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Germany Flashcards > Unit 6- The Impact of War 1939-45 > Flashcards

Unit 6- The Impact of War 1939-45 Flashcards

1
Q

How was food rationing systems set up at the start of the war ?

A

-Decrees established food rationing system issued in August 1939

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2
Q

What caused panic buying before the rationing systems took effect ?

A
  • Clothing not included initially in rationing scheme
  • Permits needed to purchase clothing
  • Caused panic buying
  • Led to inclusion of clothing in rationing theme in Nov 1939
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3
Q

How were food rations allocated ?

A
  • Based on age, occupation and race
  • Manual labourers received more
  • Jews received smaller rations
  • Special allocations for pregnant women, nursing mothers and the sick
  • Remained unchanged for the first 2 years of the war
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4
Q

What was the outcome of consumption in the early years of the war ?

A
  • Nazis reluctant to ask people to reduce consumption- anti war feelings
  • Civilian consumption cut more in Germany than in Britain at the start of the war
  • Able to exploit newly occupied countries for food supplies
  • Nazi-soviet pact= imports of grain from Russia
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5
Q

What was the outcome of food rationing in the early years of the war?

A
  • Worked efficiently
  • No serious food shortages in first 2 years of war
  • Shortages of coal, shoes, soap and washing powder caused discontent from time to time
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6
Q

What happened to rations after the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 ?

A
  • Rations reduced
  • Meat cut from 500g per person per week to 400g, then cut again
  • Later years of war, meat couldn’t be eaten every day
  • Food supplies limited in industrial cities
  • Increased malnutrition
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7
Q

How were farmers affected by reduced rations and shortages ?

A
  • Had access to food- could grow themselves
  • Shortages of animal feed, fuel and replacement tools
  • Limited ability to produce food
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8
Q

What was Phase 1 of the war ?

A
  • Blitzkrieg
  • Sep 1939 to Jun 1941
  • First 2 years of war
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9
Q

What were the events of Blitzkrieg ?

A
  • Germany defeated Poland in the East

- Series of quick victories against European countries

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10
Q

What was the public mood in Phase 1 of the war ?

A
  • Volatile

- Quick and easy victories were a cause for celebration

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11
Q

How did propaganda affect public mood in Phase 1 of the war ?

A
  • Not always effective in lifting morale
  • Edited newsreels showed stunning victories
  • Hitler presented as military genius, responsible for victories
  • Hitler made 9 major speeches 1940-41
  • Led to people to be optimistic that war would end
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12
Q

What was Phase 2 of the war ?

A
  • Spreading of war

- Jun-Dec 1941

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13
Q

What were the events of Phase 2 of the war ?

A
  • Germany invaded USSR, occupied vast areas of territory
  • Red Army launched counter attack against Germans
  • Germany declared war on USA
  • Hope of short victories was over
  • World war against Grand Alliance of USSR, USA and Britain
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14
Q

What was the public mood in Phase 2 of the war ?

A
  • Success of Germans forcing Red army to retreat = OPTIMISM
  • SD report people’s fears that the war would continue for years
  • Soldiers talked of harsh winter conditions
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15
Q

How was propaganda used during Phase 2 of the war ?

A
  • Invasion of USSR presented as a crusade against ‘Jewish-Bolshevism’
  • Propaganda downplayed Soviet success- letters home from soldiers undermined propaganda
  • Soldiers talked of harsh winter conditions and soviet supply of manpower and equipment
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16
Q

How did Nazis explain the spreading of war to the German people in Phase 2 ?

A
  • Scapegoats used- even though Germany declared war on USA
  • Acc to propaganda- Jewish international conspiracy to destroy 3rd Reich and Aryan race
  • Increase in Anti-Semetic policy during the war
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17
Q

What was Phase 3 of the war ?

A
  • The turning of the tide

- Jan 1942- Jan 1943

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18
Q

What were the events of Phase 3 of the war ?

