weimar and nazi germany

consequences of WW1 on germany

- over 2 million German troops died

- over 4 million German troops wounded

- 55% off all men were casualties of war

- germany was in 150 billion mark in debt

- a lack of food due to British ships blocking food ships

- 750,000 died from lack of food (leading to huge unrest)

the German revolution 1918-1919

the German revolution started November 1918, kaiser Wilhelm had lost control of the country and its people due to protest and strikes, in some town workers and soldiers had already set up their own councils/set of rules to replace those of the kaiser

the abdication of the kaiser

- 9th of November 1918 kaiser Wilhelm was pressured to abdicate by his ministers

- he tried to gain the support of his army generals but they refused to support him

- he abdicated by the 10th of November 1918 and was in exile in holland

what did Ebert do when he first became chancellor?

- agreed with the army to keep communists out of power

- removed old radical members of parliament from the reichstag

- demanded a new constitution and wanted democracy rather then a monarch

Structure of Weimar Constitution

- president (elected every 7 years)

- chancellor

- reichstag (elected every 4 years)

- voters (men and women aged over 21)

article 48

in an emergency the president could cancel the constitution and make laws himself without the need of the reichstag

strengths of the weimar constitution

- germany was a democracy

- women also had the vote

- voting age was reduced from 25 to 21

- the voting system was proportional representation

- chancellor had to get support of 2/3 of the reichstag to make decisions

- no one person was meant to have too much power

- laws could only be passed if they were voted for by the reichstag

- local government had a say in how their regions were run

weaknesses of the weimar constitution

- proportional representation meant that it was rare to have one leading political party so coalition governments had to be formed

- coalition governments often argued and fell apart (another election)

- there was no single, strong party to make quick decisions in an emergency

- the president was often needed to step in and use emergency article 48 to pass laws

- the constitution seemed weak

- there was never full support of the public or army

- more extreme political parties did not even agree with democracy and hated the constitution

how many coalition governments were there between 1919-1923?

9

war guilt

in the treaty of Versailless Germany had to admit blame and guilt for the war

reparations

germany had to pay £6.6 billion compensation for all the damage done to the other nations

armed forces restriction

- army: limted to only 100,000 men and now heavy artillery allowed

- navy: only allowed 6 battleships, no submarines and remaining boats destroyed

- Air Force : no Air Force allowed all planes destroyed

- land on the French border (the Rhineland) was de-militarised

industry

- germany lost 50% of iron reserves to other countries

- coalfields in an important area called the saar were given to France for 15 years

land

- germany lost 10% of its population

- france, Belgium and Poland gained land

- Poland gained 2 million more people

- no links with Austria allowed

empire

germany had 11 colonies in Africa and the Far East taken off them by the allies

'diktat'

germany had only 15 days to challenge the rules all of their issues were ignored

'dolchstoss'

- the German people felt that the army were not actually defeated in the war and it was only the politicians in germany who admired defeat

- they believed they had been stabbed in the back and called these politicians the November criminals

the spartacist revolt

- the German communist party included a group called the sparticist league led by rosa luxemberg and Karl liebknecht

- they had money and support from Russia , 40,000 members

- in January 1919, Ebert sacked the police chief of Berlin who was popular with workers

- the sparticist league called for a strike, 100,000 workers demonstrated and took over government newspapers

how did the weimar government react to the sparticist revolt?

- Ebert sent in the freikorps who easily stopped demonstrations

- the leaders were arrested and shot by freikorps officers

the freikorps

- Ebert needed an army to help but the treaty of Versailles limited it to 100,000 men, ex soldiers returned to germany and kept their weapons

- they were right-wing and hated the communists

- the ex- soldiers were organised into the 'free corps' units with around 250,000 men by march 1919

kapp putsch (march 1920)

- the friekorps had helped to stop the communist but were getting too powerful and Ebert could not control them

- Ebert reduced the numbers in freikorps

- in response, 5000 soldiers marched on Berlin with their weapons in attempt to put Wolfgang kapp in charge and bring back the kaiser

- Ebert asked the workers to help, thousands of workers went on strike refusing to back the kapp putsch

- kapp was arrested and put in prison

political assassinations between (1919-1923)

- 376 assassinations of left wing or centre politicians, not one right wing assassination

how did the weimar government react to french occupation in the ruhr?

