The Impact of War 1939-1945 Flashcards
At the beginning of the war, what was the Nazi’s aims?
To keep the German public onside
When were there decrees issuing food rationing?
August 1939
What did you need a permit to buy?
Clothes
What did food rationing and permits cause?
Panic buying
Did the rationing system work effectively between 1939 and 1941 and why?
Yes - the Nazis could exploit new countries for food e.g Russia for grain
What invasion in 1941 caused rations to be reduced like meat from 500g to 400g?
Invasion of Russia
What is the first phase of the war, from September 1939 to June 1941?
Blitzkreig
Which countries did Bitzkreig contain?
Poland and other European countries
Between January 1940 and June 1941, how many major speeches did Hitler make?
9
In Blitzkreig, what was the morale like?
Pretty okay - sweeping victories were presented on the news and Hitler was presented as a military genius
When did Germany invade Russia after Blitzkreig, that was later halted by the Red Army in November 1941?
June 1941
When did Germany declare war after Blitzkreig on the USA?
December 1941
When was the ‘spreading war’?
June to December 1941
Which invasion in June 1941 caused a crusade against ‘Jewish-Bolshevism’ and raised public morale?
USSR
What did the SD find about public morale in the ‘spreading war’?
People believed the war would go on for years
What during the ‘spreading war’ undermined the Nazi propaganda?
Letters from soldiers that denoted hopelessness and also the power of the Soviet Union
During the ‘spreading war’ as a result of decreased morale, what conspiracy was used as a scapegoat for the continuing war?
A Jewish international conspiracy to destroy Third Reich + Aryan Race
When was the ‘turning of the tide’, after the ‘spreading war’?
January 1942-January 1943
During which part of the war did Germany start to lose against the USSR?
‘turning of the tide’
During the ‘turning of the tide’, which two things disillusioned people to the realities of war?
Rising casualty figures
Letters from soldiers
What thing by Goebbel’s during the ‘turning of the tide’ deepened disillusionment?
Appeal for people to collect winter clothes for soldiers
What did the SD report in January 1942 during the ‘turning of the tide’?
‘Faith in the Fuhrer is unshakeable’
What event in January 1943 caused a defeat of propaganda and a rise in war weariness among the German public during the ‘turning of the tide’?
Stalingrad
What began in February 1943 and lasted until the end of the war in May 1945?
Total War
Who’s total war speech in 1943 was welcomed?
Goebbels’
What began to decline during total war?
Hitler myth
Which events during total war decreased morale?
Failure of U-boat campaign
D-Day June 1944
Bombing
Liberation of Paris in August 1944
Which events during total war increased morale?
D-Day June 1944 Goebbel’s secret retaliation with weapons
Use of V1 and V2 missiles in 1944-1945
What did an SD report in August 1944 during ‘total war’ state?
‘most compatriots, even those whose belief has hitherto between unshaken, have lost all faith in the Fuhrer’
When did Allied mass bombing begin, which started in Lubeck?
March 1942
How many German cities were attacked by bombing in 1943?
43
How many times was Hamburg bombed between 25th July and 3rd August 1943?
7
What did the police report from Hamburg in July 1943 state?
‘nowhere displayed signs of panic’
After Lubeck in March 1942, what did the people do?
Open their shops
Despite bombing, how long did German production last until?
The end of 1944
What did different parts of the elite believe about the war?
Some believed Nazi regime was evil
Some were patriotic but believed Hitler was leading Germany to destruction
Some were traditional aristocratic conservatives who wanted a return to an authoritarian government
Some opposed Nazis because of the disturbing treatment of others
Which member of the elite opposed the Nazi regime because of the treatment of others?
Helmut von Mulke
What in September 1939 imposed wage reduction, ans banned the payment of bonuses and Sunday work and night shifts?
Decree on the conversion of the whole german economy onto a war footing
Because of increased abseentism because of the decree in September 1939, what happened in October 1939?
Wages restored to pre war levels
Payment of bonuses reintroduced
However, wage rates not allowed to increased
Because of total war, what happened in August 1944?
Ban on holidays
Working week of 60 hours
Payment for overtime abolished
If workers didn’t conform to the total war measures, what could happen to them?
Could have reserved statis removed = conscription to armed forces and even the Eastern front
If you had good attendance records during total war, what did you get?
Extra rations
By May 1944, how much of the workforce was women?
51%
What resulted in 6.4 million women being in employment and making up 37.4% of the labour force?
Four Year Plan
What did Hitler refuse to sanction in 1940 becuase of ideology?
More women working in industry
What did the regime provide so that women didn’t have to work?
Benefits
Did the amount of women in the workforce increase or decline between 1939 and 1941?
Decline
In June 1941, what did Goering issue a decree about?
Women had to work if they had already given up work and didn’t have children or they had to give up a family allowance
What did Goering’s decree in June 1941 spark?
Class resentment because the limited amount of women who were eligible were middle class
As a result of Goering’s 1941 decree, how many women were sent to the armaments factories?