A
  • Germany losses in the USSR
  • Due to harsh winter conditions
  • Stalinsgrad
  • Regime attempts to gear up nation for total war
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19
Q

What was the public mood in Phase 3 of the war ?

A
  • Rising casualties and letters home awakened population to realities of war
  • Defeat at Stalingrad signalled defeat
  • War-weariness more evident
  • Confidence in regime beginning to erode
  • Patriotism was also evident and willingness to endure hardships to help their country
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20
Q

How was Nazi Propaganda declining in Phase 3 of the war ?

A
  • Gobbles appeal for people to collect winter coats for soldiers- mood of disillusionment deepens
  • News of defeat shocked public morale- Gobbles built up unrealistic expectations of Nazi victory and concealed truth
  • Hitler Myth declines
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21
Q

What was Phase 4 of the war ?

A
  • Total war
  • Defeat of Germany
  • Feb 1943- May 1945
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22
Q

What were the events of Phase 4 of the war ?

A
  • Total war declared Feb 1943
  • British and American bomb German cities to cripple German’s war effort
  • D-Day landings in Normandy opened a second front in Western Europe
  • Early 1945, Allies entered Germany
  • Germany conceded unconditional surrender on 8th May 1945
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23
Q

What was public mood in Phase 4 of the war ?

A
  • Gobbles radical measures to mobilise population and economy criticised for late introduction
  • Though generally welcomed
  • Continuous defeats on Eastern Front, failure of U-boat campaign against Britain and heavy allied bombing on German cities= low public morale
  • End of 1944, defeat accepted as inevitable
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24
Q

How did Propaganda decline in Phase 4 of the war ?

A
  • Hitler couldn’t be portrayed as military genius- hitler myth declined
  • People lost faith in the Fuhrer
  • Nazi propaganda and the Hitler Myth crumbled away
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25
Q

When was there a temporary boost in public mood in Phase 4 of the war ?

A
  • German defeats- feeling that the war was finally ending
  • Gobbles trying to counter-defeatism with talks of plans of secret weapons
  • Use of V1 and V2 missiles, temporarily raised spirits-but couldn’t alter the course of the war
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26
Q

What were the elites attitudes towards the Nazis and war ?

A
  • Some thought Nazis were evil
  • Some patriotic- but thought Hitler was leading country to destruction
  • Aristocratic Helmut Von Maske disturbed he was living in comfort and others were living dismally
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27
Q

What was the Decree of the conversion of the whole German economy onto a war footing’ 1939 ?

A
  • Wage reductions

- Ban on bonuses, Sunday work and night shifts

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28
Q

What was the impact of the Decree of the conversion of the whole German economy onto a war footing’ 1939 ?

A
  • Increase in levels of absenteeism
  • Oct 1939- wages restored to pre-war levels
  • Bonuses restored
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29
Q

What laws were introduced towards workers in Aug 1944 ?

A
  • Total ban on holidays
  • Working week increased to 60 hrs
  • Overtime payments abolished
  • Workers could have reserved status removed= conscription to army
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30
Q

How could employers control their workers ?

A
  • Could allocate extra food rations for good attendance

- Impose fines for absenteeism and bad timekeeping

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31
Q

What was the DAF factory cell system ?

A
  • Workers divided into groups, under a Nazi party member

- Who would monitor their attendance

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32
Q

What was the hourly system replaced with to raise productivity in workers ?

A
  • Switched to a new system
  • If they produced more, they earned more
  • Replaced hourly based system
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33
Q

What impact did the increase in working hours and pressure to work and produce more have on workers ?

A
  • The increase in working hours and pressure to work and produce more:
  • Increase in accidents at work
  • Decline in workers health
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34
Q

How many women were in the workforce in May 1939 ?

A
  • 37.4% of women made up the workforce
  • Only 20% in Britain
  • Four Year Plan= 6.4 million married women in employment
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35
Q

Why was there tension with women in the workforce for the Nazis ?

