhuman leader, emphasised antisemitism which was very popular

Reorganisation of the Nazi party - effects

Well organised - had a membership of over 100 000
Little success - didn't gain many seats in the Reichstag, in 1928 they only managed to win 12 seats

The Great Depression - causes

Wall Street Crash - there was a collapse of prices as investors lost confidence and began to sell, many American businesses were destroyed which triggered a downturn in the US economy

The Great Depression - features

US loans were recalled as they could no longer afford to pay them and as a result reparation payments were put on hold

The Great Depression - effects

More unemployment - huge economic crash meant that by 1933 6 million people were out of work, led to large amounts of poverty, hunger, and homelessness, US loans were withdrawn and Germany were back to their initial issue of not being able to make their reparation payments
More support for radical parties - people were getting increasingly more desperate as they blamed the government for taking loans from American, looked to more extremist parties to solve their problems
Impact on the German population - in 1933 over 50% of people aged 16 - 30 were unemployed and even those with a good education could not find work, 4 out of 10 factory workers couldn't get jobs and suffered further as unemployment benefits were reduced by the gov, many farmers were in debt, those who managed to keep their businesses struggled as people has less money to spend on goods
Impact on the Weimar republic - SDP and Centre Party fell out, Muller resigned and Bruning became chancellor and he introduced several unpopular measures including tax rises and further cuts to unemployment benefit
Increase in popularity for the Nazis - Hitler's message in the 1920s that Germany shouldn't take money from the US now looked very intelligent to all the Germans ruined by the Wall Street Crash, in the general election of 1930 the Nazis became the second largest party in the Reichstag with 107 seats

Nazi methods to win support - causes

The Great Depression - the effort that Hitler had gone to in order to reorganise the party was now beneficial as Germany was facing an economic crisis, needed to exploit the widespread feelings of distress

Nazi methods to win support - features

Propaganda - Goebbels used modern techniques such as the cinema and radio to spread the Nazi message, carefully crafted to appeal to specific groups, posters were designed with simple but effective slogans that emphasised Hitler as the man who would save Germany
Speeches - a special school was set up to train Nazi activists in public speaking, by 1933 6000 had been trained, the speakers were careful to deliver a message that would appeal to their audience, Nazi policies were flexible so many Germans could find something that appealed to them
Political violence - Rohm returned to lead the SA and dramatically expanded their numbers, by the end of 1932 they had 425 000 men which was over four times the size of the army, the increase in unemployment meant that more young men signed up to join, attacked Nazi opponents, frequently beat up members of the KPD

Nazi methods to win support - effects

Increase in Nazi popularity - in 1932 the Nazis had 230 seats in the Reichstag, however with this also came an increase in support for the KPD

Events of 1932 to Jan 1933 - causes

Hitler's large popularity - had great appeal to much of the population, SA activities scared off opponents, use of propaganda, during the election campaigns Hitler was presented as a strong leader, convincing speech style, "last hope better future", had the support of big businesses and industrialists

Events of 1932 to Jan 1933 - features

1932 elections - they were the biggest party in the Reichstag with 230 seats, Hitler used the elections for president to increase his political reputation, Bruning tried to use a presidential decree to ban the SA and SS due to considerable political unrest, von Schleicher removed Bruning and replaced him with a coalition of army officers rich landowners and industrialists
Von papen - Schleicher decided that wealthy von Papen would be a suitable figurehead for the new coalition, the coalition was weak and when von Papen called another election although the Nazis were weaker they were still the largest party in the Reichstag which led to von Papen resigning
Von Schleicher and Hindenburg - powerful business men in Germany asked him to make Hitler chancellor, he refused and made Schleicher chancellor instead, asked to suspend the constitution and make him the head of a military dictatorship but his request was leaked and Schleicher lost the support of the Reichstag
Revenge - von Papen went to Hindenburg and proposed that Hitler should be made chancellor but in a government with few Nazi ministers, either Hitler would do well and the financial crisis would end or he would do badly which would make the financial situation worse therefore weakening Nazi support

