Germany: Development of dictatorship

Paper 1 Option 5

Why was there a revolution in Germany in 1918?

-Germanys defeat in the war

Almost Bankrupt Paid for war by borrowing heavily & National income in 1918 was 1/3 of in 1913
600,000 widows and 2 million orphans State spending 1/3 of its budget on war pensions
-Social Problems
Huge Gaps between living standards of rich and poor
German workers wages restricted during war while factory owners made huge profits
Women called up to work in factories in war Seen as damaging to Family values and society

How revolutionary was the German Revolution? Not Very

-No radical change in party views and many policies remained unchanged
Moderate socialist Ebert in charge.
-Elite were still in charge and power concentrated among them

Opposition to the Weimar Republic

-Bavarian Democratic Republic (Nov 7 1918)

Establish communist government in Munich. Government put down with help of Freikorps.
700 workers killed and right-wing government established
-Sparticist Revolt (Jan-Mar 1919)
Establish communist government in Berlin.
Liebnknecht and Luxemburg killed along with 100 workers
-Kapp Putsch (Mar 1920)
Right Wing revolt supported by Freikorps to overthrow Weimar Republic.
Army refused to suppress uprising as many of the rebels were demobilised soldiers
Kapp took over Berlin but was overthrown by a general strike by socialists
Only 1 person Punished out of the 12,000 Freikorps

Why was there opposition?

-Stab in the Back Myth
Germany lost war as revolts from left-wing Germans forced government to resign in favour of the
Weimar Republic which in turn immediately surrendered
Encouraged Germans to blame Weimar Government as Army did not lose war but politicians did
An example of anger over the Treaty of V, not the cause of it
-Armistice Terms
Blockade continued with 300,000 Germans starving to death before lifted at Treaty of V

Entire German Navy confiscated

Germans had to release all POWs but no German POW released
Germany evacuates all territory it occupied
-Unstable Republic
Proportional representation so hard for parties to gain a majority
Article 48, President govern by decree as did in crisis of 1929-32, eroded democracy
All civil servants of the Kaisers time were kept and they didn't approve of Republic

Germany loses 10% of land

Saarland occupied by the French for 15 years
Germany loses 122.5% of its population
Loses 10% of coal
48% of industry
Army reduced to 100,00 men
Not allowed to build battleships, tanks,
submarines or airplanes

The Treaty of Versailles

-Statistics on the right

-War Guilt Clause (Article 231)

Germany responsible for all damage to Allied forces
German people resented this as told they were fighting
a defensive war
Justification for reparations.
Germany was the aggressor and people didn't accept that Germany had a greater role in starting
the war
-Reparations
Pay half of the total cost of the war, Were responsible for later German Economic problems

Hyperinflation Crisis of 1923

-Germany fell behind on reparation payments so France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr
They believed Germany was refusing to pay Treaty reparations
Workers went on strike (Passive Resistance), government printed extra money to pay them wages
so they could live without working, Value of money decreased.
-Government on verge of bankruptcy
Heavily in debt to the people from war effort, didn't have enough money to pay for Passive R
Government had to spend money it couldn't afford to spend and Bankruptcy meant that printing
more money was the only way to do so
-Effect on the people
Government paid off debt which was worth next to nothing as of Hyperinflation, all debt gone
This angered the people
Loaf of bread changed from 163 marks to 200 billion marks, affected middle class
Working class not affected as much, paid more each day and spent paycheques on items for
bartering

How did Germany recover between 1924-29?

-Work of Stresemann
Introduced the Rentenmark
Ordered striking workers back to work
Agreed to pay reparations
-Dawes Plan of 1924
USA loaned Germany 800 million marks
Reparation payments spread over longer period of time in smaller instalments
Left Germany vulnerable when American Stock Market crashed in 1929
-Locarno Treaties
Germany guaranteed their frontiers with France and Belgium
Avoided giving any guarantees over eastern frontiers
-Kellogg-Briand Pact
Only go to war for self defence. All other European powers signed it.
-Young Plan
Reduced reparations by 67%
Allied forces withdrew from the Rhineland area
Led to industrial production being higher than in 1913

Meanwhile, with the Nazis

-The Beer Hall Putsch (Munich Putsch)

Stresemann making Germany give in to France was seen as a betrayal
Uprising easily crushed by the army
16 Nazis and 4 Policemen were killed, Hitler sentenced to 5 years but served only 9 months
-Armys Support and Bavarian State Governments support
They thought they could persuade the army to abandon the government and help them
Hitler was developing a close relationship with Ludendorff and that Ludendorff would side with him
Bavarian government was right-wing and their leaders had been plotting against the Reich already

Why did it fail?

