Weimar Republic to End of World War II Notes (1919 – 1945)

Treaty of Versailles imposed the following on Germany:- Rhineland occupied by Allied troops for 15 years- Germany militarily handicapped, 100 000 troops tops- Naval forces limited to 15 000 men- West Prussia given to Poland for Polish Corridor- Lost all colonies- 226 billion Reischmarks as reparations

Problems facing the Weimar Republic- Versailles Treaty (1919)- Leaders seen as the “November Criminals”- Kapp Putsch- Beer Hall Putsch- Hyperinflation- Depression / Unemployment

Timeline1919 – Hitler joins the German Worker’s Party1920 – Hitler renames the party the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NAZI)1923 – Stresseman (fixes the inflation problem)1923 – Munich Putsch1924 – Dawes Plan1925 – Locarno (signees agree to protect each other’s borders)1926 – Admitted to the League of Nations1927 – League of Nations botch the Manchuria affair, Hitler sees their ineffectiveness1928 – Signs the Kellogg – Briand pact (outlaw war)1929 – Great Depression hits Germany1933 – Series of Elections where Nazis have the most votes, but not a majority1933 – February, Reichstag is burned1933 – Hitler is made Chancellor1933 – March, Elections, Nazi + Nationalist = Majority1933 – Enabling Act1934 – 30 June: Night of the Long Knives1934 – August, Hindenburg dies1935 – Anglo-German Naval Accord1936 – Occupation of Rheinland1938 – Annexation of Austria 1938 – Munich Agreement (Czech Crises)1939 – Nazi-Soviet ‘Non-agression’ Pact1939 – Poland Falls1940 – Fall of France1940 – Italy enters war1941 – Atlantic Charter1941 – Operation Barbarossa (USSR invaded by Germany)1940 – Dec 7, Pearl Harbour1941 – Axis loses El Alamein 1942 – Axis defeated in Russia1943 – Casablanca Declaration

Stresseman (1923)- Chancellor of Germany- Stops hyperinflation by changing the currency from mark to the Rentenmark- Stopped the passive resistance movement in the Ruhr, industry started up again, thereby helping

to stop inflation

Munich Putsch (1923)- Failed coup- Hitler sentenced to 5 years, served 9 months- Trial publicized to millions, gave him huge audience.

Dawes Plan (1924)- Financier from US to budget Germany’s war reparations when they could not pay

Locarno Treaties (1925)- Promised to never change borders between Germany, France, and Belgium- Early indication that this was a new Germany

Hitler re-founds the Nazi Party (1925)- Decides to enter elections

Hitler’s Foreign Policy Aims- Tear up the treaty- Unite all Germans- Lebensraum (breathing space)

Depression hits Germany (1929)- Unemployment from 1928 – 1933 goes from 650 000 to 6 100 000- This is the crises that Hitler needs.

Election Results- 1930 – Hitler gets more votes than expected- July and Nov 1932 – Hitler gets the most votes, but not a majority

Reichstag is set on fire (27 February 1933)- Hitler keeps asking Hindenburg (the president) the position of chancellor (vice president)- Hindenburg gives in in 1933- Reichstag is set on fire, Hitler blames Communists- H convinces Hindenburg to sign the emergency “Law for the Protection of the People and State”,

basically martial law

March 1933 Elections - Nazis are still a minority. - Nationalist Party decides to join forces with Nazis for the majority.

Why support Hitler?- He fixed the unemployment problem- He righted what many saw as an unjust treaty by united Germans, not paying reparations, and

rebuilding the army- The Jonker tradition

- Propaganda- Terror- Cult of personality (going to jail helped)

Enabling Act (1933)- Hitler can make laws from 1933-37 without having the Reichstag vote for it. - “cornerstone of Nazi dictatorship” (Mitchner)- Abolished all political parties - Police powers were centralized- State governments were abolished- Trade unions were abolished- TWO CENTRES OF POWER: Hitler (and by extension the army) and the Church (to a great

extent remained autonomous throughout the regime and gave Hitler tons of trouble. Go Bonhoeffer!)

