The impact of war and defeat on Germany: 1939–1949 Flashcards
overview of opposition 1933-39
In the years 1933-39 opposition was limited and ineffectual.
Hitler stepped up the propaganda campaign at the start of the war, knowing that war could bring opposition and have a demoralising effect.
Opposition grew during the war, particularly when the invasion of the USSR failed.
But only became serious in July 1944.
opposition from young people
1933-49
Many young people joined Swing Youth or Edelweiss Pirates
Because many of the leaders of the Hitler Youth were called up to fight – lost leadership and direction
And because the Hitler Youth became even more focused on military activities – put people off
Mostly involved going to underground ’swing clubs’, or going on weekend hikes hoping to meet and beat up Hitler Youth.
Some branches of the Edelweiss Pirates got directly involved in resistance to the regime e.g., sheltering those who had escaped from concentration camps, attacking military targets or Nazi officials.
But their impact was minimal. Did kill the head of the Cologne Gestapo, but the leaders were then arrested and killed.
opp. – white rose group
1933-49
White Rose – based in Munich. Led by Hans and Sophie Scholl.
Printed leaflets encouraging people not to help the war effort, condemning the spiritual and moral values of the regime and attacking the policies towards Jews.
Caught and executed.
Brave, but achieved little.
opp from the church
1933-49
Dietrich Bonhoeffer – got involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler.
Oct 1942 was arrested and sent to a concentration camp
Hanged April 1945
Church opposition was mainly characterised by individuals taking action, not the whole church as an institution.
Protestant and Catholic churches did not publicly condemn the policy towards the Jews.
opp from the elites
1933-49
Theses are the same people who had been sympathetic to Hitler’s initial appointment as Chancellor
E.g., civil service and army officers
Army officers were the most dangerous as they had never been fully assimilated into the Nazi regime
Military failings in winter 1942-43 and opposition to the massacres taking place in the east led to the development of opposition in the Army
opposition
Kreisau Circle
1933-49
To make a plan for a new Germany after Hitler. Drew up ‘Basic Principles for the New Order’. Wanted to form a government that would have been acceptable to the western Allies (but mainly to get rid of a populist dictatorship, not restore true democracy
Wanted to end the war in the west, but continue the war in the east against the Communists
Lacked popular support
It was not certain that the Allies would have abandoned their policy of unconditional surrender even if Hitler had been overthrown
July Bomb Plot – Operation Valkyrie
1933-49
General Ludwig Beck, Conservative politician Goerdeler, and Colonel von Stauffenberg.
Failed to kill Hitler, and failed to move quickly to take Berlin
The plotters were arrested and executed.
Hitler used it as an excuse to arrest over 7000 people of whom nearly 5000 were killed.
jews in germnay in 1933 and 1939
1933 – 500,000 Jews in Germany
1939 – 210,000 Jews in Germany
situation by 1939 regrading jews
Jews in Germany had lost many significant rights and privileges
Many Jews in Germany had lost their livelihoods (economic impact of the policy)
Jews in Germany had been made separate from the rest of the population
The mentality of Jews being different was becoming ingrained in popular thinking
Many Jews had emigrated voluntarily and as a result of the forced emigration policy in force from 1938
257,000 Jews left Germany between 1933 and 1939
The number of Jews in Germany had reduced from 500,000 to 210,000
The impact of the occupation of lands in the East
3 million Jews in Poland
Resettlement of Jews was made more difficult by the war – put extra strain on food supplies and transportation
Creation of ghettoes
Madagascar (French colony) and Siberia plans – impossible because these were not areas controlled by Germany
Escalation of the policy
Actions of the SS Einsatzgruppen in the invasion of Russia – murdered 700,000 Jews in western Russia (Ukraine especially)
But still did not seem to be an adequate ‘solution’
what happened in 1940
jews
First deportation of Jews from some German provinces
what happened in june 1941
jews
Action squads (Einsatzgruppen) of SS join invasion of USSR to round up and kill Jews
what happened in september 1941
jews
All Jews forced to wear the yellow Star of David
what happened 20th january 1942
jews
Wannsee Conference
what happened in spring 1942
jews
Extermination facilities created at Auschwitz, Sobibor and Treblinka
what happened in Feb 1943
jews
destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto
what happened 1943-44
jews
Transportation of Jews from all over German-occupied Europe to the death camps
what happened 27th January 1945
jews
Liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops
Implementation of the ‘Final Solution’
Experiments using gas during Autumn 1941 (Zyklon B)
In vans
Then at Chelmno
Jan 1942 – the Wannsee Conference agreed the policy of the mass extermination of Jews
why was the plan for the final solution adopted
Either:
A response to the war – the difficulties of housing and feeding Jews while trying to win the war – not being won as quickly as hoped and expected – need not to divert resources
OR a long-term plan to which Hitler had been committed from early in his career (and which Germans actively or passively subscribed to).
