Unit 3 Notes S Grade

Unit III –

People and Power Context D Germany

THE BIRTH OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC

1918 Germany surrendered to Alllies.  Why?

Kaiser told the war was lost

Germany’s allies surrendered

British naval blockade was cutting food supply

German people wanted an end to the suffering.

The Allies agreed to a ceasefire because the Kaiser abdicated, German soldiers were withdrawn from France and Belgium and all prisoners were returned.

A new temporary government was formed in Germany with elections to take place in January 1919.  This gov’t was led by Freidrich Ebert (from the Social Democrat Party) There was discontent in Germany as many felt that democracy had been forced upon them.  There were demonstrations against the elections and an attempted revolution. Germany no longer had a Monarchy and was a Republic.  This new gov’t was to be known as the Weimar Republic.

Political Parties

LEFT WING = Socialists.  Made up from:

Social Democratic Party (Ebert)

Independent Socialists (who later joined with Ebert)

Communists (Spartacists)

The Socialists wanted to improve working and living conditions but the

SDP wanted to do this peacefully using the law and the Communists wanted change quickly through a revolution.

CENTRE = Zentrum Party

RIGHT WING = Nazi Party.  An extremist group who hated democracy.

Spartacist Revolt

In January 1919 the Spartacists tried to seize power.  Why?

hated democracy

didn’t want elections – thought power would stay with the middle/upper classes and the working class would not see improvements

feared that demands of workers and soldiers would not be met

This attempted revolution failed.  Why?

Ebert and SDP had support of upper class and army who hated and feared Communism

Ebert had support of the Army and the Freikorps

Leaders of the Spartacists were murdered

Elections 1919

The SDP led by Ebert won the election.  They then joined with the Independent Socialists to create a coalition gov’t.

Proportional Representation (PR) used to elect the Reichstag.

60,000 = 1 deputy elected to the Reichstag.  PR allowed extremist groups to be elected.  Under Article 48 if the Weimar Constitution the President of the Reichstag could call a state of emergency and rule without the support of the parliament.

The constitution also set out the fundamental laws.  All citizens:

were equal before the law

had the right to free speech

had the right to freedom of religion

freedom to join a Trade Union

freedom from imprisonment without a trial.

Other Problems

Germany didn’t just face opposition from the Communists.  There was also opposition from the Right (Nazis) and the German economy was very weak.  Many Germans were also still very bitter about the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

Notes

WEIMAR REPUBLIC 1923-1929

Germany had spent vast amounts of money on the First World War. When she lost, Germany had to pay back the money she had borrowed along with reparations.  Germany was crippled.  The Gov’t printed more money in an attempt to pay of its debts however this led to inflation.  Goods became more expensive, prices went up and people demanded more wages.  This led to the Gov’t printing even more money.

The invasion of the Ruhr

At the end of 1922 the Weimar Gov’t failed to make a payment of reparations to the French.  France refused to believe that Germany couldn’t afford to pay and with the support of the Belgians, France invaded the Ruhr valley.

French and Belgian troops took over mines, factories and railways and they moved food and supplies back to their own countries. Germany was too weak to fight back.  The gov’t called for passive resistance and German workers went on strike.

Results?

French were angry and fighting broke out

The German Gov’t had to import food and supplied from other countries which made Germany bankrupt

More money was printed, the value of the mark fell and eventually became worthless.  Germany was in hyperinflation.

Inflation 1923

Effects?

standard of living fell.  Prices increased, people bartered goods for food, elderly suffered as pensions did not increase, life savings were wiped out

people felt cheated and betrayed by the Gov’t

those who had borrowed money gained as they could now pay it back with worthless bank notes.

Right wing extremists and Nationalists were furious at the French invasion and looked for opportunities to overthrow the Gov’t.