- german workers went on streak as the government did not want any violence as germany did not have a strong army

how did french occupation of the ruhr affect germany?

- crippled germany as the ruhr contained 80% of all german iron, coal and steel reserves

- it led to more debt

- more germans lost jobs (unemployment)

- lead to a massive shortage of goods

- lead to hyperinflation

german economic problems in 1923

- government needed to pay war reparations

- government needed to pay their own war debt

- fewer factories due to lost land (Saar, Ruhr and the rhineland)

- higher unemployment

- wiemar government got less money from workers paying taxes

- fewer goods produced due to the french occupation in the ruhr so germans had to pay more to get what they needed

How did the weimar government deal with economic problems in 1923?

they decided to print more money which made money almost worthless (hyperinflation)

price of a loaf a bread from 1919-1923

1919 - 1 mark

1923 - 200,000 billion marks

effects of hyperinflation

- normal living became impossible and people carried money in baskets/wheelbarrows

- workers paid twice a day to cope with the amount of money

- some shops refused to take money

- theft increased

- shortages of food and goods as countries did not want to trade with germany

- the rich and middle classes lost the value of their savings

who benefited from hyperinflation?

foreign visitors as they could buy cheap holidays and buy a huge amount with their foreign money - germans hated being taken advantage of like this

the renternmark (1923)

- new german currency set up by streseman

- all old money was collected & burnt

- gave stability

- foreign governments could now trade with germany

the Dawes Plan (1924)

- reparations reduced to £50 million

- america loaned german industries 25 billion dollars

positive consequences of the Dawes Plan

- the allies would now get their reparations

- the French left the Ruhr

- industrial production doubled

negative consequences of the Dawes Plan

- extreme political parties were angry germany was paying reparations again

- german recovery relied on loans

the Young Plan

- the reparations were reduced from £6.6 billion to £2 billion

- germany given 59 more years to pay

positive consequences of the Young Plan

- germany had more money for its own people

- german people had more money to spend on goods

- 85% of the population voted to support the plan

negative consequences of the Young Plan

- extreme parties were angry at paying for 59 years more

- Hitler argued that extending the loan was 'passing on the penalty to the unborn'

the Locarno Pact (1925)

- recorded an agreement between France and Germany to respect mutual frontiers. Marked the beginning of a brief period of reduced tensions among the European powers.

- streseman awarded the nobel peace prize for his efforts and negotiations & stopping further war

positive consequences of the Locarno Pact

- germany accepted a new border with france in return for peace

- all nations agreed to more negotiations with germany

negative consequences of the Locarno Pact

- agrrement of borders angered extreme political parties like the NSDAP

the league of nations (1926)

- was a group of who could discuss issues as a group of allies, it was created after world war 1 to avoid war

- streseman got the other countries to allow germany as a member

positive consequences of the league of nations

- made many germans more confident

- it gave germany a big say in the events of europe

negative consequences of the league of nations

- extreme political parties hated the league as they believed it would just take advantage of germany and did not want germany to make links with other countires

kellog briand pact (1928)

- germany and 61 other countries promised that they would not use war as a way to achieve foreign policy aims

how did work improve for the german workers? (after ww1)

- after ww1 unemployment was high 4% of the total work force were unemployed

- by 1926 = 2 million unemployed

- this imrpoved to 1928 = 1.3 million unemployed

- emotional impact: employment offered pride and money especially after the effects of the TOV

how did unemployment insurance improve for workers? (after ww1)

- by 1927, for a small fee in their wage workers could get paid for illness or unemployment until another job or returned to work

- emotional impact: this removed the stress of unemployment and the risk of returning to poverty

how did education improve (after ww1)?

