21 - The Impact Of War On German Society Flashcards
What was the mood of the german people when war first broke out
Acceptance
No great enthusiasm
What has civilian morale been like in ww1
Had collapsed in later stages due to severe shortages of foodstuffs
Why was carefully rationing important for germany in ww2
So morale didn’t collapse like it had in ww1
What was the progression of the rationing of meat
1939 allowed 500g
1942 allowed 400g
When was food rationing introduces
August 1939 before war broke out
What foods were rationed
Bread, meat, butter, margarine, cheese, eggs, canned foods and sugar.
Foods imported from outside Euroupe: bananas, coffee, chocolate
When was clothing rationed from
NOVEMBER 1939
What was the allocation of food rations based on
Age, occupation race
Manual labourers had more
Jews had less
Pregnant women, nursing mothers and sick had special allowances.
How was rationing for first two years of war
Adequate food supplies, population not alienated.
Shortages of coal, shoes, soap and washing powder
What event reduces food rations significantly
The invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, imports of food from there were stopped.
When were rations reduces
April 1942
When did supplies become precarious
Autumn 1944
What happened to ration towards end of war (spring 1945)
Supply and distribution of food in Nazi German completely collapsed and many Germans faced the prospect of starvation
How did Goebbels control propaganda to boost morale
Controlled the flow of information and enabled the regime to spread its own version of events.
Speeches, newsreel, film ,radio broadcast and printed media emphasised the successes and minimised the set backs for german forces.
Was Goebbels propoganda entirely successfully in boosting morale
No, became less effective as the war progressed.
What are the four phases of the war
Blitzkrieg September 1939-June 1941
The spreading war June-December 1941
The turning of the tide Jan 1942- jan 1943
Total war and defeat Feb 1943- may 1945
What did the first phase ‘blitzkrieg’ involve?
Invasion of poland achieved victory within weeks
Spring 1940 invasion of Norway, Nemark, Holland, Belgium and France. All defeated quickly.
April 1941 german forces invade Yugoslavia and Greece and pushed on towards North Africa.
How was morale during blitzkrieg
Quick and easy victories - optimism for quick war
Hitler presented as military genius
Hitler made major speeches, all were broadcast
What happened during the second phase of the war ‘the spreading war’
Germany invaded the USSR in June 1941 and occupied vast areas of territory.
December red army halted german advance
December 1941 Germany declared war on USA following its ally Japan attacking the American fleet at pearl harbour.
How was morale during phase two ‘the spreading war’
Invasion of USSR presented as a crusade against ‘Jewish Bolshevism’
Increase in anti semitic propaganda
In early stages as soviet forces retreated there was a boost in morale
German forces were halted outside Moscow in December and subjected to severe winter conditions.
Declaration of war on USA made it clear that the was would not be over soon.
What was the third stage of war, ‘the turning of the tide’
British forces stopped the german and Italian advances in North Africa and defeated a German army at El Alamein in Nov 1942
The defeat of an entire german army at Stalingrad in Jan 1943 marked an important turning point in the war
What was morale like during the third stage ‘the turning of the tide’
People began to think Goebbels had set unrealistic expectations of victory.
Letters home from soldiers undermined the propaganda.
War weariness became more evident and criticisms of the regime raised.
Attempts to boost morale included extra rations at christmas.
still a deep reserve of patriotism
What was total war and the defeat of germany
British and American bombing of german cities caused destruction.
German forces retreating in the east.
Italy invaded and defeated by British and American forces in 1943
The d day landings in france in june 1944 opened up a second front in western Euroupe.
Berlin captured by soviet forces in April 195 and germany surrendered 8th May.
What was morale like during total war?
Goebbels declared germany was in the war in his speech Feb 1943
Hitler appeared less often in public
Heavy bombing - downbeat mood
Goebbels tried to lift morale with talks of retaliation.
Final months of war - defeat accepted and seen as inevitable.
What film was produced in jan 1945 to encourage retaliation
The propaganda film Kolberg showed heroic resistance to Napoleons army in 1807
What was the aim of American and British bombing
To disrupt the production of war materials and break the will of the civilian population to continue fighting.
How did propaganda cover the impact of the bombings
Spoke of the resillience of the civilians and their continuing support for the regime
Personal reminisciences of surviviors offer growing criticism of the authorities
Examples of the damage the bombing caused to Germans
Extensive damage to buildings and high numbers of civilian casualties.
Around 410,000 german civilians killed in air raids
Millions made homeless
What places were targeted in the bombings
Large cities like Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne
Also small towns
What happened to civilian morale as a result of the air raids
Exhaustion (lack of sleep)
Constant fear
People continued to work and criticism was rare
When did civilian morale collapse
As allied forces closed in on Germany in the last months of the war and air raids added to the hardships of the civilian population.
What were the elites opinions of the regime
There was a diverse range of views
Many old conservatives shared the nazis authoritarian leanings
But especially after 1943 some were concerned that Hitler was leading the country to disaster
How were workers impacted by the war
Longer working hours
Pressure on wages
Did workers resist to the changes that came with war
Some evidence of worker resistance in the form of absenteeism and bad timekeeping
But the regime put measures in to enforce discipline in the workplace
How were women affected by the change of war
Shouldered burdens of everyday living as mothers and housewives.
Increased number of women in work
Later stages of war increasingly used in auxiliary roles in the armed forces to release men for combat duties
Why argue that women weren’t affected by the war?
There were still many exemptions from the compulsory conscription of women workers - pregnant women, those with two or more children and farmers wives.
Impact of war on young people
Increasingly subjected to military training and conscription to the armed forces
Age at which men could conscript to the arm reduced from 19 to 17 in 1943.
Younger teenagers deployed through the Hitler youth
Later age of conscription reduce to 16
Younger boys conscripted for duties in volksturm (home guard)
