Development of dictatorship:

Germany 1918 - 1945

The establishment of the Weimar Republic and its

early problems

Shocked defeat, expected victory The British blockade meant no food getting through to

the German public Starvation, poverty and illness gripped Germany;

Influenza was rife Many wanted a democratic government 29 oct, sailors at Wilhelm went on strike and refused

orders, Nov 4, Dockers joined Formed ‘workers and soldiers council’ Revolts all over Germany, soldiers refused to suppress Many royals fled, including the Kaiser Kaiser’s assistants opened talks with allies Nov 1918

The German Revolution of 1918

Weimar Republic constitution Germany split into 18 different regions run by local governments These local governments were run by a central government Central Government

Reichstag Members elected every 4 years Men/Women over 20 allowed to vote

Proportional Representation 20% of votes got you 20% of seats in Reichstag

Reichsrat MP’s from each region, number to size of region Reichsrat delay new laws, or overruled if majority 2/3rds of votes of Reichstag

Chancellor Head of government Choose ministers Create laws, needed majority of Reichstag to pass law

President Took no part in every day government Dismiss Reichstag, call elections, control army and rule by decree in state of

emergency

The new Constitution

Proportional representation meant that no party got the majority vote

A total of 28 different parties This lead to short and unstable coalitions If one party disagreed, would pull out New elections would have to be held Most of the time, president ruled by decree Extreme left and right wing parties didn’t

support the Weimar republic Moderate Germans thought Gov was weak

Weaknesses of new Constitution

Treaty of Versailles Germany had to pay reparations to the allies Accept all blame for the war Lost all colonies in Africa Army allowed 100,000 men, no navy/air force Lost Alsace and Lorraine to France, West Prussia and upper

Silesia to Poland, northern Schleswig to Denmark and Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium

This shamed and humiliated German pride The German people blamed the Weimar Republic Many thought that the German army was able to still fight The Kaiser had censored the press to a point where people

did not know of the retreat Opposition parties published newspapers blaming

Government incompetence and cowardice ‘Dolchstoss’

Reactions to the Treaty of Versailles

Spartacists were Communists Named themselves after the Spartans They portrayed themselves as slayers of Evil (Weimar

Republic) Wanted to overthrow the Weimar republic and install a

communist Government instead (like the one in Russia) They represented the workers, (trade unions)

1919, 100,000 Spartacists marched on Berlin The army was equal in size but loyal to Kaiser not Republic Spartacists seized all vital buildings in Berlin The Friekorps (demobilised soldiers with weapons) 250,000 alongside the army attacked the Spartans Several thousand Spartans killed/arrested Rosa Luxemburg (leader) was shot and dumped in a canal Her assistant was shot (Leibknecht) and buried with other

Spartans in mass burial

The Spartacist revolt

1920, 5000 marched on Berlin Supporters of Dr Wolfgang Kapp Marched on Berlin to overthrow Weimar

Republic and reinstate the Kaiser Government fled to Dresden Encouraged Workers to strike Essential services, gas, water, transport

stopped, Kapp Fled Kapp arrested and later died in prison

Kapp Putsch

In 1923 Germany missed its reparation of that year France declared it to be deliberate French and Belgium forces occupied the Ruhr (750,000 men

in total) German government encourage workers to strike and even

sabotage (flood mines and damage equipment French retaliated by arresting German workers and bringing

their own This ruined the already fragile German economy Hyper-inflation occurred as the government printed more

money to pay the reparation Industries profited but small businesses went into

depression, unemployment rose to 4 million Germany went into her first Depression

French occupation of the Ruhr

War bankrupt Germany Versailles exacerbated this: hefty reparations and loss of

wealth earning land Occupation of the Ruhr 3000 printing stations in Germany Farmers and small businesses profited, big industries collapsed Many banks crashed, people withdrew all their money from

banks, leaving no money in them Every day item prices soared In 1920, the price of a loaf of bread was 1 mark, in 1923, it

was 4 billion marks Middle-class savings were wiped out Many were made homeless The government set up aid shelters

Causes and effects of hyperinflation

The recovery of Germany: 1924-29

◦ Stresemann reintroduced the retenmark (4 billion marks = 1 retenmark) This helped stabilise the economy

