Germany: Democracy to Dictatorship 1890-1945

what was Germany like before WW1?

what was Germany like before WW1?

• was a constitutional monarchy

• before unification of Germany in 1871, Prussia was the most powerful German state → militarism v important to them (had good army + weaponry)

• when Germany was unified, Prussian army formed basis of new German army

constitutional monarchy

form of government where the monarch is head of state, but the law-making process is undertaken by an elected government

bundesrat

• federal council (representatives from each German state)

• introduced laws to the Bundestag and power to approve them

kaiser wilhelm

• 1888-1918 (abdicated)

• dreamed of making Germany as great as Britain (large empire)

  • began building Germany’s industry → industrialisation

  • by 1913 → making as much steel + coal as Britain

kaiser’s personality

• frequently changed his mind + unpredictable

• hurried + reckless decisions

• v competitive with Britain

growth of socialism (problem within Germany)

• success of German industry made some very rich but many workers were unhappy because their wages were low, working conditions were bad + food was £££ → many people joined trade unions

• SDP (socialism) grew as workers wanted equal power + wealth

  • ~ 1 in 3 Germans voted for the SDP

• some people more extreme → wanted to rebel against kaiser

social reforms

• rise for support of SDP troubled the kaiser + others

• Bismarck introduced several liberal reforms to reduce support for the SPD + pushed through laws to weaken their influence

• however a number of social reforms were also passed to improve workers’ lives + keep them happy:

  • 1891 - the Social Law banned Sunday working and the employment of children under 13

  • 1900 - the length of time accident insurance could be claimed for was increased

  • 1901 - industrial arbitration courts were introduced to settle disputes between workers and employers

  • 1903 - health insurance was extended and further restrictions were placed on child labour

weltpolitik (world policy)

• kaiser wanted an empire abroad + to transform Germany into a global power

  • late 1800s → Germany took over other nations, mostly Africa

  • wanted ‘a place in the sun’

weaknesses of parliamentary govt

• chancellor had to stay in the kaiser's good books → could be dismissed

• 25 individual states controlled income tax → central govt struggled to raise enough tax to cover spending

• poor living + working conditions ignored

influence of Prussian militarism

• army was led by Prussian officers, who reported directly to the Emperor

• Prussia provided 17 out of 58 representatives in the Bundesrat → 14 votes needed to veto any laws passed by the Bundestag

• Germany’s legal system, civil service and diplomatic corps were dominated by powerful Prussian noble landholders, known as the Junkers

industrialisation (problem within Germany)

• poor workers’ conditions bc of industrialisation

• made more people support SDP

chancellor Bismarck

• is dismissed as the kaiser thinks he is too powerful

• appoints ‘yes men’ → agree with everything he says → not the best decision as he does not get good advice

naval laws

• passed 5 naval laws from 1888-1914, 38 battle ships by 1900

  • did this to turn Germany into a world power by building an overseas empire

positives of naval laws

• pleased the kaiser, who was determined that Germany would become a world power

• increased support for the kaiser and his government by appealing to German people’s sense of patriotism

  • won the govt support from a majority of deputies in the Reichstag

negatives of naval laws (problems with Germany + other countries)

• German government’s budget went into deficit as it spent more money on the army, the navy and its new colonies → national debt grew to 490 billion marks by 1913

  • taxes increased to pay for development of navy

• threatened Britain’s navy → started an arms race with them as both sides built massive dreadnought battleships → worse relationship

• increased opposition from socialists → thought it was a waste of money

life in Germany during WW1 (hope)

while life was hard, people were hopeful that they would win the war → made defeat hard to accept for German soldiers → blamed democratic politicians, communists + Jews for having stabbed Germany in the back

British blockade

• British used their large navy to stop supply ships getting to Germany → terrible shortages of food, medicines and clothing → people grew weary and tired of it (war weariness)

• 1918 → surviving on turnips + bread

war weariness

• 1915 → 500 women gathered in front of the German parliament buildings and said that they wanted their men back from the trenches

