Modern History Notes

1. Weimar Republic
Emergence of the Democratic Republic and the impact of the Treaty of Versailles
November Revolution • triggered by a mutiny in the navy ( spread to Kiel where sailors were joined by soldiers ( wanted democracy • 9th November ( announced the Kaiser had abdicated and a National Assembly was to be elected, to draw up a democratic constitution • the Chancellorship was handed to Ebert, head of the SPD ( called for elections for the Assembly 19th Jan 1919 • the National Assembly was by the majority a moderate govt. ( democracy and republic were popular • The Weimar Republic’s democratic constitution ( ▪ republic and parliamentary democracy ▪ federation of states rather than centralized government ▪ strong executive power with a president, acting as a balance against complete parliamentary rule ▪ proportional representation ( later blamed for collapse of democracy ( encouraged splinter parties, difficult to form strong governments ▪ article 48 ( president’s power to disband the Reichstag and rule by decree • Ebert-Groener Pact ( In return for maintaining military order, Groener allowed the army to be at the govt’s disposal ▪ short term ( RW army leadership supported a moderate LW socialist govt ▪ long term ( the G army maintained its influence to be a political force • Stinnes-Legien Agreement, Nov 1918 ( agreement between Industrialists and trade unions ( maintained order and stability • Friekorps ( ex-soldiers to counter LW attacks • Spartacist Uprising Jan 1919 ( Extreme LW wanted revolution like the Russians ▪ urged a counter revolution on the Ebert govt ▪ govt used Friekorps and army to ensure its survival ▪ caused a rift between SPD and communists ( Comm. would never forgive Evert for using the Friekorps ▪ divisions within LW ( rise of RW in 1930s
Impact of the Treaty of Versailles • the results of WWI came as a shock to most Germans • harshness of the TOV upset the German peoples • Gs thought it was unjust ( hatred of democracy ( decline of democratic parties in 1920 elections • Gs thought it was a diktat or imposed peace ( bitterness • Weimar coalition never again received the majority of the vote ( Weimar weakened as they were associated with the Treaty • Terms of the Treaty ▪ Military ( G army reduced, conscription abolished, armaments forbidden; Rhineland demilitarised ▪ territorial ( Alsace-Lorraine returned, lost Posen, Anschluss with Austria forbidden, lost territories ▪ reparations ▪ ‘War guilt clause’ • Effects of TOV ▪ bitterness and humiliation ( republic and democracy blamed ▪ Extremists used this to attack Weimar ▪ weakening of faith in democratic system ▪ economic effects ( instability ( TOV weakened Gs ability to pay reparations ▪ TOV failed to destroy G or make G the Allies partner
Political, economic and social issues in the Weimar Republic to 1929
Political
• Kapp Putsch 1920 ▪ extreme RW attempted to overthrow govt ▪ govt expected army to protect them ( army leader refused to intervene ▪ putsch failed ( general strike ( legal govt installed ▪ putsch highlighted the weakness of the govt without the army • Rathenau and Erzberger assassinated ( ‘November criminals’ • Role of the G army ▪ the army only tolerated the Weimar Republic as they feared disorder ▪ Kapp Putsch revealed the importance of army in politics ▪ 1920s ( von Seeckt’s reforms violated the TOV • 1923: Year of hardship ▪ govt faced political challenges from RW and LW ▪ end of passive resistance ( nationalist anger in Bavaria ▪ LW challenges to the authority of govt ▪ Munich Beerhall Putsch ( Hitler began putsch because of Bavaria’s wavering opposition to Stresemann govt ( failed as von Kahr was backed by army (leniency of Hitler’s trial revealed attitude of judiciary ▪ importance of the Putsch to Nazi movement ( H learnt power had to be achieved through legality; publicity ( increased following; needed support of the army • 1924 – 1928: Relative economic and political Stability ▪ Locarno Treaty 1925 ( G and France to never fight a war again ▪ League of Nations 1926 ( acceptance of G into international community ▪ Evans ( the apparent political stability was a mirage: “the political situation was looking extremely fragile” ▪ btwn 1924 -28 six govts were replaced • 1925 elections ( Hindenburg elected President ( many G’s were impressed with RW • the unemployed looked to extremes ( LW or RW • Stresemann’s foreign policy ( aimed to reinstate G in world affairs ( Treaty of Locarno and league of Nations ▪ signs treaty of Berlin with USSR ( good for G
Economic
