A3: THE DEVELOPMENT OF DICTATORSHIP: GERMANY 1918-45

In this theme we are going to explore the rise of dictatorship in Germany while
focusing on the following:

 The establishment of the Weimar republic and it’s early problems

 The recovery of Germany, 1924-29

 The rise of Hitler and the Nazis

 Life in Nazi Germany

INTRODUCTION
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During the final years of the First World War the people of Germany sensed defeat and
eventually turned against their government in 1918. Why did Germany and the central powers
loss the First World War? There are several answers to this question.

 The Schlieffen plan which had hoped to give Germany a quick victory had failed at the
early stages of the war. As a result Germany was forced to fight the war on two fronts i.e.
the western front and the Eastern front.

 The entry into the war of the USA in 1917 turned the war against Germany and the
central powers. This was because the USA had vast resources which helped the Allies
fighting the Germans.

 The Germans continuously experienced heavy losses that put a big strain on them.

 Germany was badly let down by her friends in the central powers. E.g. Germany was
constantly helping out the Austrians and the Bulgarians.

As the war ended, the Germans and the victorious Allies signed the treaty of Versailles on the
28th June 1919at the Paris conference. The terms of the treaty included the following.

1. The war guilty clause that blamed Germany for the outbreak of the war.

2. That Germany would pay for the war i.e. paying war reparations.

3. The German territory was reduced

4. There was reduction of German arms and soldiers

The people of Germany were not happy with this treaty. Even the new German government
which had been formed to replace the former government of the Kaiser was reluctant to sign the
treaty. However, This new government led by Ebert Friedrich was forced to sign the treaty
because it was too weak to refuse.

ESTALISHMENT OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC AND ITS EARLY

PROBLEMS
At the beginning of the war in 1914, German had proud and prosperous people who were well
educated and healthy. They were led by the Kaiser who was a dictator. However, at the end of
the First World War Germany was greatly and negatively affected. Look at the boxes below:

Germany was left bankrupt. Her industrial strength had been reduced by one third. There was a
reduction in the national income and about three million widows and children to take care of as a

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result of the war.

The war caused social problems. E.g. there were huge gaps between the rich and the poor,
German workers had their income reduced yet the factory owners had made huge profits from
the war.

The war led to a revolution in Germany in 1918. The result was that the Kaiser abdicated his
throne and fled to the Netherlands. His government was then replaced by a democratic but weak
Government led by Ebert Friedrich.

The birth of the Weimar republic-The German revolution of 1918

After Germany had realized that it had lost the war the victorious ally’s offered Germany peace
but with strict conditions. One of these conditions was that Germany must have a Democratic
government. Up until then Germany had been led by a Kaiser .i.e. Kaiser William II, who was an
absolute dictator.

With this demand the Kaiser tried to hang on to power by appointing a Chancellor who was in
favor of democracy. He appointed prince Max of Papen. Unfortunately for the Kaiser this move
was too late.

To make matters worse the German Navy mutinied at the northern port city called Kiel. This was
followed by other uprisings in other parts of Germany. In Bavaria an independent socialist
Republic was set up. On the 19th November 1918 the Kaiser William was forced to abdicate his
throne and left for the Netherlands.

The following day, the socialist leader called Friedrich Ebert became the new leader of the new
Republic of Germany. He immediately signed an armistice with the victorious allies thus
bringing the war to an end. A new constitution was drawn up for Germany at a small town called
Weimar. This is the town were the new German government met after the 1919 free elections.
Hence the new constitution became known as the Weimar constitution.

The Weimar constitution

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The Weimar constitution was perhaps the most democratic constitution ever written in Europe. at
least in theory.) Before this constitution, Germany was ruled by the Kaiser who was a virtual
dictator. The constitution had these features-

1. All Germans over 20 years were allowed to vote.

2. All parties in the elections got a proportion of seats in parliament equivalent to the proportion
of votes that the party won in the election. (E.g. a party with 20% of the votes also gained
20% of the seats in parliament (The German parliament is known as the Reichstag.)