How was it solved?

new chancellor – Gustav Stresemann in 1923

realised that passive resistance was causing more problems

called off the strike

stopped printing money and scrapped currency

new currency introduced

Germany slowly began to recover

America lent Germany money so reparations could be paid

Dawes Plan and Young Plan reduced reparations

French and Belgians left Ruhr in late 1923

Munich Putsch

The Nazi party, led by Adolf Hitler blamed the Weimar Gov’t for signing the Treaty of Versailles and for the misery caused by inflation.  Hitler organised a revolution to overthrow the Weimar Gov’t. 

In 1923 the Nazi party stormed into a beer hall in Munich where the heads of the Bavarian gov’t, the police and army were having a meeting.  The three leaders were forced at gunpoint to agree to support Hitler.  The next day the Nazis celebrated but the leaders changed their minds.  The police arrested Hitler and 16 Nazi members were shot

Why did it fail?

The Nazi party did not have as much support as they thought they did.  Members of the gov’t in Bavaria deserted Hitler and the national gov’t threatened to use the army and police against the Nazis.

Hitler was arrested, sentenced to prison and the Nazi party broke up.

Wall Street Crash 1929

The Wall Street Crash in 1929 caused the German economy to collapse.  Once again discontent and poverty swept through Germany. Unemployment soared – reaching 6m in 1932 – and many Germans began to lose faith in the Weimar Gov’t.  People turned to the extremeist groups – the Nazis and the Communists.

Notes

RISE OF THE NAZI PARTY

1925-1929

Support for the Nazis was low.  Conditions in Germany were improving, the economy was recovering and hyperinflation was over.

Whilst in prison after the Munich Putsch, Hitler reorganised his party and wrote Mein Kampf – later to become the Nazi bible.  In this Hitler set out his plans for gov’t which he would achieve by legal means and not through force.

Hitler’s plans:

destroy Treaty of Versailles

destroy democracy

get rid of the Jews

create Lebensraum in the east

unite Germany and Austria (Anschluss)

Propaganda

Propaganda means when a group take action to spread opinions with the intent of persuading people.

The Nazis made great use of Propaganda to spread the word of the Nazi party.  The held large rallies, Hitler toured Germany by aeroplane, the made broadcasts for radio and cinema and created their own newspaper.

The Nazi party were portrayed as a party that was strong, disciplined, organised and able to restore pride and power to the German people.  Hitler was a great public speaker and this helped to attract people to the party.

Who Supported the Nazis?

The Nazis realised that to gain power they needed support from many groups in society.

Nazis had support from

Germans who felt they had been stabbed in the back in 1918

Germans who believed that the Jews were responsible for the defeat

middle classes who lost savings during the hyperinflation

unemployed as the Nazis promised jobs

the army as the Nazis promised to rearm

the industrialists as they would make money from rearmament

1929-1932

The Wall Street Crash was the Nazis opportunity to gain control.  They publicly blamed the Weimar Gov’t for the poor state of the economy and managed to gain new support.  In 1932 the Nazi party was the biggest party in the Reichstag and only after persuasion from the Gov’t did they consider joining a coalition, with Hitler becoming Chancellor.

Hitler gains control

In order to gain control Hitler had to remove his enemies – namely the Communists and Socialists, Roehm a Nazi with different views to Hitler and the ageing President, Hindenburg.

Communists/Socialist

The Reichstag fire (February 1933) gave Hitler the chance he needed.  The Communists were blamed for this and Hitler persuaded the President to grant him the powers under Article 48. Hitler then passed the Enabling Act (March 1933) which gave Hitler the right to rule for four years without the Reichstag.  In July 1933 a law declared the Nazi party the only party.  The political rights and personal freedoms laid down in the Weimar constitution were taken away and Germany became a police state. The Gestapo  had the power to put any opponents of the Nazis into the concentration camps.

Roehm

Hitler did not like Roehm’s plans to merge the German army and SA together.  Roehm did not agree with Hitler’s collaboration with the industrialists and this led to tension. The Night of the Long Knives (June 1934) saw around 800 Nazis including Roehm killed.  This removed any enemies from within the Nazi party.

