KEY DATES Flashcards
1
Q
When did Kaiser Wilhelm abdicate?
A
Nov 1918
2
Q
When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?
A
28th June 1919
3
Q
When was the DAP (German Worker’s Party) formed?
A
5th Jan 1919
4
Q
When did Hitler join the DAP?
A
Feb 1919
5
Q
The DAP changed its name: what to and when?
A
Feb 1920
National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDP) aka Nazi Party
6
Q
What did the NSDP announce at its first meeting?
A
A 25 point programme
7
Q
When does Hitler become leader of NSDP?
A
July 1921
8
Q
When is the SA formed? What is it?
A
Nov 1921
‘Stormtroopers’ - party militia
9
Q
When was the Munich Putsch?
A
Nov 1923
10
Q
What was the Munich Putsch?
A
Attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government by NSDP, FAILED + leaders arrested and charged with treason
11
Q
When was Hitler’s trial?
A
Feb 1924: sentenced to 5 years but only served 10 months - he wrote Mein Kampf in this time
12
Q
When was the SS formed?
A
April 1925: ‘Black Shirts’, initially Hitler’s bodyguards
13
Q
When was the Hitler Youth formed?
A
July 1926
14
Q
When was the first Nazi Party Rally?
A
20th August 1927: NUREMBURG RALLY
15
Q
Great Depression?
A
1929
16
Q
How did the Hitler Youth develop?
A
During 1930: Hitler Youth junior branches established - Deutches Jungvolk for boys aged 10 - 14 and the Bund Deautscher Madel for girls aged 10 - 18
17
Q
What did the Nazi Party gain in September 1930?
A
18.3% of the vote in the Reichstag elections (SECOND LARGEST PARTY)
18
Q
When was Hitler made CHANCELLOR?
A
30th January 1933
19
Q
What did the Nazis gain July 1932?
A
37.4% of the vote in the Reichstag elections (LARGEST PARTY)
20
Q
When did Hitler define the Nazi foreign policy?
A
3rd February 1933
21
Q
What was the Nazi Party foreign policy?
A
SECURING LEBENSRAUM (living space) for the German master race
22
Q
When was the Reichstag Fire?
A
27th February 1933
23
Q
Who started the Reichstag Fire?
A
Van der Lubbe, a Dutch Communist
24
Q
How many were arrested due to the Reichstag Fire?
A
4000 Communists or suspected Communists
25
What happened as a result of the Fire?
KPD, which was the second biggest party in the Reichstag, BANNED. As Communists are no more, Nazis have a majority in government
26
When was there a new election?
5th March 1933: EMERGENCY ELECTION
27
What did the Nazis gain in the 1933 Emergency election?
44% go the General election vote
28
When was the Enabling Act passed?
23rd March 1933!
29
What did the Enabling Act allow Hitler to do?
Make laws without consulting the Reichstag for a period of 4 years
30
When was the Gestapo formed?
26th April 1933
31
When did the Nazis take over local governments?
26th April 1933
32
When were Trade Unions banned?
2nd May 1933
33
When was the first book burning?
10th May 1933
34
How many books were burnt May 10th 1933?
25,000 'un-German' books burned in an "action against the un-German Spirit"
35
What did the Nazis do 14th July 1933?
BAN ALL POLITICAL PARTIES EXCEPT THE NAZIS
36
When did Germany withdraw from the League of Nations?
October 1933
37
What happened 30th June 1934?
NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES
38
What happened on the Night of the Long Knives?
150 leaders of SA executed, including Rohm.
39
Why did the NOLK happen?
SA had more socialist aims than the Nazi party wanted so Hitler eliminated them. They were rowdy and unpopular. They were also the only power that could oppose the Nazis (other than the army)
40
When did Hindenburg die?
2nd August 1934
41
What happened after Hindenburg died?
Hitler combined Chancellor and President to create Fuhrer
42
February 1935?
Hitler ordered Goering to establish the Luftwaffe - BREAKING THE TERMS OF VERSAILLES
43
When was conscription introduced?
