History Unit 1

what was the context for german unification?

- 17-19th centuries: european empires expanded

- germany = many separate german states

- some states helped defeat napoleon

- battle of leipzig (1813): biggest 19th century battle

what was nationalism's role?

- pushed for unification of german states

- key movements include the wartburg rally, hambach festival, and the 1848 revolutions

who was otto von bismarck?

- military leader & hero

- first german chancellor

- main figure in unification

what were the 3 unification wars?

- denmark (1864)

- austria (1866)

- france (1870-71)

what was prussia's role?

- most powerful german state

- led the unification wars

- unified other states into germany

when was germany unified?

- 18 jan 1871: after france's defeat

- wilhelm 1 = german emperor

- named second reich

what was germany like by ww1?

- europe's most industrialised nation

- population: 67 million (no pun intended)

- major military/economic power

what were the benefits of empire?

- access to labour

- military advantage: global ports

- increased trade

- supply of raw materials

why was germany late to empire?

- unified late (1871): behind britain & france

- only had limited colonial areas

- felt disadvantaged compared to older empires

what was imperial rivalry?

- competition between european powers for colonies

- kaiser wilhelm II wanted to boost germany's power

- led to tensions and competition

what was the arms race?

- nations competed to build bigger militaries

- increased shipbuilding, weapons, troops

- preparation for possible war

- heightened tensions across europe

what were alliances?

- legal treaties between nations

- promise military support in war

- created two main camps: triple alliance (germany, austria-hungary, italy), triple entente (britain, france, russia)

- made conflict spread faster once war started

what were the war's human costs?

- 8 million killed

- 21 million wounded

- 9 nov 1918: kaiser wilhelm abdicated

- 11 nov 1918: armistice signed

what was the paris peace conference?

- jan 1919, 32 countries

- decided how to punish germany

- germany excluded from talks

- aim: prevent future wars

what were the big three's attitudes?

- france (clemenceau): harsh, aggressive, 1.36m killed

- britain (lloyd george): moderate, feared revenge, 900k killed

- us (wilson): fair peace, no revenge, 116k killed

what were wilson's 14 points & league of nations?

- 14 point plan for peace and stability

- created league of nations (25 jan 1919)

- goal: solve disputes peacefully, prevent future wars

- commitment to disarmament

what was the war guilt clause?

- germany must accept full blame for ww1

- article 231 = legal basis for punishment

what were the reparations?

- germany fined £6600 million British Pounds

- must pay allied war costs

what territorial losses did germany suffer?

- lost 12% of territory

- lost all colonies

- reduced population

German military restrictions

- army limited to 100,000 men

- only 6 battleships

- no tanks, planes, submarines

- no alliances (including with austria)

what economic losses did germany face?

- coal mines decreased by 16%

- iron production decreased by 48%

- major loss of industry

how did germany respond?

- signed treaty 28 june 1919

- widespread outrage at terms

- resulted in loss of national pride, economic hardship, and citizens feeling punished & resentful

what was the league of nations' purpose?

- international organisation to solve disputes

- prevent future wars through diplomacy

- promote disarmament and peace

what is left wing ideology?

- seeks significant social change

- liberal/progressive

- government must support and care for its citizens

- covers political, economic & social areas

what is right wing ideology?

- defends existing order (status quo)

- conservative

- government promotes individual responsibility

- political, economic, social stability

what is Totalitarianism?

- Single absolute ideology & powerful leader

- terror and supervision of the population

- using media to control the masses

what is fascism?

- extreme nationalism

- totalitarian: centralised dictatorship

- one leader, total obedience to state

- anti-democratic

- believes in conflict between nations/races

what is nazism?

- also called national socialism

- extreme nationalism and totalitarian

- one leader (fuhrer)

- total obedience to state

- germans = racially superior (aryan)

how did the treaty of versailles help nazism rise?

- hitler used 'stab in the back' myth

- called treaty a diktat ('dictated peace')

- blamed 'internal enemies': women, communists, jews

what were key nazi beliefs?

Background

weimar= severe economic problems

- nazis offered hope

beliefs

- volksgemeinschaft ('people's community'): nation first, collective over individual

- antisemitism: racial purity, removal of 'inferior' non-aryans

why was hitler a successful leader?

- master orator: passion, energy, repetition

- spoke to german fears & concerns

- used scapegoats (especially jews)

- promised to restore german pride

how did the nazis use fear?

- sa (brown shirts): nazi military wing

- used violence & intimidation

- suppressed opposition

what caused nazi electoral gains?

- 1929 wall street crash - great depression

- massive unemployment in germany

- economic collapse = people sought extreme solutions

when and how did hitler become chancellor?

- 30 jan 1933: hitler appointed chancellor

- appointed by president paul von hindenburg

- hindenburg thought hitler could be controlled

how did hitler gain total power in germany?

Reichstag fire: 27 jan 1933

- blamed communists

- used it to justify an emergency decree

Emergency decree: 28 feb 1933

- suspended civil rights

Enabling act: march 1933

- Hitler could make laws without the reichstag

Hindenburg died: 2 aug 1934

- hitler became fuhrer

what was hitler's territorial aggression?

Ideas

- wanted to expand germany's borders

- believed in lebensraum ('living space')

- aimed at eastern europe

Actions

- union with austria, 12 mar 1938

- munich agreement: occupied sudetenland, 12 mar 1938

- invasion of poland, 1 sept 1939

why did appeasement fail?

