Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Why unrevolutionary?
- Agreement between Ebert and Groener (Ebert agreed that he
would not attempt to encroach on the armys prestige and
independence in return for their support army maintained its
power strongly right-wing & became an anti-democratic
force in Weimar Republic forced Ebert to respond
excessively harshly to left-wing opposition like the Sparticists
& offered little support against right-wing uprisings like the
Kapp Putsch)
- Ebert and SPDs moderate & in practice cautious and
conservative (wanted to protect and propagate workers rights
yet feared a communist revolution like that in Russia & didnt
want the government to take everyones property
determined to prevent communist take over appeased
landowners and industrialists)
- Civil service positions (judges, teachers etc.) remained the
same as it were under the Kaiser many not loyal to Weimar
Republic & uninterested in democracy & strongly right-wing
e.g judges lenient after Munich Putsch and Hitler received light
sentence as they were sympathetic of his cause OR e.g.
Freikorps unpunished for Kapp Putsch
- Kaisers abdication was mainly motivated by the fact that he
thought a left-wing democratic civilian government would
have had better peace terms. There wasnt really so much
unrest that the Kaisers government couldnt have held on.
Weimar constitution
strength
-Democratic (universal suffrage,
proportional representation)
-Gave equal rights to all
weaknesses
-Germany in 1919 was largely
divided in terms of political
views, hence due to proportional
representation, no party could
Germans
-Proportional representation very
fair as it made sure that political
parties were allocated seats in
the Reichstag in proportion to
the number of votes they got. It
also allowed less popular parties
to get a few seats in the
Reichstag.
-Proportional representation
allowed a few radical parties like
the Nazis or the KPD to gain
representation
-Each state had its own traditions -Article 48 gave the president
so it was right that they should
the power to pass laws and rule
keep relatively autonomous state without consulting the Reichstag
governments to control over
in cases of emergency. In the
their own affairs.
crisis of 1929-1932, this eroded
Weimar democracy and
effectively, Germany was being
governed dictatorially before
Hitler came to power.
-States could be hostile to the
government and even try to
overthrow it.
Treaty of Versailles:
Article 231- blamed Germany and her allies
(Austria-Hungary, Turkey) for starting WW1
Reparations: 6.6 billion
Restrictions on German armed Forces:
o army 100,000 men
o navy 15,000 men and six battleships
o air force disbanded
o no tanks or submarines
o Rhineland demilitarized.
Territorial Loss: Germany lost 13% of its land (not
counting colonies), 6 million (10%) of its population (not
counting colonies), 10% of its industry, 15% of its
agricultural land, 16% of its coal fields, 10% of its industry
(including almost half of its iron and steel industry
o Posen and West Prussia taken from Germany and
made part of the newly established Poland. ;
separated East Prussia form the rest of Germany
o Danzig: made this an international city, run by
the League of Nations, so that both Germany and
Poland could use the port
o Memel: made international city administered by
the League of Nations, but annexed by Lithuania in
1923
o Debts from war: Germany had large debts from WW1 (instead
of raising taxes, Kaisers government borrowed many from
German citizens in the form of war bonds and promised to
pay these back with interest when Germany won the war)
Germany lost the war and due to the Treaty of Versailles, lost
10% of its industry and 15% of its farmland still had to pay
back these debts Weimar government responded by printing
money
o Occupation of the Ruhr: Germany short on money & unwilling
to pay reparations fell behind on reparation payments
France and Belgium responded by marching its troops into the
Ruhr (Germanys most important industrial region) occupied
it workers in Ruhr factories went on trike Weimar
government printed extra money to pay their wages in order
to support them (momentarily gained popularity because
people were rallying behind them) so they can continue to go
on strike became obvious that the government was just
printing money caused people to lose confidence in German
currency
o People lost confidence in German money value becomes
increasingly more worthlesshyperinflation
Effects:
o Wiped out savings of the middle class & old people who lived
on their life savings and fixed pensions (had to spend life
savings just to purchase food)
o People started bartering goods
o Prices rose so fast that wages couldnt keep up and everyday,
after receiving their money, people had to run to the shops to
spend their money before it became worthless
o Unemployment as smaller businesses and companies were
going bankrupt
o Benefitted those in debt, like the government, who could
repay debt with worthless money fraction of real cost
o Workers were protected to a certain extent as their wages
rose along with inflation & unemployment benefits increased
weekly however prices rose to fast that wages couldnt keep
up at times
o Rich protected as they possessed land and foreign currency
o Caused anger, dissatisfaction and resentment towards the
Weimar government as well as making many doubt the
competence of a democratic regime
Stresemann: Chancellor of the Weimar Republic from AugustNovember 1923 and then Foreign Minister from 1923-29. He
negotiated the end of the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr
and the Hyperinflation crisis the Dawes Plan, the Locarno Treaty and
the Young Plan
Action
August: Stresemann becomes
Chancellor and calls off passive
resistance
How it helped
Prevented the policy of passive
resistance from bankrupting
Germany as this meant the
workers of the Ruhr went back to
work and the government didnt
have to print money to pay them
any more.
