Germany in War Flashcards
1 September 1939
Hitler invaded Poland
People of Germany not happy
Reactions
Varied
Some remembered horrors of WWI
Some assumed German forces would win easily
Immediate Responses of citizens
Ran to shops to stock up on food
Air raid sirens tested in evenings
Some children sent to live in countrysides
Opposition
Within 3 days France and Britain declared war on Germany in defence of Poland
April 1940
Troops marched in Norway and Denmark
War Economy
Announced December 1939
Meant all industries focused on war effort
Goods related to war
1939 ————> 1941
23% ————-> 47%
Jobs related to workforce
1941 - 55%
Still struggled to produce enough goods
Albert Speer
Appointed minister of war production in 1942
Very well trusted by Hitler
Created central planning board
Central planning board
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
First winter of war
Coldest in living memory
Heavy snowfall so travel was almost impossible
Lack of coal
Public places forced to close
Shortages
Rationing was introduced
People allocated points for food
Most civilians were adequately fed
Lots of time spent queuing
Women
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
Women in workforce (wartime)
1939 ————————————-> 1941
760,000 thousand ——————> 1.5 mil
Total of 30 million women
28th August
Devastating bombing on Berlin from England
Air Raid Shelters
Introduced program to build more of them
Not always safe
Kinderlandverschickung (KLV)
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
Assassination attempts
4 in 1943 but all failed
1 in 1944 that almost succeeded
20th July 1944 Bomb Plot
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
Claus Stauffenburg
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
Cardinal Galen
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
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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
The Rosenstrasse
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
The White Rose
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
Passive Resistance
1918 written on paintings to signify loss of war
Continued to be written then covered with black paint
Individual acts of resistance
Saying good morning instead of heil Hitler
Telling anti-Nazi jokes
Reading banned literature
Listening to the BBC
Hiding Jews
Reasons for lack of opposition
Lack of Knowledge
Fear
Nazi Propaganda
Nazi Success
Total War
Announced 18th Feb 1943
“Total war- Shortest War” - Goebbles
Nazis finally put Women into war effort
3 million eligible women
Only 1 million joined
Non-Total war stuff was eliminated
Sport and magazines were shut down
Non-essential businesses were closed
Shortages became worse
Clothes rationing suspended - no longer being made
Exchange centres were set up as an alternative
Increase in Propaganda
Goebbels encouraged acceptance of total war
Shown through posters
Impact of air raids
1943 attacks were intensified
More than 40,000 civilians murdered (July 1943)
3758 deaths- 100,000 injured, 500,000 left homeless (22nd November 1943)
Despiration 1944
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
Increasing war effort
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
The Volkssturm
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
30th April 1945
Hitler killed himself due to inevitable war end
Germany falling apart
Shops ran out of food
Turned to black market to survive
25,000 people killed at once in air raids
Fighting Until the End
By April, fallen back to Berlin
Fought with Hitler Youth
2nd May 1945 finally arrested
