germany 1890-1945 Flashcards

Question

what year did germany invade poland causing the start of ww2?

Answer 1

militarism - the belief that a country should have strong armed forces. (prussia had advanced weapons)

Answer 2

kaiser - ruled over all states, could ignore all advice given chancellor - advised kaiser reichstag- elected by men 25+, discussed laws that kaiser brought up bunsdrat - representatives from german states, also discussed laws

Answer 3

social democratic party (spd) - 1/3 germans voted for spd. they wanted kaiser to share power and improve workers rights and conditions. some wanted to rebel against kaiser. left wing but kaiser was right wing. workers were unhappy - wages were low, working conditions were poor, food expensive. people joined trade unions and striked.

Answer 4

‘world policy’ transform germany into global power - taking over other nations : east africa, togo etc

Answer 5

large, powerful navy of battleships. -help take over countries & protect -wanted to have a greater empire & navy than britain -introduced naval laws between 1898 & 1912 (which spent lots of money leaving germany in dept)

Answer 6

germany’s navy rapidly increased in size huge sums of money was spent taxes were raised money was borrowed leaving them in debt

Answer 7

he recommended that the british, french and american’s might treat germany more fairly if the country became democratic kaiser shared more power with german parliament however some said he should give up the throne & some talked about overthrowing him in a revolution

Answer 8

in 1918, the germany navy was ordered to attack british ships sailors refused to follow orders, as they no longer wanted to fight the word spread about the mutiny and other ports nearby also refused to follow orders the country was chaos and there was little the kaiser could do so he abdicated and secretly left Germany

Answer 9

friedrich ebert - the leader of the spd

Answer 10

germany had borrowed money from abroad (the usa for example) for the war - this would need paying back germany had lent some of its own money to its allies - would they ever get this back? the war left over 600,000 widows and 2 million children without fathers - war pensions would cost the government a fortune german factories were exhausted by the war - they were making guns, bullets and shells for war, instead of goods to sell abroad to make money

Answer 11

many factory owners made a fortune during the war - german workers had restrictions on their wages woman worked in factories during the war - some thought, this damaged traditional family values

Answer 12

germany was stable and rich as a nation before the war - now there was mutiny and revolution many people felt germany could’ve won the war - they felt they had been betrayed by the politicians (the “November criminals “) who had ended it and they refused to support them

Answer 13

the spartacist league were communists who wanted Germany to be run by a small council of soldiers and workers in 1919 the spartacist try to take over berlin they roamed the streets, firing guns and trying to take over important buildings ebert responded with a violent solution he sent a group of ex-soldiers known as the free corps to attack the spartacists the free corps, recaptured the buildings and arrested the leaders of the spartacists (who were later murdered)

Answer 14

proportional representation - meant that many different political parties were able to win seats in the reichstag, it was difficult to make decisions and introduce laws, with no majority the leading party had to do deals with smaller groups in order to get anything done, this made lawmaking a very slow process many people didn’t like the new democratic system (judges, army, generals, upper-class, families, et cetera) as they longed for the good old days when the Kaiser ruled, furthermore, the weimar government linked to the surrender of the world war

Answer 15

the president -> the chancellor ->the reichstag -> the german people

Answer 16

elected every 7 years controlled army, navy and air force in crisis he could rule on his own without getting support of the reichstag by issuing special emergency decree law known as article 48

Answer 17

chosen by president responsible for running the country must have support of at least half the politicians in the reichstag to introduce new laws

Answer 18

discussed and introduced laws members of the right stag were elected every four years voting system used was proportional representation, meaning that the number of mps in political party were based on the number of votes they had

Answer 19

men and woman could vote if they are over the age of 20 they elected the president and politicians

Answer 20

germany must pay the cost of war which was set at 6.6 billion the reparations is to be paid to the winners in instalments until 1988 germany can only have a small army of 100,000 soldiers, a small navy of six battleships and no submarines, tanks or air force germany must hand over its colonies to winning countries no german soldiers should enter the rhineland

