Germany 1918-1945

1. Germany 1918-1945 LO: You will learn about: The causes of the German Revolution and the events of the revolution Reasons: 1. The defeat in WWI. 2. The hardship 3. Deadly influenza called the Spanish Flu 4. The Russian Revolution. The Mutiny in Kiel. The abdication of the Kaiser Wilhelm II on Nov. 9th. Armistice declared on Nov.11th, 1918

2. The effects of the Revolu. • Armistice signed on Nov.11th, 1918 • All land won by Germany had to be returned • Pool all troops back 48 km inside its border with France • Surrender its munitions and put navy under Allied control • The Government meets in Weimar Ebert

3. The Weimar Rep and the Treaty of Versailles • The clash of extremists • New constitution proclaimed in Weimar. Why there? • Balance of power- the strength of all democracies. • Also known as checks and balances • It consists of legislative, executive and judiciary power. • And who shares those powers in a democracy? • Lets see T&M on that issue

4. And how was that addressed in the WR? • Two houses of parliament were formed: the Reichstag and the Reichsrat • The two key offices were shared by the president and the chancellor. • So that was the strength but what was its weakness? • Proportional representation meant too many parties won seats- thus difficult to govern. • The constitution was too weak to defend itself from the extremists.

5. The Diktat • Lets have a look again at the terms of the T of V. • Name all the reasons the Germans would hate about the treaty. • The Dolchstoss and the “November Criminals”. Who were those criminals? • The Treaty had the following detrimental effects on Germany: • It made the republic and her politicians unpopular • It contributed to political extremism • It greatly hurt the post war recovery of Germany

6. Economic Problems 1918-23 • Germany was nearing bankruptcy and could no longer pay the reparations • To this problem France has an answer: the occupation of the Ruhr

7. Inflation- the curse of many countries • Hyperinflation- an inflation out of control that devastates country’s economy. It makes most items unaffordable and makes lifesavings worthless. • Any country out there that suffers from hyperinflation?

8. Political problems • The Weimar Republic was plagued by radicals from both the right and left. Read on p. 14 about their characteristics. • As both the right and the left had very opposed agenda, there was no compromise. • The creation of political armed units. • The murder of prominent politicians by the right movement. H. Hasse W. Rathenau M.Erzberger

9. Between 1919-1922 there were 376 political murders in Germany. The majority of the victims were left or moderate politicians. • No conviction or execution for killing the “lefties” but 10 executions for killing the “righties” R. Luxemburg Karl Liebknecht The Spartacus League

10. The Freikorps • Who were there? • Demobilized, armed soldiers • The Freikorps helped to wipe out the Spartacus uprising and both prominent leaders R. Luxemburg and Liebknecht were murdered. • The Kapp Putsch (what is a putsch by the way?) Do you know another word from French that means the same?

11. The Stresemann Era • LO: Stresemann’s economic and foreign success • The Rentenmark, Dawes Plan • The League of Nations • Germany’s biggest nightmare: the Hyperinflation

12. The Rentenmark • The Dawes Plan, the need to renegotiate the the VT • Annual payment reduced, huge American investment • This led to resumption of the reparation payment and the French left the Ruhr. Things were getting better, but… the fragile recovery depended heavily on American loans.

13. The Birth of the Nazi Party • LO: Adolf Hitler and the DAP, Changes to the Party • At the beginning was the DAP (Deutsche ArbeitsPartei) • Whom did they hate? Basically everyone who didn’t agree with them. They were” • Anti communists and socialists • Anti Weimar politicians • Anti-democracy as a week form of government • The Jews

14. Hitler and Drexler and their 25 point programme of the DAP • The most important were: • Get rid of the VT • Lebensraum • Depriving Jews of German citizenship By 1921 Hitler calls the shots, and pushes Drexler aside/ The formation of SA- Sturmabtailung Here are his trusted friends now: Roehm Goering R. Hesse J. Streicher

15. The Munich Putsch • LO: The causes, events and results of the Munich P. • Hitler had 3 main reasons for staging the putsch • 1. Hyperinflation • 2. Possibility that Stresemann would fix the country, both economically and politically • The possibility of a crack down on extremist parties. • On 8 of November Hitler enters a beer hall in Munich and announces his takeover of Bavaria and the march to Berlin where he hoped to take control of Germany • Well, what happens on at the end? • What sentence does Hitler receive? • How is he able to turn this failure into something useful?

16. Reorganizing the Party • How was Hitler able to win the wealthy industrial elite on his site? • He also forms a new special police force- the SS (Schutzstaffel). Soon they would be feared throughout Germany. • Goebbels and the Nazi Propaganda. • The war on the common enemy: the Jews, socialists, communists and the politicians from the Weimar Republic • Soon Hitler’s passion, the spectacle of mass rallies and the power of the SS and SA would be admired by many ordinary Germans looking for stability and the scrapping of the V. Treaty. • Hitler also improves party’s finances by befriending the wealthy elites such as the industry giants Thyssen, Krupp and Bosch.

17. By 1928 the party was well organized and grew to 100 000 members and Hitler becomes a national figure. • But what went against the Nazi party popular support? • Paul von Hindenburg, Stresseman and the easing of inflation. Why were most German supporting Moderate parties at that time? Hindenburg Stresseman

18. The impact of the WS Crash • Describe what happened on Black Tuesday. • The economic effect on Germany. • How to deal with the crises? You can either hike taxes or reduce benefits. Who would oppose those two proposals? • What is the situation on the street.

