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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: and Nazi

Year 10 GCSE History Paper 3 – Weimar and Information booklet

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

KEY TOPIC 1.1 INFO: The Origins of the , 1918-19

Germany had been dominant for large parts of WW1. Although many German soldiers had died during WW1 (3 million) most of the fighting had been in . America had joined the war in 1917 and with their help, Germany was slowly losing land and retreating by . This was not reported to the German people so they were shocked when they finally surrendered. The situation was made even worse by the British navy surrounding Germany to prevent food getting in (a blockade) which led to serious food shortages and hardship for ordinary German people.

The Kaiser had always controlled the government, army and navy but it October 1918 politicians took control of the government for the first time as the military situation got worse. Led by Prince Max of Baden they wanted to end the war however the leader of America, President Wilson, refused to discuss surrender until Kaiser Wilhelm (the man Wilson blamed for starting the war) was removed.

To make matters worse, the Germany navy was asked to make one final attack on the British navy. With an end to the war being discussed and with no chance of victory the German sailors in a city called Kiel mutinied. This meant they stopped following their leader’s orders. Other mutinies broke out all across Germany as soldiers and the German people refused to fight until a surrender was agreed. This was known as the German Revolution, violence revolt spread across Germany.

Finally on November 9th 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm realised he had no support to remain as King of Germany. With the pressure from Wilson to resign in order to have peace talks also, he gave up his role and left Germany. A temporary revolutionary government took Kaiser Wilhelm’s place, and signed the armistice (an agreement to stop fighting) on 11th November. Germany assumed, like everyone else, that they would be part of the peace talks. The German people had not heard any news of the German army’s defeats and were shocked when they quickly surrendered.

By 1919, it was clear that a more permanent government was needed. On 19th January, in Weimar, a new ‘Weimar Republic’ came together for the first time. They had been voted for by the people of Germany, and were mostly made up of democratic parties (who had gained 80% of the vote). This is how Germany’s Weimar Republic was born. See the diagram below for an overview of its structure:

The Weimar Republic was a very democratic system, giving it several strengths. However, some aspects of this would make the Weimar Republic difficult to rule. See below for the strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar Republic:

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

Strengths Weaknesses All Germans had equal rights, including the … but, in 1919 many people did not want the democratic right to vote… Republic to be in charge of Germany. It was not sensible to allow everyone to vote when some wanted to destroy the Republic. Proportional representation made voting fair, This meant there was never one strong party but lots of it meant that every party got a proportion of different smaller parties. This meant Parliament would seats in parliament based on how many votes always be based on coalitions and agreements and lead to they received. having no one strong majority. Germany was used to have a strong leader in This gave the President huge amounts of power. If the charge like the new role of the President. A President did not support democracy he could make strong president was needed to take control himself a dictator. of Germany given all the different problems it faced. Germany was made up of states with their The states could turn against the central government. own traditions and ideas, it was right each state had a say in how its area was ruled Article 48 meant the President could quickly This meant that the President could ignore democracy and make laws to solve problems without having just make any law he wished. to ask anyone else to agree to it.

KEY TOPIC 1.1 TASKS: The Origins of the Weimar Republic, 1918-19 1. Make a mind-map with ‘strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar Republic’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 1.1 and test yourself KEY TOPIC 1.2 INFO: The early challenges to the Weimar Republic, 1919-23 The First World War had left Germany with many problems. As they took over just after the war, this would mean that the Weimar Republic could easily be blamed for the issues facing Germany. Here is a summary of the problems they faced, and the uprisings that resulted:

Stab in the back myth

Many people were outraged by the serious punishments of the . They blamed their politicians for accepting the Treaty of Versailles (even if they had no choice). People began to call them November Criminals as they also blamed them for surrendering in the first place. These are some of the harsh punishments described in the ToV:

T - Territory R - Reparations A - Army W – War Guilt L – League of Nations • All colonies given to Britain• and Had to pay £6.6 billion to • Army limited to • Article 231• Germany was France. France, Britain and 100,000 • Germany had to banned from • Gave 10% of its land to other America (note – this was • No tanks accept full joining the countries (Poland, France, etc) initially set as an • No planes responsibility for startingLeague of • Germany not allowed any soldiers in unlimitedits figure in the • No subs WW1 Nations land closest to France (Rhineland – ToV – 6.6 bill was • 6 warships (the first UN) demilitarised) worked out later) • Banned from joining with

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

The government and the army

The first Chancellor of the Weimar Republic was from a left wing party called the SPD. The army did not like left wing parties as they wanted to take power away from powerful business leaders and army generals and give it to soldiers and workers. The leaders of the army also thought democracy was weak and wanted the Kaiser to return so Germany had a strong leader. The Weimar Republic needed the support of the army to help put down all the rebellions so the leader of the Republic, a socialist called Ebert agreed not to change anything about the army and continue to give them large amounts of government spending in return for the army promising to protect the Weimar Republic. This meant the Weimar Republic now had the limited support of the army but now had no way to control it or change it.

Spartacist Uprising

This was an uprising led by two communists – and Rosa . They wanted to make Germany into a communist country, just like a group called the Bolsheviks had done to Russia in 1917. They formed the Germany Communist Party (KPD) in 1918 and tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic on 6th by taking over important government buildings.

The leader of the Weimar Republic Ebert had to use the Germany army () and a group of right wing ex-soldiers who had refused to hand over their guns and uniforms at the end of WW1. They were called the and were not part of the army or government, they joined together as they missed the friendships of the trenches and hated communists. The rebellion was quickly defeated and Rosa Luxembourg was executed by these soldiers without a trial. When there was another communist uprising in 1,000 communists were killed by the freikorps.

Kapp Putsch

Having a large armed group like the freikorps attacking communists and not taking orders from the government was a serious problem for the government. In 1920 the government announced they were going to disband (get rid) of the freikorps. The freikorps refused and joined up with a right wing politician called . They were joined by over 400 officers from the Reichswehr and their soldiers who sympathised with the freikorps and were angry at the government for reducing the size of the army. They seized control of a number of government buildings in forcing the government to move to another city. The army refused to stop the rebellion as they said they refused to fire against their own soldiers.

It looked like the Weimar Republic had no one to stop the rebellion spreading. Finally the socialist leaders called on the German people to go on strike to stop the rebellion. Millions of workers refused to turn up to their jobs for days bringing Berlin and Germany to a standstill. Eventually Kapp and the freikorps had to end their attempted rebellion. However the army had shown it was only willing to support the Weimar government against left wing attacks and not against those from the right.

French invasion of the

Germany had to pay back £6.6 billon in reparations through giving the winning countries money, goods and natural resources. With all the political problems Germany was facing its economy was also struggling. To help pay back these reparations the government began to print more and more money to give to France, and Britain. However the more money it printed the less this money was worth.

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

In 1923 when Germany failed to make a reparation payment to the French and Belgian governments they decided to invade Germany and take these goods for themselves! They invaded an area called the Ruhrland, the main industrial area of Germany where the majority of its factories were.

German workers refused to work for the French soldiers and even destroyed their own factories to stop the French being able to use it. Some of the striking workers were shot by the French soldiers leading to outrage spreading across all of Germany. To show their support for the striker the government promised to pay their wages and printed even more money to do this. Finally the French soldiers were forced to retreat as no goods were being produced for them to take as their reparations. Germany had won but all this printing of money had caused a major problem.

Hyperinflation

Our money system works by being able to exchange your paper money for something of real value, for example you can exchange a £5 note for £5 of gold from our central bank. As the government printed more money it became worth less so you would have to exchange more of it to get something for the same value. This inflation/growth in how much money you had to spend to get an item was called hyperinflation as it happened so quickly. Workers moved to having collect their wages weekly as it was increasing by the day. Many had to collect it using wheelbarrows in order to carry that amount of cash back home with them.

Year How many marks were equal to £1 Jan 1919 £1 = 35 marks Jan 1921 £1 = 256 marks Jan 1922 £1 = 764 marks £1 = 1, 413, 648 marks £1 = 4 million marks £1 =1 billion marks £1 = 1.6 billion marks

- Old people who had saved all their money in their bank accounts saw all their savings become worthless. - The cost of food became so incredibly hard there were food shortages across all of Germany - Farmers benefited from increased food prices and people who had borrowed money could pay it back easily, such as business men KEY TOPIC 1.2 TASKS: The early challenges to the Weimar Republic, 1919-23 1. Make a mind-map with ‘challenges to the Weimar Republic’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 1.2 and test yourself KEY TOPIC 1.3 INFO: The recovery of the Republic, 1924-29 Despite all of these challenges, the Weimar Republic did have some great successes. This was mainly due to , and then foreign minister. Firstly, in terms of their relationships with other countries, they had the following successes:

Locarno Pact - 1924

Stresemann wanted to change some of the most serious punishments of the Treaty of Versailles. As Britain and 5

GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

France had given Germany this punishment, he would need to win their trust in order to change things. France worried that Germany might attack again over who controlled what land. Stresemann made a deal to respect the location of the borders of Belgium and France and signed this deal with France, Belgium, Britain and Italy. This made France feel safer and more likely to consider changing the punishments of the Treaty of Versailles.