Answer 21

felt it was too harsh - they had took away large areas of land, had to pay a large amount of money and felt humiliated and angry with the way the country had been treated germany hated the fact the treaty had been forced on them - they called it a diktat many germans felt they had not really lost the war, and instead germany’s new politicians had betrayed the country

Answer 22

when germans announced that they couldn’t afford to pay the reparations french and belgium didn’t believe them and decided to take what they were owed by force in 1923, 60,000 french and belgium soldiers marched into the ruhr, a rich industrial area of germany and took control they took goods and food from the shops the german government ordered workers not to fight back and instead go on strike and not help the soldiers remove good from the country -this is known as passive resistance french and belgium soldiers killed over 100 strikers and threw out 15,000 people from their homes german government decided to carry on paying the workers on strike as they were doing what the government told them to do germany was running short of money and as they weren’t producing coal iron and steel to sell to other nations to pay their workers, the governments printed large amounts of money the workers began to spend their money quickly in response shopkeepers put up their prices german government responded by printing, even more money to help people buy things the more money printed the faster prices went up and soon workers were being paid twice a day they carried their wages around in wheelbarrows which wasn’t even enough to buy a meal german government lost a lot of support as people’s savings had become worthless and hyperinflation relation had occurred

Answer 23

people with savings were the biggest losers as the money lost all its value elderly people who lived on fixed pensions from their income couldn’t buy what they needed small businesses collapsed as normal trade became impossible because of daily price changes people who’d borrowed money, found it easy to pay of their debt

Answer 24

it was a right-wing group that tried to take over germany in 1920, he gathered around 5000 free corps to take over the capital he aimed to eventually take over the whole country and make the army, strong again and recover the land that was lost by the treaty the kapp putsch didn’t have support of the workers and they all went on strike after only 100 hours, kapp gave in and fled abroad

Answer 25

in 1923, hitler interrupted a meeting and fired a bullet into the ceiling and announce that he would march to Berlin and take over the whole country general ludendorff knew about the plan and said he supported Hitler, however he informed the police hitler’s stormtroopers took control of government buildings, and arrested officials hitler and his supporters were met by armed forces and hitler was taken to prison this made hitler realise he would have to win power democratically instead of forcefully

Answer 26

to fix the hyperinflation crisis, stresseman created a new currency called the rentenmark causing the end of hyperinflation

Answer 27

stresseman met with the american vice president and arranged for the usa to lend money to germany, so they could pay the reparations so that Belgium in French troops would leave the ruhr

Answer 28

the negotiation of putting the reparations down from 6.6 to 1.8

Answer 29

as germany status in the world declined stressemantried to improve Germany’s relationship with other nations they signed a pact with britain, france, belgium, italy promising never to invade each other

Answer 30

the countries in the league of nations agreed to never go to war unless it was to defend themselves if they were attacked

Answer 31

there were still many political parties in germany, and no single party could get enough votes to rule on their own political parties with extreme ideas continued to hate the politicians in the reichstag there were large groups of people in the germany society that were in trouble, for example farmers incomes were really low much of the recovery was created by the americans loans, what if the americans want their money back?

Answer 32

the usa used to buy goods from germany but they couldn’t afford them anymore germany factories goods were not selling so factories shut down and people became jobless american banks wanted back the money lent in the war to germany german banks tried to get money back from businesses who couldn’t pay so went bankrupt support for extreme parties grew

Answer 33

nazis preached that: the treaty of versailles was a crime to germany, jews were to blame for the economic collapse, germany should be reborn to be strong and powerful as the depression left people desperate they believed hilter

Answer 34

germans were unhappy with the weimar government politicians could work out how to help the unemployed and get germany out of the depression people were drawn to more political parties

Answer 35

he was charismatic, and could make people believe that he could make germany a strong nation he was a powerful speaker

Answer 36

german communists were attempting to take over germany middle & upper class germans (particularly business & land owners) were frightened of communism as they didn’t want to loose their wealth and status communists didn’t believe in religious institutions - this scared church goers hilter said he would fight against communism

