Germany: Development of Dictatorship 1918-45

IGCSE Pearson Edexcel History

Germany in NOVEMBER 1918

starvation, Kaiser abdicated and fled, Nazi mutinied

Who was in charge after Kaiser abdicated?

FRIEDRICH EBERT - a Social Democrat - took control and introduced democrat reforms, signed armistice to end German involvement in WW1

Describe the Weimar Constituiton

• Social Democrats won the 1919 Election

• Adults over 20 could vote for Reichstag (including women)

• Chancellor led government

Weaknessses of the Weimar Constituition

• Proportional Representation

• Article 48

Proportional Representation

Produced small parties, forming coalitions, weakening the governments, unstable system, slowing down decisions

Article 48

Allows President to make decisions without consent of the Reichstag in times of ‘emergency’

→ emergency undefined

→ allows abuse of dictatorship

Opposition to Weimar

• Spartacists (1919)

• Freikorps & the Kapp Putsch (1920)

What was the Spartacists Uprising 1919?

• Communists (left-wing) inspired by the Russian Revolution wanted Germany to be ran by working class

• Led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht

Why did the Spartacists fail?

• lack of coordinated planning

• minimal support outside Berlin (overestimated their support)

• the government employed the Freikorps to crush the uprising and their leaders were assassinated

• To avoid further violence in Berlin, the government moved to Weimar and set up Weimar Republic

Who were the Kapp Putsch?

• A right wing group aimed to overthrow the government

• Led by Wolfgang Kapp

• Wanted to restore an autocratic, monarchist government

• Joined by the Freikorps

Why did the Kapp Putsch fail?

• Government called a national, general strike and they weren’t able to govern

• Lacked public support

Who were the Freikorps?

A right wing, group of ex-soldiers and anti-communists, anti-democrats

Used by Ebert to crush the Spartacists Uprising

When was Treaty of Versailles signed?

June 1919

What was the terms of the Treaty?

• 6.6 billion marks reparations

• take responsibility/blame for the war

• 100,000 men in the army

• loss of colonies and lands

• no submarines, planes, tanks

What is “diktat”?

a harsh peace settlement imposed on a defeated country without negotiations

Why did the French invade the Ruhr in 1923

• Missed reparation payments

What was the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923?

• French, Belgium troops occupied the Industrial Heartland of Germany

• Government began to tell the workers to undergo ‘passive resistance’ at work

• Now they need to print money to pay for workers going on strike

Causes of Hyperinflation 1923

• Weak industrial output

• Printed money to pay workers on strike

• Struggling to pay high reparation payments at the same time

Effects of Hyperinflation 1923

• Workers had to spend immediately before the money lost value (as they’re paid daily)

• Farmers benefited as they owned necessary, valuable goods

• People and businesses with debt paid off more quickly

• People on fixed incomes = extreme poverty

What was the Dawes Plan in 1924

• US loans to stabilise the economy

• Reduced reparation payments into smaller amounts and later due dates

• Set up a new currency

→ highly dependent on US loans, was at risk of collapse if the US withdraw

What was the new currency?

Rentenmark - a temporary stable currency that ended hyperinflation

What was Young Plan of 1929?

• reparations reduced by 67% down to 2 billion pounds

• payments spread over 60 years

→ easier to manage, greater security

→ Nationalists saw this as a public humiliation

What was the economic results in 1929?

• industry recovered, wages rose

• 2 million homes built

• unemployment insurance introduced in 1927

• farmers, middle class, small businesses did not benefit equally

Lorcano Pact 1925

• Germany accepted borders with French and Belgium → reduces risk of war

• improved relations and trust

• 7 nations signed - promised to not use war to resolve disputes

League of Nations 1926

• Germany became a permanent council member

• Regained ‘Great Power status” among the international powers

• increased international respect

• helped economic and diplomatic security

Kellog Briand Pact 1928

• Germany and 61 other nations renounced war as a means to settle disputes

→ reinforced Germany’s peaceful image and encouraged international cooperation

What changes were there to the new Weimar culture?

