germany - history

• kaiser wilhelm ll

  • germany was a constitutional monarchy
  • wilhelm wanted his nation to turn into world power
  • germany built an empire, became active in world affairs and took part in an arms race with other european nations
  • industrialisation, and social + economic problems led to the social democratic party (SPD) becoming the largest party in the reichstag
• industrialisation and social problems

  • industrial and demographic changes led to huge social changes, especially in the growing towns and cities
  • 10.86 million industrial workers
  • poor working environments
  • all adult males could vote meaning that the workers were able to influence politics through their support for the german social democratic party
  • it became the largest party in the reichstag in 1912
• navy laws

  • germany massively expanded its navy
  • key part of the policy - weltpolitik
  • designed to turn germany into a world power by building an overseas empire, growing its world trade overseas and increaing its naval power
  • domestic success: pleased the kaiser, won the government success
  • domestic problems: german government budget went into deficit, government found it difficult to reform the taffif law in 1912
• impact of WW1

  • germany was economically damaged
  • debt increased to 150 million marks
  • many groups attempted to seize power
  • kaiser abdicated
  • germany became republic
• treaty of versailles

  • leaders of the german military did not admit that they would be beaten on the battlefield
  • germany military blamed the politician for the defeat
  • felt 'stabbed in the back' by ending the war
  • several of the politicians who signed the treaty were leaders of the weimar government
  • were called the 'november criminals'
  • territory was taken from germany
  • had to pay reparations
  • armed forces were reduced
  • had to take responsibility
• weimar constitution

  • established as a representative democracy which aimed to give genuine power to all german adults
  • the new weimar constitution promised to give germany a government that truly represented the views of the whole country
  • strengths: genuine democracy, a bill of rights- freedom of speech and religion
  • weakness: proportional representation - difficult to pass laws, article 48 - gave the president the power to act without parliaments approval in an emergency
• spartacist rising

  • 50,000 members of the post-world war one communist party rebelled in berlin
  • the government was saved when its armed bands of ex-soldiers, known as freikorps, defeated them
  • communist workers' council seized power all over germany
  • communist peoples' government took power in bavaria
  • by may 1919 the freikorps had crushed all these uprisings
• kapp putsh - threat from the right

  • freikorps saved the weimar government
  • due to the treaty of versailles the freikorps had to be disbanded
  • right-wing nationalist dr wolfgang led a freikorps takeover in berlin
  • the regular army refused to attack the freikorps
  • kapp was only defeated when the workers of berlin went on strike and refused to cooperate with him
• hyperinflation

  • germany defaulted on its reparations payment, leading to french and belgian occupation of the ruhr
  • the german government responded with a policy of 'passive resistance', refusing to co-operate with foreign troops
  • to pay striking workers, the government resorted to printing more money
  • effects: prices rose almost hourly, and people were paid twice a day
  • winners: borrowers, people on wages, farmers
  • losers: people on fixed incomes, people with savings/loans
  • rebellions: communists took over the rhineland
• origins of the nazi party

  • 1919- hitler joined the germany worker party (DAP); right-wing
  • 1920- hitler became the party's leading public speaker and propogandist
  • 1920 - the gorup changed its group to the nationalist socialist germany workers (NSDAP) - nazis for short
  • 1921 - hitler was elected party chairman and leader of the nazis
  • key beliefs: a stronger germany, fuhrer - stronger and single leader, social darwinism - aryan race = superior
• the munich putsch 1923

  • hitler tried to take advantage of the hyperinflation by instigating a revolution in munich
  • seemed like the perfect opportunity to take power, but poor planning and misjudgement resulted in failure and the subsequent imprisonment of hitler
  • hitler and the storm troopers went into munich on what they thought would be a triumphal march to take power
  • police had been called and so did army reinforcements
  • 16 storm troopers died and hitler fled, but was captured 2 days later
• the stresemann era

