ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES The examiners expect you to:
• recall, select, organize and show your knowledge about a specific topic; • show that you understand:
• change & continuity, cause & consequence, similarity & difference; • the motives, emotions, intentions and beliefs of individuals in history;
• understand, interpret and use different sources as evidence of certain events, individuals or groups.
Your exam is made up of three papers: Papers 1, 2 & 4: • Paper 1 : (1 hour 45 minutes – divided into 2 sections)
• Section A has 4 questions about 20th century history, answer any 2, • Section B is about Germany (1919-1945) and there are 2 questions, do 1.
All the questions are structured into 3 parts and will be based on stimulus material i.e. there will be a picture or written source at the beginning of each question.
• Paper 2 : (2 hours – only 1 topic)
• 20th century topic: The Treaty of Versailles • Paper 4 :
• Do any one question on Germany 1919-1945 IGCSE HISTORY
The 20
th Century – International Relations since 1919 BIG QUESTION: Were the peace treaties (1919-23) fair?
• What were the motives and aims of the Big Three at Versailles? • Why did all the victors not get everything they wanted?
• What was the impact of the peace treaty on Germany up to 1923? • Could the treaties be justified at the time?
• Peace treaties of 1919-23
• Roles of individuals like Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George on the peacemaking process
• The impact of the treaties on the defeated countries • Modern opinions about the treaties
---BIG QUESTION: To what extent was the League of Nations a success?
• How successful was the League in the 1920’s?
• How far did weaknesses in the League’s organization make failure inevitable? • How far did the Depression make the work of the League more difficult? • How successful was the League in the 1930’s?
• League of Nations: strengths and weaknesses in its structure and organization • Successes and failures in peacekeeping during the 1920’s
• The impact of the Great Depression on the work of the League after 1929 • The failures of the League in the 1930’s, including Manchuria and Abyssinia ---BIG QUESTION: Why had international peace collapsed by 1939?
• What were the long-term consequences of the 1919-23 peace treaties? • What were the consequences of the failures of the League in the 1930’s? • How far was Hitler’s foreign policy to blame for the outbreak of war in 1939? • Was the policy of appeasement justified?
• How important was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
• Why did Britain and France declare war on Germany in September 1939? • The collapse of international order in the 1930’s
• The increasing militarism of Germany, Italy and Japan (Axis Powers)
• Hitler’s foreign policy to 1939: the Saar, remilitarization of the Rhineland, Anschluss with Austria, appeasement crises over Czechoslovakia and Poland
• The outbreak of war
---BIG QUESTION: Who was to blame for the Cold War?
• Why did the USA-USSR alliance begin to break down in 1945? • How had the USSR gained control of Eastern Europe by 1948? • How did the USA react to Soviet expansionism?
• What were the consequences of the Berlin Blockade?
• The origins of the Cold War: the 1945 summit conferences and the breakdown of the USA-USSR alliance in 1945-6
• Soviet expansionism into Eastern Europe to 1948 and American reactions to it • The occupation of Germany and the Berlin Blockade
---BIG QUESTION: How effectively did the USA contain the spread of Communism?
• America and events in Cuba, 1959-62 • American involvement in Vietnam
• Events of the Cold War: American involvement in Cuba from 1959 until 1962, reactions to the Cuban Revolution, the missile crisis and its aftermath & involvement in Vietnam
---BIG QUESTION: How secure was the USSR’s control over Eastern Europe, 1948-1989?
• Why was there opposition to Soviet control in Hungary 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968, and how did the USSR react to this opposition?
• How similar were events in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968)? • Why was the Berlin Wall built in 1962?
• What was the significance of Solidarity in Poland for the decline of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe?
• How far was Gorbachev personally responsible for the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe?
• Soviet power in Eastern Europe: resistance to Soviet power in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968)
• Berlin Wall
• Solidarity in Poland
• Gorbachev and the collapse of the Soviet Empire
---CASE STUDY: Germany, 1919 – 1945
Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the start?
• How did Germany emerge from defeat at the end of WW I? • What was the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on the Republic? • To what extent did the Republic recover after 1923?
• What were the achievements of the Weimar Period? Why was Hitler able to dominate Germany by 1934? • What did the Nazi Party stand for in the 1920’s? • Why did the Nazi’s have little success before 1930? • Why was Hitler able to become Chancellor by 1933? • How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34?
The Nazi regime: how effectively did the Nazi’s control Germany from 1933-45? • How much opposition was there to the Nazi regime?
• How effectively did the Nazi’s deal with the political opponents? • How did the Nazi’s persecute any groups in Germany society? • Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state?
The Nazi regime: what was it like to live in Nazi Germany? • How did young people react to the Nazi regime?
• How successful were Nazi policies towards women and the family? • Did most people in Germany benefit from Nazi rule?
• How did the coming of war change life in Nazi Germany?
---Sources
Primary Sources: Primary sources are contemporary to the time studied (From that time).
Secondary Sources: These sources come from after the time being studied. They are not contemporary. Newspapers: Newspapers are both primary and secondary. The photographs are primary, but the reports are not usually written by eyewitnesses, so are secondary. Therefore they contain both primary and secondary sources. Definition of a newspaper: ‘It should be an accurate account of what happened in the world, yesterday.’ This brings the conclusion that newspapers are mainly secondary.
Reminiscences: When people reminisce, they are primary to the event, but what they say is secondary to the event. Reminiscences are unreliable for three reasons: exaggeration, lies and omission (they forget).
Autobiographical Sources: Autobiographical Sources are seldom secondary: They are usually primary sources.
Sources in the 20th Century: There is a multitude of new sources, mainly audio-visual archive material. There are many computer data formats. There is also more literacy leading to more records. There is such a flood of evidence, it is difficult to sift through it all. Fraud is easier this century. Sources can often contradict, and the state confidentiality on its documents makes research difficult. As we have not finished living the events, it is difficult to write about the results.
Cartoon Symbolism Countries
Britain: Is usually represented by a John Bull figure (fat, prosperous, frock coat, gaiters, crumpled hat, Union Jack waistcoat) or by a Lion
USA: She is usually shown as Uncle Sam (tall and thin, tall hat, wispy beard, striped trousers, stars on waistcoat) or by an eagle.
France: The typical symbol is either a cockerel or a girl revolutionary whose most
characteristic garment is a pixie-style hat with a three-coloured cockade (roseta).
Germany: Its usual figure up to the First World War is the Kaiser with a big moustache in his military greatcoat and spiked, ‘pickel-haub’ helmet. Afterwards, of course, the typical Hitler figure and the swastika dominate.
Russia: This country will be shown as a Cossack or other fur-hatted figure, sometimes drawn to resemble the Tsar (pre-1917), as a menacing figure, worker or soldier, featuring the Hammer and Sickle since the Revolution, or as a bear at any time.
Italy: She is often shown as a young sailor in the past, though the Mussolini image dominates the inter-war years.
Japan: The symbol for this country is the rising sun, but during her militaristic era she was also depicted as a ferocious, sword-wielding samurai warrior.
China: This nation is shown as a pigtailed Chinese man with a long and flowing
moustache, but is now characterized by the Chairman Mao figure in the typical gray unisex pants and jackets.
Other symbols
Some other symbols which might appear are the fasces, a bundle of twigs bound together with an axe, representing Fascist Italy, or a single star on military equipment, which would be red in fact (though hardly so on an exam paper.) This indicates the Soviet or ‘red’ army.
