Weimar Germany

• Food shortages
• No imports
• Sailors refused to fight, they knew they would die
• German people wanted the Kaiser to abdicate -- he abdicated in january 1919
• But when the Germans surrendered amny people thought that it was unnecessary. 

• January 1919
• Proportional representation 
• Allowed freedom of speech, religion and equality 
• Men and women above the age of 20 could vote
• Head of government - chancellor - is elected every 7 years
• Many powerful figures did not support the new republic 
• Some people did not like the changes
• Some people were influenced by the russian revolution and wanted communism.

Strengths : Very democratic voting system, Many parties 

Weaknesses : Proportional representation allowed extreme parties, coalition government hard to make decitions, Article 48 what is an emergency 

• They should not be blamed, everyone in the war should take responsibilty. 
• A new government, so the allies would be less harsh to give the republic time to become stable 
• From Woodrew Wilson's Fourteen Points. The Germans expected the treaty to be based on that.
• The kaiser is to be blamed, not the people

• 6.6 billion pounds of reparation 
• Cut in the millitary 
• Article 48, they had to accept all the blame
• Land needs to be given up, so there coal and iron reserves are taken away

• Shocked, they were not allowed to attend the negotiations 
• They thought it was too harsh, but if they didn't sign it the allies would go back to war
• Article 231, humiliating for the Germans, they thought that everyone is to blame for the war
• Angry, the nationalists thought the allies were jealous of them and wanted to weaken them on purpose.
• Called the politicians who signed it the November Criminals, they betrayed their country

• January 1919
• Communist party
• Tried to organise strikes and revolts
• However the Freicorps - demobilisde soldiers - stopped the revolt because they hated communism 

This showed how much people did not like the new government that they had to turn in extremist parties 

• 1920
• Mostly ex-soldiers, they didn't like the new republic
• So they began marching towards Berlin
• Causing Disruption to the city, and it could no longer function, due to the strikes
• The German army did not stop them because they agreed with the aims of the putch and they believed that the Freicorps is still part of their own army 
• But there was not enough support so Kapp fled to Sweden and the Freicorps were disbanded 

This showed how little support the republic had and people chose extremist parties. It also showed how unstable the government and they cant even control their army. 

• By 1918, Germany was nearly bankrupt
• The allies took the major income earning land such as the Saar which had lots of iron and coal reserves. This meant that the country is unable to make money
• By 1922 Germany had failed to pay some instalements for the reparation so in january 1923 french troops began marching towards the Ruhr and took industrial products 
• The government encourgaged the workers there to carry out passive resistance, to go on strike
• Some workers even destryed factories in an attempt to stop production 

This united the German people however it worsened the German economy 

• 1919-1923 
• The government decided to print more money, by 1923 there was 300 paper mills and 200 printing shops
• The french occupation of the Ruhr meant no income for the workers on strike, but the governmnt still needed to pay them for being on strike.
• High and unaffordable reparations of 6.6 billion pounds 
• They lost land where they had industries and iron, coal reserves 

• Stresemann made a new and temporary currency based on Germany's agricultural worth in 1923 - The Rentenmark
• In 1924 the Reichsmark was introduced 
• This restored public faith in the government and Germany's economic system 

His goal was to improve foreign relations and to be able to negotiate terms with them 

• 1923
• USA loans Germany 800 million gold marks to hep boost German industries
• French troops are to withdraw from the Ruhr
• Some Germans critisied the government for agreeing to the plan, as it still required them to pay reparations 
• The money loaned helped make the economy better, as it boosted industrial output
• But Germany was still dependant on the loans, which meant in 1929 when wall street crashed, Germany's economy crashed too 

• 1929
• Planned to further increase loans
• Germany was still angry as they still had to pay reparations 
• Britain also opposed it as people still felt hatred towards the Germans for the war
• In the end this came to nothing as USA could no longer make loans due to wall street crashing

• 1925
• New borders for Germany, and no military forces would be used
• Alsace-Lorrain would be French, and that they would not ocuppy the Ruhr again 
• Germany's easter borders would be settled, Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia would negotiate through the league of nations 
• Improved relations as it showed that Germany was now seen as an equal and they could negotiate

