CAMBRIDGE IGCSE 0470 TEACHING NOTES

REFERENCES

B. WALSH, J. CANTRELL, N. SMITH AND P. SMITH

GERMANY, 1918-45
WEIMAR REPUBLIC

WEIMAR CONSTITUTION

KEY QUESTION:WAS THE WEIMAR GOVERNMENT DOOMED FROM THE

START?

The new Germany government was determined to set up a democracy or a system of

government where the leaders are voted into office by the people. The new constitution (set
of rules ) was drawn up in the peaceful town of Weimar in February 1919. It had the
following provisions:

 A Federal government: power was divided between the central government and the
provincial governments.
 President: He was the head of state and was elected by popular vote for seven years.
The President stayed out of the day to day government. However, in a crisis he could
rule the country directly through Article 48 of the constitution which gave him
emergency powers .The President could suspend the constitution, make laws, dismiss
or appoint a Chancellor despite the approval of the Reichstag.
 Chancellor: He was appointed by the President. He was responsible for the day to
day running of the government. The Chancellors selected members of the cabinet.
However, they were responsible to the Reichstag.
 Franchise and Proportional representation: Under the constitution, all German
men and women over the age of 21 could vote. There was a system of proportional
representation if a party gained 20% of the votes they also gained 20% of the seats in
the parliament (Reichstag).

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  Reichstag: It was the lower house of parliament, elected every 4 years by universal
suffrage, secret ballot and proportional representation. It could make laws which were
approved by the Chancellor.
 Reichsrat: This was an upper house comprised of representatives from the German
states which could only approve laws proposed by the Chancellor.
 Army: The last component of the constitution was the army. The President was the
supreme Commander of the army. The Generals in charge of the army were the same
men who had fought the war for the Kaiser hence many of them opposed the republic.
In the same vein the judges of the Republic had also served under the Kaiser and they
also had sympathy with those who were against the Republic.
WEAKNESSES OF THE WEIMAR CONSTITUTION
The President could use emergency power like declaring a state of emergency which became
a major challenge in the 1930s when Germany had been affected by the Great Depression.
The method of proportional representation encouraged the growth of smaller parties. It was
difficult for any single party to get a majority. Coalition governments were therefore formed
and they were short lived. Between 1919 and 1933 there were 21 different cabinets. Every
party had members in the Reichstag so it was difficult to form a strong government when
there were eight or nine parties in parliament.
The right to form private armies led to violence, notably from the Nazi party.

POLITICAL DISORDER, 1919-23

SPARTACIST REVOLT, JANUARY 1919
The Spartacists were a left wing group known as the Spartacus League. These were
Communists who wanted Germany to be governed in the same way as Russia. There leaders
Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht opposed the new German republic. On the last day
of 1918, the Spartacists renamed themselves the German Communist Party and made plans to
seize power.
The Spartacists tried to seize power on 5 January 1919. They occupied public buildings,
organised a general strike and formed a revolutionary Committee. The day before the rising,
Elbert had created a volunteer force of 4 000 soldiers known as the Freikorps, they were hard
men who hated Communists and liked a fight. After two weeks the revolution was defeated.
Many Communists, including Liebknecht and Luxemburg ,were shot after they were
captured .

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 IMPORTANCE OF THE SPARTACIST REVOLT
 The Spartacists revolt showed how unstable the new republic was when a mainly
socialist -government was attacked by an even more left wing group.
 The Spartacists revolt forced the new republic to seek the support of the army in
defeating the communists .In return, Elbert promised not to change the army.
 The Spartacist revolt was also important the army remained as it had been under the
Kaiser and gave little support to the new Republic .
KAPP PUTSCH (REVOLT ) 1920
In March 1920, a group of Freikorps, led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp, attempted to take power
in Berlin.The Freikorps hated Communism ,the Treaty of Versailles and the new government
that had signed it. They were also angry because the government had ordered all Freikorps to
disband. Dr Kapp was an extreme nationalist.
Kapp set himself up as head of a new government .His aim was to recover the land taken
from Germany by the Versailles Treaty. The government fled from the city. The army refused
to stop Kapp and his 5 000 followers.
The Putsch was defeated by the people of Berlin. Workers in the city organised a general
strike. As a result, Berlin ground to a halt. Kapp thus had to abandon his plans and fled to
Sweden. The government returned to Berlin.
IMPORTANCE OF THE KAPP PUTSCH /REVOLT
 The Kapp Putsch showed that the Republic had gained much support from the
workers of Berlin.
 The Kapp Putsch revealed the lack of support from the army. Army leaders had
blamed the republic for the armistice of 1918 and the humiliating peace terms of the
following year.

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 THE MUNICH PUTSCH 1923
[Beerhall/Bavarian/Nazi Putsch]
In 1923, Hitler attempted to seize power for the first time. On 8 November 1923, Hitler and
600 Storm troopers interrupted a meeting that was being addressed by Sustav von Kahr, the
head of the Bavarian government. SA men surrounded the hall and Hitler burst in holding a
revolver. At gunpoint, Kahr was persuaded to announce that he supported the revolution.
Hitler then announced that he was taking over the government of Bavaria. He tried to
persuade Kahr to support him but to no avail. Kahr was locked in a room from which he
managed to escape in the night.
The next day Kahr went back on his promise to support Hitler. Hitler tried again the
following day, 9 November, with about 3 000 supporters, some of whom were SA men.
Hitler was met by armed police called out by Kahr. Sixteen of the marchers were killed when
the police opened fire but Hitler stayed in the background and fled the scene. Sixteen Nazis
were killed and Hitler dislocated his shoulder. Hitler and Ludendorff were arrested and put on
trial for treason.
The putsch failed because the army remained loyal to the Weimar government. In addition,
Bavarian politicians also remained loyal and united. Lastly, Hitler‟s party was only small
with approximately 3 000 members.
IMPORTANCE OF THE MUNICH PUTSCH
Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison, the Landsberg Castle. However, he only served
less than nine months during which he wrote the MEIN KAMPF (MY STRUGGLE) which
became the Nazi “bible” The book emphasized:
 superiority of the Aryan race.
 creation of a Greater Germany.
 abolition of the Treaty of Versailles.
 Lebensraum. [Living space in the east]
 Anschulus. [union of Germany and Austria]
 anti-semitism. [hatred of other races particularly the Jews]
Hitler used his trial as the occasion to attack the Republic. The trial provided Hitler with
nationwide publicity. The court was sympathetic to Hitler.
The event gave Hitler considerable publicity as his trial was given national coverage in the
newspapers. Most importantly, the putsch convinced Hitler that his tactics had been wrong.
He now decided to achieve power by Constitutional means.