- britain and france let hitler break treaty terms

- munich pact (1938) gave hitler the sudetenland

- aimed to avoid full scale war

- britain needed time to rearm

- us was isolationist

why did the league of nations fail?

- united states never joined

- britain and france were the only major supporters

- both were weakened by ww1

- league had no military force

Impacts of Great Depression

- countries became more isolationist

- weakened cooperation between nations

- helped aggressive powers act without strong opposition

what aggressive actions did other countries take?

- japan conquered manchuria in 1932

- italy invaded abyssinia in 1935

- showed the league could not stop aggression

Consequences of appeasement?

- hitler became dictator

- germany expanded aggressively

- other countries failed to stop him

- these factors helped lead to ww2 in 1939

how did the nazis gain power?

- exploited fear & uncertainty from the great depression

- blamed previous german governments

- positioned themselves as 'germany's last hope'

- promised to unite germany and fix the economy

what was gleichschaltung?

- german for 'coordination'

- process of establishing totalitarian control

- controlled all aspects of society:

- economy, trade, media, culture, education

how did the nazis control the civil service?

- act for restoration of professional civil service (7 apr 1933)

- removed non-aryans from civil service

- german civil service code (26 jan 1937)

- retired judges who didn't rule for nazis

what was the hitler youth?

- paramilitary organisation for boys

- trained future fighters/soldiers

- activities included military drills, hiking, camping, weapons training, sports (especially boxing)

what was the league of german girls?

- prepared girls to be future mothers

- part of bdm (bund deutscher madel)

- sport aimed to create healthy, strong girls, make them fit for childbearing, produce many children to increase population

how did nazism manage the economy?

- resources & production for state benefit, not profit

- not focused on wages or living standards

- government controlled production & manufacturing

- dictated what was produced and why

what were nazi public works programs?

- july 1934: national labour service formed

- conscripted unemployed into work teams

- focused on reducing unemployment

- by 1936: 2 million in construction

what was nazi rearmament?

- hitler expanded the military

- built:

- new battleships & submarines

- new luftwaffe (air force)

- introduced compulsory military service

- army increased to 550,000 men

how did the nazis view women?

- valued for biological role in creating the aryan race

- 'racially pure' women encouraged to have many children

- goal: larger, purer population for:

- military strength

- settlers in conquered eastern europe

what were the '3 Ks'?

- kinder, kuche, kirche (children, kitchen, church)

- hitler's view of women's role

- women expected to:

- stay at home

- look after family

- produce children

what was the law for the encouragement of marriage?

- june 1933

- newlyweds got a 1,000 mark loan

- incentives for women with many children

- motherhood cross awarded

- abortion made illegal (1933)

What was the Lebensborn program?

- aimed to create a strong aryan 'master race'

- encouraged unmarried aryan women to have children with ss men

- supported unmarried mothers

- focused on racial purity

what was nazi racial antisemitism?

- based on biology, not just religion

- jews seen as weakening nations:

- politically, economically, culturally

- jews accused of polluting aryan blood

- fears of 'racial intermixing'

how did nazi print propaganda target jews?

- der sturmer ('the attacker') newspaper

- used antisemitic cartoons

- depicted jews as evil, subhuman caricatures

how did nazi films portray jews?

- showed jews as 'subhuman' creatures

- portrayed them as infiltrating aryan society

- used to stir fear & hatred

how was education nazified?

- education system fully controlled by nazis

- taught racial ideology

- promoted antisemitism in schools

The Reich Citizenship Law ( The Nuremberg Laws- 1935)

Only people of "German or kindred blood" could be citizens of Germany

Nazis believed Jews were a race defined by birth + blood.

The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor 1 ( The Nuremberg Laws- 1935)

Banned marriage & sexual relations between Jews and non-Jewish Germans.

These relationships were labeled as "race defilement"

what was kristallnacht?

- 9-10 november 1938

- violent anti jewish pogrom across germany

- 1,400+ synagogues burned

- 26,000 jewish men sent to concentration camps

- known as 'night of broken glass'

how did the nazis control culture?

- culture must align with nazi beliefs

- sept 1933: reich chamber of culture created

- linked to ministry for propaganda

- supervised & regulated all german culture

- enforced strict artistic rules

what did nazis believe about art?

- art played a critical role in society

- defined values and influenced national development

- used to spread nazi ideology

what was nazi approved art?

- depicted german landscapes & families

- promoted ideas of the aryan race

- glorified war

- showed traditional, heroic, 'pure' german life

what was 'degenerate art'?

- art that didn't support nazi ideals

- nazis claimed it had jewish & communist influences

- said to 'endanger public security'

what happened to 'degenerate art'?

- nazis sought to identify & eliminate 'dangerous' artists

- 20,000+ artworks confiscated from museums

- removed from public view

- used in propaganda exhibitions to mock modern art

Swing Kids

Play Jazz music in the streets- considered 'un-german'

Didn't attend Hitler youth

Beat up nazi officers/SS

Edelweiss pirates

Allowed membership to both boys and girls

Used graffiti slogans "down with Hitler" as a form of social protest

During WW2, they stole weapons, attacked the gestapo and hid escaped soldiers and prisoners

White rose resistance

Group led by 5 medical students from Munich university

Directly opposed the Nai regime on moral grounds

Wrote & distributed anti-Nazi leaflets