4. germany in war (1939-45) Flashcards
what was total war?
-germany devoting all of their resources to the war
-anything didn’t contribute to war effort was eliminated (eg: professional sport, magazines)
by 1941 how much of the work force was employed in war related work?
53%
when was rationing introduced & what did it entail?
-1939
-whilst germany was winning the war most goods could still be bought
-as the war went on, life became much harder for ordinary citizens
-by 1942, german civilians were living off bread, potatoes and vegetables
-their rations were much smaller than
british rations
what was different about the jew’s ration cards?
there was a red ‘j’ on them
why did jews end up with less food than others?
they could only go to the shops near closing times and food would be sold out
were germans fed well in wwII?
2/5 germans ate better with rationing than before
what were differences in opinion towards women in war?
-speer wanted them to work on factories to boost production
-hitler thought they should stay at home & be mothers
changing role of women
-after suffering heavy losses the Nazis realised they needed to encourage women back into the work place
-restrictions on women’s education were lifted during the war
-by 1944, 50% of the workforce were women
how many women worked and stayed at home?
1.5 mill worked
30 mill stayed at home
how did women get out of compulsory service?
made excuses, for example getting pregnant on purpose
daily life
-non essential production stopped
-small non essential businesses closed
-workers were moved to war-related industries
-civilian clothes were no longer manufactured
which areas of germany did britain and america bomb?
industrial areas
how many air raids did people face a week in 1940?
3/4 air raids a week
how were citizens protected from bombings?
-air raid shelters
-improved defence
what was the KLV?
-voluntary evacuation to the countryside
-first applied to cities most prone to attacks
the july bomb plot
-20th july 1944
-colonel claus strauffenberg, army officer
-planned to kill hitler and initiate operation valkyrie
-strauffenberg had direct contact with hitler
-put detonator into explosive in case, slid under table near hitler
-table leg deflected just if the blast
-strauffenberg was executed
cardinal galen
-spoke against nazis
in 1941 delivered 3 famous sermons
-denounced use of gestapo for terror
-denounced taking church property
-denounced murder of disabled
bonhoeffer
-pastor
-joined german resistance
-he was banned from writing & speaking publicly
-relayed messages for underground resistance
-organised escape of jews to switzerland
-arrested in 1943
-killed 2 weeks before end of the war in cc camp
white rose
-hans & sophie scholl
-anti-nazi leaflet
-said that ‘hitler cannot win the war only prolong it’
-6000-9000 leaflets spread around major cities
-caught throwing leaflets from balcony
-went to peoples court & executed
hampels
-working-class couple
-elise’s brother was killed in 1940 and they were spurred into resistance
-over two years, they hand wrote over 200 anti-nazi postcards
-nearly all of the postcards were given to gestapo
-tried by the people’s court and executed
rosenstrasse protests
1943:
-after authorities arrested some of the last jewish men left in berlin, their aryan wives went to the building on rosenstrasse (‘rose street’) where their husbands were being held
-women spent several days protesting
-eventually goebbels ordered the men to be released
-one of the few public anti-Nazi protests that were successful
methods of passive resistance
-saying ‘good morning’ rather than ‘heil hitler’
-telling anti-nazi jokes
-hiding jews
how did shortages get worse in
1943?
exchange centres were set up
how & when was hamburg bombed?
-july 1943
-concentrated series of day and night raids
-firestorm created bc of narrow streets & wooden buildings
-half of hamburg was destroyed & more than 40,000 civilians were killed
how was berlin bombed?
-nov 1943
-750 planes
-strong defences -> only around 4000 deaths
-500,000 homeless, around 100,000 injured
how was dresden bombed?
-medieval town
-no benefit of bombing
-weeks before end of ww2
-firestorm
-20-25,000 killed
-seem as unnecessary
why was there desperation in
1944?
-war in europe turned further against nazis
-allied bombings lead to ruins, homelessness
-ppl ran to countryside
-native german refugees added to pressure on food & fuel
-large increase in arrests & executions
why was there chaos in 1945
-british and americans in west, soviet’s in east
-in march, british and americans crossed rhine into germany, soviets crossed germany’s eastern border
-germans fought on
-april 1945 hitler commited suicide
-a week later the war in europe ended