March 1935 - Hitler wants to expand the army
44
When were the Nuremburg Laws introduced?
15th September 1935
45
What were the Nuremburg Laws?
Defined German citizenship. Relationships between Jews and Aryans BANNED
46
What did Hitler do in March 1936?
He sent German troops to re-occupy the Rhineland (BREAKING TREATY OF VERSAILLES (again)
47
GERMAN OLYMPIC TING
1st August 1936
48
Hitler Youth made compulsory?
December 1936
49
Anschluss with Austria. Hitler made a triumphant entry into Vienna!
March 1938
50
Munich Agreement?
September 1938
51
KRISTALLNACHT?
November 1938
52
What was the Munich Agreement?
Allies agree that Germany can have the Sudentenland region of Czechoslovakia in return for peace
53
What followed Kristallnacht?
Jewish population fined for the destruction
54
When does Hitler invade and occupy Czechoslovakia?
March 1939 (against Munich Agreement)
55
BRITAIN ISSUE STATEMENT GUARANTEEING POLAND'S INDEPENDENCE!
31st March 1939
56
Nazi-Soviet Pact?
23rd August 1939
57
What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
Alliance between Hitler and Stalin which agreed to divide Poland between them
58
Anglo-Polish Common Defence Pact?
25th August 1939
59
When did Hitler invade and occupy Poland?
1st September 1939
60
When was war declared by Britain and France?
3rd September 1939
61
When were Denmark and Norway invaded and occupied?
April 1940
62
When were Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France invaded and occupied?
May 1940
63
When does the Battle of Britain begin?
Sept 1940
64
When was the Blitz abandoned by Hitler?
May 1941
65
OPERATION BARBAROSSA?
22nd June 1941: 3 million German troops invaded Russia
66
Why does German progression in Russia halt?
RUSSIAN WINTER in December 1941
67
Pearl Harbour?
7th December 1941
68
When does Hitler declare war on US?
11th December 1941, following US' declare of war on Japan (under terms of Anti-Comintern Pack)
69
Wannsee Conference?
20th January 1942
70
What was decided at Wannsee Conference?
FINAL SOLUTION
71
German defeat at El Alamein in North America?
Nov 1942
72
German defeat at Stalingrad?
Feb 1943
73
First Allied bombing raid on German cities?
March 1943
74
D-Day? (Allied invasion of Normandy)
June 1944
75
July Bomb Plot to assassinate Hitler?
20th July 1944
76
When does Hitler commit suicide?
30th April 1945
77
When does Germany surrender?
2nd May 1945
78
When do the Nuremburg Trials start?
20th November 1945
79
When did the Death Camps come into fruition?
1942: Auschwitz, Sobibor and Treblinka
80
How many Jews were killed?
6 million
81
Who else was persecuted?
Gypsies (Sinti and Roma), homosexuals, blacks and other non-whites; even preachers
82
What was founded in 1929?
'The Central Office for the Fight Against the Gypsies'
83
When was the first 'sealed' ghetto?
April 1940
84
When were Jews forced to wear the yellow Star of David?
September 1941
85
Liberation of Auschwitz?
January 1945
86
Yalta Conference? (Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill)
Feb 1945
87
Surrender of German forces?
May 7-8 1945
88
Potsdam Conference? (Truman, Stalin + Churchill/Attlee)
July-Aug 1945
89
Formation of SED by merging Set German SPD and KPD?
April 1946
90
Formation of Bizone between USA and Britain?
Jan 1 1947
91
George Marshall announces the Marshall Plan or ERP?
June 5 1947
92
Currency reforms in Western Zones?
June 18 1948
93
Berlin Blockade starts?
| And when did it end?
June 24th 1948
| May 12th 1949
94
When was the first SED part conference?
Jan 25 1949
95
1. Foundation in West Germany FRG?
| 2. Foundation in East Germany of GDR?