• Germany joined in 1926 
• At the beginning Germany was not invited
• After Germany joined it showed that they are now seen as equals and are more accepted 
• However the German public did not like it because the League of Nations was a symbol of the Treaty of Versailles which was hated

• 1928
• To prevent future wars
• Further building peace
• No violent forces used to settle disputes
• Germany was involved in the negotiations and the Weimar Republic was accepted again 
• The German public had more confidence in the government and they truested the moderate parties

• Hitler rewrote the aims of the party- the 25 point 
• He renamed the party to NSDAP/ Nazi party

The aims 

• They were deliberately vague so that everyone would like the party
• Nationalists - wanted the destruction of the Treaty of Versailles
• People wanted someone to blame so Hitler introduced anti-semitism
• Anti-communist ideas like by business owners

Other things he did 

• He bought a newspaper, which he used for propaganda and to promote his party
• Made a military wing in the party, the SA... Used to disrupt meetings of other parties, and control crowds at the Nazi meetings

• 1923
• Happened due to anger towards the republic 
• Ludendorff believed that soldiers would support him so he convinced Hitler to continue with the Munich Putch
• However it ended with 14 Nazis killed, and they could not achieve their goal of taking over the main buildings in Berlin and overthrowing the government 
• Hyperinflations was also at its peak in 1923, so the putch further proved how weak the government was. 

Result 

• Hitler was seen as a nationalist and remembered by peope, he was also given a lighter sentence, which showed that the judges were lenient to Hitler as they liked the ideas
• Nazi party was banned
• Prison gave time for Hitler to write Mein Kampf, jail was also very comfortable and not strict
• People remembered the party 

• 1929
• Young People : No jobs for them, lost jobs 
• Factory Workers : lost their jobs because the factories closed down, unemplyment benefits were also cut so they could not afford food
• Farmers : most were in debt, and the prices of their goods keep falling 
• Businessmen : Most closed their businesses and the ones which kept it open struggled to survive as no one bought anything, and also taxes were increased

Brüning also became chacellor as he convinced Hindenburg to use article 48 to make him chancellor. Brüning cut unemployment benefirs, and raiser taxes. Many people did not like this which is one of the reasons why the German people turned to extreme parties 

The appeal of Hitler

• He was a good speaer
• Appeared strong 
• Made pledges to Germany 
• Businesses supported him, and gave him money to carry out activities
• Farmers also supported him 

The SA 

• Made the Nazi party seem strong 
• They had lights and symbols which showed power
• They disrupted other party's meetings
• Used violence and intimidation to gain votes
• In 1930 there was 400,000 members

Propaganda

• Trained members , parades and marches, political speeches, newspaper, rallies, posters

• July 1932 - the Nazi party was the biggest voted party but Hindenburg still beat him
• Brüning tried to ban the ** and the SA but Von Schleicher didn't like that so he convinced Hindenburg to sack Brüning and put Von Papen as the head of coaltion
• But the coalition was weak, and Hitler thought that he should be the head, so Von Papen called another election and Nazi party has the highest percentage, so Von Papen resigned
• Von Schleicher wanted to be in charge so he sent a letter to Hindenburg telling him to tell the German public that Hitler and Von Papen were leading a conspiracy 
• However that was leaked and Von Schleicher lost all his popularity
• Von Papen thought that because people like Hitler Hindenburg should make him chancellor and thst it would be ok because Von Papen can control him...
• So january 1933 Hitler was made chancellor of germany

• 27 February 1933
• The Reichstage was set on by a communist
• He was put on trial and he confessed
• Many historians thing that Hiter organised the fire in order to ban the Communist Party
• 4,000 communist leaders were arrested
• Hiter convinced Hindenburg to use Article 48 to pass the 'Decree for the Protection of the people and state'
• The decree allowed the police to search homes and imprison anyone wihtout trial 