causes of the holocaust
listed
- war
- hitler
- the german people
- the nature of the nazi
Hitler
causes of the holocaust
Anti-semitic attitudes, writings and speeches
Occupation -> more Jews
The failure to win quickly
Failure of resettlement plans
War brutalised people -> acceptance of killing
War intensified paranoia about the enemy within & encouraged nationalism & extremism
War removed concern about international opinion
war
causes of the holocaust
pressure of soldiers on the Eastern Front – just carrying out orders / peer pressure, alcohol, cowardice…..
the nature of the nazi state
causes of the holocaust
Chaos in govt; working towards the Fuhrer -> radicalisation
Totalitarian state – impact of propaganda, repression, emphasis on blind obedience
the german people
causes of the holocaust
- ‘Hitler’s Willing Executioners’ (Goldhagen) – active acquiescence with & participation in anti-semitic views & policies.
Or
- Acceptance – through conformity & apathy & effectiveness of the propaganda
Inability to prevent it
Unawareness of it
liberation at end of ww2
By the Red Army pushing back.
July 1944 – Soviet troops liberated Majdanek
Oct 1944 – the last use of gas chambers at Auschwitz
Nov 1944 – death marches – the Nazis forced 25,000 Jews to walk over 100 miles in rain and snow from Budapest to the Austrian border.
Himmler ordered the destruction of the crematoria at Auschwitz.
Early 1945 – more death marches as allies advanced
27th Jan 1945 – Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz (Holocaust Memorial Day)
brief overview of WW2
1936 remilitarisation of the Rhineland
March 1938 Anschluss with Austria
Sept 1938 Chamberlain “Peace in our time” - Munich
Sept 1938 Sudetenland
March 1939 invasion of Czechslovakia
August 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact
1st September invasion of Poland
3rd September UK & France declare war
germany’s success in the first years of WW2
Won support at home
June 1941 – Operation Barbarossa – the invasion of the USSR
turning point in WW2
Turning Point 1942/43
German advance was halted at the Battle of Stalingrad
Germans had over-reached
Losses in north Africa
Allied bombing campaign began - > Germany itself was affected
probs facing germany in 1945
Most of the effects of WW2 were felt by civilians.
Soldiers were only really involved at the beginning and end of the war
7.5 million foreign forced labour in Germany by the end of the war (21% of the workforce)
Germany in ruins. Berlin had 40,000 tons of shells dropped on it.
Humiliation of defeat.
Homelessness (from the bombing campaign)
Refugees
Economic ruin of the state
Social problems: High number of deaths (7 million); effects of wounds, loss, psychological damage, missing, bereaved; fear and anxiety, trying to adjust to peace. Trauma of women in the East (1 in 3 raped by Soviet soldiers)
Damage to cultural heritage
refugees in 1945
30 million people displaced by WW2 in Europe
At the end of the war they tried to return home – resettled Germans fleeing the advancing Russians, forced labourers returning to Eastern Europe and concentration camp victims trying to find relatives and retrieve their belongings
$10 billion was spent on repatriating the refugees and displaced persons between 1945 and 1947
Priority went to citizens of states of the Allies, then Italians and Germans and its collaborators
conditions in germany 1945
20% of housing had been destroyed
Another 30% badly damaged
Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden were significantly worse -> housing crisis
Food and fuel shortages
economy in 1945
Infrastructure had broken down
Massive state debt
Rising inflation -> growth in wartime black market
BUT
Civil service still existed
Well-established banking system remained
Germany’s established industrial base could recover
gov in 1945
The German government had collapsed with the death of Hitler. Admiral Dönitz signed the unconditional surrender on 8th May 1945.
The German state had ceased to exist.
The Allies took over control of Germany.
questions facing the allies at end of WW2
[not entirely significant , yet helpful for essays]
How should Germany’s political system be rebuilt?
How should the Nazis and the threat of Nazism be dealt with?
How should militarism be contained?
How should the German economy be rebuilt?
What do you think the Allies aims might have been?
origins of a divided germany
The initial aim had not been division.
However the challenges faced by the Allied occupation and the wider international context of the Cold War caused Germany to be divided.
Germany was divided into zones, with each of the main allies taking responsibility for the administration of the areas they had liberated.
These zones were largely determined by where the allies had reached by the end of the war.