A
  • Conflict between Nazi ideology and war economy
  • Hitler refused in 1940 for women workers
  • Said they needed to be devoted to childbearing
  • Need to increase armaments production= pressure for women to be employed in industry
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36
Q

How many women were conscripted into work in June 1940 ?

A
  • Only 250,000 women conscripted

- Many transferred from consumer goods to war work

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37
Q

What did providing benefits to families of soldiers ensure ?

A
  • Provided benefits for families of conscripted soldiers
  • Reduced need for married women to seek work
  • Maintain Nazi ideology and reduce women in employment
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38
Q

Why was there a decline in married women in employment between 1939-41 ?

A
  • Increase in working hours

- More pressure for married women to give up employment if they had children

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39
Q

What was Goering’s decree issued in 1941 towards women ?

A
  • All women workers in receipt of family allowance and gave up paid employment, but didn’t have children
  • Should work or they lose their allowance
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40
Q

What was the impact of Goering’s decree issued towards women ?

A
  • Limited- only applied to women who had been employed previously
  • Not married women who never worked outside the home (middle class)
  • Class resentments- previous workers were working class, they were angry
  • Only 130,000 extra women employed
41
Q

What decree was issued in Jan 1943 towards women ?

A
  • All women 17-45 forced to register to work
  • Hitler abandoned ideology
  • Older women, pregnant, mothers of 2 or more children and farmers wives exempt
  • Working class women resented the exemptions
42
Q

What happened when Hitler was asked to raise the age limit of women to register to work ?

A
  • Asked to raise age limit to 50
  • Refused
  • By 1944, situation was so grave he agreed
43
Q

What % of women compromised the labour force by 1945 ?

A

-By 1945, 60% of women compromised the labour force

44
Q

How did women begin to play a part in the war and armed forces ?

A
  • Assigned auxiliary roles
  • Replaced men in servicing anti-aircraft guns
  • Operated searchlights
  • 50,000 on anti-aircraft guns and 30,000 on searchlights
  • 1944- auxiliary corps established for women
  • 470,000 female auxiliaries- many conscripted
  • Final stages- women’s battalions of the army established
  • Trained for combat roles
45
Q

What was the Nazi’s biggest priority with the Youth during the war ?

A

-Welfare and indoctrination of youth biggest priority- believed they could contribute to the war effort

46
Q

What actions were taken with the Youth during the early stages of the war ?

A
  • Early stages- not necessary to conscript
  • Hitler Youth continued- greater emphasises on preparing for roles as soldiers (shooting practice)
  • Sent in to help with harvest
  • All youth expected to participate in collecting money for Winter Aid Programme
47
Q

How did the age of conscription change for the youth ?

A
  • 1940- 19
  • 1941- Reduced to 18
  • 1943- Reduced to 17
  • 1945- Reduced to 16
48
Q

How many of the youth helped out with the harvest ?

A
  • 1942
  • 600,000 boys
  • 1.4 million girls
49
Q

How was there more emphasis on military training in the Hitler Youth ?

A
  • Camps
  • 17 year olds would attend 3 week courses under army and Wafer SS instructors
  • 1942- 120 of these camps established
50
Q

How were schoolboys military trained in Jan 1943 ?

A
  • 16/17 year olds conscripted at Luftwane and naval auxiliaries
  • Deployed on air defence duties
  • Whole school classes conscripted
  • Boys continued education under visiting teachers
51
Q

What was the Volkssturum (Home Guard ) ?

A
  • Conscription introduced in 1944
  • 16-60 year olds who weren’t fit for active service
  • Young men dug anti-tank Dutches
  • Trained to use anti- tank weapons
  • End of war- boys ages 12 conscripted into Volkssturum
52
Q

Where was a division of the Hitler Youth sent to in 1944?