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This meant developing and expanding the organisation of the Nazi party, contesting seats at
general elections and building up a power base in the Reichstag.
THE RURH INVASION , 1923
By January 1923, Germany had fallen behind in its reparations payments to Belgium and
France.The French needed the money to help pay their war debts to the U.S.A. French and
Belgian troops marched into the Ruhr, the industrial centre of Germany, to take the goods
they needed , rather than waiting for the Germans to send them .
German workers in the Ruhr went on strike. Some workers sabotaged the pumps in some
mines so that they flooded and could not be worked. The French reacted harshly, killing over
100 000 protesters. (B. WALSH) The halt in industrial production caused the collapse of the
German currency.
IMPORTANCE OF THE RUHR INVASION
 The Ruhr invasion had disastrous effects on the German economy. The German
government had to print money in order to pay the strikers wages which increased
inflation.
 German industries and banks closed down.
 German mines and steelworks stopped production.
 There were shortages of fuel, power and food.
 Other surviving German industries ran short of raw materials, notably coal and steel.
 The Ruhr invasion united the German people against the French and Belgians.
 The workers were seen as heroes to the German people.
 The German government became popular because it backed the strikers and organised
passive resistance.

ECONOMIC DISORDER, 1919-23

HYPERINFLATION, 1923
In 1923 the Germany mark lost all value as a result of hyperinflation. The government printed
so much that it became worthless. The situation had come about because from 1921,
Germany had attempted reparations payment. As a result, there were not enough goods in
Germany hence the prices rose. Inflation was further worsened by the Ruhr invasion.
Hyperinflation was a disaster for most Germans but some benefited. Old people living on
fixed pensions which became worthless. Businesses and savings of the middle classes were
destroyed.

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On the other hand, those who had taken loans repaid them at a fraction of the cost. Many
rich businessmen took advantage by buying out smaller companies which were going
bankrupt. In addition, foreigners in Germany also could afford things that ordinary Germany.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS
There was general unrest. Armed mobs and workers‟ Soviets caused violence and led strikes
that became the order of the day. There were diseases, TB, scurvy and stomach disorders.
There was high childhood mortality. Some Germans were left homeless after World War
One. Some Germans were maimed during World War One. There were widows and orphans
after the war. There was hunger and starvation.

GUSTAV STRESEMANN ERA [1924 – 28]

(YEARS OF RECOVERY )
ECONOMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
Gustav Stresemann became Chancellor in August 1923. He introduced a new currency, the
Rentenmark. He also negotiated the Dawes plan which improved economic prosperity for
the Republic. Under the plan, reparation payments were spread over a longer period and
about 800 million marks in loans from the USA poured into German industry. Some of the
money was used to improve infrastructure thus providing facilities and creating jobs. By
1927, German industry had recovered well, wages for industrial workers rose and for many
Germans there was a higher standard of living.

In 1929, the Young plan was introduced which reduced reparations by over 67% (Waugh )
By 1930, Germany was one of the leading exporters of manufactured goods. In nearly every
town , new factories and public facilities sprang up. New roads and railways were built and
nearly 3 million new homes.

IMPORTANCE OF THE DAWES PLAN

 German industry was modernised.
 Coal and steel production increased by 120% in 1928 as compared to the 1913
level.
 Iron, coal, chemicals and electrical equipment industries boomed.
 goods were made available through mass production.

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  There was infrastructure development, roads, swimming pools, parks,
libraries, sport arenas, hospitals and schools.
 real wages for workers rose.
 working hours were shortened.
 social insurance was improved.
 health insurance was extended.
 trade with other countries grew.
POLITICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
The period 1924-29 saw a more politically stable Weimar government. There were no
revolts after 1923 . By 1928 , the moderate parties had 136 more seats in the Reichstag than
the radical parties . The Nazis gained less than 3% of the vote in the 1928 elections.
(B.Walsh)
After the 1928 election , the Social Democrats joined a government coalition with the other
parties who supported the Republic . The Communists also did less well in 1924 and 1928.
SOCIAL/ CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS
The 1920s saw a huge cultural revival in Germany. The key painters of the time, such as
George Grosz used art to criticise society. His painting, Grey Day was a comment on the
boredom experienced by most people in their everyday lives. Other paintings by Grosz such
as Pillars of society criticised the politicians, business, church and army leaders of the
Weimar period, showing them as callous and mindless.

The 1920s were a golden age for German cinema. The most famous playwright of the time
was Bertolt Brecht whose Three penny Opera was a great success. Actresses such as Marlene
Dietrich and her director Fritz Lang became the most celebrated. They produced epic films
such as Metropolis.

Berlin became famous for its night life. Going to clubs was a major pastime. In 1927 there
were 900 dance bands in Berlin alone. Cabaret artists performed songs criticising political
leaders that would have been banned in the Kaiser`s days. These included songs about sex
that would have shocked an earlier generation of Germans. The famous Bauhaus style of
design and architecture developed. Artists such as Walter Gropius, Paul Klee and Wassily
Kandinsky taught at the Bauhaus design college in Dessau.

