Power and Conflict - Hitler's Rise to Power

Describe hardships faced by people in Germany during and shortly after the war

- many German people faced starvation due to naval blockades set up by allies which blocked the transport of German goods, leaving many Germans living on turnips and bread

- shortages of medicine and clothing, and thousands were dying from the flu epidemic

- 60,000 war widows and 2,000,000 children without fathers

Describe rebellions in Germany shortly after and during the war

- in 1915 500 women stood outside parliament and demanded men come back from the war

- in 1916, 10,000 workers shouted "down with the government

- in November 1918, some members of the German navy rebelled and refused to board their ships, and in Hanover, German troops refused to control rioters

Describe the rebellion events during November 1918

- Situation was almost a civil war, public protest in Berlin, members of SPD called for Kaiser to resign

- Nov 10th: state leaders appointed by the Kaiser resigned, new revolutionary state governments took over, monarchy was demolished

- Nov 11th: the leader (Friedrich Ebert) signed armistice and ended war. SOme people didn't support; believed Germany could still win

- After abdication of Kaiser, Germany was disorganised, workers, soldiers, and different governments were running towns. A temporary government was established, called the Council of People's Representatives

What was the role of the president in the Weimar Republic?

- elected every 7 years

- chooses chancellor + is head of the army

- can dissolve Reichstag, call new elections and suspend the constitution

What was the role of the Reichstag in the Weimar Republic?

new German parliament, members elected every 4 years, proportional representation

What was the role of the Reichsrat in the Weimar Republic?

second, less powerful government, members from each local region, can delay measures passed by the Reichstag

What were the benefits of the Weimar Republic?

women could vote, voting age lowered to 20, even very small parties were given a voice as long as they got 0.4% of the vote

What was the problem with Proportional Representation?

even parties with very few votes could get seats, so it was hard to make any decisions in the Reichstag

there were sometimes as many as 20 parties

What were the problems with the Weimar Republic?

- proportional representation made decision making hard

- when decisions couldn't be made, the preseident would suspend the constitution and pass laws without the Reichstag's consent (Article 48)

- this power was supposed to be used in an emergency, but was a useful way of getting around disagreements and problems in the Reichstag, so was actually undermining the dmeocracy

Describe the Red Rising

In 1920, a communist group (the Red army) made from 50,000 workers occupied the Ruhr and controlled the raw materials

- the German army and the Freikorps crushed the workers - over 1000 were killed

Describe the Kapp Putsch

- right wing attempt to overthrow government

- freikorps marched into berlin, army wouldn't fire at them so the government asked workers to strike

- they did strike, and kapp was forced to retreat as Berlin was paralysed.

Who led the Kapp Putsch?

Wolfgang Kapp

When was the Kapp Putsch?

March 1920

When was the Spartacist Revolt?

January 1919

Who led the Spartacist revolt?

Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht

Describe the Spartacist revolt

- communist uprising aiming to take over Berlin

- they took control of important buildings like newspaper headquarters, and 50,000 workers went on strike in support

- Ebert asked Freikorps for help, and they stopped the rebellion, killing 100 workers

Who was the leader of the Weimar Republic?

Ebert

When was the Red Rising?

March 1920

Describe the threat that the Red Rising posed

- took control of Germany's raw materials and main economic area, so posed an economic threat

- the Red Army had weak leadership and no clear plan

- some demonstrations over next few years, but nothing seriously threatened the government

- was a threat in 1919 when government was most vulnerable, but easily defeated by the Freikorps

Who were the Freikorps?

Bands of ex-soldiers who refused to disband and formed private right-wing armies - they opposed the Republic.

They were given a purpose by this

How did the Treaty of Versailles affect Germany?

- people felt "stabbed in the back" by the government, and referred to the treaty as Diktat

- the weimar republic became ascossiated with the pain and humiliation it caused

- the politicians were called the "November Criminals"

What were the German politicians who signed the Treaty of Versailles called?

The November Criminals

When did France and Belgium invade the Ruhr?

January 1923

Why was the Ruhr invaded?

- France and Belgium could use the coal and steel produced there

- Easy to invade as it was in a demilitarised area

- Germany had been late paying reparations

Describe how the invasion of the Ruhr caused hyperinflation

- The government promised to pay all the striking workers in the Ruhr, and the workers spent this money very quickly

- this meant that productions couldn't keep up with money in circulation, so hyperinflation occured

What is passive resistence, and when was it used in Germany?

non-violent opposition to authority - was used in the mass strikes when the French invaded the Ruhr

What was the Dawes Plan? How much money did it involve?

It was a American's investors plan to find a way for the German's to continue to pay reparations. This will work for about 5 years till Hitler comes to rule.

America lent £40,000,000 to Germany

Set up loans for education, hospitals, schools, private firms, houses and pensions

When was the Dawes Plan brought in?

1923

What was the role of the Kaiser?

- inherits position and rules like a king

- personal cotrol of army and foreign policy

- appoints and dismisses chancellor

- can dissolve Reichstag and bypass Bunderstat

- has the most power

What was the role of the Chancellor?