By strictly limiting the amount of
this currency in circulation the
value of German money was
stabilized, bring the predicament
of hyperinflation under control.
This action helped the
government gain the support of
the army, who were strongly
right wing. As a result, it was
much easier for the government
to get the army to act against
the much more dangerous rightwing nationalists in Bavaria.
By these plans, the reparations
were spread out over a longer
period and Germany received
loans from the USA to help to
stabilize the economy and
enable them to pay regular
reparations, the plans also
helped Germany rebuild trade
and industry.
on the US economy, which meant that it was badly hit by the Great
Depression of 1929-32.
Young Plan: This was a new plan for Germanys payment of
reparations. Stresemann negotiated it shortly before his death in
1929. It reduced the total amount of reparations Germany would
have to pay by three quarters, spread the payments out over a
longer period of time (until 1988) and Allied supervision of the
railways, the Reichsbank and custom duties was discontinued. This
was resented by many in Germany who believed Germany shouldnt
pay reparations at all, but it was quite an achievement to negotiate
it
Recovery of German economyhow far?
Strengths
Weaknesses
It depended on American
loans, which could be
withdrawn at any time. The
Great Depression 1929-1932
dealt a severe blow on
Germanys economy given its
dependence on Americas
economy.
Unemployment was a serious
problem. The economy might
be growing, but it wasnt
creating jobs fast enough for
Germanys rising population.
Employers complained about
the money the government
spent on welfare benefits for
the poor and unemployed.
They said taxes were too high.
Some sectors of the economy
were in trouble throughout the
1920s, farming in particular.
Income from agriculture went
down from 1925 to 1929. By
1929, farmworkers earnings
were little more than half the
national average.
There was extreme income
disparity.
There was still a concentration
of power in the hands of just a
few industrialists who ran
more than half of Germanys
industry.
Foreign policies:
Aims:
1) End reparations or reduce it to an extent that it is tolerable for
Germany
2) Protect German speakers (10 to 12 million) outside Germanys
border
3) Readjust Germanys eastern borders and reclaim Danzig, Posen
and West Prussia
Locarno 1925
Stresemanns achievements
were too subtle to be greeted
enthusiastically by the
majority.
Concrete gains from his
diplomacy were not gain. Full
withdrawal of French
occupation of the Ruhr only
happened after his death.
Germany lacked the power to
insist and exert pressure on
revision yet could not gain
international support for the
territorial changes required
Stresemanns approach
fundamentally flawed.
Might have been better to
accept eastern borders and
concentrate on building up
economic and political
influence in the new sates in
Hitler ran against Hindenburg. He gained 35% of the vote and lost,
but he gained a respectable amount of support and became very
well known in Germany.
Hindenburg: This was the President of Germany from 1925-1934.
He had been one of the leaders of Germany in World War I. He
didnt really believe in democracy, but he tried to uphold the
constitution because he had sworn to do so. He ended up using
article 48 of the Weimar constitution to govern by decree during the
Depression when no party or coalition could control the Reichstag.