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The Bauhaus architects produced designs for anything from houses and shops to art galleries
and factories. The first Bauhaus exhibition attracted 15 000 visitors.

HITLER AND THE NAZIS (RISE TO POWER)

The Nazis began as the German Workers Party, led by Anton Drexler. In 1919, Adolf
Hitler joined the party. Drexler soon realised that Hitler had the talent as a prolific speaker
who attracted attention and within months, he had put him in charge of propaganda. In 1920,
the party announced its Twenty Five Point programme and renamed itself the National
Socialist German Workers’ Party or Nazis for short. The 25 Point programme included the
following policy aims:
 The union of all Germans in a Greater Germany.
 Destruction of the Treaty of Versailles and Saint Germain.
 German citizenship to be reserved for those of German blood, Aryan race.
 anti-semitism.
 All citizens to have equal rights and obligations.
 Nationalisation of public industries.
 Profit sharing in heavy industries.
 Improved welfare for the elderly.
 Lebensraum.
 Formation of a strong central government.
 Encouragement of physical fitness, sport and gymnastics for the young.
 Special state provision for the education of gifted children.
 No more immigration of non Germans and recent immigrants to be expelled from
Germany.
In 1921, Hitler removed Drexler as leader. Hitler had a clear and simple appeal. He stirred
nationalist passions in his audiences. He gave them scapegoats to blame for Germany‟s
problems: the Allies, the Versailles Treaty, the „November criminals,‟ the Communists and
the Jews. His meetings were so successful that his opponents tried to disrupt them. To
counter them, he set up the SA (Storm troopers or brownshirts) in 1921. Their role was to
protect Hitler‟s meetings and also to disrupt meetings of opponents. Candidates must quote
their role during the Munich putsch. In 1925, Hitler enlarged the SA. About 55 per cent of
the SA came from the ranks of the unemployed.

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Many were ex-servicemen from the war. He also set up a new group called the SS. The SS
were similar to the SA but were fanatically loyal to Hitler personally. Membership of the
party rose to over 100 000 by 1928.

NAZI TACTICS, 1924-29

Nazi policies underwent a number of changes during the middle years of the Weimar
Republic. Propaganda, in the form of posters, pamphlets and slogans was used to promote
issues that were important to audiences. It was very much a case of finding out what potential
supporters wanted and devising policies that suited them. When the Nazis discovered that
they were picking up support among farmers, for example, they began to devise policies that
addressed their fears and needs. Hitler appointed Joseph Goebbels to take charge of Nazi
propaganda. Goebbels was highly efficient at spreading the Nazi message. Goebbels
produced posters, leaflets, films and radio broadcasts. He also organised rallies and set up
‘photo opportunities.’

Emphasis was placed on expanding party membership, which increased from 3 000 to over
100 000 and improving the professionalism of the party machine. Party activists were given
coaching and training in public speaking, and propaganda methods were refined and
improved. Hitler created a network of local Nazi parties which in turn set up the Hitler Youth,
the Nazi Student‟s League among other similar organisations. By 1929, the Nazi party was
well prepared to take advantage of any change in circumstances that might favour its cause.
The Wall Street crash and the Depression provided just such an opportunity.

Hitler participated in national elections. However, despite their progress in organisation,

membership and finances during the 1920s, it made little impact in the elections up to 1930.
This was because of the prosperity of the Stresemann years and Stresemann‟s success in
foreign policy that made Germans uninterested in extreme politics. As B. Walsh explains, “
The Nazis were in the wilderness…” They fought the Reichstag elections for the first time in
May 1924 and won a paltry 32 seats. In the 1928 elections, the Nazis gained only 12 seats
hence they had to look elsewhere for support.

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The Nazis found that they gained more support from groups such as the peasant farmers in
Northern Germany and middle class shopkeepers and small businesses in the country side. In
the 1930 elections, the Nazis got 107 seats. In 1932, they got nearly 200. They did not have
the overall majority but they were the biggest single party.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE RISE OF THE NAZIS

In 1929, the American stock market crashed and sent the USA into a disastrous economic
depression. The depression was a worldwide problem but the problems in Germany were
more acute. Germany was badly affected as American bankers and businessmen lost huge
amounts of money in the crash. To pay off their debts they asked German banks to repay the
money they had borrowed. The result was economic collapse in Germany as businesses went
bankrupt, banks insolvent, workers were laid off, unemployment became commonplace and
inflation skyrocketed.

The depression transformed the fortunes of the Nazis. Nazi campaigns in the 1930s became
more modern and effective. The Nazis greatest asset was Hitler owing to his gift of speech.
He was years ahead of his time as a communicator. Using films, radio and records he brought
his message to millions. He travelled by plane on a hectic tour of rallies all over Germany.
Nazi posters and pamphlets were found everywhere. The rallies impressed people with their
energy, enthusiasm and sheer size. Nazis relied on generalised slogans rather than detailed
policies ie „uniting the people of Germany behind one leader or going back to traditional
values.‟ The Nazis repeated at every opportunity that they believed Jews, Communists,
Weimar politicians and the Treaty of Versailles were the causes of Germany problems.

At this time, there were frequent street battles between Communist gangs and the police. In
contrast, the SA and SS gave an impression of discipline and order. Many people felt the
country needed that kind of order and discipline. The Nazis also organised soup kitchens and
provided shelter in hostels for the unemployed. Nazi support rocketed. For example, in
Neidenburg in East Prussia Nazi support rose from 2,3 per cent in 1928 to over 25 per cent in
1931, even though the town had no local Nazi party and Hitler never went there.