League of Nations - 1926

This was like the United Nations. Germany was banned from joining because of the Treaty of Versailles. However because of the Locarno Pact they joined in 1926 and were given a permanent seat in the Council along with the other powerful European countries like Britain and France. This showed Germany was still a powerful country and Stresemann used the League to organise the Young Plan. Many right wing politicians hated Stresemann as they saw the League as part of the Treaty of the Versailles and thought he was a traitor for joining.

Kellogg-Briand Pact – 1928

Germany signed a deal with America and 63 other counties to agree to resolve problems by talking about them rather than starting a war. This showed Germany was no longer an outsider after losing WW1 and helped them gain more loans with America.

The Weimar Republic also managed to successfully solve some domestic (at home in Germany) problems:

Dawes Plan - 1924

Stresemann made a deal with American Vice-President to reduce the amount of money Germany had to pay in reparations. Dawes also agreed to have remove French soldiers from the Ruhrland by 1925 and promised American loans to help the Germany economy grow. US banks gave Germany £800 million in 1925. Over the next six years America gave Germany $3 billion in loans.

Rentenmark - 1923

Germany suffered from hyperinflation which meant its money had lost its value. Stresemann allowed people to exchange their worthless normal marks for a new, temporary currency called the Rentenmark. This brought back money to being of normal value and meant Germans began to trust in the economy. After a year people could swap their rentenmarks back for ordinary marks. Stresemann had solved the hyperinflation problem.

Young Plan - 1929

Stresemann received help from the League of Nations to pay Germany’s reparations. An American called Young came up with a new reparations figure. Rather than pay £6.6 billion Germany would now pay £1.85 billion. For many this was a significant achievement but many right wing politicians like Hitler blamed Stresemann for paying any reparations at all. Stretch to think about: How did initial successes, like the Locarno Pact, help lead to later successes, like Germany’s membership of the League of Nations?

KEY TOPIC 1.3 TASKS: The recovery of the Republic, 1924-29 1. Make a mind-map with ‘how did the Weimar Republic recover?’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 1.3 and test yourself

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

KEY TOPIC 1.4 INFO: Changes in society, 1924-29

The Weimar Republic also helped to bring about many positive changes for workers, women, and in other cultural aspects of German life.

Changes for workers:

Workers’ lives had improved somewhat during the Weimar Republic. In 1926, 2 million people were unemployed, and this had been reduced to 1.3 million by 1928. Their wages rose by 25% from 1925 to 1928, which meant they had more money to buy better goods and have a better standard of living. They also received more support and protection from the government. A new unemployment insurance was introduced by the Weimar Republic (in the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1927). This meant every worker had to pay an extra small tax but would receive benefits from the government if they were sick or lost their jobs. Furthermore, the working week was reduced from an average of 50 hours to 46 hours, meaning that even though wages rose, people were having to work less. There was also a serious problem of housing at the start of the Weimar Republic: in 1923, the German people were short of 1 million homes. The government invested huge amount of money into improving living conditions and over 100,000 new houses were built to improve the lives of workers. Life for war veterans was also improved, through the 1920 Reich Pension Law, which paid out money to support war veterans who were too old to work (as well as the widows and parents of people who had died in the war). Finally, more people were able to access higher education – the number of people in higher education rose by 70,000 between the end of the war and 1928. This doesn’t mean that the Weimar Republic solved all problems – many were still unemployed, and the hyperinflation of 1923 caused much hardship.

Changes for women:

In 1919, women were given the right to vote. Many of them took up this opportunity –% of women voted in each election throughout the Weimar period. They held 10% of seats in the Reichstag by 1932. The Weimar Republic’s constitution also stated, in article 109, that women had equal rights with men and should be able to do all jobs to the same level as men.

After WW1, women had begun to take new kinds of jobs that had previously been dominated by men. For instance, they began to fill more jobs interacting with the public, such as conductor and shop worker, as well as (in smaller numbers) factory worker, lawyer, and doctor (the number of female doctors doubled while the Weimar Republic was in power). 75% of women were in work by 1918. This did decline after the war – by 1925, only 36% of women were still working. Furthermore, the constitution article that said women should be treated the same as men was not upheld in practise. Women were paid 33% less than men on average, and very rarely did high-status jobs: there were only 36 female judges in Germany by 1933.

The idea of ‘new women’ also developed through the Weimar Republic. Fashions changed: hair was cut shorter and skirts were shorter too, in line with the ‘flapper’ trend. These ‘new women’ wore more makeup, went out alone, smoked and drank. They were less committed to marriage and having babies: the birth rate fell from 128 healthy births in 1913 to 80 in 1925, and the divorce rate doubled.

However, these changes for women did provoke opposition, particularly from older generations and members of the clergy.

Changes in the Arts:

There were many developments in art, , and film during the time of the Weimar Republic:

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

The Weimar government allowed people many more freedoms, through its new constitution’s protection of freedom of speech. This allowed artists such as to paint expressionist pieces that were critical of life in Germany.

There were also new styles of architecture, influenced by the movement. For example, Erich Mendelsohn built the Einstein Tower in in a very futuristic style.

Cinema became popular in many countries during the , and it was another way for German artists to utilise their new freedom of speech. Germany’s first sound film was produced in 1930, and Germany had 3,800 cinemas showing films with sound by 1932.

Again, not everyone welcomed these changes. The KPD (communist party) said that the Weimar government was wasting money on unneccessary things by supporting galleries, museums and libraries. Right-wing nationalists, including the Nazis, said that cultural changes were moving away from traditional German values. KEY TOPIC 1.4 TASKS: Changes in society, 1924-29 1. Make a mind-map with ‘changes in society in the Weimar Republic’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 1.4 and test yourself

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

KEY TOPIC 2.1 INFO: Early development of the , 1920-22

HITLER’S EARLY LIFE AND PARTY MEMBERSHIP: Hitler was born in Austria in 1889. His father died when in 1903 and his mother, who he was very close to, died in 1907. Adolf had always wanted to be an artist and often argued with his father about his future career. In the same year his mother died his application to attend Art College was rejected, and rejected again next year. Devastated by these blows Hitler slept rough in for five years, here he was exposed to many extreme views including lots of horrific views on Jewish people. Many people think he blamed who worked at the art college for turning him down. He moved to in Germany and joined the German army in 1914 at the outbreak of war. He saw the war as the thing his life was missing, a purpose. During WW1 Hitler served bravely. He would pass messages between trenches even when there were huge explosion going around and was awarded medals for his bravery by his Jewish captain. Hitler never achieved a high rank in the army and when Germany surrendered in Nov 1918 Hitler was in hospital, having being temporarily blinded by a gas attack. This made Hitler incredibly angry as he felt he had been betrayed. Hitler was outraged by the huge punishments handed to Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. He was upset that Germany was banned from joining together with Austria. As an Austrian, Hitler believed that all German speaking people should join together. As a member of the army, he was upset that it was to be limited to 100,000 men with no tanks, planes, submarines and only 6 warships. He blamed the politicians for accepting War Guilt as he believed that Germany was provoked into fighting WW1 and shouldn’t have to pay any reparations. He continued to work for the army after the war and served as a spy, visiting meetings of extremist groups to report back on any plans they had to launch an uprising or coup against the government. The DAP (the original name of the Nazis) During one of his missions to report on extreme parties, Hitler visited an extreme group called the German Worker’s Party (DAP in German). During this meeting, Hitler got up to challenge one of the speakers and spoke impressively about the harsh treatment Germany faced because of the Treaty of Versailles. The leader of the DAP, a man called Drexler, asked Hitler to join and encouraged by the army to spy more on the party, he did. This party would later change its name to the Nazis. What did the DAP believe in? Hitler joined the DAP because they shared his views about destroying the Treaty of Versailles, blaming politicians for stabbing Germany in the back for surrendering during WW1 and blaming Jews and Communists for trying to ruin Germany. The DAP also had their own private army called the SA (storm troopers). These were groups of ex-soldiers who shared the same extreme views as Hitler. They would attack and beat up other communists and Jews who they met. They used violence to attack the people they blamed for the problems of Germany. EARLY NAZI PARTY POLICIES/ACTIONS:

The Twenty-Five Point Programme

Soon after joining the DAP in , became very popular with the party’s leader, . Both agreed on several of the issues facing Germany, as well as what should be done about them. Together, in , they wrote the Twenty-Five Point Programme. This outlined the policies of the DAP, many of which 9

GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany involved actions that protested against the policies of the Weimar government. For example, it included points of opposition to the Weimar politicians who had accepted the Versailles Treaty (it stated that ‘we demand land and colonies’ in point 3, going against Versailles’ confiscation of Germany’s colonies). It also opposed democracy, demanding a ‘strong central state power’ in point 25, and the Jews (point 4). This appealed to many who shared Hitler’s outrage at the Treaty of Versailles.

