germany; 1890-1945 Flashcards

1
Q

what years did kaiser wilhelm ii reign?

A

1888 to 1918

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2
Q

who did kaiser wilhelm ii dismiss?

A

otto von bismarck

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3
Q

what was kaiser wilhelm ii’s aim?

A

to make germany an important world power

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4
Q

what did kaiser wilhelm ii wish for?

A

to rule germany alone and unchecked

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5
Q

what relation did kaiser wilhelm ii have to great britain?

A

grandchild of queen victoria

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6
Q

what was the german empire composed of?

A

many smaller states

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7
Q

what was the most dominant state of germany?

A

prussia

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8
Q

what two counties did germany cover?

A

poland and denmark

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9
Q

what was germany technically?

A

a monarchy

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10
Q

what was the reality of germany?

A

democracy, where much of the power was concentrated in kaiser wilhelm ii

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11
Q

what is the reichstag?

A

the government elected by universal male suffrage

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12
Q

what is the bundesrat comprised of?

A

higher government, representatives from each state

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13
Q

what was the chancellor?

A

head of government

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14
Q

who appointed the chancellor?

A

the kaiser

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15
Q

what year prior to was germany an agricultural economy?

A

1880

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16
Q

from 1880 what happened to the german economy?

A

industrialisation

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17
Q

what did this greater industrialisation lead to?

A

greater urbanisation

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18
Q

what were some prominent german industries?

A

coal, steel, chemicals, elecronics

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19
Q

who had power in germany?

A

catholic church, junkers and the conservative elite

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20
Q

what did kaiser wilhelm ii focus on when faced with socialism?

A

opposing socialism and focused on the aristocracy and the military

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21
Q

what were the navy laws? and what years?

A

a succession of laws from 1889 to 1912 to build up german naval strength

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22
Q

who supported the navy laws?

A

kaiser wilhelm ii and grand admiral von tirpitz leader of the navy

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23
Q

what were advantages of the navy laws?

A

jobs, challenging british naval dominance, consolidating german military power

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24
Q

disadvantages of the navy laws?

A

expensive, risk of provoking britain, danger of other countries reinforcing naval strength

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25
Q

how did the navy laws prove kaiser wilhelm ii’s power?

A

he forced these laws without the explicit approval of the reichstag

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26
Q

what was the effect of the treaty of versailles on germany?

A
  • significant transfer of territory to other countries (france and poland)
  • removal of german colonies
  • maximum limit of 100,000 men in the german army
  • significant naval and air disarmament
  • huge reperations to be paid by germany (132 billion gold marks)
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27
Q

german problems in 1918

military, economic, social and political

A

military: germany left with a shattered, disillusioned military not loyal to the weimar republic
economic: massive reperations need to be paid (132 billion gold marks)
social: population feel angry and betrayed. a significant proportion of generation killed
political: weimar republic is shaky, not accepted by everyone and been through revolution

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28
Q

what is the weimar constitution?

A

more democratic: with an elected president, chancellor and reichstag

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29
Q

what was proportional representation? what did it lead to?

A

lead to a large number of small parties. coalitions are inevitable and the government is now unstable

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30
Q

what was the weimar constitution dependant on to be stable?

A

a president to be fair and democratic, presidential powers are extensive

31
Q

what were some german problems? 1918 to 1923

A
  • occupation of the rhineland
  • hyperinflation
  • political turmoil
  • the kapp putsch and the general strike
32
Q

how did the weimar republic survive?

A
  • introduction of the rentenmark to combat inflation
  • stable presidential leadership under friedrich eberet
  • reduction in reparation payments through the dawes plan
33
Q

what years were the weimar golden years?

A

1924- 1929

34
Q

what were some features of the golden weimar era?

A
  • under chancellor gustav stressemann
  • promotion of social, political and economic stability
  • agreements with american banks to reduce the reparation payments
  • diplomatic agreements with the ussr, league of nations and others
  • able to win back the rhur through diplomacy
  • focused on exports and international trade
35
Q

what were the ideals of the nazi party?

A
  • german nationalism
  • aryan superiority (blond hair, blue eyes)
  • disdain for liberalism and democracy
  • authoratarian system
  • german expansion
  • a need for “libensraum” (living space)
  • belief in the prominence of the military
36
Q

nazi attitudes to the weimar republic?

A

hated democracy

37
Q

what “myth” did the nazis believe in?

A

the “stab back myth”

38
Q

what did the nazis believe about the social democratic leadership?

A

that they were globalist and jewish

39
Q

what party thought that democracy and weimar republic would fail?

A

nazis

40
Q

name some early nazi tactics

A
  • fear and intimidation (the SA)
  • propaganda to fuel hatred and disillusionment
  • large and loud public rallies to spark debate and controversy
41
Q

what was the growing appeal of the nazi party to:
working classes?