• 1923 ▪ weak economy ( falling behind in reparations ( French occupation in Ruhr ( Passive resistance ▪ hyperinflation ( collapse of G economy ▪ those most affected were the middle class ▪ Stresemann called off passive resistance & stabilised currency ( focus now on inflation ▪ democratic govt lost credibility ( workers more open to LW ▪ fall of Stresemann govt • Economic recovery 1924-29 ▪ ‘good years’ ▪ calm and stability • Stresemann • The Dawes Plan 1924 ▪ reduce reparations ▪ economic alliance with US ( loan to pay reparations ▪ Stabilised economy ( factories built, unemployment dropped, public transport est. ▪ reliance on US loans ▪ nationalists believed the govt had sold out ( March 1924 elections ( increased numbers • The Enabling Act 1933 ▪ govt emergency powers with Article 48 ( currency reforms ( Rentenmark ▪ balanced budget, new taxes, expenditure cut ( ended hyperinflation and stabilised currency • Young Plan 1929 ▪ reduced final reparations ▪ to be paid to 1988 • Weaknesses of the economy • dependence on foreign loans • high unemployment • economic power in the hands of industrialists • agriculture depressed ( support for Nazis

Social • Welfare state • SPD supported welfare ( support from working class • trade unions, pensions set up • 1927 ( ‘Unemployment Insurance Act’ ( funds exhausted quickly when Depression hit • 1929 ( Weimar Republic lost support when taxes rose to support welfare ( turn to RW • women were granted a new freedom ( full equality, right to vote • Berlin became the ‘New Paris’ • Johnson ( outpouring of cultural expression was resultant from 19th century ( political system and class divisions which restrained culture ▪ new constitution ( tolerant • Kolb ( Gs were unaccepting of cultural freedom and less accepting of democracy
Collapse of the Weimar Republic 1929 – 1933
Weaknesses of Weimar • Revolutionary Origins • Political not social revolution • SPD feared Communism more than RW ( Ebert-Groener Pact • political violence a feature of republic • Constitutional weaknesses • highly democratic ( lack of democratic tradition • proportional rep ( no majority, weaker coalitions, parties rep interest groups not national interest • presidential power ▪ Article 48 ( in built authoritarian element ▪ used increasingly after 1929 • extent of powers in the states ( central govt not clearly defined • Republic connected with defeat and TOV • democracy seen by many as imposed on by the allies • republic responsible for signing TOV ( November Criminals • Structuralists ( doomed to fail, problems in the constitution and weakness in economy • intentionalists ( weaknesses but not doomed

Economic instability • democracy was weakened by economic challenges ▪ reparations ▪ occupation of Ruhr ▪ Depression • high interest rates • German industry relied on foreign money • start of depression ( nationalists felt Weimar had betrayed them ( 1929 -1933 support for democracy diminished • the right wing of politics and the govt’s opponents did not support democracy, so when economic crisis hit conservatives deserted democracy • collapse of democracy not inevitable ( if the depression hadn’t been so long and severe the Republic may have survived • conservative opponents ( army, big business, Junkers, key state agencies eg civil service and education system ▪ democracy imposed ▪ Weimar’s compliance with war guilt, and TOV ▪ Weimar didn’t bring them into order ( RW military groups not controlled
Impact of depression • economic crisis led to political • Bruning’s economic policy drove into deeper depression • psychological disillusionment ( extreme politics ▪ Hitler and Nazis were opportunists • conservative elites manipulated to get Hitler into power
End of democracy • 1929 Stresemann died • unemployment insurance scheme expensive • Muller and SPD wanted to raise taxes ( Hindenburg refused, Muller resigned • Hindenburg was surrounded by trusted advisors ▪ General von Schleicher ▪ Oskar Hindenburg ▪ Otto Meissner • Bruning as the next chancellor ruled using emergency powers ( end of democracy • democratic parliamentary government came to an end
September 1930 – Reichstag election • Bruning had to rely on Article 48 ( Reichstag dissolved and elections called ▪ polarization ▪ rise in extremes ▪ fall in SPD’s popularity ▪ Reichstag more difficult
March 1932 – Presidential election • Hindenburg’s presidency came to an end • Hindenburg gained majority • Bruning moved against Nazi gangs, banning SA
Fall of Bruning • seen as a failure in dealing with severity of depression • failed to end reparations • Franz von Papen appointed new chancellor
Death of the Republic • ended ban on SA • dismissed socialist govt in Prussia ( Nazi approval • 1932 elections ( Nazis had not enough numbers to form a government • July elections ( failure to gain chancellorship ( left-wing of his party gained greater influence ( alienation of voters ▪ popularity was lessening • Schleicher moves to have Papen removed ( failed to end depression • Schleicher appointed German Chancellor in December 1932 ▪ von Papen created a deal with Hitler ▪ Schleicher tried to nationalize East Prussian estates like Bruning ( removed from power • advisors around convinced Hindenburg to put Hitler as Chancellor