Colours
Colours are often used or referred to in cartoons. The red, amber, green sequence of traffic lights may amber represent danger, warning and safety. Red also stands for Communism, especially Russian. Black and white (regrettably for the anti-racist lobby!) tend to stand for Darkness/Evil and Light/Good
respectively. Black also represents Fascism (Mussolini’s Blackshirts and Hitler’s SS) and is supported by brown (Hitler’s SA). YellowYellow means Japan or China.
Animals
Animals other than those specific to countries (see above) which may be used are the snake (evil or danger), the rabbit (innocence or vulnerability) the donkey (stupidity), the raven (danger or death), the dove, with or without an olive branch (peace), the horse (dogged determination, persistence or hard work), the pig, (brutality), the sheep (docility or inability to think for oneself) and the cow (docility or stupidity).
Flowers
Changes in the Map of Europe (1914-1923)
(Refer to the maps showing Europe in 1914 and 1919 in your textbooks.)
The peace treaties that ended the First World War (1914-1918) altered the political map of Europe.
Allies Central Powers (*)
Great Britain Germany
France Austria-Hungary
Russia (†) Bulgaria
Belgium Turkey
Italy (changed sides May 1915) USA (joined 1917)
(*) The central powers were punished, they had to lose land and they had to pay reparations (payment for war damages)
(†) Russia was also punished in 1919 because the Allies felt betrayed when Russia left the War early (3/3/1918, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
German Losses
France regained Alsace-Lorraine. Posen-West Prussia went to Poland, forming a corridor to the coast. Northern Schleswig was given to Denmark. Troppau was given to Czechoslovakia. Austria and Germany were NOT allowed to unite.
Austro-Hungarian Losses
Bulgarian Losses
Bulgaria loses Western Thrace to Greece. Turkish Losses
Two treaties were signed with Turkey, in the first she lost land to Greece, and in the second it was returned.
Russian Losses
Russia lost land to recreate Poland, and four countries became independent. Three were the Baltic States, and the other was Finland.
Austria and Hungary became two small, landlocked republics, Habsburg land was used to create two new states: Czechoslovakia in the north, and Yugoslavia in the south. Yugoslavia was formed from Austria and Serbia. Other countries gained land. Romania got Transylvania, and roughly doubled in size. Poland gained Galicia, Italy gained the Southern Tyrol.
Treaties at the End of the First World War
• Treaty of Versailles with Germany - 28th June 1919 • Treaty of St. Germain with Austria - 10th September 1919 • Treaty of Trianon with Hungary - 1920
• Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria - 27th November 1919 • Treaty of Sevres with Turkey - 1920
• Treaty of Lausanne with Turkey - 1923
The first five were named after palaces, and were also diktats. The last was the only negotiated treaty. (A “diktat” is an imposed, unilateral document.)
The Treaty of Versailles – 28th June 1919 Introduction
By 1918 Germany was suffering defeat in most areas of the war. The German nation was hungry, war weary and demanded peace. The German government eventually asked for an armistice, and on 11/11/1918, cease-fire began. The problem of peace remained. Many people hoped that a peace settlement would prevent war from happening again. US President Wilson thought that he had the answer to all Europe’s problems. He stated his views in ‘Fourteen Points’.
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
On January 8th, 1918, Wilson outlined his peace proposals to the American Congress. These became known as the ‘Fourteen Points’ and ‘Four principles’. On November 5th, 1918, Wilson sent a note to the Germans. The Germans agreed to an armistice and expected a peace settlement to be based upon the Fourteen points.
Of the fourteen points these were the most important:
• There were to be no secret treaties between powers like the treaties that had helped to cause the First World War. (Open Diplomacy)
• Seas should be free in peace and in war to ships of all nations (Freedom of Navigation)
• The barriers to trade between countries such as custom duties should be removed (Free trade) • All countries should reduce their armed forces to the lowest possible levels (Multilateral
disarmament.)
• The national groups in Europe should, wherever possible, be given their independence. Wilson supported the idea of National Self-Determination (NSD), whereby a nation had the right to self-government.
• Russia should be allowed to operate whatever government it wanted. • Territorial changes:
• Germany should give up Alsace-Lorraine and any lands taken away during the war. • The Italian frontier should be readjusted.
• Belgium should be evacuated.
• Poland should be given access to the sea.
• The defeated nations should not be made to pay for the war as a whole. • A ‘League of Nations’ should be formed to protect world peace in the future.
Most of the points are very general: not all of them stated specific changes. Britain and France considered the points as being too impractical, they thought that Wilson was hoping for far too much.
They had used much of their wealth on the war, and France had suffered two German invasions (1870 & 1914). France wanted to ensure that a third attack would never take place, and wanted Germany to be reduced to a minor European State. (The ideal situation would be of course NO GERMANY!!)
The Paris Peace Conference
The terms for peace were discussed in Paris from 18th January 1919 until June.
The conference was attended by thirty-two states, but the major powers dominated the conference: Japan, Italy (Orlando), France (Georges Clemenceau, the Old Tiger), Britain (Lloyd George) and the USA (Wilson).
‘The Big Three’ – Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George made all the major decisions. Germany and the defeated states were not invited to attend the conference.
Peace was difficult to make because of the widescale disruption to Europe during the war and the general unrest that existed while the peace conference sat. When the Versailles Treaty was signed, few of Wilson’s fourteen points were adhered to, though a ‘League of Nations’ was set up.
German Land Losses
(Refer to the map in your textbook showing German land losses.)
Clemenceau wanted to make sure that France was secure from German attack and so demanded that her northeastern boundary was safe.
• Germany therefore lost Alsace-Lorraine.
• The Rhineland was demilitarised so that French borders were secure. • Three frontier areas were given to Belgium.
• Northern Schleswig went to Denmark
• Troppau was transferred to Czechoslovakia.
• Poland gained West Prussia and Posen. This made up a ‘corridor’, giving Poland access to the Baltic Sea. Poland also gained half of Silesia.
• East Prussia was separated from Germany.
• The League of Nations took control of certain areas:
• Industrial area of the Saar (Germany regained it in 1935).
• Port of Memel taken from Germany (annexed by Lithuania, 1923). • Danzig made a free city under the control of the League of Nations.
• All Germany’s gains at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (3rd March 1918) were surrendered. Germany had made considerable gains when Russia made peace.
• Germany lost all of her overseas colonies covering a total of approx 2,000,000 square kilometres. Britain gained Tanganyika in East Africa, part of Togoland and the Cameroons. The remaining African colonies were shared between Belgium and South Africa.
• In the Pacific, German possessions were shared between Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
• The union (Anschluss) of Austria and Germany was forbidden.
As a result of these losses, Germany’s total territorial losses amounted to 28,000 square miles, and six million people.
• The German army was reduced to 100,000 men, and conscription (obligatory military service) was illegal.
• No tanks, aircraft or heavy artillery were to be manufactured for the German armed forces – no weapons/military equipment.
• German navy reduced to: six battleships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers, and twelve torpedo boats.
Economic Losses
The German steel industry depended on coal from the Saar, and iron ore from Alsace-Lorraine. Germany lost both of these areas. Germany also lost coalmines in Upper Silesia, to Poland.
Reparations (compensation payment for war damages)
This was a very difficult and delicate problem to solve. A Reparations Commission was established to decide how many goods and how much money Germany should pay.
The figure £6,600 million was eventually agreed upon. Some people thought this figure was too high. J.M. Keynes (a British economist) said that Germany would only become poorer and bitter. He was right. War Guilt Clause
This refers to Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, which placed the blame for all losses received by the Allies in the First World War, on Germany. The treaty also specifically asked that Kaiser be brought on trial. Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to Holland in 1918, and the Dutch refused to release him.
