Wartime

Question 1

What countries did the Nazis invade after Poland?

Answer 1

October 1939: Baltic states
November 1939: Finland
April 1940: Denmark + Norway
May 1940: Holland, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg
April 1941: Yugoslavia + Greece
June 1941: USSR

Question 2

Why was Norway important to Germany?

Answer 2

Iron ore supplies from Sweden passed through Norway

Question 3

Why was Germany so successful at the start of the war?

Answer 3

Most of the countries they chose to invade were weak as they had few defences eg. Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Both Belgium and the Netherlands had small armies and air forces and relied on rivers and canals for defences

France fell within a month due to a defeatist attitude and ineffective preparation over . many years and an overreliance on the Maginot Line (French defence fortifications built along the Franco-German border by be French during the 1930s. They were supposed to be impenetrable, but the Germans simply bypassed them)

Use of blitzkrieg tactics

Question 4

Why did Hitler launch the Battle of Britain / Operation Sealion?

Answer 4

Hitler had offered peace to Britain on July 19th, but Churchill declined any compromise

Initially, Hitler wanted to invade Britain, but for this he needed air supremacy over the channel so that barges could carry troops across the channel. The Luftwaffe began by attacking radar installations and the bases of British fighter command in the south of England, but the German air force suffered heavy losses and the invasion had to be abandoned.

The Luftwaffe changed tactics and on September 7th began bombing British cities, particularly London, in the hope of destroying morale.

Question 5

When was the Battle of Britain?

Answer 5

11 July to 31 October 1940

Question 6

Why did Germany lose the Battle of Britain?

Answer 6

Change of tactics gave British fighter command with the time it needed to replace lost aircraft

Britain had a technically superior aeroplane, the Spitfire, and used radar to great effect

Question 7

Why did Hitler decide to invade the USSR?

Answer 7

Hitter had always intended to turn east and invade the USSR due to Nazi racial ideology and the fact that the south of the USSR contained many much-needed raw materials, particularly corn and oil.

He was convinced of the weakness of Soviet forces due to their poor performance in the Winter War in Finland (war lasted 3 and a half months even with finnish troops being vastly outnumbered by the Soviets)

Success of Blitzkrieg convinced Hitler that the USSR could be defeated in 8 weeks

Question 8

When did Germany invade the USSR?

Answer 8

22 June 1941

Question 9

Why was the invasion of the USSR delayed?

Answer 9

Hitler’s ally Mussolini had launched assaults against the British in north Africa and Greece. These attacks faced setbacks and Hitler was forced to intervene

Hitler was also forced into action in Yugoslavia when an anti-Nazi government was established, threatening his oil supplies from Romania.

Total setback was about a month

Question 10

Why did the delay in invading the USSR hamper German troops?

Answer 10

German troops suffered terribly in the Russian winter as they had not been equipped for the extreme weather. Led to them being halted at both Moscow and Leningrad

Question 11

What was the turning point of the war?

Answer 11

November 1942:

The British defeated the Germans in the desert of north Africa and drove them out of north Africa

300,000 German troops were surrounded and forced to surrender at Stalingrad

Germany could no longer count on a swift victory

Question 12

Why did German people fight to the end?

Answer 12

Hard to remove Hitler from power -
No way of legally removing him
Only a few people had access to him (top Nazis + officers )
July 1944 Bomb Plot increased his popularity

Hitler still retained a level of control
- Most officers felt bound by their oaths to him
- Could still dominate people with his personality
- Many found it hard to turn on a man they had viewed as a virtual messiah for 10 years

Regime survived through terror
- 5,000 executed following July Bomb Plot
- Criticism could lead to fierce repression

Allied terms didn’t suit Germany
- No option but unconditional surrender
- Top Nazis were involved in war crimes and could not expect leniency

Fear over what USSR would do after defeat of Germany
- Growing public awareness of the horrors of the Eastern front
- As Soviets advanced, thousands of Germans committed suicide

Question 13

What were the statistics for the war economy at the start of the war?

Answer 13

Military expenditure more than doubled in the period from 1939-1941

By 1941 some 55% of the workforce was engaged in war related projects BUT armaments production remained relatively low despite this

The number of aircraft produced increased from 8290 in September 1939 to only 10,780 in June 1941

Similar disappointing numbers were seen in tank production, which meant that when Germany invaded the USSR in June 1941 it had just 800 more tanks than when it invaded the west in 1940

Labour shortage - number of men employed in industrial production decreased from 24-5 million to 20-5 million between 1939 and 1940 as some 4 million had been called up to fight in the war

Question 14

How did Germany try to solve its labour shortage during the war and what effect did these methods have?

Answer 14

Forcibly recruited foreign workers from southern and central Europe - needed to be policed to ensure they worked and that there was no undesired racial contact between German and non-German workers BUT thi s policing absorbed even more of the workforce

Called up women into the workforce - single women made up 37% of the workforce as early as September 1939 (much higher than Britain at the time) BUT were slow to mobilise married women as Hitler believed this would damage soldiers’ morale (armed forces needed to know that wives and girlfriends were being properly looked after)

Question 15

What was rationing like at the start of the war?

