Germany, 1918-45

Aims of this chapter

• P. 190, green box

• At the end of the unit, try to answer to the 3

points in the box:
– “I know everything”: WELL DONE, PAL!
– “I don’t know anything”: WOULD YOU MIND TO
START TO STUDY, ONE DAY OR ANOTHER? 
– “I know something…”: IT’S A REALLY, REALLY, REALLY
HARD EXAM… MAKE YOUR OWN CONSIDERATIONS…
 Introduction
• Before the armistice of 1918, on 11 Nov 1918
Wilhelm II(Kaiser of Germany) abdicated
• Democracy was set in Germany, known as
Weimar Republic.
Democracy lasted
for 14 years, then (1933) it
was replaced by Hitler’s
dictatorship and the
THIRD REICH, that
collapsed in 1945 (suicide
of Hitler and defeat
of Germany)
Was the Weimar Republic
doomed from the start?
 How did Germany emerge from
the defeat at the end of the First
World War?
• From October to November 1918 some events
happened in Germany, and they are known as the
German Revolution
- Naval mutiny
- Rebellions among workers and soldiers
- The Kaiser was forced to abdicate (he fled to Holland)
- The power passed to the Social Democratic Party
(EBERT) that was the largest party in the Reichstag
- In a general atmosphere of chaos, they declared a
Republic with Ebert as Chancellor  his first aim was
to restore order and to hold democratic elections
ASAP
• BUT it was not easy. There were a lot of
extremists that wanted to overthrow the new
govern.
– Spartacist League: inspired by the Bolshevik  in
1919 they changed their name in German
Communist Party (sounds as a non-sense ;) ) and
the planned a revolution!
Who? Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
• Why? To establish a communist-style governm.
• How? Formation of a revolutionary committee,
general strikes, newspaper
• What response? Leaders murdered by Freikorps
(special corps, independent)
• Reasons of failure? They were divided, loyalty of
the army
• Significance? It showed the weakness of the
governm. It led to other communist rebellions.
 What happened next?
• During 1919 elections, Ebert’s Party emerged
as the biggest one in the country.
• Now, they had to rebuild the country as a new
republic.
• Since in Berlin there were rebellions and
street fighting they met in Weimar.
• On July 1919 they approved the republic.
• For its structure look with attention at p. 192
fig. 9.2 (CAREFULLY!)
 Few words on the structure
• The President appoints the Chancellor; he is the supreme
commander of the Army; he can be a “dictator” on article
48; he is elected every 7 years by 20year old German people
• The Chancellor chooses a team of ministers
• The Reichstag is elected by 20y; for max 4 years; makes law
and control the
budget
• The Reichsrat: it includes
representative members
from the 18 provincial state
parliaments; could veto
Reichstag laws (but 2/3 of
Reichstag vote cancels the veto);
advises the Chancellor on laws
 Some of its features
• It has a proportional representation = more or less, if I
get 4 votes I’ll have 4 seats in the Parliament.
– ADV: fair
– DISADV: extremist; wasted votes (difficult to get the 50%);
very often they were coalition govern  it led to an
election every 18 months
• Article 48: it gave to the President a lot of power; he
used it more and more between 1929 and 1933,
undermining confidence in the Reichstag
• Forward looking features: equal voting rights to
women and men; right to speech; in some respects
Weimar constitution was the most democratic in the
world
 What was the impact of the
Treaty of V.?
• Army: it was unpopular, but the right wing
hated it (remeber the disarmament clause) 
many discharged soldiers joined the Freikorps.
The Allies, not so stupid, then started to
consider the Freikorps part of the army
• Who were they? Anti-communist, violent;
formed by Ebert at the eve of the Spartacist
revolt; well equipped; in January 1919 they
were 4000
• Economy: the treaty was a big slap for
Germany (reparations, territories, resources).
– Reparations was settled at £6.6 billion. The
governm. thought it was a strain too big. In 1922 it
failed to pay the second installment. The French
thought it was a bluff, so, together with Belgian,
they occupy the Ruhr in January 1923. it led to a
serious crisis:
• German govern authorised passive resistance (no
orders and they refused to work)
• The French expelled 100.000 Germans
• The revenue of the governm. fell
• So the govern decided to print money  hyperinflation
 The Weimar governm. response

