germany part 3 Flashcards
doing chap 7 + 9, add 8 later
what did all men between the ages of 18 and 25 have to do?
they had to spend six months in the RAD - national labour service; they would plant forests, mended hedges, and dug drainage ditches on farms. they had to wear uniform, and live in camps, but they were given free meals. they were paid only pocket money but they were employed
they also had to spend at least two years in the army - from 1935
what did the nazis order the creation of in 1933?
a network of autobahns (motorways) to link Germany’s major towns and cities
how many people worked on the autobahn?
about 100,000 - less unemployment
what other plans from the nazis gave people work?
more schools and hospitals were being built
what is rearmament?
when a country rebuilds its armed forces
what did hitler’s rearmament give to the Germans?
it gave more people work, and contracts were formed between the gov and factory owners + bosses of large businesses
what did hitler introduce which went against the ToV?
conscription (in 1935)
why did hitler want to rearm Germany?
he wanted Germany to be known as a great military power again
how did conscription cause the army to grow?
within five years (1935-1940 i think) the army grew from 100,000 men to 1,400,000 men (so more people were given jobs)
how did nazis make it seem like there was less unemployment?
- women who gave up work would not be counted as unemployed
- part-time workers counted as full-time workers
- they would sack Jewish people and give their jobs to non-Jewish people, but the Jewish people who were sacked were not considered to be unemployed
who was appointed as minister of economics?
Hjalmar Schacht, a respected banker
how did Schacht solve the issue of needing raw materials for the goods Hitler wanted?
he signed trade deals with other countries in South America and South-East Europe, in return for German goods
why was Schacht sacked?
Hitler was too impatient and his trade deals were not working fast enough
who was Schacht replaced by?
Hermann Goering
what scheme did Goering introduce in 1936?
the four year plan
when was the four year plan introduced?
1936
what did Goering attempt to make Germany (in terms of raw materials and other countries)?
self sufficient
what was the aim of the four year plan?
to get Germany ready for war (produce the goods necessary)
how did they make Germany self sufficient (or attempt to)?
if they were unable to find particular goods or resources, they would find alternatives or make artificial substitutes
what are some examples of the alternatives Germany was able to produce?
- petrol from coal
- artificial wool and cotton from pulped wood
- make-up from flower
- coffee from acorns
how did the nazis help the farmers?
- hitler cut their taxes
- he guaranteed them that they would not be thrown off their land
what nazi policies upset the farmers?
- laws were introduced which stopped farmers dividing up their land and giving a part to each child
- this was an attempt to keep farms large and under control of the same family
- some farmers resented this because some children were no longer able to inherit their family farm and had to go to the city to look for new jobs
- some farmers liked it because it meant their farms were secure in their family for generations
what organisation replaced trade unions?
the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront - DAF)
what two schemes did the DAF run?
- the beauty of labour (Schonheit der Arbeit - SDA)
- strength through joy (Kraft durch Freude - KDF)
what was the beauty of labour scheme?
it tried to improve the working environment by installing better lighting, saftey equipment, new wash rooms, low-cost canteens, and sport facilities
what was the strength through joy scheme?
it organised leisure activities to encourage hard work; it was a reward scheme that offered cheap holidays, trips to the theatre, and tickets to football matches if workers met their targets
how were workers lives negatively impated during the nazi rule?
- lost rights because no trade unions
- couldn’t quit or strike
- had to work as many hours as the nazis required
- some of the holidays that were rewarded to the workers who worked hard were still to expensive for most working-class Germans to afford
- food cost more as there was less in the shops from becoming self-sufficient
what did german armies attack in 1941?
the USSR
why did the nazis struggle in the USSR?
they weren’t prepared for the cold - their guns didn’t work and they were poorly clothed
how many germans died / surrendered at the battle of Stalingrad in the USSR?
over 80,000 died and 90,000 surrendered
what was rationed in nov 1939?
food and clothing
how many eggs were people limited to a week in 1939?
one egg a week
what goods were in very short supply during the war?
toilet paper and soap
what were some alternatives used to the supplies that were in short supply?
soggy stewed pine needles were used as a replacement to soap in the bath
what was hot water rationed to?
two days / week
who was made armaments minister in 1942?