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TASK: FACTORS OR REASONS FOR THE RISE OF ADOLF HITLER
KEY QUESTION: How did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933?
NAZI STRENGTHS
 Hitler‟s speaking.
 Propaganda campaigns.
 Criticism of the Weimar system of government.
 Nazi policies.
 Support from big business.
 role of the SA and SS.
OPPONENTS WEAKNESSES
 Failure to deal with the depression.
 Failure to co-operate with one another.
 Attitudes of Germans to the democractic parties.
OTHER FACTORS
 Weaknesses of the Weimar Republic, notably political and economic malaise.
 Scheming of Hindenburg and von Papen.
 The impact of the Depression.
 The Treaty of Versailles.
POLITICAL MANOEUVRINGS, 1932-3
In the general election of 1932, with unemployment heading towards six million, the Nazis
became the largest party in the Reichstag, polling more than 13 million votes. The Weimar
Constitution stipulated that the leader of the largest party was to be Chancellor but President
Hindenburg had no intention of appointing a man he privately described as “ the vulgar
little corporal” Franz von Papen, leader of the Centre party was invited to form a
government. He found out that it was impossible to form a stable coalition and von
Schleicher, a former army General, became Chancellor in early December. At this point, von
Papen began to play the part of power broker in order to displace von Schleicher and return to
the position of political influence.

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Towards the end of January 1933, von Papen managed to persuade Hindenburg to agree to a
political deal whereby Hitler would become Chancellor with von Papen as Vice Chancellor.
Hitler was to be offered just three Cabinet positions in a total of 12 ministers. The calculation
was that without a majority in either the Reichstag or the government, any extreme Nazi
policies would be resisted. According to Walsh, “ Both Hindenburg and von Papen were sure
that they could control Hitler but they were wrong.” Hitler between 1933 and 1934 became
the supreme dictator through a combination of methods, some legal and many others,
dubious.

HITLER’S CONSOLIDATION OF POWER, 1933-34

Hitler was not in total control when he became Chancellor in January 1933. He did not have
a majority in the Reichstag and there were only three Nazis in the Cabinet. Over the next 18
months he removed the main opposition to his government and laid the foundations of his
dictatorship.

THE REICHSTAG FIRE, 1933.

On the night of 27 February 1933 came the sensational news that the Reichstag building had
been set on fire. Inside the building the police found a Dutch communist, Marius van der
Lubbe, who was arrested and charged with starting the fire. Hitler used this as evidence that
the Communists were plotting against his government.
On the night of the fire, 4 000 leading Communists were arrested and imprisoned. The next
day Hitler persuaded the President to pass an emergency decree. The decree gave the police
the powers to search houses, confiscate property and detain people without trial.

THE ELECTION OF MARCH, 193

Hitler asked Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call an election. The Nazis increased
their number of seats but they still had fewer than half of the total. In order to change the
Constitution legally, Hitler needed a two thirds majority. Hitler used the emergency decree to
prevent the Communists from taking up the 81 seats they had won. Hitler also retained the
support of the Centre party by promising to defend the interests of the Catholic church.

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 THE ENABLING ACT, MARCH 1933.
In March 1933, Hitler introduced the Enabling Act. This was the legal foundation of his
dictatorship because it meant he could now pass laws without the consent of the Reichstag for
the next four years. Using the powers given to him by the Enabling Act, Hitler removed
further opposition to the Nazi government. On 31 March, Hitler closed down the state
parliaments. In the following month, he appointed state governors who were all Nazis.

Next, Hitler turned to the trade unions. On 2 May 1933, Nazis broke into trade union offices
countrywide and arrested thousands of trade union officials.
The unions were then merged into a „ German Labour Front ‟ hence the Nazis would not be
threatened by strikes or other union activities.

Lastly, the political parties were brought into line. On 10 May, the Nazis occupied the offices
of the Social Democratic Party, destroyed its newspapers and confiscated its funds. By 1933,
only one party was still in existence, the Nazi party.

THE NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES, 1934

One of the greatest threats to Hitler‟s dictatorships came from within his own party, Rohm
and the S.A. In the early hours of 30 June 1934, Hitler arrived at a hotel in the Bavarian resort
of Bad Wiessee, together with Rohm and other leading members of the S.A, Hitler informed
Rohm and the other leaders that they were under arrest. They were taken to Munich where
they were shot.

Over the next few days other leading members of the S.A, such as Gregory Strasser, were
also arrested by the SS and shot. Up to 200 people were killed, including politicians such as
von Schleicher.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PURGE

 Hitler used the purge to tighten his control over Germany.

 Hitler had removed possible rivals to his position, Rohm and Strasser.
 The SS was now established as a separate organisation from the S.A.

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 THE DEATH OF HINDENBURG, 1934.
On 2 August 1934, just weeks after the Night of the Long Knives, President Hindenburg died.
Within hours, Hitler had declared himself not only Chancellor but also Head of State and
Commander of the Army. His new title was „ Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor.‟ On the same
day every soldier in the German army swore an oath of „unconditional obedience to Adolf
Hitler‟ Thus, only eighteen months after becoming Chancellor, Hitler had supreme power in
Germany.

NAZI RULE IN GERMANY

OPPOSITION TO NAZI REGIME

KEY QUESTION: HOW MUCH OPPOSITION WAS THERE TO THE NAZI

REGIME?

It would appear that the Nazis enjoyed considerable support between 1933 and 1942 but there
were isolated organised opposition during these years. Once the war began to go badly for
Germany, then opposition became more widespread and serious. The Nazis were opposed by
the following groups: Left wing groups, right wing groups, trade unions, youths, the
army and the church. Left wing groups such as the Communists and Social Democrats both
maintained underground networks after 1933. Anti- actions included the distribution of
pamphlets, deployment of posters and slogans and the printing of illegal newspapers. Right
wing groups such as Conservatives, notably the Kreisau Circle which organised secret
discussion meeting on how Germany would be governed after Hitler‟s removal. Membership
included army officers, aristocrats and professional persons. General Beck‟s plans to
overthrow Hitler during the late 1930s were implemented by the successful and bloodless
takeover of Czechoslovakia. When Germany‟s military fortunes changed after the disastrous
defeat at Stalingrad, senior army officers planned to assassinate Hitler. The bomb plot of 20
July 1944 failed and led to 5000 executions.

