Germany

Identify Nazi opposition: 1.) Communists 2.)Social Democrats 3.)Anti Nazi teachers and University Professors 4.)Roman Catholic Church 5.)Protestant Churches 6.)Jews and other persecuted minorities (once purges started). 7.)Lander (State parliaments) 8.) trade unions

How Nazis dealt with opponents? To ensure political dominance, Nazis wanted to make Germany into a one-party state. To wipe out communists, Hitler used Reichstag fire as an excuse of a “communist uprising” to disable much of the communist activities. It is to be noted that anti-communism was a major part of Hitler’s ideals. Social democrats were disabled as well. Lander were allowed to exist but lost all power.

Anti Nazi teachers and university professors posed the threat of spreading an anti-Nazi message. The Nazis even wanted subjects to be taught according to their principles. These people were kept in check by fear of Gestapo.

Roman Catholic church was a political threat and the church also had influence over people. In 1933, Hitler signed a concordat with Pope and said Nazis will not interfere with church affairs if church stayed out of politics. However Nazis broke concordat when it dissolved catholic youth league as it was a rival to Hitler youth. Catholic schools closed down after protestations. By 1937, church conflicting with Nazis and pope Pius XI issued Encyclical saying that Nazis were “hostile to Christ and his church”. Hitler angered and 1000’s of priests +nuns sent to conc. camps. Protestant churches were attempted to merge into Reich church. Failed and after protests, people sent to conc. Camps.

Jews sent to conc. Camps and murdered.

Trade unions banned and replaced with German labour front which reduced pay and took away right to strike

How did Nazis use culture and mass media to control people? After Nazis gained power, all forms of media were controlled by Joseph Goebbels. This made sure that no anti-Nazi ideas were publicized. Jewish works were banned as part of the anti-Semitism policies. By these methods, the way the German people thought could be adjusted to the Nazis’ will. Culture was used in the way of making Aryan people feel that they were a superior race. Cultural Activities of racial minorities were mostly banned so that they would have no effect on Aryan ideals.

Why Nazis persecuted many groups? The Nazis had an ideology of “racial purification”, whereby only the Aryans were to be in Germany. Therefore Jews and other small races were sent to conc. Camps. Jews were also persecuted because they owned many shops and businesses (once they were removed, these jobs given to Aryans). Mentally and physically disabled people were also persecuted because the Aryan race was supposed to be “perfect”. Homosexuals were persecuted as well.

Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state? A totalitarian state is a system of govt. where there can be only one party and the people are totally devoted to the state. Nazi Germany was definitely one of these because:

1. One party state: only the national socialists allowed existing. Power taken away from Lander.

2. Civil service purged of “enemies of the state” until it was fully reliable.

3. Trade unions banned

4. Education system controlled and Nazi ideals fed into children by Hitler youth.

5. Communication and media controlled.

6. Economic control by which unemployment was reduced and Germany brought close to self sufficiency.

7. Religious control

8. People monitored by Gestapo so that if a person was anti-Nazi, he would be taken away.

9. Anti Semitism and other forms of unjustified racial discrimination.

“The war was now lost,”1 a quote from General Ludendorff’s evidence to a post war assembly. It was 1918 and Germany had been defeated. Kaiser Wilhelm had fled to Holland on the advice of General Ludendorff, who had also urged an armistice.

To preserve the reputation of the military forces of Germany, Ludendorff wanted the creation of a civilian government, in the hope that a civilian government could take the blame for Germany’s defeat, a revolution from above, to maintain the vision of a still, strong, military force. The country of Germany had to repair itself to survive.

The old constitution had to change, not that it could be classed as old. Germany was a relatively new country, unified in 1871, but because of growing popular unrest and economic discontent, the hierarchy of Germany had to be seen as making changes for the benefit of the population.

The age of monarchy was dissolved and replaced by a new civilian government. The new constitution would be known as the Weimar Constitution. The new constitution would embrace democracy, it would be an elected government, headed by a president, and elections were to be every seven years. The parliament was known as the Reichstag. All men and women over the age of twenty were entitled to vote.

All Germans were deemed equal under the law. In consequence of this, professional people such as doctors, lawyers and teachers did not want to be equal to proletarians or the lumper proletarians, professional, middle class people believed they were better, why should the whole of society be given an education and opportunities.

In addition, social rights were given to the people, such as, free speech, a country free of censorship, education for all, religious freedom, and the entitlement to negotiate for better working conditions as well as having protection from the state. Unfortunately, Germany was a conservative, traditional country, too much freedom all at once could be too much to cope with, progressive free liberties, introduced on a slower scale might have worked better.

Fredrich Ebert was the leader of the social democratic party, who had the following of the majority of the people and in November 1918, was made the first chancellor of the new constitution.

Included within the constitution was article 48, this article gave permission for the president to dissolve the Reichstag, and act on his own, with the aid of, if necessary, military force. Consequently it could be argued about who was actually in charge of the constitution, was it the representative assembly or the elected head of state. The elected president had the right to interfere with legislation; it seemed a contradiction of a democratic republic.

This immediately throws into disarray the whole idea of a democracy, as well as according to a USPD deputy “if some henchmen of the Hohenzollerns (the royal family), a general perhaps were to be at the head of the Reich,”2 article 48 could be a weakness exploited by military men to use to their advantage as a military coup. Ebert needed the army on side, particularly to cease uprisings by the left wing. Ebert was a socialist but not a communist, neither to his favour was General Groener, who Ebert forged a deal with to win his support, Ebert would keep the authority of any existing officers, thus, the army would defend the new government so uprisings from the left were easily suppressed.

This went against the constitution. The Left Wing unified with the extreme Right over this, because they saw it as a supression to prevent revolution from the middle classes. The KPD co-operated with the extreme Right in efforts to destroy the constitution.

Furthermore, Ebert kept existing civil servants and members of the judiciary in their positions, keeping the people he needed to rely on in favourable positions. In addition to this, Ebert needed experienced people to try and keep the infa-structure of Germany on a stable footing.

However, the German people who were hungry and bitter wanted new faces, they wanted to see change. To keep things as they were was not a democracy, according to an anonymous exiled SPD member, the German working class should have taken over the old state, to leave things unchanged was a grave historical error and not a good start to a new democratic, republican state. Many of he German people refused to accept the new constitution as being legitimate; these people were not used to as much freedom as was being promised. They were battered from the war and not ready for such a change. If the new constitution was going to be part of their lives, maybe initiating it alongside a monarchy would have been more successful in winning them over traditionalists and nationalists cannot be changed overnight.

