germany

Weimar golden years

1924-29 golden years

gustav stresemann was chancellor, august 1923

economic problems- dawes plan of 1924, the usa agreeed to lend germany 40 million but this loan can be called at any time

in 1928, levels of industrial production reached the same levels before ww1, but this ecomic growth was uneven and the middle class sector didn’t benefit from any economic gains

political- locarno treaties in 1925, germany france and belgium respect borders and thus 1926 germany joins the LON. 1929, stresseman negotatiates the young plan REDUCING reparations, but there were 30% viotes on an extremist party and stresseman was criticised for joining the LON (it looked as though he agreed with the TOV), the president hidenburg opposed democracy..

culture- there was a free expression of ideas, the bahaus movement, and berlin was known as “night life” by 1927, but people felt it showed a moral decline and preferred the wandervogel movement

nazi rise

25 point programme - stronger germany (no tov)

fuhrer (no democracy)

social darwinism (superioirty of Aryans)

germany is in danger from communists and jews (CLEANSE THEM)

lebensraum and the aryan race - living space (his views were solid and unchanged)

1923 he tried to seize power through the munich putsch (overthrowing the government, it failed he went to jail)

he tried to rise democractically:

he did fail in 1928, he only had 12 seats in the reichstag, his anti Semitic policies only appealed to a FEW

Wallstreet crash - 1929

The US banks call in loans from Germany, this leads to the depression in germany

busineses went bankrupt, industry declined,

in 1932 over 6 million are now unemployed

This depression leads to political CRISIS:

Weimar parties looked incompetent, and Bruning raised taxes (reichstag HATED this), and article 48 was used for Hidenburg to make choices

From this point on Germany turned to an extremist party, democracy is gone

28-32 - nazis grew in popularity

32- largest party, 33 percent of the vote was won

Why did nazi’s appeal to voters

German shared nazi’s fears, not their views, negative cohesion, the SA’s were violent street force intimidating at the voting ballots. 1933 elections, nazi’s controlled media, banned opposition meetings, sa’s terrorised opponents

farmers believed if nazi’s improved economy, more people would buy their food

hitler was a charismatic leader and impressive, he has the SA’S, and the SS’S who were his personal bodyguards

the weimar democracy failed to adress germany’s economic problems

the propoganda, hitler was germany’s saviour

hitler promised to make germany great again which really appealed to the YOUNG and UNEMPLOYED

hitler as chancellor

1934 Hitler is the fuhrer, 1933 he was CHANCELLOR

He uses the reichstag fire in 1933 to remove communists. Hitler persuades hidenburg to pass the emergency decree (removal of civil rights, communist SUPPORTERS were also in jail)

The enabling act allowed him to make laws without consulting the reichstag (1933)- Hitler was somehow a LEGAL dictator

he banned trade unions in 1933, all workers part of German labour front (DAF), 1933 he outlawed all the other parties and thus germany became a one party state

Night of the Long Knives , hitler saw SA’S and the leader Rohm as too powerful and as a potential threat and he knew he needed army support to remain in power so in 1934, the ss kills Rohm and SA rivals. 400 were killed.

The nlk was a triumph for hitler, it removed opposition and showed how fearless the SS and hitler was

hitler as fuhrer

Hidenburg dies, so hitler combines the roles of president and chancellor and thus becomes fuhrer 1934, he is also commander in chief of the army and makes the soliders swear an oath of allegiance to hitler the swore to obey him and give their life to him.

nazi control (terror and propaganda)

-police state, a one party state (totalitarian), he wanted a volksgemeinschaft were all germans were one and working together they’d achieve nazi goals (put the interests of your country before your own)

• enabling act meant, conversations were listened, peoples privacy was invaded, and homes were searched without permission

• police restriced and supervised activties, top police jobs were given to high ranking nazi’s and civil servants who didn’t support nazi’s were simply sacked

