Government created after William II abdicated. Government was parliamentary, but had no monarch. 1 st act was to sign the Versailles Treaty. Government survived four uprisings by communist and socialist groups: Red Bavaria Leninists take over in Bavaria for a few weeks. Spartacist Revolt. Leninists fail to take over in Berlin after defeat by the Freikorps Kapp Putsch. Berlin nearly falls to rightists Beer Hall Putsch. Hitlers attempt 1923, Germany fails to pay reparations to France and Belgium. France and Belgium occupy the Rhineland to force payments. Germans launch a general strike of non-cooperation in the region. Govt. pays workers to strike. Payments to strikers forces Weimar government to print money to fund it. Far too much is printed compared to what it is worth. In 1914 four German marks were equal to one U.S. dollar. In 1924 there were 4,000,000,000,000,000 marks per dollar. Hyperinflation Gustav Stresemann becomes prime minister of Germany Germany stabilizes and begins to grow again without inflation Finally, Stresemann settles the western border with France with the Treaty of Locarno. Germany agrees to respect its western border with France and Belgium. This allows Germany to enter the League of Nations and removes Germany from diplomatic isolation Economy grows quite well Culture become famous for its plays, art, etc., Bauhaus. Americanization as some parts of culture look to America for guidance. Movie industry become world famous Great Depression hits as unemployment goes to record levels. Private armies of political parties battle in the streets as public loses faith in the Republic to solve problems. As the crisis deepens, the centrist parties begin to collapse. The Social Democrats (SDP) and the Catholic Centre parties disintegrate. These two parties do not have solutions radical enough to solve the economic problems. As a result they lose members. The main beneficiaries are the Communists and the National Socialists. With their promises of solving the economic crisis the National Socialists and Communists begin to grow rapidly. Some SDP go to the Communists, but most SDP and Centre party members gravitate toward the National Socialists The National Socialists benefit the most and by 1931 are the largest party in Germany, surpassing the fading Social Democrats. In 1931, President von Hindenburg appoints Bruning, from the Centre Party as the Chancellor. Bruning rules by decree with Presidential approval since the Parliament is so deeply divided that nothing can be done in a normal process of voting. Hindenburg will not give the National Socialists (and Hitler) the chance to form a government or be Chancellor. He keeps Bruning until later 1932. In 1932, the National Socialists are clearly the biggest party but Hindenburg will not give them the chance. Hindenburg then picks right-wing nationalists Franz von Papen and then Kurt von Schleicher. However, both fail by early Hindenburg finally gives the National Socialists and Hitler a chance to run the government in January of 1933. Though Hitler is finally given the chance to be Chancellor, the National Socialists are not even close to a majority in the cabinet. Nationalists, considered more responsible, make up most cabinet members. Hindenburg and von Schleicher figure they can control Hitler and his friends to serve conservative ends. Reichstag Fire. After the Reichstag burns down due to arson, the National Socialists ask for a vote to give Hitler Emergency Powers to deal with an assumed Communist attempt to take over. Enabling Act. Reichstag formally votes to give the Chancellor (Hitler) power of decree. Hitler can now simply say what a law will be and it will have full legal force. The Enabling Act gave Hitler the right to suspend civil rights and liberties in Germany until the crisis passed Under these rules, the National Socialists hold new elections in the spring of 1933 and win 44% of the vote. Along with their Nationalist allies, the NSDAP now hold a clear majority. Now, the NSDAP makes up nearly the entire cabinet. Hitler and his pals now run Germany. Though Hitler is in power, there are still major opponents. The Army The Lutheran Church The Catholic Church France Until these four are neutralized or allied with the NSDAP, Hitlers goal of a totalitarian state will be put on hold. Crushing the Churches Lutherans. Rather easily crushed. They were part of the government and could be controlled as such. Also, most Lutheran bishops were afraid of confronting the legal authority in the nation and one which was very popular. Catholics. The top German archbishop (Pacelli) wrote the official Papal decree condemning many ideas of National Socialism. Crushing the Churches The Lutherans soon had prayers thanking God for Hitler in their services thanks to Hitlers appointing new bishops. Some Lutherans broke away to form the Confessional Church free from Nazi pressure. They were heavily persecuted. The Catholics cut a deal with Hitler to save their youth groups from being abolished, but they had to disband the Centre Party. Hitler wanted ONE church and ONE