In these zones, the allies took responsibility for law and order, food, housing and the economy
But divisions grew over how these zones were administered and eventually they became so great as to prevent the merging of the zones back into a united Germany.
debate about the division of germany
Traditional western view – USSR was to blame (due to their actions and aims)
Newer view – unity would be difficult to maintain once the common enemy was defeated due to the ideological differences between the allies. The western allies should have been more understanding of Russia’s needs and interests.
tensiosn between the allies
The Grand Alliance was already under strain before the end of the war
Stalin had been pressing for the opening of a second front in western Europe since 1942 and was becoming increasingly impatient as the war dragged on.
The defeat of the common enemy, Germany, removed the only thing the allies had in common
The capitalist and democratic West despised the communist and authoritarian Soviet Union
The Soviet Union had been an outcast nation since the October Revolution in 1917. And the Russians had responded by isolating themselves, promoting Communist activities in other countries and pursuing a hostile foreign policy.
stalins view of the war
Joined the ‘Grand Alliance’ first with Britain then the US after the German invasion of the USSR, June 1941
The USSR then bore the brunt of the war against Fascism from June 1941 to June 1944 losing 27 million people
Stalin requested a second front to be opened up by the US and Britain in 1942 and 1943…..
In an effort to appease Stalin and keep him in the war Churchill had promised land to the USSR (in a meeting at Tehran 1943) in which the borders of Poland would be moved
And Churchill and Stalin agreed on some ‘spheres of influences’ in post-war Europe (in a meeting in Moscow 1944) – the Percentages Agreement
The USSR’s aims with germnay
Fear of Germany – had been invaded twice by Germany through Poland – so wanted a weak Germany and a series of buffer states between it and Germany
Reparations = financial revenge
The west’s aims with germnay
Viewed the occupation of eastern Europe as communist expansionism, and the next stage of the ‘world revolution’
Wanted German recovery – wanted a trading partner and did not want a breeding ground for communism
when was potsdam
july 1945
bad atmosphere at potsdam
Had agreed at Yalta that once Hitler had been defeated, Germany and Berlin would be divided into four zones.
But by the time they met at Potsdam, the Red Army was already established in Eastern Europe, which gave the Soviets a strong negotiating position.
Just as the Potsdam Conference began, the Americans tested the atom bomb (why had they not shared this information with their ally? Who was it really designed to intimidate?)
Roosevelt had died in April. Truman was less experienced in foreign affairs.
Right at the start of the conference there was a General Election in Britain. And Churchill lost! Had to go home and was replaced by Attlee.
After Yalta the USSR was supposed to be supervising free and fair elections in Poland…. That had not happened…..
how did the decisions at potsdam influence a divided germnay
Joint Allied Control under the Allied Control Council (ACC).
zones of occupation
The reality was that when a unanimous decision could not be reached, each military governor implemented their own decision.
**
4 Ds
Demilitarisation
Denazification
Decentralisation
Democratisation**
But there were divergent approaches
demilitarisation
potsdam influence
When Germany had surrendered, its army had been disbanded.
Now there was no German government it would not be possible for it to have an independent military force.
Occupation armies stationed there.
denazification
potsdam influence
Nuremberg Trials
November 1945 to October 1946
Some had already committed suicide
Some not found
22 brought to trial
11 sentenced to death
But then diverged in their approach
the western zones on denazification
potsdam influence
5000 brought to trial after this
BUT what about the 8 million who had joined the Nazi Party????
Were let off with a questionnaire
Why? Impractical to bring to trial / dismiss all teachers, civil servants, administrators etc
the soviet zones on denazification
potsdam influence
Thousands interred in concentration camps (e.g.,Sachsenhausen)
Thousands dismissed
Why? It was an ideological question. The stamping out of Fascism and all Right-Wing thinking, of which Nazism was merely the worst form.
And their economic policy completed this
the soviet zones on democratisation
potsdam influence
The Communists, led by Walter Ulbricht, arrived back in Berlin in April 1945
June – SMAD issued Order No 2, which allowed the formation of political parties (KPD, SPD plus various liberal parties, CDU, a Peasant Party, and a more RW party)
1946 the KPD and SPD were forcibly merged into the SED.
By 1948 the SED took control of all the parties in an ‘anti-Fascist bloc’ – the National Front for Democratic Germany
the western zones on democratisation
potsdam influence
Re-emergence of political parties – from the ground up (including KPD, SPD, FDP, CDU/CSU, SRP. NPD, DP, BHE….)
Elections were held – starting at a local level
Slow steps towards rebuilding democracy
How did democratisation work out in the soviet zone?
potsdam influence
The SED increasingly established itself and got the anti-Fascist bloc to agree that state control and economic intervention was essential.
