Germany Background Germany as a single, unified state was created in 1871 Prussia had been its...

Germany Background

Germany as a single, unified state was created in 1871 Prussia had been its largest

state Power was wielded by the

Kaiser (emperor) There was an elected

Parliament (Reichstag), but the country was authoritarian

Germany underwent rapid industrialization in the late 1800s (even surpassing GB)

Germany had Europe’s largest and best army

Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888-1918) pursued an aggressive foreign policy

Germany Background

WWI Germany was certainly partially

to blame for the militarism, alliance system, imperialism and other causes of WWI

Germany thought WWI would be short by using Schlieffen Plan to defeat France and Russia

But WWI became a war of attrition on all sides

By Sept 1918, German military commanders (including Hindenburg) accepted that Germany could not escape defeat

Germany’s citizens were unable to accept the defeat and turned on the government Strikes, riots and mutinies

broke out

Germany Background

Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate on Nov 9, 1918

Germany was declared a republic, and led by Friedrich Ebert

Germany signed a ceasefire to end WWI

Germany held elections in January 1919 The main political parties that

supported democracy (Social Democratic Party, Democratic Party, Centre Party) received over 70% votes

Weimar Government opened in February – not in Berlin because of the chaos and riots there

The assembly voted in July 1919 to accept the new constitution (Weimar Constitution)

Germany Background

• Philipp Scheidemann, from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), was the Chancellor

• Weimar government faced serious problems from the beginning:– Anger and resentment over

the Versailles Treaty• Diktat• Loss of territory• Reparations• Restricted military

– Extremist right and left wing movements opposed democracy and were committed to overthrowing the new Republic

Germany Background

Threats from the LEFT:

Background:

Extreme left-wing socialist movement known as the Sparticists set up the German Communist Party (KPD)

KPD wanted a Bolshevik-style government

KPD contested many elections in the 1920s and consistently received 10-15% of the vote

The KPD and the SPD would not work together (except in the case of the German October, 1923) and made it easier for Hitler to come to power in 1933

Germany Background

The Sparticist Uprising – January 1919 Staged in Berlin by the Sparticists (left wing Socialists) Put down by the freikorps (extreme right-wing ex-soldiers) Sparticist leaders were murdered

Communist Uprising in the Ruhr – March 1920 Set up their own govt at Essen and in April briefly took over Munich German army intervened and killed hundreds of communists

“German October” – 1923 The German Communist Party (KPD) organized strikes and

demonstrations, and joined with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to win control of local governments

Berlin used the army to arrest KPD ministers and dissolve the disturbances

Germany Background

Threats from the RIGHT:

Background:

Many German nationalists never accepted the Weimar Republic because it had accepted the Treaty of Versailles

Many conservative elites (large landowners, big industrialists, senior army officers, judges and civil servants) only sort of, kind of supported the new govt – often they were actually hostile

Many wanted restoration of the monarchy or some authoritarian alternative

Germany Background

The Kapp Putsch – March 1920 Nationalists Wolfgang Kapp

and General von Luttwitz attempted to overthrow the govt

Thousands of unemployed soldiers joined the Freikorps (volunteer units) units to seize control of Berlin

Regular army (Reichswehr) was ordered to attack the former soldiers, but they refused

Trade unions in Berlin went on strike paralyzing the city

After 4 days, Kapp realized he could not succeed and he fled the country

Germany Background

The “White Terror’ – 1920-22 Many political murders and high level assassinations Freikorps was mainly responsible

The Beerhall Putsch – November 8, 1923 Hitler and his para-military Nazi SA took over a govt meeting in

Bavaria The local leader (Kahr) escaped and warned the police and army Nov 9 the Nazis marched on Munich, but the army was ready

and arrested many Nazis Hitler was tried, convicted and sentenced to 5 years, but only

spent 9 months in jail – used trial as a bully pulpit and won over many new supporters

In jail he wrote Mein Kampf and decided to work from within the system rather than against it

What was wrong with the Weimar Constitution?