Hitler’s speeches

Hitler also quickly became popular for his oratory skills (skills in making speeches). At 46 party gatherings between and , Hitler made 31 key speeches. He carefully rehearsed his speeches, and began them quietly and calmly, before building up to a passionate and stirring rant. This was very persuasive to audiences. Hitler also had photos and paintings made, which presented him to be a popular speaker (showing many people listening attentively). The attraction of these speeches was partly responsible for the growth in DAP support after Hitler joined (from 23 members in September 1919, to 1000 in , and 3000 by the end of 1920).

Party propaganda

Propaganda is when things are said or produced in order to convince people to agree with a certain viewpoint. The DAP used propaganda more and more successfully after Hitler joined. In 1920, Rudolf Schussler was appointed as an administrator (organiser) for the party. This meant that he could organise and advertise party meetings, to make more people attend. The party was also renamed the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers Party or ‘Nazi’) in order to emphasise that the party was a nationalist (aimed at strengthening a country) and socialist (left-wing, everyone sharing a country's wealth) one. It was also given the logo of the , and the straight-armed salute, to make it more distinctive. Finally, in , it bought up a newspaper (the ‘People’s Observer’) to share its opinions. The first copy of the Nazis’ newspaper sold 11,000 copies, but by Dec 1921 it was selling 17,000 copies.

The

The Sturmabteilung (SA), or Stormtroopers, were the army branch of the party. They were organised just like a government’s army, but only acted to support the Nazi Party. They were often ex-soldiers or students. They wore a distinctive brown uniform, hence their nickname, the brownshirts. They paraded the streets to show the strength of the Nazi Party. Anyone who opposed it would be stopped violently. They also often marched into other parties’ meetings and stopped the meeting. By , there were 800 members.

Party leadership

In , Hitler forced a leadership election, in which he defeated the party’s founder (Anton Drexler) and took power. He then chose his key supporters to have important positions in the party, including , Hermann Goering and Ernst Rohm. Being surrounded by his supporters meant that Hitler could control many of the actions of the Nazi Party. By , he convinced the Nazi Party members to give up their right to vote for the party leader. Hitler would remain in permanent control. He would also not take anyone else’s opinion about what policies they should support. At the conference where he took complete control, Hitler spoke for 2 and a half hours – leaving no time for anyone else’s opinion. However, support for the party continued to grow, as Hitler was so popular. By November 1923, the party had 50,000 members. KEY TOPIC 2.1 TASKS: Early development of the Nazi Party, 1920-22 1. Make a mind-map with ‘how did the Nazi party develop, 1920-22?’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 2.1 and test yourself

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

KEY TOPIC 2.2 INFO: The Munich Putsch and the lean years, 1923-29

The first attempt that the Nazis made to take power was in 1923, with the Munich Putsch. Read the info below to recap the causes, events and consequences:

Causes of the Munich Putsch:

The events of the Munich Putsch

On 8 November, 1923, there was a meeting of the Bavarian state government in a beer hall in Munich. was an area of strong support for the Nazis as they had been allowed to carry out activities (like the violence of the SA) there. The meeting was led by Gustav von Kahr (the Bavarian state government leader), and von Seisser and von Lossow also spoke. Hitler burst in, alongside 600 SA members, and shot a bullet into the ceiling. He declared that he was taking over Bavaria, and would then move to Berlin and take over the whole of Germany.

Von Kahr, von Seisser and von Lossow pledged to support Hitler. They were arrested and held by General Ludendorff, on Hitler’s behalf. However, when Hitler was elsewhere, Ludendorff released them, and the next morning, they said that the pledge was not valid as they had been held at gunpoint when they made it.

Ernst Rohm (leader of the SA) took over the local police and army headquarters, but they did not manage to take over the army barracks (where the soldiers actually lived). This stayed in the control of army officers who supported the Bavarian government.

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

Nonetheless, Hitler marched towards the centre of Munich, with 1,000 members of the SA and 2,000 other supporters (paid by money robbed by the SA from 2 Jewish banks). He was also accompanied by Ludendorff, Goering, Rohm and Streicher. Hitler’s force was met by the army of Bavaria. One side (it is not known which) opened fire, and 14 Nazis were shot dead (along with 4 Bavarian policemen). Goering was shot in the thigh, and Hitler was saved by bodyguards, who dragged him to the ground. Many of the rebels fled, including Hitler (who hid at a friend’s house ten miles away) and Goering (who hid abroad). Ludendorff, Rohm and Streicher were arrested. On 11 November, Hitler was found and put on trial for treason (acting against the government). The NSDAP was banned.

Immediate consequences of the Munich Putsch

Hitler used his trial as an opportunity to share his opinions with the German people. Although he was sentenced for five years, this was a chance for Hitler to gain publicity for the party. While Hitler was in jail, he read many books, and used this reading as inspiration to write ‘’ (My Fight) – a book of his ideas for how Germany should be ruled. These ideas would become the basis of the Nazi Party from 1924 onwards. They included:

• A belief that the German race was superior to (better than) other races, and should rule the world. Hitler called this the ‘Aryan’ race. He claimed that Jews were trying to weaken the Aryan race through intermarriage, moderate political groups, and power over German business. • Nationalism – the idea that the German government should rebuild Germany’s strength. Part of this was the idea of ‘’ (living space), which meant that Germany should conquer other lands in order to make room for the Aryan people. • Socialism, totalitarianism (anti-democracy), and traditional values (e.g. Christian beliefs and clear gender roles).

Hitler was released from prison on 20th Dec 1924. He immediately started reorganising the Nazi Party to make it more effective and more likely to be elected to government.

Think: how does this show that Hitler had realised that he would need to work within Weimar democracy in order to take power?

Aftermath of the Munich Putsch

Party reorganisation

On 16 Feb 1925, the ban on the Nazi Party was removed. Hitler re-launched the Party on 27 February. He organised the Party from its headquarters in Munich, giving many people important roles that would make the Party more elect- able. became party secretary (who would organise meetings etc.) and Franz Schwarz became treasurer (organiser of finances). There were also departments of the Party for foreign affairs, industry, agriculture, and education. This meant that the Party was organised similarly to a government. There was also a German Women’s Order, a National Socialist German Students’ League (for 14-18 year olds) and a School Pupils’ League, so that many groups of people could feel involved in the Party and its popularity would grow.

Hitler also made leaders for different sections of the country. These were called , as Germany was divided into political constituencies called ‘Gaues’. They would help to make sure that the Party was run as Hitler wanted across the country. was a in the north, and in the Rhineland. All of these new offices were paid for by donations and loans from businesses like and Bosch.

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

The (SS)

After he was nearly shot during the Munich Putsch, Hitler realised the importance of his bodyguards. He wanted a close-knit and reliable group of armed men who could protect him. He did not trust the SA: there were now 400,000 of them, and they had become loyal to their leader (Ernst Rohm), perhaps more than Hitler. He therefore created the Schutzstaffel (or SS), a small group run firstly by Hitler’s personal bodyguard and then by . By 1930, this group had grown to 3,000 members, and wore threatening black uniforms. Hitler also got rid of Ernst Rohm as SA leader, fearing that he had too much power.

The Conference (1926)

Different areas of Germany preferred different aspects of Nazi policy. The north, led by Strasser and Goebbels, emphasised the socialist aspects (workers’ benefits), as was an industrial area that had many workers. The south, which included Hitler, was more rural. Southern Nazis preferred the nationalist part of the party (strong state, action against Jews). This divide worried Hitler, so he called a meeting to make his views clear. This was held in 1926 in Bamburg, Bavaria, so it was called the Bamburg Conference (conference means meeting).