  • weimar republic was on the verge of collapse socially and economically
  • 1924-1929 was a time when the weimar economy recovered and cultural life flourished
  • to stop hyperinflation he:
  • called off the passive strike in the ruhr; damaging the economy
  • called for the old currency to be recalled and destroyed
  • set up a temporary currency called the rentenmark
  • negotiated the dawes plan - an agreement between the USA and weimar germany which helped germany in paying back reparations
• the dawes plan

  • created to solve germany's problems in paying reparations
  • reduction in annual reparations
  • US banks and businesses offered loans worth 800 million marks
  • the german state bank shoul be reorganised and supervised by the allies
  • benefits:
  • american loans - employment, income tax, and trade all increased
  • french and belgians left the ruhr
  • weimar republic became politically stronger as the economy improved
• the young plan

  • young plan created to help pay its reparation bills
  • stated germany would have 59 years to pay back
  • benefits:
  • lower reparations
  • recover economically
  • increased confidence politically
• kellogg briand pact

  • was a promise by countries, who signed it not to use war to achieve their foreign policy aims; between 62 nations
  • benefits:
  • improved weimar reputation
  • germany was now being included
• weimar culture

  • expression of culture was greatly helped by the ending of censorship in the new republic; berlin
  • this included:
  • education
  • visual arts
  • music
  • cinema
• the wall street crash and economic depression

  • the loans from the US were drawn back at short notice
  • without these loans germany's industry collapsed and a depression began
  • unemployment significantly grew; government had to raise expenditure on unemployment insurance
  • germans began to lose faith in democracy
  • in july 1930, chancellor bruning cut government wage and unemployment pay
  • bruning could not get the reichstag to agree to his actions, so hindenburg used article 48 of the weimar constitution to govern
  • this undermined democracy and weakened the power of the reichstag
• growth in the support for the nazis

  support from:

  • wealthy businessmen - financed them
  • the middle class - wanted a strong government
  • nationalists - blamed the treaty of versailles and reparations for causing the depression

  the SA played a role in their growth as they would intimidate their political opponents (especially the communists) by turning up at their meetings and attacking them
• hitler becomes chancellor (part 1)

  • april 1932 - hitler came second to hindenburg in the election
  • may 1932 - bruning resigned, hindenburg appointed von papen
  • july 1932 - nazis became the largest party in the reichstag
  • november 1932 - reichstag elections called by von papen to try and win a majority in parliament. nazis became the largest party in the reichstag
• hitler becomes chancellor (part 2)

  • december 1932 - von papen resigned. von schleicher took the role and tried to split the nazis by asking a leading nazi called strasser to be his vice chancellor. hitler forced him to decline
  • january 1933 - von papen and hindenburg oppointed hitler as chancellor with von papen as vice chancellor. they belived they could control hitler and get him to do what they wanted
• the reichstag fire

  • it was an arson attack on the german parliament - the reichstag building
  • hitler used the attack as an excuse to severely curtail civil liberties and restrict the activities of the communist party
  • the reichstag fire led to the creation of the decree for the protection of the people and the state, which ended people's civil rights and meant hitler could remove all opposition
• the night of the long knives

  • an organised murder of nazi and SA leaders that the fuhrer believed posed a threat to his position
  • the killings were carried out by the SS
  • rohm was a potential rival to hitler as he had 3 million SA soldiers loyal to him
• the emergency decrees

  • was signed by president hindenburg
  • article 48 of the weimar constitution granted the president the power to issue emergency decrees, which could suspend civil liberties and democratic aspects of the constitution
  • this decree was used by hitler to supress opposition parties and consolidate his power
• the enabling act and elimination of opposition

  • it gave hitler the right to make laws without the reichstags approval for 4 years, effectively making him a dictator
  • the act passed after the communist party was banned and the SA intimidated all the remaining non-nazi deputies
  • the act removed the reichstag as a source of opposition
  • it also gave hitler the opportunity to set up the german labour front (DAF), which gave him control over german workers
  • political parties were banned, making germany a one-party state and destroying democracy in the country
• the death of hindenburg and the army oath

