Chapter 3 Hitler's Germany Flashcards
What was the state of Germany after WWI?
In the early 1920’s, Germany was a big mess after WWI. The new German government, the Weimar Republic started to print money to solve the issue of paying reparations. This led to hyperinflation instead and the German currency quickly fell in value and unemployment increased as people could not find jobs.
How did Gustav Stresemann help Germany’s economy?
Gustav Stresemann introduced a new currency to Germany, the Retenmark, to solve the crisis. He also negotiated for a series of external policies to help Germany recover economically such as the Dawes Plan and Young Plan and he also negotiated the ending of the Ruhr Industrial Crisis.
What did the Dawes and Young Plan and the ending of the Ruhr Industrial Crisis mean for Germany?
These plans lowered the amount of reparations Germany had to pay to $2.6 billion, increased the repayment period and allowed a loan of 800 million marks from USA to Germany to ease her economic worries. Prosperity soon resume in Germany and this short period became known as the Golden Age.
What happened in 1929?
In 1929, Gustav Stresemann died which lead to the end of the Golden Age and this was when the Great Depression hit the world.
Why was the Weimar Republic unpopular amongst the German population?
The Weimar Republic was often associated with the signing of the humiliating Treaty of Versailles in which the Germans called it a ‘Diktat’.
How did the Weimar Republic form into a coalition government?
The Weimar practised an ineffective way of selecting the government officials, known as Proportional Representation, which was the allocation of seats in the Reichstag based on the percentage of votes cast. This led to a formation of a coalition government, which made decision-making very slow and inefficient.
How did the Weimar Republic’s unpopularity lead to rebellions?
The Weimar was so unpopular that during the 1920’s, three notable
rebellions took place, the Spartacist Uprising led by the Communists, the Kapp Putsch by the Freikorp and Munich Putsch, also known as the Beer Hall Uprising by the Nazis.
How Gustav Stresemann “save” Germany and what happened after the he was gone?
Though Weimar Republic a weak government, all these changed with Gustav Stresemann coming into the picture. He elevated the international status of Germany and restored prosperity to Germany. That said, however, Stresemann appeared to be the only capable leader in the Weimar and Germany’s Golden Age would be short-lived as the Germans soon encountered one of the worst economic disasters in history, the Great Depression.
How did the Great Depression contribute to the rise of Nazi and Communist parties?
In 1929, USA started to recall her loans from Germany and many businesses and banks in Germany collapsed. Old wounds such as the Treaty of Versailles started to resurface. It was in this time of
desperation that people rejected democracy and started to support extreme political parties such as the Communist and the Nazis.
How did Hitler use his ideology and speech to appeal to the German people?
Hitler benefitted greatly from the disaster and people were drawn to his speeches about how the Weimar was weak and how Versailles had destroyed Germany. He also blamed a particular racial group, the Jews, for the plight that Germany was in. Hitler’s grand ideas of promising Employment for All, All Things to all Men, overthrowing the Versailles Treaty and achieving Lebensraum (Living Space) were attractive to the German people.
How did Hitler eventually win over the people of Germany?
He was a great orator, charming, animated and he told the people exactly what they wanted to hear. Not only would he give vague promises to the people, he would exploit the Stab in the Back Theory, using the Jews as a scapegoat for the failures of Germany. Hitler also despised the Bolsheviks and blamed them for the defeat of Germany in WWI. In professing a pure, superior race, the Aryan Race, he would win over the people of Germany as his party rose in popularity.
