Germany Flashcards
Stresemann’s achievements as Chancellor/Foreign Minister
- Introduced Rentenmark to end hyperinflation
Dawes Plan 1924 (restructured reparations), Young Plan 1929 (further reduced payments), Locarno Treaties 1925 (European security), Germany joined League of Nations 1926, Improved relations with Western powers, Secured foreign loans and investment.
Cultural changes during Golden Years
- Bauhaus movement in architecture
Expressionist cinema, Cabaret culture in Berlin, Women’s emancipation (‘New Woman’), Modern art and literature flourished, Jazz and American influence, Scientific advancements (Einstein).
Impact of Great Depression on Germany
- US recalled loans (Young Plan affected)
Industrial production halved, 6 million unemployed by 1932, Bank closures and business failures, Political instability increased, Rise in support for extreme parties, Coalition governments collapsed.
Reasons for Nazi Party’s rise to power
- Economic crisis and unemployment
Fear of communism, Weak coalition governments, Hitler’s leadership and propaganda, Support from industrialists, Violence and intimidation by SA, Conservative elites’ miscalculation, Effective use of modern technology.
Key events leading to Hitler becoming Chancellor
- 1932: Nazi Party largest in Reichstag
Von Papen and Schleicher chancellorships, Backroom deals with Hindenburg, Conservative support for Hitler, January 30, 1933: Hitler appointed Chancellor, Support from nationalist right, Belief Hitler could be ‘controlled’.
Steps to dictatorship after 1933
- Reichstag Fire Decree
Enabling Act March 1933, Ban on other parties, Trade unions abolished, Gleichschaltung (coordination), Night of the Long Knives, Death of Hindenburg, Hitler becomes Führer.
Night of the Long Knives
- June 30-July 2, 1934
Purge of SA leadership, Röhm and SA leaders killed, Conservative opponents eliminated, Army support secured, About 400 people killed, Showed Hitler’s ruthlessness, Consolidated Hitler’s power.
Key features of Nazi state
- Führerprinzip (leadership principle)
One-party state, Totalitarian control, Reich Church established, Propaganda and censorship, Secret police (Gestapo), Concentration camps, Racial ideology.
Nazi economic policies
- Four Year Plan
Rearmament program, Public works (autobahns), Reduced unemployment, Autarky (economic self-sufficiency), State control of economy, Labor service (RAD), Battle for Production.
Treatment of Jews 1933-1939
- Nuremberg Laws 1935
Economic boycotts, Professional restrictions, Kristallnacht 1938, Aryanization of businesses, Emigration pressure, Social segregation, Property confiscation.
Nazi foreign policy 1933-1939
- Left League of Nations 1933
Rearmament began 1935, Anglo German Naval agreement 1935, Rhineland remilitarized 1936, Anschluss with Austria 1938, Munich Agreement 1938, Czechoslovakia occupied 1939, Pact with USSR August 1939, Invasion of Poland September 1939.
Key elements of Nazi ideology
- Volksgemeinschaft (people’s community)
Ubermensch
Racial purity (Aryan supremacy), Lebensraum (living space), Anti-Semitism, Anti-communism, Social Darwinism, Traditional values, Nationalism and militarism.
Methods of social control
- Reich Chamber of Culture
Censorship of media, Control of radio and film, Book burning, Propaganda (Goebbels), Sports and leisure (KdF), Public rallies and ceremonies, Architecture and public art.
Church opposition
- Confessing Church (Bonhoeffer)
Cardinal von Galen, Protestant resistance, Catholic resistance to euthanasia, Mit brennender Sorge papal encyclical, Youth group conflicts, Religious education disputes, Individual priest/pastor resistance.
Political opposition
- Communist underground
Social Democrat resistance, Conservative elites, White Rose group (Scholls), Kreisau Circle, July 20th Plot 1944, Trade union resistance, Youth groups (Edelweiss Pirates).
Why was opposition limited?
- Effective Nazi control systems
Gestapo and informants, Fear of concentration camps, Popular support for regime, Economic improvements, Propaganda effectiveness, Lack of unified resistance, Brutal suppression of dissent.
Nazi ideology regarding women
- Three Ks: Kinder, Küche, Kirche
Emphasis on motherhood, Anti-feminist stance, Traditional gender roles, Marriage loans program, Mother’s Cross awards, Lebensborn program, Anti-cosmetics campaign.
Changes in women’s roles during war
- Increased factory work
Agricultural labor, War industry employment, Auxiliary military roles, Civil defense duties, Nursing and medical work, Changed Nazi propaganda, Family responsibilities maintained.
Hitler Youth organization
- Boys 14-18 in Hitler Youth
Girls 14-18 in BDM, Younger boys in Deutsches Jungvolk, Younger girls in Jungmädel, Physical fitness emphasis, Military-style training, Political indoctrination, Mandatory from 1936.
Nazi education system
- Nazification of curriculum
Emphasis on physical education, Racial science teaching, German history rewritten, Jewish students excluded, Teacher political screening, Gender-specific education, Elite Nazi schools (Napolas).
Stages of persecution (1933-1941)
- Economic boycotts
Nuremberg Laws 1935, Kristallnacht 1938, Ghettoization, Madagascar Plan, T4 Euthanasia program, Einsatzgruppen operations, Forced emigration.
The Final Solution (1941-1945)
- Wannsee Conference 1942
Death camps established, Mass deportations, Gas chambers developed, Forced labor system, Medical experiments, Property confiscation, Death marches 1944-45.
Key concentration/death camps
- Auschwitz-Birkenau
Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen.
Scale and impact of Holocaust
- 6 million Jews murdered
Millions of other victims, Roma and Sinti persecution, Slavic peoples targeted, Disabled persons killed, Cultural destruction, Property theft, Postwar refugee crisis.