• Changes in cinema, theatre, literature, art

• Nightlife in cities

• Bauhaus movement in architecture and design

→ freedom of expression and urban pride

→ conservatives and rural Germans considered it as immoral

What were the causes for the new Weimar Culture?

• economic, political, and social changes

• more disposable incomes

• technology developments

Changes in women’s lifestyle

• More women in teaching, working, and social work

• freedom in fashion and social

• 26 women in the Reichstag BY 1926

• Gained independence and rights (right to vote)

• Married women were still discouraged from working

Did all women benefit?

Not all women benefited, many working class and women in rural areas saw little change

Causes of the Munich Putsch in 1923

• Nazis believed army support was likely, as they opposed the Weimar Republic

• Hitler assumed Germans were angered, especially after the invasion of the Ruhr

• Backed by General Ludendorff

Why did the Munich Putsch fail?

• Only 3,000 Nazis supported

• Poorly organised

• Ludendorff and Von Kahr withdrew so Hitler acted alone

• Army and police were prepared

Consequences of the Munich Putsch

• Hitler’s trial → national publicity, and had a 9 month prison sentence

• Hitler took the chance to write Mein Kampf and refined ideas

• Nazi Party was temporarily banned → organised in secret

What changes did the Nazi Party make in 1929-33

• Abandoned violent approach, aimed to gain power in elections

• Built links with wealthy industrialists, anti communists

• Formed SS, led by Himmler (Hitler’s personal bodyguard)

• Formed Hitler Youth

• SA formed to protect Nazis meetings and intimidate opponents → grew up to 400,000 members

• Mass propaganda, speeches, and media to ‘scapegoat’ Jews, communists, and Weimar politicians

Effects of Wall Street Crash 1929-33 to Germany

• US economy withdraw loans → Germany immediately spirals into depression

• Unemployment peaks at 6 million

• Weimar Government failed to respond effectively → they raised taxes, cut wages, Bruning’s policies worsened the economy

How did the people react to the government after the Wall Street Crash?

• The government was seen as weak and incapable

• Germans lost faith in democracy and turned to extreme parties

Nazi Party 1924-29

• No longer banned in 1924, Hitler regained control

• in 1928 election it won 12 seats

• Some people started voting for Nazis because of economic hardships

Role of Goebbels in the Nazi Party

Head of propaganda, he began to spread it through the radio, newspapers

What did Hitler promise?

• To remove the Treaty of Versailles

• Solve economic problems

• Provide jobs

• Strong leadership

How did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933?

• Hindenburg initally refused

• After 2 failed chancellors, Von Papen negotiated with Hitler

• Hitler became Chancellor and Hindenburg believed he could control Hitler

→ elite manipulation from the Nazis, underestimation of Hitler’s ambitions

Effects of Reichstag Fire in 1933

• The Reichstag building was set on fire shortly after Hitler became Chancellor

• Nazis blamed communists for planning a revolution

• Hitler passed a policy for police to arrest without trial → thousands of communists and political opponents get imprisoned

→ gave the Nazis an advantage in eliminating oppositions before the March election

What was the Enabling Act in 1933?

Allowed Hitler to pass laws without approval of Reichstag

(communists were already weakened, SA soliders intimidated other politicians to vote)

→ allowed Hitler to rule by decree and become a one party dictatorship

Night of Long Knives 1934

• SA had grown over 3 million members

• German army feared SA might replace them and since Hitler wanted the army’s support → he ordered the SS to arrest and execute Ernst Rohm (leader of SA) and other SA leaders, getting rid of his political enemies

• Army supported leaders afterwards and swore loyalty

How did Hitler become the Führer in 1934?