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Trade unions were banned officially in 1933 but some activists had links with left wing
groups and they continued their work in secret, organising strikes and demonstrations. Youths
such as the Edelweiss Pirates and Navajos provided a refuge for anti-Nazi teenagers. They
picked fights with members of the Hitler youth, distributed pamphlets and broadsheets and
scrawled graffiti on walls. Similar action was carried out by The White Rose, a group of
Munich University students.

A number of churchmen from both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches spoke out
against the Nazi regime. In 1941, the Catholic Bishop Galen of Munster spoke out strongly
against euthanasia, forced sterilisation and concentration camps. As a result of this, the
programme of euthanasia was stopped. The Protestant Pastor Niemoller was another
outspoken critic of the Nazis who formed a rival church to the Nazi Reich Church. He spent
eight years in a concentration camp.

METHODS OF CONTROL AND REPRESSION

HOW IMPORTANT WERE NAZI POLITICAL POLICIES?

In light of opposition, the Nazis attempted to control the German people through terror,
using the police state, by persuasion and employing propaganda.

THE POLICE STATE

Hitler set up a police state in order to remove any opposition to the Nazi government. This
means that the police had the power to do whatever they wanted. Hitler developed a number
of organisations to carry out this terror. Hitler used the SS who were led by Heinrich
Himmler on the Night of the Long Knives. They were carefully disciplined and wore black
uniforms. They had extensive powers to arrest, detain without charge, interrogate and search
and confiscate property. The SS were responsible for running the concentration camps and
implementing Nazi racial policies including the final solution.

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Hitler also used the Gestapo [Geheime Staatpolizei], secret police. They were set up by
Hermann Goering in 1933. By 1936, it was linked with the SS of Himmler. The Gestapo
were probably the most feared arm of the law.

The Gestapo was led by Reinhard Heydrich and their job was to search out opponents of the
Nazi government. They used informers to uncover any attempts to organise opposition.
Arrests could result in being sent to a concentration camp without trial.

THE COURTS

Nazi took control of the existing court system requiring magistrates and judges to take an
oath of loyalty to Hitler. Jewish judges and magistrates were sacked and replaced by Nazi
supporters. This meant that opponents of the Nazis could still be punished even if they did get
a trial. In 1934, Hitler set up the People‟s court. This was to try „enemies of the state.‟ By
1939, it had sentenced over 500 people to death and sent many others to concentration camps.
Capital offences were increased from 3 to 43 between 1933 and 1943 and the minimum age
for the death penalty was reduced to 16. Telling anti- Nazi jokes and listening to a foreign
radio station both carried the death sentence.

THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS

The SA and SS ran a number of new prisons called concentration camps. The earliest was at
Dachau near Munich. Others followed, including Buchenwald, Mauthausen and
Sachsenhausen. These were large scale prisons for critics and opponents of the Nazi regime,
though other groups were sent there such as gypsies, beggars, tramps and the work of the
work shy. Conditions were basic and the discipline harsh with many deaths from beatings,
torture or other forms of ill treatment. Prisoners were used as slave labour working in
quarries, agriculture and forestry. During the final solution, these camps were used for the
extermination of the Jewish population.

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 NAZI USE OF CULTURE AND MASS MEDIA
KEY QUESTION: HOW IMPORTANT WERE NAZI SOCIAL POLICIES?

Hitler realised the importance of propaganda at an early stage. In Mein Kampf, he set out the
best way of doing this. Essentially it was to put across a limited range of ideas time and again
and ensure other ideas gradually disappear. [indoctrination] In 1933, the Ministry of People‟s
Enlightenment and Propaganda was set up under the control of Joseph Goebbels.

PRESS

The press was closely monitored. Non Nazi newspapers and magazines were closed down.
Goebbels told editors what they could print. They were not allowed to print anti-Nazi ideas.
Within months of Nazi takeover, Jewish editors and journalists found themselves out of
work. The German newspapers became very dull reading and Germans bought fewer
newspapers as a result.

MUSIC AND RADIO

The classical music of Beethoven, Brukner and Wagner was particularly favoured. Jewish
composers such as Mendelsson and Mahler were blacklisted. Military style music was very
acceptable. Hitler banned jazz music because it was deemed „Black‟ music and black people
were considered an inferior race.

Goebbels also loved new technologies and he quickly saw the potential of radio broadcasting
for spreading the Nazi message. All radio stations were placed under Nazi control. According
to Cantrell and Smith, Cheap radios called “ The People‟s Receiver” were made available,
70% of German households had a radio by 1939. Radios were installed in cafes, bars and
factories whilst loudspeakers were positioned in the streets and other public places so that
important announcements and Hitler‟s speeches could be heard by everyone. Hitler‟s
speeches and those of other Nazi leaders were repeated on the radio over and over again until
the ideas expressed in them came to be believed by the German people.

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 CINEMA/ FILM

The cinema was popular with over 100 German films made each year. All film plots, factual
or fictional, thrillers or comedies had to carry a pro-Nazi message and were shown to
Goebbels before going into production. Goebbels censored all foreign films coming into
Germany as well. Films and plays were sometimes based on historical themes so audiences
could draw parallels with the Third Reich such as The Great King(1942) starring Otto
Gebuhr which depicted the life of Frederick the Great. More often the films were based on
love stories or adventurous exploits. Propaganda films vilified the Jews, such as Jews Uew
Suss (1940) or celebrated the wonders of the Nazi regime, The triumph of the will(1935).
However, there is evidence that Germans avoided these productions by arriving late!

