Nazi Germany

Question 1

How was Germany at the end of The Great War?

Answer 1

• Increasing casualties
• German allies surrendered
• German sailors mutinied
• Food shortages were prominent and people faced starvation
• The kaiser abdicated
• The new temporary government signed an armistice

Question 2

What were good things about the Weimar Republic?

Answer 2

• Everyone over 20 could vote
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of press
• Freedom of beliefs
• Arrests had to be reasonable
• Right to a fair trial

Question 3

What were the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 3

• Limited German forces (15000 sailors, 100000 soldiers, no air force and no submarines)
• Germany was blamed
• £6.6 billion in reparations
• Lost all overseas empire
• Saar coal fields given to France for 15 years
• Germany humiliated
• Weimar Republic was hated (the public thought that the government stabbed them in the back)

Question 4

Who were the Spartacists and how did they revolt against the Weimar Republic?

Answer 4

• Communists
• Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebnecht led them
• 100000 people protested, which turned violent
• Took over the government’s newspaper HQ
• They were disorganised and lost many protesters
• Freikorps killed many protesters
• The leaders were killed

Question 5

What happened at the Munich Putsch?

Answer 5

• Hitler and the SA interrupted a meeting in a beer hall in Munich
• Hitler took Von Kahr to a separate room at gunpoint and told him to support the Nazis
• General Lundendorff announced his support for the Nazis
• Kahr left the hall and reported to the police
• Hitler and 2000 SA members started to march through Munich
• Violence broke out between SA and police (16 dead and many injured)
• Hitler was arrested and trialled for treason (He wrote “Mein Kampf” in prison)

Question 6

What was hyperinflation in Germany in 1923?

Answer 6

• France invaded the Ruhr (Germany failed to pay reparations to France)
• Ruhr workers went on strike
• The Weimar Republic printed money to pay the workers
• Pensions didn’t rise so elderly suffered
• Workers’ wages changed very often
• Loans were easier to pay back
• Food was hard to get (prices increased greatly due to the hyperinflation since the money wasn’t worth much)

Question 7

What were problems with the Weimar?

Answer 7

• Proportional representation
• Article 48
• The government was blamed for the Treaty of Versailles
• The government was blamed for hyperinflation
• The government was blamed for the problems caused by the Great Depression

Question 8

How did the Great Depression impact Germany and how did it help the Nazis gain popularity?

Answer 8

• America demanded that Germany pay the loans that they took from America (Germany didn’t have enough money to pay back, so the German economy collapsed)
• People starved
• Homelessness increased
• Unemployment increased
• Hitler claimed he would solve the problems caused
• The German people were desperate and turned to the Nazis

Question 9

What was the appeal of the Nazis?

Answer 9

• Wide range of policies
• Radios to spread propaganda
• Rallies showed their power
• Hitler was charismatic
• SA seemed strong

Question 10

What was the Reichstag fire and what followed it?

Answer 10

• The Reichstag was burned down by a Dutch communist
• Communists were blamed
• Communists were banned from parliament
• Many communists were imprisoned
• The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to use Article 48
• Nazis’ votes increased

Question 11

How did the Nazis consolidate power?

Answer 11

• Hitler got rid of political opponents outside the party
• Hitler got rid of political opponents within the party
• After Hindenburg died, Hitler made himself Führer

Question 12

What happened on the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 12

• Many SA members were eliminated (Hitler thought that they were a threat to him as they had different views)
• SA leaders and important members were at a hotel
• SS raided the hotel and arrested Röhm
• SS killed around 100 SA members and leaders
• SS took control of the army

Question 13

What were characteristics of the Nazi government?

Answer 13

• Dictatorship
• Nazi party was the only party in Germany
• Many jobs were opened up
• Economic and social policies were introduced
• Gestapo and SS were prominent
• They used propaganda

Question 14

How did the Nazis intimidate the German Public?

Answer 14

• SS were prominent throughout the country
• Concentration camps were used
• People that were ‘undesirable’ were sent to concentration camps
• People would disappear which made people scared
• People told stories of their treatment when they reappeared
• Gestapo ensured that people didn’t talk ill about Hitler and the Nazis

Question 15

How was the treatment of minority groups in Nazi Germany?

Answer 15

• 85% of German gypsies killed
• Blacks and disabled were sterilised
• Jewish people were fired from public office and professions
• Jewish were seen as ‘subhuman’
• April boycott
• Nuremberg laws (1935)
• Kristallnacht (1938) (Jewish homes, shops, synagogues were attacked)
• Jews had to wear the Star of David

Question 16

How did people oppose the Nazis and what groups opposed them?

Answer 16

• All parties were banned when Nazis came into power (1933)
• People were scared to resist because of the Gestapo
• Protestants made their own churches to oppose Hitler’s church
• Swing Kids (Wore fashionable clothes and listened to swing music)
• The White Rose (made anti-Nazi leaflets)
• The Edelweiss Pirates (Painted anti-Nazi slogans and beat up Nazi officials)

Question 17

What were the Nuremberg Rallies?

Answer 17

• Thousands attended
• They aimed to show that the Nazis were powerful and organised
• Showed off thousands of soldiers, tanks and air force
• Hitler spoke at the rallies
• Swastikas were plastered everywhere
• Speeches were broadcasted on the radio

Question 18

What were economic policies in Nazi Germany?

Answer 18

• Couldn’t be fired (German Labour Front)
• The workers received an extra day holiday (German Labour Front)
• Strikes weren’t allowed
• Activities and trips were organised for workers (holidays, theatre visits and sports events) (Strength through Joy)
• An affordable car was promised (workers paid a bit of money every week, and when they hit the price for the car, they would receive it) (Strength through Joy)
• Work was militarised (wore military-like uniforms) (German Labour Service)
• Men were made to work for the government for 6 months (German Labour Service)

Question 19

What was Hitler youth and what was education like?

Answer 19

• Teachers had to be pro-Nazi
• Jewish teachers were sacked
• Subjects were biased towards Nazism (biology taught that Jews were inferior and pure Germans were superior)
• Physical exercise was important
• Textbooks had a military theme
• Girls were taught to be good mothers and wives
• Boys’ groups emphasised militarism
• Girls’ groups taught them how to be good mothers and wives

Question 20

What was the role of women in Nazi Germany?

Answer 20

• Were expected to stay at home
• Female doctors, teachers and civil servants were sacked
• Hitler wanted to grow the population
• Wed couples were given a loan of 1000 marks, and didn’t have to pay 250 marks for every child they had (The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage)
• Mothers with 8 or more kids were given gold medals
• Aryan women would have kids with SS members in Lebensborn centres