The first real threat for Weimar was The Treaty of Versailles in 1919″Death rather than slavery,”3 quoted the nationalist newspaper, Duetsche Zeitung. The whole of Germany rejected the Treaty, but the constitution had no choice but to accept it,”There is no alternative to accepting the armistice terms. It is however, already apparent that these conditions will not produce a just peace. The sacrifices on us are tremendous; they must lead to our peoples doom,”3

Germany was brought to its knees by reparations, loss of territory, war guilt and the limitations of a reduced military force, which country would survive, historian A.Nicholls,4 (1979) sums up the Treaty and the impact on the Weimar republic, “Germany’s economy was ruined by reparations and her security undermined. Much more serious was the political demoralisation which the treaty caused with in the Reich itself … The real damage the treaty did to Germany was to disillusion the more moderate men who might otherwise have supported their new republic…The peace settlement continued to poison the political atmosphere in Germany for many years.”4

The Treaty helped the radical right wing political party’s gain support and challenge the new Weimar republican government. The main right wing parties rejected the republic and its principles and wanted to destroy the democratic constitution and go back to a nationalist system, the signing of the Treaty only reinforced that the new government wasn’t working for the people. The aim of the Right Wing was to abolish the constitution and instead have a conservative, authoritarian regime, unlike other conservative political parties in well-established democracies.

It was in March 1920 that the first major problem from the Right occurred. A right wing coup named after its leader Kapp was initiated. It only failed due to a general strike. After marching on Berlin the governments troops refused to fire on the freikorps, the support for a democratic republic was not where the army’s loyalties lay, after all it was only because of secret talks between Ebert and Groener, and the fact that Groener was only protecting his position that the army only HAD to support the new Republic, through orders of their commander, they did not support the republic voluntarily.

The judiciary dealt with the people involved with Kapp leniently, showing that the judiciary was not in favour of a democratic country, they were still in favour of the old nationalist Germany. The Right wing consisted of the military, financial elites, state beurocracy, the educational system and some of the press.

However, the Kapp Putsch did demonstrate weaknesses in the New Constitution, democracy in Germany lost its way, there was no political control over the military, the government could not enforce its authority even in its own capital; the government could not put down a challenge to its own authority and only because of mass power was government authority re- established.

It wasn’t due to support of the constitution that people supported a general strike. It was due to the fact that peace was more important than political beliefs and who would want a revolution in their town.

In addition to this the failure of Kapp being brought to justice led to a spate of assinations committed by the Right Wing against supporters of the Weimar Constitution. Over 350 political murders took place between 1919 and 1923. Again the perpetrators were dealt with leniently, showing support for the nationalists, and the weak decision of keeping the same people in their jobs, “when the republic was created, these judges held over from the monarchy found it impossible to transfer their allegiance to the new organisation of the state…They created a private law and subverted (undermined) the public law of the Republic by refusing to administer justice in an equal manner to all people, “5Kurt Tucholsky, left wing satirist.

Ebert was in an impossible situation, the Treaty was the major factor in undermining the democratic constitution, and money for the reparations had to be found, promises of a welfare state and a new age for Germany and the rebuilding of great German country seemed impossible. It was no fun for those having to live under the crippling conditions imposed by the Treaty.

In addition to this, Ebert’s new Republican foundations were established in debt from the reign of the Kaiser and the war; the country was already weak economically from the war. The only way to remedy a weak economy and pay off debts was through taxes and inflation. War cost, lack of confidence in the currency, reparations, trade deficit and the governments apparent solution to print more and more money, all led to an economic crisis.

People on fixed incomes and the middle class lost out to hyperinflation. Whilst people with debts, mortgages, tradesmen, industrialists and estate agents benefited through hyperinflation. In addition to this, levels of unemployment were kept down and new, international investments were encouraged.

Despite the negative effects of hyperinflation, workers were economically better off due to increased levels of economic activity.

Unfortunately, the Weimar Republic weakened with hyperinflation due to ill health suffered by the population; this was the result of inflation-induced poverty, the new constitution was blamed for this, again injuring the constitution.”The savings, hopes, plans and assumptions and aspirations of huge numbers of people were swept away in a whirlwind… Even when the worst material impact was over, the psychological shock of the experience was to have longer lasting effects, confirming a deep-seated dislike of democracy”6

In June 1920, the Weimar Constitution lost its majority. A constitution that had been run by coalition governments, needed that majority, other parties were dissatisfied with the constitution, and because none of the other party’s gained 50% of the vote, unstable coalition governments ruled Germany. Add to this bickering and lack of agreement on both domestic and foreign policies, co-operation became lax and there were too many minorities and no majorities.

Elections were built around suffering and proportional representation. What could be seen, as a strength was actually a weakness.

Because everybody was allowed to vote, including extremists from the left and the right. Which meant that with proportional voting, that the minor parties got seats in the Reichstag, thus, disrupting proceedings and make the leading party and the constitution look weak.

In conclusion the Weimar Republic looked on paper like a sure, fire hit but because of the introduction of democracy and no strong patriarchal leader problems were bound to arise. The Kaiser was much loved and respected by a traditional and loyal Germany, the Germans were confused. They were being promised greatness and security but because of the Treaty and the in -fighting the German people never saw what was promised. They only saw problem after problem.

Ebert was a great statesman but circumstances prevented the constitution being a success, and it does take time for new ideas to begin to work, if the Treaty had never been signed by the countries involved Germany would have been great, maybe the blame should be put upon the USA, Italy, France and Britain. The new constitution never stood a chance.

It was the biggest genocide to ever take place in human history. Most history teachings are based upon factual records but many horrors of the Holocaust went undocumented and can only be understood through the court hearings, diaries, stories, drawings, and first hand experiences of the survivors. Holocaust history focuses on Jews but all undesirables were included in the genocide including: handicapped, Jehovah witnesses, homosexuals, and gypsies. After World War l, Germany was pounded with war reparations.