- the number of students in higher education before ww1 was 70,000 by 1928 this increased to 110,000

- emotional impact: young people had better confidence and hope for the future, more young people went to university

how did housing improve (after ww1)?

- after ww1 there was a shortage of cheap housing as the government did not have money to build them

- in 1925 the government supported the building of 37,000 new homes

- there was 10,000 more home sin Berlin

- emotional impact: seeing massiv ebuilding projects made germans believe the country was back up and running again

how did working hours and wages improve for workers? (after ww1)

- workers benefited from having a shorter number of hours to work with higher wages

- wages increased 25% from 1925-1928

- emotional impact: made german workers believe their government was helping

how did pensions for ex-soldiers improve? (after ww1)

- pensions were now paid to 750,000 war veterans, 400,000 war widows and 200,000 parents of dead soldiers

- emotional impact: this acted as a reward and gave soldiers dignity, made people believe the government cared

Political change for women in the weimar republic

- the weimar government lead by the social democrats strongly believed women should be given the vote

- by november 1918 women were allowed to vote for the first time and stand to be elected

- 90% of women voted in weimar elections

- by 1932, 112 women had been elected into the reichstag 10% was now female

change in rights of women in the weimar republic

- by law women had equal rights to men, marriage was an equal partnership, and women should be able to enter any profession with the same rights as men

- however just because law changed doesn't mean peoples attitudes changed

negative attitudes towards new women

- the birth rate was falling and germany needed more women as mothers to increase the population (especially after TOV)

- the divorce rate was rising. many traditional germans believed that women needed to be loyal wives

change in advertising and film of women in the weimar republic

- the growth of new women had a huge impact in advertising, magazines, and films

- this encouraged even more women to follow the same lifestyle

- the media made the idea of 'a new women' more accepted in germany

change in leisure opportunities for women in the wiemar republic?

- young, unmarried and working women who lived in the cities were making their own money and were able to decide how to spend it

- they bought more clothes, went out more, expressed their views and behaved how they wished

- they had short hair, wore more revealing clothes, smoked and drank alcohol

- for the first time they went out unaccompanied by their husband or father

- they were less interested in marriage and having children

change in work for women in the weimar republic

- due to ww1 by 1918 75% of women were in work, often doing men's jobs

- this dropped to 35% after the war

- with more shops open during the economic recovery, women could have part-time work in shops and offices

- there was progress in medicine where 2500 more females were doctors after 1932

- women were paid 30% lower than men for the same job

- women were still expected to give up work once married

why did culture change in wiemar germany?

- there was less restrictions on life compared to life under the kaiser

- eberts actions gave people freedom of speech and other freedoms

- economic recovery allowed more government funding to the arts

- influences from the USA which was going through the 'roaring twenties'

- the growth of technology and media

the 3 new methods used by the arts

new objectivity, modernism, and expressionism

new objectivity

- being more honest about what real life looks like such as poverty, depression and desires

- not the traditional pretty and romantic view of life

modernism

- art and architecture should be futuristic and take pride in industry and technology

- not being traditional and old-fashioned

expressionism

- arts should include expressions of emotions and the feeling of the artists

- not just simply showing objects or people as they really look

the bauhaus movement

- the bauhaus was a famous design college in berlin

- the 1st exhibition had 15,000 visitors on the 1st day

- it influenced all arts: music, architecture, art, literature and cinema

cultural changes in art in the wiemar republic

- painters such as Otto Dix and George Grosz painted scenes from real german life which were very critical and harsh

- e.g the 'ugly' suffering of german war veterans

cultural changes in cinema in the wiemar republic

- films became popular all over the world

- german films were more experimental, innovative and often controversial

- the weimar government funded film making

cultural changes in literature in the weimar republic

- a huge number of writers began publishing work

- the historical novel all quiet on the western front criticised the war and was later turned into a famous film

opposition to changes in culture and arts in the weimar republic

- the older generation, the church and extreme political parties disapproved of the 'outrageous' change

- right wing believed that the arts should remain traditional & take pride in germanys past

- left wing believed the government funding of the arts was extravagance when money should be spent improving the life of the poor

how did adolf hitler use the brownshirts to take over the German workers party?

