- Hey guys, in this
video the brilliant team
is gonna be taking you
through everything you need
for your AQA GCSE History
option on Germany 1890 to 1945.
Now obviously towards
the end of this video,
it does cover quite a traumatic
part of Germany's history,
so please be aware that
this video does contain
some quite upsetting
things towards the end.
Now, if you want to make sure
you've covered everything
in this video, there is
the free revision guide
with a checklist in over on my website
and workbooks and papers
and loads of questions
to help you revise.
(upbeat music)
- [Instructor] This
period of German history
generally divides up
into three large periods.
The period between 1819 and
1918 is generally referred to
as the German Empire or Imperial Germany.
And this covers the time
span broadly ranging
from the accession of Kaiser Wilhelm II
to the end of World War I.
The period between 1918 and 1933
is often known as Weimar
Germany or Democratic Germany
and essentially covers
the interwar period.
The period between 1933 and
1945 is usually thought of
either Nazi Germany or as The Third Reich.
This covers the period
between Hitler coming to power
and the end of World War II.
Kaiser Wilhelm II reigned
as Kaiser or emperor
from 1888 to 1918.
Shortly after coming to power,
he dismissed the renowned
chancellor Otto von Bismarck
and consolidated his own power.
His main aim being to make
Germany an important world power
along the lines of
France or Great Britain,
what he called Germany's place in the sun.
He was impatient, reckless, intelligent,
unstable and egotistical,
both on his own behalf and
on behalf of his country.
He wished to rule Germany
alone and unchecked
as an absolute monarchy
and was a grandchild of Queen Victoria.
Because of this, he was
deeply envious of the British
and very much had a love/hate relationship
with Great Britain, which
we see play out later on.
The German Empire between 1890
and 1918 was a large country
composed of many
constituent smaller states.
Of these Prussia was the
largest and most dominant
covering more than half of the land area
and about 40% of the population.
The Germany Empire in this time period
covered large parts of what
we think of as modern Poland
and Denmark and even smaller
chunks of France, Austria.
Theoretically, the country
was a constitutional monarchy
along British lines.
In reality, much power was concentrated
in the hands of the Kaiser.
The Reichstag or the
lower house of parliament,
was elected by universal
but only male suffrage.
And the Bundesrat or higher chamber,
comprised representatives from each state.
The chancellor was considered
a head of government,
similar to a prime minister.
The chancellor was appointed
personally by the Kaiser
and responsible solely to that Kaiser.
State secretaries, senior officials,
senior civil servants in ministries,
acted as ministers of state.
This system, while
theoretically democratic
with two elected houses,
actually gave extremely
limited levels of democracy.
Much of the power in the country
was concentrated solely
in the hands of the Kaiser
and a lot depended on how
strong the chancellor was
and to what extent they just followed
the word of the Kaiser.
Prior to 1880, Germany was a
mostly agricultural economy,
based mostly around farming.
But from 1880 onward,
the economy becomes gradually
more industrialized.
Greater industrialization inevitably leads
to greater urbanization,
as more and more people
move to towns and cities
to access the jobs that
are being generated there.
Industrialization in Germany came in waves
but the prominent
industries were coal, steel,
chemicals and electronics,
these are still industries today
where Germany is prominent.
Throughout the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II
there was an increased threat,
as he considered it, of socialism.
Socialism is a political ideology,
the idea that workers and ordinary people
should have more rights, more
power and greater welfare
and that power shouldn't be concentrated
in the hands of the aristocracy
and should be spread evenly
at all levels of society.
Power in Germany at this
time was concentrated
in the hands of the Catholic Church,
the Junkers who were the
agricultural landowners
and the conservative elite,
such as the military or civil service.
Kaiser Wilhelm focused
on opposing socialism
and he relied on his allies in
the aristocracy, the Junkers,
and the military to do this.
The Navy Laws were key to
the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm.
They were a succession of laws
passed between 1889 and 1912
which were aimed at building
up German naval strength
mostly to oppose Great Britain.
