Germany Effects Questions

explain two effects of the invasion of the Ruhr

• united the German nation against the invading French and Belgians

• Germany lost income as a result of France and Belgium taking industrial products

• Hyperinflation, as a result of the Germans printing more money to pay the striking workers in the Ruhr who were acting in response to the occupation

explain 2 effects of hyperinflation

• LONG TERM EFFECT: Weimar Republic was severely weakened by hyperinflation. Millions of Germans had lost savings and there was widespread poverty. This caused many Germans to blame the government for the crisis. Those who lose their savings were never compensated

• SHORT TERM EFFECT: Many workers’ wages did not keep up with rising prices as these were increasing so quickly. They could not longer afford daily necessities and in 1918, a loaf of bread in Berlin cost 0.63 marks. By July 1923, this had risen to 3,456 marks.

explain 2 effects of the great depression on Germany people

• young people: more than 50% of people aged 16-30 were unemployed in 1933 and even with a good education degree people could not find work and found themselves in student debt

• factory workers: 4/10 could not get a job and also suffered because unemployment benefits were reduced by the government, people couldn’t afford to eat

• farmers: price of goods began falling since mid 1920s leading to an increase in support for the Nazis as they used existing farmers organisations to spread influence and take advantage of their economic troubles

• businessmen: those who managed to keep businesses struggled as people had less money to spend on goods due to unemployment and tax increase

explain 2 effects of the great depression on the Weimar Republic

• main parties in coalition government, SDP & Centre Party fell out and Heinrich Bruning (Centre Party Leader) suggested making further cuts to welfare benefits but Muller (SDP) refused to accept this, causing weaker relations between coalitions

• Bruning asked Hindenburg to use Article 48 which gave Hindenburg full control of Germany and Bruning introduced several unpopular measures including tax rises and cuts to unemployment benefit, many Germans turned to the Nazis causing them to be the largest party in the Reichstag in 1932

explain 2 effects of the enabling act in 1933

• marked an end to the Weimar constitution and democracy itself

• allowed Hitler to make laws without Reichstag approval

• Reichstag role was to now listen to Hitler’s speeches

• Nazi’s closed down Germany’s 18 separate state parliament, re-organised them so the Nazis held majority in each parliament, appointed Nazi state governors to make laws, January 1934: Hitler abolished state parliaments altogether

Explain two effects of the Munich Putsch on the Nazi Party in the years 1923–28. 

• 16 Nazi members killed

• Hitler was sentenced to jail for nine years but only served 9 months for trying to overthrow the government, judge was lenient

• Hitler’s publicity grew and he became a publicly recognised feature, he took advantage of being on the German national Newspaper by doing speeches during his trial

• Hitler wrote his book, Mein Kompf and formed the strategy of legalism

• Hitler was portrayed as a patriarchal figure, who would sacrifice his life for the welfare of Germany

• Fuhrer principle: when the Nazi party consolidated him, he refused to help them causing the party to almost be destroyed, showing they needed Hitler

• Nazi party banned in Bavaria

explain 2 effects of the Night of Broken Glass on the Jewish community in Germany

• gave Nazis an excuse to launch a campaign of violence and terror against Jews

• 800 shops owned by Jews destroyed, Nazis found that they were rented from German landlords not by Jews and they fined the Jewish community 1 billion Reichsmarks

• 191 synagogues vandalised or set on fire

• many Jewish homes were attacked or property was damaged or stolen

• 91 Jews killed, 30,000 arrested

• Nazi newspaper attacked Jews and tried to shift social attitudes against the Jewish community

Explain TWO effects on Germany of the Treaty of Versailles. 

• economical effect: Germany lost 13% of it’s European territory - lost almost 50% of iron reserves and all 11 colonies in Africa and the Far East

• military restrictions: army limited to 100,000 men for internal use only so when Spartacist Uprising occurred, the government’s defence was weak

• many German people angry about government’s decision to sign the treaty as it weakened their country, labelled politicians who signed it “November Criminals” and stab in the back myth

Explain two effects of the Locarno Treaties on Germany  

• Germany was being treated as an equal/had better relations with other countries - peaceful means - as shown by the terms of the Pact (the French agreeing not to invade the Ruhr again, all parties agreeing that Germany's Eastern borders would be settled by peaceful means). This began a period of improved relations and cooperation between Britain, France and Germany - the “Locarno honeymoon”

• Continued peace for Germany was more likely because Germany had agreed to some of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles as part of the Pact (borders, Alsace-Lorraine being French)
  OK: happened in London in 1925. collection of 7 countries - France, Germany, Britain, Belgium, Italy, Czechoslovakia and Poland.

