GERMANY 1918 - 1945

Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the start?

Impact of First World War

● 1914
○ Good businesses and workforce.
○ Optimism about power of Germany.

● 1918
○ War destroyed old Germany
○ Army defeated
○ Lack of food
○ Epidemic all around the country

End of old Germany

● Autumn 1918, Germany definitely lost war
○ Chaos

● Kaiser abdicate + Germany more democratic = peace to Germany

○ Kaiser refused
■ Triggered revolts (socialists)
● 9 November 1918 Kaiser abdicated his throne

● New leader → Friedrich Ebert

○ Signed armistice with allies
○ Announced Germany had new government: a REPUBLIC

New Germany: The Weimar Republic

● January 1919 free elections
○ Ebert’s party won
■ Became president of Weimar Republic

● Success on new government depended on:

○ Constitution → provide practical solution to challenge of ruling
Germany.
○ German people → people accepting immediate change from traditional
to democratic system.

● Opposition:
○ Right wing → restricted what new government could do, hoped for
Kaiser return.
 ○ Left wing → communists believed Germany needed a communist
revolution.

Republic in danger, 1919 - 1924

● Threat from left → Spartacists
○ Communists led from Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
○ Wanted communist government to rule the country
○ Early 1919 soviets in many towns
■ Freikorps against communists
● Freikorps won, two leaders murdered
○ Second rebellion in Bavaria (south of Germany)
■ May 1919 Freikorps crushed revolt, 600 communists killed
○ 1920 more communist agitation in Ruhr industrial area
■ 2000 dead
○ Communists remained powerful throughout 1920s

● Threat from right → Freikorps

○ Resented Treaty of Versailles
○ March 1920 Dr Wolfgang Kapp led 5000 into Berlin → Kapp Putsch
■ General strike by workers in Berlin
● Kapp left the country (died while awaiting trial)
○ Weimar had support and power
○ Ebert Government struggled dealing with political violence
■ 1923 Munich Putsch lead by Hitler
● Received short prison sentences

The Treaty of Versailles

● May 1919 terms were announced
○ Right-wing blamed Ebert’s government for betraying Germany

● Germany lost:
○ 10% land
○ Overseas colonies
○ 12.5% population
○ 16% coal
○ 48% iron industry

● In addition:
○ Army reduced to 100,000
○ No airforce
○ Reduced navy
○ Had to accept blame for starting war
○ Forced to pay reparations
 ● ‘Stab in the back’
○ People felt politicians had stabbed army in the back.
○ Thought that army hadn’t lost the war, and politicians decided not to
continue in war.

Economic disaster
● £6,600 in reparation costs
○ Germans protested, said economy was struggling to rebuild after war
■ Ignored

● Occupation of Ruhr
○ 1921 £50 million paid
○ 1922 nothing paid
○ January 1923 French and Belgian troops entered Ruhr
■ Took what was owed in form of raw materials and goods
○ Government ordered workers in area to go on strike
■ Nothing for French to take away
○ French killed 100 workers and expelled 100,000 protesters
○ Collapse of German currency

● Hyperinflation
○ Government printed more money
■ Positive for big industries
■ Negative middle class
● Government lost their support
○ Prices and wages increased
○ August 1923 new government under Gustav Stresemann took over
■ Called off passive resistance in Ruhr
■ New currency → Rentenmark
■ Receive American loans under Dawes Plan
■ Renegotiated reparation payments
○ Economic crisis solved quickly
○ Hyperinflation created political damage to Weimar Republic
 Why was Hitler able to dominate Germany by 1934?

Hitler and the Nazis

● 1919 Hitler joined Nazis
● Drexler (leader at the time) put Hitler in charge of propaganda and political
ideas
● 1920 announced Twenty-Five Point Programme, renamed as National
Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis)
● 1921 Hitler became leader
○ Energy, commitment and power attracting attention
● 1921 set up SA
○ Protected Hitler’s meetings and disrupted ones of others

Munich Putsch 1923

● 1923 Nazis minority party

● 8 November 1923 Hitler announced taking over of Weimar Government

○ Stormtroopers against Nazis
■ 16 Nazis killed, Hitler escaped in car

● Hitler had failed, but gained publicity.