Albert Speer
when was Albert Speer made armaments minister?
1942
what was Albert Speer told to do?
organise the country for total war - everything was focused on making weapons and giving soldiers food, anything that didn’t contribute to the war was stopped
what was closed because of the ‘total war’ organisation?
beer houses, dance halls, and sweet shops, letter boxes were closed up too
how many foreign workers were brought in from conquered countries to work as slave labour in Germany by 1944?
seven million
what was the impact of the British and American bombing?
no electricity, water, or transport, there was flooding and gas explosions and constant danger of unexploded bombs, so many left to find refuge as refugees
what kind of state was nazi Germany under Hitler?
a police state
what is a police state?
a state where the police have a lot of power
what were the four main features of the police state in germany?
- concentration camps
- the SS
- the regular police + law courts
- gestapo
who was in charge of all the polie forces (and head of the SS)?
Heinrich Himmler
who was Himmler
head of SS, loyal nazi, knew Hitler since 1923
what were the concentration camps?
they were prisons where ‘enemies of the state’ were held, they were set up to ‘correct’ people who weren’t doing what the nazis wanted. inmates were forced to work hard, some were tortured and some were worked to death
what were the SS?
- Schitzstaffe
- set up in 1925
- originally Hitler’s personal body guards - but built up
- divided into three sections: the SD, the Waffen SS, and the Death’s Head Units
what did the SD do?
a section of the SS who looked after security - could arrest anyone for any reason, search homes, and seize property. they even spied on and policed the nazi party
what did the Waffen SS do?
a section of the SS who were an elite group in the army
what did the Death’s Head Units do?
they were a section of the SS who ran the concentration camps, and later the death camps
how did the police change under the nazis?
- the ordinary police continued their regular job but ignored crimes committed by nazis
- all the top jobs in the police were given to nazis
how did law courts change under the nazis?
- they were under nazi control
- new laws meant you could receive the death penalty for: telling an anti-Hitler joke, having sex with a Jewish person, and listening to a foreign radio station (as well as other things)
who were the gestapo?
- they were a secret police organisation.
- they didn’t wear uniforms and spied on people who they thought might be a threat.
- they tapped calls and opened mail.
- they had the power to arrest and imprison anyone without trial, and to torture people.
- they ahd a huge network of informers who would report people.
- they encouraged children to report their parents/teachers.
- many germans informed on eachother because they assumed the gestapo would find out anyway
what was Joseph Goebbels official title?
the Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda
what did Joseph Goebbels claim his limp was from and what was it actually from?
he said it was from ww1 but he was unable to fight in the war because of the disability in his foot
when did Goebbels join the nazis?
1924
how did Goebbels’ opinion of Hitler change?
he was not fully supportive of him to start, but grew to totally admire him
what media did Goebbels use for censorship and propaganda?
- newspapers
- mass rallies
- films
- radio
- books
- theatre
- music
how did newspapers change under the nazis?
only stories that showed the nazis doing good things were allowed to be printed, and there were many negative stories about Jewish people. newspapers that printed stories that Goebbels didn’t approve of were shut down
how did the nazis use mass rallies?
they were used to show Hitler’s greatness. special arenas were built that could hold half a million people. choirs, bands, speeches, fireworks, and air shows were all used to show case how impressive and organised the nazis were
how did books, theatre, and music change under hitler?
writers were forced to write books, plays, and songs that praised hitler and the nazis
how did the nazis control films?
all film plots were shown to Goebbels before the film was made so he could approve. all films had to show the nazis positively and their ‘enemies’ badly
how did the nazis use radio?
they controlled all radio stations to put across nazi ideas. cheap radios were produced that could only tune in to nazi stations. more germans owned radios in the 1930s than americans. loudspeakers were put in the streets, factories, and cafes to broadcast nazi radio stations
what organisation did all musicians, writers, artists, and actors have to be apart of?
the chamber of culture
what happened if someone refused to join the chamber of culture?
they would not be allowed to work (as a musician/artist/writer/actor)
were all people allowed to join the chamber of culture?
no, some people (like Jewish people) were banned from joining)
who led the chamber of culture?
