Germanu

• World War I finally over

  1918
• As punishment for losing, Germany's two wartime allies the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires were carved up shortly afterwards
• The pressures of defeat plunged Germany into chaos and as a result the Kaiser abdicated
• Revolution and counter-revolution were the order of the day
• The Weimar Republic was declared the next year-Feb 1919
• The Allies signed the Treaty of Versailles which dictated the terms of Allied Victory-June 28 1919
• Germany lost territory, the Rhineland was occupied, Germany had to reduce its military to 100,000
• Weimar Republic


  One of the most democratic nations in the world at that point
• Right to vote was granted to everyone over the age of 20 including women
• German government


  1. People voted on a president every seven years

  2. People voted for political parties in national elections for the Reichstag every four years

  3. Proportional representation system where percentage of votes nationally dictated percentage of seats in the Reichstag

  4. President could call elections whenever he felt

  5. President appointed the chancellor who ran the government and could propose laws
• No party ever got 50% of the seats, so parties had to cooperate
• There were numerous attempts at revolutions such as the quickly aborted Socialist Republic of Bavaria and the 1920 Revolution led by Dr Wolfgang Cap
• Germany missed a war payment, the French wished to punish the Germans for this whereas the British wanted leniency
• In 1923 the French occupied the heavily industrialized region of the Ruhr
• German reparations could be paid in raw materials or foreign currencies, which led to hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic
• In November 1923 another attempted revolution occurred in Munich led by Adolf Hitler and the SA, the military arm of the Nazi party
• The Weimar Republic managed to survive thanks to the intervention of Gustav Stresemann and Charles Dawes
• The Great Depression struck, tanking the US economy and dragging Germany's down with it
• President Hindenburg had to invoke Article 48 to pass laws without the approval of the Reichstag
• Reasons for the rise of the Nazis


  • Desire to disregard the Treaty of Versailles
  • Anger with the continuing economic crises
  • Belief that Communists and Jews were enemies of the German people
• After continuous Nazi victories in elections, Hindenburg agreed to make Hitler Chancellor in January 1933
• Hitler's rise to power

  1. Used the Reichstag fire to paint Communists as enemies

  2. Hindenburg issued the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, suspending civil liberties and making Hitler the de facto dictator

  3. Outlawed trade unions and abolished all other political parties

  4. Ordered the SS and Gestapo to eliminate his enemies including Ernst Röhm

  5. Declared himself the Führer of Germany and created a single-party dictatorship
• Changes under the Nazi regime


  • Media brought under control of Joseph Goebbels
  • Gestapo and SS cracked down on dissent
  • German Labor Front established instead of trade unions
  • Strength Through Joy program to keep workers happy
• The Nazi government established the Four-Year Plan to make Germany self-sufficient, which included major public works and the beginning of German rearmament
• Nazi expansion


  1. Annexed Austria after negotiations

  2. Occupied the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia

  3. Invaded Poland with the Soviet Union, starting World War II
• The Allies, particularly Britain and the US, began bombing campaigns against German cities to destroy factories and infrastructure
• The Nazis implemented a policy of forced labor in conquered territories, using Jewish and other "undesirable" populations as slave labor
• The Nazis attempted to decide on a "final solution" for the Jewish population, eventually leading to the Holocaust where over 5.5 million Jews were killed
• The tide of the war turned against the Nazis as the Soviets pushed them back into Germany and the Allies invaded from the West
• Most of the German High Command, including Hitler, committed suicide in April 1945 and Germany surrendered in May, ending the Third Reich
• After the war, Germany was occupied and divided into East and West, with the two parts reuniting in 1990 at the end of the Cold War
• The legacy of Nazi Germany is complex - they reinvigorated Germany but also committed unimaginable crimes and devastation across Europe