This meant he had the power to choose the chancellor and the
cabinet. After several attempts to find an alternative solution, he
reluctantly appointed Hitler Chancellor in 1933. This persons health
was failing in 1933-34, which may have helped Hitler get power.
fallen from the level at the previous election, while the KPD support
had risen may have helped convince Hindenburg that Hitler could
be controlled and that he was needed to stem the communist tide)
Enabling Act: Passed March 24, 1933. This gave Hitler the
power to make laws without consulting the Reichstag.
Effectively, it gave him dictatorial powers. The Reichstag had
in effect voted itself out of existence, through the next eleven
years of Nazi rule the Reichstag met only 12 timesbut
simply to listen to Hitler speaking and they never held a
debate nor did they have any say on policies. This in turn,
allowed him to pass laws like the Law Against the Formation
of New Parties on 14th July 1933 (right-wing parties joined
Nazis, Catholic Centre Party disbanded due to concordat with
Catholic Church, all other parties dissolved themselves
Germany officially becomes a single-party state) and laws
banning trade unions other than the DAF on 2nd May 1933 (the
only workers organization allowed were those ran by the Nazi
party impossible for the workers to organize strikes to
oppose the government), banning the SPD on 19th July 1933
(the second largest party in the Reichstag and the only party
to vote against the Enabling Act once they were banned,
there was no-one left to oppose the Nazis in the Reichstag),
purging the Civil Service of Jews and political opponents on 7th
April 1933 (made it more likely that officials, teachers, judges,
etc would support the Nazis).
films that carried the Nazi message prior to the playing of the
movie. By 1934, film-makers had to send the plot of every new
film to Goebbels for approval.
Young people were also indoctrinated through the Hitler Youth.
Goebbels set up the Reich Chamber of Culture of which
Musicians, writers and actors had to be members of. He could
stop any musician, actor, writer or artist from working by ending
his or her membershipmany who were deemed unsuitable were
banned. Some left Germany in protest and some gave in and
started to produce work, which was acceptable to the Nazis.
Goebbels drew up guidelines for what was acceptable for music:
had to be German i.e. folksongs, marching music or classical
music by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. Jazz not permitted as it
was classified as black, therefore racially inferior.
Goebbels drew up a list of banned books, which were removed by
the Gestapo from bookshelves and libraries. In May 1933 the
Nazis encouraged students to burn the books they believed were
un-German and Jewish. Goebbels wanted books about race, war
and the Nazi movement. One popular topic was the heroic
actions of the German soldiers in the First World War.
Censorship: Every word published in Nazi Germany was
censored. Books written by Jews and opponents of the Nazi
regime were publicly burned.
Y
Y
There was also an organization for boys aged 6-10 called the
Pimpfen.
The Nazis made every effort to get the support of Aryan young
people and they were very successful, at least at first.
Martin Niemller
Paul Schneider
Catholic/
What did he/they
Protestant/
oppose?
Other
Protestant German Christians
formed Confessional
Church with
Bonhoeffer
Nazi control of
churches.
Everything that came
Cardinal Galen
Catholic
Josef Fath
Catholic
Jehovahs Witnesses
Other
up that he felt
corrupted Christian
doctrine or went
against Christian
values.
Criticised Goebbels in
particular
Publicly attacked
Nazi policies.
Launched large
public protest
against
euthanasia
campaign
(publicly halted
though continued
in secret
demonstrates
Nazis willingness
to bow to public
pressure when
faced with serious
protests)
Clashed with
Hitler Youth
leaders and
school teachers.
Nazis from luring
young people
away from
Catholic beliefs.
Refused to join the
army or to swear
allegiance to anyone
but God.
concentration camp in
1937.
Kept there for 2 years.
Unknown.
Most ended up in
concentration camps.
1/3 died.
tried to destroy the camp before the Soviet forces arrived, but
failed. About 7,500 inmates were left. The rest, about 55,000 had
been forced to march west.
Changing role of women:
Effects of War:
1939 Law preventing more than 10% of university students from
being female was dropped.