The Signing of the Treaty of Versailles
The terms of the treaty were presented to the Germans and they complained of its severity. The Germans were given three weeks to prepare their formal complaint. The Germans complained about nearly every clause. The allies ignored all but a few complaints.
With no other option, the Germans signed the treaty. ‘Peace’ was signed in the Hall of Mirrors, at Versailles. The Germans felt cheated by this treaty, because virtually none of Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ had been included in the treaty. The Germans called the treaty a ‘diktat’ because it was dictated to them, without real consultation. The Weimar government, especially Ebert who had signed the treaty, was looked upon as traitorous.
Reaction of Britain, France and the USA
Most people in Britain had wanted revenge and so had gained some satisfaction. Lloyd George was satisfied that Britain had gained most of Germany’s colonies, so that after 1919, Britain could recover its wealth and power. France, however, was not satisfied that Germany had been weakened enough. A high-ranking French officer said in 1919: ‘This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty-one years’. By this he meant Germany had not been weakened enough and would rise again in twenty-one years. He predicted Germany’s rise correctly. Britain and America promised help to France should Germany threaten her in the future. Most remarkable of all, the USA refused to ratify the treaty. Wilson was a Democrat. The republican part in America opposed Wilson’s involvement in Europe, and in the autumn of 1918, the Republicans had a majority in Congress. Congress refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles because:-
• Republicans were against Democrats • Republicans wanted ‘isolation’
France still felt insecure, because Britain would not support France without American aid. Reasons why Germany Thought the Treaty of Versailles was UNFAIRUNFAIR.
Germany thought the Treaty of Versailles (28th June 1919) was unfair because it was a ‘diktat’. The ‘Big Three’ had not negotiated with Germany at Paris from January – June 1919. Germany was given only three weeks to comment on the vast amounts of peace clauses. Her objections were largely ignored. Germany resented the attitude of revenge which was summed up by the British press as:
"Make Germany Pay" and "Squeeze the German Lemon until the Pips Squeak!"
Germany thought the Treaty was unfair because it was not based fully on Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’. On the 5th November, 1918, Germany had accepted the Fourteen Points as the basis for peace and an armistice began at 11 o’clock on the 11th November 1918. By the 28th June 1919, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, the Fourteen Points had been largely forgotten.
How the Fourteen Points were Ignored
Fourteen Points Treaty of Versailles
Open Diplomacy vs The ‘Big Three’ made all the decisions at Versailles, so the treaty was a ‘diktat’. Freedom of the Seas vs Germany could not enjoy freedom of navigation
because her navy was so reduced. Multilateral disarmament vs Only Germany disarmed at Versailles. It was
enforced unilateral disarmament. Also, to
humiliate Germany further, she had to build ships for the Allies (Allies rearmed)
National-Self Determination vs NSD was applied unfairly at Versailles, e.g. Poland.
NSD Poland was given Posen-West Prussia, and
therefore, the Germans on this land were now under foreign rule. Also the Anschluss of Germany and Austria was not allowed, and so the Germany speakers in these lands were denied NSD.
Peace Treaties with Germany’s Allies (1919-23)
(Refer to the map showing the land losses of Germany’s Allies.)
Introduction
After peace had been made with Germany at Versailles (28th June 1919), ‘The Big Three’ turned their attention to Germany’s allies. Their intention was to have one treaty with the Habsburg Empire, but two separate treaties were signed with Austria and Hungary. There had been a Communist uprising in Budapest and this delayed signing the treaty with Hungary. Both of these treaties were diktats, as were those signed with Bulgaria and Turkey. However, a second negotiated treaty was signed with Turkey in 1923.
The Treaty of St. Germain (10th September, 1919 – With Austria) The principle of NSD was used in the treaty with Austria:
• Italy gained the Tyrol and Trentino in the North, and Istria and Trieste in the Northeast. • Czechoslovakia gained the Sudetenland (German speaking), the Czech provinces and
Slovakia.
• Serbia was given various states in the Balkans: Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia and Dalmatia, to form the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia = The Southern Slavs) • Poland gained Galicia.
• No Anschluss with Germany.
• Austria was disarmed to 30,000 men plus three Danubian (river) police boats.
• Austria was supposed to pay reparations, but as she was bankrupt in 1920, none were paid.
The Treaty of Trianon (4th June, 1920 – With Hungary)
Comments on the Treaties of St. Germain and Trianon
Austria complained because she was disarmed and unable to defend herself against the hostile neighbours that encircled her. Both states were land-locked and surrounded by weak or hostile
neighbours. Many of these neighbouring countries were hostile because they wanted to keep their new-found independence, and they resented the former control of the Habsburgs.
• Hungary lost some border districts to Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. • Transylvania was given to Rumania, which doubled Romania’s size.
Treaty of Neuilly (27th November, 1919 – with Bulgaria)
Bulgaria lost territory to Greece, which meant that she lost the coastline that lead more directly into the Mediterranean.
Settlements with Turkey
• Treaty of Sevres (August, 1920 – a diktat)
• The Turks agreed to lose their Middle-Eastern empire. • Saudi Arabia became independent;
• Britain gained Palestine, Trans-Jordan and Iraq as mandates. (Mandate = a lease. Britain and France only looked after these lands for 30 years).
• France was given Lebanon and Syria as mandates.
• In Europe Turkey lost other lands. Greece gained Eastern Thrace and Smyrna on the Turkish mainland.
• Italy gained Rhodes.
• The Dordanelle Strait was demilitarised (League of Nations). • Treaty of Lausanne (1923 – Negotiated)
• Turkey regained all the land she had lost to Greece. The Straits remained demilitarised and Italy kept Rhodes. Turkey was now a republic with its new capital at Ankara. Constantinople was renamed Istanbul.
Inter-War Diplomacy
Introduction (IMPORTANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION!)
The major powers had different aims in 1919 for the post-war world.
USA: The republicans defeated Woodrow Wilson in the 1920 presidential election, and they wanted isolation from European affairs.
France: France still wanted security from the possibility of a third German attack. To do this she had two policies:
• Encirclement
• France rearmed herself and strengthen her Rhineland border with Germany, by building the Maginot Line (1929-34)
Britain: She wanted to recover her wealth and power via trade.
Both treaties were diktats. NSD was applied and denied - 3 million Austrians lived in the Sudetenland under foreign rule, 3 million Magyars lived under Romanian rule in Transylvania. No Anschluss for Germany and Austria. Czechs and Slovaks resented being in one country. Austria was disarmed. Austria lost its monarchy (loss of Prestige and National identity). Both Austria and Hungary lost out
economically; they were both landlocked and this damaged trade. Although Austria and Hungary enjoyed free trade before the war, they did not afterwards. Hungary lost valuable agricultural land in Transylvania. Both countries suffered from a drop in population (Workforce). Austria’s population dropped from 22 million to 6.5 million and Hungary’s population dropped from 21 million to 7.5 million.
– She tried to surround Germany with countries who were friendlier to France, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Poland (The Little Entente)
Germany: The Weimar government wanted recovery in every sense: military, economic, political and diplomatic. In order for Germany to achieve any of these, she would have to break the Treaty of Versailles (28th June 1919).
(Note: Britain and Germany had one thing in common – the need to recover via trade.)
