germany Flashcards
1
Q
What was the Weimar Republic? (1919-33)
A
- Replaced The Kaiser at end of WW1
- Signed the Armistice to end the war
- Formed in town of Weimar as Berlin was unsafe
- Was a democracy
2
Q
What were the strengths of the Weimar Republic? (1919-33)
A
- Bill of Rights
- Elected Chancellor, President and Reichstag
- Largest party became the government and made laws
- Men and women can vote
- Used checks and balances
3
Q
What were the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic? (1919-33)
A
- Proportional representation (parties gain seats in reflection of votes cast for them)
- Article 48 (laws passed in crisis)
- Linked to the ‘Stab in the back’ theory for signing the Armistice
- Dubbed the November Criminals
4
Q
What were the main terms of the treaty of Versailles? (1919-33)
A
- Land taken
- Armed forces reduced
- Money to pay reparations
- Blame for starting the war
5
Q
What was the Spartacist Uprising?
A
- Communist group tried to take over in Berlin
- Led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg with 100,000 men
- Uprising ended by Freikorp (dislike gov but hate commies more)
6
Q
What was the Kapp Putsch?
A
- Uprising led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp in Berlin
- Kapp led the Freikorp against the Weimar Republic
- Army refused to fire on Freikorp
- Ended by a general strike as Kapp had no public support
7
Q
What were the Nazis doing between 1919-22?
A
- Also known as NSDAP
- Hated Treaty of Versailles, Weimar Republic & Jews
- Hitler became leader in 1921
- SA/Brownshirts (personal bodyguards)
- Small party to begin with
8
Q
Why was there a crisis in 1923?
A
- Germany does not pay reparations
- French occupation of the Ruhr to take raw goods due to not having been paid
- Weimar orders passive resistance in Ruhr so no goods can be made but they make no money
- They print more money but that leads to Hyperinflation
- Hitler desperately tries to seize power in Munich Putsch
9
Q
What happened in the Munich Putsch?
A
- People desperate due to lost savings in hyperinflation
- Hitler took over a beer hall that had politicians inside
- Hitler used his SA and ex WW1 general Ludendorf to try and seize control
- The people did not support Hitler
- The army crushed the Putsch
10
Q
What happened with the Nazis from 1923-28?
A
- Hitler initially imprisoned for Munich putsch
- Writes Mein Kampf
- Nazi newspaper formed
- Goebbels joins Hitler
- Changes party into one that will now try to win votes
- Creates Hitler Youth
- SS formed
- Hitler cements his leadership in the Bamberg Conference
11
Q
What were Stresemann’s solutions to the crisis of 1923?
A
- Dawes Plan (loans from USA)
- Young Plan (Spread out reparation payments)
- Ends hyperinflation
- Joins the League of Nations
- Restarts production in the Ruhr
- Signs the Locarno Pact (Germany would never go to war with other countries)
- Signs the Kellog-Briand Pact (a promise not to use war to resolve issues)
12
Q
What was the impact of Stresemann’s solutions?
A
- Businesses prospered
- Extreme politics were marginalised
- Germany accepted in Europe again
- Some disapproved of making deals with Germany’s WW1 enemies
13
Q
How did the culture change in the Weimar Republic?
A
- More nightlife
- Women had freedom to wear makeup and more revealing clothes
- New art, architecture and music
- More houses built
- Unemployment reduced
- More pensions
- More youths go to university
- Freedom of expression
14
Q
What were the drawbacks in the Golden Years? (1924-28)
A
- Trade Unions opposed women being paid as much as men
- Women still not equal to men
- Many working class still struggled
- Radical groups resented changing culture (moral decline)
- Birth rates decreased and divorces rose
15
Q
Who were the main leaders of the Nazi Party? (1929-34)
A
- Adolf Hitler (leader)
- Herman Goering (4 year plan to get Germany ready for war)
- Heinrich Himmler (SS leader)
- Ernst Rohm (SA leader)
- Joseph Goebbels (propaganda)
16
Q
What were the main reasons why the Nazis became popular after 1929?
A
- Wall Street Crash & Depression (USA recall their loans)
- Hitler’s promises
- Hitler’s passionate speeches
- S.A violence and fear
- Propaganda
- Fear of Communism
- Other parties could not co-operate
17
Q
How did the depression after the 1929 Wall Street Crash help the Nazis become popular?
A
- Rising unemployment, poverty and homelessness created people who did not trust the main political parties anymore
- People turned to extreme political parties like the Nazis and Communists for help
18
Q
How did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933?
