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Weimar and Nazi Germany (The Legacy of the First World War (Revolution and…
Weimar and Nazi Germany
- The Legacy of the First World War
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Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the SDP, became the first German president and declared Germany a republic.
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The Armistice
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The terms of the peace, the treaty of Versailles, became a very big burden for the country.
- Strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution
The Weimar Constitution
Head of State
President
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Had some important political powers. For Example, the president chose the chancellor.
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The Parliament
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Normally, all laws had to pass through both houses.
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- Why the Republic was unpopular
Treaty and reparations
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Navy limited to 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, 12 destroyers, and 12 torpedo boats. (No submarines).
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- Challenges from left and right
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Hyperinflation
When the prices of goods increase it is called inflation, when it increases spectacularly it is called hyperinflation.
1919 - bread costs 1 mark, 1922 - bread costs 100 marks, 1923 - bread costs 200 000 billion marks.
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- Reasons for recovery 1923-29
Rentenmark
In November 1923, Stresemann set up the Rentenbank and issued the new currency called the Rentenmark.
Supply of these notes was tightly controlled. Their value was tied to the price of gold so it had real value. This encouraged more public confidence.
In August 1924 the Reichsbank was given control of this new currency. It was renamed the Reichsmark. Hyperinflation was over.
The Dawes plan, 1924
In 1924, Charles Dawes, an american banker, designed a plan so Germany could pay its reparations.
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US banks agreed to make loans to German industry. The allies felt more confident that they would get their reparations payments.
The Young plan, 1929
In August 1929, a committee, set up by the Allies and led by an American banker called Owen Young, proposed a plan.
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The payments could be made over a longer time, up until 1988.
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Opposition from extremists, like the Nazis, who thought it was extending the burden to future generations.
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- Stresemann's success at home and abroad
Stresemann's success
Gustav Stresemann resigned the chancellorship in November 1923, but stayed as foreign secretary until 1929. His work in foreign affairs:
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Locarno pact 1925
Agreement between Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Belgium. In It:
Germany agreed to its new border with France, improving relations.
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League of Nations
This was a new international body that hoped to discuss world problems in order to avoid resorting to war. It was set up in 1920 but Germany was initially excluded. In 1926, they were invited to join and become a member of the council.
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Kellogg-Briand pact 1928
This was an agreement between 62 nations. It committed countries to avoiding the use of war to achieve foreign policy objectives.
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It wasn't all a success
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The League of Nations was, for some, a symbol of the unpopular Treaty of Versailles.
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- Changes for workers and women
Standard of living
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Unemployment insurance
3% of workers' earnings were deducted to be put towards insurance that would give them a basic amount of benefits if they became unemployed or sick.
Housing
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Between 1925 and 1929, 101 000 homes were built.
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Women
Women at work
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Most women gave up work after they married. There was a drop in women working from 75% in 1918 to 36% in 1925.
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Some professions, like teaching and medicine, offered new opportunities to women.
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Women at leisure
Greater earning power led to more independence for younger, single women.
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The behaviour of 'new women' was not liked by some men and women who felt traditional values were being eroded.
Women in politics
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Article 109 of the constitution stated that women had equal rights with men and could enter professions on an equal basis.
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- Cultural changes, 1924-29
Art
Weimar artists painted everyday life so that everyone could have access to their art. They wanted to make art that commented on problems in German society, or to make people think. Their style of work was called Expressionism, which was concerned with raw emotion, the seedier side of everyday life and confronting the disaster of the first world war. Artists like Otto Dix and George Grosz were influential to the movement, as was Paul Klee.
Cinema
Films became popular all over the world in the 1920s. Expressionism flourished in film-making, particularly in Weimar Germany due to the fewer restrictions. Some German films were very new and exciting in how they challenged traditional cinema.
Architecture
The Bauhaus school was set up in Weimar, in 1919, by the architect Walter Gropius.
Gropius wanted to bring together all the disciplines (art, architecture, design, typography, sculpture).
