...1 GCSE HISTORY GERMANY 1918-1939 REVISION This awesome booklet has been designed to help you get exam-ready. It contains the ‘essential’, need-to-know points for the Germany unit, plus useful revision boosters and guidance on answering exam questions. Remember, getting your exam technique sorted is a must if you’re going to succeed in the exam - it’s just as important as knowing your stuff! CONTENTS....There are 4 sections to this booklet. 3 Hitler overcomes his opposition 1 The rise and fall of the Weimar Republic 1918 1929 1933 1934 2 The rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis 1939 4 The Nazi dictatorship 1 The rise and fall of the Weimar Republic 1918-33 Introduction If, just for fun, we were to make a graph showing the fortunes of the Weimar Republic, it would probably look like this…. B A Phase A 1918-23: The WR suffers from a few major teething problems, and struggles to survive. C Phase B 1924-28: ‘The Golden Twenties’. Things are on the up for the WR, as it recovers from its earlier problems. But beneath the surface, there are still weaknesses. Phase C 1929-1933: With the Wall St. Crash and the Great Depression, the WR comes ‘crashing’ down! Of course, during each phase, the Nazis were experiencing their own political rollercoaster ride. Broadly speaking, whenever the WR was enjoying success, the Nazis were not, and vice versa. More about that later. What was the Weimar Republic and why was it set up? A lot...
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...Adolf Hitler was born on 20th April, 1889, in the small Austrian town of Braunau near the German border. Both Hitler's parents had come from poor peasant families. His father Alois Hitler, the illegitimate son of a housemaid, was an intelligent and ambitious man and later became a senior customs official. Klara Hitler was Alois' third wife. Alois was twenty-three years older than Klara and already had two children from his previous marriages. Klara and Alois had five children but only Adolf and a younger sister, Paula, survived to become adults. Alois, who was fifty-one when Adolf was born, was extremely keen for his son to do well in life. Alois did have another son by an earlier marriage but he had been a big disappointment to him and eventually ended up in prison for theft. Alois was a strict father and savagely beat his son if he did not do as he was told. Hitler did extremely well at primary school and it appeared he had a bright academic future in front of him. He was also popular with other pupils and was much admired for his leadership qualities. He was also a deeply religious child and for a while considered the possibility of becoming a monk. Competition was much tougher in the larger secondary school and his reaction to not being top of the class was to stop trying. His father was furious as he had high hopes that Hitler would follow his example and join the Austrian civil service when he left school. However, Hitler was a stubborn child and attempts by his parents...
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...Adam Freeman Mr. Gotsell U.S History II 4/10/15 Hitler's Rise to Power At the end of World War I, Germany was in shambles, there were many young men dead, many seriously injured, and a lot of damage to cities, factories, homes, and transportation. In the face of this devastation, the German public fell under the influence of Adolf Hitler, who was very intelligent and knew that he could teach the german people however he wanted since they were in need of great help. Adolf was born in 1889 on April 20th, as a child he gathered his anti semitic ideas in Vienna. As people would join in and discriminate against other religions, like the Jews. At a young age both of his parents ended up dying and leaving him parentless the rest of his life....
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...SECTION 1: THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF THE WEIMAR GOVERNMENT 1918-OCTOBER 1933 |9 November 1918 |Abdication of the Kaiser | |January 1919 |Spartacist Uprising | |February 1919 |First Weimar elections | |28 June 1919 |Treaty of Versailles signed | |July 1919 |Weimar Constitution announced | |March 1920 |Kapp Putsch signed | |January 1923 |Occupation of the Ruhr | |January-November 1923 |Hyperinflation | |8-9 November 1923 |Munich Putsch ...
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... 2013 The Comparative Analysis of the Holocaust Ethnic cleansing and genocide are considered to coexist in a spectrum of assaults on nations or religio-ethnic groups. These threats were more prominent during the 20th century which caused massive violations of human rights and jeopardized the overall security of humans. Determinants of ethnic cleansing and genocide root from socio-political factors influenced by deeply embedded ideologies which are manifested by political leaders of specific regime types. During World War II, German authorities targeted Jews and other minority groups like the gypsies and Pols due to their perceived racial inferiority. The German ideology in attempt to eradicate these auxiliary groups led to the conflict known as the Shoah. The Shoah is the biblical word meaning destruction and it is the standard Hebrew term for the murder of European Jewry. The Shoah was the systematic, bureaucratic and state sponsored persecution of six million Jews. Comparable to other ethnic based genocides, Germans believed they were racially superior and that Jews were inferior; and deemed a threat to the “German racial community” resulting in their mass murder. Various interpretations of the Shoah has given rise to similar attitudes and opinions regarding its historical events. The Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database, is one of the largest resources of its kind which includes millions of personal records from the extensive collections of archival and library materials...