1. May 23rd 1949
| 2. Oct 7th 1949
96
What percentage of housing had been destroyed (Germany)?
20%, with another 30% badly damaged
97
What was the average calorie consumption by winter 1945?
950-1150 per day
98
What happened at Teheran 1943?
Roosevelt + Churchill agree to demand and unconditional German surrender - to keep Stalin on board, agree to let USSR keep territorial gains form Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939
99
What was decided at:
1. Yalta (Feb)
2. Potsdam (July-Aug)
1. Germany + Berlin was to be divided into 4 zones // Decisions about Germany for a whole taken unanimously by the 4 high commanders in the ACC // Russia keeps most of the eastern Polish territory it demanded + parts of north-east Prussia // commission to look into reparations
2. 4 Ds: de-Nazifications, Demilitarisation, Democratisation and Decentralisation
100
What loses did the USSR suffer?
20 million people dead and the infrastructure and industry in the west damaged. In the first year after the war, agrarian production had been reduced by 40% and steel production by 50%.
101
What did the Russians want in reparations?
$20 billion (Americans estimated damages to USSR was around $35.7 billion)
102
First atomic bomb drop?
Manhattan Project developed 1942-5 and fist bomb tested inNew Mexico in July 1945. Dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in August 1945
103
When was the Nazi party declared illegal?
1945
104
How many German soldiers imprisoned by USSR?
3.3 million - 1/3 of those die
105
Name of the authority that supervised the Soviet Zone?
SMAD, then Soviet High Commission in Oct 1949
106
When did Basic Law come into force?
May 23 1949
107
Who was elected in the first Bundestag election in Sept 15 1949?
Konrad Adenauer
108
Boycott of Jewish businesses?
1933
109
Rationing
1939
110
Total War
1939
111
Goebbels as propaganda minister?
1928
112
Nazi party membership is at 178,000 in...?
Dec 1929
113
Timeline of Nazi seats in Reichstag
May 1928: 14
Sept 1930: 107
July 1932: 230
114
How many attended the first rally?
60,0000
115
What is unemployment at in Dec 1930?
4 million
116
What happens to the SA in April 1932?
BANNED
117
Papen lift the ban on the SA when?
June 1932
118
Hindenburg elected?
March 1932
119
Hitler refuses to serve as VC under who and when?
Under Papen, Aug 1932
120
Papen resigns WHEN
Nov 1932
121
Who becomes Chancellor after Papen and when?
Schleicher, Dec 1932
122
What do Hitler and Mussolini do? When?
Agree to form a military alliance - Nov 1936
123
What do Germany and Japan sign AND when?
anti-Comintern pact, Nov 1936
124
When is Schacht appointed as minister of economics?
Nov, 1937
125
What does Hitler do to Austria?
Invades and makes it part of the German Reich in 1938
126
What does the ruler of Spain sign in April 1938?
signs Anti-Comintern Pact
127
When were trade unions banned?
May 2nd 1933
128
Strength Through Joy (KdF)
Nov 1933
129
How many members did the KdF have by 1936?
30 million BUT only 7.4 million participated in KdF trips in 1936 - a total of 150k went on cruises 1934-39. WHY SO LITTLE
130
When was the four-year plan?
1936: to mobilise the economy onto a war footing
131
Outline the 1919 uprisings by the extreme left
1919: Spartacists.
Occupied public buildings in Jan and called for strike.
Crushed after 3 days, 100 dead and leaders murdered in custody.
1919: Red Bavaria.
Creation of Soviet Republic; crushed after a month by Freikorps + army = 1000 deaths 'white terror'
132
What was the voter turnout for the 1919 election?
83%, with 76.1% voting for pro-democratic parties
133
What was the Diktat?
Treaty of Versailles 1919
134
What were the reparations set at after WW1?
£6600 million - 'forced to sign a blank check'
| Can make reparations in kind - timber + coal production in the Saar went to France
135
What happened to the German military after WW1?
Unilaterally disarmed
136
List 3 Left uprisings from 1920?
