Hitler & Nazi Germany

Question 1

Effect of WW1 on Germany

6

Answer 1

• Two million Germans dead, and six million injured
• Soldiers believed that the war was pointless, so began to refuse the Kaiser’s orders
• Many civillians had joined revolutionary groups looking to end the war
• Politicians urged the Kaiser to abdicate the throne to restore order, which he did
• Germany became a republic and the Weimar government was formed
• Chancellorship was given to Friedrich Ebert (SPD)

Question 2

Features of the Weimar Republic

7

Answer 2

• All people over the age of 20 could vote
• German citizens guaranteed freedom of speech & religion
• German citizens to be equal with eachother
• Reichstag made laws and appointed goverment & chancellor
• No parties could gain majority, country run by coalitions
• Article 48: president could take over Germany in emergency
• Allowed for people to vote parties instead of candidates - lead to small parties

Question 3

Discontent with the Weimar Republic

6

Answer 3

• Signed the Treaty of Versailles which had negative effects and was disliked by Germany
• Germans were not used to democrac
• Economic problems such as high unemployment and hyperinflation
• Coalition parties struggle to come to agreements, policies never put into place
• Many attempted revolutions such as the spartacists and munich putsch
• ‘Old’ civil service and judges remained loyal to old ways, still anti-weimar teachers and professors teaching

Question 4

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

6

Answer 4

• Guilt: Germany had to accept full blame for the war (‘War Guilt Clause’ - article 231)
• Army: 100,000 men, no airforce or navy, only six battleships
• Reparations: had to pay £6.6 billion
• Germany lost land: Had to give alsace-lorraine back to France, lost overseas colonies.
• League of Nations: Germany prevented from joining
• Extra: Germany banned from union with Austria

Question 5

Spartacist Revolt Events

6

Answer 5

• Spartacists (communists) organised protest in Berlin
• Took over newspaper offices, railway stations and a brewery
• Protesters had no plans and awaited instructions
• Friekorp controlled revolt and captured 700 civillians
• Leaders (Rosa Luxembough & Karl Liebnicht) killed
• SPD and KPD refused to unite and oppose the Nazis in 1930s
• Germany did not become a communist country as a result

Question 6

Kapp Putsch Events

4

Answer 6

• 5000 armed Friekorp members stormed Berlin
• Army refused to shoot the Friekorp so the revolt continued
• Wolfgang Kapp became the leader of the revolt
• Kapp is imprisoned and Weimar returns to power alongside Ebert

Question 7

Munich Putsch Events

6

Answer 7

• 8th November 1923: Hitler and the SA interrupted a meeting between Bavarian politicians and threatened violence
• Kahr, general von lossow (army leader) and colonel von seisser (head of Bavarian police) locked in room and forced to admit public support for Nazis
• Hitler left the beer hall to oversee dashes between SA and German army
• People allowed to leave to inform their wives, but instead informed the police
• Support for the Nazis was retracted
• Nazis marched into the centre of Munich and were confronted by police & army - shots were fired

Question 8

Invasion of the Ruhr Events

5

Answer 8

• Germany claimed they could not pay reparations for next 3 years but French didn’t believe them
• January 1923: 60,000 soldiers from France & Belguim invaded Ruhr region
• Aimed to take unpaid payments
• Wanted to take control of industries
• Ruhr workers went on strike

Question 9

Hyperinflation Effects

6

Answer 9

• Fixed pensions became worthless for the elderly
• Savings in banks became worthless - nothing to fall back on
• Businesses could not profit and went bankrupt
• Salaries in regular jobs increased to combat hyperinflation
• Farmers were able to grow their own food - lower class did not suffer as much
• Upper class protected due to owning land, posessions and investments in foreign currency

Question 10

Appeal of the Nazis

6

Answer 10

• Hitler had good charm and charisma - was a good speaker
• Hitler provided someone to blame for Germany’s problems - Jews & Communists
• SA wore uniforms and appeared as neat and strong - Germans admired their formation and commitment
• Propaganda was spread in mass
• Hitler promised to tear up the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
• Hitler also promised to improve unemployment in Germany

Question 11

Reichstag Fire Events

5

Answer 11

• 27th February 1933: Recihstag caught fire
• Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was found inside the Reichstag with fire starting equipment
• Van der Lubbe was charged and beheaded for his alleged crime
• Hitler blamed the fire on the Communists and said it was carried out by terrorists
• Hitler persuades Hindenburg to pass on an emergency decree suspending freedoms

Question 12

Enabling act

6

Answer 12

• Goebbels banned communist and socialist newspapers
• 50,000 SA men became police ‘auxillaries’, which gave them police powers via wearing a white arm band
• Rights such as freedom of speech, press and assembly removed
• Only Nazis and Nationalists could run election campaigns
• Police given emergency powers to search houses, take property and detain without trial
• Police could ban opposing political meetings and send participants to concentration camps

Question 13

Nazis Consolidation of Power

6

Answer 13

• Hitler split Germany into 42 Gaus which allowed Nazis control of local government
• Trade unions were abolished and leaders arrested
• Hitler able to set up German Labour Front and control workers
• Hitler came to an agreement with the pope to not interfere with the catholic church as long as he could rule Germany: allowed him to ban Catholic Zentrum Party without opposition
• All political parties were banned, so Nazis could no longer be voted out
• Peoples courts set up where judges had to swear an oath to Hitler and listen to him instead of evidence

Question 14

Night of the Long Knives Events

4

Answer 14

• Hitler aimed to defeat all opposition
• Army and SA were against eachother - egged on by Himmler
• Hitler arrested Ernst Rohm in his bedroom - he was threatened by Hitler and 2 armed SS men
• Estimated that over 200 were killed

