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Germany Flashcards > Unit 3- The Collapse of Democracy 1928-33 > Flashcards

Unit 3- The Collapse of Democracy 1928-33 Flashcards

1
Q

What were Economic Impacts of the Depression 1929 ?

A
  • America demanded immediate repayment of loans
  • Germany’s export trade declined by 61%
  • Government closed all banks and stock exchange for 2 days, made it worse
  • Unemployment increased
  • Cuts in civil service
  • Farmers forced to give up farms
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2
Q

How many people registered as unemployed during the Depression 1929 ?

A
  • 1/3 of Germans registered as unemployed
  • Estimated x8 the amount
  • 8 Million
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3
Q

What were Social Impacts of the Depression 1929 ?

A
  • Unemployed only entitled to state benefit for a fixed period
  • Women receive less benefits than men
  • People were strictly means tested
  • Increase of TB and Rickets
  • Malnutrition amongst children
  • Suicide rates went up
  • Shanty towns appear
  • Poverty diets
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4
Q

What was the Poverty Diet ?

A
  • Increased during the Depression
  • -Rarely featured meat
  • Described as “too little to live on but too much to die from”
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5
Q

What was the Impact of the Depression on the Youth ?

A
  • Increased youth unemployment
  • Increase in gangs and crime
  • NO of 14-25 year olds accused of crime increased
  • Joined extremist political parties- KPD recruited working class youths
  • Hitler’s Youth and SA offered unemployed boys food and shelter
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6
Q

What schemes were introduced to help the young unemployed ?

A
  • Established day care centres, had work related activities and could socialise
  • Emergency labour schemes, would undertake unskilled manual labour and receive wages
  • Voluntary labour schemes, residential work, sent away
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7
Q

What were the criticisms of the Youth Schemes ?

A
  • Unpopular with young children
  • Two waves of strikes for higher wages
  • Few of the schemes offered any prospect of vocational training and finding employment
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8
Q

What was the Impact of the Depression on Women ?

A
  • Female in the workforce increased
  • “double earners”
  • Law passed allowing married women to be dismissed from civil service- limited to central government
  • Could only be dismissed if they were economically stable
  • Reich postal service dismissed 1000 married women
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9
Q

What were the Political impacts of the depression ?

A
  • Grand Coalition collapsed
  • Provided opportunity for extreme parties to gain support
  • Intensification of political violence
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10
Q

What caused the collapse of the Grand Coalition ?

A
  • Made up of parties from left and right
  • Unemployment benefit put strain on state finances
  • Right DVP wanted to reduce unemployment benefits
  • Left SPD wanted to protect benefits and raise taxes
  • Government was deadlocked on the issue
  • Muller resigned
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11
Q

What led to the appointment of Brunning as chancellor ?

A
  • Influenced by Groaner and Schleicher
  • Both opposed to parliamentary democracy
  • Political crisis an opportunity to impose an authoritarian style of government
  • Brunning had authoritarian views
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12
Q

What did Brunnings government exclude ?

A

-The SPD

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13
Q

What was the Impact of Brunning excluding the SPD from his government ?

A
  • His government didn’t have enough support in the Reichstag to pass laws
  • After March 1930- No government had majority support in Reichstag
  • Governments rely on ruling by presidential decree
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14
Q

How many laws were passed by the Reichstag compared to by Decree in 1932 ?

A 
Reichstag= 5 
Decree= 66
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15
Q

What was Brunnings response to the Depression ?

A
  • Cut expenditure and raise taxes to balance the budget
  • Didn’t have majority in Reichstag
  • Persuades Hindenburg for him to rule by decree
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16
Q

What was the Political crisis regarding Article 48 ?

A
  • Only suppose to be used in emergencies
  • SPD won Reichstag support to withdraw the decree
  • Brunning dissolved the Reichstag and called the September 1930 election
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17
Q

What were the results of the September 1930 Election ?

A
  • Extreme parties gained the most
  • Communists gained over a million votes, 77 seats in Reichstag
  • Nazis were the second largest party (6.5 million votes)
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18
Q

How did the Reichstag become unmanageable ?

A
  • Did not meet between February and October 1931

- Meetings became shorter and infrequent

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19
Q

What did the Nazis and Communists claim regarding political violence ?

A
  • Nazis claimed 29 of their men had been killed by communists
  • Communists said 92 of their supporters had been killed
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20
Q

How did Political Violence increase ?

