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History- Kaiser to Fuhrer > Life in wartime Germany 1939-1945 > Flashcards

Life in wartime Germany 1939-1945 Flashcards

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1
Q

What did the role as Fuhrer combine?

A

head of army; president; chancellor

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2
Q

What was Germany aiming at becoming if they took Russia?

A

An Autarky (meaning self-sufficient as they could use Russia’s natural resources)

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3
Q

Who attempted to assassinate Hitler in 1939?

A

Georg Elser

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4
Q

What was Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy aimed at?

A

Attaining Lebensraum

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5
Q

Why did war break out in 1939?

A

Britain and France felt they could not allow Germany to become excessively dominant- - it had already annexed Czechoslovakia and Austria

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6
Q

When did Germany invade Poland?

A

September 1939

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7
Q

Which countries did Germany overwhelm at the start of war (by 1940)? What did this suggest about Hitler?

A

France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway and Luxemburg

He was fulfilling his promises on gaining Germany’s pride and prestige back and destroying the Versailles Treaty

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8
Q

What was the Hitler Myth?

A

Hitler was associated with all the positives of the regime and the victories of the war - showing him as an infallible leader

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9
Q

How did Britain resist German invasion?

A

They won the Battle of Britain with their RAF and they had the channel for protection

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10
Q

What kind of war tactics did Germany use at the start of the war?

A

Blitzkrieg (lightening war)

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11
Q

Why is the term ‘phoney war’ used for the period from 1939-1940?

A

because it is not seen as a real war as there was no real aggressive activity on the Western Front

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12
Q

Who was Operation Barbarossa aimed at?

A

the USSR (to gain more Lebensraum)

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13
Q

What tactics did Hitler think would win him the USSR?

A

Blitzkrieg

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14
Q

When was Operation Barbarossa put in action?

A

22 June 1941

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15
Q

What did Hitler need from the USSR to become an Autarky?

A

the large reservoir of Slav labour; the oil reserves in the Caucasus; grain from the Ukraine

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16
Q

Which Russian tactic delayed German progress?

A

scorched-earth tactic

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17
Q

Which were the three fronts of the USSR that Germany invaded?

A

Northern: Leningrad
Centre: Moscow
Southern: Crimea and the Ukraine

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18
Q

What conditions delayed the German army into meeting the Russian winter?

A

the vast distances, partisan activity and poor roads

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19
Q

How many miles were the German army from Moscow by 1941?

A

30 miles (bonus: they had reached Leningrad)

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20
Q

How many prisoners of war had they captured so far?

A

3 million Russian troops

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21
Q

What was the German phrase used to describe the attack on the USSR?

A

‘Crusade against Communism’

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22
Q

What had the Germans been completely unprepared for?

A

The Russian Winter

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23
Q

What did the soviets do in 1941-1942 to protect their industry?

A

moved 1,500 factories East of the Urals

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24
Q

Which Russian general formed a counter attack in December 1941?

A

General Zhukov

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25
Q

Where did Hitler order the Sixth Army to attack in 1942?

A

Stalingrad (turning point!!)

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26
Q

Why did Hitler want to gain Stalingrad?

A
  • gateway to the Black Sea for natural resources
  • was named after Stalin and so would damage morale
  • big city
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27
Q

What happened at Stalingrad?

A

General Zhukov organised a counter offensive and the Germans were encircled - Hitler demanded that the Sixth Army mustn’t surrender, but in January 1943 they did

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28
Q

What did the success of Stalingrad mean for Germany?

A

They now had a war on two fronts

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29
Q

how many German men were captured by the Red Army?

A

92,000

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30
Q

Where did the German army, headed by Rommel, invade in February 1941? Why?

A

North Africa to support their Italian allies

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31
Q

Which important Egyptian town did they take?

A

Tobruk

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32
Q

Where did General Montgomery and the British inflict a heavy defeat on the Germans in 1942?

A

El Alamein (turning point??)

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33
Q

Who was involved in Operation Torch?

A

Anglo-American force which landed behind Rommel in Morocco defeating the army

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34
Q

When did Allied troops invade Sicily?

A

July 1943

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35
Q

Where was Mussolini rescued and taken to?

A

He was rescued from the Allied forces by the Germans who took him to Berlin

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36
Q

What was Operation Overlord?

A

the attack of the Normandy beaches in June 1944

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37
Q

How many British and American troops landed along the Normandy beaches?

A

326,000

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38
Q

Where had Hitler instructed his men to be?

A

to guard the towns and ports, not the beaches.

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39
Q

When was Paris liberated?

A

August 1944

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40
Q

What event happened in December 1941? What did this prompt?