Events of 1932 to Jan 1933 - effects

Hitler appointed chancellor - Hindenburg was scared if the Nazis and the KPD started a civil war in Germany the police and army would not be able to maintain control, making Hitler chancellor seemed to be the least dangerous option, appointed on 30th Jan 1933

Reichstag Fire - causes

Limitations to his powers - his authority was dependent on the support of other parties, Hindenburg still disliked him and had the power to dismiss him, didn't have control over the German armed forces, only 3 Nazis in a cabinet of 14 ministers, economy still very weak, only at 196 of 608 seats in the Reichstag so he still didn't have a majority

Reichstag Fire - features

Van der Lubbe - was a Dutch communist found on the site along with matches and firelighters and admitted his guilt to starting the fire, executed by guillotine, considerable doubt among historians as to whether he was truly responsible or if he was just a scapegoat for the Nazis
Reichstag Fire Decree - banned Communists and Socialists from taking part in the election, suspended civil liberties, allowed police to search houses confiscate property and detain people without a trial, police were able to ban meetings and close newspapers

Reichstag Fire - effects

Nazi party gained more power - removed their opponents as Hitler banned the communists and socialists from taking part in the election, placed the blame for the fire on them, introduced the Reichstag Fire Decree which gave them a great deal of control over policing in Germany
Police violence - Hitler managed to justify the use of police violence on a legal basis until the collapse of the Third Reich, Reichstag Fire Decree allowed police to search houses, confiscate property, detain people without a trial
Removal of the communists - Goering was the new Nazi chief of police, said that van der Lubbe was part of a communist anti-government plot, Hitler used the fire to attack the Communists and increase his own personal power, arrested 4000 communists, claimed the communists had organised the burning of the Reichstag as a signal for revolution
Success in the election - gained 288 seats, after the fire thousands of the communist party and the Social Democratic Party were arrested and sent to concentration camps, SA broke up election meetings by opposition parties, secured generous funds from industrialists to help the Nazi election campaign as they had promised to destroy communism and ensure stability in Germany, threatened voters, huge quantities of propaganda

Enabling Act - causes

Election results - although Hitler won the most seats (288) he failed to secure more than 50% of the vote that he needed to vote without support from other parties, for him to be able to change the constitution he needed two thirds majority vote

Enabling Act - features

Support from other parties - used emergency powers to ban the Communist Party from the Reichstag, the Nationalist Party agreed to support him as many of their beliefs were similar to Hitler's, won support from the Centre Party by promising to protect the Catholic Church, with this support Hitler had the majority he needed as long as the other parties kept their promises
Use of intimidation - Hitler made his speech proposing the Enabling Act in an atmosphere of intimidation, SA surrounded the building making the deputies feel threatened, only the SPD dared to vote against Hitler, Enabling Act was passed 444 to 94

Enabling Act - effects

Consolidation of Nazi power - passing of the Enabling Act meant that Hitler could pass laws without the support of the Reichstag, only needed approval from Hindenburg, able to remove opposition, everyone was too scared to vote against it, allowed him to make laws and sign treaties with foreign powers without any necessary approval
End of democracy - Germany became a legal dictatorship, German people were unable to influence the government by voting, marked a shift in the political and social landscape of Germany, became more authoritarian and totalitarian
The "Nazi Revolution" - used his new powers to remove any remaining opposition to his government, wanted to weaken the trade unions as they had communist sympathisers and many workers were loyal to their union rather than to Nazism, also wanted to win the favour of big businesses who were keen to see the power of the trade unions, reorganised local parliaments so that the Nazis held a majority in each one, later abolished state parliaments all together

