germany booklet 3 1929-49

when was the wall street crash

october 1929

what was the impact of the wall street crash

• collapse of american loans and the export market

• closing of banks

• businesses going bankrupt

• industrial production falling

how much did unemployment rise to due to the wall street crash

2 million in 1929 to 6 million in 1933

when did the grand coalition form

1928 with herman muller as chancellor

how did the grand coalition fail

• they couldn’t agree on a way forward due to a disparity between the members eg SPD to DVP

• they couldn’t meet the financial needs of the 6 million unemployed people

what did the cabinet do as a result of failing

resigned in 1930

who was the new chancellor after herman

henrich bruning

what party was henrich bruning the leader of

the centre party

what was henrich bruning reliant on and why

the emergency decree through clause 48 as he could not command a majority

what financial reform bill did bruning pass

cutting public expenditure and raising taxes

what did the new financial bill lead to

a major rise of votes for extremist parties in the 1930 election- nazis got 18.3%.

proof bruning overused article 48

109 times vs 29 bills passed by reichstag

what was brunings success

persuading the allies to drop reparation payments in 1932

why was bruning unpopular

his austerity programme- cutting government spending and reducing wages/pensions

what happened in the 1932 elections

hindenburg won comfortably but hitler polled over 13 million votes

why did bruning lose the confidence of hindenburg

his failed prussian land reform proposals- redistribute junker land to small farmers

who was chosen as chancellor in june 1932

franz von papen

how did franz von papen being chosen as chancellor signify the breakdown of democracy

he nor his cabinet could command a majority in the reichstag

what did hindenburg do due to supporting hitler’s anti communist stance

lifted the ban on the sa

how many votes did the nazis get in july 1932

37.3%

who did hindenburg appoint as vice chancellor as opposed to hitler

kurt von schleicher- but he was an army man who aimed to use nazis popularity to secure position in government

when was hitler made chancellor with von papen as vice chancellor

30th january 1933

how did hitler take advantage of his power

he blamed the reichstag fire on the communists and then called an election a week after which meant the nazis secured 43.9% of the vote

how did hitler alter the constitution of the enabling act

got rid of reichstags need for approval which he was able to pass with the 2/3 majority of the dnvp and the centre party

what was hitler’s one party rule

by banning opposition parties and coercing other parties to dissolve through the process of gleichschaltung

when did hindenburg die

august 1934

what did hitler do when hindenburg died

combined the role of the chancellor and president to become the fuhrer

how did hitler gain support from the army

with the purge of radical members of the SA during the night of the long knives

what was hitler’s two core principles

superiority of the state and the aryan race

who propagated the message of the party

josef goebbels as the minister for popular enlightenment and propaganda

how did power come through contact with hitler

through his other leaders such as Hans Lammers who anticipated what hitler would’ve wanted based on his view. this led to increasingly radical policy making in the third reich

what was the creation of the terror state

run by himmler as head of SS and gestapo and heydrich as head of SD

how did opposition still occur in germany

fromm individuals and groups who refused to conform and plotted to kill the fuhrer

what was the kreisau circle

a group of army officers who saw defeat in the war as inevitable showing opposition from the army

what was the nearest the kreisau circle came to killing hitler

through the july bomb plot 1944

what was the outcome of the 1944 july bomb plot

5000 opposition suspects were rounded up and killed

what happened to germany after the war

it became an occupied nation in which the allies aimed to destroy nazism

who were the allied powers

the UK, US and USSR

what did the yalta conference 1945 reveal

allied disagreements as america wanted a democratic state but stalin wanted a neutral disarmed state.