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...Hitler’s Personal Protection Strategies Adolf Hitler led with violence, aggression, manipulation, and military strategy, and because of that he became a target of assassination. This developed into an acute paranoia, which led Hitler to implement some of the most brilliant security strategies seen to date. Before an understanding of the reasoning behind the assassination attempts can be deduced, an accurate depiction of Hitler’s early rise to power is necessary. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria on 20 April, 1889. Being the son of a poor young cottager, Hitler was never satisfied with his stature in life. He fled to Germany to avoid being arrested for dodging military service in Austria. This did not define him, as he went on to serve in the German Army during World War I and was wounded twice. He received several medals, and maybe more important, found a direction in life in which he had been searching. World War I left Germany in a state of unease. The sanctions placed on the country left it almost financially crippled. Hitler used this vulnerability to come in and take the nation by storm. This, coupled with his determined necessity to completely rule Germany, was a recipe for disaster. It wasn’t long before Adolf Hitler became a party leader, and from the very beginning he needed, at least some form, of protection. Hitler emerged as not only a politician, but the leader of the most hostile and violent political party in the country. Adolf Hitler’s...
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...German Youth Leading Up to the Holocaust Teaching is a profession that is very influential. I.L. Kandel describes how education is an instrument of social control and he was right. When Adolf Hitler came into the power of Germany the entire educational system tried to transform the youth into non-Aryan hating, militaristic, strong, and very obedient members of the Nazi society. If a government can control the educational system, it can most likely control society a lot more easily. However, some of the nationalistic views that many of the main Nazis had were brought to them during World War I in the classroom. Many classrooms celebrated the military aspect of war and they celebrated and taught nationalism for Germany. Classrooms did not really do that until the war. It was after the loss in World War I that the attitudes perpetuated by the enormous let down where teachers helped with the Nazi effort and taught the essentials to the Nazi party. Teachers did not do much to fight the Nazi effort and even though not all of them directly participated in the Holocaust, they did breed a nation of young extreme German nationalists whose ideals perpetuated the event. Extreme nationalism was a very popular topic for classrooms during and after World War I, which played a contribution to some of the main Nazis during the Nazi era. A large percentage of the Nazi base was born between 1900 and 1908 including Martin Bormann (born 1900), Rudolf Hoss (born 1900), Heinrich Himmler (born...
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...in This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen The Holocaust was a depressing time in history that caused many people grief, anguish, and fear. Many people from the Holocaust have written about their experiences and trials they faced not only in concentration camps, but in their lives living under Hitler’s rule. Prisoners in the concentration camps would often have journals hidden so others could read about their lives. Surviving several concentration camps while in his twenties the author of This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, Tadeusz Borowski, faced difficult times. Often taking extreme measures to ensure his survival, he was able to live at the expense of others’ lives. While living among the other prisoners of the concentration camp, Birkenau, Borowski does some seemingly unthinkable things. He was one of the more privileged prisoners because of the job he kept. When new transports would come in, he would take their belongings which included food, clothing, and supplies. The people would be sent immediately to the gas chambers, and the supplies taken had to be given back to the guards for upkeep of the camps, but the men who unloaded the prisoners got to keep the food. “Canada” as it was called among the prisoners, symbolized wealth and survival because this was where all the clothing and valuables were taken to distribute to Germany (Borowski 1454). The men working to unload the cattle cars were also like Canada...
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...Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-0-345-52142-2 eBook ISBN 978-0-345-52144-6 [CIP Information] Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper www.ballantinebooks.com 246897531 FIRST EDITION Book design by Simon M. Sullivan What is love? After all, it is quite simple. Love is everything which enhances, widens, and enriches our life, in its height and in its depths. Love has as few problems as a motor-car. The only problems are the drivers, the passengers, and the road. —Franz Kafka Introduction In 1949, a ship called the MS Westerdam departed from the coast of Europe, its hundreds of passengers headed toward U.S. shores. Nestled deep in the ship’s cargo compartment, a pair of headlights peeped out of a dark tarp; two wide, open circles leading to the soft curves of what would soon be known as the world’s most recognizable car. Protesters, rebels, dissidents, politicians, businessmen, the world’s corporate elite—all would eventually become entwined in its story. By the end of the 1960s, it would do what no other car had done before: transcend age, class, and country to become a symbol adopted by them all. Americans would call the car the Beetle. In other places it would become the Flea, the Turtle, the Vocho, the Foxi, the Buba, the Fusca, the Poncho, and the Mouse. Over the years, the car developed a cult following as well as a more public persona...
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...element in maintaining Hitler’s regime remains one of the most controversial arguments amongst historians. There are many considerable factors. Historians such as Jaques Delarue and Hans Rothfels argue that terror was the main component to sustain control, whilst David Crew and Dick Geary believe it was propaganda that made it possible. However, there are other factors that are supported, for instance, contextual condition was backed by Ralph Flenly and Hans Rothfels and the people’s consent, as A.J.P. Taylor proposes, was the imperative constituent. Most historians have the same problem evaluating as they have different definitions for people’s consent. “Silent opposition” is the term used for the people who passively opposed. Dick Geary proposed, “Consent can only be measured in situations in which individuals can choose between real alternatives.” and opposition till death was not a real alternative. Therefore, “silent opposition” does not count for people’s consent. This hugely undermines the role of people’s consent in maintaining the regime as the most people were not actively involved in Nazi action despite its “overwhelming success” [1]. In the first interpretation, Flenly emphasized that although the German people were well-educated, they were blindfolded from the truth of what was really going on. The Nazis did make the German people more literate, for example, scheme of the People’s libraries where every parish of over 500 inhabitants was to have its own library...