At the Bamburg Conference, Hitler spoke for 5 hours. He did allow northern leaders (like Strasser) to speak, but then shot down their points. He made it clear that the nationalist part of the Nazi Party was in favour. This won Goebbels over, and he was promoted to Gauleiter of Berlin as a reward. Hitler’s control of the party’s policies was now clearer than ever.

Nonetheless, the Nazis did not win much support until after 1929. Stresemann’s Dawes and Young plans had helped, and people were more satisfied with Germany’s respect as part of the League of Nations. Also, Paul von Hindenburg became Chancellor of Germany in 1925, and as a war hero, he was well-liked. This increased support for Weimar. In 1928, the Nazis only got 1% of the votes in Berlin and the Ruhr. It seemed that when the economy was improving, there was less interest in the Nazis. KEY TOPIC 2.2 TASKS: The Munich Putsch and the lean years, 1923-29 1. Make a mind-map with ‘the Munich Putsch: causes, events, consequences’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 2.2 and test yourself KEY TOPIC 2.3 INFO: The growth in support for the Nazis, 1929-32 MAIN KAMPF: As a result of the limited support gained for the Nazis, Hitler decided to reform (change and improve) the party. One way that he did this was by setting their ideas out in a book called ‘Mein Kampf’. He wrote this while he was in prison after the Munich Putsch. Here are the beliefs outlined in Mein Kampf:

Beliefs about race: Hitler believed in racial ladder, that some people were more superior to others. He believed that German farmers were the ideal people, traditional German families working on the land to feed their family. He believed in the idea of an Aryan race, that white people from Northern were the best race. Hitler described this image as people who were tall, blonde and had blue eyes but you could be an Aryan as long as your parents had come from Germany and were white. Hitler was an Aryan, even though he was short and had black hair. To join the SS you had to prove your ‘racial purity’ and that all your family had come from Germany. Hitler also passed the Nuremburg Laws in 1935 which made it illegal for Jewish people to marry people who weren’t Jewish as Hitler did not want different groups to mix. Beliefs about society:

Hitler believed in traditional views. He believed that women’s life should be focused around three things (the three K’s), Church, Kitchen and Children. Hitler believed that it was women’s role to find a German husband and marry 13

GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany him so she could have children. Hitler wanted to have more German children so they could build up Germany’s army and help to take over more land. Hitler passed the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage which gave couples a loan if they got married and then rewarded them with 250 marks for every baby they had. Hitler also hated new forms of art, music and film. He believed that art and music should be traditional and did not like new forms such as jazz which had been inspired by Black Americans. Hitler banned new forms of art. Beliefs about enemies of the State:

Hitler hated communism. He blamed them for all the problems of Germany and thought their ideas would destroy the strength of Germany. Hitler also believed that Jewish people were behind the threat of communism and treated them as united, even though they weren’t. He continually spread this message that communists were trying to take over Germany. Hitler created concentration camps in places like Dachau to imprison communists and used the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State to arrest 4,000 communists and close down their newspaper.

Beliefs about how to change Germany:

Hitler hated the Treaty of Versailles. He believed that Germany had been betrayed by the November Criminals and wanted to rip up all the punishments of the Treaty. Hitler stopped paying reparations when he became Chancellor and started to rebuild the German army.

Hitler also believed that democracy was weak, he thought that Germany required a strong leader who would be able to save it from the problems of the . When Hitler became Chancellor he passed the Enabling Act which made him a dictator and joined the roles of Chancellor and President together to become Fuhrer. He spoke about this idea at the Bamberg Conference and made himself the Fuhrer of Germany in August 1934.

ECONOMIC REASONS FOR GROWING SUPPORT FOR THE NAZIS:

While Hitler had been working on Mein Kampf, Germany’s economic situation had again got worse. As we saw before, when the economy was strong, people tended to have little interest in the Nazis. However, when the economy was weaker, people were more likely to turn to Hitler for help. Read below to see how economic factors contributed to the Nazis’ success:

Stresemann dies

Stresemann had saved Weimar from the problems of hyperinflation through the Rentenmark and helped to ease the problems of the economy. He had signed the Dawes Plan with America in 1924 to reduce reparations payments and get American loans to help the German economy grow. Stresemann suddenly died in October 1929. This meant Weimar had lost a popular politician who Germans trusted to solve difficult economic problems.

Wall Street Crash

America suffered a huge economic problem in October 1929. Its economy collapsed leading to American businesses and banks asking for their loans back from Germany. This caused huge problems in Germany which led to the Great Depression – German businesses closing, increasing unemployment and reduced wages. This made workers angry and they demanded a solution to these problems, many begun to turn to extremist parties like the KPD and Nazis who promised to fix these economic problems and solve the problem of

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany unemployment with extreme solutions. By 1933 6 million Germans were unemployed.

Rise of the KPD

The KPD was the communist party of Germany. They wanted to take control of all businesses and pout workers in charge. They promised to help the unemployed and poorest of Germany and more people began to vote for them. In 1928 10% of Germans voted for the KPD but rising unemployment meant that 15% of people voted for the KPD in 1932.

However the growing support for the KPD actually helped to win support for the Nazis. The Nazis promised to destroy communism and protect big businesses. Those people who would lose out if the communists took over wealthy, business owners) began to vote for the Nazis as they believed the Nazis were the only people who could stop the communists (KPD).

Government response.

The leader of the government at the time was called Bruning. He faced a difficult task. As the economy was shrinking the government had less money but was having to pay more money in benefits as so many people were unemployed. Bruning decided to increase taxes to give the government more money. This angered the right wing and more people began to vote for the Nazis who promised to cut taxes. The government also cut unemployment benefits. This angered wing and the KPD promised to give more money and benefits to the unemployed.

With anger on so many sides no party would work with Bruning. He had to use Article 48 to pass laws without relying on democracy. This made it more normal for governments to rule this way, without having to ask parliament (the Reichstag) to vote and just getting the Chancellor and President to pass any law they wanted.

SUMMARY: Why did the Nazis come to power?

Overall, the Nazis took power for multiple reasons. One was the popularity of some of their beliefs, another was their use of propaganda (which we will look at later), a third was the pressure applied by the SA (which scared people into doing as the Nazis wanted) and a fourth was the worsening economic environment. KEY TOPIC 2.3 TASKS: The growth in support for the Nazis, 1929-32 1. Make a mind-map with ‘ideas in Mein Kampf’ in the middle 2. Make a mind-map with ‘why did support for the Nazis grow?’ in the middle 3. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 2.3 and test yourself KEY TOPIC 2.4 INFO: How Hitler became Chancellor, 1932-33 Once the Nazi Party had become more popular (with more and more people attending Hitler’s rallies and speeches), Hitler took his chance to seize power. This is how Hitler worked his way up to becoming Chancellor:

1. First Presidential election (May 1932)

In 1932 Germany was facing huge problems of unemployment, people blamed the government for falling wages and increasing taxes and many people feared Germany would become communist.

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

Even though he was 84, the President of Weimar was asked to stand for election again. He had been a popular leader during WW1 and he brought respect and support to the Weimar Republic by leading it. Hitler stood against Hindenburg, Person Hindenburg Hitler Thalmann hoping to become President. His party had 107 seats in the Votes 18 million 11 million 5 million Reichstag and were popular among many. The leader of the (49.6%) (30%) (14%) KPD, Thalmann, also stood. During the campaign Hitler received huge publicity and he appeared more respectable by going for such an important role. The election finished as below.

Hitler had not become President but 1/3 Germans had voted for him. As no-one received 50% of the vote, they needed to have another election 2. Second Presidential election (April 1932)

Hitler used the new technology of aeroplanes to fly all over Germany and give speeches about the danger of communism and he would save Germany from the unemployment problems. The SA increased violence against the KPD to prove this point and many people worried Germany would fall into a civil war between the Nazis and Communists. Although Hitler lost the next election again, his popularity and image increased and he gained 2 million more votes. Hindenburg received 53% and was re-elected as President again

3. Von Papen becomes Chancellor

The Chancellor at time, Bruning, was from the centre and was unpopular as he had increased taxes and reduced wages to cope with the economic problems. He worried about the Nazi violence and the problem of unemployment so suggested banning the SA and SS and to buy land from large landowners and use it to house the unemployed. This turned the President against Bruning as he owned lots of land and didn’t want unemployed people living on it. He was kicked out and replaced by right wing politician –von Papen. Hindenburg was convinced by his army advisor Schleicher to choose von Papen as Chancellor. They used Article 48 to rule and were known as the ‘Cabinet of the Barons’.