• 1916 → 10,000 workers assembled in Berlin to shout, ‘Down with war, down with the government!’. The police quickly moved in to make arrests and calm the situation

high taxes

• Germany were in debt + needed money for the naval ships

flu epidemic

• 1918 → deadly flu epidemic, killing 1000s who were already weak from a poor diet

• made worse bc of blockade → lack of food + medicine

kaiser’s abdication

• in early 1918, Germany were given a chance to surrender by America → kaiser rejected this

  • oct 1918 → sailors at Kiel mutinied, refusing to follow orders to attack British ships → some soldiers supported this

  • 1918 → kaiser forced to abdicate as support for his govt collapsed

impact of WW1 by 1918

• govt debt

• families w/o fathers faced poverty → 60,000 war widows + 2 million children w/o fathers

• division between rich + poor → factory owners benefitted from production, workers had restrictions of wages

• support for communism → wanting equal wages

treaty of Versailles

• allies met in 1919 at Versailles, Germany not invited but presented with a diktat → rejection of this would have re-started the war

what did German people hope for?

• hoped for a fair treaty

• hoped that after the kaiser’s abdication, countries would want to treat the new democratic govt in Germany more fairly

what did Germany get?

• people were horrified at the terms

• Germany not allowed to join LoN

why did they get such harsh conditions?

• France + Britain wanted to seriously weaken Germany

  • France had been devastated bc of trench warfare + wanted revenge

who got the blame?

• most Germans did not blame the kaiser

  • blamed the new leaders of the Weimar Republic → called them November Criminals

terms of the ToV (LAMB)

Land

• overall, Germany lost 10% of it’s land, 13% of it’s population

• this included all of its overseas colonies (German empire)

• also lost 26% of its coal resources with this

terms of the ToV (LAMB)

Armed forces

• Germany not allowed any tanks, submarines or an air force

• navy could only have 6 battleships

• army reduced to 100,000 men

• conscription banned

this was mostly done to make other nations feel safer as Germany’s armed forces were previously seen as a major threat.

terms of the ToV (LAMB)

Money

• Germany forced to pay reparations → £6.6 billion

terms of the ToV (LAMB)

Blame

• ToV contained a ‘war guilt’ clause → Germany accepted full responsibility for all the damage + devastation caused during WW1

establishment of weimar republic

• 1919-1933 → voted into power

positives of weimar republic

• all men and women over the age of 20 were able to vote

• German citizens elected the President and the Reichstag (Parliament)

  • Reichstag made the laws and appointed the government

negatives of weimar republic

• proportional representation → meant that extreme parties could still get into the Reichstag (nazis later on) + also since there were so many parties, it was difficult to agree on things

• article 48 → in an emergency, the President could take control of Germany and issue laws and decrees → would potentially allow for a dictatorship to develop

  • unstable govts since there were so many

1919 Spartacist Uprising (threat from the left)

• Rosa Luxemburg + Karl Liebnecht (from Spartacists: Germany’s communist party)

• tried to take over Berlin → wanted a communist revolution after the kaiser’s abdication

  • tried to organise mass strike

was this a threat?

• not that much of a threat, poorly organised + failed

• crushed in 5 days by Freikorps (ex-WW1 soldiers paid by govt)

1920 Kapp Putsch (threat from the the right)

• extreme nationalist Dr Wolfgang Kapp, 5000 Freikorps → attempted revolution after ToV → hated November Criminals + democracy

was this a threat?

• would have succeeded if it were not for the workers in Berlin going on strike + refusing to help the Freikorps

• Weimar Republic fled Berlin

1923 Occupation of the Ruhr

• 60,000 French + Belgium troops marched into Ruhr to take goods such as coal

• seized control of mines, factories + railways

• Germans reacted with passive resistance → went on strike and refused to make the goods that the French + Belgium wanted

was this a threat?

