Germany Flashcards

1
Q

what is proportional representation

A

a system of voting in which political parties gain seats in ratio of number of votes casted to them

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2
Q

what is passive resistance

A

to resist something by not cooperating or refusing to follow instructions

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3
Q

what’s a dictatorship

A

a form of government where as small group or one person is in charge and has absolute power

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4
Q

what was the role of the chancellor in weimar Germany

A

in the German Weimar Republic this position was the head of the government and the same as the British prime minister

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5
Q

who were the November criminals

A

the nickname hitler gave to people who signed the treaty of versieas

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6
Q

what was the Wall Street crash

A

the economic downfall of the American Stockmarket in 1929

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7
Q

was the Munich putch a points for fail yes and no

A

it was considered a longterm success but short term failure

yes-hitter got sent to prison, the nazis were banned and the aims were not achieved.

no- trail gets nazis publicity and therefore gains support, hitler realises he will never get power by force. only 9 months prison time was served.

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8
Q

what was the Dawes plan

A

an international agreement signed in 1924 that restructured germanys reparations and provided loans from the usa to pay them

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9
Q

causes that led to the Munich putsch

A

by 1923 the nazi party had 55,000 members and was stronger than ever before.
the Weimar Republic was in crisis due to hyperinflation .
In September 1923 the weimar government called of the general strike and nationalists were furious.
hitler had hopped to copy Mussolini the Italian fascist who had come to power by marching on Rome.
Hitler had a huge army of SA members, but he knew he would lose control of them if he did not give them something to do.

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10
Q

what was the SA

A

also known as the storm troopers or brown shirts, A military organisation of the nazi party formed in 1921 under hitler.

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11
Q

what was the legacy of the First World War

A

. the fighting lasted 4 years 1914-18
almost 2 million German troops died over 4 million wounded.
the cost of the war meant that the dept of the German government trebled
it wasn’t just the troops that suffered the people suffered
750,000 people died because of food shortages.
the kaiser abdicated 2 days before the end of the war
the social Democratic Party had to quickly establish a new government
the Weimar Republic was created

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12
Q

what was the treaty of Versailles

A

the treaty of versailles was signed in 1919 and was a peace treaty at the end of the First World War

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13
Q

what were the strengths of the Weimar Republic at first

A

it was democratic
it was constructed so no individual or party could hold all the power
voting everyone could vote
no one individual could become powerful

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14
Q

what were the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic

A

unpopular as many associated it with the loss of ww1
proportional representation meant is was difficult to get a majority and therefore pass laws.
It was possible for the president to rule by decree in emergency allowed hitler to be a dictator

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15
Q

what were the terms of the treaty of Versailles

A
  1. Germany had to pay reparations to the allies 6.6 billion
  2. Germany lost all its colonies
  3. germanys military was limited to 100,000 men. no airforce and limited navy
  4. Germany lost land to France Belgium Poland and Denmark
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16
Q

what is dolchstoss

A

its the theory that the Germans were stabbed in the back by the treaty of Versailles. it was commonly believed that Germany didn’t lost the first world war.
Ebert the chancellor said in 1918 “no enemy defeated you”

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17
Q

what was the left wing uprising against the Weimar Republic

A

the spartacist revolt in 6th January 1919 in Berlin led by rosa Luxembourg and Karl liebknecht. they were exreme socialists.

Ebert sacked the police chief who was popular with the workers. It wasn’t very popular and so led to an uprising by rosa Luxembourg and Karl liebknecht. lots of soldiers (right wing) broke it all up and rosa was killed and it was broken up by 13th Jan

It began to give the sense the Weimar Republic was losing control

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18
Q

what was the right wing uprising against Weimar Republic

A

kapp Putsch in 1920 was a right wing uprising.

the freikorps ( the army set up by Ebert) had gone out of control of the government and they were disbanded in 1920. so 5000 of these men marched on Berlin. when Ebert asked the army to help out he refused as the Germany army don’t shoot the German army.

so the rebels put forward a nationalist opposition and declared him the head of the government and invited the kaiser to return. he urged the people to go and strike and to not co-operate so their was no gas water electricity transport etc. so kapp fled and the weimar ministers were restored to government kapp was sent to prison and died.

