Opposition Control and Consent Flashcards
When was the KDP set up?
December 1918
What were the friekorps?
A private army made up of ex soldiers, unemployed youths and other discontents lead by ex officers and other former military personnel. They first formed in December 1918
What were many Germans afraid of?
The red plague of communism spreading from Russia
What specific units did the friekorps have?
Units specially recruited to fight in the East against a possible communist invasion
What caused the sparticist revolt?
KPD meetings were coming under attack ot private armies of other political parties
When did the spartacist revolt breaks out?
January 1919
Where was the spartacist revolt and what did this mean for the goverment?
It broke out in Berlin so Eberts goverment was forced to move to Weimar to escape the violence
How did the spartacist revolt end?
The friekorps were asked to deal with the revolt. The leaders Liebknecht and Luxemburg were captured beaten then murdered and the rising collapsed
Why did so many political parties have their own private armies?
Returning soldiers were unemployed and bitter about the signing of the armistice so refused to return their military equipment
Between 1919 and 1922 how many political murders were there in Germany ?
376
How many politcal murders were by right winged groups?
356
What was one of the reasons that Germans were so angry about the treaty of Versialles that wasn’t actually about its content?
There had been tons of misinformed throughout the war so Germans did not really no how badly they were doing in the war. They believed the ideas put forward in newspapers that of the Weimar goverment had not been cowardly and betrayed the country they could have won the war.
Why did the Dawes plan and the Young plan not fix the issue of Germans being angry at the reparations?
They still existed and this caused anger.
What sparked the spartacist revolt?
On the 4th of January the government had dismissed a popular police chief who was a radical USPD member. This brought the goverment into conflict with the workers councils.
What were some left winged tactics of opposition during the early weimar period?
It included attempts to take over individual German states and establish communist goverments, for example happening once in saxons in 1921
Why was respect for the weimar goverment not really passed onto young people?
People in the teaching profession’s were usually of a more right winged background and the goverment did not do anything to try and convince teachers of the weimar constitusion so they never passed it on to their students.
Who was the leader of the kappa putsch?
Wolfgang Kapp and other friekorps leaders.
What figure was the putsch supported by?
Eric Ludendorff who had been a general in the first world war.
What happened on the 12th of March 1920?
The friekorps took over Berlin and the goverment fled.
How did the army respond to the friekorps?
Most of them did not join the putsch but they would not fight them either.
What happened when the goverment fled Berlin?
The leaders proclaimed themselves the new goverment, dissolved the national assembly and said that the weimar constitusion was no longer in force.
How was the putsch resolved?
Trade unions demanded a general strike, demanding an end to the putsch and a new government with the Spd in power. The general strike was almost universal and 4 days after the strike began the putsch fell.
What happened to the leaders of the Kapp putsch?
Kapp died in prison awaiting trial and the other ring leaders were given short prison sentences.
What was Hitlers Munich Putsch inspired by?
Mussolinis march on Rome which had also been in 1922
Why did Hitler start his putsch from Munich?
He thought that he could gain the support of the local politicians and citizens there.
What happened on the 8th of November 1922?
The SA surrounded a large beer cellar in Munich where Gustav Von Kahr and other important officials were in a meeting. Hitler crashed into the hall and announced that the goverment of bavaria and the national government were deposed and that he and Ludendorff were going to form a new goverment. . He locked the officials in but the prisoners escaped and organised their resistance to the putsch.
What happened when the Nazis attempted to start their march on Berlin in the morning?
They were taken prisoner after a short battle with police
Why was the Munich Putsch really a success for Hitler?
The trial allowed him to give a speech about his beliefs which was widely reported and increased his fame. Hitlers sentence was only 5 years in a open Landsberg prison, similar to other right wingers who were given lenient sentences. He used the time to write mein kampf and it pushed him into understanding he should try to get power through legal means
What had happened to many members of opposition parties during the Nazi period?
They had left the country of were in concentration camps which were built to house political prisoners without trial.
What was one way that Hitler controlled the army?
He had made them swear an oath of loyalty
What is an example of Hindenburg opposing Hitler?
He wrote to him in 1933 about proposed anti semteic laws asking him not to pass them, talking about all the Jewish people who had fought during the first World War.
What were 6 ways that people tried to oppose the Nazis?
- Anti Nazi campaigns 2. Sabotage. 3. Disobedience 4. Attempts to assinate Hitler 5. Church opposite 6. Spontaneous protests
In the early 1930s how did the SPD, KPD and trade unions attempt to oppose the Nazis?
They printed pamphlets and other anti Nazi literature.
What was the Red Shock Troop?
A SPD group which published the news paper, the Red Shock Troop, about every 10 days and built up membership of around 3000
What happened to the Red Shock Troop?
The leaders were arrested and sent to concentration camps so the group folded.
How did the KPD mainly oppose the Nazis after they realised forming groups would just get them caught?
They did most of their work by word of mouth and tended not to form organised groups
How did the SPD work during the Nazi period?
They formed a group outside of the country and mostly gathered information about public opinion in Germany to pass onto the allies.
When did communist opposition groups revive?
During Operation Barbossa.
What was Urhig groups?
They leflated factories and put up posters urging workers to acts of sabotage.
What was the red orchestra group?
A group of mainly goverment employees who while not necessarily communist, passed on information about the German war effort to the USSR.
What were lightning strikes ?
These were acts of sabotage by workers, they would strike but it would only last for a few hours
What’s an example of a lighting strike?
In 1936 the workers who built the autobahns held one.
What was other ways that workers sabotaged production?
By working slowly, damaging machinery or reporting in sick when they were not. All of these could lead to arrest if they were reported.
Why were actions of sabotage often overlooked during the war?
Workers were in great demand so even actions like not giving the nazi salute when an official was present was overlooked.
What happened if groups sabotaging the Nazis became too organised or successful?
Then the gestapo would stop turning a blind eye and attest his members.
What was an example of a opposition group that got powerful enough for the gestapo to arrest them?
The anti fascist group members were arrested in 1944
How did acts of sabotage change during the war?
They became increasingly violent such as blowing up bridges or railway lines as they sometimes revieved support from the allies
How did some young usually middle class people oppose the Nazi goverment?
They did deliberately not join the Hitler youth and instead went to clubs to listen to music such as swing and jazz. They dressed in clothes that were similar to that in the West if possible and some even set ip their own bands.
What happened to these opposition clubs in 1940?
They were made illegal and most went underground, the Nazis made occasional arrests but did not really go after them as they were not directly expressing anti Nazi sentiments.
Who were the edelweiss pirates?
It was a largley working class movement which were actively anti Nazi. Many pirates wore their own uniform as a deliberate statement that they were not members of the Hitler Youth. Their activities changed in different areas, some ran their own activities such as hiking whilst others painted anti nazi slogans or collected anti Nazi lefleats dropped by allies planes and posted them through letterboxes. Some even worked with resistance groups.
What happened if edelweiss pirates were caught?
They were excecuted
