Popular support, 1945-89

Question 1

When did the Nuremberg Trials begin?

Answer 1

18th October 1945

Question 2

Nuremberg Trials - how many defendants and what were the sentences?

Answer 2

22 defendants

• 12 sentenced to death
• 3 for life imprisonment
• 3 were acquitted
• 4 went to prison

Question 3

What was the problem with De-Nazifiying all of Germany?

Answer 3

• 250,000 people had been arrested across all zones by the end of 1946 – this seems corrupt and confusing and made supporting democracy more difficult
• The youth were likely to have been indoctrinated through the Hitler Youth. All they could do was ban textbooks and films that taught racial theory and eugenics.
• Teachers were vetted to weed out nazis at schools/unis. However, teachers had to join the party in order to remain as a teacher. If they ban everyone from the civil service, education and government, there would be no one left. They HAD to allow some Nazis in (article 131)

Question 4

Reactions to De Nazification

Answer 4

• Many felt as if the Nuremberg Trials were necessary as they lost the war and they wanted ‘year zero’. Between 1/2 and 2/3 felt this way but dropped by 1951
• Feelings of hypocrisy. The US has dropped bombs on Hiroshima and carpet bombed Dresden, so why should only Germany be punished? Plus, there was still undemocratic censorship and vetting of teachers, resembling what the Nazis did.
• Avoidance out of guilt. Did not want to be too closely examined.
• Cynicism – a 1952 Reichstag report found 4 ex-Nazis in the foreign office and there were 1,600 ex-nazi scientists in the US.
• Desire to move on – many of the older generation agreed with the ‘year zero’ policy. This contrasted with younger opposition in the 60s who wanted to face up to the crimes of the 30s and 40s.

Question 5

Voter turnout during the FRG period – how does this compare to Weimar Germany?

Answer 5

78-91% consistently across the whole period. People wanted to support democracy by participating in it.

This is similar to Weimar Germany, which had a similar trait.

Question 6

In what ways was there support for democracy?

Answer 6

• Higher voter turnout
• Public surveys:

  - The number of people who believed that the Bundestag represented their best interest doubled from 1951-64
  
  - The number of people who wanted the monarchy back dropped from 1/3 to 1/10 between 1951-64. 
  
  - By the 1960s, people believed that the FRG government represented the best of Germany's history and that democracy was the best form of government policy. 

• People had also demonstrated against non-democratic measures, therefore you can imply that they wanted democracy:

   - Such as the emergency law of 1968
   - They marched against the military junta of Greece in 1967 and against the FRG having links with authoritarian regimes like South Africa under apartheid. 
   - They protested Brandt's moves towards Ostpolitik as this meant collab with the USSR who were also an oppressive regime.