germany and dictatorship

what year did the kaiser flee germany

1918

what were the jobs of the president

controlled the armed forces
stayed out of day to day running of the country

how often was the president elected

every 7 years

what was article 48

in an emergency the president could make laws without passing it by the reichstag

what was the role of the chancellor

in charge of the day to day running of the country
chosed from the reichstag by the president
like a prime minister

what was the role of the reichstag

voted on new laws
members elected every four years by proportional representation, which gave small parties a chance to have a say in parliament

what was the role of the german people

elected the president and members of the reichstag
all men and women over the age of 20 could vote

weaknesses of the wiemar government

too many small parties so they couldnt agree on things
had to form coalition governments
hated by nazis and communists

when was hyperinflation

1922-1924

what did hyperinflation lead to

the munich putsch

july 1932

the nazis were the largest party and had 230 seats

wall street crash

In 1929 the Wall Street Crash hit the New York stock market. The US recalled its loans to Germany and it was plunged into depression.

the depression

6 million germans became unemployed, in desperation many voted for more extreme parties such as the Nazis.

what did the nazis promise the middle class?

protection from communism and law and order

what were the working class promised?

jobs and the protection of workers rights

article 231

War Guilt Clause, said that Germany had to take all the blame for starting the war.

what were two famous nazi slogans

“bread and work”
“one people, one country, one leader”

the SA

‘Brownshirts’,Hitler’s private army, were used as thugs to beat up Hitler’s opponents and to scare them

when was the reichstag fire

february 1933

when was the march elections

march 1933

when was the enabling law

march 1933

when was the night of the long knives

30th june 1934

when was the death of hindenburg

august 1934

von papen

Made a deal with Hitler in order to gain power. Hitler was made Chancellor in January 1933 and he was made Vice Chancellor. He thought that he would be able to control Hitler.

reichstag fire

Van der Lubbe was arrested, It gave the Nazis the excuse to remove their biggest opponents – the Communists.  They also passed emergency laws giving the Nazis increased powers and removing basic freedoms.

march 1933 elections

Despite having control of the police which he used to his advantage he failed to secure a majority.

enabling act

The Reichstag basically voted itself out of power. This law have Hitler the power to pass laws without consulting the German Parliament. He used it to pass laws banning political parties and trade unions 

Night of the Long Knives

Hitler murdered the leaders of the SA and 4000 other opponents.This included Ernst Röhm. He aimed to remove opposition from within the party and win the support of the army

Death of Hindenburg

This removed the last opposition to Hitler. Instead of calling fresh elections, Hitler merged the position of President and Chancellor and called himself Führer. The army swore an oath of allegiance to him. There was now virtually no opposition to the Nazis.

when was the army oath

august 1934

what was the army oath

Hitler was now Supreme Commander of the armed forces. All German soldiers swore to obey Hitler and to risk their life for him at any time.

when was the french invasion of the ruhr

january 1923

french invasion of the ruhr

the french invaded germany’s industrial region, killing 132 and expelling 150,000 from the area

hyperinflation winners

Farmers coped well, since their products remained in demand and they received more money for them as prices spiralled.

hyperinflation losers

People with savings and those who had lent money, for example to the government, were the most badly hit as their money became worthless.

how was tax controlled under the kaiser

through 25 individual states, meaning it was hard for the central government to raise enough tax

how percentage of germans lived in towns or cities by 1910

60% , the population of berlin doubling between 1875 and 1910

who was germany’s legal system dominated by

powerful prussian nobles, known as the junkers

as a result of spending on ships..

german government went into debt, national debt growing to 490 billion marks by 1913

nazi control of the youth

hilter youth, made compulsory in 1939
schools were a form of propaganda
league of german maidens

LAND

lost all of its colonies and around 13% of its land mass, including polish corridor and alcace-lorraine

ARMY

reduced to 100,000 troops down from 2 million and no airforce

MONEY

£6.6 billion in reparations

BLAME

had to accept full blame for war

economic issues

hyper inflation
meeting reparation payments
french invasion of the ruhr

economic issue solutions

brought in new currency of the retenmark
loans from usa- dawes plan
stopped passive resistance in the ruhr

political issues

weimar republic was weak and has many enemies
extreme parties tried attempted to take power

political issue solutions

as german economy improved there was less support for extreme parties
formed the “grand coalition”

foreign policy issues

shunned by other countries, not allowed to join league of nations

foreign policy issue solutions

worked with other counties (locarno pact)
allowed to join league of nations in 1926

S boycott

started in 1933, the sa used intimidation and fear to stop people using jewish businesses

nuremburg laws

passed in 1935
jews lost their citizenship
could not hold professional jobs
forbidden from aryan relationships

kristallnacht

1938 nazi offical murdered by a jewish man in paris
used this as an excuse to burn 400 synagogues and 30,000 jews taken to concentration camps

strength through joy

rewarded loyal, hardworking workers with cheap holidays and leisure activities

gestapo

nazi secret police led by himmler

the three ks

kinde, kirche, kuche
kitchen, children, church

propaganda

led by goebbels to indoctrinate people, newspapers were censored and cheap radios were sold

goerings 4 year plan

made germany an autarky and hitler youth meant germany had a strong army which increased from 100 to 900 thousand

rationing

diets of 40% of german citizens got better after rationing, luxuries from the bliztkrieg made the black mark flourish

allied bombing

intensified after 1943, dresden- 70% of buildings destroyed in two nights, 800,000 civilians killed

ghettos

1939, disease and starvation causing 500,000 deaths

total war

women called back to work, 3million called, 2 million refused

situation at end of war

2 million died from cold and starvation, hitler committed suicide april 30th 1945

july bomb plot

operation valkerie, nearly assasinated hitler in 1944, led by army