Germany in WWII

Overturing the Treaty of Versailles

Throughout the 1930's Hitler slowly began to overturn the treaty of Versailles, he united with Austria, and rebuilt the armed forces
However, in 1939 he invaded Poland
This was the last straw for the allies
So for they had followe a policy of appeasement and let Hitler do what he wanted, as it didn't really harm anyone, but now, they had no alternative but to declare war
By 1940, Hitler had conquered Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and most of France

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Hitler had also tried to invade Britain but this had failed because he had lost the battle of Britain
However, morale was quite high
The war was going sucessfully, and goods were flowing into Germany
Propaganda meant that many people supported the war
Food rationing was introduced in September 1939, and clothes rationing in november
Children received better rations than adults
Because Hitler controlled most of eastern europe, luxury goods came in from captured territories and life was comfortable
People were happy because of military sucesses

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In late 1939, Hitler took the huge gamble of invading Russia
At first this went well, but they ground to a halt and over the next 3 years the war became increasingly expensive and 'tore out the heart of Germany'
The german peoples' lives took a turn for the worse. There was more censorship & they had to work longer & make sacrifices
They heard less and less of Hitler and the 'Final Solution' begun.
Albert Speer took over the German economy & focused all effort on armament
Postal services were closed, cinema were only for propaganda, women had to work & country areas had to take refugees & evacuees
These measures were all being carried out by the **, who were a virtual state, they even had their own business empire
Life was getting worse & worse, so morale was falling
Support for the Nazis weakened

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In 1942, the Allies began a new policy on bombing, which possibly had the most crippling effect on the lives of Germans
They were going to launch all-out assaults on major cities, to cripple industries and lower civillian morale
Over the next 3 years, bombing escalated until the bombing of Dresden, an important cultural and industrial city, which killed between 35 000 & 150 000 people people over two days
By 1945 people were desperate, there was little food, 3.5 civillians had died and Refugees were fleeing the advancing german armies
3 months after Dresden, the war was over
Hitler and other Nazi leaders committed suicide and Germany surrendered
Germany would have to be rebuilt again

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