Improvement and Decline in International Relations (1920-39) 1920s
There was an improvement in international relations in the 1920s, mainly due to the work of three foreign ministers: Austen Chamberlain (Britain), Briand (France) and Stresemann (Germany). 1930s
Relations between the powers deteriorated in the 1930s, especially after 1929, after the Wall Street Crash (29th October) when the major powers’ economies declined, leading to the Great Depression. As a result of the depression, extremist groups (Communists and Fascists) became popular (flourished). The aggressive policies of the Fascists (Germany, Italy and Japan) resulted in the Second World War. Inter-War Diplomacy: Improved Relations 1921-29
A. Washington Naval Treaties (1921-2)
In spite of her a policy of isolation, the USA hosted these talks about naval disarmament, and the balance of power in the Pacific. This was the ideal assignment for the League of Nations – why did this organization not do it?
Agreements
Reached
• Britain, USA, Japan, France and Italy agreed to respect each other’s Pacific possessions & guarantee China’s independence.
• Japan would restore certain territory to China and withdraw from Siberia, in Russia.
• There would be a ten-year stoppage in the building of capital ships (more than 10,000 tons with guns larger than 8"). A ratio of USA:5 Br:5 J:3 Fr:1.75 It:1.75
was to be maintained in the building of capital ships. Effects
• Lessened possibility of naval war in the Far East where Japan & USSR had ideas about expanding into China.
• The alliance of WW I victors was reaffirmed, despite USA’s isolation policy.
• Though better international relations resulted, the USSR was not invited to the talks, despite her extensive Far Eastern interests. (USSR was not recognized because of Communist
government.)
• Treaty of Rapallo (April 1922) – Signed 2 months after the Washington Treaty, by Germany and Soviet Russia. They said they would not attack each other and trade links were opened. Both powers were no longed isolated. They also secretly agreed to arms deals. France was upset because Germany could now “break” the rules of the Versailles Treaty.
• These meetings/conferences highlighted the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations. The fact that countries were able to do as they pleased to, severely weakened the authority of this peace-keeping organization.
B. The Locarno Pacts, 1925
Britain, France & Germany agreed to meet in Switzerland, at Locarno, in 1925. Agreements
• Germany accepted her frontiers with France and Belgium, & agreed not to change them. • Germany agreed not to alter (change) her borders with Poland or Czechoslovakia without
discussion (?!) with France and her Little Entente partners. Effects
• Franco-German relations improved because France felt more secure and Germany realized there was some hope of regaining lands on her eastern borders.
• Germany joined the League of Nations as a permanent member of the Council in 1926. C. Kellogg-Briand Pact (Pact of Paris) 1928
• In 1926 Germany signed a Treaty of Neutrality with the USSR. (Renewed Rapallo of 1922.) This worried the French.
• In April 1927 Briand appealed to the US Secretary of State, F.B. Kellogg for assistance. • A nine-power conference met in Paris in August 1928 and eventually 65 nations signed a pact
that outlawed war unless a nation acted in self-defence. Effects
• US involvement reassured France and America’s other European allies.
• USSR signed the Pact and gained some recognition for Communist Russia by other powers. • Germany signed the Pact and this calmed French suspicions of Germany’s aggression.
• This Pact was later viewed as being of good intent, but having no practical means of preventing war.
D. Changes to Reparations
The British economist, Keynes, had warned that the amount established at Versailles, was too much to expect from Germany in reparations. Two plans, in 1924 and 1929, gave Germany assistance from the US.
• Dawes Plan 1924:
• Germany fell behind in reparation payments to France, so in January 1923, France occupied the Ruhr valley (on the Franco-Germany Rhineland border). France’s intention was to take reparations in the form of coal. France only withdrew her troops after the Dawes Plan was drawn up. Germany still had the same amount to pay in reparations, but received a loan from the USA and payments were scaled down so that it could be paid easier.
•
Effects
• The Ruhr was evacuated in July 1925.
• Germany was treated as an equal for the first time, and this paved the way for Locarno (1925) and Germany’s entry to the League (1926)
• Germany’s economy improved under Stresemann (died 1929)
• Young Plan 1929
• Stresemann appealed to the USA for further assistance in paying reparations (to update the Dawes Plan). The Young committee reduced Germany’s liability (responsibility) to approximately a 1/3 of the original sum, to be paid over 59 years (i.e. until 1988). It was to start in May 1930.
•
Effects
• Stresemann’s status as an international statesman grew, as did his popularity at home.
• The realistic sum to be paid by Germany promised good future relations between Germany, France and Britain.
NB. The Young Plan collapsed because in October 1929, the Wall Street Crash occurred in America, and this financial crisis spread to Germany, and then other European powers. Germany could not afford to pay reparations 1931-2, and Hitler refused to pay anything after 1933.
•
Conclusion
• Improvements in international relations in 1920s, A-D above, were the result of ‘power diplomacy’ and NOT the work of the League of Nations whose main aim was to keep peace.
Deterioration in Relations (1929-39)
In the 1930s relations between the powers deteriorated. 1929 Stresemann died and Briand and Chamberlain were out of office. October 1929, Wall Street Crash, led to a depression in Europe and extremist political groups (Fascist, Nazis) grew in popularity. Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany offered economic growth to their ‘depressed’ peoples and their aggressive foreign policies led to the Second World War (1939-45). In the 1930s neither power diplomacy, nor the League of Nations, could prevent war.
The League of Nations Origins
The idea of international co-operation was not a new one in 1919. There had been earlier attempts, for example: the International Red Cross, Geneva (1864), the International Telegraph Union (1865), the International Meteorological Organisation (1878) and the International Court, The Hague (1899).
The last of Wilson’s fourteen points said that a League of Nations should be set up, to keep peace after 1919. To ensure that it was established, Wilson insisted that the League of Nations should be written into the Treaty of Versailles (28th June 1919).
Aims
To keep peace
To improve living conditions of men and women world-wide Organisation
The League first met in January 1920 and each state had to take an oath (covenant) to say they would abide by the League’s rules for international law and order.
• Assembly : Each year, each state would send up to three delegates to the Geneva assembly to discuss world problems. Each country had one vote, and a unanimous vote was needed to decide action. As unanimity was never reached, resolutions were passed onto the council.
• Council : The great powers (Britain, France, Italy and Japan) of 1920 sat permanently on the council, with smaller nations who observed. They met three or four times a year, and at times of crisis. By a unanimous vote they could levy (implement) the following sanctions against a nation who broke peace – this was known as Collective Security. The four basic steps of this policy were:
• World Public Opinion or Moral sanction – A polite warning, based on world public opinion condemning the aggressive behaviour.
• Economic or Trade sanctions – The League stopped trading with the offender • Disarmament - Promoting arms reduction and eventual disarmament.
• Military sanction or The Use of Military Force– As a last resort the League would impose its will by force.
• No sanction could be used if a nation used its veto. The idea was that collective action would produce collective security, and thereby peace. (United we stand, divided we fall) The League’s responses were long-winded.
• The Court of Justice : Set up in 1899, at The Hague, in Holland, this department dealt with legal disputes between nations.
• International Labour Organisation (ILO): Its first chairman was Albert Thomas, and he collected evidence world-wide, about working conditions. He wrote a code of good practice, which included:
• Safety regulations, Sick pay, Pensions, Maternity leave, Trade Union rights, Restrictions of child labour
• Commissions : Special departments dealt with specific world problems.
• Secretariat : The first Secretary General was Sir. Eric Drummond, and he led the League’s administration department (Civil Service).