Question 15

Life & Control of Nazi Germany

6

Answer 15

• Gestapo used to inform on anti-Nazis
• Hitler set up a state Reich church which banned the bible and cross
• Conscription introduced in 1936 to force men into war
• Boys taught science and maths whilst girls taught cookery - shaped them into Nazi ideals
• Things such as jazz music and Jewish authored books were banned
• Censorship occured and Nazi propaganda was pushed

Question 16

Intimidation & Terror

4

Answer 16

• S.S acted as Hitler’s personal bodyguards
• Gestapo worked as secret informants, and carried out the capture and execution of undesirables (e.g: Jews and communists)
• People’s courts almost always gave guilty verdicts
• Concentration camps introduced to hold political prisoners - poor conditions

Question 17

Persecution of Minorities

6

Answer 17

• Disabled people put to death through euthanasia programme
• 5000 severely disabled babies and children killed by injection/starvation in special hospitals
• Marriage between Germans and Gypsies banned
• 1939 - Gypsies confined to designayed sites
• Gay people branded as failing in their reproductive duties
• Jehovah’s witnesses detained in prisons and camps as they were seen as unwilling to accept authority

Question 18

Persecution of Jews

6

Answer 18

• Jewish and ‘Aryans’ were prevented from having relationships
• Teachers would humiliate and ridicule Jewish pupils
• Kristallnacht: Jewish synagogues burnt and Jewish property vandalised
• Jewish children prevented from attending school
• Jewish shops marked with stars or word ‘Juden’
• 1937: Anti-Semetic exhibition in Munich

Question 19

Methods of Resistance

6

Answer 19

• Communist & Socialist workers distributed leaflets and illegal materials opposing the Nazis
• 1939: Georg Elser attempted to assassinate Nazi leaders on the anniversary of the Munich Putsch
• Protestant church leaders attempted to block Nazi interference
• Some Catholic bishops prevented Catholics from joining the Nazi party
• Swingjugend opposed Nazi values and resisted by listening to swing and jazz music
• Edelweiss avoided joining the Hitler youth and beat up members

Question 20

Failures of Resistance

6

Answer 20

• Edelweiss Pirates were rounded up by the Gestapo and released with shaved heads to shame them - some sent to youth concentration camps or prison
• By 1939, 150,000 communists and socialist workers were detained in camps 30,000 were executed
• Hitler departed early so Georg Elser’s assassination attempt failed - he admitted guilt after interrogation
• Bonhoeffer was executed for his conspiracy to overthrow the Nazis, and Niemoller spent seven years in concentration camps for speaking critically of Hitlr
• Ban against joining the Nazi party as a Catholic church goer ended with the signing of the Concordat in 1933
• Many Catholic Church leaders were murdered during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934

Question 21

Why Resitance to the Nazis Was Difficult

6

Answer 21

• Night of the Long Knives had eliminated opposition within the Nazi party
• Political parties had been banned, so no way to vote Nazis out
• Media opposition eliminated through censorship and propaganda
• Economic opposition eliminated with the ban of trade unions
• Gestapo intimidated Germans into not speaking bad about the Nazis
• Many believed that the Nazis were good for Germany and that the negative side was necessary evil

Question 22

Nazi Propaganda

6

Answer 22

• Parades held on special occassions which featured Swastikas and Nazi leader speeches
• Non-Nazi magazines and newspapers shut down - editors told what they could and couldn’t publish
• Students in Berlin encouraged to burn 20,000 books written by communist and Jewish authors
• All films had a 45 minute newsreel shown beforehand which glorified the Nazis - mandatory to watch
• Loud speakers placed in streets to broadcast Nazi radio and speeches
• Law against malicious gossip prevented the telling of anti Nazi jokes and stories

Question 23

Nazi Economy

6

Answer 23

• Hitler set up National Labour Service to provide promised jobs to men
• Bosses could no longer suddenly sack employees
• Hitler increased the military in order to make Germany strong and independent - if you were military you did not count as unemployed
• Jews and women forced out of their jobs to create new ones
• German scientists developed substitutes for imported goods to save money
• Hitler promoted autarky and encouraged the growth of the car industry and artificial substances

Question 24

Militarism:

Nazi Social Policies

4

Answer 24

• Increased amount of weapons, airforce and navy for the army
• Size of army increased from 100,000 to 1,400,000
• Conscription introduced in 1935
• Ambitious re-armament programmed introduced

Question 25

Youth:

Nazi Social Policies

4

Answer 25

• Boys taught physical excellency in groups progressing to the Hitler Youth
• Also taught skills which they would use as soldiers
• Girls taught how to be good mothers and housewives in groups progressing to the League of German Maidens
• Taught skills such as sewing and cookery

Question 26

Education:

Nazi Social Policies

4

Answer 26

• Anti-Nazi and Jewish teachers were sacked
• Schools subjects given a pro-Nazi bias
• Textbooks rewritten to emphasise Nazi ideals
• History taught to glorify Germany

Question 27

Women:

Nazi Social Policies

4

Answer 27

• Female doctors, teachers and civil servants forced to give up their jobs
• Law for the encouragement of marriage gave newly weds 1000 marks - got to keep 250 for every child they had
• Mothers who had more than 8 children received medals
• Women to copy traditional German peasant dress - plain costumes, hair in plaits or buns, flat shoes, no makeup or trousers and no smoking in public

Question 28

Nuremberg Rallies

6

Answer 28

• Hitler and other prominent Nazi leaders made speeches every year
• Nazi symbols such as the swastika were displayed heavily
• Brownshirts would march in formation, which showed unity and strength of the Nazis
• Hitler youth group members frequently attended rallies
• Rallies were filmed and later shown in cinemas
• Hundreds of thousands attended the rallies, which lasted several days