4. Reichstag elections July 1932

Leading up to the elections there was even more violence on the streets of Germany between the SA and KPD. About 100 people were killed and 7,000 injured. The Nazis increased their seats from 107 to 230, 38% of the vote. The Nazis were now the biggest party in the Reichstag. Hitler demanded to be made Chancellor. Hindenburg had been a general in the army, Hitler only a corporal. Hindenburg believed Hitler was a rude and not worthy to be Chancellor so refused his demand to be made Chancellor

5. Von Papen sacked and Schleicher becomes Chancellor

Germany was still facing huge violence between the Nazis and KPD. Hindenburg’s army advisor, Schleicher convinced him to sack von Papen and make him Chancellor instead. He promised to rule Germany using the military and Article 48 and put an end to the violence. However no-one supported Schleicher, not the Nazis nor the public.

6. Hitler becomes Chancellor

Von Papen convinced Hindenburg that Schleicher was no good and to pick Hitler as Chancellor. Von Papen promised that he could control Hitler and use his popularity to help von Papen and Hindenburg rule Germany. They would surround Hitler with less extreme right wing politicians and manipulate him to help them rule. KEY TOPIC 2.4 TASKS: How Hitler became Chancellor, 1932-33 1. Make a mind-map with ‘how did Hitler become Chancellor?’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 2.4 and test yourself 16

GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

KEY TOPIC 3.1 INFO: The creation of a dictatorship, 1933-34 Once Hitler had become Chancellor, he set about making changes to the German political system, to increase his own power.

HOW DID HITLER GO FROM GERMANY’S CHANCELLOR TO DICTATOR?

Although Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany on 30 Jan 1933, but most people thought his power would be limited. Since Hindenburg and von Papen wanted to limit Hitler’s power, there were only 2 Nazis in the cabinet ( and Hermann Goering). Hindenburg was also still President, and the Nazis only made up about 1/3 of the Reichstag. However, the chain of events that followed would give Hitler the opportunity he wanted to seize power.

The

On the evening of 27 Feb 1933, the Reichstag building was set on fire. A communist supporter named Marinus van der Lubbe confessed to the crime, and after a trial, was executed. Hitler and Goering (now chief of police) declared that van der Lubbe was part of a communist plot to overthrow the government. 4,000 communists were arrested, and Hitler convinced President Hindenburg to declare a state of emergency, meaning that it would be acceptable to govern through Presidential decrees. Hitler hoped to issue decrees to increase his power, through President Hindenburg. He issued the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State, allowing the imprisonment of political opponents and the ban of communist newspapers.

He also persuaded Hindenburg to call an election for the Reichstag for 5th March 1933. The Nazi campaign was ambitious: wealthy businessmen like Gustav Krupp lent money to support the campaign (including 3 million marks in one meeting). 70 people died in violent fights over what the results should be. In the end, the Nazi campaign paid off, with the Nazi seats in the Reichstag increasing to 288. If communists were elected, they were banned from attending the Reichstag because of the state of emergency. Now, the Nazis (with support of other nationalist groups) had a 2/3 majority in the Reichstag. This would mean that they had enough votes to change Germany’s constitution.

Think: How did the Reichstag Fire increase the climate of fear surrounding communism in Germany?

The Enabling Act

In March 1933, Hitler proposed a law to the Reichstag that would change Germany’s constitution: the Enabling Act. This Act stated that the Reich Cabinet could propose new laws (instead of the Reichstag). These laws could override the constitution, and would be put forward by the Chancellor – Hitler. Hitler knew that many people in the Reichstag would oppose this law, as it weakened the constitution so much. He therefore intimidated members of the Reichstag into voting for the law, by getting members of the SS to stand threateningly in the corridors of the Reichstag building. As a result of this, the Act was passed by 444 votes to 94.

Now that Hitler had the power to propose new laws, he made several changes to get rid of his opponents. He banned trade unions (groups that aimed to improve the rights of workers – they often used going on strike to do this). This meant that any communist supporters among them could not encourage strikes and weaken the government. Hitler also made his stormtroopers attack the offices of the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party (both left wing) in May 1933. The SS destroyed their newspapers and confiscated their money. Then, in July 1923, Hitler made all political parties in Germany illegal, apart from the Nazis. Finally, he got rid of the Lander parliaments (the local parliaments across Germany), as he feared they might not do as he wanted. He replaced them with governors to rule the regions across Germany, which Hitler himself would appoint.

Think: How did the Enabling Act increase Hitler’s control? 17

GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

The of the Long Knives

Having got rid of opposition outside of the Nazi Party, Hitler wanted to make sure he had total control within the party. He worried that Ernst Rohm had too much power, as leader of the SA (which now had 3 million members). The SA were very loyal to Rohm – 60% of them were unemployed and looked to him for help. Rohm also challenged some of Hitler’s policies – he wanted more socialist policies, which would help the working class, and didn’t like Hitler’s links with wealthy sponsors like Gustav Krupp.

The army also worried about Rohm’s power (at 100,000 members, they were much smaller than the SA), and so did Heinrich Himmler (as leader of the SS, he didn’t want his power threatened by the SA). They warned Hitler that Rohm was planning to overthrow him. Hitler arranged a meeting with Rohm and 100 other SA leaders, at a hotel in Bavaria, on 30 June 1934. When they arrived, they were arrested and shot. Von Sleicher (the ex-Chancellor) and von Kahr (who had opposed the Munich Putsch) were also killed, as was von Papen’s press secretary. This is known as the . These murders, ordered by Hitler, were illegal, but Goering dismissed them by saying that there was evidence of a plot to overthrow Hitler, so they were carried out in Germany’s interests.

Think: How did the Night of the Long Knives increase Hitler’s control?

Hitler now had full control of almost all aspects of government, both within and outside of the Nazi Party. The final barrier to his power was President Hindenburg. However, Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, aged 87. Hitler declared that he would combine the offices of Chancellor and President into a new role, called Fuhrer (which means leader or guide). He held a public vote to confirm this on 19 August, and, with the help of lots of pro- Nazi propaganda, was approved by 90% of voters. Hitler now had complete power.

Think: How did Hindenburg’s death allow Hitler to become a dictator?

KEY TOPIC 3.1 TASKS: The creation of a dictatorship, 1933-34 1. Make a mind-map with ‘how did Hitler become a dictator?’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 3.1 and test yourself KEY TOPIC 3.2 INFO: The police state Once Hitler was Fuhrer, he created something called the ‘police state’. This was where the government used intimidating and threatening army/police officers, alongside spies, to ensure that no-one could ever say anything bad against them or go against their rules. These groups made up Hitler’s police state:

The SS (protection staff) were the most important part of the Police State. They controlled all the other aspects of police (SD, and Concentration Camps). They started off as only a small group of 240 Nazis who were Hitler’s bodyguards. They gradually grew in importance under their leader, Himmler. Following the Night of the Long Knives where they helped to remove the leadership of the SA they grew in numbers up to 240,000 men.

The leader Himmler would only allow ‘pure’ Aryan Germans into the SS. You had to be over 6ft, have no fillings and marry a ‘pure’ German wife. Himmer believed in the race politics of

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany the Nazis, that some groups of humans were superior to others. The SS had almost unlimited power to arrest people, take their property and send people to concentration camps for as long as they wanted.

The SD (Security Force) were controlled by the SS. Led by a man called Heydrich, who also controlled the Gestapo, they were in charge of identifying and spying on the opponents of the Nazis. They kept a file on anyone they thought of opposing the Nazis, what they did, where they lived, who they spoke to and who their family was. They used this information to arrest these opponents and anyone they thought was working with them.

The Gestapo (secret police) did not wear uniforms and worked for the SS and not the normal police service. By 1939 they had arrested over 160,000 people. They worked by spying on people, reading their mail and tapping their telephone conversations. They often used torture to get confessions from people who they thought were opponents of the Nazis.

The Gestapo would arrest people they thought were opponents of the Nazis and send them to concentration camps without a trial. The families of these people would often get letters telling them this person had died in an ‘accident’ or ‘trying to escape’. People could not make any complaints about this. What made the Gestapo powerful was not their number. There was only 1 Gestapo member per 3,000 Germans. However, people were so scared of them as they could be anywhere, listening to anything you said. Often people would call the Gestapo and inform on others to protect themselves.

Concentration camps – these were large camps built by the SS in isolated areas to hold the opponents of the Nazis. The first camp was built near the town of Dachau in 1933. Over 150,000 were in these camps by 1939. Jews, communists, homosexuals and opponents of the Nazis were sent here. Rumours got out amongst ordinary people of the brutal conditions and beatings here. People were petrified of these camps. The SS men running these camps could kill these prisoners and suffer no punishment.