A

-Battle of Normandy 1944

53
Q

What was passed in 1939 to turn the German economy to total war ?

A

-Decree for the Conversion of the Whole German Economy onto a war footing

54
Q

Why didn’t the economy reach full mobilisation until 1942 ?

A
  • 1939-41- shortages of weapons and equipment
  • 1941, supply problems hinder war effort- operation Barborosa and war with Mediterranean
  • Hitler didn’t anticipate war in 1939- thought allies would let him invade Poland
55
Q

Why was armaments production disrupted ?

A
  • War disrupted full-scale production of armaments
  • Armed forces demand different specialised equipment of high quality
  • Production of different types of weapons expensive and needed labour
  • labour force in armaments 21%-55% sep 1939 and 1941, supply of weapons grew slowly
  • Mass production of more standardised weapons would have been cheaper and capable of producing lots
  • Military designed and ordered many different versions of the same weapons- making standardisation impossible to achieve
56
Q

Why was Goering bad for the war economy ?

A
  • Lacked technical and economic knowledge
  • Had poor relations with military leaders and leaders of large companies and banks
  • Was busy building his own economic empire
  • War economy needed greater centralised coordination
  • Speer appointed in 1942
57
Q

How did Speer allocate resources to the armed forces ?

A
  • Armed forces submitted their requests to Speer’s ministry

- Speer issued decree punishing arms manufactures who made false claims for labour, parts, equipment or raw materials

58
Q

How did Speer limit the production of non-essential goods ?

A
  • Campaigned against the allocation of vital resources for non-military users
  • Ban on all post war construction
  • Had a rubber stamp ‘return to sender irrelevant to war effort’
  • 1942- trip to Hitler’s headquarters- ordered clothes hangers and reading lamps should be stripped off trains and sent for scrap metal
59
Q

How did Speer bring in greater standardisation ?

A
  • In the use of ammunition and rationalised transport production
  • Concentrating productions on only 3 types of lorry
  • Also reduced wasteful stockpiles
  • Production of the Messer Schmitt BF 109, one of Germany’s main fighter aircraft was concentrated in 3 factories, rather than the 7 used previously
  • Rationalised production methods meant the production of this aircraft increased from 180 per month to 100 per month
60
Q

How did Speer tackle the Gauleitter empires ?

A
  • Biggest obstacle to the war effort- they wanted to keep work in their own areas
  • Prepared to use blackmail, threatening them with no coal supplies if he didn’t help with the food supply
61
Q

How did Speer make use of labour for the war economy ?

A
  • Pressed for increased use of 3 shifts a day
  • Effective use of foreign labour in the countries of origin rather than in Germany itself
  • Concentration camp labour extended
  • Half a million women taken out of domestic employment
  • Special task forces to repair bombed factories
  • Temporary accommodation for workers could go up in one day
62
Q

How did Speer try to block military recruitment ?

A
  • Key production being disrupted by conscription of skilled workers
  • Gained Hitler’s promise to block military recruitment of skilled workers
  • This failed
  • Efforts hindered by Nazi political infighting
63
Q

What were the results of the economy within 6 months after Speer’s appointment ?

A
  • Ammunitions output up by 97%
  • Tanks production up by 25%
  • Arms productivity went up to 60%
  • 1941-44- tanks production to 1,7328
  • 1941-43- German aircraft production increased by 250%
  • Production of aircraft increased from 180 per month to 1000 per month
64
Q

What was the economic impact of allied bombing 1942-45 ?

A
  • Gains in production achieved by Speer still occurred
  • Bombings had an impact on production- supply lines damaged and factories had to be dispersed
  • Jan 1945- 35% fewer tanks, 31% fewer aircraft and 42% fewer lorries being produced
  • Intense bombing campaign Jan-MAY 1945- caused a reduction in the amount of armaments being produced
65
Q

How was the labour force mobilised for production of armaments ?