At this point Great Britain's Royal Navy
was almost unopposed in naval
strength around the world,
although the United States
was gradually catching up.
These laws were supported
and pushed through by Kaiser Wilhelm II
and also by the head of the
navy, Grand Admiral von Tirpitz
and there were advantages.
The provision of jobs in building boats,
challenging traditional
British naval dominance
and consolidating German military power.
But there are some disadvantages,
building warships is incredibly expensive
and Germany had only recently
become an industrialized economy.
There was a risk of provoking Britain,
at the time the world's
greatest military power,
and there is the danger that
other countries around Germany,
in response to these laws,
would start to reinforce
their own naval strength.
But they were a consolidation
of Kaiser Wilhelm's power.
He forced these laws through
without the consent or
approval of the Reichstag
and in doing so established
himself as sole ruler
of Germany during this time.
World War I ended with
the Treaty of Versailles
and there were several effects
on Germany of this treaty.
There was a significant
transfer of territory
to other countries.
Mostly to Poland but small
amounts to France and Denmark.
There was the removal of German
colonies, mostly in Africa,
which were placed under the jurisdiction
of either the League of Nations
or other countries such as Great Britain.
There was a maximum limit
placed on the Germany army of 100,000 men.
Significant naval and air disarmament.
And huge war reparations,
money, to be paid by Germany
to the victorious allies.
Germany was therefore
beset by problems in 1918.
Militarily Germany was left
with a shattered, angry,
disillusioned military which wasn't loyal
to the new Weimar government.
It felt betrayed, it
felt like the government
wasn't legitimate and it
was determined to act.
Germany had economic problems,
huge reparations needed
to be paid to the allies
and huge chunks of industry
have been transferred to other countries.
Much of industrial Eastern Germany
had been transferred to Poland.
There were social issues.
Large parts of the population
felt angry or betrayed.
A significant proportion
of a generation of Germans,
ones who would be expected to
now lead Germany after the war
have been killed.
There were political problems.
The Weimar Republic was shaky.
It had been born through revolution.
It was not accepted by everyone,
especially the old
aristocracy and the military.
The Weimar Republic was
based on a constitution.
Compared to the old German
Empire, it was more democratic.
There was an elected president,
an elected Reichstag,
and from the elected Reichstag,
an elected chancellor.
The democratic system used was
proportional representation,
where the number of votes
leads to the number of seats.
A party winning 30% of the votes
would get 30% of the
seats in the Reichstag.
This led to a huge
number of small parties.
Coalitions were therefore inevitable
and governments tended to be unstable.
So this system was dependent
on an elected president
to be fair and democratic
and because of this,
presidential powers to
suspend the constitution,
to abandon civil liberties,
to abandon elected
governments, were extensive.
So Germany faced several specific problems
from 1918 to 1923.
From 1918 onwards, Allied
troops occupied the Rhineland
which was a key industrial
area of Germany.
There was huge
hyperinflation up until 1923.
Hyperinflation is when the money
becomes worth less and less and less.
What might have cost five marks yesterday,
cost 500 marks tomorrow and
five million marks next week.
By the time hyperinflation
reached its peak,
it needed a wheelbarrow
full of paper money,
just to buy a cup of coffee.
There were political turmoil,
attacks were coming in
from the Weimar Republic
from both left and right.
From the left in the form of communism
and from the right in the form of fascism.
In 1920 there was an attempted
right wing putsch or coup
and following that, a general strike.
After which that new
putschist government failed.
So there were several reasons
why the Weimar Republic
survived through these difficult years.
There was the introduction
of a new currency,
the Rentenmark, which
brought down hyperinflation
and stabilized the economy.
There was stable presidential leadership
under Friedrich Ebert
and there was a reduction
in reparation payments
through the Dawes plan
which also helped to stabilize the economy
and therefore the political situation.
The years between 1924 and 1929
are generally thought of
to be the golden years
of the Weimar Republic.