◦ The Dawes plan 1925 Germany would loan 800 million retenmark from the US to pay the reparations German loan pay reparations to allies allies pay off loans to US

◦ Locarno pact Germany agreed to keep its boarder with Briton, France, Belgium , Italy and

Poland, allies remove troops from Rhineland

◦ League of nations formed 1919 Germany included into the League of Nations 1926

◦ Kellogg-Briand pact 65 countries promise not use war to achieve foreign aims

◦ The Young Plan 1929 Reparations cut 6.6 billion to 2 billion Germany still pay 50 million a year

◦ Death of Stresemann He died of a heart attack on October 1929 Wall Street crash, World wide depression, Germany mainly effected

The work of Stresemann

Stresemman achieved German Recognition National pride: league of nations in 1926 He had cut the debt by 4.6 billion which

helped Germany massively He had stabilised the economy which was

failing, this lead to a boom Weimar Republic weakened by (pre

Stresemann) political unrest Used strikes and Friekorps to counter right/left

revolts Extremist parties grew, had private armies

Impact of Stresemann

Retenmark Stresemann created a new currency 4 billion marks = 1 Retenmark This helped to stabilise the economy

Kellog Briand pact Germany accepted her new boarders The allies would remove their troops from the Rhineland

The Dawes Plan 800 million Rentenmarks loaned from US This paid off reparations to allies

Recovery of the German economy

Germany was accepted into the league of nations in 1926 The league of nations was created in 1919 to maintain world

peace Germany was excluded from 1919 – 1926

when accepted, place on league council Locarno pact

Treated as equal (unlike Versailles) Allow to discuss German entry League Of Nations New boarders agreed in Versailles Allied troops removed from the Rhineland

Kellogg-Briand Pact 65 countries agree not use war to achieve foreign policy aims

Effect Germany treated as equal Viewed as respectable member of international committee Which helped to ease pain felt by Germany at Treaty of Versailles

Successes abroad

The rise of Hitler and the Nazis

Hitler Corporal during and after WW1, awarded Iron Cross

Sent to investigate German workers Party, Axton Drexler Party blames the Jews and Wiemar Republic for

Germany’s weakness Hitler agrees with views and joins the DAP 25 point program

Scrapping the treaty of Versailles Expanding Germany’s boarders, more room to live Stripping Jews of German citizenship Prepared to use violence to achieve

Supporters◦ Army men, small business owners and police◦ Membership 1100 in June 192

Hitler and the German Workers’ Party

Party name changed to NSDAP Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party (NAZI) August

1920 adopted swastika and raised arm salute Membership 3000 during second half of 1920 Mid 1921, Hitler becomes leader, Drexler pushed aside Hitler's henchmen Goering, Rohm, Hess, Streicher Made friends with Ludendorff 1921 created SA Brownshirts (Sturmabteilung) Rohm was placed in charge of SA 1923 Hitler creates SS Shocktroop (body guard) Stosstrupp Nazi Party (Hitler) unlikely future ruling party of Germany,

used violence and thuggery to become ruling Party

Changes to the party: 1920-22

Hitler stormed the Munich Government building with 600 SA, declared himself leader

He was forceful in the way he persuaded them to join his cause as many were scared of the SA, would say anything to appease

The next day Kahr, Seisser and Lossow change sides 3000 fascist supporters entered main square, Army and policemen

blocked their way At the end of the day 16 fascist were killed, Hitler fled and

contemplated suicide as he knew that he face a death sentence, this was to prove a fateful decision

During the trial Hitler promoted and publicised Nazism to Germany, the judge was lenient and sentenced him to 5 years, this meant that he was able to reorganise the Nazi's.

