Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany - 1918 - 1939

Treaty of Versailles

- Forced on Germany after defeat in WW1 - 'Diktat'

- Blamed Germany for war - war guilt cause

- Made Germany pay reparations

- Reduced size of Germany military - 'disarmament clause'

- Germany lost colonies as well as land in Germany

- Germans HATED it

- Was exploited by Hitler in his rise to power

Weimar Constitution 1918-1933

- Rules by which Germany was governed after the war

- Germany had been a monarchy, was now a democracy, a system Germany was unfamiliar with.

- The system had weaknesses - Proportional Representation made it hard to achieve strong government because of too many political groups.

- Article 48 - allowed government to rule by decree in times of trouble - Exploite dby Hitler.

German Economy 1919-1923

- After the war Germany was in a real economic mess

- Between 1919 and 1923 inflation rose massively - HYPERINFLATION

- Unemployment rose, businesses collapsed, money was worthless, homelessness and poverty increased massively.

- Led to political division between left-wing communists - Sparticists, and right-wing nationalist groups - Freikorp, Nazis.

- Increased violence on the streets, attempts to overthrow the Weimar Republic by the Sparticists and others.

- 1923 Munich Putsch - attempted to overthrowing the government by the Nazis

Munich Putsch 

- The political instability…