A
  • Large numbers of non-essential workers released for military service
  • Reduction of workers employed in consumer goods industries
  • Rise in employed in mutations
  • Full scale conscription of labour into war work not implemented in first 2 years of war
  • Efforts to take labour away from civilian work to concentrate on armaments- opposed by Gauleiters
  • Exercise conducted to identify men who could be released from employment for military service
66
Q

What was the Decree for the comprehensive deployment of men and women for Reich defence tasks 1943?

A
  • Small committee to oversee mobilisation of labour
  • All men (16-65) and women (17-45) had to register to work
  • Small businesses that were non-essential should close and employees would be transferred for more essential work
  • Women workers not treated the same as male workers
67
Q

How was Foreign Labour used in the war economy ?

A
  • Invasion of USSR= more prisoners
  • 1941- Russian prisoners of war to be used as slave labour
  • Dec 1941- 4 million foreign workers employed in Germany
  • March 1942- Plenipotentiary General for Labour Allocation- to organise allocation of foreign labour
  • 1942-45- 2.8 million workers transported from Eastern Europe
  • 7 million foreign workers in Germany and another 7 million in occupied countries used as labour for Germany by 1944
  • Large cooperations like IG Farben used foreign forced labour
  • By 1944- foreign labour is 1/4 of German labour force
68
Q

What conditions did Foreign workers face ?

A
  • Harsh conditions
  • Wages low
  • Living conditions harsh
  • Discipline severe
  • Forced labourers from East paid half the amount of Western Europe and German workers
69
Q

What were the Origins of the Final solution ?

A
  • Hitler’s ideology fixed before 1933- Jews to face harmful consequences
  • War essential for the Holocaust to take place
  • Hitler linked war in Europe with fate of the jews
  • Urgency of Nazi’s problems that led to radical new policies
70
Q

What was the Wannsee Conference Jan 1942 ?

A
  • Meeting to inform senior bureaucrats of their roles in implementing a decision that was already made
  • Decision came after invasion of the Soviet Union
  • Meeting of 15 high-ranking Nazi officials
  • Hitler and Himmler not in attendance
  • Chairman was Reinhard Heydrich
  • Received orders from Goering to organise the ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Question’
71
Q

What actions were taken against Jews after the Wannsee Conference ?

A
  • Deportations of Jews now to organised camp systems (no longer to Poland)
  • Way was open to coordinate mass killings
  • More than half of all Jews to die in the Holocaust were exterminated Feb 1942-Feb 1943
72
Q

How did Nazi propaganda against Jews intensify ?

A
  • Spring 1943- Gobbles ‘Total War’ speech followed by a massive propaganda drive in the Nazi press
  • Autumn 1943- Mass bombings and air raids- anti jewish propaganda
  • Summer 1944- Allied landings in France, another surge
  • Articles and speeches by Gobbles emphasised war would result in the destruction of Jews
  • Didn’t make it clear what would happen but theme of destruction was emphasised
73
Q

What did the Final Solution include ?

A
  • Mass killings given higher priority than military needs and were accelerated
  • Jewish population in France, Italy and Greece rounded up for deportation
  • Jewish ghettos at Minsk and Vilinus were destroyed
  • Feb 1944- remaining Jews of Amsterdam deported to Aushwitz
  • Didn’t abandon final solution when it was made clear the war would end
74
Q

How did the Nazi’s try to hide the Final Solution ?

A
  • Nov 1944- Soviets advanced into Poland, closed down killing machines
  • Crematoria at Aushwitz blown up and covered
  • Surviving prisoners put into forced marches westwards away from Red Army
75
Q

How were Concentration Camps used in the Final Solution ?

A
  • Camps in the East occupied territories at the end of 1941 on an enormous scale
  • Extermination at the heart of its system- these were death camps
  • Railway of Aushwitz, people unloaded from trains, those deemed ‘unproductive’ sent immediately to gas chambers
  • 1/5 of Holocaust victims died at Aushwitz
76
Q

What was Chelmno Camp?

