NMG 2006
Germany 1918-1939

• There are a number of different questions including multiple choice. They are followed by the correct answer
• Each answer is accompanied by an explanation
• The idea is that you try to get the answers without cheating!
• Download an answer sheet from the website

a) What does this poster show?
b) When do you think this poster was printed i) 1919 ii) 1924 iii) 1933 ?
c) What is this poster a good example of?

• A) It shows a Jew – as a Communist, as money grabber and as a slave driver
• B) iii) 1934 – once the Nazis were in power they could attack the Jews at any time
• C) The poster is an excellent example of
Nazi propaganda. It feeds off resentment against Jews

March 1933
• A) Who was blamed for causing the
Reichstag Fire?
• B) How did the
Reichstag Fire help
Hitler achieve power?

• A) Marius van der Lubbe, a Dutch communist, was executed for the crime.
The Nazis blamed the Communist party and they were prevented from fighting the
March Election
• B) The Nazis made good propaganda of the event. They won 288 seats in the elections.

• A) What is happening in this picture?
• B) What does it tell us about the success of the Nazi policy in schools?

• A) Race studies was a new subject under the Nazis. The two Jewish students are being held up to ridicule in the classroom
• B) Nearly all teachers were members of the
Nazi party and so would have enforced the poor treatment of the Jewish students. But it does not tell us about the reaction from the students

• Give 2 examples of the terms of the
Treaty as it affected
Germany
• How important was the Treaty of
Versailles to the long term survival of the
Weimar Republic?
The Treaty of Versailles
June 1919
Diktat

• Loss of land eg Polish Corridor: Army reduced to100,000: War Guilt
• Immediate effect was great bitterness against ‘the November Criminals’ – those who had agreed the Armistice. Opponents of the Republic could always use this as a weapon. Hitler promised that he would destroy the Treaty of Versailles

• A) Why did the
French and Belgians invade Germany in
1923?
• B) Why didn’t the
Germans stop them?
• C) What was the result of this?
French and
Belgians
Invade the
Ruhr
(1923)

• A) Germany failed to pay its instalment on the reparations
• B) German army had been reduced to
100,000 – more or less a police force!
• C) Government called for passive resistance – printed money to pay wages and this led to hyper inflation

• A) July 1934 – what event is being referred to in the Cartoon?
• B) How important was this event in establishing Hitler as a Dictator?

• A) Event is ‘The Night of the Long
Knives’ – the arrest and execution of 180 members of the SA + other political opponents (400 in all)
• B) Event removed Rohm as threat to
Hitler, ensured loyalty of the Army to
Hitler, and cemented his position as unchallenged party leader

• A) Who produced this poster – the
Communists or the
Nazis?
• B) What does the poster tell you about the German communist party?

• The Nazis produced this poster as part of their anti-Communist campaign
• It tells you that the Nazis saw the
Communists as a major threat – portraying them as traitors, saboteurs, killers, and common criminals.
• Middle and upper class Germans would only be too willing to believe all this!

• A) What does this picture show?
• B) What message is being put over?
• C) How important were the young people to Hitler?

• A) It shows members of the Hitler Youth at a summer camp
• B) Summer camps are fun, the boys are brave
• C) The young were seen as the future. The boys were the new soldiers, girls were to produce babies for the master race

• A) How would you describe the conditions under which Hitler is being held?
• B) What does this tell you about the attitude of the authorities?
• C) Was this a setback for the Nazis?

• A) Comfortable – can wear own clothes, not obvious that he is in a prison cell – can have visitors
• B) Bavarian government was sympathetic-
Hitler received short sentence, served in comfort
• C) Hitler able to re-think ideas, wrote
Mein
Kampf & was able to rebuild party

• A) What is this cartoon a good example of?
• B) Why did the Nazis produce cartoons like this at this time
(1930?)

• A) This is a good example of Nazi propaganda
• B) The Nazis are looking for votes. Many small shops were going out of business because of the numbers of large department stores.Hitler promised to stop the building of these stores and to prevent price cutting to protect smaller businesses

The ruler of Germany after 1918 was :
• A) Friedrich Ebert
• B) Kaiser William II
• C) Adolf Hitler

Answer is
• A) Friedrich Ebert
He was the leader of the Social Democrats the largest political party in the Reichstag
(German parliament)

The ‘November Criminals’ were
• A) A group of left wing revolutionaries who tried to seize power in Berlin
• B) The Allies who had imposed a large war fine on Germany at Versailles
• C) The Social Democrats who had agreed to the armistice which ended the war

The answer is
C) The Social Democrats who had agreed to the armistice which ended the war
Furthermore they were accused of betraying an undefeated German army – the ‘stab in the back’

Who became the next President of the
Republic in 1926 after Ebert’s death
• A) Field Marshal von Ludendorff
• B) Adolf Hitler
• C) Field Marshal von Hindenburg
• D) Gregor Stresemann

The Answer is
c) Field Marshal von Hindenburg
This was a vote against the Republic as he represented the old Germany, the Germany of the Kaiser. The result showed that many
Germans were unhappy with democracy

The currency crisis of 1923/24 was caused by: a) Invasion of the Ruhr which caused the
German workers to go on strike b) Printing of too much money by the government which backed the strike c) French destruction of German industry

The answers are: a) The invasion of the Ruhr
French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr to enforce reparation payments
AND b) Printing of too much money
The government had to pay the workers but was not getting money in

Under the Weimar Constitution the President was granted special powers by: a) The Enabling Act b) The Law for the Protection of the
German People c) Article 48

The answer is c) Article 48
This allowed the President to ignore the
Reichstag and pass laws by himself.
Between 1930 and 1933 more and more laws were passed this way, paving the way for a dictatorship