Night of the Long Knives - causes

Wanted to reduce the power of the SA - in 1934 they had over 2 million members, head of the SS (Heinrich Himmler) resented the SA's influence and was keen to reduce their importance, some SA members continued to use violence and intimidation and their behaviour was embarrassing to Hitler, the SA wanted the take the place of the army which went against Hitler's plans to rearm Germany and increase the size of its army which was still limited to 100 000 men from the Treaty of Versailles
Threats to his position - Hindenburg still had the authority to dismiss him as Chancellor, army was steadfast in their loyalty to Hindenburg, Rohm (head of the SA) was not impressed by Hitler's caution and felt he was losing touch with the ordinary rank and file party members, wanted to take measures against big businesses and adopt socialist policies, some were offended by Rohm's homosexuality and believed he was "corrupting" the Hitler Youth

Night of the Long Knives - features

Took the opportunity to settle some old scores - murdered other past enemies including von Schleicher, Strasser and von Kahr, travelled to where the SA were staying with a group of SS men, around 200 men were executed
Hitler had legalised murder - the cabinet issued a decree with said "The measures taken on 30th June and 1 and 2 July to suppress the acts of high treason are legal, being necessary for the self-defence of the state"

Night of the Long Knives - effects

Complete takeover of Germany by Hitler - became Fuhrer when Hindenburg died, during the Night of the Long Knives he arrested and executed any past enemies or threatening figures to his power, legalised murder by saying it was necessary for the protection of the state
Fear - increased fear and repression, used the event as an opportunity to get rid of anyone who was a threat, marked the beginning of the regime of repression, his opponents viewed him as a murdered and now lived in terror
Increased support - SS had shown Hitler their loyalty by assisting them and were now under Hitler's personal control, gained total loyalty from the army as they were made to swear a personal oath to him, supporters claimed that it showed Hitler had the courage to protect them even from people who were his friends in the past

Methods of Nazi control - causes

Needed to maintain support - had established himself as the unchallenged leader of Germany, needed to ensure that the Nazis would remain in power and used a variety of methods for this

Methods of Nazi control - features

Terror and the police state - Hitler's rule was to be totalitarian, German law became whatever the Nazi party believed was right, Germans could be arrested and imprisoned without rial, creation of a new central court, these courts had no juries and the judges were expected to support Nazi policies, no right of appeal against a sentence, many political opponents sentenced to death, many different police forces, between 1933 to 1935 he dismissed 60 000 SS members for being homosexuals alcoholics or just morally corrupt, SS responsible for identifying and arresting political prisoners, Gestapo responsible for state security, relied heavily on informers
Censorship - newspapers were strictly controlled through the Editors Law which made them responsible for anything published in their newspaper and could result in them being sent to concentration camps, programmes on the radio were strictly controlled and those made in Germany could not pick up foreign broadcasts, encouraged to burn books that portrayed "un-German" views, Goebbels arranged an exhibition called "Degenerate Art" which was supposed to educate the public by showing art that was immoral and repulsive to German values
Propaganda - supremacy of the Aryan race and the inferiority of the Jews, tremendous work being done by the Nazis to deal with the evils of communism, newspapers used to "plant" stories and present positive Nazi messages, factories encouraged to produce cheap radio sets (the People's Receiver) and by 1939 70% of German households had a radio, Goebbels issued plays and light entertainment that subtly included Nazi messages, public parages and rallies, films reflected the Nazi view on society

Methods of Nazi control - effects

Concentration camps - anyone guilty of deviant behaviour could be sent to these, the first one was Dachau, the threat of them was made sure to be heavily publicised so that potential opponents knew what would happen to them
Indoctrination - used propaganda to spread positive messages about the Nazi party and encourage people to share the Nazi view of what it meant to be German, people would report their own family friends and neighbours to the Gestapo and it was especially used as a way of solving arguments

Nazi policies towards education - causes

Indoctrination - the Nazis saw education as an opportunity to indoctrinate young people and ensure they grew up to be loyal Nazis, believed that young peoples' minds were open to influence and control and Hitler took advantage of this