• Right after the Reistage Fire

Before the election

• Goering (the head of police) replaced police officers with Nazi supporters. He also recruited 50,000 SA members. This meant that Hitler was in control of police so political deaths were not cared about - 70 deaths
• Thousands of cummunist and SPD leaders were captured and sent to concentration camps 
• The SA were often drunk and had fights, they embarrassed Hitler so he lost votes from German conservatives
• Röhm the head of the SA was homosexual and many people were offended 
• SA broke up meetings of other parties, and made the Nazi party seem strong. Also used violence
• Non-nazi newspapers were closed
• Huge quantities of propaganda
• Generous donations of business owners meant that Hitler could improve his political campaigns 
• Only two-thirds of the votes though

• He banned the communist party after the Reichstag fire. +81 seats
• The Nationalist Party agreed to support him as they had similar ideas. +52 seats
• Support from the center oarty as Hitler promised ti protect th4 Cathlic church. +74 seats

With this Hitler had the majority of support from the Reich so he could pass the Enabling Act

This meant he could do anything without consulting the parliament. Marking an end to democracy. After this the Reichstag only met 12 times 

• March 1933, Hitler closed down the 18 separate state parliaments, and appointed a Nazi state governor.
• January 1934, he abolished state parliaments 

• May1933, arrested trade union leaders and creaded the KDF

• May 1933 - SPD was suspended 
• May 1933 - Communist party was suspended
• July 1933 - all parties except the Nazi party was suspended

• 30 June 1934
• Hitler thought the SA was becoming too powerful and the leader Röhm was a threat to Hitler.
• SA members embarrassed Hitler as they engaged in drunken fights, which meant they lost lots of support from German conservatives 
• Röhm wanted to take measures again big businesses but Hitler did not as they were the people funding the party -- different views
• People were offended by Röhm's homosexuality 
• Hitler wanted to rearm Germany but in 1934 the SA began confiscating weapons and stopping army conveys
• On the Night, members of the ** and 200 SA members plus Hitler's enemies were arrested and executed 
• Hitler told people that Röhm was organising a rebellion against Germany

• 2 Augsust, Hindenburg dies
• Hitler wanted to increase his power so he made himself führer 
• Hitler was then in control of the Third Reich 
• From then on all army loyalty was swarn to Hitler not the contry, so they were to obey him personally 
• He held a plebicite, for the public to agree to the changes

• One party state
• Political institutions run by members of the Nazi party
• Nazis controled the police, court, radio, newspaper, education, films, art, churches, trade unions 
• Indoctrination  - forcing them to accept something but not giving alternative options
• Censorship - suppressing information 
• Propaganda - presenting biased information of misleading nature

• New central court - the judges were expected to support Nazi policies
• Germans could be arrested and imprisoned without trial 
• In 1936 the ** and Gestapo was brought together and ruled by Himmer
• Between 1933 and 1935, Himmer dismissed 60,000 ** members to show his power
• ** - responsible fpr arresting political leadersand running concentration camp
• Gestapo - responsible for state security, for the people who oppose Nazi rule. They said that reporting people who did not support Nazism would benefit them so people were willing to help the Gestapo by informing them on people they know 
• People suspected of opposition was sent to prison or concentration camp, they could not even tell jokes about Hitler

• Goebbels  had been made Minister of Propaganda in 1933
• He believed that propaganda should be subtle
• Newspapers were strictly controlled and all owners, editors, journalists had to be part of the Reich Press Chamber
• Propaganda on the radio was strictly controlled. All radio companies were brought under the Reich Radio Company. Radios made in Germany were made sure not to be able to pick up foreign broacasts
• A list of unacceptable literature was made, millions of books by Jews, communists, or anti-Nazis were burnt and bannedin universities 
• Censorship extended to art and music. All writers, actors, musicians had to join the Reich Chamber of Commerce. Some music such as jazz were banned, because it was thought of as black music and inferior to the Aryan race. 
• Hitler hated modern art, saying it damages Germany and weakens Nazism