President

Hindenburg died in 1934.  Hitler took the role of President and Chancellor and created one leader of Germany – the Furher.

Notes

LIFE IN NAZI GERMANY

By 1934 Hitler had established a dictatorship in Germany. This was based on a fear of the Gestapo and the concentration camps.  All Aryans had to be controlled and all non-Aryans had to be removed.

Young People

It was important that Young people were indoctrinated: 

to ensure the survival of Nazism

to be used as spies

to train boys to become soldiers and girls to become mothers.

Hitler Youth

regular activities, followed discipline and order

educated to support Hitler

of a military nature – uniforms/marches

focus on sport and fitness

Pressured into accepting Nazi ideas

Youth Patrol Service (idea of power)

threat of being taken away from family

peer pressure – large numbers joined

propaganda

People joined the Hitler Youth as they were attracted to the power and the adventure.

Many young boys went on to join the army or SS which allowed Hitler to carry out his plans.  By 1939 membership of the Hitler Youth was compulsory and all other youth groups were banned.

Jews

Hitler hated the Jews and once in power he wanted to make Germany free from all Jews.  Slav people were to become slaves to the master race (Aryans)

1933-1939 Hitler tried to remove Jews from Germany:

1933 - boycott of Jewish businesses

1935 - Jews forbidden to join army

The Nuremburg Laws

Jews banned as German citizens

Jews not allowed to vote

Jews not allowed to work for Gov’t

Jews not allowed to marry Aryans

1936 – Berlin Olympics.  Attacks on Jews were stopped/ hidden.  Hitler did not want this to be seen by the worlds’ media.

1938 - Jews forced to have their passport stamped with J for Jews

1938 – Kristallnacht and Jewish children banned from going to German schools.

1939 - Hitler threatens the Jews with destruction should war break out in Europe.

Other Opposition

The majority of Germans supported Hitler and the Nazis from 1933 as they provided jobs, effective propaganda made people support them and the fear of the Gestapo and the concentration camps.

Political Opponents:

Communists and Socialists were the Nazis biggest enemies.  They hated each other so did not join together to try to stop the Nazis. 

Enabling Act 1934 banned all other political parties and trade unions.  This affected the Communists and Socialists as they had a lot of support from the Trade Unions.

The Gestapo were ordered to hunt down political opponents and send them to the concentration camps.

Religious Opponents:

Hitler disliked the Christian Church but he couldn’t attack the churches as this would alienate the German people.  Many Nazi supporters were Christians and attacking the church would lead to opposition from abroad.

1933 – Concordat signed with Pope and Hitler tried to unite all protestant churches.

1936 – creation of Reich Church

Nazi beliefs replaced Christian beliefs

swastika replaced cross

Mein kampf replaced bible

Reich Church did not attract many ordinary Germans.

Notes

THE ROAD TO WAR

Hitler’s Foreign policy consisted of destroying the Treaty of Versailles, creating Lebensraum in the east and eventually dominating the world. 

He set about achieving this by:

Destroying the Treaty of Versailles

built up German armed forces

In 1935 Hitler increased the German army to more than the 100,00 and brought back conscription.  Both of these were not forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. 

signed an agreement with Britain to allow the German navy to be 35% the size of the British navy

created the German Airforce (Luftwaffe) in 1936.  This was also forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles.

Reoccupying the Rhineland

March 1936 Hitler defied the Treaty of Versailles and occupied the Rhineland.  This allowed Hitler to concentrate on expanding east as he no longer feared an attack from France

Creating Lebensraum

March 1938 Hitler started his move east.

he invaded Austria and brought about the Anschluss – something else forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles

October 1938 persuaded Britain and France to allow him to occupy the Sudentenland part of Czechoslovakia (area close to border of Germany and where a lot of Germans lived)

March 1939 invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia

September 1939 invaded Poland

World Domination?

When Hitler invaded Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany.  The Second World War had begun.

Notes