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...of German cinema in Weimar Germany • German film industry grew under the Wiemar Republic. • Economic stability translated into growing cinema attendances due to having enough money to pay for a ticket • Called the Golden age for German Cinema • Cinematography was considered highly artistic and used unusual camera angles, abstract shot composition, symbolism and dramatic lighting • At the end of the 1920's German film industry made a significant shift from expressionist inspired films • Expressionism films were losing appeal among film enthusiasts • Germany was swinging towards escapist films and films that promoted German nationalism • German film output peaked in 1930 • Cinema attendances rose throughout the Depression years • Cinema allowed the unemployed to escape the misery of their lives and go somewhere warm. The Berlin Olympics • Berlin was awarded to host the 1936 Olympics • This presented Hitler with a great propaganda opportunity • He wanted the world to see that Germany was peaceful • As a result of Antisemitism there were calls to boycott the Berlin Olympics • In the months leading up to the games Hitler tried to create an image of a peaceful nation by ordering the media to refrain from attacking the Jews • Olympic Stadium seated 100,000 • German Olympic team were the first to train full-time before competition • First time an Olympic Torch was carried from Olympia to the...
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...1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and Führer ("leader") of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. He was effectively dictator of Nazi Germany, and was a central figure of World War II in Europe and the Holocaust. Hitler was a decorated veteran of World War I. He joined the precursor of the NSDAP, the German Workers' Party, in 1919 and became leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923, he attempted a coup in Munich to seize power. The failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which time he dictated his autobiography and political manifesto Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"). After his release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. Hitler frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as being part of a Jewish conspiracy. Hitler's Nazi Party became the largest elected party in the German Reichstag, leading to his appointment as chancellor in 1933. Following fresh elections won by his coalition, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which began the process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of National Socialism. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a New Order to counter what he saw as the injustice...
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...World War I and about World War II. Europe, in high school history classes, ceases to exist after 1945 and the close of World War II unless, of course, one is learning about the Cold War and the Berlin Wall may be mentioned. They do not learn, however, that World War II era Spain—because Spain was neither an ally or a foe during the war—went through enormous conflict of its own. The three-year Spanish Civil War and the fascist dictatorship that followed are largely kept out of the American history books. Yet, the world is privy to much of its legacy through literature, art, film, and personal memory. Spain certainly remembers three hellish years of war and thirty six years of repression under Generalisimo Fransisco Franco, but how is General Franco remembered by the rest of the world? What legacy did he leave internationally? 2 It is a confused and varied one: to those closest to him he was a husband, father, and statesman; to Hitler, he was an obstacle on the road to world domination; to the Jews who fled from Hitler he was a hero; but to the many Spanish minorities and to his opponents in the Spanish Civil War he was a monster. The answers to the questions posed are addressed in a variety of sources. One of these sources is the book Hitler Stopped by Franco, by Jane and Burt Boyar, who write a relatively straightforward book that explores many positive sides of Franco’s character. An alternative, contemporary...
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...War II. LO 2 Explain America’s foreign policy that developed after World War I and that was in place at the beginning of World War II, and describe how that policy changed as the war progressed. LO 3 Describe the events of World War II, both in Europe and in the Pacific, and explain why the United States acted as it did throughout the conflict. LO 4 Describe and discuss the American home front during World War II, paying special attention to long-term societal changes. LO 5 Explain how World War II was brought to an end, both in Europe and in the Pacific, and discuss the immediate aftermath of the war both in America and around the world. 9781133438212, HIST2, Volume 2, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization Just as World War II transformed the world, it also transformed the United States’s role in world affairs. “ ” If the New Deal could not end the Great Depression, a world war would. Beginning in the late 1930s, talk of war became more insistent and The Second World War can be seen as an energizing urgent in Europe. The finanevent in American history rather than a destructive one. cial uncertainty of the worldStrongly Disagree Strongly Agree wide depression had created 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 political vulnerabilities that assisted the rise of militant, expansion-minded dictators in Italy and Germany. Americans watched the continent nervously, uncertain how European affairs might affect...
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....................................................................... ii PREFACE ...................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... v HITLER’S POLITICAL DECISION MAKING PROCESS.............................................1 Personality and Goals..................................................................................................1 Hitler’s Grand Strategy?..............................................................................................3 HITLER AS A MILITARY LEADER.............................................................................9 Strengths.....................................................................................................................9 Weaknesses............................................................................................................... 12 Decision Making Process .......................................................................................... 15 HITLER’S MILITARY “MISTAKES”/”BLUNDERS”................................................. 18 Dunkirk “Stop” Order...
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