• In 1923 there was a huge risk that the

economy and the governm. would collapse.
• Germany was saved by Stresemann who
became chancellor and Foreign Minister in
1923:
– He ended passive resistance
– Rentemark was introduced to stabilise the
currency
– He resumed reparations
• All those initiatives led to a period of political
recovery (1924-29)
 To what extent did the Republic
recover after 1923?
• If 1919-23 was a critical time, the next 6 years
were characterized by recovery and stability,
thanks to Stresemann. Moreover:
• 1. DAWES PLAN: in April 1924 = huge loan
from USA to help the economy. Moreover,
reparations were linked to what Germany
could afford. The more stable Reichmarch
replaced the Rentenmark  it brought to an
economical revival. By 1928 the industrial
production exceeded pre-war levels.
• BUT there were also ECONOMICAL problems:
unemployment, farming sector very weak and
strong dependency from USA. The 1929
American crisis hit Germany as well  so,
Germany had to cope with world recession
and had to repay huge amounts of money to
USA. Unemployment started again to rise: in
1932 6 millions (1/3 of the workforce, 10%
higher than in other countries)
• It led to POLITICAL problems:
in 1930 extremist parties rose to 31% (from
13% in 1928) and to 52% in 1932.
• It was quite clear that the Weimar Republic
could only prosper under favorable conditions
 What were the achievements of the
Weimar period?
• Political:
– Stresemann wanted to improve the situation of G.
• In 1923 it was still the enemy
• In 1929 (when he died) it was a strong power in Europe
– France was reassured and leaved the Ruhr in 1923
– On 1926 Germany was admitted in the LN
– Young Plan: reparations £2.2
 GERMANY WAS A RESPONSIBLE MEMBER OF THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
• Cultural
– The 1920s was a glorious moment in Germany:
democracy, no censorship.
– A lot of night clubs, dance halls, cafés  a lot of
cabaret artists.
Cabaret and cinema
• Seen with disgust by
the right wing, as
decadence
• Critical,
unconventional
interpretations of the
new social order
• Some of those artist
was forced to leave
under the Nazi regime
• (Marlene Dietrich, The
blue angel)
 Expressionism
• No censorship
• Critical,
unconventional
interpretations of
the new social
order
• Fritz Lang, Metropolis
• Bauhaus
Why was Hitler able to dominate
Germany by 1934?
 What did the nazi party stand for in
the 1920s?
• 1919- establishment of the German’s worker
party by Drexler
• 1919  Hitler joined
• 1920  25 points programme and renamed it
National Socialist Party (Na-zi)  swastika
• 1921  Hitler replaced Drexler
• 1921  he founded SA
• 1923  Munich Putsch
– It was strongly anti-semitic and
nationalist.
– The 25 points included:
• A greater Germany (Austria, Poland, Cz.)
• Vs Tr. Of Vers
• More territories
• Citizenship only for blood (ius sanguinis)
• No more immigration
• Nationalisations of industries
• More welfare
• Special education for gifted children
• Sport
• A strong power
 The Munich Putsch
• Nazis wanted to overthrow the Weimar Republic (learning
by Mussolini).
• The government was unpopular due to hyperinflation, the
end of the passive resistance, the resumed reparations
• Hitler hoped to have help from army and Bavaria
• WHAT HAPPENED?
– SA forced a meeting with the Bavarian Prime Minister, that was
forced to declare he would support the revolution, but the day
after he changed his mind
– Hitler staged a march in Munich to gain public support
– Police ended all this pagliacciata  Hitler went to jail
• WHY?
– Army remained loyal to Weimar
– Bavaria too
– The Nazi party was only 3000 members
• It was a humiliation, but it gave him
considerable publicity
• Hitler understood he had to move inside the
law  to expand the party
• Mein Kampf: Landsberg. Very high loyalties
– Aryan
– Dangers of communism
– Germany’s destiny as a dominant state

• Nazi tactics (1924-29)

– Nationalism + anti-semitism stand still
– Propaganda
– From 3000 to 100.000
 Why did the Nazis have little
success before 1930?
• Nevertheless the propaganda, the Party had
little impact on the elections, until 1924 when
he got 6.5%, thanks to the process. But it
declined on 1928 at 2.6%