Answer 15

Rationing was introduced early in the war, with many more items rationed than in Britain

2 out of 5 Germans actually ate more healthily than before the war, although diet was monotonous and the amount of meat and dairy produce was limited

Goods produced in Germany were bolstered by large amounts of plundered items from conquered countries

Question 16

How did rationing change through the war?

Answer 16

German leaders were concerned that food rationing would undermine confidence in the regime, therefore food allowances were increased at Christmas 1942

As defeat became more likely, government became more chaotic. Ration cards were no longer honoured and instead, people had to rely on the black market for goods

Question 17

What changes did Speer make to reform the war economy?

Answer 17

Established Central planning Board in April 1942, supported by a range of committees to represent different parts of the economy

Used concentration camp prisoners as workers

Employed women in armaments factories

Ended the conscription of skilled workers into the armed forces

Eliminated professional sport and closed magazines and businesses that were not essential to the war

Question 18

What successes did Speer’s policy have?

Answer 18

In his first 6 months in office:
Tank production rose by 25%
Ammunition production rose by 97%
Total arms production rose by 59%

By 1944 there had been a threefold increase in war materials when compared with 1942

Question 19

What factors was Speer handicapped by?

Answer 19

Influence of party Gauleiters at local level - able to prevent Speer’s orders from being carried out

SS exploited conquered lands for personal gain rather than the war economy

Conquered territories were plundered rather than exploited

Allied bombing prevented Germany from increasing arms production further and caused the diversion of resources to the construction of anti-aircraft sites

Question 20

When was Goebbels’ ‘Total War’ speech?

Answer 20

18 February 1943

Question 21

What prompted Goebbels’ ‘Total War’ speech?

Answer 21

The surrender of the German army at Stalingrad in February 1943

Question 22

What impact did bombing have on morale on the Home front?

Answer 22

Rather than reducing morale, we snared suffering brought the Nazi Party and the people closer together and increased resentment towards the enemy instead of a wish to surrender.

Goebbels gained popularity by visiting bombed areas

Question 23

What was the impact of the war on workers?

Answer 23

Total War increased pressure on workers:
- Working week increased to 60 hours in 1944
- Extra payments for overtime were removed
- Holidays were banned in August 1944

Increase in working hours and pressure to increase productivity had impact and workers’ health and welfare - accident’s increased and health deteriorated

Nazis tried to maintain productivity by restoring wases to their pre-war level and by re-introducing bonuses BUT, these brought few benefits due to the rise in axes on things live beer and tobacco

Question 24

What was the impact of the war on women?

Answer 24

Women bore the brunt of the hardships on the Home Front as housewives, Mothers, and workers

Much tension existed between Nazi ideology and the demands of the war economy, with Hitler initially refusing to sanction the increase of female workers in 1940 - meant that by June 1940 only 250,000 women had been conscripted

Hitler was forced to abandon his ideological objections following the defeat at Stalingrad. The Decree of Jan 1943 meant that all women had to register for work

Question 25

What was the impact of the war on the youth?

Answer 25

Suffered educationally as the number and quality of teaching staff declined

Formation of military training camps for 17 year olds. Conscription age dropped to 16 in 1945.

Greater emphasis on military training rather than academic skills led to many feeling alienated and forming counter groups

Question 26

What was the attitude of the elites/conservative upper classes during the war?

Answer 26

Diverse views: sone held a moved conviction that the Nazi regime was inherently evil, others were patriotic yet believed that Hitler was leading Germany to destruction

Traditional, aristocratic conservatives wanted a return to an authoritarian, non-Nazi style of government

Question 27

How did leadership lead to the defeat of Germany?

Answer 27

Hitler convinced generals of the achievability of certain territorial goals even though Germany did not have the necessary economic resources.

Hitler did not make allowances for the resilience of his opposition or its capacity for endurance and was unwilling to sanction military retreat.

Declaring war on the USA was a bad move and conveyed Hitler’s lack of understanding of be strategic implications of the entry of the USA into the war. He miscalculated it would become bogged down with conflicts in the pacific

Question 28

How did military strategy Iead to the defeat of Germany?

Answer 28

The ease of early victories in the west boosted Hitler’s self-confidence and he became delusional about the powers of his own superior strategic thinking

Operation Sealion lacked any sense of total commitment and relied on the premise of German air superiority

The extension of the war in north Africa and the inclusion of the USA were a direct consequence of his inability to defeat Russia

Hitler’s decision to switch to attacking Russia before defeating Britain and then his declaration of war on the USA before defeating Russia revealed a flawed tactical approach to warfare. He had left undefeated Britain in the west, and an undefeated Soviet Union in the east, both backed by the USA and created a war on two fronts.

Question 29

How did resources lead to the defeat of Germany?

Answer 29

Hitler ignored warnings that Germany’s economy had not developed sufficiently to wage a global conflict.

Preference for offensive rather than defensive weapons led to massive over-investment in the V1 and V2 rocket programmes

In the Soviet Union, German lines became overextended and the supply of ammunition, food, petrol, spares, and battle dress failed to keep up with demand

The American Lend- Lease Act of 1941 meant that Britain and later Russia could be supplied with all the military equipment they needed until the end of the war.

Allied bombing raids seriously damaged Germany’s industry, with production of ornaments cut by 50% and damaged transport and communications networks