1920: RUHR ARMY by 50,000 workers to oppose Kapp Putsch (crushed by Army + Freikorps)
1921: 'March operation' - strikes organised by KPD (put down by police)
1923: 'German October' - waves of strikes + formation of a SPD/KPD state government, plans for a communist military uprising (overthrown by German army)
137
What is Volkisch?
nationalist views
138
What were the Freikorps?
200 paramilitary units in 1919. ANTI-WEIMAR + VIOLENT.
139
How many political assassinations were there 1919-22?
376, but only 22 (!!) by the left.
140
What was the App Putsch?
1920: 12,000 troops march on Berlin + seize main building virtually unopposed ('troops do not fire on troops').
It collapses after 6 days due to infighting + leaders flee.
THE ARMY DOESN'T DEFEND GOV'T = IGNORING EBERT-GROENER AGREEMENT
141
How many of the political assassins were found guilty?
28/354 RIGHT
| 10/22 LEFT
142
What was the increase of national debt by 1919?
5000 million marks in 1914 - 144,000 millions marks in 1919
143
Short, medium and long-term causes for inflation?
S: French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 + passive resistance
M: Cost of social reforms + welfare + pressure to satisfy demands of reparations set in 1921
L: The military demands 1914-1919 = massive financial cost
144
What did Erzberger rely on?
DEFICIT FINANCING
145
What did the reparations have to be paid in?
HARD CURRENCY - have to print more marks to buy hard currency (stable currency like dollars)
146
What was unemployment in 1923?
4.1%
147
Was unemployment that bad in 1921?
Britain = 17% vs Germany = 1.8%
148
Industrial production ... between 1919 and 1922
DOUBLED
149
Outline Key achievements of Stresemann's 100 days?
Summer 1923:
- Calls off passive resistance in the Ruhr + promises to resume payments
- Cuts gov't expenditure to reduce deficit: sacks 700,000 public employees
- Appoints Schacht to oversee introduction of Rentenmark (Dec 1923)
- Evokes international sympathy for Germany's economic situation - 'miracle of the Rentenmark' + conciliatory policy with French = Dawes Committee -> Dawes Plan 1924
150
What did the Dawes Plan do?
April 1924: set fixed payments for reparations in first 5 years
151
Why did the Weimar survive?
- Popular anger is directed towards allies
- Despite inflation, workers don't suffer the way they later do during mass unemployment in 1930s
- Some businessmen did very well out of inflation (Hugo Stinnes owned 20% of German industry by end of 1923)
- No obvious political alternative from RIGHT OR LEFT
152
Treaty of Rapallo?
1922
153
What was the Treaty of Rapallo?
Russia + Germany renounced all financial + territorial claims against the other (later led to secret military co-oporation, with Germany breaking Treaty of Versailles orders)
154
Locarno conference?
1925
155
What was the Kellogg Briand Pact?
1928: RESOLVE CONFLICTS WITHOUT PHYSICAL CONFLICTS
156
How much did the German economy recover 1923-1929?
- By 1928, production had reached 1913 levels (foreign investment i.e. Ford)
- 1925-29: German exports ROSE 40%
- Hourly wages increased EVERY YEAR 1924-1930 by as much as 5-10% in 1927-8.
- Industry could lower prices due to CARTELS (arrangements between businesses to exercise a join monopoly) = better purchasing power
157
How much did social welfare increase 1923-1929?
- Offset costs of social welfare with progressive taxes on capital: highest income tax increase of 4% to 60% !!!
- Stinnes-Legien agreement caps working week to 48 hours
- National Youth Welfare Law 1922 = help poor kids
- New National Insurance Code extended welfare in various laws (1923-5): standardised pensions/health insurance scheme/accident insurance for occupational diseases (i.e mines)
- UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE LAW 1927: covers 17 million workers for 75% of pay for 3/4 of the year. BEST IN THE WORLD AT THE TIME.
158
How did the improved social welfare help?