• quite a big threat

• worsened Germany’s already bad economy

• less support for the govt

• caused hyperinflation → govt printed more money to pay striking workers

1923 Hyperinflation

• printed more money to pay workers

• prices rose massively

• jan 1919 → $1 = 9 marks

  nov 1923 → $1 = 200bn marks

• German mark became practically worthless

was this a threat?

• large threat

• major food shortages → starvation

• crime increased

• middle class suffered greatly → lost all savings → resentment

• turned people away from govt

  • BUT Stresemann creates new currency (Rentenmark)

1923 Munich/Beer Hall Putsch

• Nazis, led by Hitler + army general Ludendorff held an important politician (von Kahr) at gunpoint + forced him to declare his support for the Nazis

• marched to centre of Munich expecting to take control of city → poorly planned, easily defeated → Hitler sentenced to 5 yrs in prison

consequences

• short term failure

• long term success

  • Hitler’s speech against corrupt + weak govt gained reputation → good publicity

  • used death of the 16 nazis as propaganda

  • sentence went down to 9 months

  • wrote Mein Kampf while in prison

  • Hitler reconsidered tactics → taking power legally

was this a threat?

• quite a big threat in the long term

• NSDAP gained more votes

Stresemann era (golden years)

• 1924-28 → recovery of the Weimar republic

cultural achievements

• Bauhaus movement gained international attention in architecture

• in cities, nightclubs + cabarets became popular

• shows criticised politicians + discussed sex → freedom of speech

cultural weaknesses

• many (more traditional) people disapproved of the new open culture

• saw Berlin as sleazy, corrupt + sex-obsessed

• people who wanted more trad. German culture joined the Wandervogel movement → hikes + camping, simple way of life

political achievements

• poor election results for communists + nazis → 1928, SDP joined a govt coalition with parties committed to the WR

  • showed middle class were not suspicious of socialists

political weaknesses

• 1925 → Hindenburg criticised the WR → weak support

• huge instability, govts had to form coalitions to add together votes → could not make agreements

  • 25 govts in 14 years

foreign policy achievements

Locarno Treaty, 1925

• Stresemann accepted Germany’s western (not eastern) borders

• all countries decided to renounce the use of invasion and force, except in self-defence

• reassured France about its borders and Germany about any French invasion/occupation, as had happened in 1923

foreign policy achievements pt2

Joining the LoN, 1926

• Stresemann steered Germany into LoN

• status as great power recognised + was given a permanent seat on the League’s Council → had power to veto decisions

foreign policy achievements pt3

Young Plan, 1929 → better economic growth

• payments reduced from £6.6bn to £2bn

• length of time Germany had to pay was extended to 59 years

• reparations reduced to 37,000 million marks

• Germany had to pay ⅓ of the amount required each year as part of a compulsory agreement – about $157 million

• other ⅔ only had to be paid if Germany could afford to do so in a manner that would not harm her economic development

foreign policy weaknesses

• some people wanted to completely get rid of the ToV, not just have it revised

• Locarno Pact made permanent the land that was lost under the Treaty of Versailles

• number of troops were still limited, therefore Germany still felt weak and defenceless

economic achievements

• Dawes Plan, 1924 → Germany was lent 800 million marks by USA to help economy recover

• economic growth → 1928, industrial production surpassed pr-WW1 levels

  • 1930 → Germany was one of the world’s leading exporters of manufactured goods

economic weaknesses

• Dawes Plan → Germany’s economy became dependent on the loans from USA, they could be withdrawn at any time

• unemployment

• some sectors in trouble, e.g. farming

• extremes of wealth + poverty

• concentration of power in hands of few industrialists who ran more than half of Germany’s industry

impact of the depression

• wall street crash 1929 → US banks recall loans → German firms go bankrupt (dependency on Dawes Plan) → unemployment rises → less money to spend → demand for German goods fall

• wall street crash → foreign countries do not want to invest in businesses → decline in world trade → demand for German goods fall

• Weimar dealt with it badly → raised taxes + refused to print more money

how many unemployed during the depression?