Background:

All men and women over 20 could vote

Reichstag had great power

Ministers were accountable to Reichstag rather than the President

Weaknesses:

Voting system was proportional representation

Small parties could get seats in govt – factionalism slows govt – no party could get a majority

1919-23 saw 8 different coalition governments

Very instable

What was wrong with the Weimar Constitution?

Weaknesses Article 48 of Constitution gave President extensive

emergency powers Could suspend civil liberties in emergencies Hindenburg used this frequently to bypass the

stalemates in the Reichstag 1930-32 Hindenburg also used it in 1933 after the

Reichstag Fire: Hitler was then able to arrest many communist

and socialist opponents and close down their newspapers

This was an important step toward his creation of a single party state

Economic Problems 1919-23

High unemployment and low industrial output WWI soldiers couldn’t find work Destruction from WWI

Germany lost valuable resources from TofV Poland and France both

received mineral rich land from Germany for 15 years

Inflation was serious since start of WWI Government continued to print

more money to make it even worse

Reparations added to the situation

1914: 20 marks = 1 £ 1923: 16,000,000,000,000 = 1 £

Hyper-Inflation of 1923

January 1923 Germany failed to pay reparations

France and Belgium sent 60,000 troops into the Ruhr

German workers in the region strike – passive resistance

Clashes killed about 150 Germans

French seal Ruhr off from the rest of Germany Ruhr produced 80% of

Germany’s steel and 70% of its coal

Devastating impact on Germany’s economy

German unemployment went from 2% to 23%

Hyper-Inflation of 1923

Stresemann became chancellor in Aug 1923:

Led a brief coalition in government

Brought in Schacht (banker) to help with currency crisis

Ordered Ruhr workers to cooperate with the French

Resumed reparations payments

Introduced new currency (Rentenmark)

1 rentenmark = 10,000,000,000,000 marks

1924 Rentenmark was replaced with Reichsmark which continued until 1945

Effects of Hyper-Inflation

Many in the middle class who lost their savings in hyper-inflation were permanently alienated from Weimar Republic

Germany had a shortage of domestic business investment – needed for future increases in GDP

Germany was increasingly dependent on loans from USA (Dawes Plan). The Dawes Plan helped the situation in 1924-28, but when the economy in US tumbled in 1929, the US called back many of its loans compounding the bad situation in Germany

The Good Years 1924-29

Some historians believe the prosperity would not have lasted in Germany even without the Great Depression

Some historians believe the issues in the US really caused the collapse of the German economy in 1929

Evidence of Progress 1924-29

Economic Dawes Plan inserted needed $ into

economy By 1928, industry exceeded its 1913

numbers Foreign exports increased 40% from

1925-29

Social Workers’ wages rose 21% in 1927-

28 alone, making them the highest paid in Europe

Government spending on health, education and social services was huge 1913 – 37% of govt spending 1932 – 68% of govt spending

New universities in Hamburg and Cologne

Unemployment insurance issued for 17 million workers in 1927


Cultural Germany (esp. Berlin) became

a vibrant cultural center Architecture – Bauhaus

design movement Literature – Thomas Mann,

Nobel Prize 1929

Political There were no further attempts

to seize power by the extreme Left or Right

1928 elections – both KPD (Communists) and DNVP (Nationalists) lost seats (KPD 62 to 54 seats, DNVP 95 to 73). Nazis only have 12 seats


Political cont. Moderate parties made

huge gains – Social Democrats (SPD) from 100 to 153 seats

1928 – 1930, Grand Coalition of SPD (Social Democrats) DDP (Democratic Party) DVP (People’s Party) and ZP (Center Party) have over 60% of seats in Reichstag

Hindenburg’s election in 1925 as President was a stabilizing factor as he was seen as a “Kaiser-substitute”


Germany’s International Situation

Gustav Stresemann (leader of German People’s Party) wanted what was best for Germany

Even if this meant accepting terms of Treaty of Ver.

