Impact of WW2 on Germany

• Through the 1930s, Hitlerfulfilled his promises to the German people that hewould:

  • reverse the TOV
  • rebuild Germany’s armed forces
  • unite Germany and Austria
  • extend German territory intoEastern Europe
• Hitler fulfiled each of his aims but started the second world war in the process

  • Germans had no enthusiasm for war
  • people still had memories of the first world war
  • the nazis used all methods available to make the German people support the regime
• Food rationing was introduced soon after the war began in September in 1939

  • clothes rationing followed in November 1939
• 1939-1941 - it was not difficult to keep up civilian morale because the war went spectacularly well for Germany

  • Hitler was in control of much of western and Eastern Europe
  • supplies of luxury goods flowed into Germany from captured territories
• 1941 - Hitler attempted to invade the USSR (1)

  • for the next three years, his troops were engaged in an increasingly expensive war with Russian forces
  • Russian forces ‘tore the heart out of the German army’ as Winston Churchill put it
  • had to cut baxk on heatitng, work longer hours and recycle their rubbish
• 1941 - Hitler attempted to invade the USSR (2)

  • Goegbels redoubled his censorship efforts
  • tried to maintain people’s support by involving them in it through asking them to make sacrifices
  • donated an estimated 1.5 million fur coats to help to clothe the German army ins Russia
• The German people began to see and hear less of Hitler during the war

  • his old speeches were broadcast by Goebbels but Hitler was increasingly preoccupied with the detail of the war
• 1942 - ‘Final Solution’ began

  • aimed to kill million of Jewish civilians in German-occupied countries
• 1942 - Albert Speer began to direct Germany’s war economy

  • efforr focused on armament industries
  • postal services suspended and letter boxes closed
  • all places of entertainment closed except cinemas as Goebbels needed to show propaganda films
• In WW2, women were drafted into the labour force in increasing numbers
• In WW2, counrty areas had to take evacuees from the cities and refugees from eastern Europe
• The SS became virtually a state within the German State

  • they carried out the war measures
  • SS empire had its own armed forces, armaments industries and labour cxamps
  • developed a business empire taht was worth a fortune
  • however, even the SS could not win the war or even keep up German morale
• With defeat looming, support for the Nazis weakened

  • Germans stopped declaring food they had
  • stayed away from Nazi rallies
  • refused to give Hitler salute when asked to
  • Himmler even contacted the Allies to ask about possible peace terms
• July 1944 - some army officers came close to removing Hitler

  • many army officers believed they lost the war and that Hitler was leading Germany into ruin
  • July 20 - Colonel Count von Stauffenberg left a bomb in Hitler’s conference room, planning to kill Hitler, close down the radio stations, round up the other leading Nazis and take over Germany
  • The plan failed on all counts as the revolt was poorly planned and organised
  • Hitler survived andd the Nazis took a terrible revenge, killing 5,000 in reprisal
• 1942 - Allies decided on a new policy towars the bombing of Germany

  • under Arthur Harris, the British began and all-out assault on both industrial and residential areas of all the major German cities
  • objective was to cripple their industry and to lower morale of civilians andd terrorise them into submission
  • bombinb escalated through the next 3 years, culminating in the bombing of Dresden in February 1945 which killed between 35,000 and 150,000 people in 2 days
• By 1945, the German people were in a desperate state

  • food supplies dwindled
  • 3.5 million German civilians had died
  • Refugees were fleeing the advancing Russian armies in the east
• 3 months after the destruction of Dresden, Germany’s war was over

  • Hitler, Goebbels and other Nazi war leaders committedd suicide or were captured
  • Germany surrendered and was now a shattered country
  • Nazi promises lay in taters and the country was divided up into zones of occupation run by the British, French, US and soviet forces
• 1939 - war broke out

  • didn’t bring massive changes
  • Germany preparing since mid 1930s
• Early days, Germany short on raw materials

  • made worse when British navy blockaded sea routes into Germany
• German troops conquered territory and took raw materials

  • e.g. took around 20% of Norway’s production in 1940, mainly aluminium
• 1942 - German production shifted towards armaments to supply soldiers to fight Russia
• Huge companies like IG Farben produced chemicals used for weapons and concentration camps

  • used forced labour form conquered territories
• 1944 - production of aircrafts and tanks tripled compared with 1942
• Production hampered by allied bombing

  • some moved underground
• Ongoing debate about effectiveness of the Nazi war economy

  • economy improvedd after 1942 when Albert Speer take over
• December 1939 - war economy starts
• War production went from 23% to 47% between 1939-1941
• 55% of German workforce involved in the production of war goods by 1941
• 1941 - poor organization and low efficiency in the Nazi war economy
• Rationing introduced in 1940

  • complaints could lead to arrest & punishment for Germans
  • introduced because loss of farm workers and unable to import supplies
• Each month Germans got various colour coded ration books based on age and job
• German Jews got lower rations of food and could only shop at certain times
• Number of women in work increased from 760000 in 1939 to 15 million 1941
• July 20 1944, military leaders attempted to be assassinated
• March 25 1939 - The Youth Service Ordinance is passed, and the HJ becomes mandatory. Starting in 1940, 10-year-olds are obligated to join either the Jungvolk or Jungmadel.
• August 27 1939 - The first ration cards are distributed.
• September 1, 1939 - Germany invades Poland.
• May 16-17, 1940 - British air war begins deployment of bombers over the Ruhr region of Germany.
• November 1940 - British bombings now include Essen, Munich, Hamburg and Cologne.
• April 13, 1941 - USSR and Japan sign a five-year neutrality agreement. This will allow Stalin to reassign troops from Siberia to meet the German invasion in the east.