The Depression.

Question 1

How did the depression affect young people?

Answer 1

High unemployment in young people.
With unemployment, youths doubted their future resulting in gangs of young men congregating in public spaces in Germany causing alarm in older generations.

Question 2

How did political groups use the unemployment of youths to their advantage?

Answer 2

The KPD recruited some working-class from the ‘wild- cliques’ to join in political demonstrations and street battles.
Hitler Youth and the SA offered unemployed boys and young men food, uniforms, shelter and the excitement of fighting street battles.

Question 3

Why did juvenile crime increase in the depression?

Answer 3

The number of young men charged with theft grew but there was also a significant increase in youths charged with offences against the state- assault and threatening behaviour.

Question 4

The policies of Bruning’s government towards the unemployed.

Answer 4

Placing their faith in market forces to revive the economy in the future, the government’s priorities were to keep control over expenditure on unemployment benefits and to lessen damaging effects on the youth.

Question 5

What were the emergency labour schemes?

Answer 5

Unemployed youths were required to undertake unskilled manual labour, receiving wages that were below the legal minimum.

Question 6

How did the youths react to the emergency labour scheme?

Answer 6

These schemes were unpopular with the youth, resulting in two waves of strikes for higher wages in October 1930 and June 1932.

Question 7

What were the voluntary labour schemes?

Answer 7

Young unemployed people were being sent away from the cities to residential work camps for periods of six months. Few of these schemes offered any prospect of vocational training, still less of finding permanent employment. The minister of labour said, the priority was to get the young unemployed ‘off the streets’.

Question 8

How did the depression effect women?

Answer 8

The female portion of the workforce increased during the depression. This reignited the debate about whether married women should continue to be employed when males were out of work.

Question 9

What were the laws about women working during the Depression?

Answer 9

The campaign waged by right-wing parties against the employment of so-called ‘double-earners’ achieved some success in May 1932 when a law was passed allowing married women civil servants to be dismissed. The extent of the law was limited to central government employees and women could only be dismissed if it could be proved that their economic circumstances were secure- symbolic victory for those who believed that a married woman should not be employed outside the home.

Question 10

What happened after the law against women working was passed?

Answer 10

The Reich Postal Service dismissed about 1000 married women from its employment.

Question 11

What consequences were caused by the strain put on the political system? (Depression)

Answer 11

• It caused the collapse of the Grand Coalition, led by Hermann Muller, in March 1930.
• It provided an opportunity for the parties of the extreme left and extreme right to gain support and, in doing so, fatally undermine the democratic system.
• It led to an intensification of political violence.

Question 12

The collapse of the Grand Coalition.

Answer 12

It was one of the most broadly based coalition governments in the Weimar period, representing 5 political parties from the SPD on the left to the right-wing, DVP.

Question 13

What split the coalition?

Answer 13

Due to unemployment, falling tax revenues meant the state budget was in serious deficit by the end of 1929.
On the right, the DVP wanted to reduce unemployment benefits whilst on the left the SPD wanted to protect the level of benefits and raise taxes.
The government was deadlocked on an issue and, in March 1930, Muller resigned.

Question 14

What year did Muller resign?

Answer 14

March 1930.

Question 15

How was Muller’s successor?

Answer 15

Heinrich Bruning, appointed by Hindenburg, was the leader of the Center Party.

Question 16

Why did Hindenburg appoint Muller?

Answer 16

Hindenburg was heavily influenced by two key military figures- General Groener, who since 1928 had been the Defence Minister, and General Kurt von Schleicher, Groener’s political advisor.

Question 17

When did army begin to play a key role in politics?

Answer 17

Groener and Schleicher’s role in the appointment was an indication that the army had begun to play a key role in politics.

Question 18

Why did Groener and von Schleicher get involved in the appointment of Heinrich?

Answer 18

They were opposed to parliamentary democracy and saw the political crisis of March 1930 as an opportunity to begin to impose a more authoritarian style of government.
In Hindenburg they had a leader who shared their contempt for democracy and in Bruning, they had a chancellor who also had authoritarian leadings.

Question 19

The lead-up to the election of September 1930.

Answer 19

Bruning, in response to the Depression, cut expenditures and raised taxes to balance the budget. Since he did not have support on this from the Reichstag, he persuaded Hindenburg to issue a presidential decree passing the budget into law. This provoked another political crisis as Article 48 of the constitution was only to be used in an emergency.
The SPD won Reichstag support to withdraw the decree, Bruning dissolved the Reichstag and called an election in September 1930.

Question 20

What was Article 48 of the Constitution?

Answer 20

It allowed the President to declare a state of emergency in Germany in times of national danger and to rule as a dictator for short periods.

Question 21

The 1930 election.

Answer 21

The extremist parties of the left and right gained the most in the election. The communists gained over 1 million votes, mostly from the SPD and 77 seats in the Reichstag.
The most significant growth in support was for the Nazi party. In 1928 the nazis received a mere 810,000 votes compared to 6.5 million votes in 1930 where their seats in the Reichstag increased from 12 to 107- making them the second largest party.

Question 22

In 1928 how many votes and seats did the Nazis receive?

Answer 22

810,000 and 12 seats.

Question 23

In 1930 how many votes and seats did the Nazis receive?

Answer 23

6.5 million and 107 seats.

Question 24

What happened to the Reichstag after the 1930 election?

Answer 24

It became unmanageable, its proceedings became increasingly irrelevant. It did not meet at all between February and October 1931, even after that sessions became shorter and more infrequent. Political power in Weimar Germany had shifted from the Reichstag to the President and his circle of advisers, but also to the streets.

Question 25

The intensification of political violence between the years 1919 and 1929.

Answer 25

1919-23 had seen frequent riots, political assassinations and political uprisings.
1924-29, violence has subsided but not completely disappeared; the Nazis claimed 29 of their men were killed in clashes with communists, whilst the communists said that 92 of their supporters had been killed.

Question 26

Political violence 1930-33.

Answer 26

Increased dramatically- Nazis and Communists- Red-front fighters league, took their political struggles onto the streets. Each side attempted to break up the political meetings of their opponents and rival marches often descended into riots.
Their violence was particularly severe at election times.

Question 27

What did Bruning do in 1931 to stop political violence? The effect?

Answer 27

He issued a decree in December 1931 banning the wearing of political uniforms, but this had little effect as Nazi stormtroopers (SA) continued to march wearing white shirts.

Question 28

What decree did Hindenburg issue in 1932?

Answer 28

He signed a decree outlawing the SA, even this ban, however, failed to stop the stormtroopers. their membership continued to grow and political violence was not to be brought under control.

Question 29

How many members were in the SA by the end of 1932?

Answer 29

400,000.

Question 30

Where did the Nazi’s core support come from?

Answer 30

Lower-middle class, white-collard workers, small shopkeepers, independent craftsmen.
Mainly among the broader middle class and the farmers.

Question 31

What was the Nazi’s success with the farmers?

Answer 31

It is shown by the results in some rural constituencies in 1930, where they secured 68% of the vote in one district- north west Germany.

Question 32

Who did the Nazis attract?

Answer 32

The middle class were worried about a communist revolution and were disillusioned with established middle-class parties. The Nazis did well amongst young voters and women.

Question 33

In geographical terms where did the Nazis do best?

Answer 33

Protestant north, east and centre of Germany but were less successful in the Catholic southwest.