3. The constitution appointed the chancellor to be in charge of the day to day running of the
Government. However, to do this the chancellor needed half the support of the members of
the Reichstag.

4. The head of the state was a president who was not involved in the day to day running of the
government, but during times of crisis, the president could rule the country directly without
consulting parliament.

GERMANY:1924-29

From the end of 1923 to the end of 1929, Germany witnessed a time of stability. During this
period a man called Gustav Stresemann was the leading politician in Germany. Stresemann had
been Chancellor for only a few months but was a prominent member of each government in
Germany in between 1923-29. Stresemann was in charge of the German foreign policy (1923-
29). He believed that the best way to positively enhance the German foreign policy was by co-
operating with France and Britain. The result was the Locarno Treaties, the Kellogg-Briand pact,
the young plan and the cancelation of most of the remaining reparations. He was more skilled
than Ebert and helped in Germany’s recovery.

The Dawes Plan

The Dawes plan was worked out in London with the Americans being invited. In fact for some
period of the conference it was chaired by General Dawes of the USA. In the Dawes plan the
following was agreed.

1. Germany would pay the annual war reparation installments at a rate that Germany would
afford.

2. A loan of 800million Gold marks was given to Germany by the usa.

3. The French were assured that the Germans would pay her war depts. And hence the
French withdrew from the Ruhr.

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The Dawes plan succeeded and the German economy began to recover. By 1928, Germany
finally achieved the same levels of production as before the outbreak of the first world war.
Reparations were being paid and German exports were on the increase.

The Locarno Treaties

In 1925 Stresemann signed the Locarno treaties. There were agreements that had been reached in
Switzerland by the France, Britain, Germany, Italy Belgium, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.
According to this Treaty the following was achieved:

Germany finally
Germany accepted the
accepted the borders
that the Rhineland
with France and Belgium
would remain a
as set out in the treaty
demilitarized Zone
of Versailles.

France and Germany

accepted to solve future
conflicts through the
league of nations

The Locarno treaties paved the way for Germany to be admitted into the leagues of Nations in
1926. By the time of his death in 1929, Stresemann had negotiated the Young Treaty. This plan

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further lightened the German burden of paying reparations. It also led to the final removal of
British, French and Belgian troops from the Rhineland.

The Kellogg-Briand Pact. (1928)

Briand was the French Foreign minister for 11 successive governments between 1925-32.Briand
worked to make sure that the French foreign policy towards Germany was that of reconciliation.
The Kellogg- Briand pact was originally Briand’s Idea. He proposed that France and the USA
sign a pact renouncing all war. Frank B. Kellogg, who was the US secretary of state, proposed
that the whole world should join in the treaty. Eventually 65 states signed the pact. The main
problem with the pact is that it did not state what sanctions to be taken if a signatory broke the
pact. This made the pact useless (Japan had signed the pact but this did not stop her from waging
a war against China only three years latter.)

The young plan. (1929)

The aim of the young plan was to tackle the remaining problem of reparations. There was
improved relationship with Germany at this time. A committee chaired by an American banker
called Owen Young decided to reduce the reparations from 6,600 million pounds to 2000
million pounds to be pain in 56 years.

Cultural Revival

Germany witnessed a cultural revival with writers and poets flourishing especially in Berlin.
Powerful paintings were produced and the famous Bauhaus style of architecture was developed.
This type of architecture rejected the old styles and created new and exciting ones. The 1920 saw
the development in cinema and the rise of international stars like Marlene Dietrich. Berlin
became famous for its daring night life.

In politics, the 1920’s saw more settled political parties that supported the Weimar republic.
Hitler’s Nazis gained less than 3% of the votes in the 1928 election.

HOW MUCH RECOVERY WAS THERE?