130,000
What defeat in January 1943 caused women between 17-45 to have to register for work?
Stalingrad
How many women were sent to work by June 1943 because of the defeat at Stalingrad?
Fewer than half a million
By 1945, how much of the workforce were women, because Hitler was forced to agree to allow women older than 45 into the workforce?
60%
In the early years of the war, were young people conscripted or did they continue their work in the BDM and Hitler Youth as usual?
Weren’t conscripted continued as normal
In 1940, at what age was a young person viable to be conscripted to the armed forces?
19
In 1943, at what age was a young person eligble to be conscripted?
17
By November 1942, how many military camps were there for the Hitler Youth?
120
In January 1943 because of total war, 16 and 17 year old boys were conscripted into what?
Luftewaffe
Naval auxillaries
Air defence duties
In 1945, at what age was a young person viable to be conscripted?
16
By the end of the war, young children as young as what were being conscripted into the Volkssturm?
12
Despite the decree in September 1939, when did Germany actually reach a state of full mobilisation?
1942
In the years 1939 to 1941 what did Germany suffer shortages of?
Weapons and equipment
When did shortages of war and equipment begin to hinder the German war effort?
1941
Why was Hitler not economically prepared for war in 1939?
He thought it would begin in 1941 with Operation Barbarossa
When was the Luftwaffe meant to be completed and the built up of the navy?
1942
1944-1945
What else showed that Germany wasn’t economically prepared for war in 1939, because it focused on the increasing of iron and steel production, investing machine tools, and developing alternatives to oil and rubber?
Four Year Plan
What did the proportion of labour force in armaments production grow from between September 1939 to January 1941?
21% to 55%
Who’s leadership was ineffective, because he had poor relations with leaders of the military, banks and companies, and was busy building his own economic empire?
Goering
By 1941, what became apparent?
Goering’s failures
Who replaced Goering as economic minister in 1942?
Architect Alber Speer
How did Albert Speer rationalise production?
Central coordination of labour, equipment and materials to armaments factories
Concentration of productino in fewer factories and on a narrower range of standardised products
Greater use of mass production techniques
24 hours a day factories
Between 1941 and 1943, German aircraft production increased by what percentage?
200%
Between 1941 and 1943, German tank production increased by what percentage
250%
Because of Speer’s rationalised production method, what did the production of the Messerschmit Bf 109 increase to?
1000 per month after being 180 per month
The gains in production occurred under Speer despite what between 1943 and 1944?
Bombinh
How did bombing have an impact on production?
Supply lines damaged
Factories dispersed
Worker morale affected
In January 1945, what did the ministry of armaments calculate in regards to tanks, aircraft, and lorries?
35% less tanks
31% less aircraft
45% fewer lorries
From 1940 to 1942, foreign workers were mainly recruited from where?
Western Europe
What event in October 1941 caused prisoners of war in the country invaded to be used as slave labour?
Occupation of USSR
By December 1941, how many foreign workers were employed in Germany?
4 million
From 1942 to 1945, which person who led the plenipotentiary General for Labour Allocation rounded up and transported 2.8 million workers from Eastern Europe?
Fritz Sauckel
By 1944, in total how many foreign workers and people in occupied countries doing work for Germany were there?
14 million
By 1944, foreign labour made up what fraction of the labour force?
1/4
Between what time period was the ‘final solution’ to the ‘Jewish Problem’?
1942 to 1945
Which operation made it clear that the war would be one of racial annihilation?
Barbarossa/USSR
Why was the final solution implemented?
Because Germany were beginning to lose the war
Was the Wansee Conference in January 1942 the place where the decision was made to exterminate the Jews?
No
Who were not at the Wansee Conference in January 1942?
Heinrich and Himmler
After the Wansee Conference, what changed?
Deportations no longer to vague destinations but to specific camp places
Could therefore do mass killings
What fraction of people from the holocaust were killed from February 1942 (after the Wansee Conference) and February 1943
More than half
What caused mass killings to be accelerated and prioritised over military as well as having stronger propaganda?
Failings in war 1942-1943
What is an example of intensified propaganda in Spring 1943?
Goebbel’s ‘total war’ speech
When were there surges of anti-Jewish propaganda after the Wansee Conference?
Autumn 1943 after bombing raids and red army in the east
Summer 1944 after allied landings in France
Where were Jewish Ghettos destroyed during the final solution?
Minsk
Vilnius
When did extermination camps come into prominence?
End of 1941
What fraction of the people in the holocaust died in Auschwitz?
1/5
How many people died in the extermination camp Chelmno?
145,000
How many Jews were exterminated at Belzec, as well as several thousand gypsies?
Half a million
In October 1943, how many Jews escaped from Sobibor?
800
Which ‘extermination camp’ also produce munitions and other goods for the war effort, as well as forced labour?
Auschwitz
About 10,000 what resisted the holocaust in Lithuania in early 1942?
Jewish Partisans
In the General Government of Poland, which Nazi governor had to commit large security forces to dealing with over 20 Partisan groups?