Deaths from tuberculosis per 10,000 people: 143 in 1913 VS 87 in 1928
Hospital beds per 10,000 people: 63.1 in 1910 VS 90.9 in 1930
159
How many houses built 1924-31?
2 MILLION + 200,000 renovated
160
What evidence is there that the economy wasn't consistently 'golden' 1924-9?
- 1926: production declines + imports > exports
- Unemployments never falls below 1.3 million
- Grain production = 3/4 its 1913 figure + 1920s income per head in agriculture was 44% BELOW national average.
161
Fundamental weaknesses in the economy?
- Relied on exports + world trade never returned to pre-war levels
- Loss of valuable resources in territories like Alsace-Lorraine + Silesia due to Versailles
- German agriculture: peasantry = 1/3 of pop, fall in world prices mid-1920s = strain on farmers, gov't support only partially helps (tariffs + financial aid) = decline in income = reduced spending = fall in demand across whole economy
- Increased population: 32.4m in 1925 to 33.4m in 1931 = even without recession unemployment would've risen
- Savings + investment was discouraged after Great Inflation; after 1924 = no enthusiasm to invest = German economy becomes reliant on foreign investors.
162
Why was government finances a concern from 1925?
Balanced the budget in 1924 but from 1925 = ongoing debt.
163
By 1928, public expenditure had reached ... of GNP!
26% (DOUBLE PRE-WAR FIGURE) (NOT A SOLID BASE FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH)
164
To what extent was the Weimar economy 'sick'?
- Foreign loan dependent
- Investment = too low for growth
- Cost of welfare could only be met with loans
- Agricultural problems from mid-1920s
165
What did Stresemann say in 1928 about the economy?
GERMANY IS DANCING ON A VOLCANO. IF THE SHORT-TERM LOANS ARE CALLED IN, A LARGE SECTION OF OUR ECONOMY WOULD COLLAPSE.
166
When was the Grand Coalition?
1928: SPD/DDP/DNVP/ZP under Muller - over 60% support in the Reichstag B U T this is atypical
167
How did the extreme left and right do in the early elections?
Lost ground, polled less than 30% of the votes cast
168
Issues with coalitions?
Most protected own interests over that of the state = limited variation in coalitions. SO, little chance of establishing a democratic government for lasting stability
169
How many of the 7 governments 1923-30 had majorities? How long was the longest government?
ONLY 2!
| Only lasted 21 months.
170
Who was the strongest + most consistent party up until 1932?
SPD: committed to working class AND democracy
171
1925 Presidential election?
Second round called, Hindenburg wins by 3%
172
What has Hindenburg been known as?
Ersatzkaiser - substitute Kaiser
173
What quote sums up Hindenburg?
"Refused to betray the Republic, but he did not rally people behind its banner"
174
Was the Weimar stable?
There were no putsch + law and order was restored with actions of paramilitary groups limited.
BUT
No strengthening: 1926 coalition collapsed over whether to use the national flag or the old imperial flag, another collapsed over the creation of religious schools.
AND: voter turnout declined mid-1920s + increase in fringe parties.
175
Economic benefits of the Dawes Plan?
- 1 = 1 billion of old marks
- New national bank: Reichsbank under Allied supervision
- International loan of 800 million gold marks
176
What was the Locarno Pact?
1925:
International security pact for Germany's western frontiers backed by Uk + US.
Crucially: permanent demilitarisation of Rhineland + arbitration treaties between Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia
177
What was the Young Plan?
1929:
| Germany would pay reparations until 1988 - £1850 million, 1/4 of original amount set in 1921.
178
When did Germany join the League on Nations?
1926
179
Treaty of Berlin?
1926: West = priority of friendship
| BUT Stresemann doesn't drop the Rapallo Treaty
180
Outline the 'Cultural Explosion'
NEUE SACHLICHKEIT: new practicality
- Art focuses of ordinary people (grosz + Dix)
- Bauhaus School by Gropius 1919: art + technology - a new unity.