Some nations joined the League late, e.g. Germany in 1926, USSR in 1934. 18 nations left the League, e.g. Germany in 1933 because other nations would not disarm to her level, Japan in 1933 after invading Manchuria, Italy in 1937 after invading Abyssinia, USSR in 1939 dismissed after the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Note: AMERICA NEVER JOINED THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS (This was because the US Congress, then under Republican control, refused to accept Wilson’s, who was a Democrat, plea to join the League. However, they did join the ILO.)
League of Nations at Work (1920-1939)
Success in achieving its second aim - Improving living conditions world-wide
• The ILO was so successful that the USA joined it. In 1945 it transferred to the UNO.
• The Health Commission stopped disease epidemics (e.g. measles) – today the World Health Organization (WHO).
• The Leprosy Commission helped eliminate leprosy.
• The Transit and Communication Commission standardized passports and visas, and radio codes were also made common.
• The Mandates Commission helped colonies to reach independence. • The Refugee Commission helped resettle homeless and stateless people. The League’s failure in its first aim – To keep peace
• The powers improved international relations in the 1920s, rather than the League. (See notes
on interwar diplomacy)
• The League did settle a few minor disputes in the 1920s, however in the Corfu incident (1923) it had to refer the problem to the powers to solve
• Finland against Sweden (1920-21). Finland and Sweden were in dispute over the Aaland Islands in the Baltic Sea. The League settled in favour of Finland.
• Germany against Poland (1921-22). Germany and Poland disputed control of Upper Silesia. The League settled in favour of Poland: an unpopular decision (with the German speaking people of Upper Silesia, who said, quite rightly, that they had been denied NSD.)
• Italy against Greece (1923). A.k.a. the Corfu Incident, Italy held Greece responsible for the death of some Italian Officers on the frontier of Albania and Greece. Greece refused to compensate Italy for the loss, and so Italy bombarded the Greek island of Corfu. The League was approached about the conflict and referred the dispute to a Congress of Ambassadors who persuaded Greece to make a financial settlement, after which Italy evacuated Corfu (NB. The powers were keeping peace, again.)
The League
Failed to bring about Multilateral Disarmament
The League proposed two main documents, trying to encourage disarmament. These were The Draft Treaty of Mutual Assistance (1923) and The Geneva Protocol (1924). Both of these asked member nations to respect a certain level of disarmament, but were rejected.
1923-4 –
Geneva Disarmament Talks (including USA and USSR)
This failed because France still felt insecure, and would not disarm. In October 1933 Hitler withdrew from the talks stating that if other powers did not reduce the level of their arms to Germany’s level, he would rearm Germany to their level.
NOTE: The only successful step towards disarmament took place at Washington (1921-2, Naval Sizes in Pacific.) This was hosted by the USA, not the League of Nations.
The League failed to control major crises in the 1930s • The Manchurian Crisis
• 18th September 1931, Japanese troops invaded Manchuria and attacked the industrial city of Mukden. Chiang Kai Shek (Chinese nationalist Leader) appealed to the League and to the USA for help. America protested and the League made a ‘Moral sanction’ and sent a Lytton Commission to Manchuria led by Sir Lytton whose report condemned Japanese aggression. Unperturbed (undisturbed) Japan renamed Manchuria, ‘Manchukuo’ in March 1932, and continued to occupy it. In 1933 Japan left the League of Nations. This was a significant step in further breaking down the League´s authority, because this peace-keeping organization did not have any say in matters of non-member nations. The big powers were more concerned with domestic issues (National interests came before the League’s affairs). Japanese aggression was not halted, the League’s ‘collective action’ had amounted to nothing.
NB. Only Germany and Italy recognized Japan’s control in ‘Manchukuo’. • The Abyssinian Crisis 1935-6 :
• This involved the aggression of Italy, led by Mussolini, in Abyssinia (now
Ethiopia). Mussolini wanted to create a Fascist Roman Empire and saw the Horn of Africa as an ideal area for expansion. Italy already controlled Libya, Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, so Abyssinia would help link its possessions. Italy had unsuccessfully tried to conquer the area in 1896. In October 1935 Mussolini was successful against the meagre (weak) troops of Emperor Haile-Salassie. Abyssinia appealed to the League and within two weeks Mussolini’s actions were
condemned and economic sanctions were imposed. These sanctions were not very good because Italy still managed to obtain steel, copper and oil. The League did ban arms sales to Italy, but made Abyssinia weak by not letting it have any arms either! Mussolini did not take the League’s sanctions seriously and he threatened war if his oil supplies were stopped. Britain argued in favour of an oil embargo but the issue was complicated by secret diplomacy.
• Hoare-Laval Pact (December 1935) :
• Samuel Hoare (Britain) and Laval (France) made an agreement that if Mussolini stopped fighting, he could have most of Abyssinia. The world press published the pact, Hoare resigned and the agreement failed. Meanwhile Mussolini conquered Abyssinia in May 1936.
Mussolini had said ‘If the League had extended economic sanctions of oil I would have had to withdraw from Abyssinia in a week". The League had bungled its negotiations and had, once again failed miserably to maintain peace.
NOTE: The Abyssinian affair destroyed the ‘Stresa Front’. Britain and France had been meeting with Mussolini at Stresa in an attempt to unite against Hitler’s Germany. The actions of Hoare and Laval caused Italy to side with Germany from 1936 onwards.
Look at the following: Ideal League
League in Practice was Weak
1. All nations should be members. BUT! Not all nations were members (e.g. USA) 2. All nations should be equal partners BUT! Not equal partners because major powers in the
League. made decisions in the Council.
3. The League should be able to make BUT! League structure was weak, unanimity decisions quickly
and easily. caused delays.
4. National interests should be second to BUT! Nations were more interested in their OWN the league’s interests. affairs, especially after 1929 with the
economic crisis.
5. Members should obey the League’s BUT! Moral, Economic & Military sanctions were
sanctions. ignored e.g. Japan 1931
6. Offenders could trade with none League members (e.g. Abyssinia Crisis – 1935/6) 7. It was silly to use violence to stop violence
Germany
Features of Fascism 1. One leader – a dictator
Leader Il Duce Führer Caudillo
Name Mussolini Hitler Franco
Party Fascisti Nazi Falange
Country Italy Germany Spain
2. A fascist state is TOTALITARIAN (one party state), so there would be no choice between parties in an election.
3. A dictator maintained his power by violence and fear. Private armies were used (e.g. Mussolini’s Blackshirts, Hitler’s Brownshirts = Sturmabteilung or Stormtroopers) to protect the leader and attack enemies (e.g. Communists)
4. A dictator maintained his power by strict control of the media. CENSORSHIP denied people information, and PROPAGANDA forced fascist ideas onto people.
5. Nationalism was encouraged with the use of symbols, e.g. Italy with the clenched fist and the sheath of corn, and Germany with the swastika, goosestep and straight-armed salute.
6. Hitler united the majority of Germans by attacking minority groups. He said ARYAN people (Teutonic, blue eyed, blond haired) were a HERRENVOLK or master race. He said inferior races (Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, Yellow/Black skinned people) should be exterminated. Uneconomic peoples (e.g. the aged or the disabled) or non-conforming Aryans (homosexuals, socialists, Jehovah’s witnesses etc.) were to be exterminated.
Political Groups
In theory, the communists are opposite to the fascists, because Communism preaches equality, whereas Fascism believes in the superiority of one man over another. In practice both Communism and Fascism are Totalitarian.
Weimar Government Background Notes
1. Left wing = Communists
2. Right wing = Fascists/Nazis (i.e. the extremist groups) 3. Constitution = Rules by which a country is governed
4. WEIMAR GOVERNMENT = Germany’s first democratic republican government (1919-34), based at Weimar, a Spa town in the centre of Germany.