6 million Germans unemployed by 1933

nazi strengths

• Hitler’s leadership + order

  • decisive leader, skilled at creating simple messages

  • Munich putsch speech famous → trust in Hitler

  • Nazi rallies well planned + ran smoothly

• Nazi opposition to communism

  • Nazi SAs broke up communist meetings and attacked their offices

  • gained support as many were worried about rising support for communism

• Nazi scapegoating minority groups

  • blamed Jews, November criminals + communists

  • most people accepted this as it was easy to put blame onto other people + also were worried about communism

nazi strengths pt2

• Nazis were traditional

  • rejected new Weimar culture + USA influence

  • agreed with conservative Germans who thought foreign ideas were influencing German culture too much

• Nazi propaganda + campaigning won them votes

  • Hitler travelled widely + Goebbels exploited new tech to spread Nazi views

  • Nazis owned 120 daily or weekly newspapers

  • Hitler also made speeches at mass rallies + on radio

• Nazis promised they would make Germany great again

  • said they would overturn the ToV + invade lebensraum in the east

  • people hated having to pay reparations when they were already poor → Weimar had betrayed people ‘November Criminals’

nazi strengths pt3

• won support due to depression

  • promised ‘work and bread’

  • 1928: 12 seats

    1932: 230 seats

  • planned to create jobs

• problems with Weimar democracy

  • proportional representation = weak coalition governments → no party strong enough to challenge Nazis

  • Nazis promised strong leadership

  • President Hindenburg had to start running Germany using Article 48 (emergency powers) which was unpopular → Nazis organised + strong

role of the SA

• marched through rallies → appeared organised + disciplined

• violence against opposition (e.g. communists)

how did Hitler become chancellor in 1933?

Fear of communism

Leadership

Opposition weakness

Propaganda

Political deal

Economic problems

Depression

political deal 1933

April - Presidential election → Hitler came second to Hindenburg, who won 53 per cent of the vote to Hitler’s 36.8 per cent.

May - Brüning’s government became very unpopular and he resigned → Hindenburg appointed von Papen

July - Reichstag elections → Nazis became largest single party w/ 230 seats, still did not have a majority → Hitler demanded to be made Chancellor but von Papen remained

November - von Papen forced to call another Reichstag election to win a majority in parliament.

• Nazis lost 34 seats but remained the largest party with 196 seats.

• von Papen suggested abolishing the Weimar constitution → Kurt von Schleicher (Minister of Defence) persuading Hindenburg that if this happened there could be a civil war

political deal pt2

December - von Papen resigned → von Schleicher made Chancellor + tried to split the Nazis by asking a leading Nazi called Gregor Strasser to be his Vice Chancellor, Hitler forced Strasser to decline.

• von Schleicher also could not get the majority in the reichstag

January 1933 - von Papen agreed a deal with Hitler (political scheming) and persuaded Hindenburg to allow a Hitler/Papen government to be formed

• Hitler appointed as Chancellor of Germany with von Papen as Vice Chancellor on 30th Jan 1933

• von Papen claimed that Hitler could be controlled as Chancellor

• both Hindenburg + von Papen underestimated Hitler

how did Hitler go from chancellor to dictator?

Political parties banned

Army oath

Night of the Long Knives

Trade unions banned

Hindenburg’s death

Enabling act

Reichstag fire

Political parties banned

• July 1933

• Law Against the Formation of Parties banned any party other than the Nazis → impossible for the Nazis to lose power

  • this is a consequence of the Enabling Act

Army oath

• August 1934

• allowed Hitler to use the army, which was much more organised + powerful than the SA to become führer

• agreed to stay out of politics + serve Hitler

Night of the Long Knives reasons

• 100,000 army men vs 2.5million SA

• Hitler wanted the support of the army as they were better trained + disciplined → SA were working class + anti capitalist (opposite of army) → made the army suspicious of them + Nazis in general

• Hitler also feared Röhm’s control over the army + was worried they would get out of hand

Night of the Long Knives

• June 1934

• squads of SS men broke into the houses of Röhm + other leading figures + arrested them