A
  • Nazis and communists took their struggles onto the streets
  • Communists had their Red-Front Fighters League
  • Broke up political meetings of their opponents
  • Rival marches often turned into full scale riots
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21
Q

How did Brunning act against Political Violence ?

A
  • Banned the wearing of political uniforms

- Banned the SA

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22
Q

How did the Weimar fail to stop Political Violence ?

A
  • SA continued to wear uniforms
  • SA membership continued to grow
  • End of 1932, SA had 400,000 members
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23
Q

Which parties gained support during the Depression years ?

A
  • The Nazis
  • Communist KPD
  • Both gained support during the Depression years
  • Nazis more successful in broadening appeal
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24
Q

Where did Nazis see increased support from after the Wall Street Crash?

A
  • White-collar workers
  • Middle class
  • Farmers
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25
Q

How did Nazis broaden their support amongst farmers ?

A
  • Promised farmers higher prices and protection from imports
  • Exploited their issues
  • Nazis gained 68% of the vote in one rural district
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26
Q

Why did Nazis attract support from the Middle Class ?

A
  • They were worried by the threat of a communist revolution

- They were disillusioned with well established middle class parties such as the DVP and DNVP

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27
Q

What areas were the Nazis strongest and weakest ?

A
  • Strong in Protestant areas

- Weak in Catholic areas

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28
Q

How much of the vote did the Nazis gain in the 1932 elections ?

A
  • 30.1% in 1st ballot

- 37.3% in 2nd ballot

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29
Q

Who was Hindenburgs opponent when he stood for election in 1932 ?

A

-Thallman of the KPD

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30
Q

What were the results of the 1932 elections?

A
  • Hindeburg won in the end with 53% of vote

- Hitler got 37%

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31
Q

Why were the working class important in the elections ?

A
  • Working class made up nearly half of the electorate

- Their votes were crucial

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32
Q

Who did the working class support ?

A

-The SPD or the communists (especially trade unions)

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33
Q

What areas did left wing parties gain support ?

A
  • SPD support in large cities

- Communist support in poor cities like Berlin and amongst the unemployed

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34
Q

How many working class voters voted for the Nazis in the 1930 election ?

A
  • 1930 election

- 27% of Nazi voters were manual labourers

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35
Q

How did the Nazis become the most popular party ?

A
  • Won support amongst all classes and generations and across different regions
  • Emphasised issues that had been neglected
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36
Q

What was the Nazis “Power of Will” ideology ?

A
  • Hitler presented himself and the Nazis as being a force for change in Germany
  • Nazi propaganda claimed power, strength and determination were qualities of Hitler
  • Parades of SA presented an image of discipline and unity
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37
Q

What was the Nazis “struggle and war” ideology ?

A
  • Believed war would reconstruct German society
  • Nazi propaganda glorified military virtues of courage and loyalty
  • SA to give German males the chance to demonstrate manliness
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38
Q

What was the Nazis “racial community” ideology ?

A
  • Volkscemeinschaft
  • Only Aryans could be citizens of the state
  • No social classes and equal opportunity within Aryan community
  • All work for nation and would receive benefits
  • Wanted to return to a romanticised Germany before the war to create a “new man” and “new woman”
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39
Q

What was the Nazis “national socialism” ideology ?

A
  • Sought support of wealthy businessmen such as Hugenberg and Fritz
  • Used the word “socialism” loosely to appeal to working class voters
  • In his view socialism and the “peoples community” were the same
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40
Q

What was the Nazis “ The Fuhrerprinzip” ideology?

A
  • Hitler set out to destroy Weimar Republic because it was a democracy
  • Wanted it to be destroyed and replaced by a dictatorship
41
Q

What was the Nazis “Aggressive nationalism” ideology ?

A
  • Wanted to reverse the TOV
  • Restore lands taken from Germany
  • Secure Lebensraum (living space) to the east
  • To create a greater German state
42
Q

What was the Nazis “anti-semitism” ideology ?

A
  • Hitler saw Jews as responsible for all German ills
  • Represented in Nazi propaganda as greedy, cunning and selfish
  • They were held responsible for evils of capitalism, German loss in the war, TOV and Weimar democracy
  • Regarded communism as a Jewish creed
43
Q

How was the role of Hitler important to Nazi success?

A
  • His political skills and qualities were important to the party
  • Possessed great charisma and skills
  • Speeches were long and repetitive (hypnotic effect)
  • Knew how to play on people’s emotions and fears
  • Adjusted speeches to different audiences
44
Q

What was the role of anti semitism in Nazi success ?

