Germany: Part 3 Flashcards
Nazis economic policies
Rearmament and
Conscription: more jobs.
1936: Four Year Plan making the economy ready for war.
Strength through joy: workers given cheap holidays and cars as rewards.
Beauty of labour: improved conditions.
Sept 1933: the Reich Food Estate gave farmers a guaranteed market for goods
The Reich Entailed farm law: gave peasants state protection for farms.
People helping the economy
Industrial workers: created industries that would help establish a new german empire in Eastern Europe.
‘Blood and soil’: farmers believed to be the basis of Germany’s master race.
Rural depopulation: many farmers Childrens were leaving to work for better paid industry
Big businesses didn’t need to worry about strikes.
Middle classes liked the order.
Impact of war on the German economy and the people: rationing
Food rationed soon after sep 1939. Clothes rationed from Nov 1939.
Hitler in control of much of western + Eastern Europe so luxury supplies cane from captured territories.
Army was burnt out by invading the Soviet Union, so heating and supplies were cut back. Goebbels worked hard to maintain confidence in Germany.
Impact of war on the german economy and the people: bombing
Began on german cities in 1942. North city of Lubeck virtually destroyed
1943-1945, with American help, major bombing assaults were made on cities such as Dresden and Hamburg.
Around half a mil german civilians died.
3/4 million wounded, 7.5 mil made homeless.
Impact of the war on german people and the economy: refugees
People made homeless by allied bombing.
Eastern Germany: over 3 mil were fleeing, got no help from army
Most were forced to walk as transport was used up for the army.
Over half a mil died on the journeys.
Survivors found the West also devastated by bombing.
Impact of the war on the german economy and the people: shortages
1942: Albert Speer began to direct war economy
Postal service suspended
Only cinemas for entertainment.
Evacuation started
Women drafted into labour force
Measures carried out by SS: had their own armed forces, armaments industries and labour camps.
Policies towards women
- Nazis gave financial incentives to families to have at least 4 children.
- 8 children: were given a ‘gold cross’ and privileged seats at Nazi rallies.
- Posters, radio all celebrated motherhood and Home building.
- the German Maidens League focused on good physical health and house keeping skills.
- all aid to make the ideal ‘Aryan race’
Young people: groups
Hitler Youth: taught to be loyal to hitler before anyone else. Snitch on their family if a bad word is said. Brainwashed through speeches, taught that war is a part of their lives. Camping trips, sung nazi songs.
League of German maidens: taught to find blonde spouses, have lots of children, traditional sexist, cooking.
After the war: kids had to go under ‘de-nazification’ to reverse the effects of 12 years of Nazi propaganda.
Young people: rebellious groups
In 1933 half of german boys were in the hitler youth & 15% of girls were in the League. The Swing Youth: middle class teens who listened to illegal American/British music, accepted Jews into their club. Edelweiss pirates: working class teens who went camping like the hitler youth, sang songs mocking the Nazis. Attacked hitler youth members. Thought to be collecting pro-ally propaganda during the war.
Young people: education
Compulsory nationalism.
German defeat in 1918 explained as the work of Jewish and Marxist spies.
Science had a military slant.
Girls taught domestic science. Prepare them for motherhood.
‘Racial instruction’ taught from age 6.
Older students taught about problems of inter race marriages: ‘purity’ decline.
Teachers expected to attack lifestyle of Jews at anytime, students encouraged to bully Jewish peers. Jews referred to in maths problems as ‘aliens’.
Glorified aryan race, referring to ‘inferior’ races,parasitic ‘bastard races’
Control of church and religion
1933: hitler agreed to let the Catholic Church keep control of their schools, if they stayed out of politics.
He tried to unify all Protestant churches in one official Reich.
Opposition from the church
Catholic Bishop Galen criticised the Nazis. In 1941 he led a popular protest against their policies of killing mentally+physically disabled people.
Protestant Pastor Martin Niemoller + Dietrich Bonhoeffer formed an alternative to the official Reich Church.
Bonhoeffer spent 1938-1945 in a concentration camp for resisting Nazis, he also helped Jews escape and Germany and was hanged in 1945.
The Final solution
Occurred in 1942: the systematic genocide of the Jewish people.
Blame on hitler but it couldn’t have happened without: The civil service collecting info on the Jews, police forces in Germany, the SS: Deaths Head battalions + Einsatzgruppen carried out a lot of the killing, industries: had thought own slave labour camps, IG Farben made the gas for the chambers, The german people who turned a blind eye.
Racial policy and persecution
1933: As soon as hitler came to power, Jews were banned from the civil service+jobs such as teaching. SS&SA troops organised boycotts of Jewish ships and businesses marked with the Star of David. 1934: people with hereditary illnesses sterilised. 1935: Nuremberg laws, Jews lost right to be a german citizen, forbidden to marry anyone of ‘german blood’, even if you were related to a Jew you were seen as one.
Racial policy and persecution 2
1938: Kristallnacht. 91 Jews killed. 20,000 taken to concentration camps. Occurred bc a young Jew killed a german diplomat in Paris.
1939: start of WWII. Jews around Europe rounded up and sent to ghettos/concentration camps. Babies killed for being mentally ill. 5 out of 6 gypsies killed.
1942: systematic genocide of Jews.