They didn’t only lose the war; they lost their pride and nationalism to their country. Germany’s was limited to an army of 100,000 men, and limited to even fewer ships. They suffered a great amount of territorial losses, and the worst of all, they had to accept the humiliation of being held solely responsible for the war. The losses, the destruction, and the depression after World War I was all rested upon the shoulders of the Germans. (Hosted) Along with these harsh war reparations, the world was suffering from the Great Depression. Their entire middle class was wiped out and they were undergoing ass unemployment.

Their fragile democracy didn’t stand a chance in restoring their nation. Social unrest gave the rise to countless radical parties and the democracy fell to pieces. Germany was longing for stability and direction, and desperate for a powerhouse to restore organization. Unfortunately many found this hope in Hitler. Hitler was an unhappy child growing up but his youth was nothing out of the ordinary. He grew up in Austria, but he moved to Vienna in his later years. In Vienna, Jews were given the equal opportunity to express their talent, providing Hitler with the opportunity to develop his racism towards the group.

He had little social life; he believed that art, military, and music were the only important things in life. He was intelligent, and a great speaker, which would later become very useful to him. (Hitler in color) World War I enabled Hitter’s rise to power. Germany was in ruins and desperate for any power to take over, and Hitler was there to step in and relate to them. He shared their misery and hatreds and knew how to attract crowds. His convincing and motivational speeches that spoke of Germany on the track to coming a world power again gained people’s vote.

Hitler promised the people of Germany a future. He promised to reinitialize the Rangeland, reclaim German territories, and bring power back to Germany. Disparity among the people caused them to overlook the harsh terms of the Nazi way of life. Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in January of 1933. He became the head of state and the head of government, in the now totalitarian government of Germany. During Hitter’s regime, also commonly known as the “Third Reich” or “Nazi Germany’, Hitler restored jobs to over a million people.

He created public works programs and he funded them with military spending. This gained him a lot of support from his people who had been suffering from a financial depression, and economic chaos. Opposition to the government was nonexistent. Civil service members swore to an oath in which the vowed to be unconditionally obedient to their Ruler. Whatever Hitler did was the law. The government even controlled opinions and artwork; there was no room for any up rises or outbreaks. In classrooms, the youth were taught to obey Hitler. Hitler created a Nazi Youth Group that became very popular among the children.

The best of the best were recruited for his group: the athletes, the educated, and the well-off in Hitter’s Nazi Youth Group skyrocketed from 50,000 members to 5 million members. In late 1936, it became mandatory for all children to Join the Nazi Youth Group. The children were taught of superior traits, and how the Jews were at fault for the unfortunate times that their country had been suffering. School teachings included racism, anti-Semitism, and obedience to the state. At eighteen, it was mandatory for all boys to enlist in Hitter’s army.

The people of Germany were taught by a young age o obey Hitler. It was as the whole country was brainwashed into the thoughts of their new leader. At first Jews and other undesirables were Just separated from society and denied certain rights. They were not allowed to intermarry with non-Jews and they couldn’t practice certain professions such as: teachers, nurses, lawyers, etc. Eventually all undesirables were to be eliminated from society all in all. Hitler created “camps” that would separate the Jews from the rest of the population so they could no longer affect their nation’s success and prosperity. Urban) On November 9th, 938, Non-Germans flooded the streets where Jewish businesses and homes were located. They threw glass through windows, burned down homes and stores, demolished the streets, and murdered and beat thousands of Jews. The night will forever be remembered in history as Circumstantial. On this night, 30,000 Jews were arrested and placed into concentration camps. The first concentration camp to come about was Dachas in Germany near Munich. At the camp, violence and terror kept the inmates in order. Upon entering the camp they were humiliated; they were stripped of their clothes and had their heads shaved.

Some were killed immediately. Some were used for slave labor. The camps lacked hygiene and basic medical care so many caught diseases, which spread from inmate to inmate. Along with diseases, the Jews were barely fed, if ever, and rarely given water. Malnutrition and poor living conditions took a toll on the camp’s inmates. This torture and terror on a daily basis was the new life of misery that these Jews were unable to escape. (Dillon) Other concentration camps emerged. The most notorious were: Chanteuses near Berlin, Buchwald near Whimper, Lightener near Murderers, and the most tourism of all, Auschwitz.

Auschwitz was the largest concentration camp. It was in southern Poland alongside a military base, and also conveniently located right along a railway making transportation of Jews very easy for Hitter’s civil service. It was right in the center of all of Rupee’s German-occupied countries. The Jews were greeted with the message “Work will set you free! ” Upon entering, Nazi doctors examined the Jews. If they were determined useless, they were directed to the shower-disguised gas chambers. This group included young children, women, and elderly. If they were en as useful, they were directed to the slave labor side of the camp.

The ones who didn’t get put to immediate death usually died shortly after from overworking and disease. “Some Auschwitz prisoners were subjected to inhumane medical experimentation. The chief perpetrator of this barbaric research was Josef Mangle (1911-79), a German physician who began working at Auschwitz in 1943. Mangle, who came to be known as the “Angel of Death,” performed a range of experiments on detainees. For example, in an effort to study eye color, he injected serum into the eyeballs of dozens of children, causing them excruciating pain.

He also injected chloroform into the hearts of twins, to determine if both siblings would die at the World War II began to take a toll on Hitler but he refused to admit defeat. This caused mass destruction and damage to Germany’s infrastructure, and the massive bombing of major cities. Hitler even began to destroy his own buildings so his enemies could not enjoy the pleasure of defeating him. When he was forced to face the fact that the Allied Powers were soon to defeat him, Hitler committed suicide. (A +E Networks) When the Soviet entered Auschwitz, many buildings and records in the concentration camp had already been destroyed.

Buildings were torn down and documents were disposed of. Many Jews had been shipped out of the camp along the railway to other camps. Some of the evidence may have been destroyed but the true horrors that took place in this camp could never be covered up and remained behind in the shaved hair, children’s shoes, piles of bones and corpses, and misery drawn across the survivor’s faces. The thousands of frail Jews left behind at Auschwitz were skin and bones, hopelessly waiting for someone to save them. They may have survived, but they will forever carry with them the mental and physical cars from the horrors of the Holocaust.

The two extracts address the issue of youth opposition to the Nazis during the period 1933-1945. Source A an extract from an analysis “What was the extent of the opposition to Hitler’s regime? ” by S. J. Lee (1998) suggests that despite a centralised youth movement, the Nazis failed to maintain complete control and influence of all of Germany’s youth. One consequence of this was the emergence of “alternative” and even opposition cultures and groups” among Germany’s youth.