Took control of education and key government appointments
Free expression was severely limited and political dissent restrained
By 1948/49 democracy was formally abandoned and the SED announced itself as a Marxist-Leninist party, and established mass communist organisations for the youth, women and unions in the Soviet zone.
what were the 4 d’S
potsdam influence
Demilitarisation
Denazification
Decentralisation
Democratisation
economic views in the western zones
US and British were keen to rebuild Germany; France was not.
economic views in the soviet zones
In Communist thinking, Nazism was merely the worst form of capitalism, and therefore capitalism must be abolished.
Break-up of large agricultural estates
The takeover of banks and factories
Factories dismantled and taken to the USSR as reparations
The Soviet zone had fewer industrial resources and so they would receive an extra 25% of reparations from the British and American zones.
Keen to strip their zone of assets and willing to have a weak Germany
How did the divisions over economic policy work out? [western zones]
The Hunger Winter 1946/47 (food shortages in Germany)
Britain had to introduce rationing at home in order to fund its zone
Britain also could not keep up with payments of the reparations to the Soviets
So Britain and America merged their zones to form Bizonia in January 1947
France joined in 1948 to form Trizonia (the reality was a western economic system…..)
truman doctorine and marshall aid [western zones]
The West saw the establishment of a communist political and economic system in the Soviet zone as evidence of Stalin’s desire for world revolution.
The USA saw opportunities to gain from a greater involvement in European affairs.
Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech, March 1946
Truman made a speech in March 1947 which laid the foundations for The Truman Doctrine
It pledged that the US would protect democratic governments against Communist influence – a policy of Communist containment
Concern about economic problems in European countries and how this might provide a breeding ground for Communism, especially as Communist parties were popular in France, Italy and Greece (Greek Civil War)
This led to the Marshall Plan - $13 billion American aid to Europe (European Recovery Programme)
Aid was also offered to the Soviet Union and countries under its influence but it was rejected as ‘dollar diplomacy’ because of all the conditions attached.
what happened to the militray mark
Had become devalued because the Soviet zone had printed so much
A drop in food and industrial production made it worse
Danger of inflation at 1923 levels
Black market grew
when was the militray mark introduced
1945
the western zones on currency reform
Introduced the Deutsche mark (June 1948) without consulting or seeking agreement from the Russians
It was a great success - industrial production grew, raised morale, a strong well-established economy in the three western zones
the soviet zones on currency reform
Refused to introduce the new currency in their zone – believed it was designed to undermine their zone.
Within days, the Soviets, brought in their own currency, the East German mark.
AND sought to cut off West Berlin from the rest of Germany
when was the berlin blockade
June 1948 - May 1949
what was the berlin blockade
June 1948 – May 1949 (321 days)
Stalin blocked the road and rail access to West Berlin
Aim: to starve West Berlin and force its merger into the Soviet zone
Provoked by what the Soviet Union saw as the aggressive policies of the USA, especially on Marshall Aid
western europe response to the berlin blockade
The western allies were determined to resist the spread of Communism – even if it resulted in the division of Germany
Vital to prevent the absorption of West Berlin into the Eastern sector because of the city’s position inside the Soviet zone
For the West it was useful to have an outpost in the communist sea
The first direct clash between west and east, so it was a test of nerves
The west feared, and the Soviet Union hoped, that if it took control of the whole of Berlin it would be the start of a Soviet takeover of the whole of Germany
So the Western allies organised an airlift of food and fuel to the city
One plane took off every 4 minutes. At its peak – one per minute!!!
The only way the airlift could be stopped was for the Soviet Union to shoot down the planes and risk World War Three, which it was not prepared to do
In the end, Stalin backed down.
significance of the berlin blockade
Stalin realised that the resolve of the West was much greater than he had expected
Support for the West Berliners had done much to raise morale there
It had increased integration between Germans in the western zones and the Western Powers – no longer the enemy
It sealed the division of Germany
the division of germnay
finality
The West were discussing not whether but when a division should occur
Began working on a new constitution for a democratically elected government of a new West German state, the Federal Republic of Germany
The constitution was adopted in May 1949 and in August the elections took place
October 1949 – the Soviet zone became the GDR
when did the soviet zone become the GDR
oct 1949
when was teh war economy
1939-42
what was the war economy
Decrees for war production
By 1941 55% of the workforce worked on war-related projects
Low production of consumer goods
‘Rationalisation Decree’ Dec 1941 – to reform the economy and eliminate waste (committees responsible for particular types of weapon or equipment)
when was the rationalisation decree
dec 1941
what was the rationalisation decree
to reform the economy and eliminate waste (committees responsible for particular types of weapon or equipment)
aim of war economy policy
Desperate need for tanks and ammunition
evidence war economy was a success
Small increases in production of planes and tanks.
evidence war economy was a failure
Armaments production remained low
Planes did increase from 8000, but only to 10,500 in June 1941
Low increase in tank production too.