- hitler kept control of his own party using the 'stormtroopers' or SA lead by Ernst Rohm

- they were ex-soldiers who were paid by the nazis

- they controlled crowds at meetings and removed opposition

- they made the nsdap look strong an official

how did adolf hitler use the 25 point programme to take over the German workers party?

hitler took control of what the party aimed to do, him and drexler wrote a list of 25 beliefs

- the main aims were :

- to destroy the weimar government

- to re-gain the lost land after ww1

- to remove democracy

- to make a bigger army

- to ignore the tov

- to remove jews and unite all germans

how did hitler use his strategy and strong ideas to take over the German workers party?

- he changed the name of the party to include terms 'nationalist' and 'socialist' to broaden the appeal. it was called the nationalist socialist German workers party

- he used the swastika as the party logo

- he bought the party its own newspaper 'peoples observer'

how did hitler use his leadership skills to take over the German workers party?

he was so popular that he was elected leader of the nsdap in 1921 he became stronger by bringing in his own supporters to help him:

- Rudolf hess (his deputy)

- Hermann goering

- ernst rohm

hitlers appeal

- he was a talented public speaker

- his hand gestures and eye contact were a key part of his appeal

- hitler knew the power of propaganda, especially photographs, poster and banners including the logo of the swastika

long term causes of the Munich putsch (1923)

hitler believed many people would support as they hated the weimar government because of:

- the abdication of the kaiser

- the treaty of Versailles (dolchstass)

- the weakness of the weimar government

the regional leaders has been allowing the nazi party and the SA to carry out their violence without punishment as they supported hitler ideas

medium term causes of the Munich putsch (1923)

Hitler was inspired by Mussolini in Italy who 'marched on Rome' to gain power

short term causes of the Munich putsch (1923)

- 1923 was the year of hyperinflation and the French occupation of the Ruhr, hitler took the opportunity to make the most of these events to take power (people look for extremist change in times of desperation)

- the Nazi party had 50,000 members by 1923

the events of the Munich putsch (8th of November 1923)

- the Bavarian government were having a meeting in a beer hall

- Hitler and army general Ludendorff with 600 SA officers burst in

- they shot into the air declaring they would take over and march to Berlin, forcing the Bavarian leaders to agree to his actions

- Rohm took over the local police and army HQ

two key mistakes made by the nazis with the Munich putsch

- the army barracks in Munich were not taken over so troops could help stop hitler

- Ludendorff accidentally released the 3 Bavarian leaders, they did not want to support hitler so called for help from the local army and police

the events of the Munich putsch (9th of November 1923)

- hitler, Ludendorff, goering, rohm and Steicher set off to march into the town centre and declare hitler president of Germany

- they were with 1000 SA and over 2,000 member of the public that 'volunteered' to support them

- however it is believed the nazis actually robbed a jewish bank to pay these volunteers for helping them

why did the Munich putsch fail?

- the general public did not care for what hitler was doing & he did not get the support he was hoping for

- the army from the barracks outnumbered hitler and the SA especially with weapons

- the police of Munich were also there to stop hitler

- when fighting broke out hitler was knocked over by his bodyguard breaking his arm, the sa and supporters ran away and hitler ran away and hid in a wardrobe

negative consequences of the Munich putsch

- the Munich putsch failed

- hitler was defeated and humiliated

- hitler and the other leaders of the Munich putsch were put on trial

- hitler and 3 others were found guilty of treason

- the judge sentenced hitler to 5 years prison

- the nsdap was banned

positive consequences of the Munich putsch

- hitler learnt he would not be able to gain power by force alone, he needed to gain more support and be more sophisticated in his aim to gain control

- the nazi party was only banned until 1925, even in this time they used a different name and gained votes at elections

- hitler used his trial to gain publicity for his views from the whole country

- while in prison hitler wrote a book called 'mein kampf' this was later published and sold millions of copies