• President Hindenburg died, Hitler combined 2 roles → supreme leader of Germany

• Army swore oath directly to Hitler instead of the Constitution

Nazi’s methods of intimidation

• Police state

• Censorship

• Propaganda

Police state ( SS, Gestapo, Courts)

• SS became responsible for internal security, enforcing policies

• Gestapo (secret police) looked out for political opposition → ordinary citizens reported to them

• Special people’s courts tried political crimes and issued severe punishments

• Concentration camps imprisoned communists, socialists, political opponents

→ fear of arrest and punishment discouraged Germans from open criticism of the regime

Censorship & Propaganda

• newspapers, media, radio, cinema, literature ALL promoted Nazis ideologies

• Hitler’s speeches on the radio reached millions of homes

• books that were ‘unGerman’ got burned

Women life under the Nazis

• “Children, Kitchen, Church” ideology

• Encouraged to leave jobs, focus on family life

• Nazis provided marriage loans and medals for mothers with the most children

Youth Groups and education by Nazis

• Schools taught Nazi ideas e.g racial superiority (Aryan race) and loyalty to Hitler

• Nazi’s Teachers League followed their curriculum

• Prepared them for future roles in society (boys sent to military lessons, girls learned to take care of babies)

• Membership of HITLER YOUTH later became compulsory

Churches under the Nazis

• initially Hitler signed a Concordat with the Catholic Church, promising religous freedom, hoping to reduce opposition

• Later, he tried to control churches and limit their influence → churches were restricted, monitored by the state

Nazi’s work to reduce unemployment

• Public work projects e.g autobahn network

• Rearmanent → increased employments in weapons & military equipments manufacturing industries

• Women, Jews removed from jobs → reducing official unemployment figures

RAD, DAF, STJ

RAD - required young men to complete 6 months of labour service

DAF - replaced Trade Unions, controlled wages and working conditions, but CANNOT strike

STJ - organised leisure activities, holidays to improve morale

Nazi’s radical policies

• Aryan supremacy

• Jewish people gradually excluded from jobs, education, public life

Nuremberg Laws in 1935

Restricted Jewish citizenship, banned interracial marriage, and removed political rights (no right to vote)

→ These policies laid the foundation for later persecution in Holocaust

What were Ghettos?

Where the Jews were forced to live in - it was overcrowded, surrounded by walls of barbed wires

• Frequent severe shortages of food

• Poor sanitation, diseases

→ Used as collection points before they were sent to concentration camps

Eisatszgruppen (the Holocaust)

• Mobile SS killing squads

• Followed the army to Eastern Europe after the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941

• Targeted Jews, political opponents, communists → taken to mass graves and shot

The ‘Final Solution’

• Nazi’s plan to systematically exterminate European Jews

• Jews all sent to camps, murdered under gas chambers or died through forced labour, starvation, diseases

• Killed about 6 million Jews

The home front of Germany in 1940s

• War continued, and Germany increased control over citizen life

• Rationing of food and essential goods

• Children evacuated from cites to avoid bombing

Effects of Allied Bombings

• Targeted German cities, industrial areas

• Destroyed homes, infrastructures, and factories

• Women needed in the workforce in factories and nursing (Nazis were reluctant to mobilise women due to traditional values

Opposition groups to the Nazis

Overall: Protests, anti-Nazi material, attempts to assassinate Hitler (Gestapos and SS made organised opposition dangerous, so most of them remained small)

• White Rose group

• Edelweiss Pirates

• Swing Youth

• Religous leaders

Religous leaders’s opposition to Nazis

Opposed Nazi’s policies, a Protestant Pastor criticised Nazi’s persecution of Jews, joined resistance activities → arrested and executed

Elderweiss Pirates

Working class teenagers rejected Nazi’s Youth organisations, handed out leaflets, attacked Hitler Youth patrols

→ Gestapo arrested many members, sent to camps, and 13 got publicly hanged without a court trial

White Rose group 1942-43

University of Munich members distributed critical leaflets on Nazi policies and the war → encouraged people to oppose

A nonviolent, intellectual opposition

→ Many members were arrested and executed

Swing Youth

Middle-class teenagers who listened to American Jazz and Swing music, dressed differently from the Hitler Youth

→ seen as rebellious, many members were arrested and sent to camps

July Bomb plot 1944

• Led by Von Stauffenberg, attempted to assassinate Hitler in a meeting

• 4 people died but Hitler survived with minor injuries

• Thousands of suspected were arrested and executed

Germany in 1945

Faced defeat as the Allied forces advanced from the West and Soviet forces from the East

Hitler remained in his Berlin Fuhrerbunker, refused to surrender

He later committed suicide