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19
Q

hyperinflation how did it impact Germany

A

by 1923 German was bankrupt there was a shortage of raw materials
unemployment meant they got less money from taxes
printing more money meant that inflation got even worse and prices got even higher.

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20
Q

what were the affects of hyperination on the people

A

the price of bread had gone up form one mark in 1919 to 200 thousand billion marks in 1923
normal living became impossible
workers were paid 2 times a day
shortages affected everyone
German marks became completely wothless
savings = wothless

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21
Q

what is the French occupation of the Ruhr

A

its a German industrial area that was a coalfield.

the treaty of versiales said they should give the coal to France but they refused. so the German government asked the germans to go on strike so the French got no coal. but the French brought their own workers.

it turned more people against the Weimar republic
germanys factories couldn’t run because of no coal.

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22
Q

who stresemann

A

he is a finance minister and inrotduced a new currency which aided economic recovery after hyperinflation

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23
Q

what were 3 reasons for germanys economic recovery 1924-29

A
  1. rentenmark. november 1923. set up by stresemann bank called Renton bank and new currency it had proper value
  2. Dawes plan.
  3. young plan 1929
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24
Q

what was the young plan

A

1929 stersemann spoke with the allies and reduced the reparations from 6.6 billion to 2 billion they had 59 years to pay it off

Adolf hitler hated it because of the 59 years to pay they said it passed on the penalty to the unborn

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25
Q

what were 3 factors that improved Weimar’s foreign relations in 1925

A

Locarno pact December 1925 stesemann signed the treaty between the allies treaty between Germany Italy France Belgium and Britain it was agreed unlike the the treaty of Versailles no power imbalance the 3 things they agreed were:
1.Germany accepted the new border with France
2. the 5 powers agreed to open talks about the German membership in the league on nations

  1. the league of nations
  2. the Kellogg briand pact-
    Germany signed with 61 other country’s included America they agreed they would not use war to achieve foreign policy aims
    step forward for Germany as it gave them status the Germany people had increased confidence in the Weimar Republic as a government
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26
Q

what is the Locarno pact

A

Locarno pact December 1925 stesemann signed the treaty between the allies treaty between Germany Italy France Belgium and Britain it was agreed unlike the the treaty of Versailles no power imbalance the 3 things they agreed were:
1.Germany accepted the new border with France
2. the 5 powers agreed to open talks about the German membership in the league on nations

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27
Q

what is the league of nations

A

end of the ww1 the allies founded the league of nations but Germany wasn’t in it. in September 1926 the other powers agreed to accept Germany as a member

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28
Q

when did Germany join the league of nations

A

in September 1926 the other powers agreed to accept Germany as a member

29
Q

what is the Kellogg briand pact

A

the Kellogg briand pact-
Germany signed with 61 other country’s included America they agreed they would not use war to achieve foreign policy aims
step forward for Germany as it gave them status the Germany people had increased confidence in the Weimar Republic as a government

30
Q

when did stressmann die and what impact did it have

A

1929
it meant that Germany fell into another economic crisis with the Wall Street crash also happening that year
no one could take over