Source B by Collier and Pedley writing in the text book “Germany 1919-1945” (2000) also identifies elements of dissatisfaction with the regime but implies that the affinity of young people with the Nazi dictatorship was “sustained”. Adolescents were not the only opposition provided by the youth, the students, especially those in Berlin and the major cities, where metropolitan lifestyles encouraged such behaviour were rife. The most notable was the White Rose movement, but there was numerous dissent from the ranks of the students, in the form of pamphlet distribution on the lines of anti-Nazism.

The alternative groups that challenged the Hitler Youth did so out of resentment for the lack of liberty they had under the regime, and the emergence of the “jazz” and American trends such as swing and chewing gum made these people further affiliated with something other than Germany. Himmler, in a speech, gave the nazi view on these saw this as being unpatriotic, and said that all children listening to swing should be severely beaten, before being set arduous work.

Frank McDonough states that although youths faced punishment and during the latter part of the war even death, the Anti-Nazi youth groups continued to operate and many of them teamed up with army deserters to attack the regime at the end of the war. The emergence of opposition to the Nazi regime amongst the youth created problems for the Nazis, Geoff Layton, in his book “Germany: The Third Reich 1933-45”, even saying that the youth contribution to crime soared by 300% from 1933 to 1939.

This is true, increased regimentation, hours spent marching in army tradition bored many young Germans and it was clear that it was a form of army training and preparation. Old commanders of the Hitler Youth were out of touch with the youth. Many resented the fact that in 1939 it was made compulsory to join the Hitler Youth, which allowed the leaders of it to concentrate on indoctrination of the youth. The extract from source A, “the emergence of “alternative and even “oppositional cultures and groups” and lines two to three in source B refers to the “Edelweisspiraten” and the “Swing Jugend”.

The former acted by going on camping trips in war time when travelling was strictly limited and singing insulting songs about Hitler and the Hitler Youth. Later as the war progressed however, we see this “alternative youth group” shielding army deserters and joining resistance groups that fought the Nazis, especially communists. This shows that overtime their adversity towards the regime increased. The latter, the “Swing Jugend”, set up illegal swing clubs and organised dances, showing a desire to ape the American/modern culture.

Source A is an extract from an analysis into the opposition the Nazis faced, and was written by S. J. Lee; while Source B is from Collier and Pedley’s book, “Germany 1919-1945”. The research that goes in to the work of academic historians is enough to ensure that to the best of the historian’s ability, the source is correct; reading up on the subject in great detail, and reading from sources, judging their bias and reliability in the work they produce. The sources have both been written recently and so we can assume that the sources used are accurate and up-to-date.

The following extract from source A, “deficiencies of the Hitler Youth”, is referring to the fact that not everybody was convinced with the Hitler Youth. It placed strong emphasis on military exercise and sport for boys, and home economics and motherhood for girls, which some resented. It also refers to the fact that the youth leaders were often old, going against the slogan “the youth should lead the youth”, and were out of touch with the youths in any case.

Source A implies that the youth were the most socially deviant group in Germany, “Social deviance was most apparent among younger Germans” placing special emphasis on the working class youth. The Edelweiss pirates were scattered around the working class towns but shared an identity in the form of all wearing checked shirts, short dark trousers, white socks, a windbreaker and a metal edelweiss flower badge; effectively a uniform, and could be said to be a youth group themselves.

They stood against the regimentation, rules and restrictions in the Hitler Youth and indeed disagreed with the regime itself, with the Raving Dudes based in Essen and the Navajos based in Cologne being closely linked to them. These facts help show the validity of source A, they actually proved to be opposition to the Nazis, and as is explained partook in a wide range of acts to belittle the regime. One of the main goals of the Edelweiss pirates was to challenge the Hitler Youth, they didn’t merely dislike it, and they despised the members of it.

Source B takes a different view; it is clear that M. Collier and P. Pedley think that the youth of Germany remained true to Nazism. It is has been established that these are academic historians, and that it is a recent production. The first line is fact, by 1939 there were indeed 7. 5 million Hitler Youth Members, claiming approximately 90% of the population of youths. It says that by 1939, The source mentions dissatisfaction with the Nazis with “young people became disaffected by growing regimentation, petty restriction and ineffective and ageing youth leaders.

Also, the fact remains that these other groups remained a minority, as a whole representing only around ten percent of the population of the youth. Membership remained high in the Hitler Youth, through fear, both by parents and the children themselves, through them still being inspired due to the camaraderie in it, and by the fact that Hitler Youth members were far more employable in Germany by this time, especially in the civil service. So this shows that there was an “affinity of young people with the dictatorship” and it was upheld.

My knowledge shows that the closing line of source B is correct, Hitler’s staunchest supporters were indeed children, and it was they who fought for him tooth and nail in the final days of the war on the streets of Berlin. The sources do also have bad points. Criticisms applying to both extracts given are that they are both edited, this means the sources are not complete and therefore, lacking the context in which the source is set, one could be missing the full picture of what it is trying to portray. The sources underestimate the extent to which some youths acted against the regime.

Geoff Layton, in his book “Germany, 1933- 1945″, says that twelve youths were hanged publicly in 1944 for attacking military targets and the assassination of a Gestapo officer. The sources seem to avoid altogether opposition from students in universities, as we must not forget this proportion of the youths. The most famous of which was the White Rose Movement, Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans Scholl and a professor named Karl Huber at Munich University, distributing pamphlets containing anti-nazi propaganda and they also wrote graffiti on walls throughout major cities but mainly in Munich. The name of Germany will be tainted forever unless the youth arises … by annihilating these torturers”, this is an extract from the white rose movement manifesto, February 1943, referring to crushing the nazis. Also in February 1943, Paul Giesler, the gauleiter of Munich, delivered a blunt speech to the students ridiculing the males saying they were to “physically unfit” for service in the army, and told the females to “stop wasting time reading books” and produce children for the Fuhrer.

This resulted in a full scale riot against Nazism, but was quickly put down, though it is still a notable event as it was the first public demonstration against the Nazis since 1933. I feel it is important not to overlook the students when considering youth opposition, as students in the metropolitan cities had very liberal ideas, and partook in resistance to the regime. However, while Source A places emphasis on the working class as opposition groups among youth, the Swing youth movement consisted of mainly the upper-middle class affluent youth who desired and craved for the swing music that was big in America.