During the war, more men were drafted into the army, exacerbating
labour shortages, hence demand for female workers
increased.
1943- Women between 17 and 45 (who didnt have young children)
required to register for work They were paid and treated
normally, but many didnt want to work, and only about 1
million showed up.
1944 Women between 45 and 50 years old required to register for
work. Fewer German women ended up working outside the
home than British or American women in the same period.
Y -It was harder for women to run homes and do domestic work as
rationing made it difficult to cook (had to deal with black
market) and their husbands were away at war.
Y -It was harder for mothers to look after children due to the
bombing and them being pressured to work.
Y -As casualties mounted there was even greater pressure to
increase the birth rate. Women were encouraged to have
children whether they were married were not, for instance the
Lebensborn programme was launched to encourage procreation
outside of marriage during which, in effect, in state-run brothels
Aryan women had babies with SS men. Despite increasing
women workers, gender roles were still enforced and there was
even a campaign against women wearing trousers.
Reasons:
-Nazi philosophy: wanted women to stay home, bear children etc.
Total War
1941 (October) 1943: Total war: From 1943 Germany started to
suffer defeats in the War it had become clear that the war was no
longer in Germanys favour, therefore the government decided to
increase their war efforts. Every part of German society was geared
towards the war effort, producing arms, growing food, caring for the
sick of fighting. Anything that did not contribute directly to the was
effort was eliminated, for example professional sport was ended,
non-essential businesses were closed, magazines not important to
the war was closed and the manufacture of civilian clothing was
ended. Clothing and furniture shortage caused exchange centres to
be opened where people could swap furniture and cloths. However,
cinemas remained opened so propaganda films could be played to
raise morale.
Measures taken in July 1944:
-All non-German servants and all workers going into armament
factories.
-To save fuel, railway and postal services were reduced, and all letter
boxes were closed.
-All theatres, opera houses, music halls and places of entertainment
(except cinemas) were closed.
-The age limit for compulsory labour for women was raised to fifty.
-The Volksstrum (Home Guard) was formed in preparation for the
final defence of Germany. It was comprised of the old, unfit and
youth all those who had previously not been considered fit for
conscription to the army. They did not have adequate equipment or
weapons, often using improvised transport such as bicycles and
borrowed guns. This revealed to the German population how
desperate Germany was and how they were losing the war.
Rationing:
1939-41: Goods, clothing, hot water and soap were rationed for
everyone. Workers in heavy industries pregnant women,
nursing mothers and children got extra rations. 2/5 of
Germans actually ate better than before the war. The lack of
soap was probably the hardest to deal with.
1941-1943: For most of this period, the food supply in Germany was
Eidelweiss Pirates
Groups of working class youths who stopped attending HJ meetings
and formed their own groups. These were not really connected to
each other, some groups confined themselves to avoiding HJ
meetings and holding their own camping trips, having sex, etc.
However, once the HJ tried to assert its authority over these youths,
some went further, beating up HJ patrols, helping escaped prisoners,
and sheltering army deserters. The Nazis broke these groups up
whenever they could, but they were reluctant to send them all to
concentration camps. Instead, they made an example of the
ringleaders. 12 were hanged publicly in Cologne in 1944.
Swing Youth
Middle-class youths who wanted to dance and listen to swing-music,
which was a blend of black jazz and white dance-band music and
was not approved of by the Nazis. They wore English-style clothes,
girls wore make-up and Jews were accepted into their groups. Some
of these young people were harshly punished, e.g sent to
concentration camps.
White Rose Group
Opposition group at Munich University led by a brother and sister
called Hans and Sophie Scholl. Inspired by a philosophy professor at
the university, Kurt Huber, they secretly printed and distributed a
series of six leaflets, trying to awaken the German people to oppose
the Nazis. They were caught and most of the group was executed by
guillotine. This harsh punishment shows how much courage it took
to express even non-violent opposition to the Nazis.
Stauffenburg Plot
Reason: -Army leaders alarmed by the way Hitler was leading
Germany into a disastrous defeat for WW2; hence they wanted to
get rid of him Germany clearly losing the war