party. However, he privately told his colleagues that after the future war he would destroy both churches. Winning over the Army The Army liked much of what they saw in Hitler. However, they hated the idea of being turned over to the S.A. and Ernst Rohm. His SA were just a bunch of thugs to the top military brass. The Army did suggest to Hitler that they would swear loyalty, and put themselves under civilian control, if they were run by the German government, and not the S.A. Rohm had to go for Hitler to have the Army. Night of the Long Knives In the Summer of 1935, Hitler moved on the SA. He used the SS under Heinrich Himmler to crush the SA. Also, many other political opponents were arrested and/or shot over one weekend. Kurt von Schleicher and Ernst Rohm were at the top of the list. Troublesome Catholics and Lutherans were shot along with some top Social Democrats and other undesirables. Hitler now had full control of Germany. Now he was ready to implement his plans. Nuremberg Laws In 1935 Hitler announced a series of decrees that took most civil rights from Jews. In addition, these race laws prohibited marriage between Jews and Aryans. Any sexual relations were also prohibited. Some jobs were also denied to Jews Finally, Jews now had to identify themselves as Jews with the infamous yellow Star of David. Businesses also had to be identified in such a manner. Eugenics (Good birth) Laws Also part of the Nuremberg Laws were laws to promote a genetically healthy Germany. The simple minded, retarded, mentally ill, deformed and other defectives were to be sterilized to prevent their reproducing. Eventually this extended itself to the Euthanasia (good death) program which killed such people. Usually they went in for a tonsillectomy or some such surgery and died during surgery. Breaking out of Versailles In 1935 Hitler formally abrogated the Versailles Treaty. He announced that Germany would no longer abide by the reparations clause of the Treaty and denounced the injustice of the treaty. Germany then reinstated the draft, the General staff, expanded the army and began building a new powerful air force, the Luftwaffe. However, Hitler was careful to keep to the Naval disarmament treaties, at least publicly. The First Step in the Saar In 1935, the Saar held a scheduled plebiscite (vote) to decide if they wished to be part of France, or, part of Germany. The Germans pushed a huge, successful propaganda campaign to get this small region back into Germany. It was not even a close vote and showcased the power of German propaganda. This gave the National Socialists great prestige. Reoccupying the Rhineland In 1936 Hitler took a huge gamble by sending troops into the Rhinelanda region to be demilitarized according to the Versailles Treaty. French troops were ordered to do nothing. Hitler had ordered his troops to retreat immediately if the French showed any signs of resistance or movement. However, France did nothing A plot to kill Hitler by the Schwarz Kappel, Catholic anti-Hitler officers, fizzled as Hitler succeeded in the Rhineland. Good Times 1936 and 1937 saw the German economy booming again. Unemployment disappeared, Germany was a respected nation again and peoples lives simply better than that dark days of In addition, the Four Year Plan of a planned economy was paying off as businesses finally had a good outlook. Socialism was good for German businessmen and Germans in general. Hitler wasnt promising, he was delivering. Going HomeAnschluss While Hitler was an Austrian, he seemed more of Berlin, than of Vienna. For that reason, many felt that Hitler would finally meet his fate if he tried to bring Austria into Germany. They were wrong. When Hitler rode into Austria in 1938, the reception was rapturous. Even Nazi propaganda was surprised. And it was done without any violence. Greater Germany was finally a reality. Not even Bismarck had done this much as Chancellor. The Sudeten Crisis The region bordering Czechoslovakia and Germany was called the Sudetenlandand was majority German. Hitler made a huge issue of this, as did the Sudetens who wanted to be in Germany, not Czechoslovakia. By September of 1938, Hitler had decided to take the Sudetenland by force. War seemed likely and France mobilized her army And then came Neville Chamberlain and Appeasement. The Munich Agreement Chamberlain was simply unwilling to fight over Czechoslovakia. France did not want to fight, and would not do so without Britain. So, it was clear, there would be no war over Czechoslovakia. However, Hitler was ready to fight. Chamberlain rushed to meet with Hitler and sold out the Czechs at the Munich Agreement. The Czechs were not even invited to the sell out of their nation. France went along. Reaction to Munich The whole world rejoiced that war was averted. Chamberlain was an international hero. He was greeted in Britain with rapturous cheers. He declared, We have Peace in Our Time. Winston Churchill, derided as a war monger declared, Mr. Chamberlain had a choice between war and dishonor. He chose dishonor. He will get war. Churchill was proven correct in 1939.