3. The early problems of the Weimar
Government
The Treaty of Versailles.
• Germany was had to accept
blame for the war (war guilt).
• Germany lost a lot of valuable
land.
• Germany lost most of its armed
forces.
• Germany had to pay
reparations (money to the
other countries)
• The new Weimar government
was unpopular because it
signed the Treaty. The army
called the Treaty “The Stab in
4. The early problems of the Weimar
GovernmentOpposition to Weimar Government
Spartacist Uprising, Jan 1919
Left-wing
Led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
Wanted to overthrow Weimar and create a
Communist government
The Freikorps were used to put down the
uprising
UNSUCCESSFUL
Kapp Putsch, March 1920
Right-wing – wanted the return of a strong
leader like the Kaisar.
Led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp
The Freikorps tried to take control and the
government fled.
Stopped by a workers’ strike
UNSUCCESFUL
5. The early problems of the Weimar
Government
The Weimar Constitution.
• The system
– President - Similar to the king or
queen in Britain but with more
power and elected every 7 years. He
appointed the Chancellor. In an
emergency he could make laws
without going to Parliament.
– Chancellor appointed by the
President and similar to the British
Prime Minister. He led the
government and needed to have the
support of the majority in
Parliament.
– Reichstag (parliament) – similar to
the House of Commons in Britain.
Elected every 4 years and had the
power to pass or reject changes to
the law.
• Strengths
– All Germans had equal rights including the
right to vote, free speech, religious freedom,
to travel freely and hold political meetings.
– The election system of proportional
representation meant that all parties got a
fair share of seats in the Reichstag to match
the percentage of people who voted for
them.
• Weaknesses
– Proportional representation made the
government weak because it led to too many
parties in the Reichstag, including extremist
parties like the Nazis.
– No one party got enough votes to form a
majority in the Reichstag so parties had to get
together in coalition governments which
were often weak and short lived.
6. The occupation of the Rhur and
Hyperinflation
Germany could not pay
reparations to France sent its
army into the Ruhr.
The workers went on strike
(passive resistance)
The German government printed
money to pay its workers.
The amount printed in bank
notes was far more than the
actual gold reserves the
government had.
So the value of German money
went down and down. Prices
went up and up =
Hyperinflation
Challenges and Recovery 1923-1929
How were people affected? Different
groups were affected differently
Pensioners found their money was
worthless.
Middle Class People with savings
found they lost all value.
Workers wages could not keep up
with prices and so people could
not afford basic food such as
bread
Some people did well, especially
farmers and people who had
taken out loans such as the very
rich.
7. Challenges and Recovery 1923-1929
• The Munich Putsch - 1923
• The was the first significant event in
the rise of the Nazi party
• Hitler and the SA (Stormtroopers) and
General Ludendorff took over Beer
Hall meeting led by Gustav von Kahr
(leader of Bavaria’s government) and
demanded his support.
• Neither Von Kahr or the public
supported the Nazis
• Putsch fails and Hitler is sent to
prison
• Hitler gets national publicity because
of the trial. In prison he writes Mein
Kampf. He decides to improve the
organisation of the Nazis
8. Challenges and Recovery 1923-1929
Recovery after 1923 – “The Golden Years”
Gustav Stresemann, the new Chancellor introduced
policies which helped German.
Dawes Plan and Young Plan
A new currency – Rentenmark
He agreed to reduce the amount of reparations.
He ended the strikes and France pulled out of the Ruhr.
The USA agreed loans and German businesses could get going
again.
Stresemann also made agreements with Britain and France.
The Locarno Treaty in 1925 fixed the borders of countries in
Europe
The Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928 agreed that in future all
problems in Europe would be solved peacefully.
Germany joined the League of Nations which was set up to
prevent another war.
During 1924-1929 Things seemed to be going better in
Germany. The German economy began to grow. Berlin
became a big arts and entertainment centre.
• 1924 election – 32 Nazi seats in the
Reichstag.
•
9. The Wall Street Crash 1929 and the
Growth of the Nazi Party 1929-33
1929 – The Wall Street Crash
• The Wall Street Crash – a massive
financial crisis in the USA.
• American loans to Germany ended.
Germany had to pay back money.
• Many German businesses had to
close.
• By 1932 6 million Germans were
unemployed.
• Many families suffered terrible
poverty.
• Half of Germans aged between 16
and 30 could not find work,
including 60% of university
graduates.
10. The Wall Street Crash 1929 and the
Growth of the Nazi Party 1929-33
1929-1933 The Nazi
Party grows
• After the Wall Street crash people lost
confidence in the Weimar government.
It seemed unable to solve Germany’s
problems. It was blamed for relying too
much on the USA.
• The Proportional representation voting
system meant that governments were
weak.
• There was more and more support for
the Nazis and Communists.
• The Nazi SA (brownshirts) were fighting
the Communists in the streets.
• Hitler promised bread, work
and land. He said he would tear
up the Treaty of Versailles. He
blamed the Jews for Germany’s
problems.