It was these who could afford to get gramophones and import music recordings. The swing dances were attended by up to six thousand people at a time; showing their popularity and it can be seen that this feeling of resentment towards Nazi restrictions was widespread, regardless of social standing. Source A blames the lack of imagination of the Hitler Youth for the springing up of alternative youth groups; where as the Hitler Youth achieved 90% membership of all youth. This did not further decline much as the war went on, suggesting that those who joined tended to stay.

With Source B, the following extract “young people remained Hitler’s staunchest supporters”, in source B, suggests that M. Collier and P. Pedley do not agree with lots of historians including F. McDonough, with their view that the youth provided a strong base of severe opposition to the Nazis and the war effort. An instant drawback in source B is that the source is from a book that is very general, covering lots of topics in Germany from 1919-1945, so is not specialised in opposition.

To conclude, I would like to point out that Hitler placed the utmost importance on controlling and converting the youth to the Nazi cause even going so far in one speech to say people hostile to the regime were unimportant as “your child belongs to us already”, he saw them as the future of Nazism. The presence of these “counter-cultural” groups, (for example, the Edelweisspiraten), therefore, were seen as a failure to Hitler, and as they were deemed so important their opposition was dealt with brutally.

This fact means that the youths were bold and brave in taking place in even the most trivial resistance. The fact that these youths counted for a substantial minority of the population, especially in large German cities such as Dusseldorf and Munich shows that there was more than an element of opposition, and this got worse as the war went on and the youths started to assist the allied war effort. The idea that the Nazis were achieving a Volksgemeinschaft falls down here as well, as these groups showed a desire to have a separate and individual cultural identity.

This shows that there were non-conformists, and as source B says, even though there were 7. 5 million Hitler Youth members in 1939, youth enthusiasm for the regime did fall, even before the collapse of the regime. So the sources are proven to be reliable to a certain extent and are to be trusted in an evaluation of the opposition that the Nazis faced; though more sources are needed to give a substantiated judgement on the opposition which will enable us to gain a fuller picture of the topic.

Hitler was the founder of the National Socialist German Workers Party and one of the most Influential voices of his time. He Implemented the Holocaust, the mass execution of the Jews, Gypsies, and people he considered inordinate. Hitler was known for being very cruel to many people and punished those who disobeyed his rule. In November of 1921, he had realized that he had a powerful skill in oratory and could speak like none other. He founded the Nationalistic Socialist German Workers Party and created the swastika.

He started to lead Germany in many rebellions against other countries. Hitler was furious with what how the nations of the world mistreated Germany after World War l, and wanted to get revenge. As World War I ended, there were many reparations that were needed to be done. Many countries were In a state of depression and anger was fueled inside all of them, and someone had to pay. The League of Nations Indicted Germany of the crimes that were done, and Germany had to pay the money for all the nations’ compensations. Everybody In Germany, Including Doll Hitler, was enraged by this decision, because they had to pay more taxes.

Hitler thought someone needed to stand up for judgment, and with his oratory skills, he tried convincing the people of Germany to rebel against the world. He conducted many speeches all over Germany, and many people agreed with his ideas and with the support that he gathered from his people, he overthrew the nation’s government and gathered all the power. When Germany was weakened, considering it had to pay for all the reparations, the government collapsed. In addition to that, most of the German states made their own Constitutions and did not follow the main Constitution.

The army of Germany was under General Hans von Sects, and he wanted to destroy the government. The leadership of the previous Kaiser of Germany was not present anymore, and the people did not have anyone to look up to. In fact, most people wanted dictatorship to come back, so they could get ruled again. Germany was split up Into small independent states, and Doll Hitler did not like this. He wanted a single, strong, united Germany with a strong government, so they could fight against the Allied states and get their revenge.

He immediately started throwing leadership campaigns, ND many people bent to his opinion. A couple years following his campaigns, Hitler became the leader of Germany. Thirdly, he rose to power was because he gained a lot of money. Fresh out of World War l, Hitler didn’t have a lot of money and was financially unstable. When Hitler realized that Germany didn’t have a strong leadership, he decided to step up to the case. He didn’t have the money to set up propaganda or any sort of art to convince them, so he conducted a lot of speeches.

By doing so, many rich entrepreneurs In Germany offered Hitler money to restore Germany. With that money, Hitler could create propaganda, so that he could get the people’s support. Also, Hitler could set up many campaigns all over Germany and attracted many that the Jews and other people who he considered “morally unjust” were to blame, and the Germans showed distrust towards these people. He put Josef Gobbles in charge of the propaganda, because Gobbles was able to appeal to the peoples’ feelings instead of arguing against them.

Gobbles communicated the views of the Nazi perfectly and a lot of people, especially the youth, started to follow Hitler in his billions. With this type of power, there was no stopping Hitler. At the end of the war, everyone in Germany lost something. Even Hitler lost someone, his mother. Before the war, Germany was a big and threatening country, but in the post war, nobody was scared of it anymore. It was Just some poor third- world country that no one cared about anymore. Hitler was positive that he could get Germany’s moral back.

In his speeches, he promised that he will bring Germany back up and give everyone something. He basically promised the impossible to a nation of people who were in desperate, starving, loss of credibility, and utterly defeated at the mercy of the nations to help rebuild them. The government was doing little to bring Germany back, but the people never listened to them. Hitler appealed to their pride, and they supported him. As Hitler started to create more and more campaigns, he soon started enemies. There were many opposing parties that electioneered against Hitler.

Since the German Constitution was not effective, Hitler could do whatever he wanted. His men or the Gestapo Secret Police and the Storekeepers, would often attack his opposition. With more and more parties getting destroyed by Hitter’s organization, fear spread throughout the people. He showed the country who he really was and no one, including the government, wanted to mess with him. Along with the many campaigns he held and the fear he created, the people of Germany admired Hitler, because of his body language and his personality. He appealed to a people who had been defeated and humiliated.

The people wanted a leader who was not afraid of anything and is willing to stand up for his country. His body language as shown well and used as a great way to get across his message. The people of Germany adored how he could organize everything so perfectly and was driven to become the dictator of Germany. A lot of people referred to him as the Messiah of Germany. Disaster struck the United States in 1929, when the Stock Market collapsed. Everyone lost a lot of money, and the United States of America did not have a lot of money. They had to shut down their major imports with other countries, Germany being one of them.