-Kahr
BS Government did not want to launch the putsch at that time so Hitler forced him to at gun point
Kahr released & he made no attempt to help Nazis & allowed the order for Bavarian army to stop it

Changes in the Nazi Party & What helped them

-Switch to more legal means

-Working Classes
Ran public meetings to win their support but did not have much effect on them

Realised that anti-Semitic message was most popular so they increased anti-Semitic propaganda
-Middle Classes
Most new party members came from this class and the farmers
Wanted to improve agriculture
Held evening classes to train members in public speaking
Party membership increased from less than 50,000 to over 100,000 in 1928
-Political Flexibility
If subject was popular, repeat it
Changed policies to fit the issues the people thought were important
Idea was losing them support, they changed it
-Hitler
Delivered powerful and moving speeches, represented strong and decisive leadership
Strong Personality and Powerful Ideas
Opposition had no one to match him, campaigns focussed around his personality & skills

The Great Depression

-Unemployment
Less than 1million in 1925, became over 5 million in 1932
-Weimar Government
Way to solve economic crisis was to print more money but they were afraid of Hyperinflation
Chancellor raised taxes instead, cut wages and reduced unemployment benefit to get more money
Chancellor governed by Article 48 as Social Democrats withdrew from the coalitions, President rule
-Extremism
People were disenfranchised with Weimar government
Communists said Depression showed that capitalist system was doomed
Nazis blamed Weimar Republic, Treaty of V and the Jews
Violence between 2 parties, 500 killed during elections of 1932
Communists were more popular and Nazis seemed like only party capable of defeating them
-How it helped the Nazis
Hitler was a strong leader and Weimar government is too weak
Nazis would introduce road-building and public works to reduce unemployment
Nazis SA only one to deal with Communists

How the Nazis came to power in the Reichstag

-Campaigning
Hitlers oratory
25-point program allowed them to appeal to a broad spectrum of society & political flexibility
-SA

Storm Troopers made the party seem stronger and more intimidating

How Hitler became Chancellor

-July 1932 Election, 37.4% of the vote
Largest party in the Reichstag, Common practise dictated that leader of largest party = chancellor
However, Hindenburg didn't trust Hitler, believed Hitler as Chancellor meant Nazis too much power
Hindenburg delayed chancellorship further
-General von Schleicher
Advised Hindenburg to get rid of Von Papen so he could be Chancellor
Von Papen becomes angry and makes a deal privately with Hitler:
All but three of the cabinet were non-Nazi and Von Papen was in it too
VP persuades H, says limiting number of Nazis in cabinet means most extreme policies wont pass
VP tells H alternatives is a Nazi revolt and Civil War

Consolidating his power

-The Reichstag Fire

Dutch communist van der Lubbe started it
Hitler used this as evidence that Communists were plotting a coup
That night, Goerings police arrested 4000 Communist leaders
Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to pass an
-Emergency Decree (temporary but stayed in place for 12 years)
Suspended all articles in the constitution which guaranteed
Freedom of speech/press/assembly and Personal Liberty
Police allowed to Search houses, confiscate property and detain people indefinitely without trial
Dragged political opponents off to concentration camps, 10,000 communists
Made it difficult for anyone to organise opposition against Hitler
-The Enabling Act (passed by 444 votes to 94)
Nazis needed an overall majority so they banned the Communists & intimidated other parties
Hitler could make laws without approval of Reichstag or President
Reichstag voted itself out of existence, voted in favour of a Nazi dictatorship
Weimar Republic over and triggered the Nazi revolution

The Night of Long Knives

-Why?
Hitler chooses the Army over the SA as Rhm wanted whole of army under his/SAs control
Army was more disciplined, only organisation able to remove Hitler so he needed their support
SA was bigger, 2.5 million people, and army was smaller 100,000 soldiers.
SA was getting out of hand, interfering with running of the country and the law courts
Hitler didn't agree with SAs anti-capitalist policies & socialist aims which he planned on dropping
SAs Rohm was a potential rival, but he was a homosexual and drunkard (embarrassment)
-Features
SS breaks into homes of Rhm and other opponents, arrested and executed them