He was briefly Chancellor in 1923

Then became Foreign Minister until his death in 1929

Policies were unpopular with the Nationalists but he made Germany accepted again diplomatically and even won the Nobel Peace Prize in for trying to improve Franco-German relations)

Stresemann’s Achievements

Negotiated the withdrawal of French and Belgians from Ruhr in 1924

Helped negotiate Dawes Plan in 1924

Stresemann’s suggestion of recognizing and guaranteeing Western Europe’s frontiers was finalized into Locarno Pact of 1925

Germany was allowed in League of Nations 1926

Negotiated a partial withdrawal of the Rhineland by the Allies in 1928

Negotiated the Young Plan in 1929 which reduced the total reparations bill by almost two-thirds

When he died he was negotiating the final withdrawal of the Allied troops from Rhineland which happened in 1930

Problems Under Stresemann

Economic Germany was heavily

reliant on US loans Unemployment never went

below 1.3 million and was up to 1.9 million by 1929 Crash

Agriculture was way behind industrial recovery in 1920s (tough competition from American and Canadian efficiency)

Social Farm workers’ wages were

only just over half the national average in 1929

Problems Under Stresemann

Political German Nationalist Party

(DNVP) opposed the Young Plan because it implied Germany still accepted war guilt. DNVP moved further to the right as a result

Center Party also moved to the right

“Grand Coalition” was unstable as it tried to negotiate with a range of parties from right of center to left. In 1930 it collapsed after the SPD argued with its Center Party coalition partners over how to respond to the Great Depression

The Nazi Party and Hitler

Hitler born 1889 in Austria

Wanted to be an architect but applications to school were rejected in Vienna

Sold scenic paintings to earn a living

Became interested in writings of racist authors (like Lanz von Liebenfels)

Began to believe that Germans were superior to other nationalities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (mainly Slavs) and the rest of the world

Hitler resented the wealth of the rich Jewish businessmen of Vienna


Hitler also noted that many leading Socialists and Communists were Jews

Hitler believed that Darwinism (evolution of species and survival of the fittest) could be applied to human societies

Hitler was a German Nationalist and welcomed WWI

He enlisted in the German army rather than Austro-Hungarian since he was living in Munich


• Many Germans, including Hitler, were surprised by WWI loss in 1918

• Felt that Germany had been betrayed by the communists and the Social Democrats and that the “November criminals” were to blame for Germany’s loss

• January 1919 Anton Drexler set up German Workers’ Party (DAP) to join working class and nationalists

• Hitler was put in charge of recruitment and propaganda in September 1919

• 1920 he took over as party leader and produced the 25 Point Program (combined nationalist and socialist demands, a “guide book” for Nazis)

• 1921 Hitler set up the Sturmabteilung (storm-troopers, or SA)


SA was originally used to protect party meetings, and made up of former Freikorps

Propaganda and symbolism was valuable and swastika was adopted, along with raised-arm salute

Party was renamed National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) in 1921

Hitler and Nazis aimed to seize power by force, modeled on Mussolini’s March on Rome in Oct 1922

Led to the Munich Putsch (Beer Hall Putsch) which failed and Hitler sentenced to jail

What did Hitler learn from the failed Beer Hall

Putsch? He changed his tactics – used legal

method rather than revolution

Party needed to broaden appeal

beyond working-class. He moved

away from socialist ideas in the 25

Points toward more nationalist

elements of the middle-class

SA were reorganized and given

greater responsibility over

propaganda

Founded SS (Shutzstaffel –

bodyguards) and the Hitler youth in

1926

The Wall Street Crash of 1929

Effect on German Economy: US investors withdrew money

from Germany German businesses went

bankrupt and banks collapsed Unemployment soared

Late 1920s – just under 2 million

1930 – 3.5 million 1931 – 4.4 million 1932 – 6 million

Prices fell – lower profit margins forced more businesses to go bankrupt

Value of German exports fell more than 50%

The Wall Street Crash of 1929

Impact on German Politics: Revived violent and unstable

politics of 1918-23 Large-scale street violence Each political party had its own

paramilitary Nazi SA Communist Red Front

Extremists grew in number and power

Chancellor Brüning (1930-32) was traditional and cautious Kept government spending