31
Q

what were the four ways standard of living improved in Germany 1924-29

A
  1. there was an improvement in the economic situation with the new rentamark there was less unemployment 1926 2 million 1928 1.3 million
  2. wages and working conditions improved real wages rose by 25%
  3. housing improved from 1925-29 private companies built 37,000 new homes. housing associations bought 64,000 new homes there was still a housing shortage but it eased
  4. other improvements included pensions started to be paid to the widows and parents of dead servicemen and war veterans
    and education improved more went to uni

improvements were fragile

32
Q

what were the changes for women 1924-29

A
  1. women in politics- first week of the new Weimar Republic in 1918 women were given the right to vote. by 1932 112 women had been elected to the reichstag
  2. in work it went back to how it was after ww1 only 36% of women were in work in 1925 however there was some progress as there were more part time work in retail areas. more work in education and as doctors. overall a mixed picture
  3. women in leisure smoking drinking etc some still stayed at home. the birth rate fell in 1918 there were 128 per 1000 in 1925 this fell to 80 per 1000. this meant there was concerns about the future divorce rate increased some men accepted these changes and some didn’t.
33
Q

what were cultural changes in the weimar republic

A

dramatic changes from 1924-29 in art architecture and cinema. painters showed critical ideas of German life Otto dix was one.

34
Q

what did hitler join the German workers party

A

September 1919

35
Q

what were the 5 parts to hitlers takeover of the German workers part (DAP) to change it to the nazi party

A
  1. policys, he had a 25 point program that set out all the things he believed in.
  2. hitlers personal appeal, he was a very good speaker very good at speeches had public photos and painting produced of himself
  3. organisation of the party, by 1920 hitler was drexler right had man (founder of the DAP) meetings were more organised changed the name to the nazi party adopted the sass sticker.
  4. leadership, in July 1921 hitler became leader.
  5. set up the storm troopers in august 1921.
36
Q

what is the bamberg conference of 1926

A

Hitler called a national conference of the nazi airy because there was a split. Gobbles and Strasser had different priorities and that created a split. it was in bamberg so the people there agreed with him in the south. At the conference hitler made it seem that the socials part of the party (nobles and Strasser) were more communist and that it should be more nationalist along with hitlers views. Hitler persuaded Gobbles to come over to his side and Strasser was discussed. Hitler was now in full control and Gobbles was promoted to governor of Berlin. strasser pled his loyalty to hitler but he was in 1934.
in 1923- 29 there was limited support for the nazi party one reason was the success of stresseman
in 1925 Hindenburg became president and didn’t like the nazis because they wanted to get rid of the weimar government.

37
Q

Explain what th wall street crash was

A
  1. Falling shares meant that peoples investments fell in value.
  2. Because of this people rushed to sell their shares before they fell further. On Black Thursday October 1929 13 Million shares were sold. SO there was panic and shares fell in value from $20,000 in the morning and $1,000 by the evening.
38
Q

What were the economic effects in Germany of the Wall Street crash

A
  1. It caused a banking crisis and German banks surfed Huge losses people feared they wouldn’t have access to their money
  2. Because everyone tried to get all their money out banks ran out of cash and one went bust. This caused a collapse in German industry.
  3. German industry had to cut back or shut down completely. The economy collapsed.
39
Q

Explain how the economic crisis of 1929 affected unemployment.

A
  1. Because of the collapse of German industry workers were made unemployed.
  2. The crisis was worldwide so the rate of exports fell Meaning that more people were made unemployed.
  3. German people who were unemployed were even poorer so they did not buy anything. This led to more cuts and more unemployment. It was a downward spiral
40
Q

what was the impact of unemployment on the people

A

1.As the number of people unemployed grew the government could no longer pay unemployment benefits. This meant that taxes were raised and unemployment benefits were cut lead g to more problems.

  1. The value of savings fell meaning that people with savings had nothing to fall back on.
  2. People who were still in work had high taxes and their wages cut because businesses could do that that with so many people wanting to work.
  3. homelessness rose as well crime levels with people on the street bored and fight breaking out and a 24% increase in theft in Berlin.
41
Q

BY January 1933 how many people were unemployed

A

6 milion

42
Q

What was a consequence of the economic and unemployment problems in the early 1930s

A

There was a rise in extremism parties like the nazis and communist parties.

The popularity’s of the Communists (KDP) grew between 1928 (10%) and 1933 (15%) support for the KDP was mostly among the working class populations they were seen as the only party who would defend their jobs against employers and landowners.