Reasons for the Republic’s demise • Weimar finished before Hitler’s electoral victory • result of the military and economically powerful right which wanted an authoritarian state • Oppositions from within ( antidemocratic forces • disillusionment with democracy • great depression • appeal of Nazism o Junkers supported Hitler ( despised democracy o industrialists offered financial support ( Nazis would resist LW o Militarists favored Hitler o support of peasants o young people supported Nazism
Impact of the Great Depression
Causes of the Great Depression • prosperity of 1920s based on foreign loans • welfare, low taxes, loans ( slow production and rise in unemployment ▪ 1929 unemployment 1.5 million – 3 million • New York stock exchange fell in October 1929 ( US banks recalled short term loans ( economic collapse
Social impact of the Great Depression • unemployment rose 1929-1933 to 6 million, 33% of workforce • physical and mental health ( malnutrition • unemployment and deprivation ( racial antagonism ( blamed gypsies and Jews • working class men faced women competition ▪ calls for women to return to traditional roles ▪ 1932 ( govt passed a law to ban married women if their husbands were employed • psychological disillusionment ( rise of the Nazi party
Governmental response • cut spending • increased tax • worsened ( took money out of economy ( decline in spending production unemployment • 1931 ( Bruning negotiated one year moratorium on reparations • Bruning’s emergency rule ( relied on right ▪ harsh measures worsened impact of depression ▪ wage and salary cuts ▪ lowering of prices ▪ cuts in spending and welfare payments ▪ tax increase ▪ measures to safeguard economy and public finances ▪ Keynesian theory ( needed to lower taxes and increase expenditure • banking crisis ( take out all money, credit controls
Political effects • depression led to political instability • four elections 1928 – 1932 • rise in extremes • DNVP, SPD fell • KPD, NSDAP rose
Historian’s perspectives • Shirer ( depression did not cause the collapse of the republic ▪ it gave Hitler the opportunity to take advantage ▪ “when the masses were unemployed, hungry and desperate…[he would] transform…into immediate political support for his own ambitions” • Childs ( sever economic effect of the depression on industry ▪ economic fears developed into political fears • Evans ( depression had a major impact on middle class ▪ unemployment levels increased ▪ Hitler gained the support of this group

2. The Rise of the Nazi Party
Rise of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) From 1923
The formation of the Nazi party • Nazi party’s aims ▪ revise TOV ▪ Citizenship to only those of German blood and not to Jews ▪ destruction of Communism • Mein Kampf ( ▪ German people united and strengthening of Aryans as a master race ▪ annihilation of sub humans, Jews ▪ complete faith in leader through the leadership principle Fuhrer Prinzip ( required mass supporters ▪ surrender of individual to community ▪ German expansion ( Lebensraum ▪ racially pure ( Volksgemeinschaft • support for National socialism ▪ unfocused ideology ( benefit ▪ rural support ( agrarian reforms ▪ unemployment ( relief ▪ army ( rearmament ▪ industrialists and business ( Nazis opposed communism ▪ young people ( a better Germany ▪ nationalists ( Germany’s greatness would be restored ▪ middle class ( Nazis promoted middle-class values stability, order, security
Hitler’s accession to power • political instability ( LW and RW refused to cooperate • only Stresemann prevented the DVP from mobbing to the right • conservative elites didn’t accept republicanism ▪ November revolution failed ( anti democratic areas in judiciary and bureaucracy ▪ army never loyal to the republic ▪ Hindenburg was surrounded by anti-Democratic advisors
Economic crisis • the economic crisis led to the appointment of Bruning in September 1930 ▪ Bruning did not win a majority and so had to rely on Article 48 ▪ A48 was used to enact a deflationary policy which actually worsened the depression • 1932 ( Hitler went into opposition with Hindenburg for the Presidency but failed • May 1932 ( von Papen took over from Bruning who had failed • July 1932 ( the Nazis gained 230 seats ▪ political polarization ( Nazi’s popularity grew and KPD’s increased ▪ Hindenburg refused to make Hitler chancellor despite him having the largest party • November 1932 ( Nazi vote fell and the KPD grew • Papen was removed in December and replaced by Schleicher • Schleicher wanted a RW coalition with the Nazis • Hitler became Chancellor and von Papen vice-chancellor January 1933 ▪ Hitler’s cabinet had only 3 Nazis + lack of majority in the cabinet