and taxes down Waited for economy to

improve The unemployed were furious

and turned to extremist political parties

1930 - Nazis won 107 seats, Communists won 89

Nazis Membership Grows

• Hitler was looked to as a ‘messiah’ to ‘save’ Germany

• As unemployment skyrockets, so does Nazi party membership (Nazis promised job creation)

• Weak leadership in government made Hitler look even better (Hitler even got 13 million votes to Hindenburg’s 18 million in April 1932 showing how strong a following he had)

• Many were worried about a communist revolution and the 700,000 strong SA seemed to be able to provide security

• Appealed to small farmers and peasants struggling under debt and falling food prices (they were promised subsidies)

Nazi Membership Grows

Nazis got support from lower middle-class (teachers, civil servants, etc) fearing they would become unemployed

SA was predominantly working-class, but Nazis had little support from this group overall

Nazis received financial backing from some leading industrialists who were worried about the socialists

Presented an image of dynamism and youth Campaign tactics were more

modern Mass rallies created sense of

belonging


Nazi Propaganda (Goebbels) used different messages for different groups

Subsidies to peasants

Law and order and return to traditional values to middle class

Jobs for unemployed

Defense against communist revolution and revival of Germany as great power to conservative nationalists

At the same time promised to unite all Germans

Jews, democratic system, Communists, and WWI victors were provided as scapegoats for Germany’s problems


None of this was new, so why were these messages more effective in the 1930s than in the 1920s? Widespread disillusionment

with the Weimar Republic and democratic parties was far greater, as was the scale of Germany’s economic problems

Hitler had created a more respectable image for the Nazis after his release from prison and was therefore able to win more middle class support

Breakdown of Democratic Government (1930-32)

No political party could command a majority in Reichstag

Article 48 of Weimar constitution gave president authority to declare state of emergency and govern by decree without consulting parliament

Hindenburg (President) Didn’t like the Weimar

Republic Was a Nationalist Thought the Nazis were

thugs, but hated Social Democrats and Communists even more


1930 Hindenburg dismissed Chancellor Müller’s government and appointed Brüning (Center Party) to Chancellor

Brüning had little support in Reichstag but was able to rule because of Hindenburg’s use of emergency powers to pass laws

Hindenburg grew tired of having to support Brüning so he replaced him with conservative von Papen (but he had even less support)

Hindenburg agreed to call a general election in July 1932 Nazis triumphantly won 230

seats in Parliament (largest single party in Parliament, but not yet a majority – still needed to form a coalition)


Hindenburg asked Hitler to join a coalition, but Hitler refused unless he could be Chancellor

Hindenburg refused (hated Hitler and feared SA) and called a second general election in November 1932 Nazis lost seats (down to

196) but was still largest single party

Hindenburg fired von Papen for not being able to form a coalition and replaced him with General Kurt von Schleicher


Nazi morale was low Lost seats in second election Low on money from two

campaigns Some in party were becoming

impatient and were calling for an armed rising

Von Schleicher tried to take advantage and split the Nazi party by getting support of the ‘left-wing’ Nazis, but this did not work

Hitler quickly reasserted his control over the Nazis

Why was Hitler appointed Chancellor on Jan 30,

1933? Hindenburg decided it

was the only way to achieve a majority coalition

Hindenburg actually didn’t mind offering it to him (he wasn’t worried) since the Nazi’s position was a bit weaker than it had been in November

Only 3 of the 11 Cabinet ministers were Nazi

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