HISOTRY PAPER 1

• This video covers everything you need for your AQA GCSE History option on Germany 1890 to 1945
• The video contains some quite upsetting things towards the end
• There is a free revision guide with a checklist on the website, as well as workbooks, papers and loads of questions to help you revise
• Periods of German history covered

  • 1819-1918: German Empire or Imperial Germany
  • 1918-1933: Weimar Germany or Democratic Germany
  • 1933-1945: Nazi Germany or The Third Reich
• Kaiser Wilhelm II


  Reigned as Kaiser or emperor from 1888 to 1918
• Kaiser Wilhelm II


  • Dismissed the renowned chancellor Otto von Bismarck and consolidated his own power
  • Aimed to make Germany an important world power along the lines of France or Great Britain
  • Was impatient, reckless, intelligent, unstable and egotistical
• The German Empire between 1890 and 1918 was a large country composed of many constituent smaller states, with Prussia being the largest and most dominant
• Reichstag


  Lower house of parliament, elected by universal but only male suffrage
• Bundesrat


  Higher chamber, comprised representatives from each state
• Chancellor


  Head of government, similar to a prime minister, appointed personally by the Kaiser and responsible solely to that Kaiser
• The system, while theoretically democratic with two elected houses, actually gave extremely limited levels of democracy, with much of the power concentrated in the hands of the Kaiser
• Prior to 1880, Germany was a mostly agricultural economy, but from 1880 onward, the economy becomes gradually more industrialized
• Prominent industries in industrialized Germany

  • Coal
  • Steel
  • Chemicals
  • Electronics
• Throughout the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II there was an increased threat, as he considered it, of socialism
• Socialism


  A political ideology where workers and ordinary people should have more rights, more power and greater welfare, and power shouldn't be concentrated in the hands of the aristocracy
• Kaiser Wilhelm focused on opposing socialism and relied on his allies in the aristocracy, the Junkers, and the military to do this
• Navy Laws


  A succession of laws passed between 1889 and 1912 which were aimed at building up German naval strength mostly to oppose Great Britain
• The Treaty of Versailles had several effects on Germany, including significant transfer of territory, removal of German colonies, limits on the German army and air force, and huge war reparations
• Germany was beset by problems in 1918, including a shattered, angry, disillusioned military, economic problems, social issues, and political problems with the shaky Weimar Republic
• Weimar Republic


  More democratic than the old German Empire, with an elected president, an elected Reichstag, and an elected chancellor, using proportional representation
• The Weimar Republic survived through the difficult years of 1918-1923 due to the introduction of a new currency, stable presidential leadership, and a reduction in reparation payments
• The years between 1924 and 1929 are generally thought of to be the golden years of the Weimar Republic, under Chancellor Gustav Stresemann
• Attitudes in Germany to the Weimar Republic

  • The military and aristocracy were jealous of their old dominance and wished for a return to an absolute monarchy
  • Working people were suspicious of the new leaders and wished for more widespread change
  • The middle classes were suspicious of socialism and wished for a return to imperial stability
• Main ideals of Hitler and the Nazi Party

  • German nationalism and the idea of German superiority
  • Aryan racial superiority
  • Disdain for liberalism and democracy
  • Wish for an authoritarian state
  • Wish for German expansion and lebensraum
  • Prominence of the military in society
• Nazi attitudes to the Weimar Republic were very clear - they were contemptuous of democracy and believed in the 'stab in the back' myth
• Early tactics of the Nazi Party

  1. Used the SA (Brownshirts) to cause fear and intimidation

  2. Used propaganda to fuel hatred and disillusionment

  3. Used large and loud public and private rallies to spark debate and controversy
• The Nazi Party gradually began to appeal to many different sectors of German society, including the working classes, the military, and the middle classes
• Germany to lose the war. This belief was entirely incorrect but it was a useful myth for the Nazis to exploit
• There was a belief that the social democratic leadership of Germany was globalist and Jewish, two things that the Nazis hated above all else
• There was a belief that democracy and the Weimar Republic were weak, and would inevitably fail
• Early tactics of the Nazi Party

  1. Using the SA (Brownshirts) to cause fear and intimidation

  2. Using propaganda to fuel hatred and disillusionment

  3. Using large and loud public and private rallies to spark debate and controversy
• Groups the Nazi Party appealed to

  • Working classes
  • Military
  • Business
  • Aristocracy
• Promises to the working classes

  Renew German pride, bring a cohesive sense of national identity, reverse the perceived shame of the Versailles treaty
• Promises to the military

  Reintroduce conscription, bring the military back to its old size and number, rearm the military
• Promises to business


  Slash workers' rights, eliminate trade unions, get rid of regulation, allow businesses to make profit
• Promises to the aristocracy


  End to democracy, power back in the hands of unelected aristocrats, suppression of hated individuals and civil rights
• Hitler became chancellor of Germany following a series of events
• From 1928 to 1933, there was parliamentary paralysis and unstable governments caused by the proportional representation system of the Weimar Republic
• This led to a series of chancellors who were forced to rule by presidential decree, overriding elected representatives
• Large numbers of Nazi deputies in the Reichstag eventually gave them control of the Reichstag