Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and DictatorshipTopic Sub-topic Content Germany and the growth of democracy

Kaiser Wilhelm and the difficulties of ruling Germany

the growth of parliamentary government

the influence of Prussian militarism

Germany and the growth of democracy

Industrialisation

Industrial, economic and demographic changes

Increased industrialisationGermany experienced rapid industrialisation in the second half of the 19th century. Agricultural production and heavy industries were replaced by modern industries such as manufacturing (electrical products - Siemens and AEG), chemicals and motor construction (Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler) as the most important sectors of the German economy. Unification in 1871 accelerated the process of industrialisation and by 1900 Germany had the largest industrial economy in Europe.

Germany and the growth of democracy

Impact of the First World War

war weariness

economic problems

Defeat

the end of the monarchy

post-war problems

Weimar democracy

political change and unrest, 1919–1923

extent of

recovery during the Stresemann era

impact of international agreements on recovery

Weimar culture

Germany and the Depression

The impact of the Depression

growth in support for the Nazis and other extremist parties

Hitler’s appeal

Germany and the Depression

The failure of Weimar democracy

election results

the role of Papen and Hindenburg

Germany and the Depression

The establishment of Hitler’s dictatorship

the Reichstag Fire

the Enabling Act

The establishment of Hitler’s dictatorship

elimination of political opposition

trade unions

Rohm and the Night of the Long Knives

Hitler becomes Fuhrer

The experiences of Germans under the Nazis

Economic changes

benefits and drawbacks

Employment

The experiences of Germans under the Nazis

Economic changes

public works programmes

Rearmament

The experiences of Germans under the Nazis

self-sufficiency

the impact of war on the economy

The experiences of Germans under the Nazis

Social policy and practice

reasons for policies, practices and their impact

Hitler wanted to create a ‘national community’ in which all German peoples’ loyalty would be to Germany and Hitler not to their region, class or group.

Hitler wanted all Germans to be proud to be German and believe Germany was a great nation. Nazi social policy were designed to encourage loyalty to the Nazi state by benefitting those that Hitler saw as part

of the national community. Most Germans were willing to accept some social control (restrictions), in the interests of making Germany great

again. To be a considered a member of the ‘national community’ people needed to match the Nazi ideals of race- the

Nazis believed the Aryan race was superior to all others. They also believed that mental capability and character of a person was determined by their ‘racial purity’.

Those who were not seen as part of the ‘national community’ were excluded and persecuted. The Nazis persecuted political opponents, disabled people, asocials (people who did not fit into society e.g. homeless, alcoholics, criminals, problem families) and most significantly the Jews.

For many Germans there were great benefits of the Nazis policies and so people were happy to go along with them, however for those who were not considered part of the ‘national community’ faced terrible treatment from the Nazis state.

Women- Nazi policy towards women highlights the Nazi’s goals in social policy: The Nazis were traditionalists in terms of what role they believed women should play in society. Nazi policy was ‘Kinder (Children), Kuche (Cooking), Kirche (Church).

The experiences of Germans under the Nazis

There were many in small towns and the countryside in particular who supported these ideas believing that women’s role was to support their husbands. Many in Germany disliked the changes in the 1920s and 1930s which had seen more women working.

The Nazis were also concerned about the falling birth rate and brought in financial incentives for having children (at least 4) and a ‘Gold Cross’ if they had 8 children- this then gave them further privileges and status. Birth rate increased from 15 per thousand in 1933 to 20 per thousand in 1939. State maternity hostels looked after girls pregnant outside marriage. At the extreme end there was the Lebensborn project http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nazi-germany/lebensborn/

Nazi Propaganda on posters, radio broadcasts and cinema celebrated the ideas of being a housewife and having children.

The German Maidens’ League was created for girls and concentrated on physical health, housekeeping skills and Nazi ideology. This was then also reinforced in school for girls.

Nazi ideology had to be abandoned slightly during WW2 when labour shortages led to many women being encouraged to return to work.

Education

Young People and education

Youth organisations

German Maidens League- See women’s section

The Hitler Youth:

Uniform, marching in parades, sport and other physical activities, army like training e.g. cleaning and firing rifles, camping, map reading. Young people often became the strongest supporters of the Nazis as the Hitler Youth indoctrinated them with Nazi ideas. The organisation also gave them opportunities to do things they otherwise wouldn’t have had. Whilst many loved being in the Hitler Youth equally there were others who hated it.

