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NAZI GERMANYThe Weimar RepublicCreated in 1919, in the power vacuum created by the Kaiser’s abdication.Intended to replace the imperial system of government with one of democracy, like many other states after the war.Headed by Ebert to compromise between the split within the KDP.Born into a period of instability.Known as the ‘November Criminals’ for signing an armistice on 11 Nov. 1918.Timeline of Events11 November 1918 – WWI ends; armistice is signed.5-15 January 1919 – Spartacist Revolution.28 June 1919 – TOV is signed.11 August 1919 – Weimar Republic is established.24 February 1920 – Hitler renames the German Worker’s party (NSDAP) as its leader; founding of the Nazi party.13 March 1920 – Kapp Putsch.8 March 1922 – First founding of Hitler Youth.5-6 November 1923 – Berlin riots about hyperinflation.8-9 November 1923 – Munich Beer Hall Putsch; Hitler arrested.16 November 1923 – Hyperinflation at its highest.1 August 1924 – The Dawes Plan.28 February 1925 – Ebert Dies, Hindenburg becomes President. 1 January 1926 – Germany joins LON.1928 – Nazis receive 2.7% of the votes.28-29 October 1929 – Wall Street Crash.1 January 1930 – The Young Plan.31 July 1932 – Hitler and the Nazis receive 38% of the votes, making them the most popular party in the history of Weimar.30 January 1933 – Hitler is named Chancellor.27 February 1933 – Reichstag Fire.23 March 1933 – NSDAP gain 44% of the votes, Weimar Republic destroyed, and the Enabling Act passed.29-30 June 1934 – Night of the Long Knives; purging of the SA.ProblemsPolitical ProblemsThe Treaty of Versailles, 28 June 1919Signed by the new socialist government, led by Friedrich Ebert.Regarded as a ‘diktat’ (dictated peace).Greatly crippled Germany in terms of material damages.Long-term resentment of the hostility towards Germany for starting the war.Socially, German identity had been lost and pride had been hurt.Weimar Republic had to take on the blame for this defeat and Hitler played upon the nationalistic resentment towards the TOV to form the Dolschstoss theory (stab in the back).LandLost about 13% of its European territory.Germany’s colonial empire shared among winners.Alsace-Lorraine (75% of Germany’s iron resources) returned to France.The Saar handed over to the LON for 15 years. France running coal mines.West Prussia given to Poland for access to the Sea, which split Germany in two.ReparationsActual sum not set in Versailles, reparations in the form of a “blank cheque” (settled at ?6600 million, 1921)MilitaryArmy limited to 100,000 men.Conscription banned.Tanks and submarines banned.Navy limited to six warships.Airforce dismantled.Rhineland permanently demilitarized.War GuiltArticle 231 – Germany was to be held wholly responsible for the war.Weak ConstitutionArticle 48 – allowed the president of the Weimar republic to suspend parliament in times of emergency; executive decisions (autocracy). Hitler used this to establish a dictatorship after the Reichstag fire.Proportional representation – parties gained the same percentage of seats in the Reichstag as votes, allowing very small parties to be part of the Reichstag (wide distribution). Six coalition governments undermined the credibility of the Weimar Republic and had a hard time agreeing on anything.Opposition groupsThere were extreme right and left wing movements in Germany that were opposed to democracy and wanted to overthrow the Weimar Republic.Left WingThe German Communist Party (KPD) was committed to establishing a Bolshevik-style of government in Germany.The Weimar Republic was badly divided between the KPD and Social Democratic Party (SPD) – Ebert from SPD – making it easier for Hitler to come to power.The Spartacist Rising, January 1919Spartacists staged a rising in Berlin.Ended bloodily by the Freikorps – bands of extreme right-wing ex-soldiers.Leaders were Karl Liebknecht and Rosa munist Rising in the Ruhr, March 1920Communists staged an uprising in the Ruhr.Briefly took over Munich in April.The German Army restored order, killing hundreds of communists.Right WingGerman nationalists did not accept the Weimar Republic because of the government’s decision to accept the TOV.The right-wing consisted of conservative elites who had ruled Germany under the Kaiser.Favoured the restoration of the monarchy or an authoritarian leader. The Kapp Putsch, March 1920Wolfgang Kapp and General von Luttwitz attempted to overthrow the government.12,000 soldiers joined Freikorps units to seize control of Berlin.Defence Minister Gustav Noske ordered the Reichswehr (German army) to restore order.General von Seeckt refused to order his troops to attack former soldiers.Trade unions organized a general strike that paralyzed Berlin.After four days, Kapp realized the Putsch had failed and fled to Sweden. Beerhall Putsch, November 19238th Nov, Hitler took over a political meeting and announced that he was mounting a revolution to overthrow the Weimar Republic.Von Kahr, the Bavarian State Commissioner, who had been leading the meeting, escaped and the Bavarian police and army refused to support the Nazi revolution.9th Nov, 2000 SA men marched on the centre of Munich. 