• The Nazis started to do well in
elections. Many workers liked their
promises of work. The Nazis got a lot
of money from big businesses
because they were against the
Communists. They got a lot of middle
class support for the same reason.
Key groups: Farmers, middle classes,
big businesses, upper classes, women
and the young.
• The racism of the Nazis was also
popular with many people.
• Nazi propaganda (organised by
Goebbels) was very effective –
rallies, posters, radio, newspapers,
parades and marches.
12. Hitler takes control
1933-35 – the 8 steps to dictatorship.
1. Hitler was appointed Chancellor
2. Hitler used the Reichstag Fire to ban the Communists. Their leaders were arrested and
their party was banned.
3. New elections: using terror, killings and anti-Communist propaganda the Nazis did better
but they still did not get a majority
4. Hitler forced the Parliament to agree a new law. This was the Enabling Act. It said Hitler
could make any law he wanted without asking the Reichstag.
5. Trade unions and clubs were all taken over by the Nazis. All other political parties were
banned.
6. Hitler organised the murder of hundreds of top Nazis including Rohm, the head of the SA
and his friend -the ‘Night of the Long Knives’. The SA was closed down and replaced by
the SS.
7. President Hindenburg died and within hours Hitler declares himself “Fuhrer” – the leader.
8. He got all the soldiers in the army to swear an oath of loyalty to for him personally.
He now had total control. He was a dictator.
Germany was a country of terror where everyone was afraid to speak out.
But most Germans supported him. They wanted a strong leader.
12
13. How did the Nazis maintain control?
1933-1945
Terror – controlled by Heinrich Himmler
• The SS (Schutz Staffel = protection squad) –
black uniforms, 240,000 members
• Concentration camps – forced labour camps for
anyone who criticised the Nazis (Jews,
Communists, Socialists, trade unionists, gays,
church leaders etc)
• Gestapo – the state secret police with a
network of informers and local wardens
• Police and courts controlled by the Nazis
• Laws restricting the rights and liberties of
everyone
Censorship and Propaganda –
controlled by Josef Goebbels
• Newspapers – all that disagreed with the Nazis
were closed down.
• Book burning – no books could be published
without Goebbels’s permission and books by
Jewish authors or with anti-Nazi ideas were
burnt.
• Culture – modern art, progressive theatre and
jazz music were banned
• Meetings, marches and rallies - Cult of the
Fuhrer.
• Radio – all controlled and not allowed to pick up
foreign stations
• Films, Posters
• Sport – the Berlin Olympics in 1936 were used to
promote the idea of white ‘Aryan’ superiority.
Germany won the most medals but one black
American athlete, Jesse Owens, won 4 golds.
13
14. Opposition to the Nazis
1. Young people: Edelweiss Pirates. Many young people hated the Hitler Youth and did not
join. Some young people joined gangs like the Edelweiss Pirates, the Texas Cowboys, and the
Navajos – preferring to have a good time. Some even beat up Nazis. Students in the White
Rose Club spread leaflets against the Nazis and their leaders were executed.
2. The churches. Some church leaders supported the Nazis and others were against them. To
deal with Catholics, Hitler made a deal – A Concordat - with the Pope saying he would leave
the Catholics alone if they did not interfere with politics. He brought all the Protestant
Churches together under Nazi control – the Reich Church and made the pastors swear
loyalty to him. Church schools and youth clubs were closed down. Still some Christians
opposed the Nazis and ended up in camps. They included Martin Niemoller and Dietrich
Bonhoeffer of the Confessional Church.
3. Army officers. Some – including Colonel von Stauffenberg - wanted to get rid of Hitler and
tried to kill him with a bomb. The Plot of July 1944. They failed and were executed. 5,746
people executed in response.
4. Political groups - Socialists, Communists, trade unions. They were arrested in large numbers
or left the country. There were some secret meetings and handing out of anti-Nazi leaflets.
14
16. Young people in Nazi Germany
Youth movements
All boys had to join the Hitler Youth. Military training, camps, sports and Nazi ideas.
The aim as to become good soldiers.
Girls joined the League of German Maidens. Keeping fit and home-building. The aim
was to become good wives and mothers.
School
Nazi control of the school curriculum. Teachers who refused were sacked.
The most important subject was PE. Boxing was compulsory for boys. Girls had to do
home-making and childcare.
History lessons were about the unfair Treaty of Versailles, the rise of the Nazis and
the evil of Jews and Communists.
Biology was about the superiority of the blond, blue-eyed ‘Aryan’ race.
German lessons were about war heroes and the Nazi Party.
Geography lessons were about the land in other countries that the Nazis said should
be taken by Germany.
Maths lessons had problems about bombs and how to save money by not spending it
on the mentally ill.