Law courts – Hitler made all judges join the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law if they wished to keep their job. The Nazis could kick any judge out of this League who didn’t follow their rules – meaning this judge could no longer work.

Hitler abolished trial by jury and made his judges the final deciders of guilt or innocence. He created special courts to hear those people who tried to oppose the Nazi government (treason) called People’s Courts. He picked his own judges for these cases and often decided the punishment himself. 534 people were executed by this court. KEY TOPIC 3.2 TASKS: The police state 1. Make a mind-map with ‘how did Hitler’s police state increase control?’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 3.2 and test yourself KEY TOPIC 3.3 INFO: Controlling and influencing attitudes

Nazi propaganda

On 19th August 1934, the Weimar Republic had formally ended, with Hitler as a dictator. While Hitler now had total control of the political system in Germany, and could enforce his wishes using the police state, he knew that his long- 19

GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany term control would be stronger with the German people fully behind him. He therefore worked with Joseph Goebbels to create propaganda, which would change the way that German people thought, and bring them into line with Nazi ideas. Joseph Goebbels was made the Minister of People’s Enlightenment and Propaganda to do this.

The press: One aspect that the Nazis’ propaganda covered was the press – newspapers and radio (TV wasn’t widely available at this time). Journalists were sometimes told what they could and couldn’t publish, for example in a 1935 Ministry of Propaganda order that stopped papers from publishing ‘photos showing Reich government ministers at dining tables with rows of bottles’ (alcohol). Any newspapers that went against the Nazis were closed down – 1,600 papers were closed in 1935. 2,500 textbooks were also burnt in the streets. Radio stations were also censored: all stations were under Nazi control; radios had to be designed so they could not reach to pick up foreign stations; and the Nazis made frequent broadcasts. So that the people would hear these broadcasts, radios were sold cheaply and there were speakers in the streets. 70% of German homes had a radio by 1939 (more than anywhere else in Europe).

Rallies: Once the Nazis had control of public money, they used it to hold huge rallies (events where Nazis would speak and be celebrated). They held a famous rally in every year. At the 1934 Nuremberg rally, they had 200,000 supporters attend, with 20,000 Nazi flags. This showed off, and drummed up, support for the Nazis.

Sport: The Nazis also used sports events as a chance to propagandise. They displayed all over sports stadiums, to encourage sports fans to also support the Nazis. They made sports teams do the Nazi straight-armed salute while singing the national anthem. They also used sports victories as a chance to say that German people were superior (better than) to other nationalities. The biggest example of this was the Berlin Olympics of 1936. Hitler and his party used this as a chance to show off Germany’s strength to the rest of the world. They built the largest stadium in the world (110,000 people), and Germany won the most medals (33). Again, Goebbels and Hitler used this as a chance to claim that the German race was superior to any other.

Culture/art: In September 1933, the Reich Chamber of Culture was set up, overseen by the Ministry of Propaganda. Its job was to make sure that every aspect of art, architecture literature, music, theatre and film fitted in with Nazi ideas. This is because these arts can sometimes be used to put forward other ideas about how we should live. The Nazi ideas that were promoted were traditional values (e.g. gender roles) and the ideas of loyalty, struggle, and obedience. This idea, that everything should fit in with Nazi beliefs, was called ‘’, which means ‘syncronisation’ or ‘making everything similar’. Examples of the way that they changed German culture include: creating a Reich Chamber of Visual Arts, which removed 12,000 paintings that went against Nazi ideals in 1936 alone; hiring a man called to create ‘strong’ and ‘historic’ seeming buildings, using similar techniques to those from Ancient Greece and Rome; banning Jazz music as it was seen as black people’s music, and Mendelssohn’s music (a famous composer) as he was part Jewish; and pro-Nazi students burning 20,000 books in May 1933 because they were written by Jews, communists and anti-Nazis (including some by Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein). KEY TOPIC 3.3 TASKS: Controlling and influencing attitudes 1. Make a mind-map with ‘how did Hitler control people’s views?’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 3.3 and test yourself

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

KEY TOPIC 3.4 INFO: Opposition, resistance and conformity

The KPD Even though most members of the KPD were arrested after the Reichstag Fire by Hitler using the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State, some members of the KPD continued to operate across Germany. They worked secretly to encourage other workers to oppose the Nazis. For example they encouraged them to stay off work sick to slow down Nazi building programmes or to deliberately sabotage (break) machinery in their factory to stop production.

Political opposition Some members of the SPD continued to try and oppose the Nazis. They tried to secretly print newspaper to tell the truth about the Nazis, but these people were often caught and sent to concentration camps. Many leaders of the SPD escaped abroad and tried to influence opposition in Germany by writing reports about life in Nazi Germany and trying to smuggle these into Germany to tell people of the crimes of the Nazis

Young people Many young people rebelled against Nazi expectations of how they should act or behave. One of these groups were the Edelweiss Pirates who did not like the military discipline of the Nazis and they could be found in most working class areas of large cities and had only about 2,000 members in 1930 compared to the 8 million in the (the Nazi youth organisation) . They would shout insults at other young people who wore the uniform of the Hitler Youth. They would often go on hikes into the countryside away from the Gestapo and Nazi police where they could joke about the Nazis without getting caught. Young people from wealthier families also resisted, joining the Swing Youth. As they came from richer families they owned machines which could play banned American jazz music (Hitler did not like that this was made by Black Americans). These young people were more interested in acting against Nazi expectations of young people’s behaviour rather than actually the politics of the Nazis or what they were doing.

Churches Hitler tried to control religion in Germany. This led to lots of opposition from priests across Germany. Pastor Niemoller established a special group called the Pastor’s Emergency League in 1933. This criticised the way that the Nazis were trying to control religion as well as how they were treating Jewish people. This league also created a new Church called the Confessional Church in 1934. This refused to be controlled by the Nazis and openly criticised the government. It had 6,000 members. About 800 of these were arrested for speaking against the Nazi Party and sent to concentration camps. Some members of the Catholic Church also criticised the Nazi government, over 400 were sent to the Dachau Concentration Camp for this.

Army officers Despite swearing an oath to Hitler in August 1934, many German Army officers worried Hitler was going to cause huge problems for Germany. One person was General Beck. He tried to convince his other army officers to arrest Hitler in 1938, however because they had sworn an oath to Hitler and worried about what would happen if their attempt to replace Hitler failed, they never acted on his orders.

Assassination attempts There were three attempts to assassinate Hitler whilst he was Fuhrer. One by a small group of Jewish students never happened; a student called Maurice Bavaud attempted to shoot Hitler but stopped as he was worried about hurting other people. A factory worker called George Elser placed a bomb near a stage where Hitler was speaking, the bomb went off, killing 7 people, but Hitler had already left before the bomb exploded. There were no serious attempts apart

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany from George Elser to assassinate Hitler. Elser was tortured and executed and the SS killed 21 Jews at a concentration camp in revenge for the attempt on Hitler. Even though Elser was not Jewish, the Nazis blamed the plot on them.

KEY TOPIC 3.4 TASKS: Opposition, resistance and conformity 1. Make a mind-map with ‘who opposed the Nazis?’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 3.4 and test yourself KEY TOPIC 4.1 INFO: Nazi policies towards women

Hitler’s beliefs about the superiority of Aryan Germans meant that women had an important role as mothers, responsible for raising the next generation of German workers and soldiers. Hitler said at the Nuremberg rally of 1934: ‘… one might say that the world of a woman is a smaller world. For her world is her husband, her family, her children and her house. But where would the greater world be with no one to care for the small world? Every child that a woman brings into the world is a battle waged for the existence of her people’. For this reason, the Nazis believed that women should stay at home, rather than going out to work, so that they could take care of their families. They felt that the aim of a woman should be to have as many children as possible, to make Germany bigger and stronger. Hitler and his supporters resented the new freedoms gained by women under the Weimar Republic. Nazis expected women to dress plainly, with long skirts and tied back or plaited hair (this was all that was required for taking care of your family). They were discouraged from colouring their hair or wearing makeup. These ideas about women’s appearance were communicated through Nazi propaganda.

Laws about women and the family: In 1934, Gertrud Scholtz-Klink was made Reich Women’s Leader. She set up the German Women’s Enterprise (DFW) and said that all women’s groups in Germany had to merge into it. This group would grow to reach 6 million members at its peak. It ran courses on things like childcare, sewing and cooking (1.7 million women had attended these courses by 1939).