Membership of HJ made compulsory in 1939 as only 25% of boys attending, 50% of boys had been members in 1933, only 15% of Girls were members of BDM in 1933

Education: Lessons were twisted to push the Nazi view on the world: History- spoke of the ‘stab in the back’ in WWI, stated that the Jews were the enemy of Germany through history; biology- taught race theory (Aryans superior, Jews and slavs ‘sub-human’), maths- calculate the costs of looking after the disabled to German tax payers, the right

Although generally speaking it was easier to make young people (younger the better) to believe Nazi propaganda than older people the Nazis were not completely successful. Whilst some young people passionately followed the Nazis and would inform on parents or teachers who didn’t others resisted Nazi control over their lives: ‘Swing’ youth- mainly middle-class teenagers, listened to American and English music especially swing and jazz which the Nazis had banned. They went against Nazi ideals, drank, smoked, accepted Jews into their groups. The Edelweiss Pirates a working class group that were aged 14-17, went camping at weekends, sang songs making fun of the Nazis and often fought against Hitler Youth groups. During the war they attacked the Gestapo in Cologne in 1944 killing the chief. The Nazis

The experiences of Germans under the Nazis

control of churches and religion

In 1933 Hitler Signed a Concordat with the Catholic Church. Hitler agrees to leave the Catholic Church alone, Catholic Church kept control of its schools and would stay out of German politics. . Many church goers supported or at least did not oppose the Nazis.There was Catholic opposition from Bishop Galen throughout the 1930s and in 1941 he led a protest against the Nazi policy of killing the mentally ill and physically disabled, forcing a temporary stop to the policy. He was too well known for the Nazis to silence him.

Education: Lessons were twisted to push the Nazi view on the world: History- spoke of the ‘stab in the back’ in WWI, stated that the Jews were the enemy of Germany through history; biology- taught race theory (Aryans superior, Jews and slavs ‘sub-human’), maths- calculate the costs of looking after the disabled to German tax payers, the right

Although generally speaking it was easier to make young people (younger the better) to believe Nazi propaganda than older people the Nazis were not completely successful. Whilst some young people passionately followed the Nazis and would inform on parents or teachers who didn’t others resisted Nazi control over their lives: ‘Swing’ youth- mainly middle-class teenagers, listened to American and English music especially swing and jazz which the Nazis had banned. They went against Nazi ideals, drank, smoked, accepted Jews into their groups. The Edelweiss Pirates a working class group that were aged 14-17, went camping at weekends, sang songs making fun of the Nazis and often fought against Hitler Youth groups. During the war they attacked the Gestapo in Cologne in 1944 killing the chief. The Nazis

Catholic Church

Nazis and the Church: Hitler tried to control the church (they had to have copies of ‘Mein Kampf’ in every church. Some Nazis such as Himmler rejected the Christian faith all together, bit the Nazis needed to work with the church as it was one of very few other organisations that could influence the views of the German people.

Hitler aimed to unite the Protestant Churches in one Reich Church, headed by Bishop Ludwig Muller. Many church goers supported or at least did not oppose the Nazis.There were protestants who opposed the Nazis, notably Pastor Martin Niemoller who set up an alternative church to the state supported Reich Church. Niemoller was sent to a concentration camp 1938-45. Dietrich Bonhoeffer who worked with him helped Jews escape and even made contact with allies in 1942 to try and asked what peace terms would be offered if Hitler was overthrown. He was arrested by the Nazis and hanged.

Aryan ideas, racial policy and persecution

Nazi ideas of race were based on the idea that the ‘Arya’ race was ‘superior’ to all others. The persecuted people from what they saw as ‘inferior races’ (Jews, Gypsies, Slavs). They also persecuted those that they saw as a barrier to creatinn racial purity.

Protestant Church

1933-34

1933 Early attemptsto exclude the Jews included an boycott of Jewish shops that failedBanning Jews from working in the Civil Service- this failed with 66% of Jews keeping their jobsIn 1934 the sterilisation of people with hereditary mental and physical illnesses started

1935-8

The Nuremberg Laws took away Jews Citizenship and banned Jews from marrying non-Jews. The supplementary degree set out who was Jewish based on how many Jewish grandparents they had.1938 Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass) was a night of terrible violence against Jews in Germany. Jewish Synogogues, Jewish businesses and homes were looted, smashed up and set on fire. 91 Jews were killed and 20,000 rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

1939-45

'Euthanasia Program' which involves the mass killing of the mentally and physically handicapped begins1940 Polish Jews were rounded up and forced into Ghettos1941 Strict restrictions on Jewish peoples' lives including compulsory wearing of the Star of David were introduced in Germany.1941 The mass shooting of Jewish men, women and Children is carried out by Nazi Einstazgruppen in the USSRDecember 1941 the gassing of Jews and Others start in the Death Camps in Eastern Europe (mainly Poland)Jan 1942 Wannsee Conference finalises the plans for the Holocaust. 1945 Death Marches and closing of the Death Camps.

the Final Solution • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKhjZybh9r0

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh6ptuD_e_k

Control

Control

Goebbels, the use of propaganda and censorship

-More Propaganda information here-

Nazi culture Nazi control of culture and the artsType German influence

Art

The Weimar period had seen a flourishing of German art, much of which was abstract. Hitler saw this modern art as ‘degenerate’ and over 6500 works of art were removed from display across Germany. Hitler encouraged ‘Aryan art’ instead, which showed the physical and military power of Germany and the Aryan race.