A
- Nazis become the biggest party (didn’t have majority)
- President Hindenburg initially refuses to make Hitler Chancellor
- Von Papen & Von Schleicher made chancellor but can’t control Nazis
- Hindenburg gives in and makes Hitler Chancellor and Von Papen vice chancellor
- Hindenburg and Papan think they will be able to control Hitler
19
Q
How did Hitler become a dictator (Part 1)?
A
- Hitler didn’t want to be in a coalition with Von Papen
- Reichstag burns down and Communists are blamed
- Hitler get specials powers from Hindenburg to ban communist party
- Hitler calls another election
- With no communists to vote for Hitler gets an overall majority
- No longer sharing power in coalition
20
Q
How did Hitler become a dictator (Part 2)?
A
- Hitler passes the Enabling Act (can now pass laws on his own)
- Knight of the Long Knives (has threats killed)
- Army happy with this as they disliked SA leader (a threat)
- Army swears loyalty to Hitler
- Hindenburg dies
21
Q
How did the Nazis control people through fear and terror?
A
- SS ran concentration camps and were the visible force on the streets
- SS kept records on people
- Gestapo (the German secret police) could arrest without reason
- Concentration camps
- Judges and trials controlled by Nazis
22
Q
How did the Nazis control religion?
A
- Catholic Church and Nazis signed an agreement to leave each other alone
- Hitler broke Concordat (agreement) and closed Catholic schools
- Nazis started a Reich Church and Protestants were expected to go there
- Pastor Emergency League (PEL) set up by
protestants to rival Reich Church
23
Q
How did the Nazis use propaganda?
A
- Joseph Goebbels in charge
- Nazis controlled all media and radios
- Nazi messages endlessly repeated
- All other views censored
- Held mass rallies to promote Nazism (Nuremburg rally most famous)
- Sport to promote the idea of Aryan Race
24
Q
How did the Nazis control culture?
A
- Removal of Weimar culture
- All art had to be approved by the Nazi Reich Chamber of Arts
- Architecture was based on old Greek and Roman designs to show power
- Black & Jewish music banned
- Traditional German music preferred
- Mass book burnings of books Nazis did not like
- Goebbels controlled films
25
What opposition was there to the Nazis?
- Some Protestant and Catholic religious leaders spoke out
- A rival protestant church (Confessing
church) set up
- Edelweiss pirates (some working class teenagers resisted)
- Swing Youth (middle class teenagers listened to banned music)
26
How did Nazis control women?
- Key policy was Kinder, Kuche, Kirche
- Wanted women to dress traditionally
- Nazi German Women’s Enterprise controlled all women’s groups
- Nazis continually promoted the idea of family
- Women to have lots of children so Germany could expand
- Lebensborn set up (centres for women to have children)
- Medals and financial incentives given for having children
27
What youth Nazi youth groups were set up?
- Hitler Youth set up for teenage boys (taught military drill)
- Compulsory to join HY at start of war
- League of German Maidens set up (taught women to be mothers and companions)
- Importance of racial hygiene taught
28
How did the Nazis control education?
- Children brainwashed in schools
- Teachers had to follow Nazi ideas
- Sexes were separated
- Taught of Germany’s glorious past and betrayal in WW1 & at Versailles
- PE & science important in preparing boys for war
- Girls taught about motherhood
29
How did the Nazis solve unemployment?
- Jews and women removed from unemployment statistics
- National Labour Service (RAD) set up (all unemployed men to join)
- These unemployed men had to do public work’s projects like building motorways
- RAD not popular due to being compulsory
- Rearmament in preparation for war created jobs
30
What benefits were there for workers?
- Big businesses did well
- Most people had jobs
- Strength Through Joy (workers offered cheap luxuries to keep them happy)
- Beauty of Labour (working conditions improved)
31
What negatives were there for workers?
- Wages remained low
- Trade unions were removed
- Workers had to improve working conditions by themselves
- German Labour Front (DAF) strictly controlled the workers and did harsh punishments
32
Which groups did the Nazis persecute?
- Slavs from Eastern Europe (subhuman)
- Gypsies (didn’t contribute)
- Homosexuals (immoral)
- Disabled (threat to aryan race)
- Jews (theives of jobs and money)
33
How were the Jews persecuted against?
- Nazis forced a boycott of Jewish shops
- Jews banned from professional jobs
- Nuremburg Laws passed (Jews no
longer German citizens and cannot be in relationships with Germans)
- Jews had to have identity cards
- Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)
34
What happened on Kristallnacht?
- Kristallnacht means night of broken glass
- A Jew shot a Nazi politician in Paris and in retaliation Nazis attacked Jewish property
- Synagogues, businesses and homes burnt down
- Jews forced to pay for the damage
- Some Jews sent to concentration camps