1. The economy: The German economic boom in the 1920’s was precarious. The boom
depended on the American loans given under the Dawes and which could be recalled at
any time leading to economic ruined in Germany. Those who really gained during the
boom were big landowners, big businesses and workers in big businesses with big pay.
Jewish owned departmental stores also gained.

The main losers were the peasants and a section of the middle class. The peasants
overproduced and had mortgages to pay.

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 2. In Culture: Though there was an exiting cultural revival, the villages and country towns
saw it as a form of moral decay made worse by American immigrants and Jewish artists
and musicians.

Organizations like the Wandervogel wanted a return to the simple country values and
more help to the countryside. It represented strong feelings which the Nazis harnessed in
later years.

3. On Foreign policy: Nationalists and communists attacked Stresemann for joining the
League of Nations. Nationalists saw this as an acceptance of the treaty of Versailles.
Communists attacked the Locarno pact seeing it as part of a plot against the communist
government in Russia.

4. In Politics: Despite the relative political stability in Germany, the communists and the
Nazis were building up their organizations. 30% of the votes usually went to people
opposed to the Weimar republic. In the 1920’s Germany saw four different chancellors.
In 1926, Hindenburg was elected the president of Germany. He was opposed to
democracy and even wrote to the Kaiser in exile before taking up the post!

THE RISE OF HITLER AND THE NAZIS

HITLER AND THE GERMAN WORKERS PARTY
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The Nazi party started as the German people’s party led by Anton Drexler. Adolf Hitler joined
the party in 1919 and was soon made in charge of propaganda by Drexler. In 1920 the party
came up with a 25 point program and renamed the party the National Socialist German
Worker’s party (Nazi). In 1922 Hitler removed Drexler as leader of the party. His energy and
commitment and his power as a speaker started attracting attention. The main points of the 25
point program were:

1. The abolition of the treaty of Versailles.

2. The union of Germany and Australia.

3. To preserve Germany for only “True” Germans. Jews in particular were to be excluded.

4. To Nationalize large industries and businesses

5. To give generous contributions to the old age pensioners.

6. To build a Germany with a strong central government.

ADOLF HITLER(1889-1919)

 Born in Austria in 1889

 He got on badly with his father but was fond of his mother

 At 16 he left for Vienna to pursue his ambition as a painter. However, between 1909 and
1914 he was a “down and out” on the streets of Vienna.

 During this period he developed hatred of foreigners and Jews

 In 1914 when WW1 broke out he joined the German army. He fought with distinction
and won the Iron cross.

 Hitler found it hard to accept the Armistice and the treaty of Versailles

 He despised the Waimer republic and looked back to the glorious days of the Kaiser.

 After the WW1 Hitler stayed on in the army and worked for the intelligence service in
Munich. It was in this job that he came across the German workers party led by Anton
Drexler. He liked the party ideas and joined in 1919.

Source 2

Hitler knew how to whip up those crowd crowds jammed closely in a dense cloud of cigarette
smoke- not in by argument, but by his manner; the roaring and especially the power of his
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repetitions delivered in a certain infectious rhythm ……. He would draw up a list of existing evils
and imaginary abuses and after listing them, in higher and higher crescendo, he screamed; “And
whose fault is it? It’s all………….the fault……..of the Jews!”

- A person who went to Nazi meetings describes the impact of Hitler’s speeches

Hitler had a simple appeal that stirred up nationalist passions in his audiences. He gave Germans
scapegoats to blame for Germany’s problems e.g. the Allies, the Versailles treaty, “the
November criminals”, communists and Jews.

Due to the success of his meetings, his opponents tried to disrupt them. So Hitler set up the storm
troopers (the brown shirts or SA) in 1921 to counter the disrupters. The SA were hired thugs who
protected Hitler’s meetings and disrupted those of others. By 1923 Hitler had given the Nazis a
high profile though they were still a minority party.