A

the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour in America and this prompted a globalised war because Hitler aligned Germany with Japan and declared war on America

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41
Q

How many German troops surrendered at Stalingrad?

A

300,000

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42
Q

What does the term ‘turn of the tide’ refer to?

A

the term used to describe the Allied victories in the winter of 1942-3, when the war started to go in the Allies’ favour

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43
Q

Which two battles were won in 1944 by the Allies?

A

Ardennes and the Battle of the Bulge

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44
Q

When did American troops cross the Rhine?

A

22 March 1945

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45
Q

How many German troops surrendered in the Ruhr in April 1945?

A

320,000

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46
Q

How many men did the Battle of Berlin cost the Russians?

A

300,000

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47
Q

Who were the last Germans fighting for Hitler in Berlin?

A

The youth (result of indoctrination)

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48
Q

Which German Admiral surrendered Germany to the Allies?

A

Admiral Donitz

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49
Q

When did the Germans surrender?

A

8 May 1945

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50
Q

When did Hitler commit suicide?

A

30 April 1945

51
Q

When was the first point at which people experienced extreme shortages in the war?

A

Near the end of the war after the collapse of the Russian Front

52
Q

What was an internal problem with food distribution that led to greater food shortages?

A

there was mass corruption among the Gauleiters who sold things on the Black Market - unfairly distributed

53
Q

Why were the government so desperate to prevent shortages?

A

They didn’t want a repeat of the First World War

54
Q

What was the meat ration at until April 1942?

A

It was at a reasonable level of 500g

55
Q

After April 1942 what was the meat ration cut to?

A

300g

56
Q

Who was given extra rations?

A

everyone at Christmas and those doing more strenuous jobs

57
Q

What did the early victories mean for morale?

A

They were emphasised by propaganda, which supported the Hitler Myth and celebrated the Fatherland
….and these conquered countries provided more food for the German people

58
Q

Why was there a shortage of clothes?

A

there was ‘panic buying’ at the start of the war

59
Q

Who did the propaganda blame for the war?

A

Britain for not agreeing to Germany’s terms

60
Q

In 1942 what were there shortages of?

A

soap and household goods

61
Q

Who fled to Scotland in May 1941?

A

Rudolf Hess - deputy Fuhrer

62
Q

How was morale damaged by the refusal of negotiation talks with Britain and Hess’ escape to Scotland?

A

The people thought the war would be short and when Britain refused to negotiate they knew it was going on longer than expected
Hess was a senior figure and when people heard he had gone they questioned the likelihood of success

63
Q

What did Goebbels do in December 1941 which raised concern on the Home Front?

A

He appealed through the media for warm clothing for men at the front - this suggested they were unprepared, they hadn’t made the necessary territorial gains= losing the war

64
Q

How many Germans were killed by Allied bombing?

A

305,000

65
Q

How many Germans were injured by RAF and USAF bombing?

A

780,000 (2million homes destroyed)

66
Q

What was the term for leveling a whole city wit bombs?

A

Carpet Bombing

67
Q

Firestorms in Hamburg(‘43) and Dresden(‘45) killed how many citizens?

A

80,000

68
Q

What was a propaganda film made to boost morale?

A

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

69
Q

Did German morale ever completely collapse?

A

NO

70
Q

What happened in April 1941 that caused a series of protests?

A

Wagner demanded all crucifixes be removed from Bavarian schools - people wanted to protect tradition but were not attacking the regime

71
Q

What did Bishop von Galen criticise? why?

A

the Nazi mercy killings of asylum patients (Aktion T4) because the monastries were being shut

72
Q

What had von Galen initially supported?

A

The crusade against godless Bolshevism

73
Q

How did Hitler react to this ISOLATED act of opposition?

A

He called off the closing of monastries and ended the Aktion T4 programme

74
Q

What was opposition from the church aiming to protect within the system?

A

their independence and integrity

75
Q

How early on did the Catholic Church know of the extermination of Jews? What did they do?

A

by 1942 and they failed to condemn this in public

76
Q

Which protestant churchman spoke out against the regime in 1943?

A

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

77
Q

Who did opposition of the left come from?

A

individuals and small groups after the collapse of the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1941 - - - - the majority had already been exiled, killed or put in concentration camps

78
Q

Who set up resistance cells in factories?

A

Robert Uhrig (distributed pamphlets)

79
Q

How many resistance cells were there in Berlin by the summer of 1941?

A

89

80
Q

Which two Nazi officials set up Rote Kappelle?

A

Arvid Harnack and Harro Schulze-Boysen

81
Q

Who was another communist resistance leader?

A

William Knochel

82
Q

When did the Gestapo infiltrate Knochel’s opposition?

A

1943

83
Q

Why were the youth providing opposition?