RALLIES

Goebbels organised rallies and the most important was the annual mass rally at Nuremburg.
[Nuremburg rallies] The most spectacular of these events was the annual mass rally at
Nuremburg held over in four vast areas where they were entertained by military bands,
marches, flying displays and speeches by the leading Nazis. The purpose of these occasions
was to reinforce the personality cult of Hitler and to encourage loyalty and support for the
Nazi regime.

The Nazi calendar was filled with special anniversaries, Hitler‟s birthday, the founding of the
Nazi party day, War Heroes day which provided opportunities for celebration accompanied
by marches, parades, torch lit processions, speeches and pageantry. Spectacular parades were
held on other special occasions.

The rallies brought some colour and excitement into people‟s lives. They gave them a sense
of belonging to a great movement. The rallies also showed the German people the power of
the state and convinced them that „every other German‟ supported the Nazis.

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 POSTERS

Goebbels literally bombarded the German people with posters that carried the Nazi message
promoting the personal image of Hitler, encouraging Germans to buy radios, emphasising the
virtues of traditional family values, appealing for new recruits to the Hitler youth. Young
people were especially targeted. On “ one pot Sundays” families were expected to cook the
midday meal in a single pot and hand over the money saved to party collectors.

LITERATURE

All books were carefully censored and controlled to put across the Nazi message. Many
writers, artists and composers persuaded or forced to create works in praise of Hitler and the
Third Reich. Books written by Jews, Communists and anti- Nazi University Professors and
journalists were banned. In May 1933, Goebbels supported a public book burning event when
students in Berlin threw some 20 000 books, considered un-German or Jewish, on to a huge
bonfire. Books about war heroes, the achievements of Adolf Hitler or the importance of the
family were encouraged.

SPORT

The 1936 Berlin Olympics presented Goebbels with a perfect propaganda opportunity to
advertise the achievements of the Nazi state. The technical facilities were superb: a new 100
000 capacity stadium equipped with television cameras, a photo electronic timing devise and
a giant, mounted stopwatch that all the spectators could see. The performance of the German
athletes was impressive and Germany topped the medal table. However, in defiance of
Hitler‟s race theory, the black American Jesse Owens was the star athlete of games winning
four gold medals and breaking 11 Olympic records.

STRENGTH THROUGH JOY ORGANISATION

This was an offshoot of the German Labour Front. It organised leisure and recreational
activities for German workers, cinema and opera tickets, affordable cruises, hikes and other
holidays, together with a range of sporting activities.

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 NAZI EDUCATION

All schools were placed under the Ministry of Education in Berlin. This ensured uniformity
across the country and allowed a number of further changes. Teachers were required to take
an oath of loyalty to Hitler and join the Nazi Teachers League. The curriculum was changed
to take account of Nazi ideas. Biology and History lessons were particularly affected as
textbooks had to be re-written to reflect Nazi racial supremacy theories. Religious education
was scrapped and much emphasis placed on sport and physical education.

HITLER YOUTH

All young people were encouraged to join the Hitler youth. Under the leadership of Baldur
von Schirach, the Reich youth leader, the Hitler youth was organised into separate sections
for boys and girls and for different age groups. From 1936, membership became virtually
compulsory, though as late as 1940 nearly a million young people had still not joined the
Hitler youth.

For boys the Hitler youth was designed to make them into good soldiers. They were taught
basic military training and discipline which included drill, camp craft, map reading, cleaning
and firing a rifle together with a host of fitness training such as athletics, cross country
running, camping, hiking and trekking.

Girls who were fourteen joined the League of German Maidens and were prepared for
womanhood. They were taught domestic skills such as cooking, sewing and managing a
household budget.

Anti-Hitler youth movements emerged notably the Swing movement and the Edelweiss
Pirates. The Swing movement was made up mainly of middle- class teenagers. They went to
parties where they listened to English and American music and sang English songs. They
danced American dances such as the „jitterbug‟ to banned jazz music. They accepted Jews at
their clubs. They talked about and enjoyed sex. The Nazis issued a handbook helping the
authorities to identify these degenerate types who were shown with unkempt, long hair and
others with exaggeratedly English clothes.

The Edelweiss Pirates were working class teenagers. They were not an organised movement
hence groups in various cities took different names: The Roving Dudes (Essen): the
Kittelbach Pirates (Dusseldorf): the Navajos (Cologne)

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The Nazis classified all these groups under the single name, „Edelweiss Pirates‟ as the
groups did have a lot in common. The Pirates were mainly aged between fourteen and
seventeen. At the weekend, the Pirates went camping. They sang songs, just like the Hitler
youth but they changed the lyrics of songs to mock Germany. The Pirates included both boys
and girls. The Pirates were also much freer in their attitude towards sex, which was officially
frowned upon by the Hitler youth.

The Pirates activities caused serious worries to the Nazi authorities in some cities. In
December 1942, the Gestapo broke up 28 groups containing 739 adolescents. Nazi approach
to the Pirates was different from the way they treated other groups, sometimes they arrested
them, sometimes they ignored them. In 1944 in Cologne, Pirate activities escalated. They
helped to shelter army deserters and escaped prisoners. They stole armaments and took part
in an attack on the Gestapo during which its chief was killed. The Nazi response was to round
up the so called „ringleaders‟ About twelve were publicly hanged in November 1944.

NAZI POLICIES TOWARDS WOMEN AND FAMILY

Nazis believed in traditional family values: marriage, the raising of children within marriage
and the central role of women as wives and mothers. The Nazis believed in the family partly
because it gave stability to society but most importantly because it provided the best prospect
of raising the birth rate. The Nazis were determined to boost the birth rate because if
Germany went to war, then more and more German men would be required to replace losses
at the battlefront and work in the war supporting industries.

Marriage loans, worth about six months wages were offered to newly- wed couples; the loan
was then gradually reduced as children were born. Fertility medals were awarded to women:
bronze for five children, silver for six children and gold for eight children or more. Family
allowances were introduced whereby families received a weekly welfare payment for each
child; maternity benefits were also increased.