Task 3: Write a newspaper report in a 1923 newspaper, about the rise of Hitler and the Nazi
party. In the report write about the following-

o Hitler’s background

o Hitler’s qualities

o What Hitler and the Nazis believe

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CAUSES EVENTS AND RESULTS OF THE MUNICH PUTSCH
In November 1923 Hitler hijacked a local government meeting and announces that he was taking
and announced that he was taking over the government of Bavaria. The Nazi storm troopers
started taking over official government buildings. Hitler was joined by the old war hero
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Ludendorff. The next day the police hit back and after a fire exchange, the Nazis broke up.
Hitler escaped in a car.

The German people did not rise to support Hitler. After arrest, Hitler and other Nazi officials
were charged with treason. At his trial Hitler gained enormous publicity since the media covered
every word he said. Ludendorff was freed while Hitler was imprisoned for five years. In reality
Hitler only served 9 months of the sentence and in great comfort at the Landsberg castle.

Source 4

I alone bear the responsibility but I am not a criminal because of that………. There is no such
thing as high treason against the traitors of 11918…… I feel myself the best of Germans who
wanted the best for the German people

- Hitler at his trial

REORGANISATION OF THE PARTY, 1924-28

While in prison Hitler wrote a book called Mein Kampf (my struggle). In this book he clarified
his ideas of the Germany he wanted. While imprison he realized that the Nazis would not gain
power through force. They would have to work within the structure of the Weimar republic to
gain power after which they would destroy the democracy.

After prison, Hitler rebuilt the Nazi party using youth organizations and recruitment drives.
Hitler fought the Reichstag elections for the first time in 1924 and managed to win 32 seats.

By 1927 the Nazis were still trying to win over the support of the German workers but instead
the workers support was for the socialist Social Democrat Party (SDP) just as it had been since
1919. In the 1928 elections the Nazis gained only 12 seats in the Reichstag. As a result the Nazis
started looking for support amongst the groups in society that were not doing well e.g. Peasants
in northern Germany, middle class shop keepers and small businesses in country towns. The
Nazis promised to help in the agricultural sector.

In 1925 Hitler enlarged the SA. The SA were or storm troopers was a private army loyal to the
Nazi Party. He also set up the SS who were fanatically loyal to Hitler personally. Hitler
appointed Joseph Goebbles to be in charge of Nazi propaganda. Goebble produced posters,
leaflets, films and radio broadcasts. He also organized rallies.

However, despite all this efforts the Nazis were still a minority party in 1928.They had only 3% of the
population’s support. The prosperity of the Stresemann years made Germans uninterested in extreme
politics.

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HITLERS VIEWS ( in mien kampf and later writings)

a) National socialism: this meant loyalty to Germany, Racial purity, equality and state
control of the economy.

b) Racism: The Aryans (white Europeans) were the master race. All other races especially
the Jews were inferior.

c) He believed that war and straggle were essential for the development of a healthy Aryan
race.

d) Living space (Lebensraum): He believed that Germany needed to expand especially at the
expense of Russia.

e) The Fuhrer: Debate and democracy produced weakness. Strength lay in total loyalty to
the leader (the Fuhrer)

IMPACT OF WALL STREET CRASH, NAZI MATHODS TO WIN

SUPPORT
With the 1929 American stock market crash, American banks started losing huge amounts of
money. These Americans banks started to ask the Germans to pay back the loans they owed them
so that the American banks could pay off their own depts. The end result is that there was
economic collapse in Germany as businesses became bankrupt. Unemployment rose.

The continued payment of war reparations made the situation worse. This situation made Hitler’s
ideas attractive to the many suffering Germans. His main ideas were-

- If reparations were adding to German problems then kick out the Versailles treaty.

- Unemployment could be solved by letting the unemployed join the army, build
German armaments and join public works like roads.

- The Weimar constitution made it impossible for Germany to make decisive actions. so
what Germany needed was a strong leader.