Hans Frank
Who led the Jewish resistance group that became a permanent community of 1200 Partisans and provided refuge for Jews escaping from Ghettos?
Bielski Brothers
Where was there a large rising in January 1943, despite the fact that 80% of Jews there had already been sent to the camp at Treblinka?
Warsaw Ghetto
How were the Jews who revolted at Warsaw put down in May 1943?
2000 troops
Heavy weapons
Air strikes
What is the estimated range of the people who died in the 1944 death marches?
250,000 to 400,000
How can Hitler be blamed for the holocaust?
Fanatical anti-semitism
Fuhrer who dominated power and propoganda
Germans supported him or were too repressed to significantly oppose him
How can Hitler not be blamed for the holocaust?
Industrialised murder required decisions of many Nazi officials
Millions of people helped
Who could be blamed for the holocaust?
Hitler Goebbels Bormann Heydrich Himmler Eichmann Goering The German people
Who were the Eidelweiss Pirates and when were they primarily operating?
Working class young people 14-18 Rhineland and Ruhr
Who were anti-Hitler Youth and tried to avoid conscription?
Eidelweiss Pirates
‘They hate all discipline and thereby place themselves in opposition to the community. However, they are not politically hostile but, as a result of their composition, they are also criminal and antisocial.’ Who is this describing?
Eidelweiss Pirates
Who went on independent expeditions in the countryside and sang banned Hitler Youth songs?
Eidelweiss Pirates
In 1944, which group of the Eidelweiss Pirates became linked with an underground group that helped army deserters, escaped prisoners of war, forced labourers and concentration camps and obtained supplies by attacking military depots?
Cologne Group
When did the Gestapo break up 28 groups of the Eidelweiss Pirates?
7th December 1942
Who were hanged publicly in November 1944?
Leaders of the Eidelweiss Pirates
What were the swing youth motivated by, according to the Ministry of Justice report?
‘desire to have a good time’
What did the swing youth do?
Listen to American and British jazz and swing
Wore English style clothes
Adopted Jazz ‘negro’ music which rejected Nazi values
What did Himmler want to do to the leaders of the Swing Youth?
Send them to concentration camps for 2 or 3 years
Who were the White Rose Group, who were they led by, and what was their target?
political movement
led by hans and sophie scholl
educated middle class
Who were the White Rose Group supported by?
Professor Kurt Huber
Who were the White Rose Group influenced by?
Catholic theologians like Bishop Galen
Ideas of individual freedom and personal responsibility
During which time period did the White Rose Group issue six pamphlets, mainly distributed in Munich?
1942-1943
In February 1943, what did the White Rose Group do?
Painted anti-Nazi slogans like ‘Hitler Mass Murderer’ on buildings
Who were eventually caught by the Gestapo and executed?
White Rose Group
Who in 1939 gave full support to the Nazi war aims and supported the invasion of the USSR in 1941, thus meaning individual members of this had to organise independently?
Roman Catholic Church
Who condemned the euthanasia programme in a sermon in 1940, and thus caused the halting of it?
Bishop Galen
Was Bishop Galen executed for his sermon in 1940?
No, but 3 other Catholic priests who participated were
Who from the Catholic Church condemned the killing of prisoners of war and was thus placed under surveillance by the Gestapo?
Archbishop Frings
What was the only Christian body in Germany to protest publicly about the treatment of Jews?
Protestant confessional church of Prussia
In 1943, which Protestant called for wider resistance to the treatment of Jews by Christian churches?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Since 1940, which protestant had been banned from public speaking and thus didn’t have a wide audience in Germany?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Which protestant was arrested in 1943 and executed in 1945?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
What undermined communist resistance to the regime in 1939?
Nazi Soviet Pact
What sparked communist resistance to the regime in 1941?
Invasion of USSR
At the time of the USSR invasion 1941, how many underground cells did the KPD have operating in Berlin?
89
What was the KPD’s main means of spreading their ideas?
issuing leaflets
By the end of 1943, how many communists cells in Berlin had been destroyed?
22
How many meetings did the Kreisau Circle hold between 1942 and 1943 before they were broken up by the Gestapo?
3
Who continued to discuss acting against the regime in July 1944?
General Beck
Karl Goerdeler
Von Hassell
What did Beck and Goerdeler try to get senior army generals to do before July 1944?
Arrest Hitler
Who did Beck and Goerdeler make contact with before July 1944?
British Government
When was there a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler with a bomb?
March 1943
What happened that warned army generals that the Gestapo was gonna find out about the conspiracy?
Kreisau circle + Bonhoeffer arrested
What operation in 1944 wanted to have a military coup that took over Berlin after Hitler was assassinated?
Operation Valkyrie
If operation Valykrie had succeeded, which parties would’ve made the new Government?
Centre party
SPD
Conservatives
non-party representatives
Because of Operation Valkyrie, how many people were arrested and executed?
7000
5700
What did the failure of the July bomb plot lead to?
army being placed under SS control