• Used to spread positive messages about the Nazi Party

Key messages 

• Supremacy of the Aryan race
• Inferiority of Jews and other races
• Large amounts of work done by the Nazis to deal with the evils of communism 
• Roles of men and women and the importance of family
• Fact that everyone has a duty to suffer for the good of the nations 

• Newspaper had stories and was used to spread positive messages about the Nazi party
• Radios had plays and light enternainment which inclded Nazi messages
• Factories, bars, restaurants were forced to install loud speakers so everyone could listen to Hitler's speeches
• He had parades and rallies, and encouraged people to hang the swastika flag. Rallies were often lit by torches which showed power and glory of Germany under Nazi rule 
• Posters of Hitler were made which made him look very strong and like a great leader
• Music, films included pro-Nazi newsreels
• Art promoted the Aryan race and family values 
• In 1936, the Olimpic Games were held in berlin. Showed the supremecy of the Nazi party.

• Young people were expected to attend Nazi youth grouos, this reduced the time the children spent at home and reduced the influence of the adults
• Teachers had to join Nazi Teachers' association and they had to attend Nazi training camp where they leaned how to pass on Nazi values
• Textbooks were rewritten and checked, approved by Nazi officials

• Race studies - Aryans were superior, Jews are inferior
• Extra PE - so boys are fit and healthy to join the army, and girls can give birth to strong babies
• Maths - had military problems 
• History - they learned about the rise of the Nazi party
• Biology - supremecy of Aryans
• Geography - Germans need for living space
• Domestic science - for the girls to prepare them to be future wives/mothers
• Hitler Leadership Schools : for boys, to train them to become future military leaders. They were given political and physical training 

• 1926, the Hitler Youth was founded 
• 1933, all other youth groups were banned 
• 1936, all young people had to attend Hitler youth groups, but the law was not strict
• 1939, the law was made more strict
• Children spent evenings and weekends at meetings
• They learn about how Hitler saved Germany
• They discussed political pamphlets and performed military drills 
• They were taught about competition and nation purity
• Girls wer also taught about crafts an childcare
• They were also encouraged to report people who were not loyal to the Nazi state
• By 1939, 8 million young people were members 

• During the 1920's women grew more and more important. They were employe d in many fields of work
• However after Hitler came to power, women were encouraged to stay at home and have babies
• Contraception and abortions were banned and large familes were encouraged 
• 1933, the Law for Encouragement of Marriage provided loans to help young couple get married, but this is only if the women gave up work
• Medals were given to women who had many babies and a large family 
• The German Women's Enterprise Organisation trained wormen in household skills 
• Women were discouraged from smoking, drinking, wearing make-up, wearing heels and unladylike behaviours 
• However as men joined the army women need to work to fill the positions of the men
• In 1939 there was 50% more women working that 1933

• Hitler wanted tht support of the catholics so he had to have an agreement with the catholic church. So they signed a concordat in 1933.
• It said that the church would not get involved in Hitler's political affairs and in return, Hitler would give the church freedom of worship and they are allowed to have schools and youth groups 
• However Catholic newspapers were censored and propaganda hinted at financial corruption of the church
• In 1937 the pope decided to make a stand 
• It angered the Nazis and resulted in cuts in the funding of the church and some properties were seized
• The Gestapo began spying on the church 
• Church schools and youth groups were closed
• Catholic priests were arrested and held in concentration camps 

Despite Hitler's attemps to weaken the church, the majority still attended church

• Many Protestants were nationalists and they had similar ideas to tha Nazi party
• In 1933, Hitler reorganised the church into one organisation called the Reich Church 
• 18 pasteurs lost their job because they would not declare their support to Hitler
• A group of pastors set up the Confessional Church in 1934
• It became a rival to the Reich Church
• As a result Niemoller - the leader - and other protestant clergies were sent to concentration camps as they did not want the Nazi party to interfere with the church
• By the end of 1930's, neither the Catholic nor the protestant church had a signifiacant rold in society. This was mainly due to Nazi measures 

