Germany / Hitler

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1. Why did Germany face defeat in WWI by September 1918?

Two-front war, British naval blockade causing food shortages (290,000 starved in 1918), US entry (1917) adding 2 million troops, and failed 1918 German offensive.

2. What was the impact of the British naval blockade on Germany?

Severe food shortages; 290,000 Germans starved in 1918 alone.

3. How did US entry in 1917 affect WWI?

Added 2 million well-equipped troops, tipping the scales against Germany.

4. What was the "stab-in-the-back" myth (Dolchstoßlegende)?

Belief that Germany was betrayed by civilians (socialists, Jews, politicians) rather than defeated militarily.

5. Why did Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff demand a new government in October 1918?

To shift blame for defeat to civilians and preserve the army’s honor.

6. Who was appointed Chancellor in October 1918 to negotiate peace?

Prince Max von Baden.

7. When did Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate?

November 9, 1918.

8. What triggered the German Revolution of 1918–1919?

Naval mutiny in Kiel (October 1918), worker/soldier councils forming, and SPD declaring a republic.

9. What was the Spartacist Uprising (January 1919)?

Communist revolt led by Luxemburg/Liebknecht; crushed by Freikorps.

10. How did Friedrich Ebert suppress left-wing revolts?

Used Freikorps (ex-soldiers) to crush Spartacists and Bavarian Soviet Republic.

11. Where was the Weimar Constitution drafted?

Weimar (July 1919).

12. What were key features of the Weimar Constitution?

Proportional representation, Reichstag sovereignty, Article 48 (emergency powers), universal suffrage (20+).

13. What was Article 48?

Presidential power to rule by decree in emergencies; abused later (e.g., 135x by Ebert).

14. Which parties formed the Weimar Coalition?

SPD, DDP (Democrats), and Zentrum (Catholic Centre Party).

15. What was the Kapp Putsch (1920)?

Freikorps coup led by Wolfgang Kapp; failed due to worker strikes.

16. Why did hyperinflation occur in 1923?

French occupation of Ruhr → govt printed money to pay strikers → currency collapsed.

17. Who were the "November Criminals"?

Politicians who signed the armistice (1918) and Treaty of Versailles (1919).

18. What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919)?

War guilt clause (231), reparations, army reduced to 100k, lost colonies/territories.

19. What was the Ruhr Occupation (1923)?

France/Belgium occupied Ruhr after Germany missed reparations; led to passive resistance.

20. How did hyperinflation affect Germans?

Middle class savings wiped out; pensions worthless; distrust in democracy grew.

21. What was the Munich Putsch (1923)?

Hitler’s failed coup; 16 Nazis killed; Hitler jailed (wrote Mein Kampf).

22. What were Hitler’s ideas in Mein Kampf?

Aryan supremacy, anti-Semitism, Lebensraum (eastward expansion), anti-communism.

23. How did the Great Depression help the Nazis

Unemployment hit 6 million (1932); voters turned to extremists (Nazis won 37.3% in July 1932).

24. What was the Enabling Act (March 1933)?

Gave Hitler dictatorial powers; passed via intimidation (SA surrounded Reichstag).

25. How did Hitler eliminate opposition by 1934?

Banned parties (SPD/KPD), controlled media (Goebbels’ ministry), Night of Long Knives (purged SA).

26. What was Gleichschaltung?

Nazification of Germany (e.g., unions replaced by DAF, states controlled by Reich governors).

27. What was the Night of Long Knives (1934)?

Purge of SA (Röhm) and conservatives; cemented Hitler’s power.

28. How did Nazis persecute Jews 1933–1939?

Boycotts (1933), Nuremberg Laws (1935), Kristallnacht (1938), emigration pressure.

29. What were the Nuremberg Laws (1935)?

Jews stripped of citizenship; banned from marrying Germans.

30. What was Kristallnacht (November 9–10, 1938)

Pogrom: 100+ Jews killed, 20,000 arrested, synagogues/shops destroyed.

31. What was the T4 Program?

Euthanasia of disabled (71,000+ killed); halted after church protests (1941).

