Germany 1918-1945

The Weimar Republic
1. Germany had £6.6 reparation to pay
  1. Germany was weak
2. Kaiser Wilhelm II had ruled the German Empire as a monarch
  1. He fled in November 1918 after violent unrest
3. New Government led by Frederich Ebert
  1. Germany became a republic
    1. Set up in Weimar
      1. There was violence in Berlin
  2. New Government was democratic
    1. Bill of rights
    2. Men and women over 20 got the vote
  3. Wasn't invited to peace conference in 1919
    1. They had no say in the treaty of Versailles
      1. Germany didn't want to but had no choice
4. The Weimar had problems
  1. There were too many parties in the Reichstag
    1. It was hard to pick a chancellor with the support of the Reichstag
    2. It was very difficult to make decisions
      1. Change took very long
  2. They were hated by many
    1. They had been forced to accept the treaty
  3. Some Germans joined parlimentary groups
    1. Freikorps
      1. Right-wing group made up of ex-soldiers who saw commumists as a threat
      2. They were out of Government control but Ebery used them to control a communist uprising
    2. Communists rose in popularity
5. How it worked
  1. President
    1. Elected every seven years
    2. Head of the army
    3. Chooses the chancellor
  2. Reichstag
    1. New German parliment elected by proportional representation
  3. Reichsrat
    1. Could delay measures passed by Reichstag
  4. Proportional representation
    1. Number of seats a party wins is worked out as a proportion by the number of votes they win
Unrest
1. Hyperinflation
  1. France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr
    1. Biggest industrial part of Germany
    2. Germany's industry was devastated
  2. Germany couldn't pay their reparations
    1. The Government printed more and more money
  3. The value of money dropped dramatically
    1. The middle classes lost out the most because bank saving became useless
    2. The German Mark was worthless
      1. Wages were paid twice a day because the value of the money changed so fast
      2. People burnt their money for warmth
      3. Wheelbarrows were needed to carry money for shopping
2. Riots and rebellions
  1. In 1919 the communists tried to take over Berlin
    1. Led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
  2. In 1920right-wing Freikorps took part in the Kapp Putch
    1. Led by Wolfgang Kapp
    2. Took over Berlin to form another Government
    3. Workers went on strike so Kapp gave up
      1. Rebels weren't punished
  3. In 1922 Walter Rathenau was assasinated
    1. Foreign Minister who signed peace treaty with Russia after the war
    2. He was Jewish
      1. Many Germans were now anti-Jewish (anti-Semitic)
3. Public discontent
  1. Most were poor and starving
  2. An influenza epidemic killed thousands
  3. Many Germans denied lodsing the war and blamed the 'November Criminals'
  4. Some blamed losing the war on communists or Jews
  5. Government was weak and ineffective
Nazis
1. Hitler
  1. Born in Austria 1889
  2. He was a brave soldier on the Wester front in WW1
  3. Won the iron cross twice
  4. Joined the German Worker party in 1919 as the 55th member
    1. Took leadership of the party
    2. Changed to National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis) in 1920
  5. Very charismatic speaker
  6. Mein Kampf
    1. Written in prison after the Munich Putsch
    2. Translates to 'My Struggle'
    3. He believed 'Aryan' races were the master race
    4. Said Austria and Germany should join
    5. Said he would reverse the Treaty of Versailles
    6. 'Lebensraum' - living space
    7. He believed other races were inferior
      1. Anti-Jewish
2. Rise of the nazis
  1. The depression caused massive unemplyment in Germany - over 6million by 1933
  2. The Wemar Government kept changing but couldn't solve the ecomomic problems
  3. Extremist groups became more popular
    1. Like the nazis
    2. Because they had storng leadership
  4. They apealed to small businessmen, the unemployed and the young
  5. Hitler made chancellor in 1933
    1. Largest party in the Reichstag
    2. Hindenburg thought that he could control Hitler
  6. Dirty Tricks
    1. Controlled the new media
    2. Oposition meetings were banned
    3. There was a fire in the Reichstag building and and Hitler blamed communists
    4. He was allowed Emergency decrees
    5. Used the SA to terrorise opponents
3. Hitler comes to power
  1. Hitler changed the law to keep control
    1. Hitler declared the communist party illegal
    2. He brought in an enabling bill in March 1933
      1. The bill let him govern for four years without parliment
      2. it made all other parties illegal
  2. The Night of the Long Knives
    1. Hitler was worried about opposition within the nazi party
    2. Hitler sent his men to arrest Ernt Rohm and others
      1. Ernst Rohm led the SA
    3. Several hundred people were killed
  3. Germany was now under strong leaders
    1. It was organsied into a number of provinces
4. Methods of control
  1. Persecution
  2. Propaganda
  3. Censorship
  4. Police State
  5. They saw the church as a threat
5. Opposition
6. Munich Putsch
  1. Aka. The Beer Hall Putsch
    1. Contained Government leaders
  2. Led by Hitler
  3. Attempt to overthrow the Weimar Government
  4. He anounced the revolution
Streseman - recovery
1. Chancellor of a few months then Foreign Minister
  1. He wanted international cooperation
2. Accepted the Dawes Plan in 1934 and introduced a new German Mark
  1. Brought Germany iut of hyperinflations
  2. Called the Rentenmark
  3. USA lends to Germany, germany repays Britain and France and they repay the USA
3. Signed the locarno Treaty in October 1925
  1. In 1925 the French and belgium troops left the Ruhr
  2. Won the Bobel Peace Prize
  3. The Western boarders of germany were agreed but not the Western
  4. Germany joined the league of Nations
4. Berlin became a center for culture
  1. Art
  2. Architecture
  3. Music
  4. Literature
  5. Films
5. He dies in October 1929 just before the Wall Street Crash

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Germany 1918-1945

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