Germany 1925-55

GCSE OCR History A Paper 1

Weimar Constitution

All Germans over 20 could vote, elections every 4 years, representative democracy with proportional representation, a Bill of Rights, and a Chancellor responsible for day-to-day running of the government.

President (Weimar Germany)

Head of State with no role in day-to-day government but could enact Article 48 in a crisis to bypass the Reichstag and rule with emergency powers.

Gustav Stresemann

Chancellor in 1923 and Foreign Minister from 1923-29 who helped Germany recover from hyperinflation.

Hyperinflation 1923 (Germany)

French and Belgian troops entered the Ruhr (main industrial region) after Germany refused to pay WW1 reparations of £6.6bn. German gov ordered workers to strike, leading to economic collapse so gov printed money to try and fix. Prices increase by 700%.

Rentenmark

New currency introduced by Stresemann in 1923 to replace the worthless Mark.

Dawes Plan

Negotiated by Stresemann in 1924 with the USA to extend reparation payments and provide Germany with 800million marks in loans.

Young Plan 1929

Extended reparation payment time to 59 years and continued loans from the USA.

Culture (Weimar Republic)

Characterized by exhibits, new Bauhaus architecture, and revoked censorship, leading to more artistic freedom and social freedom in Weimar, Germany.

Locarno Pact

Negotiated guaranteed Western borders with France and Belgium in 1926.

Paul von Hindenburg

Elected President in 1926, anti-democracy, and anti-Weimar.

Mein Kampf

Outlined Hitler's beliefs for National Socialism and Germany, resonating with a sympathetic German society.

Blood and Soil

German success and excellence built from agricultural foundations.

Nazi Discipline

Party of discipline and order with organised marches and rallies that occurred in the chaos of everyday life.

Negative Cohesion

A result of votes cast for the Nazis because people hated the same things (i.e., communists).

Enabling Act

Allowed Hitler to make laws without consultation.

Ernst Rohm

Head of the SA, who talked of making the SA a second army, leading to his execution during the Night of the Long Knives.

Becoming Fuhrer

Hitler unifies offices of President and Chancellor to become Fuhrer of Germany after Hindenburg died.

Volksgemeinschaft

The National Community of Aryan Germans, loyal to Fuhrer and State.

Untermenschen

Inferior to Aryans and excluded from the National Community by design.

The Schutzstaffel (SS)

Led by Heinrich Himmler, responsible for destroying Nazi opposition and carrying out racial policies.

The Gestapo

Led by Reinhard Heydrich, the secret state police that could arrest citizens and send them to concentration camps without trial.

Concentration Camps

Led by Death’s Head (under Himmler), aimed to correct/punish those who did not fit into Nazi society/ideals.

Gleichschaltung

Exposure to only pro-Nazi views as all other views were censored; Goebbels head of Nazi propaganda.

PE Curriculum (Nazi Germany)

Greyhound swift, leather tough, and steel hard is what PE aimed to make students.

Adolf Hitler Schools

For future political leaders and civil servants focusing on Nazi training and ideology.

Edelweiss Pirates

Mocked the HJ in songs and taunted and attacked HJ boys and accepted Jews and opposed racial policy, Holocaust and war

LEBENSBORN programme

The SS men fertilized unmarried young women to increase the birth rate.

Beauty of Labour

The better hygiene and working conditions in factories through DAF including canteens

Reich Food Estate

Central board for the selling and distribution of farmed produce, led by Richard Darre

Reich Entailed Farm Law

Farms cannot be seized by banks and farms can only be inherited by eldest child

Wannsee Conference

The Conference where the Final Solution to exterminate all Jews was discussed and concluded

Denazification

Allies (West Germany) went theough a thorough process of denazification by gathering intel from GB and US intelligence since October 1944

Deutsche Mark

Deutsche Mark introduced in 1948 stimulates economy with no restrictions on purchases so companies could make a profit

FRG voting policy

Requires parties to gain at least 5% of vote to take a seat in parliament – prevents extreme parties rising as Nazis only had 2.6% originally

Economic Miracle(FRG)

Economy grows 8% EVERY YEAR between 1948 and 1954;U unemployment drops from 8% to 4% due to influx of refugees

Betriebsunfall

12 years from 1933-1945 were a blip in Germany’s otherwise unblemished history – whitewashes history - to look to the future rather than mistakes of the past – for people and corporations (e.g. VW, Krupp Steel)

1952 restriction of travel

Movement is restricted from Eastern Germany to the economically superior Western Germany