16 Nazis killed, Hitler arrested.February 1924, Hitler was tried and sentenced to 5 years, only serving 9 months.EconomicWWI and the terms of the TOV had exhausted Germany’s finances.Much of her natural resources were depleted. i.e. 75% of iron ore lost with the Rhineland.Hyperinflation.High unemployment, low industrial output.Hyperinflation, 1923The value of the mark had declined greatly and in response to the growing economic pressure due to reparations, the Weimar government began to print more money leading to hyperinflation.The value of the mark against the pound had gone from 20:1 to 16,000,000,000,000:1 from 1914-1923Unemployment rose from 2% to 23%Occupation of the Ruhr, 1923The occupation of the Ruhr was a response to the failure of the Weimar Republic to pay reparations in the aftermath of WWI.French Prime Minister Raymond Poincare initiated the invasion on January 11 1923.The Ruhr was the centre of German coal, iron and steel production.The occupation had the aim to gain the money Germany owed, and to cripple Germany.The French occupation cut off the Ruhr economically from the rest of the nation.It brought the industrial activity of Germany almost to a grinding halt.The occupation boosted sympathy for Germany, but the LON took no action despite the fact that it was clearly breaching LON rules.Occupation ended August 25, 1925.The Dawes Plan, 1924Germany was to receive an initial loan of ?40 million from the USA.Germany’s reparation payments were rescheduled (two-year moratorium).In total, Germany received ?3000 million in loans from the USA (international) during 1924-30. French agreed to evacuate the Ruhr.The Young Plan, 1929Total sum owed by Germany was cut down by 25%.Annual payments fixed to run only until 1966.Payment could be deferred for up to two years in case of financial difficulty.$200 million international loan made to Germany.Wall Street Crash, 1929The crash impacted the American economy and subsequently the German economy due to the links created by the international loans in 1924 and 1929.Stresemann had said that “Germany is dancing on a volcano”, implying the fragility of the economy and the dependence on the short-term loans.America gave Germany 90 days to repay the loans.No other power had money to panies went bankrupt and workers were laid off in millions.Unemployment rate went from 650,000 to 3,000,000 in two years.The depression revived violent and unstable politics that sparked riots and disillusionment with the government.This helped the Nazi party as the German public turned to more extremist political parties. In the General Election of 1930, the Nazis won 107 seats.G. Ritter – Popular resentment towards the Weimar Republic was a major factor in helping Hitler seizing power in 1933.Hitler’s Rise to PowerI. Kershaw – Chance, luck and tragic miscalculations brought Hitler to power. There was nothing inevitable about it.E. Anderson – A major factor contributing the collapse of the Weimar Republic was the shrewdness of the political leaders in the Nazi party.Adolf Hitler1913 moved to Munich and became interested in the writings of racist authors, particularly the concept of the supremacy of the Aryan race.Nationalist of the racial kind.Believed that Germans were superior to other nationalities.Resented the presence of affluent Jewish people in Vienna.Noticed that many Socialists and Communists were Jews. Believed that Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest could be applied to human societies.Enlisted in the German army during WWI and was shocked by the defeat in 1918, jumping to the conclusion that the SDP had ‘stabbed the Fatherland in the back’.Hitler wrote Mein Kampf while serving 9 months in prison.Nazi PartyIn 1920, Hitler took over the German Workers’ Party (DAP) and produced a program that combined nationalist and socialist ambitions. In 1921, Hitler set up the Sturmabteilung (SA) who were responsible to protect party meetings. They were recruited from the Freikorps.Hitler adopted the swastika as the party emblem and introduced the raised arm salute that showed an outward sign of bonding to their leader.Renamed the party the National Socalist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP)In 1926, the Schutzstaffel (SS) were created to serve as Hitler’s bodyguards.Hitler Youth was founded.1928 – 3% of votes.Hitler appointed as Chancellor, January 1933Hindenburg decided that the only way to achieve a majority coalition was by offering Hitler the chancellorship since the Nazi party was the biggest single party within the Reichstag from the July election of 1932.Hindenburg’s offer was based on the premise that only 3 out of the 11 cabinet members would be Nazis.Hindenburg believed that the conservative Nationalist Party could control Hitler to regain parliamentary control.The Reichstag Fire, February 1933A young Dutch communist Marinus Van der Lubbe set fire to the Reichstag building.Hitler took advantage of this act and announced that it was a symbol for communist revolt. He called Article 48 into action, suspending parliament.This law formed the basis of the totalitarian state.The Enabling Act, March 1933Nazis won 44% of the Reichstag elections. Nationalists won 8%.Hitler passed the Enabling Act that allowed him to bypass the Reichstag and the President in making laws.Hitler used SA mobs to gain support.The Nazis could now close down opposing political parties, arrest political opponents etc. forming the legal basis of Nazi dictatorship.April, Hitler replaced all 18 state governors with Nazis.May, Trade unions were banned and replaced by the German Labour