Publicity helped NSDAP gain first seats in Reichstag (32) The experience caused Hitler to look to elections instead of a coup to

secure power He wrote Mein Kampf during his brief 9 month stint in prison

Causes, events and results of Munich Putsch 1923

After Hitler's release from prison, he set about reorganizing the NAZI party◦ He persuaded the government to lift the ban◦ Befriended Germany’s most wealthy to secure significant funding for party (Thyssen, Krupp

and Bosch) With extra funding, Hitler improved the SS and SA, new uniforms, weapons

◦ This gave the Nazi party an appearance of strength and unity, SA members increased to 400,000

◦ The SA had more allegiance to Rohm than to Hitler, the SS leaders warned Hitler of threat◦ Julius Schrek was put in charge of the SS, later replaced by Heinrich Himmler

Nazi propaganda◦ Joseph Goebbels put in charge of propaganda◦ He promoted the Fascist cause, blaming the depression on the weakness of government, as

Germany was in a depression, he capitalised on this.◦ He blamed the Jews for failure in the war and how they were all plotting for world domination,

the Nazi's hated the Jews and needed a scapegoat ◦ He used radio, leaflets dropped from planes and newspapers to repeat Hitler’s speeches in

writing, Hitler was a motivational speaker that inspired all, Gobbel’s also capitalised on this Members

◦ By 1928 the party had over 100,000 members◦ The Stresemann era was beginning and fascist support was staring to wane◦ They won 12 seats in the 1928 election

Reorganisation of the Party: 1924-28

The wall street crash of 1929 hit Germany the hardest◦ The Stresemann era was over: he had died of a heart

attack October the 16 1928◦ Fascist support increased massively as people again

turned to extremist parties such as the communists and socialists

◦ It was as though Hitler had been thrown a lifeline◦ He again blamed the Government and Jews in his

speeches with renewed vigour◦ Unemployment rose from half a million to 6 million

from September 1929 to January 1933◦ Middle-class savings were wiped out

Impact of Wall Street Crash

Speeches Hitler was very good at speeches as he could motivate a crowd with ease He travelled by plane and made 5-6 speeches all over Germany in one day He gave the impression Fascism represented unity, debt free and a stronger tougher

Germany Propaganda

Goebbels used all branches of propaganda to promote Fascism and anti-government reports

Parades and Marches The SA would march in the streets and people would join the march This showed strength to the people in the time of weakness

Elections The SA would also intimidate other party members/supporters and boycott elections, they

Physically beat anyone voting for another party Supporters

The fascists promised to abolish trade unions which appeased the big industries and farm owners (who were angry at workers rights)

The middle-class supported them as they feared the communists who wanted to share the land and evenly distribute the wealth

The Hitler youth looked exiting and fun to the youth who wanted a change from poetry and Arts & crafts after school clubs

Nazi methods to win support

Hitler lost the 1932 Presidential elections Hindenburg won 18 million, Hitler 11 million and Thallmann 5 million When the election was repeated Hindenburg won 50% of the votes with 19,

Hitler 13 and Thallmann 4 million, Hitler was now a dominant figure on the political stage

Sacking of Bruning 1932 April Bruning placed a ban on SS and SA in attempt to control the Nazi Party This angered the right wing parties, Kurt von Schleicher gained support from

many influential people and persuaded the president to lift the ban Bruning was sacked and the ban lifted

Von Papen is elected chancellor may 1932 He then offered the NSDAP a place in the coalition Thought that they were merely children who needed a guiding hand in politics NSDAP won 230 seats largest party, Hitler demanded he be made chancellor,

Hindenburg refused and made von Schleicher chancellor instead This coalition didn’t last long as von Papen’s and Schleicher resigned

Hitler made chancellor 1933 30th January Hitler made chancellor with von Papen as vice chancellor

Events of 1932 to January 1933

Life in Nazi Germany

The Reichstag fire in 1933 gave Hitler the opportunity to gain overall power in Germany

He declared a sate of emergency and ruled by decree Hitler said that it was a communist plot to overthrow government He banned the formation of the communist party Hitler asked Hindenburg to call an election The Nazi party gained majority vote

He raised millions marks for businesses Used decrees to imprison political opponents Used SA to attack political rival parties

The enabling act Gave Hitler the right to pass laws without government Passed 444 – 92 votes This now meant that there wasn’t a reason for parliment, but they were still powerful The laws he now passed would make Germany into a totalitarian state

◦ He banned trade unions to please the big businesses which helped gain more support, he also banned all political parties except Nazi party