A
  • Jews used as scapegoats in Nazi propaganda, portraying them as responsible for Germany’s problems
  • Blamed for “Jewish capitalism
  • Many Germans had anti-Semitic views and felt they could now express them freely.
  • Most Germans, were not anti-Semitic, and still voted for Nazis due to the huge economic problems they were dealing with.
  • The SA often chanted ‘Juda Verreche!’ – or ‘Down with the Jews!’ and would beat Jews in the street
45
Q

Why were men attracted to the SA ?

A
  • Were anti-communist

- For comradeship in the pub

46
Q

What was the role of propaganda in Nazi success ?

A
  • Joseph Goebbles was the master of propaganda
  • Provided with money by big businesses
  • Hitler made speeches all over Germany
  • Nazis had their own newspaper
  • Published posters, leaflets, films and staged rallies
  • Skilfully targeted different groups and adapted nazi message to particular target audiences
47
Q

What showed there was an appeal of Communism?

A
  • KPD gained 2 million votes in the Reichstag elections between 1928-32
  • Its membership increased to 360,000 in 1932
  • Growing force at street and neighbourhood level in large industrial cities
48
Q

What issues did the KPD mainly focus on ?

A
  • Focus on the unemployed
  • Set up committees on the unemployed and staged hunger marches and agitated against benefits cuts
  • Attempted to co-opt the “wild cliques” of working class youths into communist led campaigns against the police
49
Q

What was the Red-Front Fighters League of the KPD ?

A
  • Engaged in frequent battles with the SA and with the police
  • The communists presented themselves as the defenders of the working class against the Nazis
50
Q

What were the KPD’s political aims?

A
  • Advocated close cooperation with the USSR
  • Establishment of a workers state
  • Ultimate aim to overthrow the Weimar Republic
  • Replace SPD as leading party on left
  • Demanded an end to cuts in unemployment benefits and wages
51
Q

What did the KPD accuse the SPD of ?

A
  • Accused the SPD as damaging to working class interests

- Labelled them as “social fascists”

52
Q

What were strengths of the KPD ?

A
  • Communist propaganda attracted membership, through speeches of Thalman, who emphasised struggles
  • Appealed to the unemployed and poor - “bread and freedom”
  • KPD propaganda attacked the SPD
  • Growing force at street and neighbourhood level in large industrial cities
53
Q

What were weaknesses of the KPD ?

A
  • More than 50% of new members in 1932 left within a few months
  • No support outside main industrial areas and women
  • Unemployed members meant KPD were always short of money and they did not have big businesses support
  • Concentrated on fighting the SPD that they neglected the threat of Nazis
  • Threat of communist revolution persuades many rich industrialists to give support to the Nazis
54
Q

What caused the Fall of Brunnings government in 1932 ?

A
  • Never had majority support in Reichstag
  • Could only remain in office and pass laws with Hindenburg and Schleicher’s support
  • Mostly ruled by presidential decree
55
Q

Why was Brunning known as the ‘Hunger Chancellor” ?

A
  • Reduced state expenditure and cut welfare benefits
  • Reduced civil servants and cut wages
  • Deepened the depression
  • In 1936, unemployment exceeded 6 million for the first time
56
Q

What did the deepening of the Depression cause ?

A
  • Increased support for the Nazis and communists
  • More street violence
  • Unemployment exceeded 6 million for the first time
57
Q

What did Brunning do to stop street violence ?

A
  • Imposed a ban on the SA to stop street violence

- Situtation actually got worse

58
Q

Why did Scleicher withdraw support from Brunnings government ?

A
  • Knew the ban on the SA would cause a Nazi uprising and he wanted to establish an authoritarian government
  • No government could rule without Nazi support
59
Q

What were Hitler’s conditions to joining a coalition in 1932?

A
  • Demanded to be chancellor
  • Hitler agreed to not oppose the new government, if there was a new Reichstag election
  • SA ban to be lifted
60
Q

Why did Brunning resign ?

A
  • Hindenburg acted on Schleicher’s advice
  • Refused to sign a presidential decree Brunning had submitted
  • Had no choice but to resign
61
Q

Who was Brunning replaced with ?

A

-Franz Von Papen

62
Q

What were the issues with Papen’s government ?

A
  • Constructed government on non-political party basis
  • DNVP were the only party that supported his coalition
  • His cabinet were mostly filled by industrial elites who weren’t members of the Reichstag
  • Shared his authoritarian leanings
  • Only ruled by decree
63
Q

What did Papen believe ?

