Main events in Germany before rise of Nazis Flashcards
1918 - 1929
1
Q
German Bankruptcy after WW1
A
- Money borrowed from US by Germany was due to pay back
- War left over 600,000 war widows and 2 million children fatherless
- German factories were exhausted by war, they had spent all their efforts on war machinery not goods to sell.
2
Q
Society Broken down
A
- German politics had become unstable as beforehand Germany had no mutiny nor revolution however after many veterans and civilians retaliated at the - - Gov for failing them in the War.
Germany was poor and close to collapse then Spanish flu came and thousands died due to weak diet ( rations of bread and turnips ) - The division within society had grown as factory owners had grown incredibly wealthy also gender roles were beginning to be challenged
3
Q
Spartacus league
A
- The Spartacus league or the Separatists were a small party that followed the communist ideologies (they wanted Germany to be run by small councils of soldiers and workers not a large parliament)
- On Jan 6 1919 the Spartacists tried to take over Berlin. They came into the city with large fire power and roaming the streets. In response Ebert responded with violence and sent a group of mm2000 Free Corps to attack. After three days of fighting the Free Corps took back the buildings and murdered the leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
4
Q
Weimar Gov and how it came to be
A
- Jan 1919 Ebert held the promised elections in and SPD (social democratic party) his party ended up gaining most votes. After the elections the newly elected politicians and Ebert met up in Weimar (a small German town as Berlin was just chaos) on the 11 February 1919 and started planning the new Government.
- They planned up a constitution which was fairly equal including letting women over the age of 20 could now vote.
- However the main weaknesses was the layout ( Proportional representation ) this meant that a lot of small parties were able to also have a say leading to nothing being done due to all contradictions.
- From 1919 to 1933 no political party won more than half of the votes.
5
Q
Tov main rules
A
- They owed 6.6bn (cost of war)
- Germany was only allowed a small ary (100,000 men) and a small navy (6 battleships)
- Must had over colonies
Germany and Austria must never unite again
6
Q
German people hatred towards the TOV
A
- Believed it was too harsh as they lost large amounts of land - farms, factories and mines
- Humiliation - had the weight of war guilt and also needed to pay back to the winning countries.
- Felt as if they had no say in the TOV - this was said to be a diktak (dictated peace)
- Germans felt as though they should not have lost the war and they were ‘stabbed in the back’ by the German politicians when they signed the TOV - later named as the November Criminals.
7
Q
The Ruhr Industry Breakdown
A
- In 1923, Germany said they were not able to pay that year’s reparations. In response France and Belgium sent 60,000 soldiers to take over the Ruhr - a rich industrial area - they took control of all railways, mines and factories furthermore they took goods and money.
- Due to this Germany told the workers to go on a passive strike - in which they would not fight but instead would not do anything - in response the French killed 100 workers and threw 15,000 into the street as punishment.
- As the Ruhr was not producing any goods Germany was struggling even more to pay back the reparations so they decided to start printing more money.
- The workers were beginning to be paid so they spent lots of money shopkeepers began to put up pricing
This continued to grow till people had to carry money around in barrels.
8
Q
Life with Hyperinflation
A
- In 1923 money became worthless in Germany people started to use money like paper.
- People with large saving lost a lot of money as not even working their entire lives for 1000 marks in the bank could buy them a loaf of bread
- Pension plans - elderly people’s income would not reach enough to buy basic necessities.
- People with large amounts of debt could easily pay off their money.
9
Q
Kapp Putsch
A
- Right wing group
- In march 1920 he gathered 5000 men in the free corps and took over Berlin.
- The government fled from Berlin
- However no one in Germany would work and went on strike due to no support .
- After 100 hours Kapp gave in and fled, the government came back and all was well.
10
Q
Red rising in the Ruhr
A
- As soon as Kapp fled abroad left wing workers - communists/socialists - stayed on strike and rebelled taking over multiple small towns.
- In response the gov sent over the Free Corps to deal with the rebellion. Over 1000 workers were killed.
11
Q
Birth of the Nazi Party
A
- Hitler was unemployed and was a true believer that Germany could be great again.
- One day he found a small party called the German Workers Party in May 1919. He would regularly go to their meetings and do talks / speeches.
- He became in-charge of their advertising - newspapers and radio - and launched his all into this party. He soon became their leader.
- He made small changes such as a new flag - the swastika .
- He created the SA - stormtroopers - they were a brown uniform and would go around beating anyone up that opposed Hitler in his meetings.
12
Q
Munich Putsch
A
- On November 8 1923 Hitler interrupted a meeting in a beer hall in Munich where Gustav von Kahr, the head of the Bavarian Gov. In which he fired a bullet to the ceiling and announced that he was taking over Bavaria then would go to Berlin. He locked everyone in a small room and he had the support of General Ludendorff, a war hero to help Hitlers ‘cause’.
- The morning of the Putsch - although Kahr said they had his support - the moment he was released he went and told the authorities.
- When Hitler and his 2000 ish supporters were met by the police authorities they were like WHAT. After a short gun battle 16 Nazis lay dead. Hitler was wounded with a dislocated shoulder.
- He then went to prison due to Treason. His trail lasted 24 days and became a media sensation in which Hitler took full advantage of. He would criticise the Gov and the TOV - rumoured that the judge was impressed with his skill.
- As a result he wrote a book - Mein Kampf - and realised if he wanted to get anywhere he had to change tactics and take power democratically.
13
Q
Gustav Stresseman - Hyperinflation
A
- His solution was to change the currency to the - Rentenmark - and this became a stable currency for the next 25 years
- This led to the end of the Inflation and the German people accepted it.
French and Belgium invasion into the Ruhr - He met with the American Vice president and created a deal called the ‘Dawes Plan’ that entailed that America would loan/lend money to Germany - 800 Million - in which he used to help/improve Germany’s economy. Used this money to fund schools, factories, businesses and roads and began to create more job opportunities.
- However Germany now had a large reliance on Americas money and America could easily withdraw all its money at any given time ( caused large problems when wall street crash came and depression.)
- This was a success however some Germany felt as though he had given into France’s bullying tactics.
In 1929 he also made a new agreement called the ‘young plan’ which meant that the money owed went out from 6.6 to 1.8bn and were given longer to pay it back.
14
Q
Germany had no power
A
- He worked hard to improve Germany’s relationships with other countries and at some point signed the Locarno treaty which entailed that France, Belgium,Germany and Italy would not invade each other.
- He also caused Germany to join the League of Nations - an international peacekeeping organisation which Germany had originally banned from.
Germany regained its international status and became important again.
15
Q
Golden Age - art / literature
A
- Writing became a large industry. Anti war novel ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ by Erich Remarque.
- Avard-garde ( art style of boldness and characteristic energy ) artists such as Otto Dix and George Grosz believed art should show the truth about society such as the division.
- Bauhaus - believed that anything - any ordinary thing - could be modernised rather than overly elaborate designs.