Nazi policies towards education - features

Curriculum - all Jewish or politically suspect teachers were removed, teachers were forced to join the Nazi teachers' association otherwise they would lose their jobs and attended Nazi training camps where they learned how to pass on Nazi values to the children they were teaching, textbooks rewritten to reflect Nazi beliefs, subjects like biology emphasised the superiority of the Aryan race

Nazi policies towards education - effects

Indoctrination of propaganda - curriculum was changed and all teachers had to undergo special courses where they were "educated" in Nazi ideology, subjects like biology were used to emphasise German racial superiority, children taught to revere Hitler, led to children even reporting their own parents to the Gestapo
Segregation and persecution of "non-Aryan" students - Jewish students were excluded from mainstream schools and universities, Nuremburg Laws restricted the participation of Jews in aspects of public life including education, Jewish teachers dismissed

Nazi policies towards women - causes

Previous freedom appalled the Nazis - WW1 and the Weimar era saw massive changes for German women, they had worked in factories during the war and were able to vote under the Weimar constitution, they had used the freedom of the 1920s to go to clubs and socialise

Nazi policies towards women - features

Births - birth rate in Germany was falling so the Nazis wanted to stop this, launched a huge propaganda campaign to encourage women to have more children, contraception and abortion was banned and the joys of having a large family were emphasised, the Law of Encouragement of Marriage provided loans to help young couples marry but only if the woman gave up work, the Honour Cross of the German Mother, encouraged to marry a German man of pure blood
"Older" traditional attitudes - women were encouraged to not use make-up and to wear home-produced clothes and flat heels, smoking and drinking were discouraged as they were "unladylike" and they could harm their health and make it harder for them to have children, slimming was discouraged

Nazi policies towards women - effects

Roles were restricted - only allowed to have specialist jobs that men couldn't do such as being a midwife, only 10% of university places, Nazis appalled by the freedom women had during the 1920s to go to clubs and socialise
Undermined women's autonomy - Nazis promoted a patriarchal society where women were obedient to men, encouraged to have as main "pure German" children as possible with the Honour Cross of the German Mother, slogan of "Kinder, Kuche, Kirche" (children, kitchen, church)
Economic problems - when WW2 came around all the working men were now fighting and the Allies had women working for them, the Nazis tried to convince the women to also work for Germany but most refused as it went against everything they had been told before and were reluctant, rearmament policy grew, had to relax the limits on women working and encourage them back to work

Nazi policies towards the young - causes

Indoctrination - placed special emphasis on them as they were to be indoctrinated with Nazi principles to secure Germany's future, the Nazis saw education as an opportunity to indoctrinate young people and ensure they grew up to be loyal Nazis, believed that young peoples' minds were open to influence and control and Hitler took advantage of this

Nazi policies towards the young - features

Hitler Youth - meant to prepare them for the army, camping, sang songs, did athletics, by 1938 it had 7.1 million members, membership made compulsory in 1939, discussed political pamphlets and performed military drills, taught the importance of competition and racial purity
League of German Maidens- they learned cooking and similar domestic skills, emphasised crafts and childcare to prepare them for motherhood

Nazi policies towards the young - effects

Loyalty - children were brought up to be loyal to Hitler and the nation before anything else, some even informed on their parents to the Gestapo if they said something that contradicted with what they had been taught in school or Hitler Youth
Strengthened Hitler's position - had support from the youth which was the future of Germany and therefore played an important part in determining the future of Hitler's rule
Opposition - Swing Youth were groups of typically middle class teenagers who flouted Nazi cultural and racial attitudes, they accepted Jews and listened to banned music such as jazz, working class children formed the Edelweiss Pirates who went as far as to attack Hitler Youth members and paint anti-Nazi graffiti, 12 Pirates were publicly hanged in Cologne in 1944

