Life in wartime Germany, 1939-45 Flashcards
When does Georg Elser attempt to assassinate Hitler?
Nov 1939
When was the order to remove crucifixes from walls in Catholic Bavaria given?
April 1941
When does Operation Barbarossa begin?
June 1941
When does Bishop von Galen publicly challenge the T4 programme?
Aug 1941
When does Germany declare war on America?
Dec 1941
When is the Wannsee Conference?
Jan 1942
What is the name of the conference where the Final Solution is agreed upon officially?
Wannsee Conference
When is the Germany army defeated at Stalingrad?
Jan 1943
When does Goebbels give his total war speech?
Feb 1943
When are Hans and Sophie Scholl executed?
Feb 1943
When was operation Flash and what was it?
1943 –> plot to assasinate Hitler
When is D-Day
June 1944
When was the Bomb Plot?
July 1944
When is Dresden destroyed?
Feb 1945
When is Bonhoeffer executed?
April 1945
Name 3 of the 6 countries (other than Poland) that Germany invaded by the end of 1940
France Belgium Holland Denmark Norway Luxembourg
What were the 4 main reasons that Hitler wanted to invade Russia?
Lebensraum
Slav labour
Oil reserves in Caucasus / grain supply in Ukraine
Why was the German advance in Russia delayed? 3 things
vast distances
harsh winter (1941)
Stalin’s ‘scorched earth’ policy
What happened when the German army surrendered at Stalingrad?
Red Army captured 93,000 men including 24 generals
When do the remainder of the Axis forces (italy and Germany) surrender in North Africa?
May 1943
When do Germany’s fortunes in North Africa turn? What happened?
Oct 1942 - British army inflict heavy losses
When did the new Italian government surrender to the Allies?
1943
What was operation overlord? When was it?
British and American troops invade France (June 1944)
When is Paris liberated?
August 1944
When is Brussels liberated?
Sept 1944
When was the siege of Leningrad broken?
Jan 1944
By the end of 1944 in what state was Russia?
liberated
Why did the regime prioritise the consumer?
Maintain morale on the home front
When did the consumer begin to make sacrifices? Give an example
1942
Meat ration cut from 500g to 300g a week per person
How did the government react to considerable unrest caused by the reduction in the meat ration 1942?
increased it by 50g
Give one example of how the regime attempted to boost morale?
Christmas bonuses
1942 every citizen received extra rations, including 200g of meat
What was the public reaction to Georg Elser’s assassination attempt on Hitler?
relief that it failed –> blamed the British for the bomb
What was the significance of Hess flying to Scotland? When did he do this
May 1941 –> damaged morale
What was the effect of the failure of operation barbarossa?
led many to question Nazi ideology for the first time
Quote a one-liner that made fun of Hitler’s military failures
‘Whats the difference between the sun and Hitler? The sun rises in the east, Hitler goes down in the east’
As the war went on where did Hitler spend most of his time? What effect did this have?
isolated in his Berlin bunker
Made him prone to criticism and jokes
How many Germans were killed by the Allies bombing campaign?
305,000
Did the allied bombing campaign succeed in destroying morale on the home front?
no
How many homes did the allied bombing campaign destroy?
2 mil
Why were some areas demoralised by 1943?
areas that had been systematically bombed e.g. Rhineland
How did Goebbels continue to offer hope? 2 points
Promises of a secret weapon e.g. V1 and V2 bombs
Films –> Kolberg (1945)
How effective was propaganda on morale?
increasingly less effective as certain defeat dawned
What was the reaction to the banning of crucifixes in Bavaria in 1941? What effect did this have?
storm of protest e.g. meetings, letters, petitions, and demonstrations
–> original order overturned
Why did von Galen speak out (1941) against the T4 programme?
Local monasteries were being closed
How did Hitler react to von Galen’s condemnation (1941) of the T4 programme? 2 things
called off campaign to close religious institutions
publicly ended T4 programme but continued it secretly
From when did the Catholic Church know of the systematic extermination of the Jews?
1942
How did Bonhoffer oppose the regime? What happened to him?
Helped Jews flee the country –> was arrested in 1943 and executed in 1945