Since Germany had to pay for all the war reparations, their sports were a primary source of making money. With the Great Depression, they lost one of their main exports, and Germany started to lose money. Inflation rose greatly in Germany, and money started to lose value. Unemployment shot up drastically, and people were not making money. The people of Germany wanted someone to blame. Hitler thought that if he can get the people back to work, he can get lot of followers. He started to talk about the Nazi party and why it is beneficial, and more and more people started to Join the Nazi party, because it was their last chance of hope.

Since the Nazi party went from 12 people in 1928 to 230 in 1932, Hitler gave people what they wanted. In 1932, the population of the Nazi party started to decline, and the elections about suicide. A man named Paul von Hindering gave him a helping hand and set him up with a friend of his, Chancellor Franz von Pane. Von Pane was having trouble getting people to listen to him and needed someone who he can trust to rule Germany. He gave Hitler a position as vice-chancellor, but Hitler declined, because Hitler thought he was suited for a higher position.

Taking a risk Hindering and von Pane gave Hitler the position of Chancellor. They made a very bad mistake, because Hitler used this to have total control of the power in Germany. He finally got what he wanted, and he didn’t take power, he was given it. There were many reasons for why Hitler rose to the position where he was, but there are a few that stand out among the others. The biggest reason for why he got so much power was because of the outcome of World War II. Since Germany had to pay for all the reparations, everyone in Germany was mad at the other nations.

No one would stand up and rebel against them. Hitler took a stand and wanted to show the other countries that Germany doesn’t deserve the treatment. He capitalized on this decision and created the Nazi party that would end the nightmare the Germans were living in. Another reason for why he rose to power was through his speeches and his extravagant character. The government of Germany did not do anything about the ruins and had a hard time getting its people to listen it. The people of Germany wanted someone who was brave, logical, and willing to stand up to his country.

Hitler had all those qualities, and he was not afraid to speak. The Germans saw this in him and took the liberty of following in him for his rise to power. A third reason for why he had risen to great power was through his use of propaganda. He thought that he needed to get the people of Germany to believe what was right and wrong. Hitler thought the only way to do this was through the use of propaganda. By using that, he led the people to believe that they need to stand up for what’s right. Hitler was and still is, one of the greatest leaders of all time.

The S. A. was, essentially, the private army of the NSDAP. During the years of endemic violence in Germany after its defeat in the First World War until 1925, and again after 1930, after the prosperity brought by the Young plan evaporated with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929, such private armies were commonplace, and indeed necessary.

Many members of the S. A. had come out of the defeated German army, and were in effect mercenary thugs. The principal attraction of the S. A. to many of its members was not the political ideology of the party for which it worked (although a great many of them were probably Nazi sympathizers), but rather its pomp, regalia and display (the S. A. wore the uniform of the defeated German army, evoking patriotic spirit among both its members and the general public), which were used to great effect to boost party membership (indeed, this was one of the main aims of the S. A.) and to attract new sympathizers.

The main job of the S. A. was to provide security for the Nazi party, particularly at its rallies, which could easily have been ruined with the presence of a few hardcore opposition supporters intent on causing damage to their political enemies; equally, the S. A. was designed to disrupt the meetings of opposition parties, and to attack (physically, rather than verbally) their politicians, and, particularly when the Nazis were in power, the Jews.

The S. A. offered stability to its members, in a time at which unemployment was astronomically high; it also gave a sense of purpose to its more politically motivated members, who may well have felt that they were fighting for the good of the Fatherland. Indeed, the ideologies of members of the S. A. varied widely, from the nationalist conservatives in the army whose views verged on the fascist, to those with strong socialist sympathies, such as Rohm, the leader of the S. A. until the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ in June 1934.

b. Explain the reasons why the Wall Street Crash was important to the success of the Nazis after 1929.

The main effect of the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 on the politics of Germany was the polarization of political opinion that it caused. The Crash caused the United States to recall the loans that it had made to Germany (and to other European powers, although they were less badly affected than Germany because they owed less money to the US, as Germany was being rebuilt almost entirely with US money after the war), thus causing economic chaos. A banking crisis led to a sharp drop in spending, causing businesses to go bankrupt, and thus causing mass unemployment. The people that lost out the most were the middle classes, as the very rich had enough money that they could get by easily, and the poor were mostly agricultural workers, who could survive by subsistence farming and selling their goods, which were essential to everyone.

Almost all of the more enthusiastic supporters of the democratic Weimar republic also came from the middle classes, and with the collapse in their way of life caused by the Wall Street Crash and subsequent financial crisis in Germany, the government inevitably shouldered much of the blame. With most of the government’s support having evaporated, people inevitably looked to alternative systems of rule – principally those at almost diametrically opposite ends of the spectrum: the nationalist ultra-conservative Nazi party, who promised to sort out the country, and the Communists and Socialists (Russia had been unaffected by the Wall Street Crash, owing to the fact that private ownership of land – and thus the mortgages upon which people in Germany had to default – was forbidden).

It is worth remembering that the Nazi party was not the only party to which people turned in the times of hardship after the Wall Street Crash. While the support for Weimar universally collapsed, both the Communists and Nazis gained seats in the September 1930 Reichstag elections (although the Nazis did so in far greater quantity – their number of seats rose by 983% in the elections, as opposed to the Communists’ relatively meagre forty-three percent rise).

However, it is certain that this huge rise in popularity was caused, for the most part, by the middle classes deserting Weimar, and giving their support to the Nazi Party, which was, after all, far more respectable than the Communist Party. So convinced were many industrialists (notably the Thyssen and Schnitzler families) by Hitler’s anti-communist promises that they gave large sums of money to the Nazi party, a fact which demonstrates the respect given to the Nazi Party by many people held in high regard.

While the Wall Street Crash was a principal factor in the rise of the Nazi party, it was by no means the only one. The death in October 1929 of Gustav Stresemann, the extremely able Chancellor, struck another blow to the Weimar government, contributing to its loss of popular confidence. He was succeeded by Brunning, who imposed a rigorous economic policy of cuts, enforced by presidential decree from the aging von Hindenburg, which, although they may have been a possible solution to the economic problems of Germany, were deeply unpopular, and meant that still fewer middle class people supported the democratic system of government. His foreign policy, however, was remarkably similar to Hitler’s – he talked of remilitarizing the Rhineland, and even of Anschluss with Austria.