32. How did Nazis control youth?

Hitler Youth (mandatory by 1936), indoctrination in schools.

33. What was the Edelweiss Pirates?

Working-class youth group resisting Nazis; leaders hanged (1944).

34. What was the White Rose?

Munich student group (Scholl siblings); distributed anti-Nazi leaflets; executed 1943.

35. What was the Concordat (1933)?

Vatican agreement: Nazis left Church alone if it stayed out of politics.

36. Who led the Confessional Church?

Pastor Niemöller (jailed 1937–1945 for opposing Nazis).

37. What was the Final Solution (1942)?

Wannsee Conference plan to exterminate Jews in death camps (e.g., Auschwitz).

38. What was Operation Valkyrie (1944)?

Stauffenberg’s failed bomb plot to kill Hitler; 5,000 executed in retaliation.

39. Why did Weimar democracy fail?

No democratic tradition, Article 48, proportional representation splintered parties, elites opposed it.

40. What was the Reichstag Fire (1933)?

Blamed on Communists; used to pass emergency decrees suspending rights.

41. What was the role of the Freikorps in Weimar Germany?

Paramilitary groups of ex-soldiers used to crush left-wing revolts (e.g., Spartacists).

42. How did the Weimar Republic respond to the Ruhr Occupation (1923)?

Called for passive resistance, printed money to pay strikers → hyperinflation.

43. What was the Dawes Plan (1924)?

US loans to Germany to stabilize economy and pay reparations; eased crisis temporarily.

44. What was the Young Plan (1929)?

Reduced reparations by 20%; angered nationalists (e.g., Nazis).

45. Why did the SPD oppose the Enabling Act (1933)?

Saw it as a step toward dictatorship; only SPD voted against it.

46. How did Hitler weaken the SA in 1934?

Night of Long Knives (June 30, 1934): Röhm and 400+ SA leaders executed.

47. What was the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (1933)?

Banned Jews and political opponents from government jobs.

48. How did Nazis control culture?

Book burnings (1933), banned "degenerate" art, promoted propaganda films (e.g., Leni Riefenstahl).

49. What was the role of the Gestapo?

Secret police; monitored dissent, used torture, sent opponents to camps.

50. What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939)?

Non-aggression treaty; allowed Hitler to invade Poland without USSR interference.

51. What was Lebensraum?

Nazi goal to conquer Eastern Europe for "Aryan" settlement (e.g., Poland/USSR).

52. How did Hitler dismantle the Treaty of Versailles?

Reintroduced conscription (1935), remilitarized Rhineland (1936), annexed Austria (1938).

53. What was the Anschluss (1938)?

Annexation of Austria; achieved via propaganda and Nazi-backed coup.

54. What was the Munich Agreement (1938)?

Allies let Hitler take Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) to "avoid war."

55. Why did the Weimar Coalition collapse by 1930?

Economic crisis → extremist voting; SPD/DDP/Zentrum couldn’t agree on austerity.

56. What was the Reichstag Fire Decree (1933)?

Suspended civil rights, allowed mass arrests of Communists.

57. How did Nazis manipulate elections?

Intimidation (SA), banned opposition parties, controlled media.

58. What was the role of the SS?

Elite Nazi force (loyal to Hitler); ran concentration camps, carried out Final Solution.

59. What was the Hitler Youth?

Mandatory youth group (after 1936) for indoctrination and military training.

60. How did Nazis persecute homosexuals?

Imprisoned in camps (pink triangle), labeled "asocial."

61. What was the Nazi Women’s League?

Promoted traditional roles ("Kinder, Küche, Kirche"—children, kitchen, church).

62. What was the "Strength Through Joy" program?

Nazi leisure organization to boost worker morale (e.g., cheap vacations).

63. What was the Four-Year Plan (1936)?

Göring’s economic policy for autarky (self-sufficiency) and war preparation.

64. How did Nazis control education?

Rewrote textbooks, mandatory Hitler Youth, fired Jewish/opposition teachers.