Front (Nazi organization).June, all parties except for the Nazi Party were banned.Also in June 1933, the Reichkonkordat is signed – an agreement between Hitler and the Catholic Church to essentially stay out of each others’ way.July, law passed making the Nazi Party the sole legal party.By 1934, the Nazi dictatorship began to build.Night of the Long Knives, July 1934Ernst Rohm and other SA leaders were arrested and killed due to Hitler’s distrust.Hitler found the SA leaders a liability as they could swallow up the military with a people’s army. Hitler needed the military links to further his expansionist aims.August 1934, Hindenburg dies.Hitler’s Consolidation of PowerNazi IdeologyRevision of the TOVUnify all German speakers in the EU into a “Greater German Reich”Lebensraum (living space) – to acquire more territory in the east to expand the German empire and fight Russian communism.Volksgemeinschaft (natural organic community) – socially reconstruct Germany into a folk community based on traditional German beliefs. Promoted equality of opportunity, but not equality itself.Racial purity – Hitler sought to create a superior Aryan race through laws against asocial, the disabled, or non-Aryans.Terror and Intimidation (Police State)Gestapo, SD, SS, purged police/legal system, 18 concentration camps.The Decree for the Protection of People and State (February 1933) allowed indefinite detention without trial. The Gestapo (1933) was dependent on denunciations by ordinary Germans, i.e. in Wurzberg 54% of all race-related charges were by private citizens.The SS – Schutzstaffel (1925) became powerful after the Night of the Long Knives. Their main duties were to run the camps and enforce racial policies.The SD – Security Service (1931) was in change or gathering intelligence and mintoring public opinion..Himmler was in control of all three sections – Gestapo, SS, and SD.Use of Propaganda (Cult of Personality)Joseph Goebbels set up the Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda in 1933.Propaganda targeted a wide range of groups offering subsidies, jobs, defense, and a revival of Germany.All radio broadcasting was under Nazi control. Verlag (a Nazi publishing house) controlled 66% of the Press by 1939.News and film had to pass through Nazi censorship.The Nazi party put effort into educating some of its key members to hold speeches to ensure the quality of party campaigns.Hitler presented an image of dynamism and youth through modern campaigning tactics such as flying to many cities during the 1931 elections and holding mass rallies that unified the people.The Nazi party was the only party to make use of newer technology such as radio and film to attract support.These tactics emphasized Hitler as a symbol of the people.German public in a state of strong support for a leader who would embody strength, defeat Germany’s enemies, and expand the German empire.Goebbels constructed an image that represented a messianic character and an era of salvation and restored power to the German nation.Crushing of Opposition The harshness and ferocity with which punishment was meted served as a deterrent to resistance groups and prevented any large groups from forming.Resistance to the Nazi movement was fragmented.Detlev Peukert’s mode of widerstand: high-level and low-level resistance.Sophie Scholl and the White Rose groupSophie Scholl was a student at university who formed a resistance group with her brother called the White Rose in the summer of 1942.She found fault within Nazi ideology and the lack of freedom of thought, speech and action.She helped to distribute illegally printed leaflets, which encouraged resistance against Nazis.18 February 1943, a caretaker discovered a leaflet and phoned the secret police.22 February, all three conspirators were sentenced to death and Sophie herself was beheaded.Claus Philipp Maria Graf von StauffenbergBorn into an aristocratic family, he joined the army in 1926.Famous for taking part in Operation Valkyrie – the attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in July 1944. Stauffenberg found the Nazi ideology to conflict with his own beliefs and morals in terms of decency and treating others with respect.The plan failed, and he was arrested and executed the following day.Following this attempt, nearly 5000 people were arrested and 200 were executed as a direct result of the assassination plot due to possible affiliation.Sippenhaft was enacted – a law that held the entire Stauffenberg family liable for treason.Economic PoliciesThere were many economic problems faced by the German public when Hitler became Chancellor. Balance of trade problemsHigh unemployment resulting from low economic activitySerious problems for farmers resulting from inefficiency and low pricesBalance of trade problemsGermany was importing more than it exported.The Wall Street Crash temporarily solved this problem by making Germany too poor for imports.Long-term Solutions:Lebensraum. Hitler intended to conquer the Ukraine and use this to make Germany self-sufficient in food and raw materials.Hoped to create a common market centred on Germany using small nations of Eastern Europe.Short-term Solutions:Schact’s New Plan, 1934. Hitler appointed a Minister for the Economy who created a plan that made it illegal to pay foreigners in their money (e.g. British firms with pounds) without government permission. This enabled Schact to decide what could be bought and from which countries.Germany also began making bilateral agreements with as many countries as possible. These involved trading in ways that did not use up as much of Germany’s foreign exchange (e.g. by barter).This plan was successful in enabling the government to control imports, meaning they could direct imports to specific industries i.e. maintaining both food and rearmament. It failed in that Germany’s foreign trade stayed low – Germany could not afford to buy all the things it needed. “Guns or butter” crisis.High UnemploymentNumber of registered unemployed reached a peak of 6 million in 1932.Hitler gained votes by criticizing past governments and saying he would do better.Essential to tackle unemployment problem to keep national popularity.