  • after hindenburg died, hitler declare himself jointly president, chancellor and head of the army
  • members of the armed forces had to swear a personal oath of allegiance not to germany, but to hitler, which neutralised any sources of opposition to hitler within the army
  • this oath was made law and anyone who rose up against hitler would be considered a traitor and could be punished by death
• nazi propaganda

  • joseph goebbel controlled the media and the arts
  • goebbels made sure that germans were fed nazi ideologies while organising for other ideas to be censored
  • radios were cheap to buy and would broadcast nazi party messages and speeches
  • loud speakers in public places blared out nazi propaganda
  • hitlers picture was everywhere and he was portrayed as germanys saviour
  • any media that conveyed anti-nazi ideas or even other ways of life, was censored
• the SS

  • formidable private army made up of fanatical supporters of hitler
  • used them as his execution squad to eliminate his opponents
  • put in charge of securing germany from internal and external enemies
• the gestapo

  • secret police
  • didnt wear uniform so germans didnt know when they were being spied on
  • created tension and fear throughout the country
• women in nazi germany

  • expected to stay at home, look after the family and produce children in order to secure the future of the aryan race
  • hitler believed womens lives should revolve around the three 'k's':
  • kinder - children
  • kuche - kitchen
  • kirche - church
  • women were given an award called the mothers cross who had a large number of children
• youth in nazi germany

  • german children were thoroughly indoctrinated in nazi ideology
  • from the age of 10, boys and girls were encouraged to join the nazis' youth organisations:
  • girls - league of german maidens
  • boys - hitler youth
• the nuremburg laws

  • introduced to remove any jewish rights
  • jews were denied the right to be german citizens
  • marriage and relationships between jewish people and germans became illegal
• economic policy under the nazis

  • tried to be self-sufficient
  • called this policy 'autarky'
  • helped reduce unemployment as the nazis wanted people to work in the shipbuilding and armed forces
  • striking was banned, the german labour front
  • the german labour service - compulsory for young men to be employed
  • the strength through joy movement - leisure activities and holidays for loyal workers
• the nazis and the church

  • saw christianity as a threat and a potential source of opposition
  • hitler agreed a concordat with the pope, which said that he would not interfere in the running of the catholic church if it stayed out of political matters
  • hitler didnt listen as he attempted to infiltrate the church and spread the propaganda
  • catholic newspapers were banned and catholic schools were supressed
• persecution of minorities and kristallnacht

  • SS organised attacks on jewish homes, businesses and synagogues
  • targeted groups: eastern europeans, homosexuals, mostly jews, gypsies, disabled and black people
  • suffered forced sterilization, medical experiments, incarceration, brutality and murder
  • mostly sent to concentration camps
• the impact of WW2

  • rationing - diets became more monotonous; shortage
  • area bombing - resulted in many deaths
  • refugees - whole cities were flattened or burned
  • employment - women took over jobs
• opposition from the churches

  • protestants formed the confessional church in opposition to hitlers reich church
  • despite the concordat, catholic priests opposed hitler
• opposition from the young

  • edelweiss pirates - daubing anti-nazi slogans
  • white rose group - published anti-nazi leaflets
  • young people who rejected nazi values drank alcohol and danced to jazz
• opposition from workers

  • posted anti-nazi posters and graffiti or organised strikes
  • workers went on strike over high food prices in 1935
• bomb plot against hitler 1944

  • in july 1944, a group of army officers tried to assassinate hitler
  • a bomb was planted by colonel stauffenburg at a meeting attended by the fuhrer
  • the plan was to kill hitler so that the army would take control of berlin
  • the plot failed because someone moved the briefcase that contained the bomb further away from hitler
• the final solution

  • in 1945, germany was invaded from both the east and the west
  • the allied forces in the west, led by american divisions, crossed the rhine into germany from the beginning of march
  • by april the soviet forces had encircled berlin in the east, and hitler committed suicide there on the 30th april
  • germany surrendered to the allies a few days later
  • germany was then occupied and divided into four military zones, each controlled by one of the four allied powers
  • USSR
  • USA
  • Britain
  • france