Impact of war Flashcards
How did Germany prepare its economy for war?
- December 1939 Hitler gives decrees on expansion of war production
- Military expenditure more than doubles 1939-41
- Food, clothes and soap rationed. Toilet paper unavailable.
- workforce mobilized for war and involved in related projects
- Civilian consumption declined
What were the limitations of the war economy?
- only 2, 000 more planes and 800 more tanks
- poor co-ordination between agencies such as ministry of Armaments, Economics, Labour and Finance
- Office of 4 year plan, army and army fought over armament
- do not achieve expected levels of production
What was the Rationalization decree? When was it?
- In response to Germany’s production being lower than Britain’s
- 1941 eliminates waste of labour and materials
What was the Speer’s policy of ‘industrial self-responsibility?’
- 1942 in order to ensure mass production
- 1942 Central Planning Board set up with representatives from parts of economy whilst Speer oversaw them
- Prisoners in camps used as workers
- Skilled workers not conscripted
- Professional sports, magazines and non-essential businesses were cut
What were the successes of Speer’s total war policy?
- Tank production rose by 25%
- Ammunition production rose by 97%
- Arms production rose by 59%
- 1944 saw 3 fold increase in war materials since 1942
What issues were there in the Policy of total war?
- Gauliters hindered policies being enforced on local level
- SS exploited land for own gain
- Conquered territories not full exploited
- Impact of Allied bombing
- Production peaked in 1944 but was still too low
What was the extent of Allied bombing?
- 1942 they became more frequent and many left to country
- 1943 Hamburg bombing created firestorm killing 30, 000 and emergency services could not cope
- 1945 Dresden raids and 70% of properties destroyed
- Nearly as many citizens killed as soldiers
What was the impact of allied bombing?
- Failed as production levels stayed high
- caused break-down in communications, industrial production and forced workers to construct batteries and underground cites
What happened to Poland after the German invasion?
- Einzatgrupen murder 16, 000 poles
- Germany split into areas Germanised, General Govt and Occupied Soviet Area
- Brings 3 million Jews under German power
What were the 3 racial policies in Poland?
Resettlement: strain on food and transport supplies so policy abandoned in 1940
Ghettoisation: 1939-41 Ghettos such as Warsaw established with poor conditions
Final solution
What was the Final Solution?
- 1942 Wanasee Conference agreed on extermination.
- Establish Auschwitz, Sobidor and Treblinka
- 1943 Warsaw destroyed and Jews transported to camps on railway lines
- 1944 Jews from conquered land transported to camps
- 6 million killed in total
What is the structuralist vs intentionalist debate?
Intentionalist: Hitler followed intended policy of extermination
Structuralist: not planned until 1942 due to plans for resettlement and lack of written orders on killing Jews
What were the effects of war on workers?
- Conscription
- Increased income taxes and working hours
- Holiday and bonuses stopped
- Foreign labour used as there was such a shortage in skilled workers
- Non-essential businesses closed
What were the effects of war on women?
- 1943 conscription of women up to 45
- more and more women working and taking on dual role
- 1945 sees women make up 60% of workforce
What were the effects of war on the youth?
- Decline in education and school stops in 1944
- Compulsory membership in HJ from 1939 and conscription from 16 in 1945
- Opposition groups like Edelweiss Pirates of which 12 were hanged
How did Communists resist the Nazis?
- Went underground in 1930s
- ‘Red Orchestra’ infiltrates govt but destroyed by Gestapo in 1942
- Limited support due to association with Stalin, isolation and preparation for war leads to lack of focus
How did Christians resist the Nazis?
- Bonhoffer supports Kriesau Circle and helps Jews emigrate
- Galen spoke out about Euthanasia policy and avoided arrest due to his power
- Church more concerned with conserving wealth and power
How did the White Rose Group resist the Nazis?
- Scholls distribute leaflets condemning Nazi morals
- Little security and easily stopped by Gestapo in ‘43
How did the Kreisau group resist the Nazis?
- Elites such as officers and academics against war and massacres.
- Active resistance eg Drew up plans for ‘New Order’ in 1944 and meet at Kreisau state
- He is arrested in 1944
What was the Staffenburg Plot?