Architecture Hitler was very interested in architecture and believed it could be used to project

the power of the Nazi regime. The most important architect of the period was Albert Speer, who redesigned Berlin, as well as designing the stadium in Nuremberg where annual rallies were held.

Literature

Nazis ceremonially burned thousands of books in 1933 that were viewed as being subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to Nazism. These included books written by Jewish, pacifist, classical, liberal, anarchist, socialist, and communist authors.

Film

To make sure that film served the goals of propaganda, the Nazi Party gradually took over film production and distribution. A state-run professional school for politically reliable film-makers was founded, and membership of an official professional organisation (Reichsfilmkammer) was made compulsory for all actors and film-makers. The Nazi leaders often used film stars, like Lil Dagover, to help promote the popularity of the party in Germany.

Music

In classical music, works by Jewish composers like Mendelssohn and Mahler were banned and the works of the German composer Wagner were promoted, gaining huge popularity. The Nazis were strongly opposed to jazz music, which they referred to as Negro music and called it degenerate.

The Nazis’ interest in and influence on all of these areas demonstrates the extent to which the party sought to control German life and win over the population to the Nazi cause.

repression and the police state and the roles of Himmler, the SS and Gestapo

Propaganda and Control

The Police StateBy August 1934 Hitler was a dictator with absolute power. In order to maintain this power he needed organisations that could control the population to ensure absolute loyalty to the Führer. After the demise of the SA on the Night of the Long Knives, there were three main interlinked organisations (in addition to the regular German police force) involved in controlling the German people through spying, intimidation and if necessary

imprisonment:

opposition and resistance Taken from BBC Bitesize

OppositionThose who spoke out against Hitler and his policies faced intimidation and threats from the Gestapo [Gestapo: (Secret State Police.) A ruthless organisation that aimed to eliminate political opponents in Nazi Germany, and was responsible for the rounding up of Jews during the Nazi period and attempting to exterminate them. ], or imprisonment and in some cases execution. However, there were some brave individuals and groups who openly opposed Hitler and his policies - a few survived, but many were killed.

Who opposed Hilter?It was difficult - and dangerous - to oppose Hitler. However, some brave people did try:

1. The Catholic Archbishop of Munster, von Galen, led a successful campaign to end euthanasia of mentally-disabled people.

2. Some Catholic priests opposed Hitler. In 1937, the Pope's message 'With Burning Concern' attacked Hitler as 'a mad prophet with repulsive arrogance' and was read in every Catholic church.

3. The White Rose group was formed by students at Munich University. They published anti-Nazi leaflets, but were discovered and executed in 1944.

4. A paramilitary wing of the Social Democratic Party, called the Reichsbanner, sabotaged railway lines and acted as spies.

5. During the war, 'swing' groups were formed. These were young people who rejected Nazi values, drank alcohol and danced to jazz. More violent groups

were called the Edelweiss Pirates. They daubed anti-Nazi slogans, sheltered deserters and beat up Nazi officials. In 1944, the Cologne Pirates (the Edelweiss Pirates based in Cologne) killed the Gestapo chief, so the Nazis publicly hanged 12 of them.

6. Many Protestant pastors, led by Martin Niemöller, formed the Confessional Church in opposition to Hitler's Reich Church. Niemöller was held in a concentration camp during the period 1937-1945. Another Protestant pastor, Dietrich Bonhöffer, took part in the 1944 bomb plot and was executed.

7. In 1944, a group of army officers and intellectuals called the Kreisau Circle tried to bomb Hitler. The bomb was planted by Colonel Stauffenberg. It exploded, but Hitler survived. In retaliation, 5,000 people were executed.

Hitler surveys the damage from the bomb planted by the Kreisau Circle

Revision tip and answer preparationRevision TipTry to create a mnemonic to help you remember the groups that opposed Hitler. For example:

1. von Galen2. 'With Burning Concern' - the Pope's message3. White Rose Group4. Reichsbanner

5. Eidelweiss Pirates6. Confessional Church7. Kreisau Circle

The mnemonic VW WRECK will help you remember the names of the opposition groups.

Answer preparationAs part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain:

1. What different kinds of people opposed the Nazis and why.2. How much opposition there was to the Nazi regime.3. How effectively the Nazis dealt with their opponents.

As well as the list of people who opposed Hitler, you must think about why they opposed him, and to what extent they succeeded.