Between 90 and 200 people were killed

Hitler said the SA and Rhm were plotting a coup
Eliminated opposition and blame Nazis excesses on Rhm to win support of army
Many people killed so each murder got less attention, e.g Schleicher was killed too

Nazi Germany Unemployment

-Public Works Projects

Highway building to make work for unemployed people.
Unemployed had to work on these to receive benefits, even if they had professional training
-Rearmament programs of 1933
Created work, only made it public in 1935, employed many people
Government gave huge contracts to private companies to produce arms and equipment for army
-Conscription
All able-bodied German men had to spend 6 months in the Reich Labour Service
And 3 years in the army
Meant that Young men were not looking for work.
The combination of infrastructure investment, rearmament and conscription reduced
unemployment so much that there was a labour shortage when war broke out in 1939
-Fiddling of Figures
Jews and Political opponents were fired from government jobs
They were not counted in unemployment statistics
Women were also pushed out of the workforce to some extent as well and not counted in stats
Reduced official unemployment figures without reducing actual unemployment
-Workshy
People labelled as workshy could be incarcerated in Hashude or a concentration camp
Discouraged people from applying for unemployment benefit

The Churches

-Nazi Reasons to destroy the churches

In 1933, nearly all Germans were Christian & 1/3 were Roman Catholic, the others were Protestant
Protestant Church hammer members than any other organisation in Germany, Even the Nazi party
Nazis wanted total control over Germany and People who believed in God would worship Hitler
Church meetings could be used for spreading anti-Nazi ideas
-Nazi Reasons to keep the churches
Many Protestants had voted for Hitler
Protestant church pastors were the most popular Nazi election speakers
While theyd later disagree over some policies, they agreed on family lifes importance and others
Church supported Nazi influence on the military, priests accompanied troops in the Rhineland

-The Concordat with the Catholic Church of June 1933

Hitler said that Christianity was the unshakeable foundation of the moral life of our people
Catholics could continue with religious work & Catholic schools & youth groups would be left alone
-Protestants
Originally divided but united into the German Christians under pro-Nazi Bishop Ludwig Mller

Opposition from the churches

-Martin Niemller
Nazis most prominent critic and formed an alternative Confessional Church
Was a Protestant minister and was put in a Concentration camp
-Catholic Cardinal Galen
Publicly attacked Nazi policies
Revealed and campaigned against the Nazi Euthanasia programme,Hitler pretended to drop it
Nazi Party didn't want to make him into a martyr so they took no action against him
3 Catholic priests were executed for giving his sermons to soldiers
Supported by provinces of Westphalia and city of Mnster

Nazi actions against the churches

-Set up Department of Church Affairs 1935
700 Protestant ministers were arrested
-Anti-Church campaigns 1936
Pressured children not to attend Church schools or youth movements
Hundreds of Catholic priests/nuns were charged with offenses e.g. illegal currency dealings
Christmas carols and nativity plays banned 1937
Priests were stopped from teaching religious classes in schools 1938
All Church Schools later abolished 1939

How Hitler controlled Germany

-Propaganda
Every word published was censored, books written by Jews&other opponents were publicly burned
Cheap Peoples Receiver so many households could have one, only Nazi approved music
Also to broadcast Hitlers speeches to peoples living rooms
Germans listening to the BBC could be shot
Pro-Nazi, anti-Communist and anti-Semitic posters were all over Germany
All films were blatantly designed to promote Nazi policy, e.g the Eternal Jew
Parades and Rallies were staged by Goebbels to project an image of unity and strength
Students had to study Race Studies subject
Maths problems were written to emphasise cost of keeping mentally disabled people alive
Entire History syllabus rewritten to emphasise greatness of Nazis
-A One-party/Police State Dictatorship

If there was any opposition, the SS & the Place had the absolute power to arrest, punish & execute
Nazis didn't believe in Democracy & thought that the Weimars democracy led to Germanys failure
-Culture
Nazis were very critical of Weimar Germanys culture
They thought it undermined traditional German values
Goebbels set up the Reich Chamber of Culture, all musicians, writers & actors had to be members
Students encouraged to burn all books which were politically against the Nazis
Cheap theatre tickets were available
-Gleishaltung
All clubs & organisations were merged into Nazi organisations so Nazis controlled peoples leisure
Difficult to criticise Nazis anywhere