Wanting to encourage childbirth (the birth rate had fallen from two million births per year in 1900 to one million in 1933), the Nazis passed the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage in 1933. This law gave couples 1,000 marks (around eight months’ wages) for getting married. For each child that the couple had, ¼ of the loan would be paid off (250 marks). They also changed the divorce laws in 1938, so that if a woman wouldn’t or couldn’t have children, or had an abortion, her husband could divorce her.

The Mother’s Cross was another policy designed to encourage childbirth. When a woman had four or five children, she would be given a bronze cross, as a badge of honour. For six or seven children, she would receive a silver medal, and for eight children, she would get the gold. If a woman had a gold medal, the Hitler Youth would salute her when they saw her. If she had ten children, she had to name Hitler as the tenth child’s godfather, and if it was a boy, name him Adolf.

In 1935, Himmler created the (Fountain of Life) programme. This initially just provided nurseries and money to women who had children with SS men but were not married (ordinarily they may have been forced to abort the pregnancy). However, it began encouraging single women to come to the Lebensborn homes to meet and have children with SS men, in order to have ‘genetically pure’ babies. Between 1938 and 1941, one single Lebensborn home helped 540 women to give birth.

Women at work: The Nazis used propaganda to discourage women from working. They showed pictures of traditional family life, and gave speeches encouraging women to focus on the three ‘Ks’ (Kinder, Kuche, Kirsche – children, kitchen, church). However, they also banned women from professional jobs as teachers, doctors and civil servants in 1933. From 1936, women could not become judges or lawyers, and grammar schools for girls were banned in 1937. Girls could still go to

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany school, but they would learn housework tasks like ironing instead of preparing for university. By the end of 1934, 360,000 women had given up work, and the number of girls going into higher education (like university) fell from 17,000 in 1932 to 6,000 in 1939.

How successful were these policies? Some German women were persuaded by these policies, as evidenced by the fall in the number of women going to university and the rise in the birth rate. However, in the late , Germany’s industry had expanded so far that women needed to work. In 1937, women with marriage loans were allowed to work, and by 1939, there were seven million women in work (compared to five million in 1933). Here are some more facts that show the impact of Nazi policies upon women:

• By end 1934, 360,000 women had given up work. • 1934 – Gertrud Scholtz-Klink made Reich Women’s Leader. German Women’s Enterprise – had 6 mill members. • 1933 – many women were banned from being teachers, doctors, civil servants. • The Hitler Youth group for girls (The German Maidens League) grew from 9,000 in 1933 to 2 million by 1936 • Girls going into higher education fell from 17,000 in 1932 to 6,000 in 1939. • Law for the Encouragement of Marriage (1933) – gave 1000 marks loan to new couples and paid off 250 marks for each child. • As a result of the propaganda and other policies towards women, the birth rate rose from 14 per thousand in 1933 to 20 per thousand in 1939 • In October 1933, the first concentration camp for women opened in Moringen. By 1938 it was over-capacity and two more camps were constructed

One factor that limited the impact of the Nazis’ policies towards women was the need for workers. Industry in Nazi Germany grew, so women needed to work. Women with marriage loans were allowed to work from 1937, and seven million women worked by 1939 compared to five mill in 1933. Such was the labour shortage by 1937 that a law was passed which declared that women had to do a Duty Year. They were told to help economic growth by working in a factory or farm. KEY TOPIC 4.1 TASKS: Nazi policies towards women 1. Make a mind-map with ‘Nazi policies towards women’ in the middle 2. Make a mind-map with ‘How successful were Nazi policies towards women?’ in the middle 3. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 4.1 and test yourself

KEY TOPIC 4.2 INFO: Nazi policies towards the young

Hitler wanted to control every aspect of young people’s lives. The Nazis took control of the curriculum in schools to push Nazi ideas in classrooms and controlled teachers to help them do this. They also created their own youth groups so they could control young people’s time after school and at the weekend. The Hitler Youth refers to all the youth organisations that the Nazis ran. In 1933 Hitler banned most other youth groups. All sports facilities were taken over by the Nazis in 1936 so you had to be a member of a Hitler Youth group if you wanted to play sports. By 1939 membership of the Nazi youth organisations were compulsory and membership was at 8 million.

Girls Hitler wanted German girls to grow up wanting to have lots of children to help Germany grow. As such their youth groups prepared girls for motherhood by making them physically fit and teaching them how to care for Girls in the Young Maidens being trained babies and their husbands. to fix holes in socks 23

GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

Young girls (10-14) joined the Young Maidens and girls aged 14-21 joined the German Maidens League. They took part in some of the same activities as boys – swearing oaths to Hitler, holding Nazi rallies and taking part in physical training. However they were also trained to cook, iron and clean. They had lessons on ‘racial purity’ and were told of the importance of picking their husband based on how Aryan he was.

Boys Hitler wanted to prepare all boys to become soldiers in his army. 6-10 year olds joined the Little Fellows, 10-14 year olds joined the German Young People and 14-18 year olds joined the Hitler Youth. Boys were educated to be good Nazis, just like girls. They had to swear an oath to Hitler, take part in rallies and go to extra classes to learn how to become more like Hitler. They also took part in physical training, were taken on Members of the German Young People greeting hikes in the countryside and were told to report on their teachers or Hitler parents if they heard anyone criticising the Nazis. They were also being trained to join the army and in 1938 1.2 million children in the Hitler Youth were trained to fire guns and were made to practise marching in drill formation like the army.

Schools The Nazis took over the control of schools and curriculum in 1933. The Nazis could fire any head teacher who did not follow their instructions (in , an area of Germany, 180 head teachers were sacked for not complying with Nazi orders). They created the National Socialist League of Teachers which teachers had to join if they wanted to continue teaching. 97% of teachers had joined by 1939. Teachers also had to start and end each lesson by saying ‘Heil Hitler’. A Race Studies lesson, a girl being taught how to The Nazis also controlled the curriculum and looked to influence recognise ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ races. children through this. A new subject called ‘Race Studies’ was introduced to explain Nazi ideas about racial superiority and to make children fear and hate Jews and non-Germans. One sixth of all lesson time was PE to make boys fit to fight and girls fit to have babies. Questions were added to subjects to make pupils think more like Nazis (for example maths questions about how much a Jewish person had stolen from you and History lessons about the Stab in the Back of Versailles). Girls had different lessons to boys also, having more time on cooking. The Nazis also created special schools called Napolas to train the best Hitler Youth members to become officers in the army when they were older.

KEY TOPIC 4.2 TASKS: Nazi policies towards the young 1. Make a mind-map with ‘Nazi policies towards the young’ in the middle 2. Make a mind-map with ‘How successful were Nazi policies towards the young?’ in the middle 3. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 4.2 and test yourself KEY TOPIC 4.3 INFO: Employment and living standards

Why did workers vote for Hitler? The Great Depression had a huge impact on workers. 6 million lost their jobs. Those who worked for the government had their wages cut by 23%, those unemployed received cuts in their unemployment insurance and everyone had to pay more taxes. Many of these workers began to vote for Hitler who promised to make Germany strong again and get rid of unemployment. Hitler in power (Step 1 – reducing unemployment) Hitler’s first job on coming to power was sticking to his promise of reducing unemployment in Germany. He did this in two ways; 24

GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

1. Using government money to get the unemployed working. Hitler used public works – using public or government money to pay unemployed people to build things like bridges, hospitals and autobahns (German motorways). During the 1932-33 election campaigns, one of Hitler’s slogans was promising the people ‘Work and Bread’, and creating these new public works gave people jobs as builders. This also helped Hitler as he would need these things for when he planned to go to war. He began rebuilding his army so he needed more soldiers and workers making weapons. Finally he introduced National Labour Service (RAD) for young men. All men aged 18-25 had to spend 6 months learning how to become a soldier 2. To stop counting certain people as unemployed – women, Jews and people involved in the RAD were no longer counted as unemployed as Hitler did not believe they should be working in Germany. Hitler was successful in reducing unemployment. He had almost halved unemployment in his first year and reduced it to 0.3 million by 1939

Hitler in power (Step 2 – controlling workers) Hitler wanted to keep the workers on his side so they would work hard for him and help him to make Germany strong again. He introduced the following things;

DAF – trade unions protected the rights, pay and conditions of workers. Hitler saw them as an obstacle to him controlling Germany. He worried they would demand too much money in wages, refuse to work longer hours and potentially organise strikes against his government. In May 1933 Hitler banned all trade unions and created a Nazi trade union called the DAF (). This meant he could prevent workers striking, control how much their wages increased by and to ensure there were no worker organisations which would criticise or object against Nazi policies.