• It was the same moment of recovering for

Weimar republic. So, why to switch the vote?
 Why was Hitler able to become
Chancellor by 1933?
• It depended a lot on the economic depression. The
governm took the blame for the harsh situation, and
voters started to support the Communists and the
Nazis.
• In 1930 (max unemployment) the Nazis got 6 million
votes (the second largest party, after the Social
Democrats. The Communists were the third!)
• The Nazis used this critical situation and started to
blame the governm. Goebbels made very strong
propaganda, also with technological methods.
• The Communists tried to blame the capitalistic system,
giving the Nazis the role of “defensor pacis”.  support
from the industrialists
 Hitler’s political manoeuvrings
•
(1932-33)
In 1932 the Nazis won the election (more than 13 million
votes). So, Hitler should have become Chancellor, but
Hindenburg didn’t trust “the little vulgar caporal”.
• Franz von Papen
(Centre Party) formed
the new governm,
but without the Nazi
support it was
impossible 
Schelicher, a former
general, tried to form a
new governm but he had
the same issue.
• Von Papen became a rival of Schleicher and he
tried to persuade Hindenburg to make a deal
with Hitler: he would become Chancellor with
von Papen as Vice-Chancellor.
 How did Hitler consolidate his
power in 1933-34?
• On 1933 Hitler’s influence was limited, he was
simply the head of another Weimar coalition.
Within 18 months he got absolute power.
HOW????
– 1. he called for general election (with a lot of
police and SA). The worst episode was the
Reichstag fire (27 February – a communist was
charged and Hindenburg was persuaded to issue
an emergency decree that increased police
powers. People’s fear of Communism whipped up)
– 2. He got a vote of 43.9%  he still needed the support
of the Nationalists.
– 3. The enabling act: On 23 March 1933 Hitler introduced
an act (he convinced the Reichstag with threats +
promises, and with a lot of SA + SS) that established his
dictatorship
– 4. Now he was a dictator and he could act as he pleased.
But there were organisations that could have stopped
him:
• The unions could have organised a general strike
• The opposition parties could have regrouped
• The Civil service could have stalled procedures and stop nazi
laws
• The state governm could have continued to follow non-nazi laws
• The army could have organised a coup

– SO Hitler needed to resolve all those potential threats.

• And, in fact, he consolidated his power
between March 1933 and August 1934
– 1. Trade unions abolished, a Labour Front (Nazi)
was set up in its place
– 2. All political parties were banned
– 3. The Civil service was “purged” of all the enemies
of the state.
– 4. State parliaments were abolished in early 1934.
– 5. The night of long knives, 30 June 1934: Army:
Hitler was afraid of Rohm, leader of SA that
wanted to merge the army with the SA. Moreover,
he started to see Rohm as a threat because he
wasn’t satisfied with Nazism and arguing in favor
of a second revolution. On 30 June 1934 Rohm
and other generals were arrested and shot by SS
– 6. When president Hindenburg died Hitler
proclaimed himself Chancellor and Reich Fuhrer
– SA: private army of the Nazi Party (1921)
– SS: Hitler’s bodyguard (1925)
The Nazi regime
 How effectively did the Nazis
control Germany (1933-45)?