5. German Governments
a. Pre 1914 German government = autocracy of Kaiser
b. 1919-34 German government = Weimar democratic government Head of State = President (elected)
Head of Government = Chancellor (elected)
1934-45 German government = Hitler’s dictatorship 6. Parliament in two houses:
a. Reichsrat = Upper House b. Reichstag = Lower House 7. Voting Structure
Weimar government was elected by universal suffrage (all adults voted). MPs were elected by proportional representation (PR). Method = 2 votes taken before an MP is chosen. This system caused too many small parties to be elected. As a result, no single party held a majority to form a government. To solve this, a coalition government was formed, but passing laws took longer because of disagreements. (Strong government = One that passes laws quickly.)
Germany: The Weimar Government (1919-34) Introduction
After the 11th November 1918, Germany had three problems to solve: peacemaking, rebuilding Germany’s economy, and the creation of an adequate form of government. Eventually, the Weimar constitution was written, which made Germany a democratic republic. This government failed by 1934, when Adolf Hitler became dictator of Germany.
Reasons for the failure of the Weimar government • Weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution
• Hatred of the Treaty of Versailles signed by the Weimar government • Challenges from Left and Right wing groups
• Failure to solve economic problems • Hitler came to power
The Weimar Government
Left wing groups rose against Kaiser Wilhelm II’s government at Kiel, and in Bavaria. Socialists in the Reichstag demanded the abdication of the Kaiser. On the 9th November 1918, the Kaiser abdicated and Friedrich Ebert became president. From February 1919, a National assembly met at Weimar to write a constitution. The Reichstag was elected, and passed laws. The Reichsrat could only delay legislation. The president could choose the chancellor, dissolve the Reichstag and rule by decree in times of
emergency. The chancellor in the Reichstag chose the cabinet, and commanded a majority of the votes. Provision was made for a referendum on matters of acute controversy within the country, a Supreme Court was set up, and basic rights, such as freedom of speech, religion and movement were guaranteed.
• Weaknesses :
• It was a weakness to give the Reichsrat delaying powers because laws could not be passed quickly – weak government.
• It was a weakness to allow the president to rule by decree because democracy could change to a dictatorship.
• The constitution was over-optimistic because it was difficult to change from autocracy to democracy overnight.
Unpopularity of the Treaty of Versailles (28th June, 1919)
One of the first tasks of the Weimar government was to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The German Foreign Minister, Walter Ranthenau (a Jew), who upheld the Versailles agreement, was seen as a traitor. The treaty was very unpopular because it was a diktat, and because it was not based on the fourteen points (see previous notes).
Opposition to the Weimar Government from Left and Right Wing Groups
Ebert’s government soon faced the Sparticist rising. Two communists, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht led this uprising. Beginning in 1918 it reached its climax in January 1919, when it was suppressed, and the leaders killed. Right wing groups also rose up against the Weimar government. The returning soldiers were bitter and thought they should have remained fighting. The Free Corps was a ‘club’ of returning ex-soldiers. In the Kapp Putsch (armed rising) people protested at the Treaty and at the governments acceptance.
Failure of the Weimar Government to solve Economic Problems
Reparations posed the greatest problems to Germany after 1919. The Treaty said Germany must pay £6,600 million. Germany paid reparations through foreign laws in the early twenties. France invaded the Ruhr valley and took coal when Germany failed to pay in 1923. This invasion horrified Germans who saw the Weimar government as weak.
Results of the French occupation of the Ruhr
Extremist groups (namely Fascists and Communists) grew in number in 1923.
The German mark dropped in value because in order to combat inflation, the Weimar government printed extra bank notes, without increasing the gold held in its treasury. Bank notes then dropped proportionally in value. This led to HYPERINFLATION. German marks in exchange for one dollar
Germany gained loans from the USA. Stresemann arranged the economic recovery of Germany 1923-29. The Dawes plan and the Young plan staggered Germany’s reparations over a period of time, and
included USA loans. European powers gradually accepted Germany: witness the Locarno Pact (1925) and the entry of Germany to the League of Nations in 1926.
Economic Slump
Many Germans gained faith in the Weimar Government while Stresemann was in power, but his death, and the ‘Wall Street Crash’ in October 1929, saw the growth of extremist groups. The Wall Street Crash collapsed the German economy because the USA wanted her loans repaying. The Weimar government suffered because the coalition of moderate right and left wing groups ended. The ruling by decree and the system of proportional representation caused political confusion in the Weimar government. Autocracy was being forced onto a democracy and many small parties were being formed. Law passing was slow.
End of the Weimar Government
The President, Paul Von Hindenburg, appointed three chancellors between 1930 and 1932 (Bruning, Von Papen and Schleicher), but because these men could not command a majority in the Reichstag
Hindenburg reluctantly appointed Adolf Hitler to be chancellor, in January 1933. Hitler became dictator of Germany in August 1934 after the death of President Von Hindenburg.
The Rise of Hitler Reasons for his rise
• Weimar Government was weak
• The German people did not trust democracy; they preferred the autocracy of the Kaiser. • Laws could be delayed by the Reichstag (Laws could not be passed quickly).
• Proportional representation produced weak. Coalition governments (Laws could not be passed quickly).
• Democracy could end if a president ruled by decree in an emergency • Economic problems were not solved.
• Nazism was popular - He promised strong, national government. He said he would correct the errors/weaknesses of Weimar rule, and end the Treaty of Versailles (28th June 1919), including: reparations, war guilt, disarmament
• He promised full employment.
• He said he would get rid of lawlessness. • He united all classes in society behind Nazism:
• Upper Class (Junkers) – Feared communism and saw their futures reviving, if Germany rearmed.
• Middle Class – Wanted the strengthening of the law • Working Class – Wanted employment
• Churches in Germany – German churches (Catholic and Lutheran) feared communism and Atheism (Godless society), and therefore were more sympathetic towards Hitler.
Hitler’s Early Life (up to c.1918) (FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES)
Hitler was born of the 20th April 1889, at Braunau am Inn. (am = on the, Inn is the name of an Austrian river), in Upper Austria. He was the son of a minor customs official. Earlier, in 1876, the family name had been changed from Schickelgruber to Hitler, because Schickelgruber was Jewish. He was educated at Linz, but he was not very academic; he had a talent for art. In October 1907, he moved to Vienna, attempting to get into the art academy, but he failed the entrance exam. (He later blamed the Jews for this.) He frequented Bierkeller, with other unemployed, where his hatred of the Jews and the Slavs grew. He had part time jobs – e.g. postcard selling and as an unskilled mechanic.
In 1912 he moved to Munich in the province of Bavaria. In the First World War he joined the Bavarian army, where he was promoted to corporal, and he was awarded the Iron Cross first class (got it twice) for being gassed. He was convalescing at the time of the peace treaty, and claimed he would never have signed it. (28th June 1919).
