LK

Untitled Flashcards Set

Timeline  Left Right 

Spartacist Uprising (January 1919) 
- Communist uprising who wanted power to be spread evenly and by the working class, 100,000 workers went on strike but were not very well organised and unarmed. Friekorps easily dealt with them 
 

Bavarian Revolution (1919) 
- Soviet governments proclaimed with red guards and workers councils. Had a lack of support with 700 killed by Freikorps, which demonstrated the people were strong right wing 
 

Kapp Putsch (March 1920) 
- Friekorp brigades forced to disband due to ToV but instead 12,000 soldiers planned to overthrow the government. Noone opposed them as the army supported them, but when Kapp tried to run country the workers striked and country grinded to a halt, eventually they relinquished their hold but the army were not punished. 
 
Ruhr Uprising (March 1920) 
- Workers began striking and demanded shorter hours, whch also produced a 50,000 worker army who wanted a soviet republic but they had little support. Crushed by Friekorps and 8 hour work day negotiated. 
 

Assassination of Walther Rathenau (June 1922) 
- Jewish Foreign Minister was assasinated which led to 700,000 people demonstrating in Berlin forcing the Organization Consul who planned the murder to disband. Powers were given to the government to act against extremists who threatened them which led to paramilitary groups 
 
Munich Putsch (November 1923) 
- Hitler and Ludendorff tried to convicne 7 leaders of Bavaria to sign with them and march on Berlin, but they didnt and so the marched into Munich with 2,000 men and was stopped by police. Public and Judges sympathised with Hitler 
 

Reichstag Fire (February 1933) 
- young communist caught with evidence of starting a fire that burnt down the Reichstag. Utilised to stir up communist propaganda, declare a state of emergency and give Nazis the credit of catching him 
 
Enabling Act (March 1933) 
- Reichstag voted to allow Hitler to pass laws without Reichstag which established his dictatorship and tore the constitution up. 
 
Establishment of Gustapo (1933) 
- Secret police force established by Goring to combat political opposition and enforce Nazi policies by forceful means. Better than SA as operated in secrecy and utilised surveillance whilst also being more loyal as led by Nazi leaders. 
 
Night of the Long Knives (June 1934) 
- Rohm and other senior SA officers were arrested along with 700 others by the SS, which tamed the SA as their brutal tactics looked bad on the Nazis and this also removed yet more political opponents 

 

Organisation Consul 
What: right wing paramilitary group established by Friekorps 
Aim: destabilize the Weimar Republic 
Did: assassinated political figures like Foreign Minister 
Have: Ultimately disbanded due to public outrage, but did manage to kill around 350 people including several prominent political figures 
 
Hazburg Front 
What: right wing political movement in the 1930s 
Aim: aimed to defend monarchy and traditional austrian values and to withstand ocmmunism 
Did: had rallies, used paramilitary groups (Heimwehr) to engage with leftists, backed authoritarian government 
Have: Nazi Austrian party gained more popularity and so Austria was eventually annexed  
 
National Opposition 

What: group of conservative right wing political parties during early 1930s 
Aim: Opposed the rise of Hitler and wanted a non-totalitarian government 
Did: formed alliances to weaken Hitler’s influence, advocated for a strong government that didn't align with Hitlers radical ideas 
Have: Little, when Hitler eventually became Chancellor they were sidelined 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Reasons for opposition in Weimar Germany 
 
 
Treaty of Versailles 
- October criminals blamed for bad result “stab in the back” 
- Kaiser made government in charge so they took the blame 
- Reduction of army size made Freikorps angry as lost jobs 
- Loss of Saar and other areas with industry and coal lost many jobs 
- right wing nationalist groups particularly vocal about this and restoring Germany’s pride 
 
Economic Difficulties 
- 132 billion gold marks demanded from ToV 
- Germany financed the war by borrowing and printing money 
- wages didnt keep pace with inflation 
- Hyperinflation mainly affected middle class and pensioners 
- Ruhr invasion led to passive resistance and sharp decline in exports 
- Great depression was particularly impactful due to the Dawes and Young plan 
 
 
Opposition to democracy and Weimar political decisions 
- Article 48 enabled a dictatorship and was frequently abused 
- Civil service, judiciary, army and universitys all continued to hold far right views 
- Military leaders like Kapp were against the democratic system and distrusted it, also because of ToV 
- political fragmentation caused by proportionate representation which made it hard for any party to hold a majority and had to form weak coalition governmens 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
What was used to control the German People 

Propaganda 

Terror 

  • March 1933: Goebells tells all german radios that they serve the government and had to follow their instructions 

  • Loudspeakers: positioned in public places so all hear Hitler’s speeches and broadcasts 

  • Reich film agency: glorified Hitler and were openly full of propaganda. Made drama and romance which incorporated Nazi beliefs 

  • Posters: placed in public places that depicted optimism and ideal Nazi beliefs 

  • Concentration camps: detained criminals, religious and political opponents. Ran by the SS, 70 set up in 1933. 500,000 political enemies sent here 

  • SD: intelligence agency that had task of identifying enemies of Nazi leaderships and spied on people using 7,000 informants 

  • Gestapo: secret police who could arrest and imprison anyone opposing Nazi rule. They tapped phones, looked at mail and used informants 

  • Laws: 46 laws by 1943 resulted in death penalty, which could be passed only be a judge who swore loyalty to Hitler 

  • SS: originally Hitler’s personal bodyguard but became his private elite Nazi army that ran camps. 

Unity 

Censorship 

  • Night of Long Knives: removed political enemies in the party and SA leaders 

  • Informants: public encouraged to report to local block wardens about political enemies 

  • Rallies: large scale rallies, such as Nuremburg rally, demonstrated Nazi strength 

  • Reich Radio Company: produced cheap radio sets so 70% of Germans had a radio that only picked up German broadcasts 

  • Swastika: adopted and displayed prominently which gave a unifying visual identity 

  • One party: all other parties banned and formation of one was a crime 

  • One Union: all trade unions banned and workers had to join DAF 

  • Religion: churches and other accepted religions had to comply with regulations else be jailed 

  • Reich Press Chamber: took control of existing papers and closed any opposition papers down. By 1939, Nazi’s controlled 2/3 of newspapers 

  • Reich Association of the Press: compulsory for journalists to join and were given statements by Goerring on what could be published 

  • October 1933: Hitler made publishers responsible for their work 

  • Decree of protection of people and state: allowed Nazis to ban publications and suspend civil rights to investigate homes 

  • Book burnings: all pieces of literature that promoted opposing ideologies banned and burned in 1933