However as communist support grew the middle and upper classes became even more likely to vote for the NSDAP (nazis) as they saw hitler as the best defence against the communists. Fear of communism was a big reason for the rise of the nazi party

43
Q

why did people start to support the nazi party between 1929 and 1933

A

The appeal of hitler and the SA - many people were fed up with the weimar republic and they thought that their government was weak and they had failed to solve economic problems.

Hitler (who they saw as a strong leader) promised that the nazis would restore law and order and force other country’s to scrap the treaty of Versailles and threat to Germany fairly.

Hitler was also speaking in as many parts of the country as possible he got on the side of lots of wealthy businessmen who funded his campaign.

The SA were another reason as people thought this would mean Germany were strong enough to stand up to other powers

The nazi party were targeting big business for support as well as they were all against the idea of communism

44
Q

why were the middle class people starting to supporting the nazi partying the period 1929-33

A

the economic crisis hurt the middle classes as they lost savings and pensions. they saw the nazi party as a way to solve this problem

they were afraid of the growing communist party they wanted to abolish private ownership of land and business the nazis said they would protect them against this.

the middle classes thought there was a moral decline during Weimar’s reign they saw the nazi party’s brining back good germs values.

45
Q

why were the farmers starting to supporting the nazi partying the period 1929-33

A

the farmers liked the nazi party as they said that they would not privatise land unless you were jewish

this was seen as good compared to the communist party

in 1930 the nazi party gained 60% of the vote in some rural areas.

46
Q

why were women starting to supporting the nazi partying the period 1929-33

A

At first the nazi party were not popular with women because they wanted to push traditional veiws. but propaganda changes this the nazi party said they were best for their families and country as a whole.

47
Q

by 1932 how many seats did the nazis have ink the German reishtag

A

230

48
Q

why did 84 year old Hindenburg stand for re-election in 1932

A

his term as president ended in 1932.
he was now 84 and increasingly frail but he was persuaded to stand for election again. to keep the government as stable a possible. Germany was in depression.

campaigning was bitter and often violent

49
Q

what were the results of the march 1932 election

A

it was retaken as no one got more the 50% of the vote but Hindenburg came out on top with 49% Hitler in second with 30% and he KDP in 3rd with 14%

50
Q

what was the reichstag fire

A

27th feb 1933 a reichstag building was destroyed by a massive fire a man called Marninus Van Der Lubbe was found guilty and executed he confessed and was put on trail with 4 others who were all found not guilty he was found to have worked alone.

however Van Der Lubbes execution was not enough for Hitler. He and Hermann Goering the new chef of police claimed that Ver Der Lubbe was part of a communist conspiracy against the government.

51
Q

What was so significant about the Reishtag fire

A

The day after the fire Hitler used it to pressurise Hindenburg into declaring a state of emergency meaning that he had full use of Germany.

It also meant that hitler had the ability to issue the decree of protection meaning that he was able to arrest communist leaders (who he blamed for the fire) he was also able to ban communist newspapers. `This made it impossible for any communists to take part in the elections.

52
Q

What were the outcomes of Hitler gaining complete power of Germany after the rieshtag fire 1933

A

All communist leaders and newspapers were arrested or banned

Since hitler controlled germanys police force he told them to turn a blind eye to the violence of the sa

Hitler persuaded Gustav Krupp and other industrialists to support the nazi campaign three million marks were donated in one meeting

53
Q

What was the enabling act

A

The Enabling Act: with the communist deputies banned and the SA intimidating all the remaining non-Nazi deputies, the Reichstag voted by the required two-thirds majority to give Hitler the right to make laws without the Reichstag’s approval for four years.

This happened in March 1933

54
Q

why was the outcomes of the enabling act 1933

A

Hitler had the right to make laws for 4 years without the consent of the reishtag. it was voted for by the reihtag under very threatening circumstances

Arguably this was the critical event during this period. It gave Hitler absolute power to make laws, which enabled him to destroy all opposition to his rule. This removed the Reichstag as a source of opposition.

