Nazi Germany (EDUQAS)

• Weimar Republic


  Democratic parliamentary government of Germany 1918-1933
• President


  Head of state and army; voted by the people every 7 years
• Chancellor


  Prime Minister chosen by President - often leader of the biggest party
• Reichstag


  Parliament
• Constitution


  A set of rules/laws on how a country is run
• Proportional representation


  Number of votes won reflects number of seats in parliament (e.g. 10% of votes = 10% seats)
• Coalition


  A government made up of 2 or more parties
• Putsch


  Political uprising / attempt to seize power
• Freikorps


  Ex-soldiers organised like an army
• Treaty of Versailles


  • Land lost
  • Uprisings against the Weimar Republic
• Structure of the Weimar Constitution

  1. President has power to dismiss Reichstag

  2. Reichstag seats allocated by proportional representation (PR) leading to coalitions

  3. Article 48 gave President power to rule in an emergency
• Hyperinflation


  Money became worthless
• Stresemann's economic recovery measures

  1. Ended strikes

  2. Promised to pay reparations

  3. French troops left Ruhr

  4. Introduced temporary currency: Rentenmark
• Dawes Plan


  Proposed April 1924, agreed September 1924. Reparation payments rescheduled to make them easier. USA loaned Germany 800 million Marks.
• Young Plan


  Proposed August 1929, agreed January 1930. Reduced the total reparations amount by 20 per cent. Germany was to pay 2 billion Marks per year.
• Signs of economic recovery 1924-29

  • Industrial production levels higher than 1913
  • Exports rose by 40%
  • Workers wages and standards of living rose
  • Pension, health & unemployment insurance schemes introduced
• Signs of continued economic weakness 1924-29

  • Agricultural production did not recover
  • Germany spent more on imports than it earned from exports
  • Unemployment did not fall below 1.3 million
  • Government spent more than it received in taxes, deficits continued
• International Improvements 1924-29


  • Locarno Pact 1925: Germany, France and Belgium agreed to respect borders
  • League of Nations 1926: Germany accepted as permanent member
  • Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928: Germany & 64 countries agreed to solve disputes peacefully
• Political Developments 1924-29


  • Moderate parties like Social Democrats were popular and formed coalitions
  • Extremist parties like Nazis had less support
  • Hindenburg became President in 1925, showing old conservatives were prepared to work with Weimar
• Social Developments: Position of Women 1924-29

  • Women over 20 given the vote in 1919
  • Equality in education, government jobs, and equal pay
  • More women doing skilled work
• Cultural Developments 1924-29


  • Art focused on everyday people and life
  • Film Metropolis highlighted differences between rich and poor
• Early Nazi 25 Point Programme


  • Abolish Treaty of Versailles
  • Unite all German people
  • A single leader with complete power, not democracy
  • Aryan race was superior, Jews were 'subhuman'
  • Germany should be economically self-sufficient
  • Destroy communists and Jews
• SA/brownshirts


  Protection squad; became a group who intimidated/threatened voters
• Ernst Rohm


  Leader of SA
• Goebbels


  In charge of propaganda
• Himmler


  In charge of SS from 1929
• SS


  Hitler's personal bodyguard
• Local leaders


  Regional party leaders to run Nazi party across country
• Munich Putsch November 1923

  1. Nazis interrupted meeting of police chief, the head of local government, and army chief in a Munich beer hall

  2. Pressured them to support his putsch at gunpoint

  3. Next day Nazis marched in Munich - Police fired; 16 Nazis and 4 police were killed

  4. Hitler was arrested and Nazi party banned
• Outcome of Munich Putsch
• Nazi electoral Success


  1. 1928: 12 seats won

  2. 1930: 107 seats - huge increase

  3. July 1932: 230 seats - largest party

  4. Nov 1932: 196 seats - still largest party

  5. Jan 1933: Von Papen persuades Hindenburg to appoint Hitler chancellor
• From Chancellor to Fuhrer

  1. 27th February 1933: Reichstag Fire - Hitler blamed the Communists

  2. 5th March 1933: Election - 288 seats, 52% of the vote

  3. 24th March 1933: Enabling Act passed - allowed Hitler to make any laws he wanted

  4. May 1933: Trade unions banned and replaced with DAF

  5. July 1933: Other political parties banned

  6. Nov 1933: Election - 95% voted Nazis

  7. January 1934: Regional parliaments reorganised, putting Nazi Reich Governors in charge

  8. 30th June 1934: Night of the Long Knives - Rohm and 400 others executed

  9. August 1934: Hindenburg dies, Hitler became President as well as Chancellor
• Reasons for Nazi Success

  • Depression and unemployment
  • Weakness of Weimar government
  • Effective propaganda
  • Fear of communism
  • Hitler's speeches and tactics
  • Luck with timing of events
• Solving Unemployment: Labour Service Corps (RAD)
• Solving Unemployment: Job Creation Schemes
• Controlling the economy


  1. Deficit spending

  2. Mefo Bills (credit notes to finance spending)

  3. Four-Year Plan (1936-1940) to speed up rearmament and establish self-sufficiency
• Invisible Unemployment
• Rearmament - preparation for war


  1. Conscription - thousands forced to join military

  2. Coal, iron & steel usage trebled

  3. Built tanks, aircraft & ships

  4. 26 billion marks spent on rearmament
• German Labour Front (DAF)


  Replaced trade unions, controlled discipline of workers, regulating pay & hours, banned strikes
• Women


  • Traditional role; traditional dress; no makeup
  • The Three K's - Kinder, Kuche, Kirche (Children, Kitchen, Church)
  • Law for the Encouragement of Marriage 1933 - loans for marriage, Motherhood Cross medal
  • Lebensborn (Life Springs) Programme 1936 - unmarried aryan women encouraged to become pregnant by 'racially pure' SS men