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
What effect did the Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939) have on opposition?
Undermined communist opposition
What was the name of the underground communist organisation, and what did it do?
Red Orchestra - provided info to the Soviet army –> warned Stalin about Operation Barbarossa
What did the communists set up in factories?
communist resistance cells
In 1941 how many factory cells were there in Berlin?
89 resistance cells
What did the communist resistance cells do?
produced pamphlets attacking the regime and calling for acts of resistance
What was the main weakness of communist resistance?
vulnerability to infiltration by Gestapo
When was the communist resistance infiltrated?
1943
Why were some youths disillusioned w/ the regime? 3 points
regimentation of youth groups
military training intensified
absence/loss of father encouraged delinquency
Give 3 examples of youth opposition and what they did
Edelweiss Pirates - attacked membs of Hitler Youth
The Swing Kids - listened to banned music
White Rose Group (Munich) - distributed anti-nazi leaflets
What was the effect of the early victories on conservative opposition?
limited scope –> they would be unpopular
When was the Goerdeler circle formed?
1941
What did the Goerdeler circle aim to do?
build diplomatic links w/ the Allies
When was the Kreisau circle formed?
1941
Who was the leader of the Kreisau circle?
von Moltke
Why were relations between the Goerdeler and Kreisau Circles strained? 2 points
Due to differences in beliefs and generation gap
What happened to the Kreisau Circle in 1944?
discovered by the Gestapo and Moltke arrested
Who planted the bomb on Hitler’s plane during Operation Flash (1943)?
General von Tresckow
Why did a serious nationwide opposition movement emerge in 1943? 3 points
Who was it led by?
interference of SS = intolerable
Generals from eastern front witnessed atrocities
Germany losing the war
Dissident generals
Who was the leading plotter in the Bomb Plot 1944?
von Stauffenburg
Why did many generals wish to make peace before Germany was invaded?
preserve the myth of invincibility
What was the aim of the Bomb Plot 1944?
trigger a rising throughout the Reich and oust the Nazi regime
How many generals were executed for their part in the Bomb Plot 1944?
22
Why could the army leadership not pose a sustained threat to the regime?
too naive and isolated
Why did army opposition fail?
too late
Which 3 agencies shared responsibility for the planning of the war economy?
Ministry of War
Ministry of Economics
Office of the Four Year Plan
What was created, and when, that ended the confusion in armaments production?
Who ran it?
Ministry of Munitions (1940)
Todt
What effect did the Blitzkrieg wars have on the economy?
did not put it under strain
In the arms industry, what happened to output per head between 1939-40?
fell 12.5%
in consumer industries, what happened to output per head between 1939-40?
increased 16%
How many workers were there in 1940 in comparison to 1939?
3.5mil fewer
How many foreign workers were there in Germany by the end of 1940?
2 mil
In 1941 how many workers were drafted into the army?
1.7mil
BY the end of 1942 how many foreign workers were there in Germany?
6.4mil
When did the Fuhrer order the rationalisation of armaments production?
1941
Who initially undertook the process of rationalisation?
Todt
What did Goebbels’ Total War speech (1943) call for? 2 points
universal labour service
closure of all non-essential businesses
Until 1943 how was production not efficient? 2 points
many firms not working double shifts
production was dispersed
What was set up to standardise production?
Armaments Commission (1943)
Give 2 examples of how production was standardised
Production lines introduced (1943)
Number of tank models cut from 18 to 7 (1944)
Better use of raw materials
Between 1939-44 what happened to output per worker?
increased 60%
How did IG Farben benefit from supporting the regime?
Systematic looting of conquered countries –> became Europe’s largest chemical producer (1942)
Give an example of Nazi ideology undermining economic logic?
Hitler ordered ‘scorched earth’ policy –> Speer refuses as industry would be essential for recovery after the war
What was the productivity of a foreign worker in comparison to a German worker?
60/80% less productive
Give 2 examples of how polish foreign workers were treated badly
1940 forced to wear yellow P badge
banned from using public transport
Who attempted to improve the situation for eastern foreign workers? How?
Fritz Sauckle
1944 - all eastern workers given same pay and benefits as other foreign labourers
Which important raw material did Germany lack large reserves of?
high-quality iron ore
Name 2 countries from where Germany attained huge quantities of high-quality iron ore
Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, Alsace Lorraine (by 1940)
What was the steel shortage caused by?
coal shortage –> soviet scorched earth policy destroyed mining reserves
What was the consequence of Germany being unable to fully exploit the raw materials of occupied countries?
prevented expansion of economy needed to fight major war
Between 1939-44 how many extra women entered the workforce?
200,000
What did the government do that was a disincentive for women to work?
benefits paid to wives of soldiers
how many women were already in employment at the start of the war?
14.6mil (HIGH)
Why was it difficult to redistribute women into the essential war industry?
many worked in agriculture and textiles and couldn’t be spared for munitions
What was the fundamental problem that limited economic expansion?
lack of raw materials and labour
Give the quote that has been used to suggest that Hitler planned the final solution
the result of war will be “the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe” (1939)
When were Jews forced to wear the star of david badge?
1941
When do the Jews officially begin to be deported? From where to where?
1939 - Poland to the General Government
Name 3 Polish ghettos
Lodz, Warsaw, Lublin
When was the Madagascar plan suggested?
1940
How did the early successful conquests affect racial policy?
brought millions more Jews under direct Nazi rule
By Feb 1942 how many Jews had been murdered in Russia?
700,000
What did Hitler want to do with the Jews if he successfully conquered Russia?
relocate Europe’s Jews to the other side of the Urals
Why did Hitler have a change of heart mid Sept 1941, in regards to the Jewish Question? 2 points
Stalin ordered deportation to Siberia of 600,000 ethnic Germans from Volga region
Roosevelt ordered US navy to shoot on sight at any German warship considered threatening
Where did pressure for deportation of the Jews arise from?
Gauleiters in the west (e.g. Goebbels) (1941)
Where did pressure for the extermination of the Jews arise from?
Gauleiters in the east, who found their Gau w/ more Jews after they had been deported there
What did Hitler tell Himmler that suggests that the Final Solution had been decided?
Jews were to be ‘exterminated as partisans’ (1941)
= authorisation for extermination of all european Jews as russian jews were already being killed
What did the Wannsee Conference (1942) signify?
Systematic programme for the annihilation of the Jews had been formed
What was the SS compromise in regards to Jewish labour?
Employ Jewish labour but work them to death
How many Jews were murdered by Jan 1945?
6 million
Which 2 leading Nazis were important in the radicalisation of anti-semitic policy?
Goebbels and Heydrich
Why was the opposition that did exist, limited?
divided
lacked leadership
ruthlessly suppressed