- runs government and proposes new legistlation

- doesn't support of Reichstag or Bunderstat's support to stay in power

What was the role of the Bundersrat?

- members are representatives from each state in the German Empire

- its consent is neede for all legislation, but it can be overruled by the Kaiser

What was the role of the Reichstag (old gov format)

- members elected by the public every 3 years

- members pass or reject legislation put forward by the Bundersrat, couldn't sugggest own laws

When did Kaiser Wilhem Rule?

1888 - 1918

What did Kaiser Wilhelm want for Germany?

He wanted to show the world how mighty Germany had become and did not want to share his power with anyone.

He believed in militarism and and wanted to increase germany's military power

He wanted Germany to have an Empire like Britain and France

Believed in traditional class system

What was Kaiser's Wilhelm's policy for a Weltpolitik?

- he wanted Germany to be a world power (have an empire)

What laws did Kaiser Wilhelm pass and when?

- passed navy laws in 1898 and 1912 to massively increase Germany's navy to rival Britain's

What political problems did Kaiser Wilhelm face?

- there was a socialist party supporting workers (SPD) who were put into bad living situations due to the industrial revolution - they wanted all wealth to be shared

- german politics became more radical, and the popularity of extreme nationlist parties was also growing

- Kaiser was under pressure to introduce social reforms, but doing so would anger his followers

- popularity of SPD also made it hard for the Chancellor to gain enough support in the Reichstag to pass new legislation

What economic and social problems did Kaiser WIlhelm face?

- workers in new mines were unhappy with low wages, poor conditions, and high costs of taxes

- more and more workers joined trade unions to try and change things

- SPD party became popular and more extreme

- lots of people thought the government shouldn't waste money on the navy

- initially, gov didn't pass reforms (afraid of encouraging socialism) so SPD gained lots of support

- By 1914, trade union membership was around 3.3 million

How did Kaiser Wilhem deal with growing socialism?

- tried to reduce discontent by introducing some reforms, like the Worker's Protection Act in 1891

- In 1897, he adopted the new policy of of Weltpolitik to distract people from socialism, and increase support for the moarchy and navy

- gov used propaganda to prmote navy laws and inspire patriotism

- the laws became popular and socialist opposition to them was seen as unpatriotic

What did the navy laws do (+ dates)?

- 1898: first navy law passed to build up the navy to rival Britain's, and increase Germany's battleship fleet

- in 1900, another navy law put a 17 year navy expansion programme into place

How many seats did the SPD lose in the 1907 election due to the government's propaganda?

36 seats (socialism and opposition to the new navy laws was seen as unpatriotic)

Describe the events of the Munich Putsch

8th November 1923-Hitler and 600 Nazis seized the Burgerbraukeller where Kahr and Lossow were having a meeting.

Hitler won over their support at gunpoint.

The next day Lossow and Kahr called police

Hitler continued his march.

Hitler's army was no match for the armed police.

16 Nazis and 4 policemen killed.

Hitler arrested 2 days later, and was angry at Lossow and Kahr for switching sides

Describe the short term failure of the Munich Putsch

- 16 Nazis were killed

- showed Weimar Government had enough power to defend itself

- Hitler fled the scene in a panic and was arrested 2 days later

When was the Munich Putsch?

November 1923

Describe the long term success of the Munich Putsch

- Hitler gains support and media attention during 24 day long trial

- judges were leniant and sentenced Hitler to 5 years in prison, which he used to write his book (mein kampf) which would later become the blueprint for the Nazi Party

- He realsied he needed to change strategies and be elected, and this way the Nazi party became largest party in 1933, the same year Hitler became Chancellor

What was Hitler's army called?

The SA, or stormtroopers

What were the aims of the National Socialist German Workers' Party?

- improve wealth and education (ony for Germans)

- rejected TofV, so they appealed to a lot of people who were still angry at the government

What was the first party Hitler joined, and when?

The German Workers' party, in Jan 1919

Later rebranded as the National Socialist German Workers' Party

Who was the Chancellor that brought in a new currency?

Gustav Stresseman

What did Stresseman do?

He brought in a new currency, and ended the strike in the Ruhr

He was chancellor, and later became foreign secretary

Created the "Great Coalition"

When did Stresseman end the strike in the Ruhr?

September 1923

When did Stresseman introduce the new currency?

November 1923

Why was the new currency good ( or bad)?

- stabilised the economy

- quickly accepted

- inflation was brought under control

- however people with cash savings in the old currency lost out

When was Stresseman Chancellor?

August - November 1923

He then became foreign secretary

What was the "Great Coalition", and when did it fall apart?

- a group of moderate, pro-emocracy, socialist parties in the Reichstag who agreed to cooperate so that parliament could make decisions more quickly

- fell apart in 1929

What was the Young Plan?

> Reduced total reparation debt from £6.6 billion to £2 billion

> Germany was given 59 years to pay (longer)

When was the Young Plan?

1929

When was the Locarno Pact?

1925

What was the Locarno Pact?