Explain two effects of the work of Gustav Stresemann on Germany in the years 1923–29

• created the Rentenmark - temporary currency and tightly controlled the amount of money printed, based the value on Germany’s industrial and agricultural worth

• persuaded other great powers to allow Germany to join the League of Nations along with signing the Locarno Pact, members of this council made the most important decisions

Explain two effects of Nazi rule on the Churches in the years 1933–39

• PROTESTANT: A Reich Church was set up which combined Nazi symbols with Christian services. Many Jewiosh elements of Christianity were removed. Some pastors, led by Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoffer, formed the Confessing Church and openly criticised some Nazi policies and were sent to concentration camps.

• CATHOLIC: In 1933, Hitler signed the Concordat and meant Catholic youth groups and schools stayed open as long as thePope agred Catholics would not interfere with politics. Hitler soon broke the agreement and many Catholic League members were forced to join the Hitler Youth group instead. This was important because it would increase support for the Nazis from young and impressionable people as they tried to gain genuine ideological support, which expanded further when they were made compulsory in 1936.

Explain two effects of Allied bombing on Germany during the Second World War

• Nazi propaganda emphasised the bravery of civilians in the face of Allied bombing. The government set up welfare organisations to provide food and shelter for those who had lost their homes

• Bombing clearly had a negative impact on German morale. However, more people had no choice except to get on with their daily lives.

• 40,000 civilians were killed in Hamburg and half the city was destroyed in 1943. Other cities were also bombed

Explain two effects of the White Rose Group as an opposition to the Nazis

• CHALLENGE: they challenged the Nazi regime's authority by openly criticizing its policies and actions, and they inspired other Germans to resist → influenced many young people which the Nazis tried to convince as Hitler spoke of his Third Reich lasting 1000 years and to achieve this he tried to appeal to young and impressionable people, hence the Nazi Youth Group

• EXECUTION: Hans and Sophie Scholl were arrested and executed. They were given a guilty trial and found guilty of treason. Execution by guillotine

Explain two effects on Germany of Stresemann’s work to re-organise reparations payments... 

• NEW CURRENCY: Hyperinflation made the German mark worthless causing Stresemann to replace 1,000 billion marks with the Rentenmark bringing inflation under control

• BOOSTED ECONOMY SO IT WOULD BE MORE LIKELY TO PAY REPARATIONS as Stresemann ended passive resistance and could now promise to keep up reparation payments to France. The French agreed to remove their troops from the Ruhr, an important industrial area for Germany. This allowed the economy to improve, and along with the Dawes Plan, it made it easier to pay back reparations

Explain two effects of the July Bomb Plot as an opposition to the Nazis

• the Nazi regime had reasserted its control of Germany. A few members of the conspiracy, including Stauffenberg, were executed by firing squad the same night.

• savage warning to others: Around 5,000 people were executed in the weeks that followed, remaining leaders of the plot were hung and no further assassinations were attempted

Explain two effects of the Edelweiss Pirates as an opposition to the Nazis

• the Nazi regime was scared of opposition from young people because they were impressionable, therefore some members were arrested and sent to concentration camps

• Cologne plan: blow up a Gestapo building in 1944 but saboteurs and those involved in the Cologne plan were publicly hanged

Explain two effects of the Dawes Plan on the recovery of Germany in 1924-29

• German economy recovered significantly after 1924 Dawes Plan agreement

• Stability in German’s currency meant there was more investment in Germany from other countries, especially in the USA

• unemployment benefit & “labour exchanges” were set up to help people find work in 1927

• However, recovery based largely on American loans and by 1927, there were signs the Germany economy was slowing down

• Total reparations bill was reduced to around $8 billion and the payments were to be made over 59 years at a rate of $473 million per year

Explain two effects of the successes abroad on the recovery of Germany in 1924-29

• Germany was strengthening international relations and no longer becoming an outcasted country

• Stresemann ended passive resistance (avoid military force in self defence) in the Ruhr in 1923, improving Germany’s relationship with Britain and France

• League of Nations, allows better negotiations between Germany and other countries

• Locarno Pact: made peace in Europe and Germany was now being treated as an equal to other European powers

• Kellogg-Briand Pact: promise to not use military force to settle disagreements, giving Weimar republic more respect

