Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany 1939-45: 'World War II' Flashcards
Asses which of the following had a greater impact on the German population during the war: [10]
i) The policy of Total War
ii) Allied bombing
i) -Total War led to huge shortages and a rapid degradation in quality of life which affected daily life.
- The involvement of the whole population to win the war through economic and military means had a huge impact on daily life, resulting in shortages, rationing and loss of morale
- Though Speer’s economic reforms were successful in increasing ammunition production by 97% in just 6 months, the shortages in consumer goods and basic resources for daily life had a greater impact on people than winning the war by any means possible
- Rationing further crushed morale, with bread rations falling from 10.5 kg in January 1945 to 3.6 kg per person per month in mid-April 1945
ii) the Allied bombing campaign not only increased shortages due to the bombing of factories, but also led to the immense of loss of life, especially as the bombing campaign did not focus solely on industrial sites. The killing of 35,000 civilians in Dresden by the RAF in 1945 is an example of how civilians were severely impacted by the war. However, only 25% of industrial was destroyed by Allied bombing, meaning the policy of total war could be said to have had the greater impact
Conclusion: Though Allied bombing caused the deaths of 410,000 German civilians, the policy of Total War had a far greater impact on day to day living as it was this policy, and not the Allied bombing campaign which did not have a major effect on the production of consumer goods.
‘The was no meaningful resistance to the Nazi regime during the years 1939-45.’ How far do you agree with this statement? [20]
Introduction:
1) -Agree
- The Communist underground was annihilated before 1941 after Stalin gave Hitler the names of Communist resistance fighters in Germany
- therefore, the resistance offered by the Nazi’s polar enemies was negligible
2) -Disagree
- Youth groups such as the White Rose Group were mildly successful in generating opposition, meaning there was resistance in Nazi Germany
‘The Holocaust was not planned by the Nazi leadership and instead was a result of wartime pressures and the escalation of policies.’ How far do you agree with the statement? [20]
Introduction:
1) -Disagree
-The Nazis had plans for the extermination of the Jewish people of Europe before the war, with Hitler stating in a speech that if Germany went to war, it would be the end of the Jews in Europe (1939)
2) -Disagree
-at the Wannsee Conference of 1942, the Nazi leadership took only 90 minutes to outline how Europe’s 11 million Jewish people would be gassed to death
3) -Agree
-so far the murder of Jewish people had been disorganised, such as the Babir Yar Ravine massacre where 30,000 Ukrainian Jewish people were murdered by SS Einsatzgruppen and Ukrainian collaborators. The reliance on collaborators shows that the Nazi leadership may not have planned to institutionalise the murder of Jewish people and instead was a result of pressures to achieve aims of the German colonisaiton of the East through Lebensraum
4) -Disagree
-Even though many Nazi administrators claimed that the Holocaust was not planned, and instead a result of ‘working towards the Fuhrer’, Hitler’s intentions were clear from as early as 1925 when Mein Kampf was published, and later in the views of Himmler, who in 1929 created his ‘racially pure’ SS
Conclusion:
The Holocaust was a planned and carefully organised operation by the Nazi leadership and not a simple escalation of policies due to ‘working towards the Fuhrer’ and war time pressures. Even before the war, Nazi intentions were clear, and though Hitler never committed to explicit instructions in writing, the Holocaust would not have happened on such a large scale without the backing of the Nazi leadership from the start of the war
‘The German economy was adapted successfully to meet the demands of war before 1945.’
Assess the validity of this view. [20]
Plan:
Intro: Successful adaptation of the economy meant autarky (self sufficiency) and a strong enough economy to support a long campaign, not just a short Blitzkrieg as in 1939
1) Not successful, as even before the war, the German economy had a deficit of 42 billion RM. this meant
2) German economy relied on imports for coal, steel and tungsten metal, 1/3 of war materials imported form foreign countries. therefore autarky was not achieved and the German economy could not support Germany in a drawn-out war where war machinery would need replacing and armaments increased as Allied economic capabilities put pressure on German forces gradually
3) Did meet some targets for munitions and war materials (explosives) but not for others such as aluminium and oil. the introduction of Mefo Bills by Schacht had slowed inflation in the mid 1930s, but this was not enough to deal with the huge imports which were crippling the economy and were of limited supply as the list of significant German allies grew shorter and shorter
4) Economy was mostly resilient in the impact of Allied bombing raids, as production in armaments still increased even in the most intense periods of allied bombing. however due to the deficit in raw materials and heavy losses on the Eastern Front and in Germany factories due to tactical and carpet bombing by the Allies, the German economy was not adapted enough to take losses into account due to its focus on building up armaments for short-term campaigns and not sustaining the army for a two-front war.
Conclusion:
