Hitler and Nazi Germany Flashcards
1
Q
When was the ceasefire signed?
A
11 November 1918
2
Q
When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?
A
28 June 1919
3
Q
Where was the Treaty of Versailles signed?
A
Palace of Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors
4
Q
What were the punishments of the treaty?
A
Military Restrictions
War Guilt
Reparations
Territorial Loss
5
Q
Who was the ‘Big Three’
A
France, USA and Britain
6
Q
Military Restrictions: What was Germany’s Army limited to?
A
100,000 soldiers and 6 battleships
7
Q
War Guilt: What happened?
A
Germany had to accept full blame for the war. This was known as the Guilt Clause
8
Q
How much reparations did Germany have to pay?
A
£6.6bn
9
Q
What union was Germany banned from?
A
Anschluss (Union with Austria)
10
Q
What was demilitarised?
A
The Rhineland (an area of Germany on the border of France) was demilitarised
11
Q
Who abdicated and fled to Holland and when?
A
Kaiser Wilhelm on 9 November 1918
12
Q
Who signed the Treaty of Versailles?
A
Friedrich Ebert of the Weimar Republic
13
Q
Who announced that Germany was to become a democratic public?
A
Philip Scheidemann
14
Q
How often is a new president elected?
A
7 years
15
Q
How often was the Reichstag elected?
A
Every 4 years
16
Q
Who were the leaders of the Spartacists?
A
Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht
17
Q
When was the Spartacist Revolt
A
5-12 January 1919
18
Q
Who was involved in the Spartacist Revolt?
A
Resentful soldiers, sailors and 100,000 other workers.
19
Q
What did the Spartacist do?
A
They took over key buildings including newspapers and telegraph offices.
20
Q
What was the Spartacists inspired by?
A
The Russian Revolution (1917-1923)
21
Q
What was the government response to the Spartacist Revolt?
A
They employed the Friekorps (ex army men who hated communists) to to shut down the rising. Over 100 workers were killed.
21
Q
What was the Spartacist Revolt also known as?
A
The Bloody Week
22
Q
What happened to Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht?
A
They were arrested and murdered by the Friekorps
23
Q
What happened in January 1923?
A
French and Belgium troops invaded the Ruhr and sent 60,000 soldiers to extract the unpaid reparations by taking control over key industries and natural resources.
24
Why did France and Belgium invade the Ruhr?
Because Germany failed to make several payment by the end of 1922.
25
How much of Germany’s steel did the Ruhr produce?
80%
26
How much of Germany’s coal did the Ruhr produce?
71%
27
What was Weimar’s response to the Ruhr invasion?
They encouraged workers to go on strike.
28
What was the consequence of Weimar encouraging workers to go on strike?
They had to print more money in order to pay the workers on strike. The sudden surge in paper money to a weak economy led to hyperinflation
29
What happened to Germany’s currency?
It lost all value and paper money became useless. A loaf of bread worth 250 marks became 200 billion marks by November 1923.
30
What was the solution to hyperinflation?
Dawes Plan
31
Explain the Dawes Plan
The US loans money to Germany to help stabilise their economy and pay reparations to Britain and France.
32
What currency replaced “Marks”
Rentenmark
33
What was the Nazis originally called?
National Socialist German Worker’s Party
34
What was the name of the Nazis failed coup attack?
Munich Putsch/Beer Hall Putsch
35
What was the Munich/Beer Hall Putsch
An attack by the Nazis in an attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government by kidnapping their leader, Gustav von Kahr.
36
What were the names of the politicians Hitler ordered to support him.
Von Kahr, Von Seisser and Von Lassow
37
Why was Hitler arrested?
For treason (Munich Putsch)
38
What was Hitler’s sentence?
5 years but he was released after 9 months.
39
What did Hitler do in prison?
He wrote a book, Mein Kampf, which outlined his fascist ideas and plans for changing Germany.
40
What caused the Great Depression?
Wall Street Crash in 1929 in the USA, which stock prices plummeted and damaged the economy. The USA cut off all loans to Germany and demanded repayment.
41
When was the Wall Street Crash?
1929
42
What was the unemployment rates during the Great Depression?
6 million
43
What percentage of factory workers were unemployed?
40%
44
What was the unemployment rates for people aged 16-30?
Half of Germans 16-30 were unemployed, 60% were university graduates.
45
What was the name of the Stock Broker that caused the Wall Street Crash?
New York Stock Exchange
46
Who was in charge of Nazi propaganda?
Josef Goebbels
47
When was the Reichstag Fire?
27 February 1933
48
Who was blamed for the Reichstag fire?
The communists
49
How many communists were arrested after the Reichstag fire?
4,000
50
Who was found near the Reichstag Building with a match?
Marius Van der Lubbe and was beheaded
51
How many votes did the Nazis win in the March 1933 election?
5 million
51
When was Hitler appointed as Chancellor?
30 January 1933
52
What was the Enabling Act?
This act allows Hitler to become a dictator and pass any law he wants for 4 years. This happened on 23 March 1933
53
What was Article 48
A law that allowed the president to rule Germany himself during an emergency
54
Who was the leader of the SA?
Ernst Rohm
55
What was the SA also known as?
The Stormtroopers and Brownshirts
56
When was the Night of the Long Knives? (Crystallnacht)
June 1934
57
Why was Hitler appointed as Chancellor?
Following the resignation of the former Chancellor, Von Schleicher, Von Papen convinced Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Chancellor of a coalition government.
58
What was the number of Nazis in the Cabinet?
2 out of 12
59
What fraction of the Reichstag did Hitler require to pass the Enabling Act and what was the result?
Hitler needed 2/3 of the Reichstag to pass the Enabling Act. He won with 444, all from the Social Democrats.
60
When was the Enabling Act passed?
23 March 1933
61
When was the Night of the Long Knives?
30 June 1934
62
How many members of the SA was murdered?
400 members including Ernst Rohm, Von Schleicher and Strasser.
63
When did Hindenburg die?
2 August 1934
64
What happened following Hindenburg’s death?
On 19 August Hitler became ‘Der Fuhrer’ which combined the powers of the President and Chancellor, giving him full control over Germany.
65
What did Hitler do after becoming ‘Der Fuhrer’
He ordered the army to swear an oath of allegiance to him, in order to eliminate opposition within the army.
66
What was the famous quote of Hitler to instil fear in Germany?
“Terror is the best political weapon, for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death”
67
Who replaced the SA after the Night of the Long Knives?
The SS and were known as the ‘Blackshirts’
68
What was the SS?
They were a private, uniformed army of 50,000 men led by Himmler. They controlled concentration camps and forced prisoners to do forced labour.
69
What group of people were typically put into concentration camps in 1933?
Trade Unionists, Communists and Socialists
70
Describe what concentration camps were.
Concentration camps were a small place where a large number of people, typically political prisoners or persecuted minorities, are imprisoned with inadequate facilities and forced to provide labour or await mass execution.
71
Who was the Gestapo?
The gestapo were secret Nazi police who were used to instil fear and tension in the country. They would cause ‘enemies’ to disappear in the night and employ torture to extract confessions from anyone reported to have anti-Nazi feelings.
72
Who did the Gestapo rely on?
The Gestapo relied on 160,000 informers who would report their neighbours or friends to the gestapo if they had any anti-Nazi feelings. Many also reported people out of spite, jealousy or for personal gain.
73
How did the Gestapo put Germany in a state of terror?
Gestapo spies inform on you.
You are woken up by the Gestapo at 1am and told you have 5 minutes to pack your bags.
You are arrested and thrown into a cell at the police station.
Days/weeks later you are interviewed and forced to sign a D11 form which gives your consent to be put into a concentration camp.
You are handed to the SS and then imprisoned for six months doing hard labour.
You are released and tell everyone what happened.
74
What would happen if someone was killed in a concentration camp by punishment or torture?
Family members would receive an official letter saying they died pneumonia or any illness or got shot while attempting to flee.
75
What minorities were put in concentration camps?
Jews, Roma Gypsies, Jehovah Witnesses, Homosexuals, etc.
76
What were death camps and when were they established?
Death camps were established by 1939 for genocide.
77
What opposition groups were there?
White Rose, Edelweiss Pirates and Swing Kids.
78
Who was the White Rose?
The White Rose, led by Sophie and Hans Scholl, was a tight-knit group of people from the University of Munich (mostly in their 20s) who distributed anti-Nazi leaflets.
79
Who was the Edelweiss Pirates?
The Edelweiss Pirates were a loose gang based in different cities of young workers (mainly teenagers) who dressed in a provocative way, fought with Hitler Youth and listened to banned records.
80
Who was the Swing Kids?
The Swing Kids were a group of young people who challenged the Nazis by listening to Jazz music (which was banned) and met in secret dance halls.
81
Why was there a lack of opposition to the Nazis?
Communists and Socialists refused to cooperate
Many Germans supported Hitler which meant that those who did not actively support the Nazis kept quiet.
Widespread fear of the Nazi regime: Gestapo, concentration camps, etc.
Opposition leaders were arrested or killed which meant that many fled Germany.
Opposition groups such as the Edelweiss Pirates were disorganised.
Opposition faced difficulties in publicising their views due to strict censorship of anything negative or the regime.
82
What was the Concordat?
Hitler signed the Concordat in July 1933 with the Vatican, which guaranteed the rights of Roman Catholics in exchange for zero interference in the country’s governance.
83
What was used as a killing centre for mentally/physically disabled people?
Hartheim Castle
84
How many homosexuals died in concentration camps during the holocaust?
5,000-15,000
85
Why did people hate Jews?
Jews were used as scapegoats for Germany’s plight, including WWI, hyperinflation and the Treaty of Versailles.
86
What laws were introduced as a form of racial discrimination against Jews?
In 1935, Nuremberg Laws were introduced, which stripped Jews of their German citizenship and prohibited interracial marriages between
between Jews and non-Jews.
87
When did the Krystallnacht take place?
9-10 November 1938
88