The blaming of the Communists and consequent elimination of opposition in the next elections after the Reichstag fire was also an extremely important factor in the NSDAP’s gaining a majority in the Reichstag and thus eventual power, with Hitler as Chancellor.

The Wall Street Crash was thus important to the rise of the Nazi party after 1929 because it resulted in an economic crisis in Germany, which precipitated a loss of confidence in the Weimar government from the middle classes. The hard times in Germany led to political polarization, and, while the Nazis were not the only beneficiaries of this, they certainly received a boost in their levels of support. However, it was not the only reason for their rise to power – the Reichstag fire and thus the elimination of opposition to the Nazi party, and before that, the death of Stresemann, both contributed to the NSDAP’s rise to power.

1. Source C, Prelude To Terror was written by Richard Hanser in 1971 and seeks to discredit Hitler and show him as a coward we know this because he says that Hitler pretended he was shot dead and then fled from the scene of battle. And he also wrote “at no point did he behave heroically” and “he did not exactly cover himself with glory”. Hanser also wrote sarcastically that it is extremely hard or maybe impossible for the average man to lift someone even if he or she was a child. “Not an easy thing to do with only one arm in working order”. By saying this Hanser thinks the event about Hitler saving a little boy is a story, he thinks source B by John Toland is a story. Source B is a story made up by the Nazis while source C is more likely to be what had actually happened.

Source B on the other hand was published by John Toland in 1976 and is sympathetic towards Hitler, he uses words such as “painfully”, “struggled”, “slowly” and “agony” to describe how. John’s sympathy continues by John describing how Hitler looked whilst he was escaping, he had a “pale face”, “cradling his injured arm” and his hair was “falling over his face” , according to John’s description of what Hitler looked like when he escaped from the battle. Then John Toland said Hitler wanted to pick up a little boy who was “bleeding profusely”, and carry him to safety but schultze (Hitler’s driver) told him not to and called someone else to take him.

Source B views Hitler as a hero who cares deeply of Germany and it’s citizens. John seems to have based this source on Nazi myth. The writer of source C wants to show Hitler as a coward. Hanser thinks that the Nazis made up a story about a little boy, this story is source B.

2. Source A is written by Konrad Heiden and is more likely to be true then sources B, C and D. It is more reliable then these sources because source A contains information provided by a witness that was their probably at the time of the Munich Putsch and saw the event. However witnesses are people who can forget over long periods of time, the witness information of source A was retrieved thirteen years after the event in which he or she could have forgotten. The witness could lie or be biased because he or she might want Hitler to look bad, as he does in Konrad Heidens witness account.

Witnesses can get confused over long periods of time if they not clear of what happened and can slightly change the fact if they give their view of what happened. However eyewitnesses have seen the event that they talk about. A witness, as in one witness is less reliable then several witnesses. If witnesses agree on an event that event is more likely to be true then a single witness who could be biased, lying, confused or forgotten about what happened. Source A agrees with sources C and E.

Source B is probably the least reliable out of all the four sources because, for a start it does not agree with any of the sources except unreliable source D. Which means that it probably is not true. The writer of source B, John Toland had his view of the Munich Putsch published fifty-three years after the event so probably got his information from secondary sources. If there were witnesses or a witness account in the source then John probably would have stated it. It is unlikely that a witness could survive for over sixty years of age

And if he/she did, it would be hard for he/she to remember from the age of about seven. Witnesses or a witness could have forgotten over a long period of time such as fifty-three years. It is unlikely that John’s source had been assisted by a witness or witnesses. Source B is based on the Nazi propaganda of making Hitler and the Nazi party appear the fittest party for ruling Germany. Source B is very unreliable.

Source C was written forty-eight years after the Munich Putsch so also probably was not aided by any witnesses. Richard Hanser the writer of source C agrees with source A that Hitler acted cowardly during the event. Richard says, “at no point did he behave heroically”.

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Source A says Hitler “was the first to get up, run backwards and drive away” which means source A also views Hitler as a coward. Although no witnesses were used to assist source C, source C agrees with the witness assisted source A. Source C is reliable.

Source D is a section of the Social Democrats election poster. All parties are expected to discredit all other parties so that they win the most votes and rule. This is what the Social Democrats are doing with source D. We can see this because the election poster says Hitler was “lying flat on his belly in front of the Feldherrnhalle”, a building near to where the shooting took place. And that he “crawled” into a car. The poster uses words like “crawled” and “belly” to suggest that Hitler was like a worm, weak and slow, and to say Hitler was not heroic. “Whoever is ill can seek his help with complete confidence” by saying this. The Social Democratic party wants people to think Hitler is weak and slow concerning the ruling of Germany and that everyone knows this.

The election poster is biased towards Hitler and the Nazis because they want people to vote for them and not other parties like the Nazis.

Basically source D is propaganda for the Social Democrats to win votes, this source is very unreliable.

Source E is the most reliable because it was aided by several witnesses, one of those witnesses was Dr Walter Scultz, a German doctor. All the witnesses agree that Hitler did not act heroically, what makes the source much more reliable is that Dr Walter Scultz also mentioned in the source that Hitler did not behave heroically. Shultz is a German doctor, so you would expect him to lie and say that Hitler was a hero. All of the witnesses agree that Hitler “was the first to get up and turn his back” and that Hitler “spirited off to the country home…. Where Putzi’s wife and sister nursed him and where two days later he was arrested”. These quotes backed up by several witnesses further the reliable theory that Hitler is a coward and not a hero. The doctor did not lie, this is what makes this evidence more reliable then all of the other sources, including source A. The writer of source E seems to have checked the witness accounts with other sources of evidence to make sure the witnesses are telling the truth. Source E is supported by the reliable sources A and C.

3. A writer like John Toland would face the following problems when trying to research exactly what happened during the Munich Putsch in 1923.