A

they were disillusioned with the increased failures of Germany in war and became alienated by the regimented nature of the Hitler Youth

84
Q

What effect did fathers going off to the Front have on German youths?

A

It led to single parents - more ill-discipline of smoking, drinking and promiscuity

85
Q

Which were two opposition youth groups?

A

Edelweiss Pirates and the White Rose group

86
Q

What did the Edelweiss pirates do?

A

active in 2nd world war and worked with the left wing underground - the leaders were executed publically in 1944

87
Q

What did the White Rose group do?

A

a student movement which distibuted anti-Nazi pamphlets

88
Q

Who led the White Rose group?

A

Hans and Sophie Scholl - executed in 1943

89
Q

Why did some conservatives turn against Hitler?

A

They were closest to him and so saw what he was really like - had no military/ tactical ability, lazy and uninterested in politics—they were losing the war

90
Q

In 1941 who formed a conservative opposition group?

A

Carl Goerdeler

91
Q

Which were two Nazi officials in the foreign office involved in Goerdeler’s group?

A

Ulrich von Hassell - opposed on conscience

Adam von Trott

92
Q

What was the name of another conservative opposition group?

A

The Kreisau Circle (led by von Moltke)

93
Q

What was the name of the bomb plot organised to kill Hitler in 1944?

A

Stauffenberg’s plot

94
Q

What was the code name for the plot to kill Hitler?

A

Operation Valkyrie

95
Q

Why did the Normandy invasion hurry the plot?

A

The generals wanted to make peace before Germany herself was invaded so they could keep the myth of being unconquered, alive

96
Q

How did the bomb plot fail?

A

Hitler wasn’t caught in the initial bast and survived

97
Q

What was Hitler’s response to the attempted assassination?

A

Hundreds of suspected conspirators were arrested, tortured and sentenced to death - many were garrotted as a very personal and brutal method; visual message to deter others

98
Q

How many generals were killed in assoication with the bomb plot?

A

22

99
Q

Why was the army subordinate by 1939?

A

they swore an oath of allegiance to Hitler

100
Q

What impression did propaganda of the initial victories create?

A

that the Nazi War economy and regime worked!

101
Q

Who created the Ministry of Munitions?

A

Frtiz Todt (Head of Ministry of Armaments)

102
Q

What did the creation of the Ministry of Munitions do for the organisation of the war economy?

A

It simplified the system, and there was less confusion as industry was directed to increase productivity

103
Q

By how much did military spending increase between 1939 -1941?

A

doubled (in Britain it trebled)

104
Q

By 1941 how much of the work force was involved in war-related projects?

A

55%

105
Q

By how much was the airforce increased from 1939-1941?

A

from 8,290 to 10,780 (Britain trebled theirs)

106
Q

What other military department was also low in production?

A

Tanks

107
Q

How many workers were lost to the army in 1940?

A

3.5 million

108
Q

How many foreign workers were there in Germany?

A

2 million

109
Q

When was Speer made Minister of Munitions?

A

February 1942

110
Q

Which decree did Hitler issue in 1941? What did it aim at?

A 
Rationalisation Decree (gave direction not specifics)
it would rationalise the armaments industry
111
Q

What was Albert Speer known as?

A

‘The Miracle’ - he had the Will of the Fuhrer

112
Q

What was Speer’s new appointment in 1943?

A

Minister for Armaments and Production - he was given responsibility for all industry and raw materials (everyone followed his plan as Hitler liked him)

113
Q

What did Speer aim at doing?

A

reorganising sectors of the economy to save labour, time and space

114
Q

What position was Goebbels given that gave him greater control over production?

A

Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War - an ally of Speer helping create more change

115
Q

By January 1945 what state was the economy in?

A

in a state of collapse from exhaustion and invasion

116
Q

In march 1944 what changed for Eastern Workers?

A

given the same pay and benefits as other foreign workers

117
Q

Which areas brought in huge quantities of iron-ore for Germany’s war effort?

A

Alsace-Lorraine, Poland, Austria and Bohemia

118
Q

How much did iron-ore supplies increase between 1940-1943?

A

13.4 mill - 20.2 mill

119
Q

How many more women were in employment by 1943?

A

400,000 more women recruited

120
Q

How many more children were born in 1939 than 6 years previously?

A

1 million

121
Q

Overall by how much was ammunition increased?

A

97%

122
Q

Under Speer how much of an increase had there been from 1942-44?

A

75% (3 fold)

123
Q

Who did Speer prevent from going to the front to keep up productivity?

A

Skilled professionals

124
Q

What did Speer suggest in terms of the concentration camps?

A

to use them as slave labout on large public projects

History- Kaiser to Fuhrer (10 decks)

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