Position of the Jewish people

-Background
Anti-Semitism common in Europe for many centuries
In 1933, Jews made up less than 1% of German population, 16% of the lawyers & 17% of bankers
-1st Two years of Nazi Rule
Little organised Persecution of Jews, Some Jews even supported the Nazis
Der Strmer newspaper poured out anti-Semitic propaganda and there was the 1-day boycott
-1935 (Nuremberg Laws)
Anti-Semitic actions increased and Jews forbidden to join the army in May
Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour in September
Banned Jew and Aryan marriage and sexual relations outside of marriage
Reich Citizenship Law made Jews subjects rather than citizens, lost certain rights
-Lull in 1936
Anti-Semitic action died down because of Berlin Olympics
Threats from nations to boycott games, anti-Jewish posters taken down
-Worse and Worse from 1938 Onwards
Jews had to register their property so it was easier to confiscate
Jewish doctors, dentists and lawyers forbidden to treat Aryans
Jews have a red letter J stamped on their passport
-Kristallnacht of 9-10 Nov 1938
400 Synagogues and 7500 shops were destroyed
91 Jews killed and 30,000 sent to concentration camps
Goebbels suggested it to satisfy the hatred many Nazi hardliners had for the Jews
Marked first time Hitler took physical action against the Jews and killed them outright
Property damaged was rented by Jews from German Owners, Jews fined 1 billion Reichmarks
-Even Worse

Jewish people only allowed to attend Jewish Schools and all Jewish businesses confiscated
All Jews had to add new first names, Sarah and Israel, Reich office for Jewish emigration set up
-The War
Sent to Ghettos in Poland as war made emigration impossible
Given only starvation rations & 1000s died from hunger,cold or typhus, 500000 died in Warsaw one
In the invasion of Russia, Einsatzgruppen (SS soldiers) sent to murder all Jews they could find
First mass execution of the war, 500,000 Jews shot
-The Final Solution
Nazis met in 1942 at Wannsee in Berlin to decide this
Death camps built in Poland where Jews were worked to death or gassed
Work on building gas chambers and crematoria was accelerated
6 million Jews were killed, 500,000 German Gypsies killed

How/Why the Nazis oppressed the burdens of society

-Master Race Feared Inferiors

Hitler believed in Social Darwinism, wanted to solve divisions of class, religion and political beliefs
The Volk, where the people were pure Aryans, physically and mentally healthy, socially useful
-The Gypsies
Non-Aryan & Homeless&Workshy, 30,000 Gypsies in Germany & wanted to prevent inter-marriage
In 1938, Decree for the Struggle against the Gypsy Plague, ensured racial separation of the two
-The Sterilisation Law
In July 1935, allowed Nazis to sterilise people with, chronic alcoholism or simple-mindedness
In September 1933, massive round-up of tramps and beggars began, and were sterilised
Between 1934 and 1945, 670,000 people were sterilised
-The Concentration Camps
In 1936, workshy,tramps,beggars,alcoholics,prostitutes,gays,juvenile delinquents sent to these
In 1938, another round-up netted 11,000 beggars,tramps and Gypsies were sent to Buchenwald
Many Germans welcomed this removal of awkward customers
-The Euthanasia Campaigns
In 1939, Nazis secretly exterminated mentally ill
6000 babies, children & teenagers killed by lethal injection, starvation, gas chambers (Grafeneck)
72,000 people murdered before public protests made Hitler stop it

Who benefitted under the Nazis?

-Small Businesses
Small shops found it difficult to survive because of large department stores competition
Nazis passed laws to ban new department stores and stop existing ones from growing
Competing Jewish businesses closed down, Trade of small craftsmen doubled from 1933-1937
-Big Businesses

Benefitted from massive rearmaments programme and destruction of trade unions

Value of German industry rose and big profits made
Average salary rose by 70%
-Not the Farmers
Farmers resented governments meddling, it was ordered that each hen produce 65 eggs/year
Farmers suffered manpower shortage as workers left to go to better-paid jobs in town

How the Nazis tackled the Economic Crisis

-Schachts New Plan
Made minister of the Economy in 1934, plan limited imports
Trade agreements with individual countries to supply raw materials in exchange for German goods
Solved economic crisis and helped Hitler rearm, but, world economy was getting in shape anyway
-Goerings Four-Year Plan
Aimed to prepare Germany for war within 4 years by making her self-sufficient
Increased production of raw materials needed for rearmament
Reduce imports further, tighten controls on prices and wages, used forced labour
Not successful & by 1939, Germany still depended on foreign imports for 1/3 of its raw materials