Hitler’s Early Political Career
At the end of the First World War he returned to Munich, where he joined the German Workers Party, which became the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers Party) or Nazi party. He became its Führer (leader), and used the swastika as its emblem. He befriended Ernst Rohm, the leader of the SA
(Sturmabteilung or Stormtroopers) which defended Hitler and attacked the Communists. He spoke at meetings, often at Beer halls, where his active, and aggressive, policies appealed to all classes. Munich Putsch (23rd November, 1923)
A putsch is an armed rising. The Munich putsch is compared to Mussolini’s march on Rome, but whereas Mussolini was successful, Hitler failed to gain power. On the 23rd November 1923, Hitler tried to take over the Government of Bavaria. The attempted coup d’état failed, because of mistiming. Hitler’s rebels left the beer hall and collided with the police on their way to the state building. Shots were fired, 16 Nazis were killed, and Hitler, and his aid Rudolf Hess, were arrested. The attempted coup received widespread support, because the Weimar Government was unpopular in 1923 (hyperinflation and the French occupation of the Ruhr valley, January 1923-25). Established figures supported Hitler, e.g. General Ludendorf (gave support in camera) and Wilhelm Frick (the Munich chief of police was actively involved. His men were supposed to be dealing with a false riot at the other end of the city, but the diversion failed, and they ran into the Putsch.)
Landsberg and Imprisonment
He was tried and sentenced for Treason in April 1924, and used his trial to advertise Nazi ideas. He was supposed to serve five years but was imprisoned for only nine months, in the comfort of Landsberg Castle. This lenient sentence for so serious a crime shows that the judiciary was sympathetic to right-wing groups. While he was in prison he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) which was partly
autobiographical, and partly about Nazi ideas. Hess acted as his amanuensis. His ideas included: • The Weimar Government was weak
• The Treaty of Versailles was unfair
• Germany should increase its population – ‘take lands in the east by the power of the sword’ (This would involve rearming, taking the Polish Corridor by force, and a likelihood of war.)
• He said the Aryan (Teutonic people) race, which had blonde hair and blue eyes, was a Herrenvolk (master race). He said inferior races (Jews, Slavs, Poles, Gypsies (Romanies), Orientals (Kincaid), and Blacks) should be exterminated.
He was released after nine months, and he said that in future, he would come to power by democratic means, rather than using violence.
Stresemann: Recovery & Collapse
When Hitler was released, he found Germany in the capable hands of Gustav Stresemann, who was foreign secretary and chancellor, improved Germany’s economy and international position, e.g. • 1924-29 :
• He improved the economy by arranging the Dawes (1924) and Young (1929) plans, with the USA, to ease the payment of reparations.
• July 1925: He organised French withdrawal from the Ruhr
• 1925: The Locarno Pact improved relations between Germany and France. • 1926: Joined the council of the League of Nations
As a result of the improvements in economic conditions, the Nazis had poor results in elections during Germany´s “Golden Years” under Stresemann. In the 1924 elections they obtained only 32 out of 490 Reichstag seats and in the 1928 elections this dropped to 13 seats!
The death of Stresemann (3rd October 1929) and the Wall Street Crash (29th October 1929) caused the German economy to collapse and so Hitler realized his part would do better in the elections. Note: Poor economic conditions = Extremist groups prosper.
Nazi Revival (1929-33)
Hitler claimed that he knew there would be a crisis, and that he had been waiting, and prepared, for the Nazis to save Germany. He gained financial backing from some Junkers and from two Ruhr Steel Magnates (Manufacturer and Investor): Krupp & Thyssen. The deal was money to Hitler in return for orders later. He expanded the existing scout movement who the Hitler Youth which by 1924 had 7 million members. It extended to girls in 1928 with the BDM (League of German Maidens) He stressed physical fitness, so they could fight in future, and he indoctrinated them with Nazi ideas so they would vote for him in future. He was shaping young minds. Rallies were organised by Josef Goebbels, and he and Hitler whipped their audience into a frenzy of support. As a result, Nazi seats in the Reichstag increased. In September 1930 they won 107 of 490 seats and in July 1932 that number rose to 230. Hitler did NOT have an overall majority, and so did not automatically become chancellor.
Hitler becomes Chancellor
President Paul Von Hindenburg used his power of decree in an emergency to appoint four chancellors between 1932-33. In May 1932, Brüning was dismissed, and replaced by Von Papen, who in turn was replaced by General Schleicher. These three could not control the communists and the Nazis in the Reichstag and so reluctantly in January 1933 Von Hindenburg appointed Hitler. Hindenburg’s idea was that Hitler would be his puppet and only two other Nazis were in the cabinet: Göring and Frick. Hindenburg disliked Hitler for two reasons:
● Hitler was only an Austrian Corporal (German snobbishness)
● Hitler had stood against Hindenburg in the presidential election of 1932. Hitler gained 13 million votes; Hindenburg gained 19 million votes. (Personal jealousy)
Hitler’s appointment as chancellor is a vital step in the downfall of the Weimar government. The Establishment of the Nazi Dictatorship
It took Hitler only 18 months to change from Chancellor to Dictator of Germany: January 1933 – Hitler became chancellor
August 1934 – Hitler became dictator Burning of the Reichstag (27/2/33)
On the night of the 27th February 1933, the Reichstag was set ablaze (set fire to) by a Dutch communist student, Van der Lubbe, who was found guilty of arson and treason, and beheaded. (This shows the Law Courts were harsh towards left-wing groups). The German Communists had not caused the blaze and they tried to blame the Nazis. Hitler used Van der Lubbe’s guilt as an excuse to discredit all
communists. (Many historians believe that the young student was not really responsible, that he was set up – all to convince the German people of the effectiveness and the urgency of the Nazi regime.)
The Enabling Act (23/3/33)
As a result of communist unpopularity, the Nazis increased their votes in the March 1933 election where they gained 288, or 43%, so Hitler still had no Reichstag majority. He forced Hugenburg’s 52 nationalists to form a coalition. Hitler now passed the Enabling Act, which gave executive power (power to pass laws) to the cabinet for four years, hereby Hitler made all the decisions (dictator).
Censorship
With the power of the Enabling Act, Hitler banned all other political parties, so Germany became Totalitarian. TO further weaken the communists, he banned the Trade Unions in 1934, and workers had to join the Nazi Labour Front, led by Dr. Robert Ley. There was no freedom of speech, and Hitler imprisoned people without trial.
Röhm Purge (30/6/34 - Operation Humming bird/The Night of the Long Knives)
Hitler became increasingly suspicious of the intentions of Ernst Röhm, the leader of the three and a half million working class, brownshirted, SA. Hitler was told by Goebbels, Göring and Himmler that Rohm wanted to be a military dictator with Hitler as his puppet. The SA then disgraced themselves by not saluting Hitler, at a mayday parade. Hitler plotted Rohm’s downfall. He gave them summer leave, and its leaders were arrested. Hitler arrested Rohm himself at Bad Weisse in Bavaria. Rohm’s chauffeur was shot and Rohm refused to commit suicide, so was shot in Berlin. Himmler gained the most, because his SS (Schutz Staffel – Protection squad) replaced the disbanded SA. At the same time, Hitler’s other enemies were rounded up and shot, including Ex-chancellor Schleicher. In the Reichstag next day (1/7/34), Hitler said he had executed over 60 traitors, though the number was nearer 2,000. He said he was ‘supreme judge with a licence to kill’.
Death of Von Hindenburg (2/8/34)
Hindenburg’s death meant the cabinet could combine the roles of chancellor and president, so Hitler became fuhrer of the Third Reich.
Did Hitler behave democratically?
Yes, because he had the power of the Enabling Act. (?)
No, because the Weimar constitution said the president should be elected. (?)
