Germany in War

Question 1

1 September 1939

Answer 1

Hitler invaded Poland
People of Germany not happy

Question 2

Reactions

Answer 2

Varied
Some remembered horrors of WWI
Some assumed German forces would win easily

Question 3

Immediate Responses of citizens

Answer 3

Ran to shops to stock up on food
Air raid sirens tested in evenings
Some children sent to live in countrysides

Question 4

Opposition

Answer 4

Within 3 days France and Britain declared war on Germany in defence of Poland

Question 5

April 1940

Answer 5

Troops marched in Norway and Denmark

Question 6

War Economy

Answer 6

Announced December 1939
Meant all industries focused on war effort

Question 7

Goods related to war

Answer 7

1939 ————> 1941
23% ————-> 47%

Question 8

Jobs related to workforce

Answer 8

1941 - 55%
Still struggled to produce enough goods

Question 9

Albert Speer

Answer 9

Appointed minister of war production in 1942
Very well trusted by Hitler
Created central planning board

Question 10

Central planning board

Answer 10

April 1942
Greater freedoms for industry
-Focused factories on a single product
-Employed more women in factories
-Use concentration camp prisoners as workers
-Exclude skilled workers from military service

Question 11

First winter of war

Answer 11

Coldest in living memory
Heavy snowfall so travel was almost impossible
Lack of coal
Public places forced to close

Question 12

Shortages

Answer 12

Rationing was introduced
People allocated points for food
Most civilians were adequately fed
Lots of time spent queuing

Question 13

Women

Answer 13

Speer wanted them to work in factories
Hitler wanted them to stay at home
Never worked in factories but seen as more than mothers
1939- Women under 25 forced to complete 6 months labour before getting a job

Question 14

Women in workforce (wartime)

Answer 14

1939 ————————————-> 1941
760,000 thousand ——————> 1.5 mil
Total of 30 million women

Question 15

28th August

Answer 15

Devastating bombing on Berlin from England

Question 16

Air Raid Shelters

Answer 16

Introduced program to build more of them
Not always safe

Question 17

Kinderlandverschickung (KLV)

Answer 17

Voluntary evacuation to the countryside
Eligible to all children under 14 for 6 months
Some children placed in Hitler Youth camps
Only 40,000 out of 260,000 participated

Question 18

Assassination attempts

Answer 18

4 in 1943 but all failed
1 in 1944 that almost succeeded

Question 19

20th July 1944 Bomb Plot

Answer 19

Lead by Claus Stauffenburg
Could use the reserve army to remove The Gestapo and SS
Aborted twice before 20th July
Placed an explosive in a briefcase and left it in a meeting next to Hitler
All conspirators arrested

Question 20

Claus Stauffenburg

Answer 20

Became increasingly disillusioned with the war
Injuries in 1942 lead to him thinking Germany was only being lead to disaster
Executed by a firing squad after bomb plot

Question 21

Cardinal Galen

Answer 21

1934- Spoke out against Nazi racial policies
1941- Delivered sermons denouncing the threat of the Gestapo
Lived under house arrest from 1941- 1945 but survived

Question 22

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Answer 22

Preached against protestants pastors in 1930s
Banned from writing or public speaking
Went undercover and relayed messages back to the resistance
Killed in April 1945

Question 23

The Rosenstrasse

Answer 23

27th Feb 1943
A group of ‘part-Jewish’ men taken to Rosentrasse
Protests of people wanting to get them out
Around 600 women at any given time
Friday 5th March first prisoner was released

Question 24

The White Rose

Answer 24

A group of university students
Produced anti-Nazi leaflets
18th Feb 1943 they were turned into the Gestapo and executed
Urged people not to join military

Question 25

Passive Resistance

Answer 25

1918 written on paintings to signify loss of war
Continued to be written then covered with black paint

Question 26

Individual acts of resistance

Answer 26

Saying good morning instead of heil Hitler
Telling anti-Nazi jokes
Reading banned literature
Listening to the BBC
Hiding Jews

Question 27

Reasons for lack of opposition

Answer 27

Lack of Knowledge
Fear
Nazi Propaganda
Nazi Success

Question 28

Total War

Answer 28

Announced 18th Feb 1943
“Total war- Shortest War” - Goebbles

Question 29

Nazis finally put Women into war effort

Answer 29

3 million eligible women
Only 1 million joined

Question 30

Non-Total war stuff was eliminated

Answer 30

Sport and magazines were shut down
Non-essential businesses were closed

Question 31

Shortages became worse

Answer 31

Clothes rationing suspended - no longer being made
Exchange centres were set up as an alternative

Question 32

Increase in Propaganda

Answer 32

Goebbels encouraged acceptance of total war
Shown through posters

Question 33

Impact of air raids

Answer 33

1943 attacks were intensified
More than 40,000 civilians murdered (July 1943)
3758 deaths- 100,000 injured, 500,000 left homeless (22nd November 1943)

Question 34

Despiration 1944

Answer 34

By August liberated Paris
Large number of refugees added to pressure on Germans
July 1944 plot lead to 7,000 arrested and 5,000 executed

Question 35

Increasing war effort

Answer 35

Goebbels in charge of total war efforts
Increased pressure on German people
500,000 workers forced to join military
Replaced with unskilled workers so decreased production
Age limit for women’s compulsory service raised to 50
Increase in forced labour
Railway and postal service reduced
Propaganda strengthened further

Question 36

The Volkssturm

Answer 36

Created due to worsening military situation
Hoped to defend Germany from advancing troops
4 days training and no uniforms
Didn’t raise morales in Germany

Question 37

30th April 1945

Answer 37

Hitler killed himself due to inevitable war end

Question 38

Germany falling apart

Answer 38

Shops ran out of food
Turned to black market to survive
25,000 people killed at once in air raids

Question 39

Fighting Until the End

Answer 39

By April, fallen back to Berlin
Fought with Hitler Youth
2nd May 1945 finally arrested