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- Hitler and the early growth of the party
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The 25-point programme
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State must protect mothers and infants, stop children working; make laws for compulsory sports
The Sturmabteilung (SA)
The Sturmabteilung (or stormtroopers) were a paramilitary force, made up of unemployed ex-soldiers. They were formed in August 1921 by Hitler and put under the command of Ernst Rohm. They wore brown uniforms and were nicknamed 'Brownshirts'. They were used to disrupt opposition meetings and to control crowds and any opposition to Hitler - often violently
- The Munich Putsch and its aftermath
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The events of the Putsch
8 November 1923 - Hitler with 600 SA entered a beer hall in Munich where the Bavarian government were meeting. At gunpoint, Hitler forced government leaders to support him. Rohm took over local police and army headquarters. Ludendorff, behind Hitler's back, let the government leaders go.
9 November 1923 - Hitler gathered with 1000 SA and 2000 volunteer supporters and marched on Munich town centre to declare himself President of Germany. The group was met by state police. Someone opened fire and there was chaos. Ludendorff, Rohm and Streicher were arrested.
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- Growth in support 1929-32
Wall street crash, USA, October 1929
US companies lost billions of dollars in value overnight. Many banks and businesses were ruined, and worldwide depression resulted.
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Hitler's propaganda
Using propaganda techniques, Hitler persuaded:
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Middle-class people that he could protect them from the communists, solve the economic crisis and return Germany to traditional values
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- Political developments in 1932
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Hitler's road to power
April 1932
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May 1932
Election with Hindenburg being re-elected as President. Hitler increases his share of the vote. Chancellor Bruning bans the SA and announces a plan to buy up land from landowners and use this to hose the unemployed. Both plans are very unpopular and Bruning resigns. Bruning is replaced by von Papen - he is put forward by von Schleicher. Von Schleicher had been planning a coalition between right-wing supporters and the Nazis. Hitler agrees to the coalition if the ban on the SA is removed. The coalition takes power.
July 1932
Further elections take place - there is widespread fighting between the communists and the Nazis. The Nazi share of the vote increases from 18% in 1930 to 38%. Hitler demands that he be made chancellor - Hindenburg refuses.
November 1932
Further election. Von Schleicher warns Hindenburg that if von Papen stays as chancellor there will be civil war. Von Papen goes.
December 1932
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January 1933
Von Schleicher does not have the support of the public or the Nazis. He persuades Hindenburg that he could be the head of a military dictatorship. Hindenburg refuses. Von Papen persuades Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor to avoid von Schleicher's military dictatorship. He also suggests that he should become vice-chancellor so that he can keep check on Hitler. Hitler becomes chancellor.
- The Reichstag fire and the Enabling act, 1933
The Reichstag fire
A loneDutch communist was executed for starting the fire but Hitler seized the opportunity to accuse the Communist party of a conspiracy against the government. Four thousand communists were arrested.
It gave Hitler an excuse to issue a Decree for the protection of the People and the State, giving him powers to imprison political opponents and ban opposition newspapers.
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The Enabling Act, 1933
Hitler proposed the enabling act in order to destroy the power of the Reichstag and give himself total power to make laws. It stated that:
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The SS was set up by Hitler in 1925 to act as his bodyguards. They were a select group run firstly by Schreck and then by Himmler. They appeared menacing in their black uniforms.
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Death of Hindenburg
President Hindenburg was the only person senior to Hitler. In August 1934, he died. Within hours, a law Concerning the Head of State merged the offices of Chancellor and President to create a new office of Fuhrer.
Army oath of allegiance
The day Hindenburg died, Hitler announced the army should swear an oath of allegiance to him, not to Germany
Hitler set up his own security forces as he realised not all the existing German police supported him. These forces were run by the Nazi party, not the Government. Their main weapon was fear.