Hitler blamed Germanys problems on three groups of people a, the Allies ii, “the November
criminals” (i.e. the German leaders who had signed the Versailles treaty in 1919 iii, the Jews.
With these views the Nazis managed to get 107 seats in the elections held in 1930. In 1932
another election was held and the Nazis got almost 200 seats. However, though the Nazis had
become the single largest party in the Reichstag, they did not yet have an overall majority in the
parliament( Reichstag.)

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Why did the Nazis win in these elections? (1930-1932)

 The Nazi campaign made use of modern and effective methods during the campaigns.
They made use of generalized slogans rather than detailed policies. They used posters,
pamphlets and also organized big rally’s. The SS and SA gave Germans an impression
of order and this is what the Germans wanted to see.

Adolf Hitler himself was a campaign asset. He was a powerful speaker and he
attended rallies’ country wide using air travel.

 Not everyone agreed with the Nazi ideas but they supported the Nazis because they
shared Nazi fears and dislikes. So they supported the Nazi because of these negative
factors. This is what is called “negative cohesion.”

 Both the Nazi and the German people shared disillusionment on the ability of
democracy in solving the problems that Germany faced. The politicians seemed to
squabble over cabinet jobs instead of solving the people’s problems.

 With the deepening of economic problems there was an increased support for
communism. The communists formed the communist red fighting league which broke
up opposition meetings and fought street battles with the police. This became the
communist threat. Big businesses and middle class business owners feared
communism because it would make the state to control their businesses and farming
land.

 Some Germans felt that the new culture emerging in urban areas was eroding German
traditional values and spreading decadence. The Nazi used this feeling to win support
by promising Germans a return to traditional values.

Task 4:discuss how far you agree with these statements-

- Very few people fully supported the Nazis

- Without the depression the Nazis would have remained a minority party

- It is the politicians of the Weimar republic who were mainly responsible for
the rise of the Nazis

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14
EVENTS OF 1932 TO JANUARY 1933
After the 1932 elections the Nazis became the largest party but it did not have the majority of
seats in the Reichstag. As a result of being the largest party, Hitler demanded that the president,
Hindenburg, make him the chancellor of Germany.

The president refused and allowed a man called Franz von Papen to continue being the
chancellor. However, Papen did not have enough support in the Parliament. This forced Papen to
call for another election in November 1932.

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In this election the Nazi still emerged as the largest party but this time they had lost 2 million
votes and 38 seats in parliament. Again Hindenburg refused to make Hitler the chancellor but
soon realized that the only way to save the Weimar democratic government was to appoint
someone who had enough support in the Reichstag. So the president and Papen held secret
consultations on what to do. The two agreed to have Hitler as the Chancellor. This was because
they were confident that they could control Hitler by limiting his influence and hence his
extreme demands.

Few people thought that Hitler would stay in power for long. However, once in power, he started
consolidating his power and by August 1934 he was the supreme dictator of Germany.

Task 5:Expalain how each of the following helped Hitler to because chancellor of Germany.

 Hitler speaking skills

 Propaganda campaigns

 Weaknesses of the Weimar republic

 Treaty of Versailles

 The great depression

LIFE IN NAZI GERMAN

HITLERS DICTATORSHIP

The Reichstag fire

Once in power Hitler called another general election in March 1933 to try and get an overall
Nazi majority in the Reichstag. On the 27th February 1933, the Reichstag building caught fire and
burnt down. Hitler then blamed the communists fore causing the fire. He claimed that the
burning was the beginning of a communist upraising in Germany. He therefore demanded to be
given special emergency powers to deal with the communist threat. Hindenburg gave him the
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powers and the Nazis used these powers to arrest communists and to break up meeting and
frighten voters before the elections.

In the elections the Nazis won their largest number of seats in the Reichstag. With the support of
the Nationalist party, the Nazis had an overall majority seats in the Reichstag.