These were under Chancellor
Gustav Stresemann
who promoted social, political
and economic stability.
He made agreements with American banks
to reduce reparation payments,
made diplomatic agreements
with the Soviet Union,
the League of Nations
and other countries such as Great Britain.
He was able to win back the Rhur,
a key industrial area of
Germany, through diplomacy.
It had been administered
by the League of Nations.
And he focused on exports
and international trade
to gradually build up the German economy.
Attitudes in Germany
to the Weimar Republic varied massively.
The military and aristocracy
were jealous of their old dominance.
They regarded democracy as an aberration
and they wished for a return
to an absolute monarchy
under which they would be powerful.
Working people were
suspicious of the new leaders.
Many of them were socialists
and social democrats.
They wished for more widespread change
and they were hesitant to trust
after the perceived betrayal
at the end of World War I.
The middle classes were
suspicious of socialism,
thinking it would rob them economically
and rob them of political power.
They wished for a return
to imperial stability
that they knew under the Kaiser
and they considered communism
to be a bigger threat
than anything else.
The main ideals of both
Hitler and the Nazi Party
were German nationalism,
an idea that Germany is
superior to all others.
Indeed the first line of
the German national anthem
at this time was Deutschland
uber alles, Germany above all.
Aryan racial superiority,
the idea that the Nazi
ideal of the Nordic race
was superior to all other races.
A disdain for liberalism and democracy.
A wish for an authoritarian
state to keep order.
A wish for German expansion.
A need for lebensraum or living space
especially in Eastern Europe.
And a strong belief in the prominence
of the military in society.
Nazi attitudes to the Weimar
Republic were very clear,
they were contemptuous of democracy
and therefore of the democratic system
that the Weimar Republic represented.
There was a belief in the
stab in the back myth,
the idea that the social
democrats, liberals
and socialists now ruling Germany,
had stabbed the military in the back
at the end of World War I
and caused Germany to lose the war.
This belief was entirely incorrect
but it was a useful myth
for the Nazis to exploit.
There was a belief that the
social democratic leadership
of Germany was globalist and Jewish,
two things that the Nazis
hated above all else.
And there was a belief that democracy
and the Weimar Republic were weak,
and would inevitably fail.
The early tactics of the Nazi Party
were brutal and effective.
They used the SA, the Sturmabteilung,
also known as Brownshirts,
to cause fear and intimidation.
They used propaganda to fuel
hatred and disillusionment
and they used large and loud
public and private rallies
to spark debate and controversy.
The Nazi Party gradually began to appeal
to many different sectors
of German society.
To the working classes, they
promised to renew German pride,
to bring a cohesive sense
of national identity
and to reverse the perceived
shame of the Versailles treaty.
To the military, envious of its
old position and prominence,
they promised to bring
that prominence back,
to reintroduce conscription,
bring the military back
to its old size and number,
and to rearm the military.
To business they promised
to slash workers' rights,
to eliminate trade unions
and get rid of regulation
and allowed businesses to make profit.
To the aristocracy, they
promised an end to democracy,
power back in the hands
of unelected aristocrats
and the suppression of hated
individuals and civil rights.
Hitler became chancellor of Germany
following a series of events.
Firstly from 1928 onwards to 1933,
there was parliamentary paralysis
and unstable governments.
This was caused by the
proportional representation system
of the Weimar Republic,
which meant coalitions
and deals were inevitable
and governments didn't
always last very long.
This lead to there being
a series of chancellors
who were forced to rule,
not by consent through the Reichstag,
but by presidential decree,
overriding elected representatives.
All these elections
eventually led to there being
large numbers of Nazi
deputies in the Reichstag
and therefore they gained
control of the Reichstag
through having Hermann Goering,
effectively Hitler's number two,
be made speaker of that body.
When looking at this
period of German history,
from 1928 to 1933, there
are several key people.
The first of these is
President von Hindenburg.
He was an elderly war
hero, widely regarded
as being the most impressive
figure in World War I.