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SD (Security Service)
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Spied on all opponents of the Nazi party, both home and abroad
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- Policies towards the churches
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The Catholic church
Hitler worried that the Catholic church would oppose him because Catholics; were loyal to the Pope, usually supported the Catholic Centre Party, sent their children to Catholic schools and the Catholic youth organisation
The Concordat
In July 1933, Hitler agreed with the Pope in a Concordat that Catholics were free to worship and run their own schools in return for staying out of politics. Hitler broke his promise and; Priests opposing the Nazis were harassed and/or sent to concentration camps, Catholic schools had to remove Christian symbols and were later closed, Catholic youth organisations were banned.
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- Propaganda and censorship
Goebbels played a central role as Nazi Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda. He was a master at spreading Nazi ideas in a subtle as well as an unsubtle way. He essentially controlled newspapers, the radio, book publishing, film and the arts.
Methods of censorship
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Radio producers, playwrights, filmmakers and newspapers were told what to say
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Methods of propaganda
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Huge rallies and military parades were held, projecting a power and strength that would either make Germans proud of their country or fill them with terror depending on their viewpoint
The cinema showed propaganda films, but mainly entertainment films that had subtle Nazi messages
Hitler made radio speeches which were played through loud speakers in factories, cafes and on the streets. Entertainment programmes contained Nazi ideas and beliefs.
The Nazi encouraged artists and playwrights to produce work highlighting Nazi ideas. 'Degenerate' art, such as modern art and jazz music, was banned
The Olympic games held in Berlin in 1936 was the ideal event to promote Nazi ideologies such as Aryan superiority. It was also an opportunity to present Nazi Germany in a good light. It well organised and a grand spectacle.
Pastor Martin Niemoller
Pro-Nazi
Niemoller voted for them in the 1924 and 1933 elections as he felt the Weimar Republic needed a strong leader
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Very against Nazis
Niemoller was arrested many times for speaking out against the Nazis and Hitler between 1934 and 1937
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Niemoller Sermon
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists,
and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.
The Edelweiss Pirates
They sang 'Smash the Hitler Youth in twain, our song is freedom, love and life'.
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The Alpine flower, the edelweiss, was used as their symbol
They were formed in the late 1930s, possibly as a consequence of Nazi policies enforcing Hitler Youth membership
They were made up mainly of boys who copied an American style of clothing (checked shirts and white socks)
The Swing Young
Another group of young people similar to the Edelweiss Pirates was the Swing Youth. Like the Pirates, they chose not to conform to Nazi ideas. They liked wearing American clothes. They listened to American music and watched American films. They gathered to drink alcohol, smoke and dance. They organised illegal dances attended by thousands. Unlike the Pirates they were largely made up of children from wealthy families with the money to buy records and own record players
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The Nazis' ideal woman
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To believe in the Nazi ideas of Kinder, Kuche, Kirche (Children, Kitchen, Church)
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- Policies to reduce unemployment
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Job creation schemes
The Nazis reduced unemployment by putting money into large projects. These benefited the economy and also reduced unemployment
Construction projects
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Sports facilities, e.g. stadia for the Berlin Olympics, 1936
Rearmament
Another way that the Nazi provided jobs was through building up their stockpile of arms, even through the Treaty of Versailles had stipulated limits on this. This provided many jobs
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- Racial beliefs and policies
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Untermenschen
In 1935, the Nuremberg laws banned Aryans from marrying gypsies, black people or Jews.
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Slavs were reminded continually that they didn't fit the Aryan ideal, but were persecuted less than other groups
After 1933, many gypsies were arrested an sent to concentration camps. From 1938, all gypsies had to be registered and were banned from travelling. In 1939, they were told they would be deported.
Other undesirables
Homosexuals were sent to prison or concentration camps and subjected to medical experiments to correct their 'disorder' after laws against homosexuality were strengthened
Mentally handicapped people were sterilised after a new law, The Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring was introduced in 1933
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Jewish businesses
1933 The SA organised a one-day boycott of Jewish shops. They painted a yellow star on doors and discouraged people from going inside
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Kristallnacht (the Night of the Broken Glass), 1938
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100 Jews were killed, 814 shops were destroyed, 171 homes were destroyed, 191 synagogues were destroyed