○ Got off lightly
○ Prison was ‘welcoming’
■ Wrote book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), presented ideas about
Germany’s future
■ Understood Nazis couldn’t seize power by force
○ Out of prison
■ Rebuilt nazi strength in democratic way

● May 1924 won 32 seats

○ Set up Hitler Youth and Nazi Student’s League

A change of strategy
● 1928 gained 12 seats
○ Failed to win worker’s support
● Nazis promised to help agriculture if workers came to power
● Nazi dislike towards Weimar culture got them some support
○ Some people found their culture immoral
● 1925 Hitler enlarged SA
○ Reduced unemployment
● Set up SS
○ Similar to SA, but were loyal to Hitler personally
● Goebbles for propaganda
 ○ Posters, leaflets, films and radio broadcasts
● Still a minority
○ Stresemann’s years made people unattracted to extremists

Depression and rise of Nazis

● 1928 Wall Street Crash → USA in economic depression
● Germany asked to pay back their debts
○ Germany was bankrupt
● Many attracted to Nazis, looking for hellp
● 1930 Nazis got 103 seats, 1932 nearly 200
○ Did not have majority, but were biggest single party

Why did Nazis succeed in elections?

● Nazi campaigning + propaganda
● Negative cohesion (people shared same fears as Nazis)
● Disillusionment with democracy
● The Communist threat (‘Fear of Communism’)
● Decadence
● Weak opposition
● Great leadership

How did Hitler become Chancellor

● 1932 elections Hitler demanded to become Chancellor
● Hindenburg refused
● Von Papen called another election because had no support in Reichstag
○ Nazis again largest party, but lost 2 million votes
● Hindenburg refused again to appoint Hitler as chancellor
● Clear that Weimar government not working
● To rescue democratic system, Hindenburg needed a chancellor that had
support in Reichstag
● Hindenburg appointed Hitler
○ Convinced they could control him better like this (they were wrong)

Hitler consolidates his position

● The Reichstag Fire 27 February 1934
○ Reichstag burned down
■ Hitler blamed communists
■ Demanded special emergency powers (Article 48)
● Arrested communists, broke up meetings and frightened
voters

● Enabling Act
○ Allowed Hitler to make laws without consulting the Reichstag
○ Made Hitler a virtual dictator
 ■ Not strong enough to remove opponents

● Night of the Long Knives

○ All opponents left Germany or taken to concentration camps
○ Röhm talked about making SA into second army
■ Hitler suspicious of him
○ Hitler chose the army, not the SA.
■ Him and SS defeated SA and Röhm.
■ Accused Röhm of trying to murder him.
○ SA remained a Nazi organisation, but subordinate to SS

● Army Oath
○ Hindneburg died, Hitler took over as leader
○ 2 August 1934 army swore oath of loyalty to Hitler as Führer
■ Stay out of politics
■ Serve Hitler
○ In return, Hitler spent a lot on armaments, brought back conscription
and made plans to make Germany a great military power again.
 How effectively did the Nazis control Germany, 1933 - 1945?

Nazi seizure of power

● Nazi amis:
○ Strong Germany
○ Racially pure Germany
○ People’s community (Volk)
● January 1933 Hitler took power

Crushing opposition
● Gestapo
○ Secret state police
○ Could arrest citizens and send them to concentration camps (no
trial/explanation)
○ Network of ‘informers’ listening in conservations
○ The most feared by ordinary citizens

● The SS
○ Huge organisation
○ Trained aryans, loyal to Hitler
○ Crushed opposition
○ Carried out Nazi racial policies
○ Three subdivisions:
■ SD (internal security service)
■ Death’s Head units (responsible for concentration camps)
■ Waffen-SS (armoured regiments fought alongside army)
○ Set up own courts

● Concentration camps
○ Ultimate Nazi sanction
○ Set up when Hitler took power
○ 1.3 million germans spent time in concentration camps 1933-1939
○ Run by SS Death’s Head units
○ Forced to do hard labour
○ Limited food
○ Harsh discipline
○ Aim: correct opponents of regime
○ Late 1930s, deaths very common

● Police and courts

○ Top jobs in local police forces given to high-ranking Nazis
○ Police added political ‘snooping’ to normal law-and-order law
■ Told to ignore crimes committed by Nazi agents
 ○ Nazis controlled magistrates, judges and courts
○ Self-impose control

Propaganda in Nazi Germany

● Goebbles had to make sure others believed in Hitler
○ Used propaganda
○ Attention to public opinion

● The Nuremberg rallies

○ Took place in summer every year
○ Bands, marches, flying displays and Hitler’s speeches
○ Gave sense of belonging to Germans
○ Showed power of the state
○ Convinced ‘every other German’ supported Nazis