He was of declining mental faculties
but was dismissive of democracy
and wished to restore
German pride and prominence.
He was a believer in the military,
fundamentally a monarchist,
who would have liked the
return of the Kaiser.
Von Papen was a weak and
ineffectual chancellor,
who proceeded Hitler.
He was unable to bring any
stability to the government
or any strong government.
He used an appointed cabinet
made up of the aristocracy.
And lastly, immediately proceeding Hitler,
was Chancellor Schliecher,
a military general
who worked behind the scenes,
attempted to use his cunning and trickery
and political tricks to attempt to govern
and to restore military prominence
and set up an authoritarian
military state.
Von Papen and Schliecher
both failed catastrophically
and Hindenburg died shortly
after Hitler became chancellor.
Four weeks after Hitler became chancellor,
the Reichstag fire occurred,
where a fire was started
in the Reichstag building,
causing damage which took years to repair.
Supposedly, the fire was
started by a Dutch communist
and this fire led to the
Enabling Act of 1933.
However accounts are
unreliable and confused
and we only have Nazi
accounts of the events.
Many historians have
theorized that in fact,
it was the Nazis themself
who set fire to the Reichstag
so they could use it
to get the Enabling Act
through the Reichstag.
The Enabling Act in 1933
was a piece of legislation
forced through the Reichstag
which removed most of the civil liberties
that Germans had enjoyed
under the Weimar Republic.
It was passed easily by
arresting Communist deputies
and not allowing them to vote
and a few social democrats,
which gave Hitler the majority he needed
to pass this in the Reichstag.
This is the point where effectively,
constitutional and democratic
government in Germany ended.
This left Hindenburg, the president,
as the only check on Hitler's power.
Hindenburg died in January of 1934,
leaving Hitler and the
Nazis effectively unopposed
in establishing dominance in Germany.
There were several ways
in which Hitler consolidated his power.
It began with the elimination
of all other political parties.
Some of these closed down voluntarily
but most of this was done by force
using the SS and the SA.
After the death of President
Hindenburg in 1934,
that office and the office of
chancellor were both abolished
and Hitler took on a new
title, combining both roles.
This was Fuehrer which
translates to leader.
Hitler gained the approval of the military
by eliminating the SA in The
Night of the Long Knives.
He was therefore backed by the military,
removing another potential
group who could oppose him.
In doing so he extracted
a personal oath of loyalty
from every member of the military.
And the Nazis set about
removing non-Nazi civil servants
and officials from the state,
consolidating their control
over all of government.
The Night of the Long
Knives happened in 1934.
The SA or Sturmabteilung
had been the backbone
of the Nazi fear tactics.
They had been the
Blackshirts and Brownshirts
and Stormtroopers who had instilled fear.
But from 1933 onwards,
when Hitler came to power,
they became increasingly demanding.
Asking for the power that
they had been promised
and threatening to try and usurp the army
as the military force in Germany.
Hitler had a choice, he could back the SA
and potentially lose the
support of the Germany army
or he could back the German army
but in doing so, he would
have to slash the SA.
So many SA leaders, especially
Ernst Rohm, were assassinated
and much of the previous
opposition to Hitler
at the same time, such as
former Chancellor von Schliecher
and a lot of Communist
deputies from the Reichstag
were assassinated at the same time.
After this, there really
was nothing to stop Hitler.
There were several aims to
Nazi propaganda and censorship.
To cement Hitler's cult of personality.
To mentally prepare
citizens for the idea of war
and the conquest of other people.
To condition citizens into
believing unreservedly
in the Nazis and to influence
the opinion of the public.
The methods were the forced
compliance of the press
to create a consistent narrative.
The government controlled the radio.
There was mass police surveillance
of individuals and post.
And mass distribution of
Hitler's book "Mein Kampf"
or "My Struggle" to
ideologically prepare citizens.
Several public works programs were started
under the new Nazi government,
such as autobahn construction,
civic development in
cities and rearmament.