The Enabling Act

After winning the elections Hitler used the SS and the SA to for the Reichstag to pass the
enabling act. This act gave Hitler the power to make laws without consulting the Reichstag. On
the day of voting to pass the bill the SS and the SA Blocked the Reichstag from those members
who were opposed to the bill. When passed into law, the act made Hitler a Dictator who did not
need to consult before issuing laws.

The night of long knives

Within the year (1933) any opponent of the Nazi had either left Germany or was being held in
special concentration camps run by the SS. Hitler also banned other political parties. With little
opposition to the Nazi, Hitler started looking for any opposition within the Nazi party. He
became suspicious of the leading army leaders and especially the head of the SA i.e. Rohm.
Rohm had the idea of turning the SA into a second German army.

In the weekend of 29-30 June, squads of SS men broke into the homes of Rohm and other senior
Sa leaders and arrested them Rohm and others were killed and many of the SA men were
absorbed into the Army.

The Fuhrer
After the night of long knives, Hindenburg died. Hitler then took over as the supreme leader of
Germany (i.e. the Fuhrer) on the 2nd of August of 1934, the army swore an oath of personal
loyalty to Hitler as Fuhrer of Germany. In return Hitler spent vast sums of money on armament
and expanding the army through the introduction of conscription. Hitler had plans to make
Germany a great military power again.

The police state

Nazi Germany did not give room for opposition to flourish. The Nazis wanted to create a police state
without political parties or political debate. Everyone was to serve the state and do what the leader said.
This kind of a police state is called a Totalitarian state. The Nazis did this by using several organization to
create the police state. Look at the boxes bellow:

The SS
The SS was formed in 1925 from people who were loyal to Hitler. It was headed by a man called
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Heinrich Himmler. It was made up of highly trained men of the Aryan race and were totally loyal
to Hitler. The most important subdivision of the SS were-

1. The Death Head units that controlled the concentration camps and slaughtered the Jews.

2. The Waffen SS who were an armored regiment that fought alongside the regular army.

The Gestapo
This was the secret police controlled by Reinhard Heydrich. The Gestapo had powers to arrested
citizens and send them to concentration camps without trial or explanation.

The police and courts

The Nazis were given to jobs in the local police units. They ignored crimes committed by Nazi
agents. The Nazis also controlled the courts and as such, opponents of the Nazi rearly got justice.

The concentration camps

The first concentration camps in 1933 were makeshift prisons in disused factory buildings and
ware houses. Latter on they were purpose built usually in isolated rural areas. The camps were
ran by the SS death head units. Prisoners were subjected to hard labor, limited food and a harsh
discipline. As time went by more and more prisoners died. Those who opposed the Nazi were
sent to this camps.

NAZI PROPAGANDA
In the 12 years that the Nazi ruled, Dr Joseph Goebbels was the minister for Enlightenment and
propaganda. He used propaganda, culture and the media to make Germans believe in Hitler.

Nuremberg rallies
Apart from huge rallies, marches, torchlight processions Dr. Goebbles organized the Nuremberg
rallies that took place every summer in each year. The rallies had marches flying displays and
Hitler’s brilliant speeches. The rallies made Germans to believe that they belonged to a great
movement.

The 1936 Olympic games

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Dr. Goebbles convinced Hitler to have the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 so that the games
would be used as a tool for propaganda. Dr. Goebbles built a new stadium with sophisticated tool
as a show to the world that Germany was a modern nation. Goebbles also wanted to show the
world the superiority of the Aryan race. The German athletes were top in winning medals but to
the dismay of the Nazis, a black athlete called Jesse Owens, became the star of the games. Also
the 10 athletes in the American team won 13 gold medals among themselves. ( So much for
Aryan superiority!)

To the Germans who were used to Nazi propaganda the games represented the qualities of the
Nazis i.e. power, efficiency, a grand vision, strength and achievement. However, to the outside
world the games did not work as a tool of Nazi propaganda.