Under the Lebensborn programme, selected unmarried women were encouraged to get
themselves impregnated by racially pure SS men and donate the child to the Fuhrer to be
reared in a state institution. However, women were deprived of the vote and prevented from
sitting in the Reichstag. Women were either forced out of the professions or had their
numbers substantially reduced. Women were encouraged to stick to the three Ks, Kinder,
Kirche and Kuche ( Children, church and Kitchen)

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 NAZI POLICY TOWARDS THE CHURCH
The relationship between the churches and the Nazis was complicated. In the early
stages of the Nazi regime, there were some co-operation between the Nazis and the
churches. Hitler signed the Concordat with the Catholic church in 1933. It meant that
Hitler agreed to keep out of church affairs and allow it to control education in its
schools. In return the church agreed to keep out of politics.

Later, Hitler formed the Reich church which became official and he tried to force all
the Protestant churches to come together under the Reich church. The Reich church
was headed by the Protestant Bishop Ludwig Muller. Hitler also offered another
alternative religion to the churches, the pagan German Faith Movement.

Many church goers either supported or opposed the Nazis. The Catholic Bishop
Galen criticised the Nazis throughout the 1930s. In 1941, he led a popular protest
against the Nazi policies of killing mentally ill and physically disabled
people,(Euthanasia programme) forcing the Nazis to temporarily stop. Protestant
Ministers also opposed Hitler, notably Pastor Martin Niemoller who was one of the
high profile critics of the Nazis in the 1930s. Along with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he
formed an alternative Protestant church to the official Reich church. Niemoller spent
the years 1938-45 in a concentration camp for resisting the Nazis. Bonhoeffer was
stopped preaching by the Gestapo in 1937. However he became involved with army
intelligence opposed to Hitler and he helped many Jews to escape from Germany. In
1942, he contacted the Allied commanders and asked what peace terms they would
offer Germany if Hitler were overthrown. He was arrested in October 1942 and
hanged shortly before the end of the war in April 1945.

HITLER AND THE JEWS: PERSECUTION OF MINORITIES

Anti-semitism was rife in Europe but more pronounced in Germany. Hitler hated Jews
insanely. In his years of poverty in Vienna, he became obsessed by the fact that Jews
were well educated, held well paid professional jobs and ran successful stores and
businesses. This offended his ideas of the superiority of the Aryan race.

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Hitler also blamed Jewish bankers and businessmen for German‟s defeat in World
War One. He thought they had forced the Germany army to surrender. (Stab in the
back theory)
As soon as Hitler took over power in 1933, he began to mobilise the full powers of the
state against the Jews. They were immediately banned from civil service as well as a
variety of public services such as broadcasting and teaching. SA and later SS troopers
organised a boycott of Jewish shops and businesses which were marked with a Star of
David. In 1935, the Nuremburg laws took away German citizenship from Jews. Jews
were also forbidden to marry or have sex with pure blooded Germans. Goebbels
propaganda experts bombarded German children and families with anti-Jewish
messages. Jews were often refused jobs and people in shops refused to serve them. In
schools, Jewish children were humiliated and then segregated.

In November 1938, a young Jew killed a German diplomat in Paris. The Nazis used
this as an excuse to launch a violent revenge on Jews. (Kristallnacht) or Crystal
night. Plain clothes SS troopers ran riot, smashing up Jewish shops and workplaces.
According to B. Walsh, “ 91 Jews were murdered.” Hundreds of synagogues were
burned. Twenty thousand Jews were taken to concentration camps. This event became
known as the „Night of the Broken Glass‟

A series of measures against Jews were later introduced after 1939.

 Emigration (Madagascar plan)
 Ghettos
 Concentration camps (Death heads units)
 Wannsee Conference (Final Solution)
 Euthanasia programme. (Mercy killings)
 Progroms (Medical experiments)
 Einsatzgruppen (killing squads)

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 NAZI ECONOMIC POLICY AND RE-ARMAMENT

There was a dramatic fall in unemployment under the Nazis. This was due to a variety of
policies. The first was the Labour Service Corps which was a scheme to provide young men
with manual labour jobs. From 1935, it was compulsory for all men aged 18-25 to serve in
the Corps for six months. Workers live in camps, wore uniforms, received very low pay and
did military drill as well as work. Unemployed men were used to build government funded
roads, motorways, houses, hospitals, schools and military barracks. The brilliant economist
Dr Hjalmar Schacht organised Germany‟s finances to fund a huge programme of work
creation. The National Labour Service sent men on public works projects and conservation
programmes, in particular to build a network of motorways or autobahns by the end of the
1930. Railways were extended or built from scratch. There were major house building
programmes and grandiose new public building projects such as the Reich Chancellery in
Berlin.

RE-ARMAMENT

One of Hitler‟s most cherished plans was rearmament. From 1935, he introduced
conscription. All men aged 18-25 were compelled to do military service for two years.
Rearmament provided thousands of jobs in arms factories making guns, tanks and planes.
Many Jews were driven out of their jobs which then became available for other people. The
Nazis created jobs by giving government land to farmers and manufacturers in an effort to
make the country self -sufficient in food, raw materials and manufactures.

In 1936, he announced a Four Year plan under the control of Goering to get the German
economy ready for war. Conscription reduced unemployment. The need for weapons,
equipment and uniforms created jobs in the coal mines, steel and textile mills. Engineers and
designers gained new opportunities, particularly when Hitler decreed that Germany would
have a world class air force, the Luftwaffe.

NAZIS AND THE WORKERS

Hitler promised lower unemployment which helped to ensure popularity among industrial
workers. Propaganda praised the workers and to associate them with Hitler. Schemes such as
Strength Through Joy (KDF) gave them cheap theatre and cinema tickets, organised
courses, trips and sports events and even cut price cruises on luxury liners.