• The opposition: In the election of 1933 Nazis got

44% . It means that the 56% didn’t like Nazis.
Anyway, during the Third Reich other elections
revealed a stunning approval rate: up to 90%, but
it was not a “sincere” figures because:
– All the opposition party was banned
– The Nazis themselves counted and published the
votes
•  it’s difficult to measure the real entity of the
opposition
• The main sources of opposition were:
– Trade unions: they were officially banned in 1933 but some
of them continued to work secretly organising illegal strikes
– Right-wings groups: the most important was the Kreisau
Circle who thought to a substitute for Hitler. It was composed
by the high German society
– Left-wings groups: the more important were Communists
and Social Democrats, and they both maintained an
underground network, spreading propaganda and new ideas
– The army: twice officers thought to kill Hitler
• In 1930, General Beck
• 1944, after Stalingrad  it led to 5000 executions
– The churches: Catholic and Protestant. The Catholic bishop
Galen of Munster succeeded in stopping the euthanasia
program; the Protestant Pastor Niemoller formed a rival
church to the Nazi one, and thus he spent 8 years in a camp
– Youth: Edelweiss Pirates and Navajos offered a refuge for
anti-Nazi teens. The White Rose movement was linked to
Munich university.
• But how did the Nazis deal with the opposition?
(try to guess…).
• Sadly, it worked well, since there were no signs of
revolts and opposition. There was some plots, but
they all failed. The program of indoctrination was
strong and there was an effective system of terror
and violence:
– Informers: everyone was encouraged to report any suspect
anti-Nazi activity. There were specific nazi officers too. It
created fear and anxiety.
– The SS: led by Himmler, they pursued enemy of the state; for
this reason they had very wide powers, and they run the
camps.
– The Gestapo: it was the secret police, under Himmler control
from 1936. They could spy everyone and arrested them for
small suspicions.
– Concentration camps: not only for Jewish people, but also for
the opponents of the regime, gypsies, beggars, tramps, work-
shy (chi non voleva lavorare). They used them as slaves.
– Nazi courts and judges: all the judges had to declare their
loyalty to Hitler. Capital offences (reati punibili con la morte)
were increased from 3 to 43 between 1933 and 1943.
Listening a foreign radio, or telling a joke on Nazis carried to
death.
 Nazi use of culture and mass
media
• In 1933 Goebbels was appointed minister for
propaganda and Enlightenment  to persuade
Germans of the benefits of Nazi rule. They tried
to create loyal followers of Hitler.
– Art: see Saddam (no expressionism because it was
“decadent”; only celebration of the Aryan race)
– Music: popular, jazz and Jewish music banned, they
preferred Wagner and Beethoven
– Literature: books were censored (public burning), only
propaganda books were encouraged
– Film and theatre: historical themes to make
comparisons; propaganda movies; official newsreels
to broadcast the Nazi message (see Italy, Istituto Luce)
– Radio: a lot of radios everywhere, all the stations
were controlled by the Nazi
– Mass rallies: a lot of public occasions. The most
spectacular was at Nuremberg. The aim was to
reinforce the personality cult centered on Hitler, and
to raise money ;)
– Posters
– Sport: 1936 Berlin Olympics.
But Jesse Owens
(a BLACK American) ruined
the Nazi (very stupid) dream.
• + the extraordinary speaking abilities of Adolf
Hitler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C9iUaP
51CI
 Why did the Nazi persecute
many groups?
• The aims of the Nazi violence were not only Jewish
people but also:
– Homosexuals
– Beggars
– Mentally handicapped
– Drunkards
– Prostitutes
– Gypsies
Because all of them were considered incompatible
with the “glorious” Aryan race. He had a “clear”
manifesto about that.
• The master race theory: Hitler believed that
Germans formed a superior race (races don’t
exist!), for this very reason Germany should rule
the world (obvious, isn’t it?). The WWI defeat, or
the 1923 and 1930-33 crisis was fault of the Jews.
He discouraged marriages between German and
non-German people.
• The efficiency requirement: since Germany was
overburdened with undesirable people, it was
better to get rid of them. They didn’t contribute
and cost a lot in terms of care and welfare.
 Jews
• SO, the Nazis separated Jews from Aryans
– They ordered to boycott Jewish shops in April 1933
– “Jews not wanted” started to appear in the shops and
restaurants
– Jews where fired from many places
– In 1935 NEUREMBERG LAW denied German citizenship to
Jews and prohibited marriage
– During the KRISTALLNACHT in 1938, (la notte dei cristalli)
Jews where fiercely attacked, and after that they were
banned from schools and public and private places (such as
theatres).
– For all those reasons, 550.000 (40%) Jews left their country.
 The gypsies
• They were worst than Jews because they violated
the racial and the efficiency requirements.
• So, they were discriminated and a lot of them
were sent to the camps.
• In 1938 they were
forced to be
r
registered.
• What happened to all of the “undesirables”?
– In 1933 a Sterilisation Law was passed for people with
rather unspecific illness (such as “debolezza”)  it
ended with the forced sterilisation of 700.000 persons
– In 1939 the Nazis started to kill the mentally ill with a
secret euthanasia program (from starvation to gas
chambers). The campaign ended in 1941, after the
death of 70.000 people.
 Can we talk of a totalitarian
state?
• Totalitarian: a state that controls all the aspects of
public and private life with the aid of propaganda
and violence.
• So, Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state, but it
was not a perfect totalitarianism. We’ll see why in
the next slide.
• Political system: Nazi Germany was a one-party