• law of reconstruction in 34 so Nazi’s were in total control

• the legal system was under nazi control, all judges were nazi

• and in 1934, the nazi intelligence service was set up to spy on all germans

Nazi terror

ss expanded (due to himmler, himmler oversaw the genocidal programme) in 1930 SCARING germans

the first concentration camp opened in 1933

gestapo (secret police), encouraged to report anyone anti nazi, germans accepted this regime because of fear or they agreed with the nazi’s

goebells controlled what people thought

peoples reciever super cheap (everyone heard hitlers speech)

films (pro nazi messages)

hitler myth (book) painted hitler as the saviour

nuremberg rallies (unity), massive parades, speeches, elaborate ceremonies promoting loyalty, nazi ideology

he promised to abolish the TOV

hitler youth- complulsory by 1936 (future BOYS of the nazi regime)

league of german girls (domestic skills)

education ( indocrinated textbooks, taught racial superiority)

nazi propaganda

jobs, nazi labour service (jobs for men 16 to 25)

35- it was complusory to serve for 6 months

autobahns (unemplyed men aided in construction)

KDF (strength through joy, cheap holidays and leisure activities for workers)

beauty of labour (improved working conditions in the factor)

volkswagen (peoples car), beetle scheme where germans saved up to buy a car

DAF - striking forbidden!

Farmers helped hitler rise alot- reich entailed farm law where by the bank could seize the farm because hitler believed farmers are the backbone of the master race (farmers gave him the electorate AND restored the economy)

BUT:

standard of living still low, people moved from rural to urban (shortage of agricultural workers), workers couldn’t strike

women

• expected to stay home, raise children, cook, church. KINDER KUCHE KIRCHE

• MEDALS FOR HAVING CHILDREN, ie gold medals for 8 children which lead in an increase in birth rate, increase in the next nazi generation

opposition

edelweiss pirates (attacked hitler youth and WANTED freedom)

swing youth ( rebelled against the control of culture, listened to american jazz, and dresses unconventially )

some germans refused to give the nazi salute, making anti hitler jokes, not hanging swastika flags

why wasn’t opposition greater

• gestapo, and fear of politcal and economic instability without the nazi’s

• gleichschaltung (how they took power,1 party state, controlled organisation, unifcation of society)

violent persecution of minority

superiority of aryan

5/6 gypsies killed in 1939

jehovahs witnesses opposed war and hiler wasnt their first loyalty, homosexuals (threat the family life), were all sent to concentration camps set up by himmler

himmler set up a central office in 1936 to combat homosexuality and abortion

hereditary illness (sterillisation was enforced (over 300,000 were sterillised between 34- 45)

mentally and physically disabled were targetted ^^^- euthanasia programmes 5000 disabled babies killed between 39-45

72000 mentally ill gassed from 39-41

hatred of JEWS:

jealousy of their education, and blamed for christs death,

33- boycott their business ( and cant enter certain professions like teaching and shops marked with star of david

35- nuremberg laws, citizenship was stripped and had to wear a yellow star, and couldn’t marry aryans

38- not allowed in public, children banned from entering german schools

kristallnacht

night of the broken glass, german diplomat shot dead by a jew in paris, nazi’s retaliated and in 1938, ordered an attack on synagogues, homes, businesses

1938- 200 synagogues burnt, 91 jews killed, 20,000 taken to concentration camps

wartime

high morale when war was announced, in june 1941 they invaded the USSR and occupied states

LOSES:

5 million wounded, 5 million KILLED

Rationing introduced in 1939 and only grew stricter

working hours increased to 50 hours

all men joined to defend the home guard

in 42- american and british bombing became even deadlier (bombing of dresden in 45 where up to 150,00 may have been killed)

after 41- women used in factories, and the youth focussed on military drill and aiding war effort

age of conscription is 16 YEARS OF AGE

opposition increased as the war progressed (eldelweiss pirates), but 12 of the ringleaders were hung

white rose- anti nazi leaflets, executed in 43

catholic churches critcised euthanasia

members of the army tried to assasinate hitler (july plot of 1944), a bomb left in conference room, hitler survives, sought revenge and 5000 people ended up dead

FINAL SOLUTION