A
  • Believed a communist revolution would threaten Germany

- The Weimar democracy allowed this threat to grow

64
Q

What was Papen’s view of the Nazis ?

A
  • Saw Nazis with their mass support as useful allies to establish an authoritarian government
  • Sympathised with Hitler’s ideas
65
Q

What did Papen do to cause more street violence ?

A
  • Lifted the ban on the SA

- Imposed curbs on left wing press

66
Q

What happened in Prussia, which caused Papen to impose an authoritarian government ?

A
  • The SA marched through the streets and the KPD confronted them.
  • Police shot the KPD- killing 18.
  • Papen blamed the SPD who led the local government
  • Appointed himself the leader of the government.
67
Q

What were the results of the July 1932 election ?

A
  • DVP and DNVP lost support
  • Nazis become main party on the right (230 seats)
  • Nazis still don’t have a majority- 37.3% of the vote
  • Hitler can ask for the chancellor position as he’s in a stronger position than Paper or Schleicher
  • Nazis have more votes than the SPD DID IN 1919
68
Q

Where did Nazis attract votes from in the July 1932 election ?

A
  • Middle class

- Unemployed

69
Q

Where didn’t Nazis attract votes from in the July 1932 election ?

A
  • SPD/KPD voters

- Catholic voters

70
Q

Why did Hitler refuse to join Papen’s government ?

A
  • Hitler would only join if he was chancellor

- Wanted to attack Papens government

71
Q

Why was a second 1932 election in November called?

A
  • Nazis support a vote of no confidence in Papen’s government
  • Papens position weakened
  • Forced to ask Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call a new election
72
Q

What were the results of the November 1932 election ?

A
  • Nazis lose 2 million votes and 34 seats
  • Centre parties suffered losses
  • KPD won 16.9% of the vote
  • Nazis are still the largest party
73
Q

What caused a loss of support for the Nazi party in the Nov 1932 election ?

A
  • Middle class voters were alienated by Hitlers attacks on Paper and by his refusal to join a coalition
  • Nazis supported a communist led transport strike in Berlin during the election
  • Led to them to support the DVP and DNVP
  • 3 election campaigns in 8 months exhausted Nazi funds
74
Q

What caused the end of Papen’s government ?

A
  • Papen’s government lost credibility
  • Government still faced a hostile Reichstag majority
  • Considered banning the Nazis and Communists and using the army to enforce an authoritarian style of government
  • Schleicher told Papen the army wouldn’t support him
  • Papen resigns
75
Q

What was the importance of Hindenburgs inner circle ?

A
  • Involved in all key decisions
  • Advised Hindenburg on the appointment of chancellors and the signing of presidential decrees
  • Seen as the main source of backstairs intrigue
76
Q

What was the role of Schleicher in the inner circle ?

A
  • Was head of the army and an authoritarian
  • Instrument in persuading Hindenburg to withdraw support from Brunning and replace him with Papen
  • Involved in the downfall of Papen, due to the fact he was too independent minded
  • Schleicher was very ambitious and addicted to behind the scenes intrigue
  • Aimed for an alliance between forces of old Conservatives and the Nazis to legitimise an authoritarian regime.
77
Q

What was the role of Oskar von Hindenburg in the inner circle ?

A
  • Army office (authoritarian)
  • Son of Hindenburg
  • Controlled access to the president
  • His options were highly valued by his father
  • Close links to Schleicher
78
Q

What was the role of Otto Meissner in the inner circle ?

A
  • Civil servant
  • Acted as a go between in negotiations between Hitler and Hindenburg
  • Huge influence over the president
  • Arranged meetings between Hitler and the president
79
Q

What were Hindenburgs view of the Nazi’s ?

A
  • Regarded the Nazis with distain
  • Saw them as a noisy rabble
  • Therefore reluctant to make Hitler chancellor
  • Running out of options after the fall of Papen’s government
80
Q

Why was Hindenburg reluctant to make Schleicher chancellor ?

A
  • Schleicher preferred to operate behind the scenes

- Lost his trust because he alienated Papen

81
Q

How did Schleicher try and get a Nazi coalition ?

A
  • Tried to put pressure on Hitler by playing on divisions within the Nazi party
  • He opened negotiations with Strasser (a key Nazi,)
  • Hitler quickly realised he was being undercut
  • Got rid of Strasser to stop the negotiations.
  • Schleichers bid to gain Nazi support FAILED
82
Q

How did Schleicher try and gather Reichstag support after his failed attempt with the Nazis ?