- Plan to assasinate Hitler after military crisis
- 1944 Operation Valkyrie
- Fails as bomb is moved behind table leg
- Initial confusion over bombing prevents response but 5000 killed afterwards
What weaknesses in Germany led to its defeat?
- War on 2 fronts
- Italians provide little economical or political support
- Not economically prepared for war in 1939
- Labour shortage could not be plugged with foreign workers
- Heavily in debt
- Operation Bararbossa led by Hitler who was shit at army stuff
- Declaration on war on USA in 1941
What ally strengths led to Germany’s defeat?
- Entry of USA prevents taking over Russia
- Britain not occupied and could conduct aerial bombs
- Increased air raids in 1944
- Strength of US economy
- Stalin’s ruthless plan of industrialization and limitless supply of men and materials
What was the Yalta Conference?
- divides Germany into USA, USSR, French and British zones
- bring Nazi war criminals to trial
- Provisional Polish govt with promise to hold elections ASAP
- help freed people of Europe maintain law and order, emergency relief and set up govts and elections
- set up commission to look into reparations
What was agreed at Potsdam?
- set up 4 occupation zones
- destroy and denazify the education system and country
- bring criminals to trial
- Polish elections
- Russia could take reparations from there zone and 10% of production from other areas
- USA’s atomic bomb meant they could intimidate Stalin into their demands
- Divided, demilitarized, denazified and democratized
What were the immediate problems for Germany in ‘zero hour’?
Population dislocation: German refugees from East, German soldiers, lost families and displaced people
Urban destruction: accommodation, fuel and food
Economy: infrastructure, debts and inflation, social pressures on women
To what extent was de-nazification achieved?
- USA zone has all party members dismissed in 1937 from office. Most severe.
- Britain allows party members to remain and fill leadership positions. Allowed students barred from Uni in US to apply in British zone
- French prioritized defense and security over de-nazification
- Soviets: bring in Communist policies. War criminals imprisoned or executed. Nazi property redistributed and most Nazi members dismissed tho some later recalled. Tool to eliminate opposition.
What issues were there in the Soviet Zone?
- Economic policy focused on reparations
- Firms brought under Soviet control and industrial plants dismantled
- Skilled workers sent to USSR
- Banks nationalized to complete nationalization of industry
- SAGs Soviet State controlled companies to recoup reparations
- VEPS people owned but state controlled factories
- Widespread collectivization
- DWK to administar economy
What political changes were there in the Soviet zone?
- SMAD established to administer occupation of zone
- KPD and SPD merge in 1949 due to USSR pressure to form SED. Not supported by people and advocates democratic centralism
- 1949 run on Stalin’s model of Dictatorship
What issues were the in the Western Zone?
- All 3 zones administered differently and had to provide essentials
- 25% of homes destroyed by war
- Collapse in coal production led to fuel crisis and lack of heating. Focus on this sector worthwhile.
- Average calories 700 a day leading to malnourishment and illness. Food parcels and charity sent and increases compliance.
- Formation of Bi and trizonia helped administrative unity
- Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech led to trizonia
- German Economic Council created to administer zones and encouraged Germans to take more responsibility for area
What was the currency reform?
- New currency needed to reform economy and create divergence
- War had created high inflation of 50% and prospering black market
- DM introduced in secret in 3 allied zones in 1948 and opposed by Soviets
- Black market collapsed, stimulated production and trade
- But led to Berlin Crisis
How did the two zones diverge?
Western Zones:
- shortages led to bartering and relaxing of zonal boundaries eg bizonia and trizonia
- Capitalist
- Truman and Marshall Plan
- Currency of DM
Eastern Zones:
- Sept 1945 Nazi land redistributed
- 1945-6 banks and factories taken over by state. -
- Equipment dismantled for reparations reducing capability by 26%
- Brain drain due to academics kidnapped to rebuild
- refuse to accept currency and introduce East German Mark
What was the Berlin Blockade?
- June 1948 to May 1949
- Blocked allied access to West Berlin in order to oppose currency reform
- ‘Berlin Airlft’ provided them with food and fuel
- Soviets forced to end blockade
- Short-term success but doesn’t solve long-term issues of Berlin
When were Trizonia, FRG and GDR formed?
Spring 1948- Trizonia
May 1949- FRG
October 1949- GDR