state with charismatic leader. There were small
opponents group stopped by Gestapo  FULL
CONTROL
• Economy: was largely private and independent, the
control of the governm. was linked to the war
production  INCOMPLETE CONTROL
• Society: women and children were strictly
controlled but groups of teenagers escaped from
this control  PARTIAL CONTROL
• Mass media and culture: COMPLETE
• Religion: they tried to control the Catholic and
Protestant church but they failed INCOMPLETE
CONTROL
• So, the main exceptions to a
totalitarian state were religion
and economy. If the
government would have
worked well, the German state
would have been really
totalitarian, but Hitler had to
use “divide et impera”, to
prevent alliances against him.
Moreover, Hitler didn’t
understand the importance of
administrative details.
 Living in Nazi Germany
• Young people: Nazism affected the life of young
people in 2 ways, in order to create a new
generation of loyal Nazis
– Education system: after 1933 all the school was placed
under the control of the Ministry of Education. Every
teacher had to take a loyalty oath and join the Nazi
Teacher’s League. Some books (history and biology)
were rewritten, according to Nazi ideology. A great
emphasis was placed on sport and physical education.
– Youth movement:
Hitler Youth was established during 1920s (while other
groups such as boy scout were banned). It was
organised by age and sex. For the boys this experience
was aimed at making good soldiers (physical, technical
training + political indoctrination); girls joined the
League of German Maidens at 14 and they were
prepared to motherhood
• The Rebels:
– The Swing movements: they loved jazz, long hair,
dancing, they preferred English and American culture
and they were tolerant with Jews. In 1941 over 300
members were arrested, some of them were sent in
the camps
– The Edelweiss Pirates: they were working class
adolescents (14-17). They were a collection of groups
that shared the dislike for the strict regimentation and
sexual segregation of the Hitler Youth. The believed in
freedom of expression, they painted anti-nazi slogan on
the walls. During the war their activity became more
threatening.
After the
assassination
of a Gestapo
leader 12 of
them were
publicly
hanged,
other were
sent to
camps.
• The Nazi policy towards women and family:
– At the core of the Nazi ideology was the traditional family,
because it gave stability to society and it raised the birth
rate. In fact, after 1900 many woman started to pursue
careers and the birth rate fell. During the Weimar Republic,
they acquired the right to vote and to study Law and
Medicine. The Reich wanted to stop all of this and
suggested that women follow the 3 K (Kinder, Kirche und
Kuche). They deprived women of the vote and removed
them from professions. Moreover the Reich needed people
for the army and for the war industries.
– The Reich took measures to encourage marriage: loans,
fertility medals (!) (gold for 8 children and more), family
allowances (assegni familiari), free classes in parenting
skills.
– The Lebensborn program: selected unmarried women were
encouraged to get impregnated by racially pure SS men and
to give the babies to the Fuhrer, in state institutions.
TERRIBLE.
– All those measures increased the birth and marriage
rates, but most couple opted for a maximum of 2
children.
– After 1937 there was a U-turn:
• the Nazi regime needed women in the industries and farms,
with very low wages, so sometimes they were forced to
accept
• the marriage loans was cancelled
• It reveals the contradictory nature of Nazism: women should
be mothers and stay at home, but we need them also in the
army!
• Did most people benefit from Nazi rule?
– Those who suffered the most were a minority: gypsies,
jews, communists and socialists, devout christians, but
until 1939 (the starting of the war) the majority of
Germans accepted the Nazi regime because their life
standard had improved since the Great Depression
• Working class: there was a great reduction of unemployment
(from 6 millions to a few hundred thousands), partly through
public works, rearmament, National Labour Service; there
were also benefits.
• Farmers: price guarantees, elimination of debts, and
protection against their estates being broken up to pay death
duties (tasse di successione)
• Businessmen: elimination of Jewish business; large firms
gained contracts from the rearmament programme,
benefited from the absence of trade unions and Communists
• How did the coming of war change life in Nazi
Germany?
– War broke out in September 1939 and Germany was
affected by shortage of food and labour, but for the
first 2 years they were galvanized by victories and
luxury goods were imported from conquered
territories (mostly for the officers). The turning point
was in 1941-41, after the defeat in Russia.
Disillusionment with Nazism
became widespread,
encouraging opposition.
• Let’s analyses the situation:
• Shortages: food rationing was introduced in September, in
November clothes rationing. Then other items like soap and
toilet paper. Black market flourished. Labour shortage
became more and more serious.
• Bombing: 3.6 million homes were destroyed. 150.000 people
died during bombing in February 1945.
• Total war: in 1944 Goebbels introduced measures to direct all
the resources towards war.
• The Final Solution: The killing of Jews started in 1941. At the
Wannsee Conference (1942) Nazis decided to eliminate all
European Jews, evacuating them in remotely located camps
in Poland such as Treblinka and Auschwitz. The Nazis killed 6
million Jews (Rome has a population of 4 million people)
through gassing, shooting, starvation, working to death.
 Revision
• Read Key Points on p. 220
• Read Revision tips on p. 220
 Final task for my tireless
students
• P. 221 n. 1-10. As usual, you have to use
sources and your knowledge.
The end!