Nazi policies towards the Churches - causes

Large influence of the churches - posed a problem for the Nazis, Christians put their faith in God but the Nazis wanted all Germans to put their faith in Hitler, churches were too influential to be shut down, knew the churches could have a major impact on people's attitudes so they made sure they were "brought into line" with Nazi ideas
Religion - Hitler wanted to replace religion in Germany with Nazism but he knew that some of the principles of Nazism went against Christian beliefs, they fully supported his views on the family but his racial beliefs especially brought him into conflict with the churches, knew he had to take care not to offend people's religious beliefs, had to take control in a gradual and careful way
Wanted to increase Nazi influence - Catholics were loyal to the Pope as the head of the Catholic Church, Hitler wanted all Germans to see him as the supreme head of state, keen to weaken the power and authority of the Churches, some preferred Catholic Youth groups and Catholic schools to those run by German state which reduced Nazi influence

Nazi policies towards the Churches - features

Concordat - initially tried to cooperate with each other, stated that the Church would not get involved with political affairs and in return the Nazis would guarantee them freedom, rights and property
Agreement broken - Christian symbols were taken down, Hitler wanted his own image to appear in classrooms rather than the crucifix, catholic newspapers were censored, propaganda hinted at financial corruption within the Church
Pope Pius XI - made a statement that attacked the Nazi criticism of the Catholic Church, severe Nazi reaction, membership of the Catholic League was made illegal, state funding for the Church was cut and property of some monasteries were seized, Gestapo and SS began to spy on Church organisations, some priests held in concentration camps
Reich Church - Hitler organised the different parts of the Protestant Church into one organisation, 18 pastors lost their jobs because they would not declare their support for Nazi views,

Nazi policies towards the Churches - effects

Fusion of Nazi policies with Christianity - churches were too influential and powerful to be shut down, protestants were won over by a new organisation called the German Christians which was led by a Reich Bishop and aimed to blend Christian and Nazi principles
Creation of the Confessional Church - led by Pastor Martin Niemoller, was for non-Nazi ministers, gained the support of 7000 of Germany's 17000 pastors, led to the Nazis waging war on both Catholic and Protestant churches, objected to the Nazis trying to interfere in matters of its religious faith, church schools were closed and funds were confiscated, Niemoller was sent to a concentration camp
Huge decrease in influence - by the end of the 1930s neither the Catholic Church nor the Protestant Church had a significant role in society, result of Nazi measures such as the introduction of Hitler Youth the banning of church schools and the use of propaganda against the Churches, in 1939 only 5% of the German population described themselves as "God-believers"

Nazi economic policies - causes

Lack of economic stability - the Nazis had largely come to power as a result of the problems created by the Great Depression, he had promised to end Germany's economic problems so had to reduce unemployment quickly, their trade was suffering, lacked raw materials, part of the Nazis economic plan was to make Germany self-sufficient

Nazi economic policies - features

Schact's "New Plan" - designed to reduce imports and reduce unemployment, made trade agreements with other countries to guarantee Germany's supply of raw materials, began projects to create work such as road building
"Four Year Plan" - involved making Germany self-sufficient in terms of oil, steel and rubber so that it could wage war without worrying about losing resources it needed, autarky
Public work programmes - spending on public works such as creating autobahns and the Olympic Stadium, created jobs for construction workers
Aggressive foreign policy - spending on arms increased from 2 million Reichsmarks in 1933 to 17 million Reichsmarks in 1937, created many new jobs both in arms factories and in related industries, by 1938 there were more than 900 000 men in the army
Private companies - most well-known investments was in the car industry, helped to produce the famous Volkswagen, most couldn't buy one until after WW2 as they started to make weapons