- New styles emerged: All Quiet on the Western Front, 1928 = critical of WW1
- Zeittheatre - left wing sympathies in theatre to portray character's behaviour in everyday life (Brecht)
- JAZZ + Consumerism
- German film industry = most advanced in Europe, more cinemas than any other country. They also love Chaplin!
- Radio: 1923 = German Radio Company, 1924 = a radio network + 9 companies set up to serve different regions, 1932 = 1/4 owned a radio
- Cabaret!!!! NUDITY/SEXUAL EXPERIMENTATION/TRANSVESTISM/HOMOSEXUALITY/PROSTISTUTION
181
To what extent was there a conflict of cultures 1924-29?
Mlller + Spengler = respected conservative intellectuals who condemned the New Democratic + industrial practices.
- Many writers OPPOSED pacifism + glorified the sacrifices of WW1
- Most were horrified by the decline in the established moral + cultural standards: the feelings against Neue Sachlichkeit reflected broader doubts + tensions about Weimar
182
Did the Weimar establish cultural tolerance?
Weimar never established a genuinely tolerant cultural attitude as the avant grade + conservatives were at odds BUT: both took advantage of the freedoms + permissiveness of Weimar liberalism.
Became increasingly polarised before the onset of 1929 political + economic crisis.
183
How can arbitration be used to show the divided society?
1919 state scheme for compulsory arbitration to settle strikes.
- Supposed to be the exception to the rule but there was arbitration in 76,000 industrial disputes between 1924-32 !!
- 1928: workers were locked out of iron works by employers who refused to accept the arbitration award = most serious industrial conflict of the period
THIS SHOWS THE SOCIAL/CLASS DIVIDE PR-DEPRESSION
184
Weimar was only ... in comparison to the ...
Weimar was only stable in comparison to the periods that came before and after it.
185
What were the Weimar fundamental problems?
the issues from the war + years of crisis had not been fully resolved by 1929, and so it was not ready to weather the storm.
186
What was unemployment at in 1929 vs 1932?
1929 = 1.8 million VS 1932 = 5.6 million
187
Timeline of Nazi Party membership?
1925: 27,000
1926: 49,000
1927: 72,000
1928: 108,000
188
What collapsed in 1931?
The 5 major banks + 50,000 businesses went bankrupt
189
How much did exports fall by due to economic crisis?
Fell by 55% by 1932
190
1 in ... was unemployed by 1932
1 in 3 !!!
191
Explain the reasons for the Nazi gains in the 1930 election?
107 seats.
- propaganda aimed at rural and middle/lower classes
- protest votes! turnout rose from 75% to 82%
- 1.8 million new voters (next generation added)
192
What did Bruning achieve?
Cancelling of reparation payments 1932
193
What did Papen have to do to get support of the Nazis?
- Unban SS and SA
| - Dissolve Reichstag + new elections
194
How many died as a result of political fights leading to the 1932 elections? How many political riots were there?
86 + 461 in Prussia alone
195
What happened to the Regional States (Lander) in 1933-4?
- Dissolved regional parliaments + reformed them with majorities (Nazis dominate)
- Reich Governors created (often the Gauleiter) with full powers
- 1934: regional state parliaments were abolished.
196
What was created instead of Trade Unions?
1933: DAF membership at 22 million
197
Oath of loyalty by the German Army to Nazis?
1933
198
What courts were set up in 1933? In 1934?
1933: Special Courts to try political offenders without a jury.
1934: People's Court established to try cases of high treason with a jury of Nazi members (7,000/16,000 cases resulted in the death penalty form 1934-45).
199
What gave the SS the right to imprison without questions?
the Nacht und Nebel Decree of 1941
200
How did the SS numbers increase?
1925: 250 members
1933: 52,000 members
201
By 1939, how many Germans had a radio?
70%
202
The .... Law of 1933 made ... content the sole responsibility of the editor
The EDITORS LAW OF 1933 MADE CONTENT THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE EDITOR