● Control of media and culture

○ Books
■ None could be published without his permission
■ 1933 book-burning → students burned anti-Nazi books
○ Art
■ Only Nazi-approved painters could show works
■ Usually represented Aryans
○ Newspapers
■ Jewish editors/journalists out of work
■ Anti-Nazi newspapers banned
○ Cinema
■ All had to carry pro-Nazi message
■ Newsreels before told greatness of Hitler + Nazi achievements
○ Music
■ Jazz music banned
● Because it was ‘black’ music
○ Radio
■ Made cheap radios so all Germans could buy one
■ Listening to broadcasts from BBC punishable by death
■ Hitler + Nazi speeches repeated until ideas accepted as normal
by Germans
○ Posters
■ All over the country
■ Showing success of Hitler and Nazis
■ Attacked opponents

The 1936 Olympics

● In Berlin
● Goebbles convinced Hitler that it was great propaganda opportunity
 ● Show that Aryan race was superior
● New stadium could hold 100,000 people
● Guests and competitors from 49 countries
● Show that Germany was modern, civilised and successful
● Germany top of medal table

Nazis and Churches

● 1933 concordat with catholic church
○ Hitler left catholic church alone
○ Church stayed out of politics
● Hitler encouraged alternative religion to churches (pagan German Faith
Movement)
● All Protestant churches come together → Reich Church
● 1930s Catholic Bishop criticised Nazis
● 1941 protest against Nazi policies of killing mentally and physically disabled
○ Forced Nazis to stop
○ The Nazis didn’t try to silence him, and didn't want trouble when
Germany was at war.

Persecution of minorities
● Nazis persecuted any group that the thought challenged Nazi ideas
○ Organisations for gays and lesbains shut down
○ 1939 ‘euthanasia programme’ against mentally handicapped
○ Attempted extermination of gipsies (⅚ killed)
○ ‘Asocials’ (alcoholics, homeless, prostitutes, criminals and beggars)
sent to concentration camps

● The Jews
○ Most vicious persecution
○ Anti-semitism culminated dreadful slaughter of ‘Final Solution’
○ Anti-semitsim = hatred of Jews
■ Treated unjustly and discriminated
○ Banned from Civil Service
○ SA and SS organised boycotts of Jewish shops/businesses
○ 1935 Nuremberg Laws took away citizenship from Jews
○ Propaganda bombarded with anti-Jewish messages
○ Kristallnacht → ‘The Night of Broken Glass’
■ November 1938, young jew killed German diplomat in Paris
■ Nazi had excuse to launch violent revenge on jews
● Jewish shops/workplaces destroyed
● 91 murdered
● Hundreds synagogues burned
● 20,000 taken to concentration camps
● Thousands left country
 What was it like to live in Nazi Germany?

At school
● Sixteen y.o. Aryan = strong Hitler supporter
● Teachers o course run by National Socialist Teachers Alliance
● Teach you: history of Germany + Aryan race is superior
● 1933 - 1938 university places from 128,000 to 58,000

In the Hitler Youth

● Boy → German Young People to Hitler Youth
● Girl → league of German girls to League of German Maidens
● Leisure time devoted to Nazis
● Physically fit, camping outdoors, cross-country runner and map reading

GIRLS BOYS

Taught domestic tasks (sewing, Taught how to keep and clean a rifle
cooking)

Taught how to be good German mum

● Attracted to Hitler Youth by leisure opportunities

● Other youth organisations made illegal
● 1936 Hitler Youth had 6 million members

At home
● 1st priority was Nazis (not family)
● Young ones prefer Hitler more than parents

Women
● Lebensborn
○ Single women asked to ‘donate a baby’ to Hitler
○ Have sex with Aryan SS and have a baby
○ Governments gave benefits to who donated babies

● Nazi attitudes to women

○ Role: support their husbands
○ Couldn’t work (stealing jobs from men)
○ Opportunities were limited

● Rewards for mothers

○ Received ‘Gold Cross’ for having 8 kids
○ Posters and radios supported motherhood
 ○ German Meiden’s League focused on physical health and
housekeeping skills
○ Birth rate increased from 15 to 20 per thousand

● Impact of war
○ 1930s needed more working women
○ 1942-1945 Nazi policy torn between traditional stereotype and working
woman

Workers, farmers and businesses

● Economic recovery and rearmament
○ National Labour Service sent men on public work projects (mainly to
build infrastructure)
○ Job creation founded by state instead of businesses
■ Short of workers by 1939
○ Rearmament → one of Hitler’s main plans
○ 1935 conscription reintroduced (less unemployment)
○ 1936 announced 4 year plan controlled by Goering
■ To get economy ready for work

● The Nazis and the workers

○ Hitler promised + delivered lower unemployment
■ Ensured popularity among industrial workers
○ Nazis never won their complete support, but gave them benefits so
they were happy
■ Cheap tickets, organised courses + events
■ Workers saved up for a Volkswagen Beetle (people’s car)
■ Beauty of labour movement = improved working conditions
○ All workers had to join DAF (General Labour Front)
■ Kept strict control of workers