A
  • Turned to socialism to gather trade union support
  • Economic reform to cut Nazi support
  • Cancelled cuts in wages and benefits made by Papen
  • Considered a large scale job creation scheme to relieve unemployment
83
Q

How did Schleichers Economic reform fail ?

A
  • Too much for industrialists and landowners
  • Were the backbone of German conservative parties
  • Failed to attract trade union support
84
Q

What led to Schleicher resigning ?

A
  • Asked Hindenburg to suspend the constitution, dissolve the Reichstag and give him powers of a dictator
  • Hindenburg refused
  • Schleicher resigned
85
Q

How did Hitler become chancellor in 1933 ?

A
  • Papen involved in negotiations with Hitler over forming a new coalition government
  • Hitler still insistent on being chancellor and considered a coalition
  • Hugenburg (DNVP) was prepared to support a Nazi-led coalition
  • Talks between Hitler, Papen and Hindeburgs inner circle, led to a deal in which Hitler would form a coalition government with himself as chancellor
86
Q

Why did Papen believe Hitler would be easy to control and that a dictatorship wouldn’t be established?

A
  • There would only be 2 other nazis in the cabinet
  • Believed he was poorly educated and inexperienced because he was a corporal
  • Papen was vice-chancellor
  • Papen won the right to be present when Hitler and Hindenburg met
87
Q

What was the Nazi torchlight procession in January 1933 ?

A
  • Hitler stood on the balcony of the Reich
  • Torchlight procession of 100,000 Nazi members walking through the streets of Berlin
  • Organised by Joseph Goebells
88
Q

What was the importance of the Nazi torchlight procession in January 1933 ?

A
  • Was a demonstration of Hitler’s personal triumph and the victory of the Nazi movement
  • Made it clear that it would mark a historic break with the past
  • Start of their “national revolution”
89
Q

How did the Nazis use the SA for terror ?

A
  • Expanded the SA to eliminate opposition
  • 500,000—> 3 Million members in a year
  • Activities of SA gained legal authority
  • SA and the Stahlehlm were merged= AUXILARY POLICE
  • Regular police force forbidden from interfering with SA
  • Terror against socialists and the communists
90
Q

How did the Nazis use terror against political opponents ?

A
  • Terror against socialists and the communists
  • Assaulted homes of left wing politicians
  • Assaulted trade union and KPD offices
  • Centre Party newspapers banned after criticising nazi regime
  • SA broke up SPD and KPD meetings
  • SPD newspapers banned
91
Q

How did the Nazis use concentration camps as a form of terror?

A
  • Communists, socialists and trade unionists imprisoned
  • Dacheu was the first permanent concentration camp= 5000 people
  • July 1933- 26,789 political prisoners arrested by SA in 70 camps
  • Nazis said it was ‘protective custody’
92
Q

How did the Reichstag fire encourage use of terror ?

A
  • Communist Marinus Van der Lubbe arrested for the fire
  • Nazis claimed it was a communist plot to start a revolution
  • Terror became a legal mean to crush opposition
93
Q

What was the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State ?

A
  • Police given increased powers to arrest and detain without charge
  • Police given powers to enter and search private premisses
  • Government had powers to censor publications
  • Used to arrest communists and socialists
94
Q

What was the impact of the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State ?

A
  • Police arrested 10,000 communists in 2 weeks
  • KPD party membership treated as an act of treason
  • Civil servants, judges and police were conservative and nationalists
95
Q

How did the Nazis control the March 1933 election ?

A
  • SA controlled streets, opponents locked up
  • Impossible for left to organise an election meeting, posters removed as soon as they were put up
  • Anyone distributing leaflets for SPD and KPD was arrested
96
Q

What were the results of the March 1933 election ?

A
  • Nazis won 43.9%
  • KPD won 12.3%
  • More than half supported non-nazi parties
  • Nazis with support of their DNVP allies, now had a Reichstag majority
97
Q

What was the Enabling Act ?

A
  • Allowed Hitler to make laws without Reichstag approval and without reference to the president
  • Also gave him power to make treaties with foreign states without Reichstag approval
  • Legitimised the Nazi dictatorship
98
Q

Why did Hitler struggle to pass the Enabling Act ?

A
  • HITLER NEEDED A 2/3 MAJORITY TO PASS IT
  • Communists unable to take their seats
  • SPD votes against it
  • Centre party held the key to gaining majority
99
Q

What was the Centre Parties condition to accepting the bill to pass the Enabling Act ?

A
  • They were reassured Hitler would not use powers without consulting Hindenburg first
  • Hitler won support

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