“Solved” by creating more jobs.John Maynard Keynes: Virtuous circles; spend more to make more; proliferating the economy.Solution:Work creationThe government tried to make sure work was done manually rather than by machines, which means a small knock-on effect.AgricultureMinister of Agriculture banned foreclosure (prohibited banks from selling farms where farmers were in debt).Put import taxes (tariffs) on many agricultural products.Made margarine manufacturers put more butter in it (which they had to buy from the farmers).Farmers earned 17% more money within the first year and the number of jobs in agriculture began to rise.Civil ServiceIncreased rapidly in size.Spent twice as much money on it and the effect was many as thousands more jobs.Kept salaries down so that extra money attracted a lot of officials.RearmamentHitler’s first aim was to ‘make Germany ready for war again’.Was in direct violation of the TOV; had to hide from the Allies.Provided a few very highly skilled jobs.Fiddling the statisticsThe government did everything it could to get people off the unemployment register.Found loopholes – removed married women form the list etc.Offered loans to women who got married if they promised to give up their job (which would then go to someone else, preferably a man).Problems for farmersGerman farmers could not sell their food at a price that would enable them to make a good living.German farms were very small and poor, meaning they did not have the wealth necessary to modernize and produce food in efficient ways. 35% of the German population was involved in agriculture.The harvest of 1928 had been poor.The Wall Street Crash of 1929 meant that people bought less food.Farmers were borrowing money from banks that led to foreclosure.The Weimar Republic, heavily influenced by Marxist socialism, did not take much care of farmers and was unwilling to upset the working class.Nazi ProblemsIdeologyHelping the farmers was in line with the Volkgemeinshaft ideology since intermarriage happened less in rural populations, meaning German peasantry was pure Aryan. However this directly contradicted their goal of autarky because farms needed to be modernized instead of hand labour.Farm prices vs. Workers’ breakfastsNazis did not want to pay high wages to industrial workers but if food prices went up this would force them to do so. Guns vs. ButterNazis wanted to concentrate on rearmament but Germany could not afford to import materials like copper, rubber and petrol as well as food. Workers would have to go hungry or rearmament would slow down.Solutions:Successful in increasing good production and farmers’ incomes (20% and 41% respectively); Germany was almost self-sufficient in food. Less successful in that Germany still did not produce enough food to feed its people, many peasants lost their enthusiasm for the Nazis, and there were severe shortages of labour on the farms.Richard DarreRichard Darre set up the Reich Food Estate and passed the Entailed Farms Law in September 1933. The RFE controlled every part of agriculture i.e. the cost of what they used and the price of what they sold.The Entailed Farms Law meant that only the eldest son can inherit a property – the idea was to protect a hereditary peasantry. The Nazi party introduced ideas such as the word Bau as an honourable title, and talking about ‘blood and soil’ to make peasants feel more important.Hermann GoeringGoering was put in charge of the Four Year Plan organization in 1936.This involved policies to improve agricultural modernization to produce in Germany things that would otherwise be imported.Goering introduced government help in farm modernization (e.g. helping farmers buy tractors and lowering prices for fertilizers).Historiography Kershaw – Kershaw represents “history from above”. He believed that “The Hitler Myth” was key in “mesmerizing Germany into accepting the charismatic authority offered by the Fuhrer”.Loewenberg – Loewenberg argues “history from below” as he think the psychology of the WWI generation had a lager role to play.Dawidowicsz – Outlines the codependence of multiple causes that led to the horrors of WWI.Farmer – That Hitler was conclusively guilty for the Holocaust due to his anti-Semitic campaign being the crux of the Nazi party.Mommsen-Broszat – Believed that the Nazi party was an institutional anarchy that involved many power struggles. Hitler himself was not an exceptional leader, and the perverse Nazi extremists who worked loosely around his will made many decisions. ................
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