• Hitler accused Röhm of conspiring against him → Röhm + 400 others executed

• army was satisfied → army oath

• used this opportunity to also kill critic von Schleicher

Trade unions banned

• May 1933

• meant that workers could not join together to oppose Nazis in a strike

• Länder (regional parliaments representing 18 different stats of Germany) also banned

Hindenburg’s death

• August 1934

• Hitler combined role of Chancellor + President and became supreme leader (Führer) of Germany

Enabling act

• March 1933

• promised to protect Catholic rights → Centre’s party leader advocated that the Catholic party should support Enabling bill

• however SDP planned to boycott votes for the EA to be passed by not showing up → President of the Reichstag Hermann Goering introduced a new procedure that any absent member would be in favour

• also a lot of intimidation in the small Opera House

Enabling act pt2

• more votes in favour + Hindenburg also agreed to it

• gave full powers to the Cabinet, more specifically the Chancellor (Hitler) to enforce emergency powers w/o needing the consent of the Reichstag or the President

• July 1933 → signed Concordat with Pope → stopped political activity of German priests that may oppose Hitler in return for Hitler’s promise to protect the status of the Catholic Church in Germany

Reichstag fire

• February 1933

• news came that the Reichstag building had been set on fire → inside building, police found Dutch communist van der Lubbe → he was arrested

• allowed Hitler to use this as evidence that communists were plotting against his govt

• Goering’s Prussian police imprisoned 4000 communist leaders

• more people voted for the Nazis in march 1933 election BUT nazis still not the majority

Reichstag fire pt2

• Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to pass an emergency decree, suspending all articles regarding freedom → gave police emergency powers to search houses, confiscate property + detain people → could round up political opponents + send them to CCs

• since the Reichstag building was gone, Hitler used the Kroll Opera House → small enough to make any SA presence look very menacing → intimidating Reichstag members

how did Hitler get rid of unemployment?

• creation of massive public work programmes → building of the autobahns (German motorways), schools, hospitals etc. → millions of men given jobs here although they were paid poorly

• RAD (National Labour Service) 1935 → men 18-25 made to join this for 6 months → did hard manual labour

  • armed forces increased from 100,000 → 1,400,000

• all workers joined the DAF (German Labour Front) →

  controlled workers + settled disputes between them and their employers → BUT no rights for workers (not strikes/protests)

• Beauty of Labour → to help Germans see that work was good + that everyone who could work should

  • encouraged factory owners to improve conditions for workers.

• KDF (Strength through Joy) organisation set up to organise leisure time of workers → cheap theatre tickets, cruises, skiing holidays + saving up for VW Beetles → encouraged them to work harder

autarky (self-sufficiency)

• Hitler wanted Germany to be completely self-sufficient → not relying on international trade w other countries for any raw materials

• created jobs

rearmament

• huge increase in manufacturing arms + army

• created jobs

• decreased unemployment bc men forced to join military

how were jobs created for non-Jewish men?

• women + Jewish people fired

new plan 1933-35

• control imports to try and make Germany more self-sufficient

• reduce unemployment by creating work

• mostly successful as unemployment reduced → HOWEVER in 1935, Hitler demanded an increase in speed of production → Schact (economist who introduced it) said this couldn’t be done w/o damaging economy → sacked + ended up in a CC

four year plan 1936

• implemented by Hermann Göring

• production of oil, rubber, textiles + fuel increased → industry more focused

• longer working hours + forced labour to achieve this

• somewhat successful → production of military goods increased, HOWEVER it was impossible to make Germany an autarky

did Hitler fulfil his promise on reducing unemployment?

• yes → 6 million unemployed to 0.5 million in 1939

• HOWEVER invisible unemployment:

  • Jewish people

  • women

did Hitler achieve his goal on rearmament?

• yes → production largely focused on weapons instead of consumer goods

• 1936 → ⅔ of govt spending went on rearmament

did Hitler achieve his goal on autarky?