• 1933 - sterilisation law. People with illnesses such as mental disabilities should be sterilised. This also included tramps and gypsies
• 1935 - intermarriage between Germans and gypsies were banned 
• 1935 - marriage between black people and aryans were banned in Germany 
• 1936 - juvenile delinquents, tramps, Jews, homosexuals were sent to concentrations camps
• 1938 - all gypsies were forced ro be register with the state 
• 1939 - People with mental illnesses were put to death. But the policy was abandoned in 1941 due to protests 

• April 1933, nationwide boycott of Jewish shops and businesses. The ** made sure of this by standing by the doors of the shops. Jews were alos banned from government employment
• 1935, Jews were banned from public places and the army 
• September 1935, The Nuremberg Laws, for the protection of German blood. Ayans already married to Jews were encouraged to ger a divorce. Only people with German blood could vote and hold a German passport
• Many Jews emigrated to other countries to avoid persecution 

From 1938

• All possessions of Jews must be registered with the government. This meant that the police could take anything
• Jews must carry identity cards at all times
• Jewish professionals are not allowed to take work from non-Jews

• 9-10 November 1938
• A Jewish man killed a German official and this gave the Nazis and excuse to launch a campaign against the Jews
• Over 800 shops owned by Jews were destroyed
• 190 synagogues were vandalised
• Jewish homes were attacked, stolen from and properties destroyed 
• 91 Jews were killed and 30,000 were arrested
• Nazi newspapers presented this as a spontaneous reation by ordinary German citizens
• The Nazis were disappointed to find out that the damaged properties belonged to Germand landlords
• So they fined the Jewish community 1 billion Reichsmarks

• The 'New Plan', aimed to reduce imports and reduce unemployment
• Schact made trade agreements with other countries and this provided Hitler with money
• 1936, Goering was responsible for making the Four Year Plan to prepare germany for war 
• The plan was to make Germany self-sufficient, by making people buy German goods. However, there was limited success 
• Despite Goering and Schact's successful work, government spending was always greated than its income. By 1939 the government had a debt of over 40 billion marks. And it was still importing more than it was exporting 

• They doubled spending on public works prgrammes, to create more jobs for constructio workers
• A more aggressive foreign policy and rearmament, spending on arms increased, their investment created more jobs
• The work of Schact and Goering was important in helping the Nazis going back to work, 6 million unemployed in 1933 and only half a million in 1939
• Expansion of the army also created more jobs
• The Nazis also payed private companies to create jobs

Unemployment numbers went down but...

• Women were not included in the figures
• Jews who lost their jobs were not seen as citizens so not counted either
• The National Labour Service provided 6 month jobs to single men, they were included as well even if not fully employed
• Part time and temporary employments were counted as full time employment
• The statistics don't say what life was like, increase in wages but also increase in working hours and at the same time increase in cost of living 

• DAF
• Replaced Trade Unions
• Main goal was to get workers to work harder without a higher wage 
• They ran 2 programmes

Strength through joy 

• KDF
• Activities for workers in their leisure time
• Rewards for the hardest working worker, eg. museum tickets 

Beauty of labour 

• SDA
• Improve working conditions 
• Encouraged hot meals and sport facilities
• Employers did provide the facilities but the workers were often expected to build it themselves and employers also took contributions from employee's wage

• By1942, policies changed from persecution to genocide
• Ghettoisation began in WW2
• Poor housing, walled off areas, food was restricted, diseases spread quick due to crowds
• Local Jewish community were forced to pay for its construction 
• Between January 1941 and July 1942 around 4,000 Jews died each month 
• In July 1942, Jews began to be transported to concentrations camps as the Final Solution was introduced
• In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Death Squads rounded up the Jews and killed them
• Death Squads murdered over 1.2 million civilians in the Soviet Union by 1943

• In July 1941, they came up with a plan, a Final Solution 
• Concentration camps were built
• In January 1942, some concentrations camps were converted to extermination camps
• Over the next 4 years, 6 million Jews were killed, and this is known as the Holocaust 
• The people sent there was split in to 2 groups. They either worked until too weak and died or took part in scientific experiments the rest were killed 
• Gas chambers were frequently used as 2,000 Jews could be gased at once