Reasons for Hitler’s success • AJP Taylor ( “the depression put the win in Hitler’s sails” • economic suffering and unemployment • democracy became discredited with the failure of the Weimar political system • Nazis stayed in the legal system • divisions in the left ( didn’t see the danger of RW • Broad appeal ▪ Junkers and landed gentry supported Hitler ( autocracy was preferable ▪ Industrialists backed ( anti-Communist ▪ militarists ( promised strengthened army ▪ peasants ( redistributed land, end debt ▪ young people ( exciting and radical ( September 1930 elections 18-30 were highest % • the Republic lacked a majority of popular support ▪ polarization of Weimar politics • middle class ( SOD blamed for TOV
Reactions to the Nazi’s success • Hitler’s appointment was met with great enthusiasm ( torch-lit parade, demonstrations of support • Nazi’s political opponents did nothing ▪ the LW were still divided by the Spartacist uprising • the Police force were very co-operative • University academics appealed for Germans to vote for the Nazis • 10 May ( Uni students and Goebbels burnt un-German books like ‘All quiet on the Western Front’ • June 1 ( Catholic Bishops welcomed the new regime • 12 November ( Catholic Bishops issued a statement approving the regime • February 3 1933 ( Hitler had to win the support of the army ( delivered an address ▪ remove Marxism ▪ enlarging the army ▪ called for General’s support for commitment
Initial consolidation of Nazi power 1933 -1934
Reichstag fire • February 1933 ( Dutch anarchist burnt down the Reichstag building • communists were blamed • emergency decree ( ‘Reichstag Fire Decree’ enforced • gave govt the power to restrict liberty ▪ free expression ▪ freedom of press ▪ association ▪ letter openings ▪ Nazis had power to deal with political opposition ▪ remained in duration throughout Nazi rule
The Enabling Act 1933 • March • The Act allowed new laws to bypass the Reichstag • gave the governing coalition the authority to pass laws • the Nazis appeared to be acting legally • Nazism exploited democracy to destroy it
Outlawing political opposition • June – July 1933 ( all political parties banned • Hitler gave the ultimate leadership role
Gleichschaltung
• February – July 1933 ( German institutions conformed to Nazi principles • closing down of independent organizations • rush to join Nazi party • radio ( it was used to influence people ▪ March 1933 elections ( Goebbels moved to ban all stations but Nazis • banned SPD, communists, trade unions • no effective opposition • Jews were banned from the civil service • legal appointments were controlled by Nazis • November elections ( Nazis were the only political party and so won
30 June 1934: Night of the Long Knives • Hitler needed to gain the support of the army • army leaders were concerned with Rohm’s organization to replace the army • Himmler of the SS organized an attack on SA leadership • the army believed that Hitler had dealt effectively with the radicals • troops swore loyalty to Hitler on 2 August 1934 • Hitler could combine Presidency and chancellorship • the army got a firm political leadership and the opportunity to expand • Hitler gained the backing of the army ( under his control • the violence with which he worked was approved of by the public ( they saw it as firm and decisive leadership ▪ Fuhrer’s decision to uphold law and order • Hitler revealed a strong determination • Hitler abandoned any commitment to the socialist aspects of Nazism

3. Nazism in Power
Hitler’s role in the Nazi state • Mommsen ( Hitler was indecisive ▪ influenced by his entourage ▪ weak dictator • Rich ( Hitler was the mastermind of the Third Reich • Hitler wasn’t interested in the state • delayed making decisions • dislike paperwork • lazy • post 1938 ( cabinet ceased to meet effectively • Hitler mistrusted the public service ( nazification of bureaucracy through the SS ▪ 1933 ( SS has administrative structures to replace the departments ‘incapable of political tasks’ ▪ Himmler still found it hard to exercise complete authority
Fuhrerprinzip
• authoritarian leadership ( Hitler along would lead ( end the democratic weaknesses • absolute obedience to Hitler • exclusion of non Germans who would pollute and undermine the German nation • Hitler determined the ideology ( Mein Kampf ▪ Fuhrer made the final decision • Social Darwinist approach to administration ( overlapping sectors meant people had to compete to assert themselves ▪ German Labour Front overlapped with the Ministry of Labour • ‘working towards the Führer’ • 1933 ( Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda led by Goebbels ( Hitler was more myth than man ▪ Goebbels associated Hitler with Germany’s economic and national recovery ( unemployment fell, wages grew, agricultural prices improved, TOV ignored • after Hitler became Chancellor he was seen as a saint • 1936 ( international statesman – remilitarization of the Rhineland • Hitler unified the German peoples • Kershaw ( Hitler’s impact resultant from Goebbels propaganda ▪ Hitler was nationalistic, abhorred communism, anti-Semitic
