Nazi Germany (overall summary)

Weimar Republic

Weimar Republic

Germany's first democratic government founded in the town of Weimar after the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II (all Germans had equal rights)

The German navy mutinied

• October 1918 - Sailors at Kiel refused to attack British navy

• this lead to the abdication of the Kaiser in November 1918

Friedrich Ebert

Gains control of German government after the war. Leader of Social Democrats (SPD) First president of the Weimar Republic

Parliament was divided into 2 houses

Reichstag and the Reichsrat

Article 48

under certain circumstances, the president could overrule his government and make emergency laws

How often was was the president elected

Every 7 years

Role of the Reichstag

Controlled taxation and could create laws

Reichsrat

could advise the Reichstag

Impact of WW1 on Germany's civilians

• some workers had restrictions placed on their wages

• factories were exhausted

• mutiny was rife across Germany as well as revolutions

• food shortages

Impact of WW1 on Germany

• virtually bankrupt (money to allies, payment for weapons)

• divisions in society

• politically unstable

proportional representation (one of the weaknesses of the Weimar republic)

• A party was given a number of seats according to how many votes they gained (fairer on smaller parties)

Coalition governments

governments formed of more than one party (didn't last and collapsed)

Left wing

socialists (equality for everyone)

Right wing

individual rights

5 most important parties

• Communists- extreme left wing party (individual rights only)

• The social Democrats- moderately left wing

• The social Democrats- moderately left wing

• The centre party- in the middle

• German people's party- moderately right wing

• The Nationalist Socialist Party- extremely right wing (equality for everyone)

Treaty of Versailles (28th June 1919 in France) list of punishments, instructions and orders

The peace document which ended WWI

Article 231 (War Guilt Clause)

Forced Germany to accept the blame for causing the war

How can you remember the Treaty of Versailles? LAMB

• Land (lost 13% of land in Europe)

• Army (reduced to 100,000 men and 6 battleships)

• Money (debt that they owned was £6.6 billion)

• Blame (accepted the blame for causing the war)

League of Nations

A world organization established in 1920 to promote international cooperation and peace. It was first proposed in 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson, of the USA

Diktat

Dictated peace

November Criminals

Weimar government's nickname because Germans believed they had been betrayed by their government when the Treaty of Versailles was signed (by a Jew)

The Spartacists Revolt (January 1919)

• an attempted revolution to overthrow the Weimar Republic (extreme left wing group)

• lead by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht

• took place in Berlin

Why did the Spartacist revolution happen?

• Chancellor Ebert fired the chief of Berlin and workers protested

• They wanted Germany to be run by small councils of soldiers and workers

Key events of the Spartacist Revolt

• They took over key buildings: the newspaper and telegraphs offices

• some anti-communists formed another group called the Freikorps who fought against the Spartacists

Reichswehr

German army

Kapp Putsch (March 1920 Berlin)

• Right wing uprising against Weimar Republic

• organised by the Freikorps (ex soldiers) led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp

Why did the Kapp Putsch happen?

• wanted to make army strong again and take back land that was lost due to the Treaty of Versailles

• The Freikorps had grown in power and Ebert lost control of them so decided to disband them (break them up)

Key events of the Kapp putsch revolution (March 1920)

• the government was saved by the industrial workers of Berlin (they went on strike so the capital came to a halt)

• The Weimar Republic asked the public to go on strike. With no power, water or transport services/resources Dr Kapp and rebels fled the country

Rising in the Ruhr (March 1920) (red rising)

• left wing (socialists/equal rights) workers stayed on strike after the Kapp putsch

• took over several towns

• government sent soldiers to deal with the rebellion, over 1000 workers were killed

Hyperinflation (1923)

• The rapid increase of prises

• caused by passive resistance (German workers were refusing help French and Belgian soldiers remove goods from the country however government were paying strikers

• prices for a loaf of bread went from 1.5 million marks in sept 1923 to 201 billion marks in nov 1923

The Munich Beer Hall Putsch

• Was an armed uprising led by Hitler

• aim was to over throw the Weimar republic

• night of 8th of November to the morning 9th of November (1923)

Why did Hitler want to start the Munich putsch

• Thought Nazi's were strong enough to take over government

• Germany was in chaos because of the consequence of hyperinflation

• The Weimar republic were weak

• Thought it was the right time

Why did the Munich Putsch fail

• It wasn't properly planned

• weather conditions were awful

• they had no firing pins

Why was the munich putsch successful for hitler

• created publicity for him

• he became a brilliant speaker

• Hitler was branded a traitor against the Weimar Republic so was seen as a good person to the people

• he had time to reflect when he was in prison

Gustav von Kahr

leader of the Bavarian government Hitler forced him to say they had his support of Ludendorff being president

Stressemann (1924)

• served as chancellor (in charge of major political parties)

• foreign minister (in charge of relationships with other countries)