• Propaganda films were made showing people that the camps were in good conditions and that people were treated well
• This meant that German supported the plan and it also meant that Jewish people were willing to help organise the resettlement 
• Overtime, the Jews came to realise, in April 1943 there was an uprising in the Warsaw ghetto. 56,000 Jews were arrested, and 7,000 were shot. Thre rest were sent to concentration camps
• When it became clear that Germany was losing the war, the Nazis began to dig up railway lines and destroy records in an attempt to hide their tracks 
• Allied soldiers were shocked at the reality 

• Children were evacuated from the cities, the KLV programme for children
• Many children stayed in camps where they wer supervised by Hitler youth leaders and teachers
• Rationaing began in August 1939, food stamps were given out and theft of them meant a sentence in the labour camps
• At the beginning goods were shipped back from occupied countries but in May 1942, the government cut rations 
• Allied bombing meant shortages of food therefore major starvation in many cities and towns 

• In June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa - invasion on the Soviet Union 
• In the wintr German advances were stopped as they did not have any winter equipment 
• So the Soviet forces used the Scorched earth policy - where they destroyed all crops/resources that may be useful to the opponent
• As a result 2 million soldiers died
• February 1943, Goebbels told the German people that they were now in Total War and that they must do everthing to win
• The men were sent to war, so shortages in workers, so they took Soviet prisoners back to be slaves
• However after 1943 : all women 17- 45 year old and men 16-65 must register for work 
• Small businesses were closed and employees transfered else where
• August 1944, there was a ban on holidays and working hours were increased to 60 hours a week 
• Postal serices were reduced to save fuel 
• Thr Volkssturm (home guard) was formed to protect Germany from invasions 

• From August 1940, the RAF carried out bombings on German cities
• The miliary and industries were the target but that did not have major effects on Germany's prductionso instead the bombed major cities
• Summer 1943, around 42,600 German civilians were killed
• the government tried to reduce the impact with stories of bravery and set up of weface organisations, and helped to find accomodations 

• Between 1939-1941 women were not envouraged to work
• But by june 1941, the industry would not curvive without women workers. So women with no children were allowed to register for work
• By 1943, due to Total War, employment was so necessary that all women 17-45 year old and men 16-65 year old had to register for work 
•  November 1943, age limit for women was raised to 50 year old 
• By the end of the war, 60% of the German Labour force was women 
• Women always lived in fear of news that their son or husband died in war
• Especially at the end of the war women feared the Soviet forces due to propaganda 

• The Communist party began secret campaigns after Germany invaded the Soviet Union
• The Protestant Confessional Church critised the Nazi's treatment of Jews
• The Kreisau Circle - 1942-1943 discussed how to oppose Nazism 
• Bombing reached major cities and people just wanted the war to end 

The swing youth : middle class Germans who wanted to have more freedom in things they liked as they wanted to listen to swing music. However some were arrested and sent to concentration camps 

The Edelweiss Pirates : started in the Rhineland in 1937. They hated Hitler youth and the forced training fo the military. Mainly working classand strongly anti-establishment. They gave shelters to escaped prisoners and army deserters, they stole ammunition and gave them to the adult resistance group 

The white rose group :  Most were students in Munich University. They did not like the treatment of Jews and Slavs. They published 6 leaflets critising Nazism. In the end Sophie and Hans Scholl was arrested 

• Some army leaders did not like Hitler's brutal methods and anti-semitic policies
• After the failing in the Soviet Union, the leaders decided to act
• General Ludwig Beck, Colonel Claus Von Stauffenburg and Dr Carl Goerdeler, tried to place a bomb in a briefcase and take it to a meeting with Hitler
• But that didn't work and they were hung 
• Himmler was put in charge of rounding plotters, 6,000 were executed. 

Propaganda suggested that everyone was happy with the was the Nazis did things, but 7,000 people were arrested for not attending work, not reporting people and buying from the black market

By the end of the war a million civilians died from starvation, cold and diseases

Hitler commited suicide on 28 April

Germany surrendered 7 May 1945