The advantages of this were
massively increased employment,
increased economic growth
and preparation for the upcoming
war that the Nazis planned.
The disadvantages were massively
increasing government debt,
the reduction of
employment in other areas,
both of which the Nazi regime kept hidden.
The Nazi government
had different attitudes
to different groups within society.
Women were expected to fulfill
a very traditional role
as wives and mothers, rather
than focusing on careers
as they may do in liberal democracies.
Churches, both Protestant and Catholic,
were expected to comply with
Nazi goals and ideology.
The military and judiciary,
judges and courts,
were also expected to follow
Nazi ideology and values.
Children were indoctrinated
from a very early age,
both in the education system
and in the at first voluntary
but in effect compulsory,
Hitler Youth movement.
The causes of this attitude
towards young people were several.
The desire to have a young population
which would build up the military.
A desire to have a generation
of completely unquestioning citizens.
A wish to control parents
and use children as informers
when there is dissent
and the consequences were
an indoctrinated generation
who idealized Hitler as the Fuhrer
and a ready group of men
for the armed forces.
And lastly, very quiet
and obedient parents,
who out of fear for their children,
would do as they were told.
Nazi ideals were based on the ideal
of an Aryan Nordic racial superiority.
Other races, especially
Jews, were seen as inferior.
This applied to other minorities as well,
Gypsies, homosexuals, the disabled.
Initially Jews and minorities
were encouraged to leave
the country, to flee abroad,
but eventually this behavior
descended into persecution
and The Final Solution.
The Final Solution was
the systematic Nazi plan
to physically eliminate, by
execution, Jews from Europe,
especially in Poland and Eastern Europe.
To an extent, this also
applied to other minorities,
homosexuals, Gypsies,
the disabled, dissenters.
This was mostly done
in concentration camps,
locations where these Jews
and minorities were detained,
interrogated, tortured and
executed in barbaric ways.
In total almost six
million people were killed
during the duration of The Final Solution,
although exact numbers can't be known.
The police state in Nazi Germany
was run by Heimlich Himmler,
a completely loyal follower of Hitler
and it's main aim was to
construct a completely loyal
and subjugated population,
free from the hated minorities
like Jews and dissidents.
Two main groups of people
participated in this.
The SS, who were the
ideological Nazi elite,
they were used for political persecution,
they staffed concentration camps.
A branch of the SS,
known as the Waffen-SS,
participated in World War II
and were often responsible for
the most grievous atrocities.
The Gestapo were the secret police
who were used for investigation
and surveillance of the general public.
It was them who would report
back on any dissidents
or any talk that might be uncomfortable
for the regime to hear.
Throughout the Nazi regime,
there was opposition.
The White Rose Group was a
nonviolent student resistance
movement in universities,
which conducted an
anonymous leaflet campaign.
Eventually they were caught, rounded up,
interrogated, given a show trial
and executed by the People's Court,
a show trial set up by Hitler.
The Swing Youth were an obscure
group of 1930's musicians
who admired the American
way of life and democracy.
They resisted the Hitler Youth
and were eventually arrested
and most were executed in 1941.
Most importantly, there
was the 1944 bomb plot.
A plot by senior military officials,
started by a man called
Colonel von Stauffenberg
to assassinate Hitler at his facility
in Eastern Europe called the Wolf's Lair.
This failed by chance
when the bomb exploded
and Hitler was on the
other side of a buttress
and the officers were
eventually arrested, rounded up
and executed in a barbaric way
after a show trial by the People's Court.
Opposition to the Nazis
was massively sporadic.
It was never organized.
Opposition from the military
was not based on Hitler's ideology
but was based on his increasing levels
of military incompetence
which was costing men, costing resources
and was going to lose Germany the war.
So opposition was always there,
but mostly it was at such a low level
as to barely be noticeable.
And the intensive police state
meant that opposition
was quickly found out
and clamped down on
suddenly with brutal means.
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