Hitler begins secret armament (1933 / 1934)

Night of the Long Knives (30 June 1934)- H’s SA was becoming an elitist organization, and it was causing grumblings in the army- H arranges for leading SA leaders (including Roehm, a friend) to be arrested / killed and charged

them with plotting against him- Gained support of the German army- First outright example (other than Reichstag) of Nazi terror techniques

Hindeburg dies (August 1934)- German people vote Hitler in as Fuhrer (90% yes)

Compulsory Conscription Introduced (1935)- Numbers in army increase five-fold

Anglo-German Naval Accord (June 1935)- Bilateral agreement to regulate size of Kriegsmarine in relation to the Royal Navy- This agreement eventually renounced by Hitler in 1939

Why did Britain appease?- Irish Nationalists – enough trouble at home- Great Depression- Fear of Communism (Nazis were taking care of the Communists)- Struggling with colonies that wanted self-determination - Neville Chamberlain was a weak leader- “The feeling in the House is terribly pro-German, which means afraid of war” (Harold Nicholson,

MP)

Remilitarized the Rheinland (7 March 1936)- Locarno treaty stated the Rheinland would stay demilitarized unless there were “flagrant

violations”- France-Soviet Pact of 1935 > Hitler decided to call this a violation- Chose March 1936 because France was having an election and the Ethiopian Crises was going on - “the forty-eight hours after the march in the Rheinland were the most nerve-wracking of my life”

(Hitler)

Spanish – Civil War (1936 – 1939)- Testing ground for Hitler’s new military

1937 – World War II in Asia

Annexation (Anschluss) of Austria by Germany (1938)- Hitler considered Austria as Germany, he was born there- Austria was happy to be part of Germany again, for the most part- England and France did a bit of verbal protestations

Munich Agreement (1938)- Hitler wants Sudentenland- Chamblerlain wants to avert disaster, calls meeting, decide that areas with >50% Germans will be

handed over. - Britain / France / Italy / Germany sign agreement, Czechs are not invited, but had to accept

because to reject meant to fight Germans alone

Polish Guarantee (March 1939)- Chamberlain tells Poland he’ll help them if they are invaded

Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939)- Stalin just went through the purge of the Western Generals- Stalin in 1938 tried to sign a pact with Britain / France, they turned him down- They agree that Russia will side with Germany in the event of a war in Poland, and that they’ll

divide the territory in half- Poland defeated in one week, occupied in a month, 1939

Phony War (1939 – 1940)- USSR / Germany occupy Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland

Phony War Ends (1940)- USSR / Germany occupy Norway and Denmark- British Navy puts mines in sea along Norway

Fall of France (May 1940)- “Operation Yellow”, defeats France in three weeks- Can’t compete with German’s blitzkrieg

Italy enters war (1940)- Italy attacks Greece- Italian forces in Libya invade Egypt- Greece wins.

Dunkirk (1940)- Hitler’s first mistake- 350 000 Allied troops w/ back to water- Hitler dithers, they are retrieved by people on the south coast of England - Greatly boost morale of the Allies

Battle of Britain (1940)- Air battles

- Hitler doesn’t win, because Britain has RADAR

Atlantic Charter (1941)- stated the ideal goals of the war: no territorial aggrandizement; no territorial changes made

against the wishes of the people; restoration of self-government to those deprived of it; free access to raw materials; reduction of trade restrictions; global cooperation to secure better economic and social conditions for all; freedom from fear and want; freedom of the seas; and abandonment of the use of force, as well as disarmament of aggressor nations.

El Alamein (1940 – 1941)- Hitler sends Rommel to North Africa, tells them to go east and fight British in Egypt to get Suez

canal- Churchill sends Montgomery, tells him he must win, he wins.

Operation Barbarossa (1941)- USSR is invaded by Germany

Pearl Harbour (Dec 7, 1941)- Dec 8: FDR declares war on Japan- Dec 9: Hitler declares war on US

Axis Defeated in Russia (1942)- Stalingrad holds for a year- Nazi general Paulus surrenders when they break out in 1943- Beginning of the end for the Nazis.

Casablanca Declaration (1943)- Only unconditional surrender

Tehran Conference (1943)- Between Britain, US, Russia- Churchill urged a push through Balkans to save his colonies- Roosevelt didn’t trust Churchill, wanted to give Stalin his second-fron

US begins to win against Japan (1943)

Moving Up Italy (1943-44)- “one tough mother of a campaign” (Fitz)

Second Front Launched (1944)

US uses incendiary bombs on Japanese civilian populations (1944 – 1945)

Yalta (1945)- Stalin promises to De-Nazify Europe, Democratize it, Demilitarize it, Divide Germany if he is

allowed into Eastern Europe- Agree to only accept unconditional surrender of Germany- Stalin agreed to enter the fight against Japan within 90 days of defeat of Germany- UN would be in New York

Potsdam (1945)- Truman replaced Roosevelt, who had died- Attlee replaced Churchill, who had lost the election- Stalin remained- Approved steps to dismantle Germany- Unresolved issues led to Cold War