- hitler was released from prison after 9 months

the importance of hitlers book (mein kampf)

it showed hitlers racial ideas:

- 'antisemitic' ideas

- that jews and communists had caused all of germanys problems and must be destroyed

- the German race, called the aryan race was the strongest as they had pure blood

it showed hitlers nationalist ideas:

- to make Germany stronger they needed to ignore the tov

- to make more 'lebensraum' (living space) for the German people

it showed hitlers socialist ideas:

- to use money from industry and powerful businesses to help Germany workers

it showed how hitler thought Germany should be rules:

- hitler wanted a 'totalitarian' country (one strong leader and no democracy)

it showed hitlers ideas about traditions:

- hitler wanted strong traditional families with separate roles for men and women (traditional German culture)

who did hitler replace the brownshirts (SA) with?

the SS 'protection squad' with black uniforms, led by Heinrich himmler

what was the Wall Street crash (1929)

- the collapsing of the us economy

- the crash led to an economic depression and hit Germany HARD!

why did the Wall Street crash impact the German economy?

- America wanted the money it had loaned in the Dawes and young plan returned

- germans panicked and rushed to banks to take out their money

- German banks literally ran out of money

how did the Wall Street crash lead to unemployment?

loan repayments:

- industries were told to pay back the money lent to them by the banks, they could not then pay all their workers and so jobs were lost

trade with other countries:

- other countries could not trade as much and buy German goods as they too were suffering from the depression

- German factories lost even more money so could not pay their workers

Unemployment led to more unemployment:

- unemployed germans could not afford to buy goods and so industries lost even more money = more workers had to loose their jobs

unemployment numbers 1929-1933

1929 - 1.3 mil

1931 - 4.3 mil

1932 - 5.1 mil

1933 - 6.1 mil

why did the weimar government not help the economic depression?

- the chancellor Heinrich bruning had to increase taxes

- he had to use 44 emergency decrees

- the government could not make any decisions and argued about what was best

- all this chaos made Germany look weak

by 1930 how many stormtroopers did the SA have?

400,000

how were the unemployed affected by the crash?

- 1.3 mil germans were already unemployed

- the government could not afford to give them unemployment benefit

- crime up 25% in cities

why did the unemployed support the nazis after the crash?

- hitler promised 'bread and work' for all

- he also promised 'law and order' to tackle crime caused by poverty

- he promised action to help Germany

how were the working class affected by the crash?

- 40% of all factory workers lost their jobs

- those that had a job had wages cut by 70%

why did the working class support the nazis after the crash?

- the term 'socialist' in the nsdap

- the promise of 'bread and work'

how were the middle class affected by the crash?

- they lost savings, jobs, land and business

- they felt like they had lost their status and did not like living like the working class

why did the middle class support the nazis after the crash?

- they saw hitler as strong

- thought he could return their wealth

- they hated communism as they wanted to be richer than the poor not equal to them

- they like the traditional values promised by hitler

how were the business owners and the rich affected by the crash?

- they lost sales

- had to pay even higher taxes

- lost profit and also had to re-pay loans given to them by the government

why did business owners and the rich support the nazis after the crash?

- hitler promised bosses tat the nazi party was the only party that would protect them from communism

- hitler promised to increase factory production

how were the young affected by the crash?

- were hit the hardest with unemployment

- 50% of germans aged 16-30 lost jobs

- 60% of university graduated lost jobs

- they saw no hope or future

why did the young support the nazis after the crash?

- the nazis were new and exciting and used modern technology

- hitler was exciting with his speeches which inspired passion and hope for the future of the youth

how were women affected by the crash?

- found it hard to look after the family with less money and unemployed husbands

- difficult to feed a family

- the first to loose their job if they had one

why did women support the nazis after the crash?

- hitler promised women that a vote for the nazi party was a vote for their family

- the nazis made traditional family life look attractive and beneficial to Germany

how were farmers affected by the crash?

- lost sales, savings, could not pay rent

- scared of a communist government that would take land