KdF - He created a new organisation as part of the DAF called Strength through Joy (KdF). They ran lots of different events which workers could do for free or heavily discounted. They organised theatre trips, sports activities, museum tours and even cruises, camping weekends and foreign holidays. This organisation was incredibly successful. In 1934 the KdF organised 2.4 million trips and holidays but this had increased to 10.3 million by 1939. Through the KdF he also launched the Volkswagen (people’s car). Workers aspired to own a car, at the time these were rare and only owned by the rich and middle classes. Workers could save 5 marks of their wage a week (average wage was 100 marks a week). When workers had saved 750 marks they would be presented with a brand new car. This was an incredibly low price and for the first time, ordinary people could dream of owning a car.w

Beauty of Labour – The KdF wanted to improve conditions for workers by improving their canteens, lighting, toilets and sports facilities in factories to make workers happier. However although the KdF would pay for the material, workers had to carry out this improvement work in their own time.

The Nazis’ policies towards workers had a mixed impact. Some of them improved the lives of workers, and some made it harder. See the table below for a summary: Things that improved life for workers: Things that made life harder: 10 million took part in the trips, holidays, theatre visits Workers’ hours increased on average from 43 hours per week to 49. and sporting activities run by the KdF. An increase of 6 hours. Wages rose for workers under the Nazis. It increased from The forced every man aged 19-25 to do 6 86 marks a week to 109. An increase of 28%. months compulsory work. They received little pay and carried out lots of military drills The Nazis offered every German the possibility of owning Nazi propaganda spoke about the importance of farmers. They a car – the ‘Volkswagen’ by taking 5 marks a week from therefore kept food prices high to help farmers. This meant every those people signed up to the scheme single item (except fish) became more expensive to buy for workers to help farmers. The Nazis reduced unemployment from 6 million in 1933 The majority of the top end KdF holidays, like cruises went only to to 0.3 million in 1939. They increased the size of the top Nazi officials and not to ordinary workers. army, ordered more weapons to be built and paid Beauty of Labour (part of the KdF) helped to improve the toilets, unemployed Germans to build autobahns and bridges canteens and sports facilities in work places. However this had to be carried out in workers own time. By 1939 not one person who had paid into the Volkswagen scheme had received a car. 25

GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

KEY TOPIC 4.3 TASKS: Employment and living standards 1. Make a mind-map with ‘Nazi policies towards workers’ in the middle 2. Make a mind-map with ‘How helpful were Nazi policies towards workers?’ in the middle 3. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 4.3 and test yourself KEY TOPIC 4.4 INFO: The of minorities

Many of Hitler and the Nazis’ policies can be traced to their desire to ‘strengthen’ Germany, and their treatment of minorities is no different. They believed that by controlling or deporting people with characteristics that the Nazis deemed ‘undesirable’, they could ensure that Germany would be filled with superior Aryans, who would create a strong German nation.

The Nazis therefore believed in eugenics and racial hygiene. Hitler’s views on this were outlined in Mein Kampf in 1925. He spoke about the of Aryans, the ‘Untermenschen’ or ‘sub-human’ races (like the Slavs of Eastern Europe) and the ‘Lebensunwertes’ (meaning ‘unworthy of life’) such as Romany ‘gypsies’. A Nazi poster from 1938, saying ’60,000 Reichmarks. This is what this person Policies towards minorities (non-Jewish): suffering from hereditary defects costs… that is your money too’ The Slavic people came from Eastern Europe, and many lived in Germany by the 1930s. Hitler, believing that they were ‘untermenschen’, enforced the teaching in schools that Slavs were inferior, and this message was also found in Nazi propaganda. He threatened to invade Slav countries in Eastern Europe for extra German ‘lebensraum’, or ‘living space’.

The Nazis also persecuted ‘gypsies’, the name that they gave to Romany travelling communities. From 1933, ‘gypsies’ were often arrested and sent to concentration camps. From 1936, they were sent to special camps, just for ‘gypsies’. In Berlin, one camp contained 600 people and had only two toilets, three taps and no electricity. In 1938, ‘gypsies’ were banned from travelling in groups, a crucial part of their lifestyle. They were tested for certain German characteristics, and if they failed, would lose German citizenship. Finally, in 1939, Hitler ordered for all Romany travellers to be deported.

Hitler also believed that homosexuals went against his aim of creating a pure Aryan race, so in 1935, he strengthened the laws against homosexuality. The number of gay people being arrested went from 766 in 1934, to 8,000 in 1938. When they were released from prison, they often went to concentration camps. 5,000 homosexuals died in these camps.

Finally, people with disabilities were deemed a burden on society who threatened to spread their ‘diseased’ genes and damage the Aryan race. The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring was therefore passed in 1933, saying that you had to be sterilised if you were mentally ill, alcoholic, deformed, epileptic, deaf or blind. 400,000 people had been sterilised in 1939. In 1939, the T4 programme was established. This ordered that babies with severe disabilities should be killed. Eventually, this was extended so that children up to the age of 17 would be killed. 5,000 disabled children were killed in total.

Policies towards the Jews:

There had been a long history of anti-semitism in Europe, partially because their religion and culture differed from the dominant Christian culture. Many Jews were also very successful in finance and business, creating jealousy towards them – they are often depicted in Nazi propaganda as greedy or money-grabbing. When Germany was defeated in the

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GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

First World War, and then hit by economic depression, the Jews were used as a ‘scapegoat’ (someone to blame). As well as this, Hitler personally resented the Jews.

Jewish persecution started when Hitler became Chancellor in 1933. Propaganda showed Jews as evil, calling them ‘vermin’ and ‘filth’. From April 1933, Jews were banned from having jobs in government or as teachers. From September 1933, they were not allowed to inherit land, and from May 1935, they were banned from the army. Local councils also took steps to limit the freedom of Jews, such as banning them from parks and swimming pools in 1934.

The Jewish shops/business boycott:

On 30 March 1933, it was announced that all Jewish businesses and shops should be boycotted (avoided) on 1st April. SA men painted Jewish stars and the word ‘Jude’ (Jew) on the shops, and stood outside them with banners. Not all German people obeyed this, however, with many choosing to attend the businesses anyway.

The (1935):

On 15 September 1935, policies towards Jews worsened with a set of laws. The Reich Law on Citizenship said that only pure Germans could be citizens. Jews would lose their citizenship, right to vote, and passports, and have to wear yellow stars on their clothes to single them out. The Reich Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour forbade Jews from marrying German citizens, and even said that Jews could not have sex with Germans.

The Berlin Olympics (1936):

The Berlin Olympics of 1936 put Nazi Germany on display to the whole world. Germany had been chosen to host the Games before Hitler took power, in 1931, and several countries threatened to boycott the Games because of Nazi policies. 49 countries did end up attending, but this threat made Hitler aware that he would need to tone down the anti-Semitic behaviour. As a result, anti-Jewish signs were removed, in the Ministry for Propaganda, led by Joseph Goebbels, instructed newspapers to be less harsh. 9 Jews ended up winning medals at the Games, including one token German competitor (Helene Mayer, a fencing champion). However, the end of the Olympics was a turning point: policies against minorities became much worse afterwards.

Kristallnacht (9-10 ):

On 7 November 1938, a German government member called was shot, in , by the Polish Jew (as a protest against Nazi policies). When Rath died on 9 November, the Nazis designed to use it as a chance to stir up hatred for the Jews across Germany. Police were told not to prevent any violence against Jews, and Nazi leaders secretly encouraged attacks on Jewish property. Many Jews were arrested in violent attacks: one 18-year-old Jew was thrown from a third floor window. 100 Jews died, and over 1,000 Jewish homes, businesses and were destroyed. This became known as ‘’ (‘Crystal Night’), or the Night of Broken Glass. Afterwards, Jews were blamed for starting trouble, and fined 1 billion marks. 20,000 Jews were in concentration camps by 12 November 1938.

Many of the attackers were members of the SA and Hitler Youth, but were told not to wear uniforms, so it would look like the attack was by the general public. Many Germans were horrified, however, by the attacks. It is hard for historians to know how much the German people supported the persecution of minorities. It is certainly the case that the public knew about the policies and actions, as few were kept secret. However, many Germans were afraid to protest, in case they too were arrested or killed. 27

GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany

KEY TOPIC 4.4 TASKS: The persecution of minorities 1. Make a mind-map with ‘Nazi policies towards minorities (non-Jewish)’ in the middle 2. Make a mind-map with ‘Nazi policies towards the Jews’ in the middle 3. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 4.4 and test yourself

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