Nazism as totalitarianism • Totalitarianism is the government’s control of everything • the term came about in the 1940s-50s ( those in the west argued that there were extreme similarities between Hitler and Stalin ▪ if there were clear links between the two then this would be a propaganda victory for the west • communists argued that Nazism was an extension of capitalism ▪ the USSR’s role in eradicating the evil of Nazism would be celebrated
Totalitarian criteria • single party led by a charismatic dictator ▪ Hitler went unopposed in his leadership ▪ this was due to a lack of opposition post the Night of the Long Knives ▪ Fuhrerprinzip ( Goebbels propaganda campaign was to build up Hitler as something of a myth, sacrificing his own well-being for the betterment of the country • party ideology ▪ based upon the 25 points ▪ Mein Kampf ▪ eradication of the Treaty of Versailles ▪ volksgemeinschaft ▪ lebensraum ▪ Grossdeutschland ▪ supremacy of the Aryan race ▪ Nazi ideology was the basis of all considerations ( seen in foreign policy ▪ Mein Kampf was found everywhere, in church pews ▪ Hitler was deified ( propaganda campaigns, almost worshipped • state terrorism employed to maintain control ▪ Gestapo answered only to Hitler ▪ SS and SA under Hitler’s control ▪ oath of allegiance by the army to Hitler ▪ Hitler uses these organizations to spread fear ( the SA, SS, Gestapo ▪ people believed in Hitler ( they accepted the night of the long knives ( this made them reluctant to rebel ▪ concentration camps instigated 1934 • party control of the media ▪ Goebbels was appointed Minister for Propaganda and Enlightenment ( control over the radio, newspapers, film etc ▪ education was brought under Nazi control • Nazi control over institutions ▪ Gleichschaltung ( elements of German life were to be brought under control ▪ HJ ▪ Reich Chamber of cultures • party intrusion into everyday life ▪ Nuremberg laws ( forbade Aryans to marry or have relations with Jews ▪ people forced into the Hitler youth in 1936 ▪ pressures placed on women ( Kinder, kirche, kuche, medals for women • Nazism used persuasion and violence • propaganda and terror were two elements of the Nazi state • Goebbels ( “a sharp sword must always stand behind propaganda for it to be truly effective” • Overy ( Hitler had totalitarian aspirations ▪ believes that the Nazi’s infiltration into everyday life meant that people were controlled ▪ excessive use of propaganda • Burleigh ( Hitler’s regime used propaganda, ideology and terror to control people ▪ “invasive character of this form of politics”
Countering totalitarianism • the huge bureaucracy of Nazism meant that it as often chaotic and confused ( Himmler, Goebbels and Goring created individual institutions ( ‘polyocracy’ • Hitler sometimes had to work with the bureaucracy and army ( not fully under his control • Nazis did not nationalize all industries • evidence of other non-Nazi groups ( swing youth, edelweiss pirates etc • Confessional church established in 1936 • Hitler had a ‘hands off’ approach to leadership contrasting with Stalin ( Nazi propaganda played up the Hitler myth he was still seen as standing above Nazi policy • the government was inefficient ( factionalized, personal rivalries ( limited the totalitarianism • in the early years of the Third Reich the government was not totalitarianism ( it contained elements and later moved towards it • Kershaw ( totalitarianism limits the nature of the Nazi regime

The role of propaganda, terror and repression; SA and SS; opposition to Nazism
Propaganda
• March 1933( Hitler set up the Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda led by Goebbels ▪ controlled newspapers, radio and film • Reich Chamber of Culture ( controlled music, theatre, writing, art, architecture and literature • 1936 Olympics provided Goebbels with the chance to stage a propaganda show • Goebbels followed a number of rules: 1. stereotypes 2. creation of scapegoats 3. repetition 4. simple messages 5. ‘the bigger the lie, the better’ • Press ( ▪ Editorial Law of Oct 1933 ( newspaper editors had to follow government policy ▪ all journalists had to be registered and become employees of the state ▪ independent news agencies abolished ▪ all news stories in Germany were issues through the German News Bureau ▪ displeasing newspapers were shut down • Radio( ▪ most important medium for propaganda ▪ the state provided Germans with radios ▪ Hitler’s speeches and rallies were broadcast on the radio ▪ communal listening was encouraged • Cinema ( ▪ Goebbels believed this to be a powerful influential vehicle ▪ the film industry was heavily monitored by Propaganda ministry ▪ Goebbels believed that the best way of subjecting German people to propaganda was to be entertaining, but still have a message ▪ Hitler was promoted in films and newsreels ( image as a man who sacrificed himself for the nation ▪ films helped to perpetuate the Hitler myth • Rallies ( ▪ a large feature in Nazi Germany ▪ Hitler was able to understand the public’s feelings and thus manipulate them ▪ annual party rallies at Nuremburg ( got up to 400 000 people attending • Literature ( ▪ restrictions on books ▪ Nazis established public libraries with books approved of by the regime ▪ censorship ▪ May 1933 ( burning of un-German books • Art and architecture ( ▪ Hitler had an interest in architecture ▪ return to classic Greek and Roman lines ▪ Reich Chancellery in Berlin established ▪ House of German Art in Munich ▪ complex at Nuremberg for rallies ▪ these buildings suggested strength ▪ modern art was frowned upon ▪ paintings unacceptable to the regime were burnt ▪ art focused on expressing the National Socialist ideology and Volk • Music ( ▪ classical styles dominated ( Wagner and Beethoven ▪ Jazz and Jewish music was banned
Terror and repression • Nazis did not hide their use of terror • it was accepted by the peoples • Himmler gained control over police services by 1936 and created a centralized police system ▪ concentration camps were run brutally ▪ gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah’s witnesses placed in camps ▪ it was only from the 1930s that camps were for dealing with Jews ▪ by 1939 there were six camp complexes ▪ judicial system brought under Nazi control • People believed they were constantly being monitored ▪ spot checks were used to keep the population guessing • activities were publiscised ( terror was more effective if it was seen • Block wardens ( reported neighbourhood activities • Nazi justice ( ▪ suspects under ‘protective arrest’ ( imprisoned without trial ▪ death penalties increased ▪ 1934 ( People’s court established to try treason cases ▪ March 1933 ( Special courts to deal with ‘political crimes’ ( never a fair trial ▪ judges were appointed by the Nazi party
The SA and SS • Before 1933 ( violence was used by SA ▪ the SA ran the concentration camps ▪ After the night o the long knives ( only violence against political and racial enemies • the SS gained independence in 1930 and increased their power after the Night of the Long Knives ▪ took over concentration camps in 1936 ▪ by 1935 they had 200 000 members ▪ members had to have a racially pure background ▪ proved their loyalty by eliminating Rohm and the SA ▪ network of secret agents and informers ( spied on colleagues, neighbours etc ▪ the SS was responsible only to Hitler ( independently acted of the law • Gestapo Geheimestaatspolizei ( secret state police ▪ established by Goering in 1933 ▪ removed any opposition ▪ people believed they were everywhere, and this kept them in line
Opposition to Nazism • German resistance ( Widerstand ▪ hiding Jewish people ▪ printing literature ▪ clandestine resistance by the LW ▪ Hoffmann ( 46 attempts on Hitler’s life • faced little opposition after the consolidation of power in 1934 • German people accepted their rule as a betterment of Germany or openly supported • Gestapo records ( discontent • there was little political dissent ( Gleichschaltung • left wing were ineffectual • right wing supported the Nazis ( pleased to see the destruction of communists • Business owners and the army supported the Nazis • Centre Party ended in July 1933 • Youth opposition was limited
Socialists and Communists • post 1935 ( secret LW groups built cells over areas ▪ Eilbeck Comrades ▪ Rote Kapelle – Red Orchestra ( part of a European communist spy network ( Abwehr uncovered it in 1942
SA
• Rohm believed the army should be subordinate to the SA • ‘second revolution’ among SA leaders ( people still wanted the ‘socialist’ aspect of Nazism to take place • Himmler, Goebbels & Goring produced fictitious evidence of an SA plot to depose Hitler ( Night of the Long Knives ▪ Rohm murdered ▪ dissident SA leaders and rivals including von Schleicher and Kurt bon Bredow
Swing Youth ( • middle class • American jazz • grew hair and copied English fashion • non-political
White rose group ( • based at Munich University • spread anti-Nazi propaganda • caught and executed 1943
Edelweiss Pirates ( • attacked HJ • in war became part of the anti-Nazi stance
Military
• small number of German senior officers plotted to remove Hitler • of the Prussian officer class ( concerned about the moral destruction of domestic policy and adventurous foreign policy • Czech crisis September 1938 ( General Halder would arrest Hitler if he invaded Czech. ▪ Generals Witzleben, Count Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt & Hoepner promised support ▪ they visited Britain but were ignored