Life in Nazi Germany (1933-39) 1. Hitler’s Economic Policy
During the years 1933-39 Hitler was popular because he was able to improve Germany’s economy. The virtual abolition of reparations by the Allies in 1931 also helped. The unemployed people went down from 5.5 million in 1932 to less than ½ a million in 1938. The main reason for this was an increase in government expenditure, in 1933 it was 4 billion, from 1938-30 it was 30 billion. Hitler found work for people by beginning Public Work Schemes, e.g. the autobahns – the splendid new roads of Germany. Rearmament also helped to reduce unemployment via conscription and munitions factories. People were conscripted into the army so were no longer unemployed, and people gained employment producing weapons. Firms involved with the production of weapons were encouraged to expand. Krupp and Thyssen produced steel parts, but later, weapons for Hitler too. The disadvantage of the expansion of large firms was the smaller firms suffered. Hitler wanted to gain autarky, which means to make Germany economically self-sufficient, which involved expanded German lands. The country produced ersatz (substitute) material to replace imported goods. For example, plastics replaced rubber. Germany needed to expand her lands to achieve self-sufficiency, so she had suitable lands for the mining and production of products. Raw materials (e.g. coal and iron from Upper Silesia) needed somewhere to be mined from, land was needed for farming and industry, and people needed to form a workforce for the new areas. If Germany expanded beyond its 1919 national boundaries war would follow.
2. Nazi Propaganda
Hitler’s minister of Propaganda was Josef Goebbels. Hitler’s ideas about race and nationalism were taught in schools. Intellectual life in Germany was stifled (kept under) by the lack of free expression. Universities were unable to play a significant role, as they were under constant fear of being
suppressed.
A young person who did not belong to the Hitler Youth Movement was unlikely to make progress in life, and so nearly all young people were subjected to Nazi propaganda constantly. It did produce physically fit youths, which Hitler could conscript for war. Indoctrinating Nazi ideas to young people made them support Hitler, and they would vote for him when they were older (not necessary after he became a dictator). They would fight for him in war, and follow him to the bitter end.
3. The Churches of Nazism
There were two major branches in Germany: the German Lutheran Church (Protestants) and the Roman Catholic Church. The Protestant Churches either joined the Nazi controlled ‘German Christians’ or found their leaders persecuted and imprisoned. For example, Pastor Niemoller was opposed to Hitler and was sent to a concentration camp. The Catholic Church signed a concordat with the Nazi regime in July 1933, by which the liberty of the Church was guaranteed. Hitler did not adhere to this agreement, so Pope Pius XI issued the Encyclical ‘Mit Brennender Sorge’ (‘With burning sorrow’) in which he accused
the Nazi regime of breaking the Concordat and in which he forecast the dangers emanating from Germany (March 1937)
4. The Persecution of the Jews
In the early years of Hitler’s rule the Jews were persecuted. In 1935 the Nuremberg laws were passed, which deprived Germany’s 600,000 Jews of citizenship. For example the Jews were not allowed to vote, receive medical, or rely on police protection, and subjected them to various indignities, such as
traveling in separate parts of buses and trains, and the need to display a distinctive badge or sign to shown that they were Jews. 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. Plain-clothes SS troopers were issued with pickaxes and hammers and the addresses of Jewish businesses. They ran riot, smashing up Jewish shops and workplaces. 91 Jews were murdered. Hundreds of synagogues were burned. 20,000 Jews were taken to concentration camps. Thousands more left the country. This event became known as
Kristallnacht or ‘The Night of the Broken Glass’. Many Germans watched the events of Kristallnacht with alarm and concern. The Nazi controlled press presented Kristallnacht as the spontaneous reaction of ordinary Germans against the Jews. Most Germans did not believe this. However, hardly anyone protested. The few who did were brutally murdered. Two major groups persecuted the Jews, the press and the Gestapo (Geheime Staats Polizei) and SS (Schutz Staffel or ‘protection squad’). It protected Hitler from all political enemies such as the communists. Himmler was head of the Gestapo and SS, his deputy was Heydrich.
Concentration Camps
The SS ran the Nazi concentration camps. There were two types of Nazi concentration camps: Labour camps: originally set up by Göring to house political prisoners
Extermination camps: to eliminate ‘inferior’ races in a policy of mass murder (genocide) known as the ‘final solution’ or ‘holocaust’
Labour Camps
For political prisoners mainly, e.g. Communists. Dachau was the first camp to be opened by Goring in March 1933, for 5,000 men. By 1937 it held 27,000 prisoners. The SS under Himmler ran the camps.
Extermination Camps
For inferior races in the ‘Final Solution’ after 1941. Not only Jews were sent. The
Gypsies, Slavs, Poles and Russians were also victims. Jews were transported in cattle trucks expecting to go to re-settlement camps in remote, rural areas, near railway lines. Those who survived the journey were divided into two groups.
The ‘Fit’ (Those individuals who are physically and psychologically equipped to survive). Young adults and selected essential workers would pass through a gate marked ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ (Work makes you free). Most were used as slave labourers and were flogged if they refused or could not work. In some camps they were used for medical experiments (e.g. at Auschwitz, Dr. Mengele experimented on twins). Workers were housed in cold, stark, insanitary
barracks. All belongings were confiscated, hair removed and skin tattooed with a number. Confiscations were recycled. They were given a small bowl for the dual purpose of food vessel and a toilet. They worked all daylight hours, in all weather conditions. Diseases were rife or very common (e.g./ pneumonia and malnutrition). Once unfit to work they were ‘exterminated’ with the ‘unfit’.
The ‘Unfit’
The young, aged and lame, were taken to gas chambers expecting to be deloused in a shower. Fellow Jews (kappos) were made to work these chambers. Earlier attempts to gas with exhaust fumes in lorries were
inefficient. SS guards would pass canisters of Xyclon B (prussic acid) through a gap in the chamber wall and as it was pierced, the gas entered the shower room through ‘water’ roses. Opened doors revealed a pyramid of tangled corpses. Bodies were cremated. Earlier mass graces had been used, but in time corpses suppurated and the graves erupted. Approximately six million Jews were exterminated in the Holocaust.
Effects of the Second World War on Germany (1939-45) 1. Economic
Germany had been rearming since 1934, but with the outbreak of war conscription and output from munitions (arms) factories increased. Agriculture was also part of the ‘war economy’: prime produce was sent as victuals (supplies) to troops. With the increase in conscripted men, women and aged men farmed and worked in factories, taught and ran hospitals. As Germany began to lose the war, the Hitler Youth were employed, and by 1945, children were even conscripted to defend Berlin. They also acted as night watchmen during air raids.
2. Propaganda
Goebbels made the most of Nazi military successes before c.1942, and Hitler refused to accept defeat, even in Russia, so the news of defeat at Stalingrad (January 1943) shocked ordinary Germans.
Propaganda had led them to believe they were still winning. 3. Allied Bombing of Germany
Though ‘Bomber Command’ had bombed Germany from 1942, the raids increased after June 1944, when the second front was opened. Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden were key targets of the RAF. Note the following statistics:
• In July and August 1943, 40,000 civilians were killed in Hamburg.
• In February 1945, Dresden, an architectural masterpiece, was razed to the ground. • 1939-45 British civilians killed in the blitz = 65,000. 1939-45 German civilians killed by
aerial bombardment = 600,000.
• Bombing raids weakened and strengthened the morale of Germans. Proud Nazis were certainly shocked at the devastation. The German economy was also damaged. Usually Bomber Command aimed to destroy dams, railways and factories. It seems the target in Dresden was people.
4. Resistance
As the German people became more aware of defeat (gradually after 1943), more Germans resisted Hitler, though the effect of propaganda made most people either too afraid to resist, or unable to accept defeat. Jews were largely passive and did not resist the Nazis, but anti-Semitism,
