GERMANY - 4. Life During WW2

What happened in the initial years of war from 1939-41?

Blitzkreig was a combined air and tank attack which captured Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France so that by summer 1940 only Britain was at war

When and what was the Blitzkreig?

Between 1939-41 a combined air and tank attack on several countries

Why did support for the war increase from the Homefront after initially being unenthusiastic?

Successes of Wehrmacht German armed forces in Poland, patriotic donations of clothing to troops in Russia, treasures of invaded countries sent to Germany, children who had been evacuated in 1940 returned

Give a statistic of the donations of clothing the home-front gave to the troops fighting in Russia

Between 1941-42 they gave 1.5 million fur and 67 million woollen items

When did rationing begin?

August 1939

Give a fact about the rationing of key food items during WW2

500g meat, 125g butter and 1 egg a week allowed

Give a fact about the alternative foods citizens used to vary their bland diets due to rationing

Acorns used for coffee and flowers in salads

Give a statistic of the number of workers involved in war production

By summer 1940 50% of workers were involved

Give a statistic of the increase in women working which reversed Nazi policies during the war

Increased by 1/3 from 1939-41

Who was responsible for the armaments of war production?

Initially Dr Todt until he was killed in 1942 and replaced by Albert Speer who was Hitler's favourite architect

When did Germany invade Russia (USSR) in WW2 and what was it known as?

Operation Barbarossa in summer 1941

Give 2 examples of defeat the German's faced after 1942

Set backs in North Africa and surrendered at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union in 1943

Give 4 statistics about the impacts of the Allied Bombing Campaign

800,000 killed, 7.5 million homeless, 2.5 million children evacuated, 3.6 million homes destroyed

Give 3 examples of cities destructed by the 'thousand bomber' attacks in May and June

Cologne, Essen and Bremen

What happened in July 1943?

The RAF created a firestorm in Hamburg which killed 45,000 civilians, destroyed 10 square miles of the city and 900,000 fled in panic

When was the Ruhr Industrial Area bombed and what effect did this have?

In 1943 the RAF and US airforce bombed it effecting war production and the Luftwaffe had to deploy 70% of fighter strength to meet this threat

When was the Allied Bombing Campaign and what did it start with?

From 1942-45 and in 1942 the British RAF were able to mount heavier bombing raids than previously and used this to attack Germany

What did Goebbels introduce in the war and why?

Total war to get everyone and all resources devoted to winning the war

What was the Volkssturm?

The Nazi Peoples Home Guard created to hold the invasion of the Soviet Union and Allies in 1945 made up of youth groups and men

When did Hitler commit suicide?

30th April 1945

Give a fact about slave labour by the nd of the war

7 million non native Germans were working to aid war production and

Give 5 short phrases of how the Homefront changed during WW2

More desperate, more dangerous, more controlled, more unified, more patriotic

Give 5 reasons why the attitude on the Homefront may have changed during WW2

Morale changed after defeats and successes, psychological impact of Allied Bombing, increased rationing and shortages, changes in focus on war production leading to women's employment, Hitler killed himself leading to surrender

List the 3 main opposition groups to the Nazis

Army, religious, youth

List the 3 main Religious Opponents to the Nazis

Martin Niemòller, Bishop Von Galen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Who was Martin Niemòller?

An anti-nazi religious opponent who was arrested for leading the confessional church and survived Dachau Concentration camp after 8 years

Who was Bishop Von Galen?

The catholic Bishop of Munster who was imprisoned in the final year of war for preaching against the Gestapo and Nazi ideas

Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

An opponent in the confessional church who joined the counter intelligence service in 1939 to help Jews escape Switzerland. He was arrested for plotting to kill Hitler and executed.

What was Operation Valkyrie? Explain the events.

1944 plot for Colonel Von Stauffenburg to place a bomb in Hitlers headquarters but the assassination failed on 20th July as he was only injured. The SS and Gestapo regained control and 200 members were executed and some hanged and many persuaded to commit suicide.

Who was Franz Halder?

Chief of Staff for Army who planned to remove Hitler from power as an Army Opponent

What were the 3 main youth opposition groups?

Swing Youth, Edelweiss Pirates, White Rose

What did the White Rose youth opposition group do?

They took letters and posters to Munich University criticising the Nazis and organised a demonstration against them with the aim to stir young people into action. Hans and Sophie Scoll were an example of those arrested and executed.

What the impact of the war in relation to the controlling of the Jewish community? Give 3 ideas

Numbers of Jews increased as they occupied more territory reducing land for them to emigrate to, previous nazi solutions were now inadequate, actions of nazis could be more extreme as they didn't need to worry about the opinion of other countries.

Give information on Ghettos

Jewish reservations in towns with appalling conditions surrounded by walls. The largest was in Warsaw with 55,000 Jews who died due to a deliberate policy to make them die.

What did the Einsatzgruppen do?

Made up of SS and police units following German armies they rounded up and killed Jews. Initially started in Poland then in Russia.

Give a statistic about the Jewish deaths due to the Einsatzgruppen

By January 1942, 1/2 million killed

What were the Einsatzgruppen?

Special Action Squads

When and where was the Final Solution agreed?

In January 1942 at Lake Wannsee on outskirts of Berlin

What did the Final Solution consist of?

Building extermination camps in Eastern Europe with the aim to kill Jews quickly. Those fit to work worked hard while being fed so little they died of starvation and disease. Those not fit to work went to gas chambers.

Give 3 examples of Nazi camps

Belzec, Auschwitz, Treblinka

How many Jews were murdered by the Nazi's during WW2?

6 million

What was the killing of the Jews by the Nazis known as?

The Holocaust

What was the impact of defeat on Germany?

Hitler committed suicide, 7.5 million homeless and 8 million lives lost, factories and industries damaged

Give a statistic which show factories and industries were damaged by Germany's defeat in WW2

In 1946 only producing 25% of output in 1936

What were the main 3D's decided at the Yalta Conference in Feb after Germany's defeat?

Demilitarised, Denazified, Democratised

What was the Nuremburg Trial in 1946?

12 Nazi leaders sentenced while 7 with long imprisonment

Why did denazification slow down in 1947 and abandoned in 1951?

Needed nazi leaders to rebuild economy and be part of the government, legal systems and police because too many German's were linked to nazis so there weren't enough people to fulfil these roles.