Answer 37

nazi officials were set up all over germany - they protected meetings and influenced voters at elections used propaganda - make joseph goebbels the chief of this hitler went to parades and rallies set up the hitler youth organisation constantly used the radio

Answer 38

farmers - greatly affected by the depression & hated communists - nazis promised to give them a better life & stop communists women - nazis are strong believers in family life, morals & discipline middle class & rich - didn’t want to loose their wealth & status

Answer 39

gained a lot of seats in reichstag used a lot of propaganda there was lots of violence on the streets between parties - for example nazis beat up communists in 1932 nazis were the most popular party many chancellors had come and gone so in 1933 hindenburg elected hilter as chancellor hindenburg tried to limit hitlers power (he was allowed a cabinet of 2)

Answer 40

burned down a communist van de lubbe was arrested and blamed hitler said it was part of a communist ploy to take over the country

Answer 41

hilter passed a special emergency ‘protection law’ to deal with the communist threat he introduced a decree ‘protection for the people and state’ and banned communists from taking part in elections 4000 communists were thrown in prison hilter got a pass for the enabling act to control the country without anyone stopping him formed a concentration camp (dachau) and the gestapo

Answer 42

banned trade unions banned all political parties when hindenburg died he took over and became president he made the army swear on oath to him

Answer 43

hitler felt threatened by the power of the army and sa, so he decided to take action röhm the head of the sa wanted to merge the army and sa together and there was rumours he wanted to take over from hitler hitler killed röhm, and 400 other people this meant that hilter had no more threats the police state was formed led by himmler

Answer 44

the national labour service - hands of job for men ages 18 - 25 public work schemes - building of motorways, schools , hospitals etc rearmament - rebuilding the armed forces & conscription for males for 2 years invisible employment - for example didn’t count jews in unemployment numbers

Answer 45

four year plan main priority was increase military production, ordered lots of weapons etc providing lots of jobs nazis tried to help farmer

Answer 46

beauty of labour - improving working environment strength through joy - organising leisure activities to encourage work

Answer 47

1941 unsuccessful as it was freezing and their guns couldn’t fire

Answer 48

supplies were given to soldiers servere food shortages in germany in 1939 food and clothing were rationed the nazis told the german people they must commit to winning the war

Answer 49

in 1942 the country was to organise for total war meaning everything focused on war factories had women working as men were at ease and 7 million foreign workers had been brought in to work as slave labours

Answer 50

britain and america destroyed german cities with bombs there was no electricity, water, transportation and a few homes many deaths caused flooding & gas explosions

Answer 51

hitler wanted to train up disciplined and heathy teenagers set up hitler youth in 1922 banned all other youth groups in 1933 in 1936 hitler made a law for the incorporation of german youth meaning hitler youth was legally as important as school and home controlled all sports and youth competitions membership for hitler youth was compulsory in 1939

Answer 52

learned military skills - marching, fight with knives, fire a gun etc learned the importance of loyalty go many times a week focused on competition, heroism and leadership pepare boys for future roles as soldiers little fellow 6-10 young folk 10-14 hitler youth 14-18

Answer 53

taught how to be good wives and mothers went on matches and camps learn to keep fit, cook, look after babies to prepare for childhood young girls 10-14 league of german girls 14-17

Answer 54

working class boys and girls who opposed nazis sang songs like hitler youth but changed words taunt and attack hitler youth members boys and girls with no care about sex created anti nazi slogans beat up nazi officials in 1944 killed the gestapo chief nazis hung 12 edelweiss pirates

Answer 55

middle class youths opposed nazis, drank alcohol and danced to jazz (hitler hated it) wore english style clothes, girls wore makeup harshly punished

Answer 56

against the slaughter of jews and polish munich university students distributed anti nazi leaflets called for the end of the war called for the end of discrimination towards jews many arrested and 6 killed