Inefficiency and poor coordination, partly due to the war beginning too early, and partly due to the polycratic nature of the state
Not ready for the invasion of the USSR.
Labour shortage: 24.5m in 1939 down to 20 m by 1940 (away fighting)
Used foreign workers from occupied Europe, but had to be heavily policed.
By September 1939 women made up over 37% of the workforce
Percentage of GDP spent on the military was much higher than Britain in 1937 and 1938, but much lower in 1939, 1940 and 1941.
what was rationing
In 1939 some food, and all clothes were rationed (until 1943 when there was no clothes manufacturing at all!!!)
Soap, toilet paper, hot water, sweets were also rationed
Very limited amount of meat and dairy
evidence of success for rationing
Shared out the resources and freed up resources for the military. The German population did not feel the worst effects until 1944.
evidence of failure for rationing
As defeat became more likely, government became more chaotic. Ration cards were no longer honoured. People had to rely on the black market.
what was total war economy
February 1942 Albert Speer was appointed Minister of Armaments.
Central Planning Board April 1942 with a range of committees.
Use of concentration camp prisoners as workers
Employing women in armaments factories
Ending conscription of skilled workers into the armed forces
Eliminating the production of everything that did not contribute to the war (e.g., clothes, professional sports, magazines…)
February 1943 – Goebbels called for total war (due to surrender at Stalingrad)
aim of total war economy
To sustain a war on multiple fronts
Total commitment of all human and material resources in the nation to waging war
evidence of success of total war economy
First 6 months in office tank production rose by 25%, ammunition by 97%.
Total arms production by 59%
By August 1944 a threefold increase in war materials when compared with 1942.
evidence of failure of total war economy
But could have produced more:
Gauleiters at local level prevented Speer’s orders from being carried out.
SS exploited conquered land for their own gain rather than the benefit of the war economy.
Conquered territories were plundered rather than exploited
impact of Allied bombing prevented further arms production
Failure at Stalingrad – faced with fierce Soviet resistance, a lack of supplies and bitter winter conditions 1942/43. (this also marked the failure of German attempts to win the Caucasus oil fields)
Failure in North Africa
aims of allied bombing campaigns
- Destroy industrial targets
- Bring down morale
- Revenge for bombing of the UK
impact of allied bombing on the economy
- Air raids on German industrial targets began in 1940 (alongside the British policy of naval blockade). The immediate and dramatic effect of an air raid was good for morale at home in Britain.
- By 1942 – bombing raids more frequent and intense
- Germans were driven to leave the cities and move to rural areas which reduced available workforce
1. Hamburg, 1943 – caused a firestorm – killed 30,000 people
2. Dresden, February 1945 – killed 150,000 people and destroyed 70% of property **
3. Total civilian deaths – **600,000 **
DEBATE about impact of allied bombing
- Some argue it had little impact on German economic production levels
- Other argue prevented levels from rising further; there was industrial destruction, communications were disrupted. More effort had to be spent relocating sites underground instead of increasing production. There bombing was very significant in preventing the Nazis from achieving total war production
The impact of allied bombing on morale on the home front
- Nazi propaganda continued to be important in **maintaining morale. **
- BUT the problem was that the propaganda assured them that the superior German race would win the war which made it harder to understand all the bomb damage and led people to question whether Germany was really winning
- So, the regime did acknowledge setbacks in the fighting, and these were used to rally the people and encourage them to greater efforts.
- **Little evidence of a collapse in morale **(like Britain’s ‘blitz spirit’)
- In fact, the shared suffering brought the Nazi Party and people together and made them defiant against the enemy
- Goebbels gained popularity by visiting bombed areas (Hitler stayed away)
As late as May 1945, most people were still willing to keep fighting to the bitter end - fear of what would happen to them as the Soviet troops advanced.
1. Would they be the victims of revenge
2. fear of the consequences of the racial policies towards the Jews – retribution
3. still shared Hitler’s vision of the future – the Thousand Year Reich - The last phase of the war saw a rise of violence – local Nazi officials killing many Germans who showed signs of wanting to surrender.** Roving squads of SS executed suspected deserters. Death marches of concentration camp survivors. **
- BUT also signs that at the very end, **most became concerned with their own personal survival rather than fighting. ** Breakdown of government; no support for refugees and evacuees; and breakdown of the Hitler myth of invincibility.