Conservative and elite • Hitler based his popularity on the masses not the elite • conservatives politically threatened Hitler • German resistance found in diplomatic service, the army and administration ( civil servants, senior military officers, international diplomats, jurists, intellectuals and ‘men of letters’ • Mommsen ( believes that greed and the need for power as well as obedience and fear prevented a defeat of Hitler ▪ Turner & Geary ▪ Industrialists approved of the destruction of the LW & trade unions ▪ businesses wanted to avert civil war & prevent communist revolution ( they accepted Nazi government ▪ army thought they could work in partnership with Hitler and the Nazis • Kreisau Circle ( Circle believed that National Socialism had culminated from a faulty line of development in Western history ▪ formed by former mayor of Leipzig Goerdeler ( in touch with former and current officials in foreign ministry & army command ▪ Colonel von Stauffenberg was a member of the circle ( masterminded the July 1944 bomb plot to kill Hitler at the Wolf lair - Wolfschanze ▪ failed to order anti-Nazi activists into action
Why was opposition to Nazism ineffective? • Gleichschaltung eliminated political dissent and opposition • effect of ‘Night of the Long Knives’ ( army on side, people understood terror • effectiveness of Goebbels’ propaganda ( Fuhrer myth • Nazis were popular with their domestic policies • effective use of terror and repression
Social and Cultural life in the Nazi state • Volksgemeinschaft ( united Aryan community for the good of the fatherland ▪ national unity ▪ racially pure Germans ▪ submission of all Germans to the will of the Nazi state ▪ all cultural expression were to be Nazi ideals

Role of the Hitler Youth • political indoctrination into the Nazi regime • under the control of the SA • appeal of the HJ ( Pinson points out a ‘Revolutionary Conservatism’ ▪ youth’s search for attachment to community and leadership ▪ the Nazis realized the power that the youth could have if they were indoctrinated • the Third Reich had to win the loyalty of the next generation • 1936 ( law passed that made the HJ compulsory for boys and girls 10-18 • physical fitness emphasized ( boys trained to be future soldiers • girls taught that they were to have many children • 1937 ( 90% of German youths in the HJ • HJ ( belonging to the community + propaganda made young people think that by being part of HJ they were helping the community • HJ ( discipline and conformity ( uniforms and meant that there was no distinction between rich and poor • compulsory attendance ( youth was controlled by the Nazis • hatred of the Jews • parental control was weakened • education under Nazi control ▪ teachers encouraged to join Nazi party ▪ Jews driven out ▪ academia became Aryanised ( emphasis on German physics ▪ history rewritten to glorify the past
Women
• women were excluded from political life ( women only made 6% of party membership • married women faced discrimination in the workforce ( 800 000 women left the workforce between 1933 and 1935 • women faced work restrictions ( couldn’t practice law or go to uni • “Kinder, Kirche, Kuche” ( ‘children, church, kitchen’ • women couldn’t wear makeup, smoke and were encouraged to be plump • Law for the Promotion of Marriages 1934 ( loans given if wife gave up their job ▪ ¼ of the loan was cancelled on the birth of a child • incentives for large families ( Gold mother’s cross ▪ population increase of 3 million 1930 – 1939 • family life began to break down as divorce became easier with racial incompatibility
Workplace
• trade unions abolished in 1933 • all workers had to join the German Labor Front ( lower wages, increased hours, lost the right to strike • labour directed with the 1938 Decree on the Duty of Service • 1939 ( labor shortage • Nazis had to loyalty of workers ( Bureau of the Beauty of Labor ▪ improved working conditions ▪ new canteens and facilities • strength through joy movement ( leisure for workers ▪ theatre and cheap holidays
Religion
• Hitler thought Christianity as weak and Jewish-inspired
Roman Catholic Church • July 1933 ( Hitler signed a concordat with the Vatican to safeguard German Catholics if the Catholics stayed out of politics ▪ however the Nazis violated the concordat and persecuted catholic organizations ( dissolution of the Catholic Centre Party ▪ 1937 ( Pope Pius XI condemned the Nazi persecution of the Catholic church
The Protestant Church • Hitler wanted to unify the Protestant churches into the Evangelical Reich Church ( caused divisions within the Protestants ▪ some formed break away churches in response to Hitler’s undermining of the Christian faith • the Confessing Church was formed to fight Nazi influence ( many were sent to concentration camps or fled
Why Nazism was popular • by 1937 the depression was over • there were labour shortages • success of foreign policy ( pride in the German people

Nazi racial policy; anti-Semitism: policy and practice to 1939
Racial Policy • falling birth rate was of concern to the Nazis ▪ 1933 ( Marriage Loan Scheme – money for furniture ▪ debt was cancelled on the birth of the 4th child ▪ families with large amounts of children – Kinderreich - received discounts • Eugenics ▪ 1933 ( Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Progeny ▪ 300 000+ Germans sterilized • Euthanasia ▪ September 1939 ( ‘mercy killing’ of those unworthy ▪ T4 ▪ killed 140 000+ ▪ use of gas for mass killings ▪ create a racially pure Volksgemeinschaft