Answer 57

the nazis felt it was women’s duty to stay at home and have lots of children and support their husbands kinder, kitchen, küche (children, church, cooking) many females who had jobs were sacked women were banned for the jury service as they ‘could not think without emotion’ banned for smoking, wearing heals etc loads were given to newly weds to encourage them to have children nazis banned abortions and contraception the motherhood medal was awarded to women depending on how many children they have birthed

Answer 58

both believed in the importance of marriage, family and moral values both feared communism - communist were anti religious hitler promised to respect the catholic church

Answer 59

in 1933 hitler and the pope signed a concordat agreeing not to interfere with one and another hilter broke the agreement hitler felt catholics listened more to the pope he arrested catholic priests and closed catholic youth groups and schools in 1937 the pope issued a statement called ‘with burning anxiety’ saying that the nazis were hostile a catholic leader criticised the nazis use of euthanasia and concentration camps - he was put on house arrest until the end of the war

Answer 60

some people admired hitlers views on morals etc and they wanted to know what the church would be like under hitlers control these people were called german christian’s they often wore nazi uniforms and used the slogan ‘swastika on our chest, cross in our hearts’ some hated this as they believed nazi views opposed christianity a confessional church was formed who opened criticised the nazis however nazis attacked back and arrested many priests and sent the lead to a concentration camp

Answer 61

pure aryans (athletic, blue eyed, blonde hair) physically and mentally healthy people socially useful welcome nazism encouraged to have racially pure children all aryan men have children contribute to national community

Answer 62

alcoholics prostitutes homosexuals people who have committed crimes gypsies jews

Answer 63

1933 allowed nazis to sterilise people who were ill, tramps, beggars 350,000 people had been sterilised

Answer 64

1939 exterminate mentally ill 6000 handicapped babies, children and teenagers were killed

Answer 65

1935 banned as aryans from marrying jews (any marriages already taken place were declared invalid) all jews had their citizenship removed

Answer 66

the hatred for jews

Answer 67

hitler blamed them for the defeat of ww1 and because they often had very good jobs

Answer 68

banned from many jobs like teacher etc ss and sa boycotted jewish shops and businesses and marked them with the star of david

Answer 69

jews had to declare their finances so that the government could take them male jews had to take the name ‘israel’ and female jews had to take the name ‘sara’ jewish passports had to be stamped with letter J jews had to hand in jewellery, gold, silver anythung valuable to the police jews could be evicted from their homes jews weren’t aloud to leave their homes until 8pm in winter and 9pm in summer jewish children were excluded from schools

Answer 70

in 1938 a young german killed a german diplomat nazis used this to launch revenge on jews they ran riot, smashing up jewish shops and workplaces 91 jews killed hundreds of synagogues burned down 20,000 jews taken to concentration camps

Answer 71

bricking them into ghettos sending them to work in labour camps execution squads concentration camps

Answer 72

1942 wannsee conference discussing how to kill all jews working them to death, poising them in gas chambers 6 death camps were built

Answer 73

dachau auschwitz treblinka

Answer 74

controlled all police forces reported to hitler

Answer 75

anyone the nazi disliked was sent to them inmates were forced to work hard and tortured or worked to death

Answer 76

they could arrest anyone for any reason, search homes and seize properties

Answer 77

the gestapo spied on people they thought might be a threat they tapped telephone calls and opened mail they had the power to arrest, imprison without trial

Answer 78

set up a organisation called the chamber of culture all activities had to give the message that nazis beliefs and ideas were correct goebbels approved all film scripts music had to be german or austrian plays should focus on germany history and politics list of banned books art show pure german figures held the olympic games in berlin to show how great nazi germany was

Answer 79

when germans showed they didn’t support nazis publicly by refusing to do what they were told

Answer 80

1944 operation valkeryrie colonel claus von stauffenberg agreed to be part of a group that would detonate a bomb where hitler was meeting other nazi officials they hoped then to take over and end the war and change germany for the better killed 4 men only injured hitler - bursting his eardrums stauffenberg executed