● The Nazis and farming communities

○ Farmers important factor for Nazis reaching power, Hitler introduced:
■ Reich Food Estate
■ Reich Entailed Farm Law
○ Blood and soil = part of Nazi philosophy
○ Rural depopulation → only oldest inherited the farm

● Big business and middle classes

○ Small businesses → success depended on what they produced
○ Bg businesses → benefited a lot
■ Didn’t worry about trade unions and strikes
■ Gained huge government contracts
 ● ‘National community’: Volksgemeinschaft
○ Hitler wanted all ‘racially pure’ germans to think of themselves as a part
of a Volksgemeinschaft
■ Under Nazi rule everyone saw themselves as Germans

The impact of the II World War on Germany

● What happened during the war?
○ Germans had no enthusiasm
■ Remember WWI
○ 1939 food + clothes rationing
○ 1939-1941 war going well
○ 1941 gambled and invaded Soviet Union

● Consequences of bad decision

○ Troops battled against russians for 3 years
○ Disrupted lives
○ Losing support → hitler concentrated on war, not people
○ 1942 Albert Speer directing economy

● The bombing of Dresden

○ 1942 Allies designed new policy
○ Arthur Harris (‘Bomber’) planned and started strike on residential and
industrial district
■ Goal: make moral of civilians low and wipe out their
manufacturing production
○ February 1945 35000-150000 people killed

● The end of the war

○ End of war 3 months after bombing
○ 1945 Germans in desperate state
○ 3.5 million deaths
○ People leaving because of Russians advancing
○ Country divided into different zones

The impact of the war on young people

● Schools
○ First change made in schools
○ Curriculum was changed

● Hitler youth
○ Boys and girls separated
○ Camping and hiking

● Oppositions
 ○ ‘swing‘ movement
■ Middle-class teens
■ English + american songs
■ Accepted jews
○ Edelweiss Pirates
■ Groups of 14-17 y.o.
■ Against Hitler youth
■ Gestapo broke many of them

The impact of the war on Jews and minorities

● ⅕ jews killed by germans

● Polish Ghettos
○ 1939
○ Ghettos → fenced areas in city that separated minorities from others
○ Living conditions were bad

● The Warsaw Ghetto

○ Largest one (Poland)
○ November 1940
○ Housed 460,000 jews (9.2 per room)
○ From ghetto, taken to concentration camps
○ 300,000 died from gas or bullets
○ 90,000 died from starvation or illnesses
○ 1943 demolished

● Mass murder
○ Exterminate Jews + minorities
○ 1933
○ Jews lives made limited and horrible
○ Over ⅔ jews killed

● The ‘Final Solution’

○ January 1942 Senior Nazis met in Wannsee (Berlin, Germany)
○ Murder of all Jews in the country

Who resisted? Who was responsible?

● Jewsih fighters
○ Left ones joined resistant groups
○ 28 groups
○ Many fought in Nazi-occupied lands
■ Greek Jews blew up gas ovens in Auschwitz

● Help from germans

 ○ Some helped by hiding them out German-held territory
■ Example: oscar Shimler

● Who was responsible?

○ Civil service bureaucracy
○ SS
○ Police forces
○ Wehrmacht
○ Industry
○ German people

Did the war increase opposition to nazi regime?

● Organised groups
○ White rose
■ Small, brave members
■ Leader: Sophie Scholl
■ Published + disrupted anti-Nazi leaflets
■ Scholls persecuted in 1943

● Church leaders challenged Nazi policies

○ Clemsen Galen criticised Nazis
■ 1941 → protests against Nazi policy
○ Bonhoffer protested (1937 Gestapo stopped him)
■ Helped Jews to escape
■ October 1942 arrested and killed

● Army leaders against Hitler

○ Army only ones who could overthrow Nazis
○ 1930s some challenged Nazis
■ Example: General von Fritsch and Field von Blomberg
● Hitler had them removed

● The July bomb plot

○ July 1944
○ Army offices were sure Germany had lost
○ 20 July von Stauffenberg put bomb in Hitler’s conference room
○ Plan failed, badly planned
○ Hitler alive, Nazis killed 5000 people

Why was there not more opposition?

● Divided opposition
○ Left wing against right wing
○ Didn’t work together
■ Ended up in failure
● The Hitler Myth
○ Seen as godlike figure due to propaganda
○ Respected by anti-Nazis
○ Myth lasted until end of WWII

● Propaganda and censorship

○ Only achievements and victories of Nazis were published

● The 4 aces
○ SS violence
○ Gestapo
○ Concentration camps
○ Informers and courts