Germany, France and Belgium agreed to respect each others territory. Britain would defend any nation that was invaded.

Germany would respect the new borders set out in the TofV

What was the Kellogg-Briand Pact?

An agreement between nations not to use violence to settle their differences

When was the Kellogg-Briand Pact?

1928

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

1926

Why were some people angry at the Locarno Pact?

- people thought Stresseman was weak for signing

- thought that territory should be taken back by force

What was a negative effect of the Dawes Plan?

Germany depended on America for money, so in 1929, the Wall Street Crash had major effects

When was unemployment insurance introduced?

1927

What was unemployment insurance?

wokrers could pay into the scheme, and would receive benefits if they became unemployed

What were the benefits of mass housing plan?

- over 2 millions homes were built from 1924-1931

- provided more employment

How did women gain more freedom after the war, and during Germany's recovery?

- gained more political representation and the vote

- between 1924-1929, 112 women were elected tot he Reichstag

- women showed they could be capable workers in the war, so there were more young women working

- divorce became much easier

Why were the 1920s considered a golden age for Germany?

- there was new creativity and innovation. freedom of expression meant new ideas were created

- Germany became the new centre for new plays, theatre, opera and shows.

- musicians performed vulgar songs about politicians

- the Bauhaus School of Design was highly influencial, and Franfurt University encouraged new ways of critical thinking

Why were some poeple opposed to Weimar Art?

- believed art, music and theatre should celebrate older, more traditional values of Germany

- believed new nightclubs and paintings were leading Germany into mora decline

- Berlin was viewed as corrupt and sex-obssessed

- Nazis openly critisised nightclubs and art of the period

- when Hitler came into power, many artists and performers were forced to flee

Who were the KPD?

German Communist Party

Why did the KPD gain support?

They wanted a workers' revolution, which was a popular idea after the government cut benefits due to the great depression. Also due to the mass unemployment.

How much of the vote did the Nazis have in 1928, and 1932?

3%, and then 37%

How did Mein Kampf help the Nazi party?

It reinstated key political ideas to the public and cemented the belief system of the Nazi party

People referred to it as a religious text, and Hitler was seen as Germany's saviour.

Why did the Nazi Party appeal to (ex-)soldiers

- The SA seemed organised, and the uniforms emphasised this

- Hitler's discipline and control over the SA made him seem like the strong leader people were looking for after the War.

How did propaganda help the Nazis gain support?

It was targetted at specific groups, and this made individuals feel recognised by the party

Why did the Nazis have the support of the upper and middle classes?

- they were opposed to communism because they didn't want to share their wealth

- they feared Weimar art would lead to moral corruption

Who was president before Hitler became Der Fuhrer?

Hindenburg

Who was Hiter's Vice Chancellor?

Von Papen

What was Hitler's deal with Von Papen?

that if Von Papen convinced Hindenburg to allow him to be chancellor, Papen could be vice chancellor and would get to mos tof the day-to-day running of the country

Why did Hindenburg and Von Papen allow Hitler to be Chancellor?

They thought they could control him with Hitler as Vice Chancellor

When was the Enabling Act passed?

23rd March 1933

What was the Enabling Act?

A law that would allow Hitler to pass laws without the approval of the Reichstag for four years - it allowed him to become a dicatator

When was the Reichstag fire?

27th February 1933

How did Hitler use the Reichstag fire?

He used it to persuade Hindenburg to give him emergency powers, allowing him to imprison people without a trial

He blamed it on a communist found in the building, and used this to say that communists were trying to tke over the government

He banned all communists from the Reichstag

When were trade unions banned?

2nd May 1933

When were all parties except the Nazis banned?

July 1933

How was the SA used to obtain votes?

They intimidated voters, especially communists

When was the Night of the Long Knives?

30th June 1934

What was the Night of the Long Knives?

- June 29-30, 1934: Hitler commanded the SS to break into the homes of the leaders of the SA and arrest them

- Hitler accused Rohm of planning to murder him and take power

- 400 people including Rohm were executed over the weekend; 1000 others were arrested

Who was Rohm? Why didn't Hitler want him in power?

Leader of the SA.

He was planning to merge the army with the SA

How did the Night of the Long Knives help Hitler gain the support of the army?

The army didn't want to merge with the SA, Hitler killed Rohm and this showed he was on the side of the army

What was the "protection of the people and the state" law?

When Hitler banned all communists from the Reichstag

How many people were killed in the night of the long knives and the following days?

400

Who were the SS?

Hitler's elite personal body guards. They wore a black uniform

When did Hindenburg die?

2nd August 1934

What did Hitler do when Hindenburg died?

merged the role of president and chancellor, and decalred himself "Der Fuhrer"

What did the Nazis do to reduce unemployment?

- public work scheme were set up, including building schools, motorways and hospitals

- all men between 18 and 25 had to do 6 month working in the National Labour Service, or the RAD

- they brought back military conscription, and encouraged factories to manufacture weapons, ships, aircrafts and tanks

Who was appointed minister of the economy?

Herman Goring

When was Herman Goring appointed minister of the economy?

1936