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Many thousands of workers saved five marks a week in a state scheme to buy the
Volkswagen Beetle, the people‟s car. It was designed by Ferdinand Porsche and became a
symbol of the prosperous new Germany, even though no workers ever received a car because
all car production was halted by the war in 1939.

Another important scheme was the Beauty of Labour movement. This improved working
conditions in factories. It introduced features not seen in many workplaces before, such as
washing facilities and low cost canteens.

Workers however lost their trade unions and many workers this remained a source of bitter
resentment. All workers had to join the DAF (General Labour Front) run by Dr Robert
Ley. This organisation kept script strict control of workers. They could not strike for better
pay and conditions. In some areas, they were prevented from moving to better paid jobs.
Wages remained comparatively low, although prices were also strictly controlled. By late
1930s, many workers were grumbling that their standard of living was still lower than it had
been before the Depression.

THE NAZIS AND THE FARMING COMMUNITIES

In September 1933 he introduced the Reich Food Estate under Richard Darre. This set up
central boards to buy agricultural produce from the farmers and distribute it to markets across
Germany. It gave the peasant farmers a guaranteed market for their goods at guaranteed
prices. The second measure was the Reich Entailed Farm Law. It gave peasants state
protection for their farms, banks could not seize their land if they could not pay loans or
mortgages. The Reich Entailed Farm Law also had a racial aim. Part of the Nazi philosophy
was ‘Bloody and soil,’ the belief that the peasant farmers were the basis of Germany‟s
master race. They would be the backbone of the new German empire in the east. As a result
their way of life had to be protected.

However, some peasants were not thrilled with the regime‟s measures. The Reich Food
Estate meant that efficient, go ahead farmers were held back by having to work through the
same processes as less efficient farmers. Banks were also less willing to lend money to
farmers. It also meant that only the eldest child inherited the farm.

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 THE NAZIS AND BIG BUSINESS AND THE MIDDLE CLASSES

The record of the Nazis with the middle classes was also mixed. Small businesses were
affected by big businesses. They struggled to operate. Big businesses on the other hand
benefitted immensely from the Nazi regime. They could no longer worry about troublesome
trade unions and strikes. Companies such as the chemicals giant IG Farben gained huge
government contracts to make explosives, fertilisers and even artificial oil from coal. Other
household names today such as Mercedes and Volkswagen, prospered from Nazi policies.
Large firms gained contracts from the rearmament programme and also benefitted from the
absence of trade unions and the elimination of the Communist threat.

THE IMPACT OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR ON GERMANY

Germans had no great enthusiasm for war as people still had memories for the First World
War. Germans were immediately affected by shortages of labour, food and clothing. Food
rationing was introduced in September 1939 and clothes rationing in November. Other items
in short supply included soap, toilet paper and tobacco. By 1945, food shortages had become
so acute that Germans had scavenged for food from rubbish tips and even ate the meat from
dead horses. Labour shortages became increasingly serious as many more men were called up
to the war front.

From 1939 to 1941, it was not difficult to keep up civilian morale because the war went
spectacularly well for Germany. Germany was in control of much of western and eastern
Europe and supplies of luxury goods flowed into Germany from captured territories.

The turning point in the war occurred during the winter of 1941-2 when the German army
suffered its first serious reverses against the Russians. Hitler took a massive gamble of
invading the Soviet Union. As the tide turned against the German armies, civilians found
their lives increasingly disrupted. Goebbels redoubled his censorship efforts and ordinary
Germans donated an estimated 1,5 million fur coats to help to clothe the German army in
Russia. In 1944, Goebbels reduced rail and postal services, the closing of all places of
popular entertainment, except cinema and the raising of the age limit for compulsory female
labour to 50 years.

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In 1944, some army officers came close to removing Hitler. ( July bomb plot) One of the
Colonel in the army, Count von Stauffenberg left a bomb in Hitler‟s Conference room. The
plan was to kill Hitler, close down the radio station, round up the leading up the other leading
Nazis and take over Germany. It failed on all accounts as it was poorly planned. Hitler
survived and the Nazis took a terrible revenge, killing 5 000 in reprisals.

The killing of Jews began in 1941.(FINAL SOLUTION) The executioners were a branch of
the SS, the Einsatzgruppen, who followed the German armies as they marched eastwards
during the invasion of Soviet Russia. According to Cantrell, “ Approximately 800 000 Jews
were killed, mainly by shooting, at this stage in the war.” At the Wannsee Conference in
January 194, the decision was taken to eliminate all European Jews. This was to be achieved
by evacuating all Jews by rail to a number of remotely located extermination camps in Poland
such as Chelmo, Treblinka and Auschwitz. Death camps were equipped with gas chambers
and crematoria. In total the Nazis killed about 6 million through gassing, shooting, working
to death or starvation. The work was kept secret and the Nazis tried to cover up their
murderous activities during the final stages of the war.

With defeat looming, support for the Nazis weakened. Germans stopped declaring food they
had. They stayed away from the Nazi rallies. They refused to give the „Heil Hitler‟ salute
when asked to do so. Himmler even contacted the Allies about possible peace terms.

It was the bombing of Germany which had the most dramatic effect on the lives of German
civilians. In 1942, under Arthur „Bomber‟ Harris, the British began an all- out assault on both
industrial and residential areas of all the major German cities. The bombing escalated through
the next three years, culminating in the bombing of Dresden in February 1945 which killed
between 35 000 and 150 000 people in two days. By 1945, the German people were in a
desperate state. Food supplies were dwindling. Already 3,5 million German civilians had
died. Refugees were fleeing the advancing Russian armies in the east. Three months after the
massive destruction of Dresden, Germany‟s war was over. Hitler, Goebbels and other Nazi
war leaders committed suicide or were captured. Germany surrendered. Nazi promises lay in
tatters and the country was divided up into zones of occupation run by the British, French, US
and Soviet forces.

CHAIRMAN MAO 2020

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