Nazi economic policies - effects

Limited success - Schact and Goering did bring some success but government spending was always more than its income, by 1939 they had a debt of over 40 billion marks, despite autarky Germany was still importing more than it exported
Rationing had to be introduced as the Four Year Plan led to frequent food shortages, average consumption of basic foodstuffs dropped between 1937 and 1939
Reduced unemployment - in 1933 unemployment was at 6 million but by 1939 it had been reduced to only half a million
Emergence of invisible unemployment - from 1933 women were encouraged to stay at home and many had to give up their jobs or were sacked, women weren't included in Nazi unemployment figures, Jews no longer considered citizens so also weren't counted in unemployment figures, temporary employment counted as full employment, cost of living rose
Serious consequences in WW2 - Goring was no economist, Four Year Plan Office was chaotic and failed to achieve its targets for production, Nazis lacked oil and rubber which were essential war materials

Nazi racial policies - causes

Focus on the Aryan race - Nazism based on a world view where different racial or ethnic groups were seen as either superior or inferior, Hitler said the Aryan race was ideal, other groups especially the Jews and Gypsies were sub-human and did not deserve to be alive, were called Untermenschen, wanted to build an Aryan master race, those who could not contribute were seen as a problem that needed to be dealt with

Nazi racial policies - features

Sterilisation law passed in 1933, allowed the Nais to sterilise people with mental disabilities, from Sept 1933 tramps and beggars were also sterilised, up to 700 000 people were believed to have been sterilised
Concentration camps - juvenile delinquents, tramps, homosexuals and Jews were all sent to concentration camps, intermarriage was banned, in 1938 a decree for the "Struggle against the Gypsy Plague" forced gypsies to register with the state
Mental illnesses - believed they were hereditary, from 1939 Nazis began putting them to death first by starvation or lethal injection and later using gas chambers

Nazi racial policies - effects

Economic marginalisation - excluded from professions, forced to sell homes at lower prices, many lost jobs, became impoverished, there was a one day boycott of Jewish shops, Kristallnacht was when SS men attacked Jewish homes, shops and synagogues, Jews were blames and fined 1 billion marks
Social ostracisation - forced to live in ghettos, isolated from other citizens, banned from public places, not allowed to marry someone of "pure German descent"
Protests - policy of putting people with mental illnesses/disabilities to death was abandoned in 1941 following public protests but by then over 70 000 had been killed in this way

Nazi policies towards Jews - causes

WW1 defeat- many German people were keen to find a scapegoat, Hitler claimed that the Jews were responsible for Germany's defeat in the war and the economic problems that followed

Nazi policies towards Jews - features

Nuremburg Laws of 1935 - stated that Jews and Aryans could not marry, Aryans who were already married to Jews were encouraged to get a divorce otherwise they would be treated as Jews, only people of German blood were German citizens, Jews could no longer vote in elections or hold a German passport
Emigration - many Jews chose this option to avoid persecution, Reich Office of Jewish Emigration was set up for this and responsible for speeding up the emigration of Jews, Nazis banned it but by then almost two thirds had fled, remaining 16 000 were unable to leave
Boycotts - in April 1933 a nationwide boycott of Jewish shops and businesses was organised, stormtroopers prevented people from entering
Restrictions - Jews were banned from government employment, medicine, teaching and journalism, banned from public spaces such as parks, cinemas and swimming pools, banned from the army

Nazi policies towards Jews - effects

Legal discrimination - Jews were stripped of their German citizenship and stripped of their property and assets, left them economically unstable
Social exclusion - thousands of Jews were deported, were forbidden from marrying or having sexual relations with a German, Jewish children were excluded from schools and universities
Kristallnacht - German official was murdered by a Jewish man which gave them an excuse to launch a campaign of terror and murder, over 800 shops owned by Jews were destroyed, 191 synagogues vandalised or set on fire, many Jewish homes were attacked and property was damaged or stolen, 91 jews were killed, 30 000 arrested
Propaganda- Nazi newspapers used Kristallnacht and presented it as a spontaneous reaction by ordinary German citizens although Goebbels and the other Nazis had planned the attacks, hoped they would be interpreted as a genuine sign of anger and hatred towards German Jews, fined the Jewish community 1 billion Reichsmarks as majority of damage had been done to German property rather than Jewish property

