Rise of hitler 1929-1949 Flashcards
name the three chancellors and president who proceeded Hitler
C: Henrich Bruning, Franz Von Papen, Kurt Von Schliecher
P:Paul Von Hindernburg
Name mistakes each chancellor made to help Hitler (unintentionally)
Bruning: Failed to deal with rising unemployment, benefits bill was rejected
Von Papen: Lacked political experience, had hitler as well as von papen working against him, attempted to ally with hitler but hitler refused
Schleider: couldn’t get a majority in the reichstag, fell out of favour of Hindenburg when he asked to take over
Why did the working class vote for The Nazi’s
-Lots of policies the Nazi’s proposed were directed at the working class and particularly farmers
-promised to protect farmers land and denounced big businesses trying to buy off farmers
Why did protestants vote for the Nazi’s
-Nazi’s supported the protestant church and tried to unite it
Why did rich elites vote for Hitler
-He hated communism
-Nazism was better than communism in businessmen’s eyes
Why did the population in general start voting for Nazi’s
-Weimar gov. was in turmoil and they were looking for a strong figure to lead
-Became a more established political party rather than a band of thugs
-Hatred of communism
Why did Hindenburg appoint Hitler chancellor
Political pressure: Hitler had the largest party and he needed to get the country running again
Popularity: Hindenburg needed to please people
Out of options: Both previous chancellors had been weak leaders and only created more problems
How did the reichstag fire help Hitler turn Weimar in to a dictatorship
-Hitler and goering persuaded hindenburg to sign the reichstag fire decree which gave Hitler power to search houses and make arrests
how did the enabling act help Hitler turn Weimar in to a dictatorship
-Hitler pressured the Reichstag to sign the act through intimidation by the SA and SS
-The act allowed him to pass laws witb out consent from the German parliament
how did The night of the long knives help Hitler turn Weimar in to a dictatorship
-Got rid of all in party opposition including various SA leaders like Ernst Rohm
What opposition was there to Nazis in the church
-Pastor Dietrich became involved with the abwehr and a plan to overthrow hitler, the plan was uncovered
-Various pastors and the pope denounced Hitler and euthanasia
-many opposed hitlers attempts to bring his ideologies in to the church
What opposition was there to Nazis in the army
-many officers were involved in the Kreisau circle which was broken up in ‘44
-The abwehr counter intelligence was riddled with resistance and the leader made numerous attempts at hitlers life
What opposition was there to Nazis in the gov.
-Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess flew to Scotland and tried to negotiate peace but he was imprisoned
What opposition was there to Nazis within the youth
- There were few groups such as the Edelweiss pirates who would attack Hitler youth patrols
How effective was the Nazi terror state (effective)
-Had a secret police/spy network which effectively broke up plots and resistance
-Effective in brainwashing the population in to think the nazi’s were do-gooders
-Used camps as a fear tactic
-Very effective in shutting down any political or other opposition
How effective was the Nazi terror state (ineffective)
-The gestapo was small in numbers and couldnt answer to every resistance cell
-The country was not governed well with no central meetings and everyone acting on their own accord
-Was a lot of insubordination in the government and army that wasnt dealt with well
What economic problems did Germany face from 29-33 and what were the solutions
P: Wall street crash
-unemployment at 10%
-millions in war repayments
-lots of imports
S: Made a deal to end war reparations
-No other solutions partly due to Hitler walking out of Reichstag meetings
What economic problems did Germany face from 33-42 and what were the solutions
P: industry was developing and producing to slowly to keep up with the war
-industry was inefficient and many resources were being wasted
-4 year plan was not complete in 4 years
-unemployment and lack of ag. workers and output
S: Schacht reduced unemployment by creating jobs e.g building the autobahn
-put tariffs on foreign goods to promote german goods
-resolved balance of payments problem
-subsidies for private construction
-Goering didnt solve any problems
What economic problems did Germany face from 42-45 and what were the solutions
P: inefficient economy
-increased bombings
-lack of organisation
S: solved germanys inefficiency problem through increased workers, correct allocation of resources and pacing bans on unnecessary goods
What policies/ changes affected the working class (nazis)
-Right to strike was abolished
-The German labour Front replaced unions, they would set wages in favour of employers rather than employees
-Introduced incentives to increase morale within workers
-Beauty of labour organisation tried to make work enjoyable and more safe
-Safety at work act was introduced to reduce work place accidents
What policies/ changes affected women
-Law of encouragement of marriage encouraged women to marry with economic benefits such as 1000 marks for newly weds
-awarding mothers with 5+ children with a bronze medal, 6/7 with a silver medal and 8+ gold
-Law of reduction of unemployment gave women incentives to stay at home rather than work
Were the policies affecting women successful or now
-No working women: failed, increased by 2.4m between 33-39
-Birth rate: success, birth rate increased from 14.7-20.3 per thousand
-Population increase: success, population increased by 14m 33-39
Were policies affecting the working class successful
-Morale: Failure, workers became increasingly unhappy as wages fell 25% while work hours rose 15%
-Safety: Failure, serious accidents in factories increased
-B.I.L: most goals were unattainable to the average worker
What policies/ changes affected the youth
-Set up Hitler youth and from age 10 children were encouraged to join, by 36 attendance was compulsory
-New education system taught by teachers in the nazi union, consisted of altered subjects
(history- rise of Nazis, Biology-racial theories)
Girls and boys were split in to Hitler youth and League of German maidens to prepare them for their respective roles
Were the policies affecting youth successful
-Success: 90% of youth attended Hitler youth or the female counterpart
-Success: Successfully indoctrinated the youth and even had children fighting when the war reached Berlin
What policies/ changes affected religion
-A state church was set up to bring different branches or protestantism together
-Hitler made a deal with the pope not to interfere with the catholic church, he didn’t honour the deal
-Banned catholic newspapers
-Tried to ban the old testament as is was Jewish
were policies affecting religion successful
-Ban catholics: failure, catholic church attendance increased
-Control churches: failure, in 1937 he was forced to return control of the church
What policies/ changes affected racial outsiders
-The small minority of black people were forced to be sterilised, forced to undergo medical experimentation and sometimes murdered
-Anyone with a disability was sterilised
-Homosexuals, prostitutes, beggars, hooligans and criminals were rounded up and sent to camps
Were policies affecting racial outsiders successful
yes, very
In what way did and did not Germany become an autarky
-Yes: Became more self sufficient with raw materials and consumer goods
-Made synthetic replacements for rubber and other items
-No: Although agriculture improved due to protection for farmers they were far from self sufficient
Why were the working class key to the Nazis
-Needed working class votes as they gained a majority in the Reichstag
-To expand industry and the economy for war
-A large work force was needed to mass produce for war
-Needed to take votes from communists who were his main opposition
Why were the youth key to the Nazis
-The youth were the future to the Reich which Hitler claimed would last 1000 years
-They were easily indoctrinated
-Acted as spies on their parents and would often report them to the Gestapo
Why were women key to the Nazis
-They were highly valued as homemakers and childbearers
-Germany needed a larger population and birth rate to fuel a war
-Later in the war they were also conscripted to work in industry
What was the main cause of Economic issues in each time period
Weimar- End of WW1 leading to war reparations and hyper inflation
Nazi- Allocative inefficiency of resources and a poor four year plan
Post war- Having to rebuild infrastructure and a lot of destroyed industry
What effect did the main economic issues have on society
Weimar- Hyper inflation and war reparations led to unrest and military coups
Nazi- Lots of military machinery being produced took the place of some consumer goods and led them to not being produced
-Post war- Very unhappy population living in a destroyed country
