History: Weimar and Nazi Germany

• Dictat= harsh rules imposed on Germany after being defeated in WW1
• Treaty of Versailles= treaty signed by Germany to end the war, it was very unfair as they had to pay huge reparations (money) which caused inflation.
• Hyperinflation= rapid increase of the price of goods in 1923 that caused great poverty and money to become worthless.
• Reparations= £6.6 billion that Germany was ordered to pay to GB, Belgium, France as a compensation for the damage caused in WW1
• Ruhr Crisis= French troops occupied German industrial area called Ruhr because Germany couldn't afford to pay their reparations so France took over the factories instead
• War Guilt Clause= Germany being forced to admit they were guilty for starting WW1
• Book Burning= 1933 -> 100,000 books were burnt - this was because they went against Hitler and the Nazis beliefs and ideas
• The Ruhr= an area of Germany with coalfields and factories; the French army invaded the Ruhr because Germany had not paid reparations to France
• Freikorps= armed groups of unemployed ex-soldiers who fought against the communists
• Spartacists= German Communists who tried to take over the government in 1919
• November Criminals= the name given to the German politicians who signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919
• February 1933= Reichstag Fire = the Reichstag (German Parliament) was set on fire by a communist (Van Der Lubbe, who was later executed). Hitler ordered that Communists leaders should be arrested and put in prison.
• March 1933 = General Election = The Nazis won 288 seats in the Reichstag. They were now the largest political party. Hitler banned the Communists from the Reichstag.
• March 1933= Enabling Act = The Reichstag voted to let Hitler make his own rules without opposition for 4 years.
• March 1933 = Concentration camps (prisons) were built so the Nazis could put their political opponents in prison (Communists).
• April 1933 = Hitler set up the Gestapo, a secret police force. It had the power to arrest people and put them in prison without a trial.
• July 1933 = all the other political parties apart from the Nazi Party were banned.
• April 1934 = Hitler set up the Nazi People's Courts. Judges had to swear loyalty to Hitler. Anyone suspected of being against the Nazis was sent to prison.
• August 1934 = President Hindenburg died =Hitler declared himself president, chancellor and head of the army. All soldiers had to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler. Hitler was known as the Fuhrer (Leader).
• Brownshirts = the name of Hitler's earliest supporters. They were often armed. They attacked opponents such as Communists.
• The German Workers' Party (DAP) = a political group formed by Anton Drexler in 1919.
• National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), February 1920 = the new name of the German Workers' Party, called then Nazi Party for short.
• Munich Putsch (Beer Hall Putsch) = an event in 1923 when Hitler and the Nazi Party attempted to take over the city of Munich. They were betrayed and defeated by the army and police, Hitler was put on trial and sent to prison.
• Great Depression = 1929 - 1933 = severe unemployment and poverty which followed the Wall Street Crash. In Germany there were almost 7 million unemployed by 1933.
• 1929= Germany signs the Dawes plan: reparations payments were lowered, and America agreed to lend Germany $200 million to rebuild the economy. Later, when the Wall Street crash happens Germans are asked to pay back the money they had borrowed.