16
17. Women in Nazi Germany
• Women in Nazi Germany
– Back to the traditional role of wife and mother
– Hitler wanted to increase the birth rate and produce more soldiers for the ‘master race’
– KKK (Kinder, Kirche, Kuche – children, church and cooking)
– Less women in jobs meant jobs for unemployed men
– Women doctors, civil servants and teachers forced to leave their jobs.
– Large grants of money to women who gave up jobs and had lots of children
– Government loans to married couples – for each child they had, they could keep 25% of
the loan, so if they had 4 children they did not have to pay anything back
– Strict laws against abortion and all birth control banned
– Gold medals for 8 children, silver for 6 and bronze for 5
– The ideal Nazi woman was fair-haired, blue-eyed, strong, with broad hips for child-
bearing and traditional clothes (not fashionable).
– In spite of this the number of working women went up because the Nazis needed more
workers in weapons factories and because employers preferred women workers as
they could pay them less.
17
18. Economic policies
• Hjalmar Schacht’s New
Plan 1934 aimed to:
– Reduce unemployment
– Make Germany self-
sufficient (Autarky)
• Hermann Goring’s Four
Year Plan 1936 aimed to:
– Re-arm Germany ready for
war
– Continue to achieve self-
sufficiency
– Build new factories
• Labour Front replaced trade
unions – didn’t really represent
workers
• Strength Through Joy (KDF)
promised hard workers holidays
and other privileges. Very few
actually went on cruises…
• Beauty of Labour allowed workers
to build themselves swimming
pools at work
• The Volkswagen was designed so
every family could save for a car.
No Volkswagens were ever
delivered to customers.
19. Nazi Treatment of Minorities
Who did the Nazis target?
‘burdens on the community’ – severely disabled,
mentally ill, unhealthy, homosexuals
Hospitals were ordered to kill the severely
disabled
The mentally ill were sterilised and 70,000
were later killed by the ‘Public Ambulance
Service Ltd’
‘undesirables’ – gypsies, vagrants
Vagrants were forced to work and 100,000
were sent to concentration camps
Gypsies were not allowed to marry non-
gypsies and were called ‘aliens’.
Gypsies forced to register with the authorities.
During the Second World War half a million
gypsies died in the Nazi death camps. This
disaster is called the Porajmos
(‘Devouring’) in the Roma language
‘subhumans’ – Slavs, Black people
Germans were not allowed to marry black
people.
Mixed race children were sterilised.
• Nazi Treatment of Jews
• 1933 - Boycott of Jewish shops
– Jews sacked from jobs as civil servants and
lawyers
• 1934- Jews banned from public places such as
parks and swimming baths
• 1935- Nuremberg Laws – Jews not allowed to be
German citizens, not allowed to marry non-Jews
• 1936- Jews banned from being vets, dentists,
accountants etc
• 1938 - Kristallnacht (The Night of Breaking Glass)
– three days of the SA destroying Jewish shops, homes
and synagogues.
– Jewish children not allowed in German schools
• 1939- Jews not allowed to run shops or businesses
– Jews in German-occupied Poland forced to live in
ghettoes (‘Jewish reservations’) – only starvation
rations allowed in and thousands died from cold
and hunger
20. ‘The Holocaust’ 1939-1945
• The mass killing of European Jews is known as the Holocaust.
• The killings were supervised by the SS under the control of Heinrich Himmler. However,
many other people – German and others – also took part.
• 1939-41
– Mass killings of Jews in Poland, Russia and other countries occupied by Germany
– First shootings, then gas vans. Killings done by Einsatzgruppen (murder squads) with
Jews forced to dig their own graves before being shot. About 2 million killed in Russia
• 1942
– The Wannsee Conference when the Nazis agreed upon the ‘Final Solution’ – to kill all
the Jews in Europe
• 1942-45
– About 6 million Jews killed in death camps such as Auschwitz, Chelmno, Treblinka and
Sobibor
– They were transported in trains from all over occupied Europe
– Most killings were in gas chambers using Zyklon-B
– Bodies were then burnt in ovens
20
21. The Exam – 1 hour and quarter, 54 marks
• Question 1 - Inference from a source
(4 marks, does not require own knowledge)
• Question 2 - Explanation of importance. Chose
from one bullet point (9 marks)
• Chose either question 3 or 4- Explanation = giving
reasons why something happened. (12 marks)
• Chose either 5a and 5b or 6a and 6b. Analysis and
evaluation. a= 9 marks, b=16marks (plus 4 SPAG).
Start with this section of the exam. It is worth
nearly half your overall marks.
22. Final Advice and Good Luck
1. Read the question carefully, make sure you look at the dates or period of history
they ask you about.
2. Jot down key points to answer the question.
3. Start writing, stay focused on the question. Develop each point. Keep linking back
to the question. Put the question number in the margin.
6. Keep an eye on the time.
7.If you finish read back through and add any extra information.
8. If you are not sure put down what you know.
9. DO NOT PANIC if you do have a blank go to another question then come back.
10. DO NOT PANIC start writing !!!!
GOOD LUCK you will do well.