• Daw’s law reduced reparations to £2.5B

Stressemann’s problems

• blamed for loss of money after hyperinflation period

• Dawes plan (USA lent money to Germany) people felt like he could have done more to make amends of the repercussions

• criticised Stressmann for not demanding back the land lost to the Treaty of Versailles

The ‘golden age’

• Cinema (Marlene Dietrich played glamorous, strong-willed women)

• nightlife (musicians played vulgar songs about politicians)

• Literature

• Art and design (avant-garde artists showed the reality of everyday life)

What was the ‘Depression’

• American banks lent huge amounts of money to Germany (creating jobs, better standard of living and more money)

• October 1929 a financial crisis hit America ‘Wall street crash’ banks and companies went out of business (people lost their jobs)

The impact of the ’Depression’ on Germany

• Economic (Americans bought German goods like: cars, electrical equipment and clothing however because people couldn’t afford them factories shut down)

• US banks demanded money back from Germany which they lent

• Political- parties left and right wing promised radical solutions to the problems that faced Germany

• communists increased their number of seats (1930)

• Social- people were living on the streets jobless, hungry and angry (they blamed political leaders)

Reasons for the growth of the Nazi party

• The Nazis appealed to a wide variety of people (unemployed, farmers, business owners)

• Hitler convinced people with his speeches bringing them hope (took part in rallies and parades)

• their structure and their methods

• German citizens weren’t content with the Weimar politicians impact (they were doing very little to solve the Depression)

The SA

• known as storm troopers

• protected Hitler’s meetings and influenced the public to vote at elections

Joseph Goebbels

In charge of propaganda

Who voted for the Nazis

• Farmers- were promised higher prices for crops and a higher status in society

• Middle classes- worried about communists taking over their way of life (SA fought communists)

• Women- agreed that Weimar culture has a bad influence on the younger generation

• Wealthy classes- Nazis promised strong leadership, plans to build weapons would be good for manufacturing

• Youth- they wanted to be part of Germany’s bright future, get jobs in the armed forces and have an impact on rebuilding Germany’s economy

Hindenburg

• President of the Weimar republic

• He died and was replaced by Hitler

Von Papen and Von Schleicher

• was given the role of Chancellor by Hindenburg to prohibit Nazi power

• got very few votes in the election so resigned

Hitler’s journey to become Chancellor

• flags and posters were placed around Germany to boost Nazi votes (Hitler challenged Hindenburg for president)

• when von Papen resigned Hitler demanded the job of Chancellor (didn’t get it)

• when von Schleicher resigned as chancellor Hindenburg had no choice but to give Hitler the job of Chancellor (1933)

The new law the 'Decree for the Protection of the People and the State

banned leading communists from taking part in elections

The Gestapo

• secret police

• could arrest people at night

• could send people to concentration camps

Ernst Rohm

• leader of the SA

• Hitler feared he may become too powerful

• wanted to combine the SA and the German army

SS

• Hitler’s bodyguards

• Black uniformed

• lead by Heinrich Himmler

the Night of the Long Knives

• 30th June 1934

• dealt with the problem of Rohm and the SA

• location- a hotel in Bavaria (southern Germany)

• arrested Rohm and other SA leaders and were shot dead

• political opponents were executed

Impact of the the Night of the Long Knives

• rivals were dead = no threats

• rise of the SS formed the basis of the ‘police state

• rule of murder- Hitler didn’t hide what he did, he made murder a method of the Nazi government

DAF (German labour front)

• replaced trade unions

• promised to protect workers rights

• ran to schemes to improve workers lives the SDA and the KDF

SDA (Beauty of Labour)

• tried to improve workplace

• better lighting

• safety insured

• low cost canteen

KDF (Strength through Joy)

• reward scheme with cheap holidays to insure hard work was being accomplished

• theatre trips

• football matches

RAD (National labour service)

• all men between 18-25 had to spend six months in the RAD

• planted trees, mended hedges, dug drainage ditches

• wore uniforms and lived in camps, given free meals and a small wage

Schacht

• appointed Minister of Economics

• realised the importance of raw materials to create weapons

• replaced by Goering

Four year plan

• 19

Police state (Nazi control terror)

A way of controlling the nation so that people wouldn’t consider challenging the authority of Hitler

1. SS (brown shirts Hitler’s private bodyguards set up in 1925) started out as a small group but expanded in numbers and became the foundation of the ‘police state’ in the 1930’s

2. The SA (‘Aryan’ the ideal German: blonde hair, blue eyes, tall)

• warned Hitler about Rohm’s plan to unite the SA and the German army to gain power

• carried out the ‘night of the long knives’

• acted outside of the law

• arrested people for no reason or even worse killed them

3. The Gestapo (the secret police)

   • would spy on people

   • listen in to people’s phone calls

   • arrest and send people off to concentration camps if they criticised the Nazi’s

   • people lived in fear didn’t know who was a gestapo