65. What was the Berlin Olympics (1936) used for

Nazi propaganda to showcase "Aryan superiority" (though Jesse Owens won 4 golds).

66. What was the Hossbach Memorandum (1937)

Hitler’s secret meeting outlining plans for war (e.g., invade Czechoslovakia).

67. What was Kristallnacht’s aftermath?

Jews fined 1 billion marks, excluded from economy, forced emigration escalated.

68. What was the Wannsee Conference (1942)?

SS meeting to coordinate Final Solution (industrialized genocide).

69. Name three death camps.

Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor.

70. How did churches resist Nazis?

Niemöller’s Confessional Church, von Galen’s sermons against euthanasia.

71. What was the Kreisau Circle?

Anti-Nazi resistance group (conservatives, clergy) planning post-Hitler democracy.

72. Why did the July Plot (1944) fail?

Bomb injured but didn’t kill Hitler; plotters (Stauffenberg) executed.

73. What was the role of Goebbels?

Propaganda minister; controlled media, organized book burnings, rallies.

74. What was the role of Himmler?

SS leader; oversaw Holocaust, concentration camps.

75. What was the role of Göring?

Head of Luftwaffe, Four-Year Plan; later fell from favor after WWII failures.

76. How did Nazis define "Aryan"?

Non-Jewish, Nordic/Germanic ancestry (blonde hair, blue eyes idealized).

77. What was the Anti-Comintern Pact (1936)?

Nazi Germany + Japan + Italy alliance against communism.

78. What was the Maginot Line?

French defenses bypassed by Nazis in 1940 via Belgium (Blitzkrieg).

79. What was the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–43)?

Turning point in WWII; German army surrendered to USSR.

80. What was Operation Barbarossa?

1941 Nazi invasion of USSR; failed due to winter/scorched-earth tactics.

81. What was the Volksgemeinschaft?

Nazi "people’s community" ideal (unified by race, excluding Jews/opponents).

82. What was the Reich Labor Service (RAD)?

Mandatory work program (e.g., building autobahns) to reduce unemployment.

83. How did Nazis reduce unemployment?

RAD, military conscription, removing Jews/women from statistics.

84. What was the Nazi attitude toward women?

Encourage childbirth (Mother’s Cross awards), exclude from politics/jobs.

85. What was the Eternal Jew" exhibit?

1937 Nazi propaganda film/exhibit portraying Jews as parasites.

86. What was the role of the SA?

Early Nazi paramilitary (brownshirts); used for street violence/intimidation.

87. Why was Röhm purged in 1934?

Hitler saw SA as a threat; wanted army support (SA demanded socialist reforms).

88. What was the Anglo-German Naval Agreement (1935)?

UK allowed Germany to rebuild navy (violating Versailles).

89. What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact’s secret clause

To divide Poland between Germany and USSR.

90. What was the Battle of Britain (1940)?

Failed German air campaign to force UK surrender.

91. What was the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943)

Jewish resistance against deportation; crushed by SS after weeks.

92. What was the role of the Hitler Oath (1934)?

Army swore loyalty to Hitler personally (not Germany), ensuring control.

93. What was Aktion T4?

Euthanasia program killing disabled (1940–41); halted after protests.

94. What was the Nazi "Blood and Soil" ideology

Romanticized rural German life, tied to racial purity/anti-urbanism.

95. What was the role of the Reichsmark during hyperinflation?

Became worthless (e.g., 4.2 trillion marks = 1 USD by November 1923).

96. What was the Bamberg Conference (1926)?

Hitler reasserted control over Nazi Party, sidelining socialist factions.

97. What was the Reichstag’s role after 1933?

Rubber-stamp body; met only 12 times after Enabling Act.

98. What was the Nazi policy on jazz music?

Banned as "degenerate" (African-American influence).

99. What was the "Flight of the Lindberghs"?

1936 Nazi propaganda stunt: German pilots flew to NYC to showcase aviation prowess.

100. What was the fate of the Weimar Constitution after 1933?

Technically intact but ignored (Hitler ruled via decrees/Enabling Act).