what were the differences in which the allies disagreed around

4 d’s- demilitarisation, decentralisation, denazification and democratisation

what happened to germany and berlin under the yalta conference

they were divided into four separate zones for the allies to occupy

what was the more formal agreement of the occupation

at the potsdam conference in july and august 1945

what did the british, us and french zones do

combined to form boznia in 1947 and then trizonia when the french joined

what did the creation of trizonia lead to

greater efficiencies and distribution of the american marshall aid

how was the west lead germany

keen to introduce democracy but initially clamped down on political activity in fear of nazi revival, which then relaxed

what did tensions between the east and west centre around

berlin

what did the ussr do to berlin

in 1948 a 324 day period where the ussr forbade road access from the west into the soviet zone where berlin was. this led to an airlift by western allies supplying over 2 million tons of food and fuel

what dd the western occupied zones form

the FRG with its own currency (deutchsmark) and constitution with the basic law coming into effect in may 1949

when were the first election held under the frg and who became federal chancellor

september 1949 and adenauer

how did the east react to the creation of the frg

in october 1949 they created the GDR (german democratic party)

how was germany able to surpass their 1913 levels in 1929

due to american loans and investments from the 1924 dawes plan

why did the loans fail

due to the wall street crash october 1929 which led to mass bankruptcies

how did bruning respond to the wall street crash

• by initiating cuts in public expenditure including salaries

what was the banking crisis in july 1931

customers withdrew their money from germany’s largest private bank (danatbank) which led to its collapse

what was the unemployment in 1932

6 million

how did papen and schleicher aim to mount the unemployment

through introducing measures to encourage employers such as schleicher’s new public works schemes

who did hitler help

peasant farmers and small urban trades but was more focussed on the racial state

who was charged with the recovery of the economy

schacht who became president of the reichsbank in 1933 and minister of economics in 1934

how did schacht tackle the economy

• tackled unemployment through public works schemes through the reich labour service (RAD)

• tax concessions were granted to businesses to stimulate investments

• foreign debts were paid in lower value reichsmarks

• creation of german labour front (DAF)

• strikes were banned

who was the director of the four year plan

goering

the four year plan

• 1936

• aimed to ready the economy for war

• through development of autarky (self sufficiency)

• development of steel works and production of heavy machinery to aid rearmament

• however, the country was not ready when the war broke out

what happened when albert speer became minister of armaments

• more efficient in targeting and raw materials

• lead to a 50% increase in armament production

• 7m foreign workers were transferred to german factories

• in 1945 speer disobeyed hitler’s order to destroy the economy to prevent it being used by the allies

how was german economy rebuilt after the war

• soviet zone experienced less war damage but sought to extract most reparations

• ussr introduced nationalisation and took over banking system

• western zones supported the economy and encouraged a merging of the zones

• marshall aid 1947 that loaned countries money to scare off the growing popularity of communism

• varied rates of recovery

what was hitler’s idea of volksgemeinschaft

nazi ideology to unite ‘racially pure’ germans

what happened to trade unions under nazi rule

• independent trade unions were shut in may 1933 and replaced by the german labour front -ran training courses and provided perks

• in 1935 the RAD (german labour service) was created for 18-25 year olds where they had to complete 6 months of military service

nazi rule female roles

• mothers

• women were responsible for raising birth rate

• abortion was made illegal and contraception was limited

• loans were given for marriage

• medal for mothers was awarded

• women were discouraged from workplace for ideological reasons but when labour shortages happened due to war they were able to join the workplace

youth changes under nazi rule

• new schools created for nazi elite

• curriculum emphasises nazi views

• in 1936 hitler youth membership became compulsory

• 1936 rival youth organisations were shut down

catholic and lutheran churches

• may 1933 protestant reich church was created

• pastors objected and were placed in concentration camps

• july 1933 the pope signed a concordat where the position of the catholic church and education was respected in return for their non interference in nazi governing

• nazis established religion with their own ‘german faith movement’ - but this didn’t attract more than 200,000 followers

what was a chilling example of nazi casualties

killing of 72,000 adults in six mental hospitals

how many roma and siniti people were killed in concentration camps

500,000

who was the most targeted group and how

jews, one day boycott of jewish shops in march 1933 and overall 6 million murders

1933 political condition of germany

the weimar republic was severely tarnished and in response to the economic catastrophe led to the diminishing of democratic procedures. this led to a growing popularity of the nazi party

third reich political condition

• image of order and structure

• seemed as though they had fixed economic issues

post war political condition

• tension between east and west

• wartime allies in power