Explain two effects of Nazi rule on Women in the years 1933–39

• in 1933, 970,000 babies were born. By 1939, this had risen to 1,413,000 due to the marriage loans which encouraged women to stop work and start a family

• women were restricted in certain careers. married female doctors and civil servants were sacked in 1933. there was also a drop in the number of female teachers and by 1936, women lawyers could not argue cases or sit as judges

Explain 2 effects of the challenges on the Weimar Republic from the left and right in the years 1919-20

• SPARTACIST UPRISING caused communist workers’ councils to seize all power over Germany, and a communists People’s Government to take power in Bavaria. The Spartacists took over the government telegraph and newspaper offices. They hoped protests would seize other buildings but this failed to h happen and the government ordered the army, helped by the Freikorps to restore order, killing the leaders and crushing the uprising

• KAPP PUTSCH caused the government to appeal for a general strike. Workers and civil servants stopped working and refused to cooperate with Kapp. The country became paralysed and Kapp was unable to govern and the putsch collapsed in just 4 days, Kapp fled the city and the government returned, now as the Weimar government.

Explain two effects of the Rentenmark & Reichsmark on Germany’s recovery in 1924-9

• brought inflation under control as one Rentenmark replaced 1,000 billion marks. The new currency was quickly accepted by the Germans and other countries that traded with Germany. Inflation was brought under control.

• the government failed to compensate money to those who had lost their savings causing them to feel cheated and disillusioned with the Weimar Republic.

Explain two effects of the Night of Long Knives

• HITLER CONSOLIDATES POWER Hitler now had no competition within the Nazi Party because he removed his rivals as part of the Night of the Long Knives (Rohm and Gregor Strasser). Rohm had been a potential rival to Hitler within the Party. He had wanted Hitler to introduce more socialist policies. By removing him in such a ruthless way, Hitler deterred any further disagreement.

• IMPROVED REPUTATION Hitler improved the reputation of the Nazis by bringing the SA under control by removing the leaders of the SA as part of the Night of the Long Knives. Hitler won the trust of the German army who were satisfied that the threat from the SA was ended

Explain two effects of the Nazi Party Re-organisation

• HELPED WIN SUPPORT as Joseph Goebbels was appointed to spread the Nazi message through greater use of propaganda. He organised rallies and coordinated the production of posters, leaflets and radio broadcasts

• ATTRACTED MIDDLE CLASS SUPPORTERS as the SA were instructed to tone down their violent tactics and encouraged to demonstrate order and strength, attracting middle class supporters as they wanted a party strong enough to resist communists

• APPEALED TO FARMERS who were suffering from falling agricultural prices by promising higher prices for their produce. The Nazis also contrasted the purity of rural life against support moral decadence in the cities

Explain two effects of Hitler being appointed as chancellor on Nazi Dictatorship, 1933-34

• used his emergency powers after Reichstag fire to arrest 4,000 communists and many Communist Party leaders, making the KPD effectively leaderless. banned political meetings and close newspapers and radio stations.

• Hitler persuaded the Nationalist Party and Centre Party to support a new Enabling Act to give his governments special powers for the next four years, allowing Hitler the right to make laws, treates and even change the consistitution without consulting the Reichstag. By July 1933, Hitler had msde decrees banning trade unions and all other political parties, making Germany a one party state

Explain two effects of the Nazi police state

• People had no legal system to protect them because the legal system was under Nazi control. This allowed Hitler to establish a totalitarian Germany. People were easily/heavily controlled because a variety of 'police forces' enforced Nazi ideology (SS and Gestapo)

• High-ranking police officials reported directly to Himmler and were expected to be loyal Nazis. The Nazis also controlled the courts. Magistrates and judges swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler. Opponents of the regime rarely received a fair trial. Punishments were very harsh and by 1943, the death penalty was used in 43 different crimes, including telling an Anti-Nazi joke

Explain two effects of the Weimar republics fear of communism in 1932-3

• Franz von Papen conspired with wealthy industrialists who feared communism more than the Nazis

• HITLER APPOINTED AS CHANCELLOR as Von Papen convinced Hindenburg to appoint Hitler chancellor, they were persuaded that with von Papen as vice-chancellor, Hitler could be controlled and the SA could be used to crush the communists.

Explain two effects of Nazi censorship

• The media was tightly controlled (radio and newspapers), changing what the people of Germany could see and hear as a result of Nazi censorship. The Nazis used their own papers which were antisemitic to communicate their ideas. Goebbels shut down all anti-Nazi newspapers. Jewish editors and journalists were sacked.