Anti-Semitism
• Jews = volksfiend • number of Jewish business reduced by 2/3 by 1938 • 1933 ( boycott of Jewish businesses ▪ Jewish children removed from schools ( ‘overcrowded’ ▪ banned from working in public service ▪ banned from joining Reich Chamber of Culture • 1935 ( Reich Citizenship Law ( only people of German blood would be citizens ▪ Nuremberg Laws ( criminal offence the sexual relations between Jews and Germans ▪ The laws were carried out by the Gestapo who were outnumbered ( reliance on the public ▪ All Jews dismissed form public service • 1938 ( retailers could not be operated by Jews ▪ Anschluss ( Jews in Austria are subject to violence and discrimination ▪ June ( 1500 Jews in concentrations camps ▪ August ( Jews forced to place Israel and Sarah to name ▪ Sept ( Jewish doctors forbidden to treat non-Jewish ▪ 9th – 10th Nov Kristallnacht ( Nazi organized attacks on Jews • 1939 ( ▪ Jan ( Hitler declares that if war comes it would involve Jewish destruction ▪ Sept ( curfew ▪ invasion of Poland ( Jews subject to discrimination

4. Nazi Foreign Policy
Nature of Nazi foreign policy: aims and strategies to September 1939
Nature
• At first Hitler proceeded with caution ( needed to build u strength of his army without Allies becoming suspicious ▪ 1933-1935 • remilitarization ( more aggressive
Aims
• get rid of the TOV • unite all Germans ( Grossdeutschland ▪ annexing Austria in Anschluss ▪ taking territory from Czechoslovakia and Poland • lebensraum ( living space • eradicate untermenschen or sub-humans • these would be achieved by rearmament
Strategies
• remilitarization ( ▪ 1934 ( Hitler doubled the army to 200 000 ▪ 1934 – signed a ten year non-aggression pact with Poland ( Germany was supposedly peaceful ▪ built battleships and trained pilots ▪ conscription in 1935 ( increased army to 550 000 men • 1935 - Anglo-American navy treaty ( ▪ violations of the Treaty was endorsed by the British in the treaty 1935 ▪ Germany increased their navy to 35% of Britain’s • 1936 - Occupation in the Rhineland( ▪ March 1936 (Hitler marched into the Rhineland ▪ TOV indicated that the area was to be demilitarized ▪ Hitler broke the treaty ( sent 30 000 troops into the area ▪ GB and France didn’t want to go to war over the issue and the occupation was allowed ▪ Hitler was able to build a line of forts on the west wall ( defense + strength of Hitler • 1938 - Anschluss ( ▪ 1936 ( Germany made an agreement with Italy ( ‘Rome-Berlin Axis’ ( Mussolini would not interfere with Austria ▪ Feb 1938 ( Hitler pressured Austrian Chancellor von Schuschnigg into resigning ▪ replaced by leader of Austrian Nazi Party Seyss-Inquart ▪ Seyss-Inquart invited German troops to occupy the country ▪ 15 March 1938 ( Hitler announced the formal union of Austria ▪ persecution of political opposition and Jews began • 1938 - Sudetenland ( ▪ area contained three million Germans ▪ 1938 ( Hitler began convincing the German’s to rebel against the Czech authorities ▪ Nazi sympathizers stirred up trouble ( Hitler used this as an excuse to invade ▪ September ( Chamberlain intervened ( he said that Sudetenland belonged to Germany ▪ policy of appeasement ▪ Munich conference ( Chamberlain agreed to give Sudetenland to Germany ▪ March 1939 ( Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia ( took non German territory ▪ Britain and France decided to abandon appeasement and guaranteed to defend Poland • 1939 - Nazi-Soviet pact ( ▪ Hitler turned his attention to Poland ▪ Germany needed to avoid fighting on two fronts and so needed to make a pact with USSR ▪ August 1939 pact with USSR ( Hitler was free to invade the Polish corridor without worrying about Russia ▪ Germany invaded Poland on September 1 1939
Impact of ideology • Hitler’s ideas emanated from Mein Kampf • Lebensraum and Grossdeutschland ( ▪ purpose of acquiring Sudetenland, Austria and eastern Europe was for the German people to ‘preserve their racial identity’ ▪ To Hitler it was the German people’s destiny to take the rich lands of E Europe ( Aryan population to prosper ▪ German speaking areas Hitler annexed were to become part of Grossdeutschland • Herrenvolk and untermenschen( ▪ Aryans had to be kept pure ( expanding through Europe + overtaking inferior Slavs + establishment of Germans as a master race ▪ foreign policy ( lebensraum • TOV ( ▪ Germans despised TOV ▪ Hitler sought to undo military restrictions ( expanded army, reintroduced conscription and signed Anglo-German Treaty ▪ recovery of territory lost in TOV was also important ▪ 1933 ( withdrew from Disarmament conference and League of Nations ▪ remilitarization and rearmament ( put an end to the TOV and the shame it brought upon the nation