The Labour Service (RAD) - causes

Unemployment - set up to organise unemployed men to do manual work

The Labour Service (RAD) - features

Compulsory - all 18 to 25 year old men had to join and complete six months' service on public work schemes during which they weren't counted as unemployed
Work - ranged from digging drainage ditches to planting forests, from building hospitals and schools to the biggest public work scheme of building a network of motorways known as the autobahn, housed and fed in camps, wore military uniform, paid pocket money not wages
Indoctrination - daily routine included drill and instruction in Nazi beliefs, showed that RAD was also used to indoctrinate Germany's youth and prepare them for military service

The Labour Service (RAD) - effects

Image of Germany - their work helped to create the impression that Nazi Germany was strong and advanced

The Labour Front - causes

Trade Unions - Hitler closed them down as they were seen as a threat because they argued for improved workers' rights and were associated with communism, Nazis needed to control Germany's workforce especially as before 1933 most working-class people had voted for socialists or communists

The Labour Front - features

Main aims - wanted to get workers to work harder and control wages, presented as an organisation which would defend the interests of workers but without opposing government policies, all employees and employers had to join, sought to resolve any disputes between them

The Labour Front - effects

Improved worker's lives - bosses were no longer allowed to sack workers on the spot, by 1936 the average factory work was earning 35 marks a week which was 10 times more than the dole money which the 6 million unemployed Germans received in 1932
Promised more than it delivered - placed workers at the mercy of the government's demands, they were not allowed to leave a job without government permission, only government run labour exchanges could arrange new work, no longer allowed to go on strike or negotiate for higher wages and the number of hours they could be required to work increased, by 1939 many were working 60 to 72 hours a week

Strength through Joy & Beauty of Labour - causes

Gain support - hoped to win workers over by improving their lives in different ways in order to get more work without more pay

Strength through Joy & Beauty of Labour - features

Beauty of Labour - put pressure on employers to improve working conditions in factories such as ventilation and quality of food in canteens, employers often expected the workers to build them in their spare time and took contributions towards their running costs from employee's wages
Strength through Joy - drew up massive leisure programmes for working people, provided cheap holidays, arranged sport matches which involved around 7 million people each year, outings to the theatre and opera,

Strength through Joy & Beauty of Labour - effects

Increase in support - popular among many workers as many of these opportunities had not been available to the average working class German before 1933
Control - useful method of control for the Nazis as not only did it win them support, but it also rewarded loyalty as places on the most desirable trips were reserved for only the most hard-working members of the Nazi party

Nazi policies towards the Jews during WW2 - causes

Nazis gained control - as Germany occupied new territories millions more Jews came under Nazi control, in Poland there were 3 million Jews, they could not remove all these people by emigration so they resorted to other methods
Overpopulation - 3 million Polish Jews were now living in German-occupied territory which was an issue as since they were banned from working or living freely the Reich had to provide for them
War with the USSR - it was draining in terms of finance and manpower, staffing ghettos was costly so killing the Jews was the solution

Nazi policies towards the Jews during WW2 - features

Ghettos - enclosed area of the city sealed by a wall where only Jews would live, food was restricted and starvation was common, crowded conditions and diseases spread rapidly, between 1941 and 1942 an average of almost 4000 Jews died each month from disease and starvation, forced to wear the Star of David to identify themselves, appointed and Jewish council along with a Jewish police force to run the ghetto
Einsatzgruppen - death squads, ordered to murder groups of Jews and dump their bodies in mass graves, by the end of 1941 they had killed 700 000 people
The Holocaust - decided to convert concentration camps into extermination camps where Jews would be killed if they weren't fit for work or used in medical experiments, huge showers built where they would release poison gas
Propaganda - round up of Jews would have been much more difficult if people knew what was going on inside the camps, propaganda films were made showing that the resettlement camps were no more than labour camps, showed that the people were treated well and lived in good conditions