A
  • First killing centre established 1941
  • Killings first carried out by mobile gas vans using carbon monoxide
  • Use of Zyklon B developed later in 1941 (poisonous cynaide gas)
  • 145,000 died there
77
Q

What was Majdanek Camp ?

A

-Death camp from 1941
-200,000 died there (60% were Jews)
Others were soviet prisoners of war or polish political prisoners

78
Q

What was Sobibor Camp ?

A
  • 250,000 victims (Jews and Soviets)
  • Oct 1943- Jewish revolt- 800 escaped
  • Camp closed soon after
79
Q

What was Auschwitz ?

A
  • Became the hub of vast killing machines
  • Had complex of buildings wit different functions
  • Auschwitz II= huge camp, arrivals from West and main gas chambers and crem
  • Auschwitz III= industrial complex, production of goods essential for war effort
80
Q

What Jewish Resistance was there during the Holocaust ?

A
  • Partial success
  • Eastern Europe- groups of Partisan fighters established base camps in the forests and carried out acts of sabotage against Nazi’s
  • Groups were Nationalist/Communists- also Jewish
  • 10,000 Jewish Partisans active in Lithuania 1942
  • General Gov of Poland- Hans Frank had to commit large security forces to deal with 20 partisan groups
  • Bielski Brothers- became a permanent community of 1200 partisans- also provided refuge for Jews escaping ghettos
81
Q

What Jewish revolts were there in ghettos and camps ?

A
  • Warsaw Ghetto Jan 1943
  • First attempts to crush rising failed
  • May 1943, resistance crushed by 2000 German forces using heavy weapons and supported by air strikes
  • Auschwitz- Jewish prisoners blew up Crematorium 4
  • Jews smuggled evidence to send to Western Allies- had little impact- didn’t believe it and didn’t know how to stop it
82
Q

What were the death marches ?

A
  • Military defeat= hurried evacuations and forced marches from autumn 1944
  • Camps closed down
  • Inmates sent on long marches eastwards, away from Red army
  • Caused suffering and death of illness and exhaustion
  • In freezing conditions, had no clothes and were malnourished
  • Hundreds shot by guards for being slow
  • Would repeat the process at the new camp, as this had to shut down too
  • Estimated 250,000- 400,000 died on marches
83
Q

Who were the Endelwiss Pirates ?

A
  • Working-class youth
  • Active in the Rhineland and Ruhr
  • Uniform of short trousers, white socks, a check shirt
  • Anti-Hitler Youth and avoided conscription
  • Hated discipline, sang songs banned by Hitler’s Youth
84
Q

What were the Cologne Group ?

A
  • 1944
  • Linked to underground group that helped army deserters, escaped prisoners of war
  • Obtained supplies by attacking military depots
  • Leaders of cologne Edwelwiss Pirates publicly hated in Nov 1944
85
Q

How did the Nazis deal with the Edelwiss Pirates ?

A
  • Arrested, shaved their heads
  • Banishment to labour camps
  • 7th Dec 1942- Gestapo broke up 28 groups in Dussledorf, Duisburg, Essen and Wuppertal
  • Leader of cologne publicly hanged Nov 1944
86
Q

What were the Swing Youth ?

A
  • Motivated by desire to have a good time
  • Rejection of Nazi values, listened to American and British Swing and Jazz
  • Wore English style clothing
  • Swing clubs in Hamburg, Berlin, Kiel
  • Jazz music in opposition with Nazi’s
  • Himmler wanted to send the leaders to concentration camps for 2-3 years
87
Q

What were the White Rose Group ?