• The arts (books, music, art) were restricted, again changing what the people of Germany could see and hear as a result of Nazi censorship. Mein Kampf became a best-seller

Explain two effects of the Nazi polities towards young people

• By 1936, Hitler Youth Group had 5.4 million voluntary members as they were encouraged to join Nazi-run Hitler youth groups. This would increase when membership became compulsory and they could not avoid Nazi ideology at school because the Nazi policies controlled nearly all aspects of the curriculum.

• 'race studies': a new subject were young people were taught that Aryans were superior and that Jews were the lowest racial type. more time was given to PE, so children will remain fit and healthy - prepared the girls to become mothers and the boys to become soldiers.

Explain two effects of the Home Front during the war

• EVACUATION: mass evacuation of children began in 1942 when allied bombing started targeting civilian areas, about 2.5 million children were evacuated from cities to more rural areas

• RATIONING began before 1939, civilians were issued with food stamps. The longer the war dragged on, the more rationing hit ordinary Germans. In May 1942, the government cut rations per person to around half a load of bread a day and just 40 grams of meat

• TOTAL WAR: places of entertainment were closed. all non-essential businesses were closed down. the Nazis tried to mobilise more women into the war effort

Explain two effects the war had on the role of women in 1939-45

• in 1941, women without children and with previous experience of employment were required to register for work

• In 1943, “total war” meant all women aged between 17 and 45 had to register for work

• By the end of the war, women made up around 60% of the German workforce

• Some women worked on auxiliaries in the armed forces, operating searchlights and even anti-aircraft guns

• As the Soviet army advanced into Germany, tens of thousands of women were raped. Some even committed suicide to avoid such a fate

Explain two effects of the Nazi invasion on the USSR in June 1942

• forced Germany into total war and living and working conditions became increasingly difficult because the invasion of the USSR meant greater strain on Germany, which forced them into a policy of “total war”, including women

• women had to work in the industry. in mid 1943, around 2 million women were working in the industry. in 1943, all women aged 17-45 had to register for work, despite the Nazi policies towards women

Explain two effects of the Nazi policies towards the Jews

• Jewish people were forced to live in certain areas through the Nazi policy of creating of ghettos.
  Soviet Jews were executed through the Nazi policy of the use of death squads

• All Jews in Germany were forced to move to Poland, were they were forced to live in ghettos - they were walled-off areas where Jews were crammed into poor housing. food was restricted and starvation was common. diseases spread very quickly.

Explain two effects of the Swing Youth as an opposition to the Nazis

• the Nazi regime was scared of opposition from the youth groups as young people were impressionable, and the Nazis wanted to control their education, but the Swing Youth consisted of young people who rejected joining the Hitler Youth and being told what to think

• Didn’t behave in the way the Nazis expected: listened to banned music → swing and jazz which the Nazis considered “negro” music therefore dance halls were closed down and some youths were rounded up and given short sentences in concentration camps

Explain two effects of the White Rose Group as an opposition to the Nazis

• Nazi regime feared the opposition from young people, and Hans and Sophie Scholl tried to influence university students using leaflets, criticising Hitler’s leadership and the murder of civilians and Jewish people on the Eastern Front → used passive activism to oppose the Nazis

• printed anti-Nazi slogans on walls and therefore were arrested and executed. They were given an unfair trial and were found guilty of treason.

Explain two effects of President Hindenburg in the Nazis rise to power in 1933-4

• Von Hindenburg’s decision to get rid of Brüning opened the door for the Nazis and assisted their coming to power

• Von Hindenburg’s decision to sack von Papen and appoint von Schleicher was significant as it raised the idea of bringing the Nazis into a coalition government

• Von Hindenburg’s decision to turn back to von Papen to form a viable government, accepting von Schleicher’s resignation and installing Hitler as Chancellor, gave the Nazis an opportunity to take power

• Von Hindenburg issued the decree For the Protection of People and State, which ended civil liberties after the Reichstag Fire and this assisted the Nazis’ rise to power.

Explain two effects of the 1932 Election

• Nazis gained 230 seats in the Reichstag, making them the largest party and giving them a strong platform to push for power

• The Nazis registered a large increase in votes in March 1933 and, as all communist KPD deputies were barred from the Reichstag, the result gave the Nazis a significant political advantage

• The Enabling Act gave the Nazis the power to alter the constitution and they no longer had to rely on the Reichstag or emergency powers in order to legislate