A

promise of renewing german pride, national identity, reversing the shame of versailles

42
Q

what was the growing appeal of the nazi party to:
military?

A

bringing back military prominence, conscription and rearmament

43
Q

what was the growing appeal of the nazi party to:
businesses?

A

promoting to slash workers rights, eliminate trade unions and get rid of regulation

44
Q

what was the growing appeal of the nazi party to:
aristocracy?

A

promising an end to democracy, power back in their hands and the supression of individual rights

45
Q

how did hitler become chancellor?

A
  • unstable government from 1928 onwards made him appealing
  • chancellors forced to rule by presidential decree
  • large numbers of elections leading to large numbers of nazi disputes in the reichstag
  • control of the reichstag through hermann goerring being made speaker
46
Q

who was hindenburg?

A
  • early war hero as president
  • declining mental faculties
  • dismissive of democracy
  • wishing to restore german pride
47
Q

who was von papen?

A
  • weak, ineffectual chancellor
  • unable to bring stability or strong government
  • used an appointed cabinet of the aristocracy
48
Q

who was schliecher?

A
  • military general
  • attempted to use cunning, trickery, and political tricks to govern and restore military promemance
49
Q

when was the reichstag fire?

A
  • 4 weeks after hitler became chancellor
  • started by a supposed dutch communist
  • led to the enabling act of 1933
  • accounts are unreliable, confused and presented by the nazis
50
Q

who did historians think started the fire?

A

nazis

51
Q

what did the enabling act do? (1933)

A

removed most civil liberties from germans
marked the end of the constitutional democratic government

52
Q

what helped pass the enabling act?

A

arresting communist deputies and some social democrats to gain a majority in the reichstag

53
Q

what was hindeburg after the enabling act?

A

the only check on hitler, and died in 1934, leaving hitler unopposed

54
Q

how did hitler consolidate power? 5 choices

A
  • elimiated all other political parties
  • elimation of the office of chancellor after the death of hindenburg in 1934
  • gained approval of military by eliminating the sa
  • extracted a personal oath of loyalty from the military
  • removed non-nazi civil servants and officials
55
Q

when was the night of the long knives?

A

1934

56
Q

why was the sa important?

A

the backbone of nazi scare/fear tactics

57
Q

what happened during the night of the long knives?

A

hitler chose to back the german army and cut out the sa
sa leaders assasinated
much of pervious opposition to hitler, such as schliecher and communist deputies eliminated

58
Q

what were aims of nazi propaganda?

A
  • to cement hitler’s cult of personality
  • to prepare citizens for war and conquest
  • to condition citizens into believing the nazis
  • to influence the opinions of the public
59
Q

methods of nazi propaganda

A
  • government controlled radio (modern)
  • police surveillance of individuals and post
  • mass distrbution of hitler’s book mien kampf
60
Q

examples of public programmes under the nazis?

A

autobahn construction, civic development and rearmament

61
Q

advantages of public programmes under the nazis?

A

increased employment, economic growth, war preperation

62
Q

disadvantages of public programmes under the nazis?

A

increasing government debt and reduction of employment in some areas

63
Q

women in nazi society:

A

expected to fufill a traditional role rather than focusing on careers

64
Q

churches in nazi society:

A

expected to comply with nazi goals and ideology

65
Q

military and judiciary in nazi society:

A

expected to follow nazi ideology and values

66
Q

children in nazi society:

A

indoctrinated from an early age in the education system and hitler youth

67
Q

causes of nazi policy towards children:

A
  • desire to build up military
  • desire for a generation of unquestioning citizens
  • wish to control parents
  • use children as informers for descent
68
Q

consequences of nazi policy towards children:

A
  • indoctrinated generation
  • idealisation of hitler
  • ready group of men for armed forces
  • quiet and obedient parents
69
Q

what was the final solution?

A

the systematic nazi plan to physically eliminate jews from europe

70
Q

what were concentration camps?

A

locations where jews, minorities and dissidents were detained, interrogated and executed

71
Q

who were the white rose group?

A
  • nonviolent student resistence
  • conducted an anonymous leaflet campaign
  • rounded up and eecuted by the people’s court
72
Q

who were the swing youth?

A

1930s musicians
- admired the american way of life
- resisted the hitler youth
- arrested 1941

73
Q

what was the 1944 bomb plot?

A

a plot by senior military officers to assassinate hitler
failed by chance and officers were arrested and executed

74
Q

how serious was opposition to the nazis?

A
  • sporadic and never organised
  • opposition from the military based on hitler’s military incompetence, rather than ideological change
  • opposition was always there, low level
  • intensive police meant opposition was quickly and suddenly clamped down on