A
  • Led by Hans and Sophie Scholl
  • Main target- educated, middle class
  • Influenced by Catholics like Bishop Galen
  • Emphasised individual freedom and personal responsibility
  • Attacked Nazi’s treatment of Jews and Slavs
  • 1942-43- issued 6 pamphlets, distributed mainly in Munich
  • Geb 1943- Painted anti-nazi slogans - ‘Hitler Mass Murderer’ on buildings
  • Caught by Gestapo and executed
88
Q

How was opposition from the Roman Catholic Church limited ?

A
  • Conflict between protecting their organisation and supporting some of the regimes policies
  • Supported war aims 1939 and invasion of USSR 1941
  • Individual churchmen protest, but churches as a whole were silent
89
Q

What opposition was there from the Roman Catholic Church ?

A
  • Bishop Galen sermon 1940 against euthanasia
  • Nazi’s killed 270,000 mentally and physically disabled people
  • Was successful- programme halted
  • Galen not persecuted- priests who delivered sermons were
  • 3 Catholic priests executed
  • Archbishop Frings of Cologne, commended the killing of prisoners of war
  • He denounced the Nazi’s persecution of Jews as a ‘crime that calls out to heaven’
  • Frings placed under Gestapo surveillance
90
Q

What opposition was there from the Protestant Church ?

A
  • Only Christian body in Germany to protest publically about the treatment of Jews
  • 1943- statement read from pulpits in Prussian Churches
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, outspoken critic of regime since 1933
  • Called for wider resistance to the treatment of Jews
  • Banned from speaking in public since 1940
  • His criticisms couldn’t reach a wider audience= limited
  • Arrested by Gestapo 1943, held in prison till execution
91
Q

What communist opposition was there ?

A
  • KPD had 89 underground cells operating in Berlin
  • Other cells in Hamburg, Mannheim and Central Germany
  • Spread ideas and gaining recruits through leaflets attacking the regime
92
Q

How was communist opposition dealt with ?

A
  • 1942-43- Gestapo had success in destroying the communist underground network
  • End of 1943- 22 communist cells in Berlin destroyed
93
Q

Why was Communist opposition limited ?

A
  • Pressure from Gestapo
  • Links to USSR, Germany’s biggest enemy
  • Couldn’t attract widespread support
94
Q

What was the Kresisau Circle ?

A
  • Elite opposition
  • Count Helmut von Moltke, leading figure
  • Included aristocrats, lawyers, SPD politicians and churchmen including Bonhoeffer
  • Belief in personal freedom and individual responsibility
  • Held 3 meetings in 1942-43, before the group was broken up by the Gestapo
95
Q

What was the first method of opposition by the Kresisau Circle ?

A
  • Those in 1938 plot: general beck, Karl Goederer, discuss acting against the regime
  • Had links to Bonhoeffer and Hans Oster
  • Wanted to persuade senior army generals to arrest Hitler
  • Also made contact with British government, hoping to negotiate peace if Hitler was removed
  • Not effective- decide to assassinate Hitler in 1943
96
Q

What was the first assassination attempt ?

A
  • March 1943
  • Bomb on Hitler’s plane
  • Failed to explode
  • April 1943- Arrests of Boehoffer and other members of the circle- close to discovery
97
Q

What was the second assassination attempt ?

A
  • 1943- General Claus voin Stauffenberg joined and succeeded in planting a bomb at Hitler’s headquarters
  • Plans for military coup (operation valkerye) to take over Berlin after Hitler’s assassination
  • Would establish a gov: conservatives, Spd, centre party
  • Would enter peace negotiations with allies
  • Bomb exploded but Hitler escaped with minor injuries
  • Broadcast proved he was alive
98
Q

What was the aftermath of the July assassination attempt ?

A
  • SS arrested 7000 people- executing 5746
  • Beck committed suicide
  • Stauffenberg was shot
  • Army lost indépendance, placed under SS control
  • Bomb plot gained little sympathy among ordinary germans
  • Plotters came from old elites, were traitors
  • Reported there was a feeling of relief that Hitler was alive

Germany Flashcards (6 decks)

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