Hitler and Nazi Germany

Question 1

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Answer 1

• Germany lost land to Poland, Belgium and France.
• The Rhineland was to be demilitarised
• The union of Germany and Austria, the Anschluss, was forbidden.
• Germany lost all her colonies
• The German army was reduced to 100,000 men
• The German army was not allowed to have tanks or an air force
• Germany had to pay reparations of £6.6 billion to the Allies
• Germany had no choice but to sign Article 231 of the Treaty which said Germany alone accepted the blame for having caused the war

Question 2

The effects on Germany of the end of the First World War and the Peace Settlement

Answer 2

• Millions killed and injured in WW1
• German national debt tripled during the war
• The British naval blockade of German ports stopped food, fuel and medicine coming into Germany
• flu epidemic killed many thousands of people
• Kaiser Wilheim II (the German dictator during the war) was forced to abdicate after strikes and mutinies had spread across the country
• WWI stopped when the Armistice was signed

Question 3

German views on Versailles

Answer 3

• Germans thought it was unfair as they had not taken part in the discussions
• Felt tricked and betrayed
• Many Germans hated the politicians that signed the armistice (“November Criminals”) They said these politicians had caused the army to be “stabbed in the back”
• Humiliated and angry due to War Guilt Clause
• German pride was hurt by the reduction in military strength
• Many Germans now lived in other countries due to the territorial clauses

Question 4

Characteristics of the Weimar Republic

Answer 4

• Germany would be a Republic (have no King or Queen)
• It would be a democracy and all adults 20+ could vote
• A President would be elected every 7 years
• A Chancellor would be chosen by the President
• The Parliament (Reichstag) would be voted for by the German people using Proportional Representation
  Every German would have rights such as:
• the right to meet in groups,
• freedom of speech

Question 5

Strengths and Weaknesses of Weimar

Answer 5

Strengths:
- It was democratic, right to vote and proportional representation
- There was a system of checks and balances to make sure the government was fairly run
Weaknesses:
- Coalitions, smaller parties gained seats which meant no single party could gain a majority, made decision making difficult
- Weakness in crisis, coalitions made it hard for laws to be passed in crises
- Based on division and violence as not everyone wanted this system

Question 6

Spartacist Revolt, 1919

Answer 6

• Spartacists: extreme left communist party
• lead by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
• Spartacists aimed to start a revolution, destroy the power of the army and to set up a socialist state
• They did not want elections as they believed worker’s voices would be ignored
• Workers in Kiel Naval Base mutinied
• Spartacists attacked people in streets for a week
• Ebert gave far-right militia Freikorps money and arms to stop revolution
• Many Spartacists captured/killed

Question 7

Beer Hall Putsch, 1923

Answer 7

• Hitler and far-right Nazi party planned to to seize the whole of Germany
• Leading Bavarian politicians including Kahr were meeting at a Beer Hall in Munich
• Hitler and the SA interrupted the meeting, threatened crowd with
  violence, fired a shot into the ceiling
• Bavarian leaders locked in a back room and forced to publicly announce their support for the Nazis
• Hitler and politicians left, politicians immediately spoke out against the Putsch
• Nazis, led by Hitler and Ludendorff, marched into the centre of Munich, fought police
• Nazis killed, Hitler sentenced to 5 years, only served 9 months

Question 8

Economic problems of the Weimar Republic

Answer 8

• WWI was very costly for Germany - national debt tripled
• Germany had to pay 6.6 billion under ToV
• Germany failed to make reparations once, in response France invaded the Ruhr
• German workers in Ruhr slowed down work in rebellion
• Ruhr invasion meant Germany lost major money making region
• Weimar government decided to solve the problem by printing more money, leading to hyperinflation

Question 9

Effects of Hyperinflation

Answer 9

• People had to be paid more than once a day
• Pensioners suffered greatly as their income was fixed
• Life saving became worthless
  Benefitors:
• People and businesses who had taken out loans could repay them easily
• Farmers could charge more and the value of their land increased

Question 10

Recovery of the Economy

Answer 10

• Key politician Gustav Stresemann called off passive resistance in the Ruhr, Germany could make money of Ruhr
• This allowed the government to stop printing money
• Stresemann promised to begin reparations payments again, French left the Ruhr
• Stresemann created a new currency called the Rentenmark
• Allies allowed Germany to renegotiate reparation payments, reducing payments
• Germany took large loans from America in new plan

Question 11

Wall Street Crash

Answer 11

The German economy now heavily relied on American loans so when the Wall Street Crash sent the American economy into meltdown the German economy was pulled down with it, lead to mass unemployed, wage drops

Question 12

Role of Women

Answer 12

• Nazis encouraged large, Aryan families with housewives and working fathers
• Propaganda encouraged having children, and money and medals were awarded to mothers with many children
• Girls were prepared for motherhood in school through lessons in motherhood, cookery
• Unmarried women were encouraged to find husbands and have kids

Question 13

Treatment of Jewish Women

Answer 13

• Jewish women were forced from their jobs
• Jewish women were banned from public transport
• Jewish women were prevented from marrying/having kids with Aryan men
• Jewish women lost citizenship
• Jewish women were forced into ghetttos

Question 14

Treatment of Jews and other minority groups

Answer 14

• Hitler’s Nazi government persecuted many minorities including Jews, Slavs, ‘Gypsies’, Homosexuals
• The Nazis believed in a hierarchy of races.The Aryan (master) race at the top, all others were ‘Untermenschen’
  (sub-human)
• Jews were attacked and killed in the streets
• Jewish businesses were harassed
• Jewish people were denied
  the right to be German citizens under Nuremberg Laws
• Jewish children were bullied in schools, eventually denied education