The Media
Dr. Goebbles controlled the media strictly. This included having Goebbels’s permission before
publishing books. In 1933, University students publicly burnt books that had anti-Nazi ideas.
Only Nazi approved artists could show their work. Anti Nazi newspapers were closed down and
soon Jewish writers and editors found themselves out of work. All films had to carry a pro-Nazi
message. Goebble used posters that proclaimed Hitler’s greatness. He banned jazz music because
it was “black” music and black people were considered inferior. Listening to foreign radio
broadcasts like the BBC was punishable by death.

THE NAZI AND THE YOUTH

The Nazis reorganized the school curriculum to make the children loyal. E.g. History lessons
taught students how Germans had been betrayed during the first world war. Biology lessons
taught the superiority of the Aryan race.

Source

The Jews are aliens in Germany. In 1933 there were 66,060,000 inhabitants in Germany of
whom 499,862 were Jews. What is the percentage of aliens in Germany?

-a question from a Nazi math’s textbook in 1933.

Before1939 the youths had been attracted to the Nazi youth movements by the leisure
opportunities the movements offered. However, at the outbreak of the Second World War, the
movements were ran more strictly thus becoming unattractive to the youth.

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The swing movement
This was a rebellious youth movement that was made up of middle class youths. These youths
went to parties, danced to jazz music and sang English songs. They talked and enjoyed sex.

The edelweiss Pirates

These were working class teenagers. They were not an organized movement and in different
towns they took up different names. The pirates camped during weekends, sang songs that
mocked Nazi youths and they enjoyed sex. In 1944 the Cologne pirates helped army deserters,
escaped prisoners and also participated in an attack on the Gestapo which resulted in the killing
of the Gestapo chief. The Nazi responded by rounding up the ringleaders of the pirates and
publicly executing 12 of them.

WOMEN IN NAZI GERMANY

Hitler had a traditional view of women. The role of women was as wives who had to support
their husbands. Women were given financial benefits to encourage them to give birth. The school
system trained girls in physical health and housekeeping skills. Prominent women in Nazi
Germany include Leni Riefensstahl who was a prominent film maker and Gertrude Scholz-
Klink who was head of the Nazi women’s bureau.

NAZIS AND THE CHURCH

In the early stages of Nazi rule, there was some co-operation between the Nazis and the church.
Hitler signed an agreement with the Catholic Church. The Catholics were allowed to control
their schools as long as the church kept out of politics. Such an agreement with the church is
called a Concordat.

Hitler tied to create one official Reich church for all Protestants headed by Bishop Ludwing
Muller but many German Protestants held their loyalties to their original churches.

Hitler also tried to encourage other non Christian religions e.g. the pagan German Faith
movement.

Some church leaders had the courage to oppose the Nazis. Examples are:

 Catholic Bishop Galen led a protest movement against the Nazi killings of mentally ill or
disabled people. The bishop had so much support that the Nazi were afraid of silencing
him. In fact the Nazis temporarily stopped the killings.

 A protestant leader called Dietrich Bonheoffer preached against the Nazis in the 1930’s.
Latter on he helped the Jews to escape from the Nazis.
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HITLER AND THE JEWS

The hatred of Jews is called Anti-Semitism. One of the reasons why Jews were hated in Europe
over the centuries is that they were accused of killing Jesus Christ. The Jews also tended to be
more educated and owned well paying professional jobs or businesses.

When Hitler took over power, the Jews were banned from the civil service and in certain
professions like teaching. The SS and the SA organized boycott of Jewish businesses. These
businesses had to be marked by the star of David. In the 1935 Nuremburg laws, German
citizenship was withdrawn from the Jews. Jews were also forbidden from marrying or having
sexual relationships with pure blood Germans. Jews were often refused jobs and sometimes
services in shops.

