Hitler and nazi germany

• How the Nazis increased employment


  1. Huge programme of public works including planting forests and building hospitals and schools

  2. Construction of the autobahns created work for 80,000 men

  3. Rearmament (preparing for war) created jobs in the armaments (weapons) industry
• Strength through Joy


  Most popular: provided people with leisure, time activities, concerts, plays, day trips/holidays
• Workers were encouraged to buy savings stamps and were told that when the entire book was filled, they could exchange it for a VW Beetle
• Targets of Hitler's economic policies

  • Full employment
  • Autarky
• Autarky


  The belief that Germany should be self-sufficient
• When war broke out in 1939, Germany was still importing 20% of its food and 33% of its raw materials. The wartime economy relied on forced labour and resources from conquered territories (Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia)
• Führer Principle


  Must be a single leader of a single party, holding complete power
• Master Race


  Germans were the 'Master Race' as they were descended from the Aryans and all other races were inferior. Jewish people and Slavs were regarded as subhuman. All inferior races had to be removed or made slaves of the Master Race
• Gestapo


  • Nazis secret police who gathered intelligence on people living in Germany
  • Over 150,000 informants throughout the country who would report any anti-Nazi sentiment
  • Had powers to arrest and detain those people who were considered enemies of the state/Nazi Party
• Special Courts


  • Almost all cases predetermined as guilty verdicts
  • Defendants unable to seek real legal advice and never allowed to give side of story
  • Cases took around 15 minutes
• SS


  • Formed as Hitler's personal bodyguard in 1925
  • Led by Heinrich Himmler
  • Recruits had to prove no Jewish ancestry
  • Taught they were the elite of mankind
  • Death's Head Unit-controlled concentration camps
• Concentration Camps


  • Camps in which people are detained, usually under harsh conditions
  • First camp set up in Dachau in March 1933 to house political opponents put to forced labour
  • People deemed 'undesirable' by Hitler and the Nazis included: political opponents, homosexuals, criminals, gypsies, Jewish people, religious figures, any out-spoken critics
• 45,000 Nazi ghettos/15-20 million imprisoned within camps between 1933-45
• At first, the Churches welcomed Hitler, as they thought he would resist Communists who were against all types of religion
• How Hitler took control of the Catholic and Protestant Churches

  1. Signed the Concordat with the Pope, agreeing the Catholic Church could worship freely so long as it did not interfere with or criticise the Nazi government

  2. Broke up the Catholic Youth League, arrested Catholic priests and banned religious teaching

  3. Established a Protestant Reich Church, with Nazi bishops

  4. Replaced the Bible with Mein Kampf and pagan festivals replaced Christian services

  5. Placed the 700,000 member strong Protestant Youth Movement under the Hitler Youth
• Martin Niemoller


  • Leader of the Confessional Church who spoke out against Hitler and the Nazi abuses of human rights
  • Arrested and put in a concentration camp, but survived the war and continued to speak out against human rights abuses
• The Catholic Archbishop of Munster led a successful campaign to end the Nazi policy of euthanasia of mentally disabled people
• Savings and pensions


  • Became worthless
  • Middle class affected most
• Those with a set salary (like teachers)


  • Salary didn't change with inflation
  • Earned practically nothing
• Some people


  • Used it to their advantage
  • Took out big loans
  • Repayments became worthless
• Those who rented property


  • Could not afford rent increases
  • Became homeless
• Prices


  1. Went up a few times a day

  2. Workers had to be paid several times a day

  3. Spent wages immediately
• Farmers


  • Coped well
  • Products remained in demand
  • Received more money as prices spiralled
• Prices rose faster than wages

  • People became ill
  • Unable to afford food or heating
• Great depression

  1929

  -unemployment rose to over 6million

  -20000 businesses declared bankrupt

  -9000 German banks had to shut down

  -value of goods fell drastically
• Propaganda

  -radio

  -print - anti nazi newspapers banned

  -films- projected a pro nazi message

  -rallies - bring excitement and satisfy people
• Nuremberg rallies

  -marches by soldiers

  -torchlight professions

  -speeches by Hitler

  -nazis in immaculate military dress
• Enabling act

  -23 march 1933

  -nazis had law making powers for 4 years

  -banned all political parties

  -trade unions banned

  -150,000 political leaders sent to concentration camps
• Invasion of the Ruhr

  -Germany failed to keep up with reparation payment in 1921

  -Jan 1923 French troops invaded the Ruhr and siezed the raw materials

  -Germany gov ordered to stop working but still got paid

  -this led to the government losing lots of money
• Women’s view

  -no makeup

  -dress in the simplest manner

  -seen as future mothers

  -not allowed to be skinny as it would affect infertility
• Night of the long knives

  -29-30 june 1934

  -Hitlers opposition was destroyed (SA) by the SS
• Kristallnacht

  -9 nov 1938

  -jewish homes and business and synagogues attacked

  -7,500 Jew shops destroyed

  -400 synagogues burned

  -100 Jews killled
• Discontent with Weimar

  -gov changing every 2 months - instability

  -signing the treaty of Versailles -unfair didn’t feel they should be held responsible

  -hyperinflation- people struggling to buy food

  -political threats-felt like gov wasnt in full control

  -reichstag fire- communist blamed

  -great depression- lots of people lost jobs
• Golden age

  • retenmark replaced the deutschmark - stabilise the prices
  • secured the Dawes plan with America
  • rejoined the League of Nations
  • French troops left the Ruhr
• Economic policies

  -tried to achieve them by 1939

  -goal was to reach full employment and autarky
• economic policies

  success

  • construction of autobahns provided work for 80,000 men
  • strength through joy rewarded workers for their loyalty which ensured continued service

  failures

  • employment figures did not include Jews and women so weren’t actually correct
  • when the war broke out Germany was still importing 20% food and 33% raw materials
• Minority groups

  -travelling community forcibly sterilised -100 people died

  -homosexuals imprisoned and subjected to experiment to fix their sexuality

  -euthanasia- mentally and physically disabled mercy killed -280,000 deaths
• Treaty of Versailles

  -accept full blame

  -£6.6 billion reparations

  -couldn’t unite with Austria

  -army reduced to 100,000 men

  -13% of country under foreign rule

  -Saar region give to France for 15 years
• Munich putsch

  • 8 nov 1923
  • Hitler storms a beer hall with a political meeting led by von kahr
  • fires shots in the air and claims a revolution has begun
  • lundendorf arrived and Hitler invited him on stage to show their support
  • 9 nov Hitler storms through Munich and meets army who fire at him- 16 nazis killed ,Hitler imprisoned
• Rights under Weimar

  -freedom of speech of religion

  -free to join trade unions

  -women and men over 20 could vote

  -innocent until proven guilty