55
Q

Why did hitler feel he had to remove trade unions as an opposition

A

Hitler believed that if communist among woking men were able to control their trade unions then these could be used to undermine the government

In may 1933

Nazis broke into trade union offices all over Germany and arrested trade union officials

hitler used his powers to make trade unions and any strikes illegal

56
Q

What did hitler do to his political opposition after he gained power in 1933

A

In may 1933 he attacked the two main offices of his political rivals Nazi stormtroopers entered the offices of the communist party and socialist democratic party and stole funds and destroyed their newspapers.

Two months later in July 1933 hitler passed a decree that made all political parties in Germany except for the NSADP

57
Q

What did hitler do to the local governments after he gained power in 1933

A

There were 18 Lander govern=ments that were local and hitler did not have control of so in January 1933 Hitler abolished these local governments and instead appointed governors to control every region of Germany

58
Q

what was the night of the Long knives

A

Night of the Long Knives: Many members of the SA, including its leader Ernst Röhm, were demanding that the Nazi party carry out its socialist agenda and that the SA take over the army. Hitler could not afford to annoy businessmen or the army, so the SS (Hitler’s personal bodyguards) murdered around 400 members of the SA, including Röhm, along with a number of Hitler’s other opponents like the previous Chancellor, von Schleicher.

This destroyed all opposition to Hitler within the Nazi Party and gave power to the brutal SS. It also showed the rest of the world what a tyrant Hitler was. This removed any internal Nazi Party opposition to Hitler.

59
Q

when did Hindernburg die and why was it significant

A

2nd august 1934 and this meant that hitler had complete control over Germany.

60
Q

what were the consequences of the death of Hindenburg

A
  1. hitler declared himself Germanys furer and as this he would take on all the powers of president
  2. he forced all the soldiers to swear and oath off loyalty to hitler
  3. on the 19th of august there was a public vote that made hitler fuhrer 90% of voter voted for him after nazi bombardment
61
Q

what was Germany in 1933 a police state police state

A

Its because the police (often secret police) controlled what people did and said there was 3 elements the ss gestapo and sd

62
Q

what was the ss

A

the protection squad the leader was himmler they had black uniforms and by 1936 they controlled all germanys police and security forces

set up in 1925 as a personal bodyguard for hitler from 1929 it was run by himmler and from 1932 it was given black uniforms to distinguish it form brown shirts. they were the nazi party private police force.

during the 30s it expanded hundreds of men to 240 thousand it then had a large control.

63
Q

what was the gestapo

A

the secret state police leader was heydrich they had no uniforms and worked undercover they prosecuted anyone who said or did anything critical of the nazis and they relied mainly on informants and were feared by the public
set up in 1933 by goreing but in 1934 put under ss control

they arrested 160,000 people for criminal offences and were permitted to use torcher

64
Q

what were the sd

A

the security service they were led by heydrich they were uninformed and spied on all known critics of the nazi party and opponents.

formed in 1931 and himmler decided to make heydrich the leader

65
Q

what were concentration camps

A

by 1939 150,000 people had been arrested for opposing the nazis they didn’t have enough space in all the prisons for them so they set up concentration camps for them

there were 3 categories of prisoner undesirables (homosexuals or prostitutes) minority groups such as jews and political prisoners

66
Q

how did Hitler control the legal system?

A

he controlled the judges and he set up a socialist league for law and insisted all judges must be members

he controlled the courts and he set up a poepls court where there was nor right to appeal

66
Q

how did Hitler control religious views

A

at first hitler tried to reach an agreement with the churches and in 1933 he reached an agreement with the pope he promised not to get involved with catholic churches and schools however hitler did not keep his promise and as the 1930s progressed he did 3 key things

  1. he had catholic priests arrested and many ended up in concentration camps
  2. catholic schools were made into state school
  3. catholic youth groups were banned
67
Q
A