Germany 1890-1945 Democracy and Dictatorship

Kaiser appointed the chancellor, Kaiser was supreme ruler

25 states

Prussia, 2/3 of population and half the territory

Otto von bismarck 1871-1890

Chemical and Steel. Produced twice as much steel as britain, produced 1/3 of worlds electrical goods

40Mil →68Mil

Traditional in both rural and urban areas, many people had conservative views

1912, SPD controlled around 30% of seats, socialist movement was growing

Wilhelm II wanted a navy to match Britains, The Navy Laws allowed them to build more battleships

Poor living standards and shortages, 600k widows and 2 million fatherless children and bankrupcy

11th November, Kaiser abdicated on the 9th, Socialists took over Bavaria

Friedrich Ebert, leader of the largest politicle party SPD

Proportional representation, alot more democratic

Article 48, in crisis the president could rule directly using emergancy powers

June 1919, Weimar Government was now known as the November criminals and damged german pride

6.6 Billion must be paid, Germany had to reduce army to 10k, Give up all overseas land and industrial, take blame for the war

January 1923, they seized the Ruhr and German workers went on strike and economy collapsed

January 1919 - Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg, communist group and were defeated by freikorps

Print off more money, lead to hyperinflation

250 marks →200mil

The middle class, all savings were now worthless

Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor

March 1920 - Wolfgang Kapp, led 5k Freikorps to try and seize government, defeated by workers strikes

November 1923 - Adolf Hitler, attempted to seize power, defeated quickly and hitler was senternced to 5 years house arrest

Introduced Renetenmark, Ended the strike in the Ruhr, Great Coalittion in Parliament to agree on policies quicker

Dawes Plan 1924 - 40Bil in American Loans

Young plan 1929 - ¼ TOV reperations, 59+ years to pay back

Locterno Pact 1925 - France, Belgium and Germany would respect their borders

League of Nation 1926 - Showed trust

Kellog Pact - Agreement to peace

February 1920

Nazi ideology and established the parties goals, aswell as promising better healthcare and education for “true germans”

Formed Feb 1921, Hitlers personal army used to indimidate other parties

Nazi party was banned until 1925

W- Wages, improved pay

U- Unemploment, significantly decreased

H- Housing, mass housing projects were introduced and proived 2Mil houses

More women in employment, divorces were now easier, womens sport was introduced, 114 women in reichstag between 1919-1932

Art, Film and Theatre developed, Bauhaus was an artistic and architectual movement, The Berhaus institution was made

Many people though germany was straying away from traditional values

Joseph Goebbels, 1933, Made the Hitler Myth which glorified him

Instead of trying to change public views, rather extremified them, such as turning over the TOV and to revive traditional culture

They controlled 82% of the newspapers by 1944 and censored media they didnt agree with and all forms of media had to be approved

The Nuremberg Rallies were annual events to promote Nazi party, furthermore the olympics were used to try and show white superiority but failed when black athletes won gold

Special courts in 1933, which could suspend basic rights of people

The peoples court in 1934, for more important political crimes and they were normally always found guilty

Since many germans were already Christian, it would be hard to get rid of them, as Hitler feared that the church would teach against Nazi ideology

July 1933, concordant was signed between Hitler and Pope, however Hitler went against it very quickly and many Catholic groups were dismantled. 1935, priests were put on trial

Although there were 28 different groups with Protestantism, one group emerged as the German Christians and alligned with Nazi values. By 1936 all churches formed to form The Reich Chuch, with Mein Kampf replacing the bible

Protestant Dietrich Bonhoffer, helped smuggle Jews out of concentration camps and planned to assassinate Hitler before his death

Catholic Bishop Clemons von Galen oraganised protest against Nazi Racial policies but Nazi’s could not kill him as it would displease German Nazis

Nazi' ideology meant that women should focus on family and in 1936, women were not allowed to be lawyers and many other professions, however by 1939 they returned. Kinder Kuche Kirche

They were taught classes such as cookery and were indoctrinated to pick an aryan husband

Unemployment fell due to en between 18-25 being eligible for work schemes in The National Labour Service. Schemes such As Strength through Joy and Beauty of Labour provided benefits. Volkswagen was created as the Workers Car

Hitler youth, prepared boys for the Army and gave them a sense of a responsibility became involved with War Efforts

Maiden League, taught girls basic skills and gave them an escape from life at home

The nuremberg laws were introduced in the 1930s to try and create a purer Germany, it meant many races and ethnicities were sterilised or murdered

Kristallnacht November 1938, in 1938 some jews were given one way passports, children were kicked out from school. The Nuremberg Laws meant Jews could not be classified as citizens

Hermann Goering, Introduced 4 year plan in 1936 to help prepare for war, additionally focused on making germany self sufficient

The left wing such as KPD and SPD served as opposition yet they were infiltrated by Gestapo many time

Rosenstrausse protest women whos non aryan husbands got taken away and they protested against it until they relase

Edelweiss pirates, general nuisance and caused ruckus

The Swing Youth, listened to banned music and smoked, rebelled against norms

The white rose, group of uni students and wrote anti nazi propaganda

By 1942, rationing was very low and many people were suffering, men of all ages were expected to join the war and by 1943, Germany were prepared for defeat.

THe bombing led to many deaths and caused half a millon civillians to be killed

The plan to exterminate around 11 million jews aswell as other minorities. Jews were forced to live in ghettos before being transported to concentration camps.

over 6 million jews were killed and many found it unbelievable that such inhumane acts were committed