Firstly he would need to find witnesses because witnesses are a very reliable source of

Information. Because John Toland’s written piece of information was published in 1976 It would be hard for him to find witnesses since most would be dead (humans live for about fifty to sixty years). If he did find a witness that witness would be very old, about seventy and would probably not remember exactly what happened. The witness would not be very clear on what happened and probably would have forgotten parts of what happened during the Munich Putsch. He/she has the ability to lie, be biased or he or she might have forgotten what happened over such a long period of time. A witness’s memory could be poor or the witness might be confused or might not be sure what happened. A witness may not be willing to give information about the event or might be ashamed that they took part and deny that they took part, they might hide the fact that they were there.

The available evidence could be propaganda, it could have been made up or changed to make someone change the way they think, or to cover up a mistake made by a person or group of people. A writer like John Toland might face problems with documents, documents can be propaganda or biased to one side. Incriminating evidence could have been destroyed after or during a war to hide or censor information. Because of the long time between John Toland’s written source and the Munich Putsch primary evidence such as photographs and written information could have been worn out and be difficult to see or read. Also to take into consideration by a writer like Toland is that a photograph could be made up/posed for, or changed. A way of telling if a photograph has been posed for is if the people in it are looking directly at the camera or if a large number of them are facing the camera. If people in a photograph look surprised or if a few or none of the people

in it are facing the camera, that photograph probably is genuine. To check if a photograph has been changed it will have to be viewed by a powerful magnifying glass or high tech computer to check for any unusual aspects. Written documents can also be forged, destroyed or could have been worn out so that it would be difficult to read or impossible to read. To check if a document was forged the document

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suspected of being forged should be compared with a genuine document if possible. Torn documents can be pieced together like a puzzle if its pieces were found.

4. An opinion is a point of view; it is what a person thinks about something. Opinions are not capable of being true; an opinion cannot be used as proof. The example of an opinion from source C I have chosen is “at no point did he behave heroically”. The reason I chose this is because whether a person is a hero or not depends on how a person thinks and feels. This is an opinion, not a fact; it is not necessarily true. A person might say that Hitler was a leader of an army, he should be brave and help his soldiers/secret police in any and every way possible.

He should set an example and raise their morale. He should not be throwing himself down as soon as the shooting began and then running away when he got the chance, he should have fought back and helped his men. This is an opinion. Another person might say that a leader of an army should throw himself down for cover and then run away for safety. This is another opinion. They are both two very different opinions. It all depends on a point of view. An opinion is a point of view it can not be fact. However it can still help to find the truth.

5. The fact that reference is made in source E to the testimony of a witness makes it likely to be more reliable than sources B and C. The reason being that source E has been aided by several witnesses that all agree. Witness evidence is a very reliable source of evidence because an eyewitness has actually seen and heard the event; he/she has been there at the time. However witnesses evidence can also be unreliable. An eyewitness can lie, be biased or confused. They might do these thing to cover up their blame, or they might have regretted something, they might be biased because they may want something or someone

To look better then it is/was. They might have forgotten about the event or what had happened during the time because so much time has gone by. They might not be clear on what happened or might get mixed up and changed what actually happened, (the fact) to a different story or opinion. Source E is backed up by a Nazi doctor, who would be likely to say that Hitler acted heroically, but he did not say this, in fact he said the opposite “Hitler was the first to get up and turn back”.

Although sources C and B have not been aided by witnesses (no witnesses were mentioned in these two sources), and they have been based on secondary sources; source C is supported by source E in that they both display Hitler as not heroic and cowardly behaved during the Putsch. Sources B and C were published around fifty years after the Putsch, this makes them likely to have been based on secondary sources and withought witness evidence; since witnesses can not usually live long enough up to that time. Source B is not supported by any evidence and seems to have been based on Nazi propaganda, John Toland seems to have not check his piece of writing with other sources. Source B has not been supported by any witness evidence. Source B is the least reliable out of sources E, C, and B.

6.

Source E best supports the explanation of events offered in source A because both of these sources give similar accounts of what Hitler did when the Munich Putsch was occurring.

Here is an example of what I mean, in source E, William L Shirer, the writer, says Hitler “was the first to get up and turn back”. He also said “Hitler was the first to scamper to safety”. Similarly to both of these quotes from source E, source A’s writer Konrad Heiden has written that Hitler “was the first to get up, run backwards and drive away”. The last part. In source A it is also said that Hitler did “drive away” during the putsch, source E also states Hitler “hustled into the waiting motor car”.

The final similarity in both sources is that Hitler’s soldiers were left behind when Hitler fled from the gun battle. In source A it is written that Hitler left “whilst hundreds of his comrades were still lying on the ground”, in source E it is written Hitler was “leaving his dead and wounded comrades lying in the street”.

7. A historian would need to consider a large amount of things when using a photograph (source F) and painting (source G), as evidence of the Munich Putsch. He/she will need to know that a photograph can be a reliable source of evidence, but they can be posed for or faked after the Putsch, which can make them unreliable.

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Source F looks realistic because-

* The people in it are not facing the camera, in fact most of their backs can be clearly seen, therefore it was not posed for

* There are armed soldiers in it carrying rifles, short lances and they are mounted on horses

This means there was, still is or is going to be trouble, probably between armed people.

* The crowd of people in it are looking to the right of the photograph, where something out of the ordinary is happening, has happened or is going to happen, this is where the trouble is

The historian needs to consider why this photograph was taken and who took it. Source F was probably taken by a passer by or by a journalist for a newspaper. He or she has to consider when it was taken. In source F’s case it was in 1923 on the 9th of November, the same day the Munich Putsch took place, this makes it more reliable. Source F does not attempt to spread a message to its viewers, it is neutral; a historian needs to be able to check whether a photograph is trying to convey a message or if a photograph is just displaying pure facts.

A historian needs to know that a painting does not usually intend to tell the truth, it displays what the artist thinks about something. Source G is what its artist thinks about the Beer Hall Putsch. This particular painting is Nazi propaganda, it was painted in 1933, ten years after the Putsch when Hitler came to power. It was probably painted to make Hitler seem like a powerful leader who the German people can trust and to make him and the Nazi party more popular. We know this because in the painting Hitler is standing high above all the other people and he is speaking confidently, we know he is speaking confidently because he is using arm movements to enforce his views and to make the people easily understand what he is saying. All different kinds and classes of German people are shown behind Hitler, listening very carefully as if they want what Hitler is saying to become true.

For any paintings and photos to be accepted as evidence they should be checked for reliability against as many sources as possible.