19. Nazi support on the rise • Why are the Nazi now more popular than before. • Now Hitler represents • 1. Strong leadership 2. Restoration of social order. • 3. Scrapping of the VT. 4. Persuade other nations to treat Germany fairly. • The strength of the SA • Working class support with work and bread policy, but most workers still preferred the CP.

20. The Middle-class support: here the party faired better than with the workers. Why? • What other country makes always appeal to the middle class during election campaign? • Farmers: The Nazi would confiscate all land owned by Jewish population but would protect the ownership of other Germans. What did the farmers feared from the Communists? • Big Business- why did they support him? • Young people are targeted as well.

21. 1932 Presidential election • What were the result of those election? • The sacking of chancellor Bruening. • Von Papen resigns • Von Papen Bruening

22. Von Papen convinces President Hindenburg and the • Reichstag that Hitler was a sound choice. He would be just a figurehead. • On January 1933 Hitler becomes a chancellor. • What do you think Hitler will do now that is has so much power? • How is the check and balances being played out here?

23. The Removal of Opposition • The Reichstag fire on Feb27th 1933. • Marinus van der Lube • 1933 election: good income to finance the Nazi Pary • Imprisonment of political opponents. SA used to attack other parties. • Communists are banned and their 81 seats gone. Now Hitler can have enough control in the Reichstag to change the constitution.

24. The Enabling Act • 23 of March 1933-Hitler now has the right to make his own laws for four years without the consent of the Reichstag. • Germany is now a totalitarian state. And what is an totalitarian state? • Trade Unionsare banned and so are strikes. • Law Against the Establishment of Parties. • NSDAP is now the only party in Germany. Remember Hitler’s electoral promise to destroy political parties? He seems to keep his word. • Centralization of local governments under Hitler’s appointees.

25. The Knight of the Long Nights • Three millions SA members under Roehm control • Roehm against Hitler’s policies • In 1934 Roehm and other senior officials are rounded up and arrested and later shot. • Von Papen who is the vice chancellor now realizes that he doesn’t have Hitler in his pocket as the thought. • The most important people executed or murdered among the 400 people were: Roehm, General von Schleicher and GregorStrasser.

26. The Nazi Police State • The SS and Gestapo are now firmly in place to control all aspects of citizens’ lives. • The difference between the SS and Gestapo? The first was controlled by The first one was an elite military group that provided security force and acted as body guards to Hitler. They are mostly known with running the concentration camp. The latter was a secret police. They were plain clothes and very extremely feared by citizens. Himmler Heydrich

27. Concentration Camps • 1933- Dachau was the first to open doors to the victims of Nazi terror. • Besides Jews, many of them held gypsies, homosexuals, prostitutes, and political prisoners. • The law courts were now under firm control of the Nazis. All judges had to be members of National Socialist League for the Maintenance of Law. • The Church and Hitler- a thorny relationship Martin Niemoeler Dietrich Bonheoffer

28. Censorship and Propaganda • Posters, Radio, Cinema, The Press, Educational institutions, Arts and Sport • 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. 33 gold medals won by Germany. How will that be used for propaganda? • Jesse Owen- an Afro-American wins 4 gold medals. • How could his win upset the Arian race superiority propaganda • Lets have a look at the Nazi propaganda a bit closer form another PowerPoint

29. Persecution of Jews 1933-39 • The reason: religion, looks, anti Christ, the Dolchstoss, • Communist radicals or selfish capitalists who exploit German workers. • The most valuable race is the Aryan, then come the less worthy and then even the more unworthy. At the bottom you will find Jews and Gypsies. • The Nuremberg Laws: list the most important features of the law. Lets read on page 42 in greater details.

30. Kristal Nacht • What was the excuse for it? Nov.7th, 1938- Kristallnacht takes place. German Jews were blamed for it and fined 1 billion mark Banned from running shops, banned from schools. H. Grunszpan

31. Youth and Education • New subjects: Race studies and Mein Kampf • Nothing was spared the Nazi propaganda, even Math was used. Example on p. 44 • Domestic Science for girls • Hard emphasis on physical education. • Even the very young ones had to be brainwashed • Age 6- Little Fellows, Age 10 Jungfolk, after that Hitler Jugend. Similar structure existed for girls.

32. Woman in Nazi Germany • Very regressive from the Weimar Republic • Out of politics and workplace • Stay at home and concentrate on household instead • No make-ups, wearing pants, they were note supposed to dye their hair or perm. • It came all down to the 3Ks (Kinder, Kueche, Kirche) • 1933- The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage. • The Mother’s Cross Award. Gold for 8 and more kids, silver for 6 or 7, bronze for 4 or 5 kids.

33. Work and Employment • DAF as the only trade union. • What was the role of this trade union? Did it benefit the workers? • Why were the unemployed people a potential source of trouble? • The Nazis created a National Labour Service (RAD). • What project was the RAD involved with?

34. Rearmament- reorganization of German’s economy for war See page 49 for more details. • Effects on these policies: increase in employment, banning trade unions reduced opposition to the regime • Bear in mind though that many people like the Jews were not registered as unemployed although many lost their jobs, also women were asked to work at home, which gave men their previous jobs. Women too were not counted as unemployed.