◦ He then replaced the local governments with chosen fascists

Setting up a dictatorship

Night of The Long knives The SA were now 3 million strong They were a threat to Hitler’s power SA felt that Hitler owed them for their service to him The SS heads created an SA plot to overthrow Hitler, This gave Hitler and SS the excuse they needed to kill Rohm

and dissolve the SA The SS killed Rohm and disbanded the SA into the army and

SS Hitler was now in complete control of the Nazi Party and

unrivalled ◦ On 2nd august 1934 President Hindenburg died◦ Hitler absorbed the presidential powers into his own title◦ He now declared himself ‘Dein Fuhrer’

Setting up a dictatorship (con)

The SS◦ Created in 1925 to be Hitler’s personal bodyguard ◦ It later took control of all security branches◦ They would be the Organisation that would enforce the persecution of Jews and

deaths The Gestapo

◦ They were Hitler’s secret police◦ Were allowed to arrest without reason anyone suspected of being anti-Fascist◦ The suspected were either sent to labour camps of concentration camps

Concentration camps◦ First opened and Dachau in 1933◦ These camps were used for making weapons, ammunition and clothing for the

soldiers on the front◦ They were later used to kill minorities

The law courts◦ NSLML created to control the courts◦ All judges had to swear alliegience to Hitler◦ If any sentence was to Hitler’s dislike he could change it without notifying the Victim

Police State

Women were allowed to have jobs and ware make up and trousers before 1933

After 1934 women were not allowed these privileges They forcefully discouraged from doing work Encouraged to have over 6 babies 4 bronze, 6 silver, 8-10 gold Women who had no babies and weren’t married were

taxed heavily They were also forcibly made to be fertilised by SS

Nazi’s believed that women should stay at home and be good house wives

Nazis policies towards women

The Nazi’s mainly focused on the youth as they were the future

The Hitler youth was created They taught them

Military strategy (tactics) Military training (fitness) Weapons skills (shooting) Fascist ideology (films about Hitler)

The aim of the Hitler Youth was to control the youth and propaganda them into believing:

Fascism was the only way Democracy is weak Jews were to blame for the defeat ww1 and two depressions

Nazis and the young

◦ Nuremberg laws, Jews not allowed/required: Had to have a yellow star on their forehead so that they be identified as a Jew To marry Germans To have Jobs To go into any German owned building To own property of any type To inherit property

◦ Seperate Laws against Boycott of Jewish businesses Jews were stripped of German citizenship Had to have the name Israel or Sara before their own

◦ Kristallnacht A Polish Jew, Hershel Grynszpan, assassinated a German diplomat in the French capital on

November 7th 1938 This angered the Nazi Party and Hitler, they published in their newspaper ‘Der Sturmer’ that

the fascist police would do nothing if Jews were killed in revenge SA and SS, including members of the public used this opportunity to physically attack Jewish

shops and homes 100 Jews were killed, 814 shops, 171 homes and 191 synagogues were destroyed This was called ‘The Night Of The Broken Glass’

Persecution of the Jews 1933-39

Hitler made various pacts with the pope to counter Christian church power Christen church: tolerance, peace and respect for all people Nazi’s: strength, violence and racial superiority Catholic Church: 1/3rd Christians were Catholics, allegiance to Pope, had own

schools July 1933, concordat with Pope

◦ Hitler agreed to confirm freedom of worship for Catholics, have own schools and worship◦ Priests not to interfere with politics◦ Bishops to swear loyalty to the Nazi regime

During 1930’s Hitler broke Concordat Catholic priests harassed/arrested/camps Catholic schools had to copy fascist curriculum or face closure Catholic youth league were banned 1937 pope angry at concordat failure, issued statement

◦ ‘Mit Brennender Sorge’ With Burning Anxiety Podestant church

◦ Made Nazi deal, formed Nazi church, hung Nazi flags◦ Pastor Martin Niemoller (1933) set up Pastors Emergency League (anti-Nazi), sent

concentration camp in 1937 the PEL banned

Nazis and the church

By 1937 Hitler controlled the Reichstag, the NSDAP, the army, the police and the legal system and treated the church with contempt. Truly totalitarian state the central government controlled every aspect of the country.