• no → measures introduced, such as tighter controls on imports and subsidies for farmers to produce more food, were not successful

• by the outbreak of WW2, Germany was still importing 20% of its food + 33% of its raw materials

did Nazi economic policies actually work?

• YES:

  • Big businesses - Rearmament from 1935 onwards boosted profits of big weapons companies + managers of the major industrial companies saw their incomes rise by 50% from 1933-1939

  • Farmers - 1937, agricultural prices had increased by 20% + agricultural wages rose more quickly than those in industry

• NO:

  • Small businesses - 20% of small business closed → many Jewish small businesses also forced to close

did living conditions improve?

• for those not working in the rearmament sector, not really

• from 1933-39:

  • wages fell

  • number of hours worked rose by 15%

  • serious accidents in factories increased

  • workers could be blacklisted by employers for questioning their working conditions

how was the Nazi police state run? (fear + intimidation)

methods of control:

• informers + block wardens

• SS + the Gestapo

• concentration camps

• police, judges + law courts

informers + block wardens

• each town divided into blocks

• block wardens (local Nazis) visited them weekly, checking up on them + collecting donations

• acted as eyes + ears of party

  • could report anyone doing the slightest ant-Nazi actions (e.g. not waving a Nazi flag on celebration day)

• network of informers

• children in Hitler Youth were expected to spy on parents + neighbours

SS + the Gestapo

• SS → Schutz-Staffel, protection squad

  • 5000 Aryan ‘supermen’

  • terrorising + intimidating into obedience

  • almost unlimited power

  • ran CCs

  • lead by Himmler

• Gestapo → state police

  • spying, arrested any opposition

  • could arrest at any time

concentration camps

• in 1933, were mainly used for prisons

  • 1941 onwards → were used as death camps

• some specialised in specific kinds of prisoners e.g. political

• questioning, torture, ‘re-education’, hard labour

• lied to families about prisoners’ deaths

• later became scenes of mass genocide

• especially for opponents

police, judges + law courts

• took control of legal systems

• police under control of SS

• judges took an oath of loyalty to Hitler

• courts could be used by Nazis against opponents

• number of crimes punishable by death:

  • 1933: 3

  • 1943: 46

how were women affected by the Nazis?

• many of their liberties during the Weimar period were lost → had to be modest, simple, feminine + motherly

• ‘mother’s cross’ → medal awarded for how many children they had

• smoking + drinking rejected for women.

• 1933-36 → married women banned from top professions

  • 15% of all teachers + female doctors + civil servants sacked

• Kinder, Küche, Kirche

how were women affected by the Nazis? pt2

• Lebensborn - women could ‘donate’ a baby to the Führer by becoming pregnant by racially pure SS men

• 1936 - 30%+ more births than in 1933

• 1939 - over 1 million live births

• Law for the Encouragement of Marriage - gave newlywed couples a loan of 1,000 marks, and allowed them to keep 250 marks for each child they had

what happened to women’s employment in 1937?

• compulsory duty year → to help prepare for war

• women’s employment actually grew by 2.4million during 1933 and 1936 → cheaper labour, women still needed on the workforce

Hitler’s aim?

the idea that his 3rd Reich would last for 1000 years

how did Hitler control children?

• through indoctrination into Nazi ideology → taught about Aryan superiority + the inferior race (Jewish)

• changed education so children would be taught according to Nazi ideology

• raised young boys to be soldiers

• raised young girls to be mothers

Hitler Youth

• began in 1926

• gave children an opportunity to socialise + lead

• aim → to prepare German boys to be future soldiers

• boys wore military-style uniforms

• activities centred on physical exercise and rifle practice + political indoctrination

League of German Maidens

• began in 1930

• learned the basics of domestic life + child bearing skills

• taught at an early age that their place in society was to raise children + keep homes

evidence for successful control

• 1933 → 100,000 members

  • 1936 → 4 million members, BUT also became compulsory

• Hitler coming to power → youth movements abolished → HY grew quickly

• indoctrination of children

• occupied young peoples’ time