Joseph Goebbels
what was always shown before a film?
a news report of Hitler’s achievments
what music was banned under the nazis?
- some of what was popular in the weimar era
- songs written by Jewish composers
- jazz
what did all music have to be (during the nazi times)?
german or austrian
what play was banned by the nazis as soon as they got into power?
Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera because Weill was Jewish and the musical had lots of jazz in it
what did the nazis rule that all plays should mainly focus on?
german history and politics, and they allowed the work of some ‘older’ playwrights be preformed
what kind of clubs did the nazis shut down?
cabaret clubs
what book was banned by the nazis (among many many others obviously)?
All quiet on the western front - Erich Remarque ( because it was anti-war)
how many writers left germany between 1933 and 1945?
~2500
what did Hitler think of the (modern/abstract) art made during the weimar era?
he thought it was degenerate (perverted)
how many paintings did the nazis publicly burn?
5000
when did the nazis burn the paintings they didn’t approve of?
1936
what did the nazis want art to be?
simple and clearly understandable, showing healthy, heroic German figures, family scenes of happy, strong, and ‘pure’ germans, and images of Hitler in heroic poses
did hitler like the bauhaus movement?
no
when did hitler close down the bauhaus movement?
in 1933
when was the olympic games held in berlin?
1936
what was stopped during the olympic games?
the anti-Semitic posters and newpapers temporarily
how did the germans winning the olympics help the nazis?
they claimes it proved that the german race was superior to all other races. also, the nazis claimed the technological advancements in filming the games showed the brilliance in german technology
which filmmaker filmed the olympic games?
Leni Riefenstahl
what type of filming did Riefenstahl pioneer at the games?
the use of tracking shots to follow an athlete’s movement in slow motion
what was the lowest type of opposition to the nazis?
moaning or grumbling about them; in the privacy of their own homes some would tell an anti-hitler joke or complain about the treatment of their Jewish friend
how did the Swing Youth show their dislike of the nazis?
by listening to jazz music and having Jewish friends
what did the White Rose group do?
they urged Germans to get rid of Hitler and handed out anti-nazi leaflets, put up posters, and grafitied the walls
what did the Edelweiss Pirates and the Navajos do?
they beat up nazi officials and helped army deserters
what did the catholic church speak out about and when?
1941, spoke out about the killing of physically and mentally disabled people
how many attempts were there to kill hitler?
50
who were the Kreisau circle?
army officers, uni profs, and aristocrats who were shocked by the nazis plans for war and their brutality
did the kreisau circle actually do anything?
no, they just discussed killing him
who led the Beck-Goerdeler group?
former army general Ludwig Beck and nazi official Karl Goerdeler
what did the Beck-Goerdeler group do?
they contacted the British about the possibility of removing hitler but couldn’t come up with a plan, but they did try to assassinate him by them selves three times (?)
when did the Beck Goerdeler group try to assassinate hitler?
march 1943 and november 1943 and they were behind the july bomb plot of 1944
what happened in the July bomb plot?
the army officer COlonel Claus von Stauffenberg agreed to be a part of a group that would detonate a bomb where hitler was meeting and thnen take over germany, end the war, and change germany for the better. but they bomb failed to kill Hitler
how many men were killed in the July Bomb plot?
four
how was Hitler affected by the July Bomb plot?
his hair was burnt and his ear drums were burst
when was the July Bomb plot?
20th July 1944