Totalitarian state: 1937

Labour works schemes were introduced to build ‘autobahns’

By doing this Hitler was reducing unemployment Improving the motorways which meant that troops could be moved

with ease across Germany The army recruited to increase its size from 100,000 to

500,000 in 1935 This further reduced unemployment Increased the size of the army By recruiting he was abolishing the treaty of Versailles, German army

limited 100,000 men 3.5 billion marks spent on rearmament 1933, by 1939 it was 26

billion◦ The bigger German army now needed weapons and ammunition

This created jobs in armament industry High-tech engineers were hired to invent new weapons (Tanks)

Policies to reduce unemployment

Impact of WW2 on Germany

The Nazi’s believed that the Jews were to blame for defeat in ww1

They come up with the final solution This lead to the persecution of Jews and minorities Death camps were set up to kill the Jews Auschwitz is the most famous of these

It had two gas chambers that could kill 2000 Jews in one go The SS were killing the Jews in open fields on top of the mass gassing 1.1 million Jews were killed in Auschwitz 1 and 2

Ghetto’s were set up to keep Jews in a square section of land where they would be starved to death to save ammunition

These Ghetto’s were also used to make clothing for the front line They feared that if they made ammunition, they would sabotage them

with slight imperfections to make them unusable

Nazi policy towards the Jews

Berlin, Wannsee house (meeting), Final Solution The problem was that by keeping the Jews alive, the Germans

were using vital manpower that could be used on the front lines The Final solution was to kill all Jews under Nazi control, which was

11 million Jews Captured Russian Jews would be transported to eastern Europe to

be exterminated in newly built (by Jews in forced labour) gas and death camps

Roughly 6 million Jews were killed Death camps

These were used to work the Jews to death In one month at Auschwitz, 400,000 Jews were killed

Outcome The SS were half way through the Final Solution when Germany

surrendered to the allies The killing of Jew went on right up until the end of the war, using

valuable fuel to transport the Jews by train

Final solution January 1942

Quick victories in Europe◦ The public back at home were pleased with the conquest of eastern Europe◦ France and Poland had been captured with minimal casualties ◦ When Germany declared war on Russia, some worried that it would fail◦ Most were confident of a quick victory as in Eastern Europe

In WW1- WW2◦ The German public had suffered from food shortages◦ Hitler countered this by taking food from occupied countries

After 1942 the tide started to turn for Germany as the Russian offensive was a stalemate

Public opinon of Fascism decreased as many started to realise that they might lose the war

Some women started to join the work force in producing arms for the frontline (this went against Fascist ideology so only a few)

The ammunitions factories workers were made to work longer hours for the same amount of pay

When the 1000 bomber raids by the allies came over, the factories went underground The continuous bombing lowered public morale In Hamburg, 40,000 people died in one week, compared to the 60,000 killed in Britain

in the entire blitz

The German Home Front

As the fall of Germany was imminent, previous parties that were banned started to regroup and reorganise

Parties that were originally banned started to gain support from the public

Newspapers started to pint anti-fascist stories People who originally reported Jews and People suspected of

speaking anti-Fascist◦ Now tended to turn a blind eye

Opposition groups like the ‘Red Orchestra’ were hung and executed◦ The Red Orchestra was a teacher and a group of students who passed on

secret plans of Germany to allies◦ They were executed in 1942, august 1943 a further 32 members were killed

Organisations such as these undermined the power of the Nazi Party

Generals and commanding officers planned an assassination of Hitler, (Valkery film) otherwise known as the July Bomb plot 1944

Growth of opposition to Hitler

With Russian forces swarming all over Germany, Hitler married his Fiancée

8 hours later they would commit suicide The SS tried to cremate the bodies to be later

transported to a secret hidden bunker Hitler and Eva were half cremated when the Russians

found the bodies, which they reburnt and fully cremated them

they were taken to Magdeburg where they were buried for 40 years

Fears of them being dug up and becoming a Nazi shrine Meant that they were thoroughly cremated and dumped

into a nearby river

Defeat and Hitler’s death