The position of women

-More traditional, domestic role from 1933-39
Wanted them to focus on role as mothers and homemakers, very few women in professions
Nazis wanted women to have larger families and raise them to be loyal to the state
-Methods of encouraging Women to have more Children
Marriage Loans between 1933 and 1937 encouraged Women to have more children
Lent 1000RM to couples to help them, they then groove a quarter of this for the birth of each child
Loans & Nazis reduction of unemployment encourage more couples to have children
Nazis provided free prenatal care, prevented women from smoking and dieting, exercise important
Gave Medals, bronze for 4, silver for 6, gold for 8 children, Nazis encouraged at least 4
Overall birth rate rose and infant mortality decreased so population increased
-Methods of making women focus on Homemaking
Limited university female enrolment to 10%, education in schools focussed on motherhood
Sacked women and pushed them out of the workforce
Allowed women to work in Traditional jobs, e.g farming or textiles
-After 1937, war forced Nazis to ask women to take on a different role
Demands of the economy made Nazis pull women out of homes, marriage loans ended
Instituted a duty year making young women spend a year working in farms/factories
In 1943, Nazis tried to conscript all women between 17-45 to work with war effort
Only 1/3 of the 3 million called up actually took jobs
-Other Ways they were affected

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Imposition of Rationing meant very difficult to get necessities

In 1943, manufacture of clothing stopped altogether
Allied bombing campaigns made women spend nights in air raid shelters & many made widows
-Overall
Pre-war Nazi policies reasonably positive for majority of Aryan women, but not for ambitious ones
In the War, women drawn into world of work and child-bearing was impractical
Nazis impossible demands had a negative effect on women who wanted to be homemakers

Opposition to Hitler

-Rosenstrasse Protest of 1943

Nazis tried to deport Jewish men married to Aryan Women to concentration camps
6000 women protested and men were released
-Eidelweiss Pirates
Hitler Youth and the BDM were made compulsory in 1939
They lost a lot of their appeal as effective leaders were sent to army & overall leaders were too old
Inexperienced teenagers were left in charge
Working class youths resented being bossed around and stopped attending meetings
They formed their own groups, known generally as the Edelweiss Pirates
They held their own camping trips, having sex, but the HJ tried to assert its authority over them
They beat up HJ patrols, helped escaped prisoners and sheltered army deserters
Nazis executed 12 of the ringleaders
-The White Rose
Set up at Munich university by the Scholl siblings
Printed out and distributed leaflets to make the German people oppose the Nazis
Were caught and executed by Guillotine
-July 1944 Bomb Plot
Armys Oath of Allegiance kept most members loyal to Hitler
In 1944, it was clear Hitler put Germany in a position where theyd lose the war
Hitler wanted to fight this war to the end and army officers opposed this
Stauffenburg came up with a plan to kill Hitler, take control of the government and negotiate peace
Attempts failed before as suicide bombers changed their minds or Hitlers schedule changed
Attempt Failed and Stauffenburg and co. were tortured and executed by piano wire

Impact of WWII on Germany

-Went well initially 1939-41

Rationing introduced for most foodstuffs
Extra rations given to workers in heavy industries, expectant mothers, the sick, blood-donors
2/5 Germans ate better than before the war, Soap was rationed
-Starts going badly 1941-43
Hitler invades USSR, massive gamble, hoping for the lightning victory he achieved in east Europe

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Army bogged down in a 4-year battle, by 1942, Germanys war was going badly
Hospital trains brought thousands of wounded Germans home from the war in USSR
Propaganda campaigns to gain support for the war by Goebbels, Germans gave 1.5 million furs
-Total War Rationing 1943-44
Government prepared for Total War with every part of German society geared towards war effort
Anything that didn't help the war was eliminated, e.g professional sport, sweet shops, hairstyling
Propaganda allowed, film Kolberg, cost 8.5 million marks, 187,000 soldiers and 6000 horses used
Prisoners worked to death and POWs
-Air Raids
War meant most doctors available to civilians fell from 15 per 10,000 to 1 per 10,000 in 1941
Others also lost because of ban on Jewish and Female doctors
Attack on Hamburg led to a fire storm, 30,000 people died
In early 1945, most extreme air raids began, 2 nights of bombing in Dresden killed 150,000
As many German civilians killed by bombing as soldiers had died in combat
Nazi administration couldn't cope with this much destruction and led to army giving up

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