Kristallnacht (knight of broken glasses)

This event took place in 1938. A young Jew killed a German diplomat in France. In response the
SS men used pickaxes and hammers to attack Jewish businesses in Germany. Ninety one Jews
were murdered and hundreds of synagogues burned. Twenty thousand Jews were taken to
concentration camps. The Nazi media claimed that these events were a spontaneous reaction of
ordinary Germans.

The Ghettos
After defeating Poland, polish Jews were rounded up and transported to major cities were they
were hoarded into sealed areas called Ghettos. Able bodied Jews were used for slave labor while
the young, sick and old were left to die from hunger and disease.

Mass murder
In 1941 the Germans invaded Russia successfully and found themselves in control of 3 million
Russian Jews. These Jews were killed in mass shootings carried out by special SS units called
Einsatzgruppen. In side Germany all Jews were orders to where the star of David as a mark.

The death camps

In January 1942 senior Nazis met at Wannsee in Berlin to discuss the” final solution” to the
“Jewish question”. Himmler, head of the SS was placed in charge of killing the Jews.

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Able bodied Jews were first used for slave labor. The young, old, and sick were killed
immediately. Death camps were built at Auschwitz, Treblinka, Chelmo and other places. Some
Jews were used for appalling medical experiments. The camps saw the deaths of six million
Jews. Also 500,000 gypsies, political prisoners, Jehovah’s witnesses, homosexuals and prisoners
of war died.

Was Hitler responsible for the final solution ?

Some Historians believe that the whole process was planned. Others disagree saying that the
policy of mass killings developed during the war years. Though Hitler made speeches about
killing Jews there is no evidence that he signed documents or made recorded orders related to the
extermination of Jews. However historians agree that ultimately Hitler was responsible for the
killing of Jews.

Jewish resistance
Many Jews escaped from Germany before the killings began. Others were hidden by non-Jews in
Germany. There were 28 or more Jewish resistance movements. Other Jews fought in resistance
movements in Nazi occupied areas of Europe.

NAZI POLICIES TO REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT

Hitler succeeded in lowering the unemployment rate in Germany. As a result he won the workers
support. Hitler succeeded in reducing unemployment by doing the following-

 The Nazis invested in the military by expanding the militaries armament. Conscription
was also introduced thus allowing the unemployed to join the army.

 The Nazis introduced work schemes which required a large number of workers e.g in
building infrastructure like the autobahn (high ways)

 The workers were encourage d to save 5 marks per week in order to buy the Volkswagen
beetle ( peoples car)

 In 1933 Hitler set up the Reich Food Estate under Richard Darre. Boards were set upon
to buy farmers produce thus guaranteeing a ready market for farmers. The Reich

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 Entailed farm law was put in place to protect farm from banks when the farmers failed
to pay loans or mortgages.

 Big business benefited since there were no trade unions to organize strikes. Other
companies benefited from government contracts e.g. Mercedes and Volkswagen.

THE IMPACT OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR ON GERMANY

1. From the beginning of the war, Germans experienced the rationing of food and cloths. In
the early part of the war the German people were happy with the war since Hitler was in
control of Eastern Europe from where luxuries flowed back to Germany. However after
Germanys’ invasion of Russia in 1941 the war started getting expensive. Germans were
forced to give up essential things like heating. They also had to recycle their waste.

2. Germany directed her industries towards armament during the war. Postal services were
suspended and entertainment places were closed. Only cinemas were opened so that the
people could see propaganda films.

3. The SS became very powerful with its own armed forces, armament industries and labor
camps.

4. As the defeat of Germany became apparent, the Nazis lost the peoples support. Germans
stayed away from Nazi rallies and even refused to give the “Heil Hitler” salute.

5. In 1942 the allies started a new policy of bombing German cities and civilians. The
bombing was aimed at German industries and also to demoralize the people. In February
1945 the city of Dresden was bombed and between 35000 to 150000people died in two
days.

6. By 1945 the German people were desperate for food. Food supplies were dwindling.

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