Germany 1929 – 45 Big Fact Checker
Below are questions you should know the answers to before the exam! Test yourself again
and again until you know the answer to each one by heart. Get someone at home to test
you regularly.
A. How and why was Hitler able to become Chancellor in January 1933?
Impact of the Wall Street Crash and Depression: p190 of core text, p102 of
revision guide
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Why was the German economy fragile in the 1920s?
Why couldn’t America lend Germany any more money?
How did the recalling of American loans affect German businesses?
How many were unemployed by 1932?
Why did many become homeless?
How did people feel towards the Weimar Government and who did they turn to?
What did people become dependent on?
Growth in support for the Nazi Party and other extremist parties: p196 of core
text, p102-103 of revision guide
1. Who did the Communists appeal to and what campaign methods did they use?
2. What did the communist Red Fighting League do?
3. Which groups did the Nazis try to appeal to & what had these groups suffered in the
Depression?
4. Name 4 of the Nazis’ promises.
5. Who organised Hitler’s campaign?
6. What tactics did they use in the campaign?
7. What was the ‘Hitler over Germany’ campaign?
8. How were the posters characterised?
9. Who and what did Hitler criticise in his speeches?
10. What role did the SA play?
11. How did this harm the Communists’ campaign?
12. What did the Nazi Party seem to be able to offer which the mainstream parties, e.g. the
Social Democrats, couldn’t?
13. What type of people do you think this most appealed to?
The Weimar system of government and the failure of democracy: p185 and 191
of core text, p103 of revision guide
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Why was the Weimar government unable to deal with the Depression?
What is proportional representation?
What type of governments did this lead to in Germany?
What were the negative outcomes of this?
Who was Chancellor between 1930- 32?
How did he try to solve the problems of the Depression?
Why didn’t these measures work?
8. What impression did the German public have now of Weimar democracy?
The Nazis gaining support, 1930-32: p196-7 of core text, p103-4 of revision
guide
1. How many seats did the Nazis win in the 1930 election?
2. How many did they win in July 1932?
3. What had they now achieved?
4. How many seats did they win in November 1932?
5. Why was this slight drop not a problem for them?
6. What election did Hitler stand as a candidate for in April 1932?
7. How many votes did he win?
8. Why was this an important outcome? How did this help Hitler’s reputation?
9. How can the July 1932 election be characterised?
10. What did Hitler demand after this election?
11. Why did Hindenburg refuse?
12. Who did he appoint instead and why was he unsuccessful?
13. Who was made Chancellor in December 1932?
14. On what date was Hitler made Chancellor?
15. Who became his Vice Chancellor?
16. Why do you think Hindenburg had insisted on this?
B. How did Hitler change Germany into a dictatorship, 1933- 34?
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Run through the order of events in the creation of the Nazi dictatorship, January 1933August 1934. They are listed on the steps in the picture on page 105 of the revision
guide.
The Reichstag Fire: p198 of core text, p105 of the revision guide
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On what date did the Reichstag burn down?
Who was arrested for the crime?
What are the three possible explanations for the fire?
How did the Nazis exploit this event?
What was the name of the law that Hindenburg was persuaded to pass?
What did this law mean?
How did this particularly affect the Communists?
What were the Nazis doing at the same time to win votes?
The election of March 1933: p200 of core text, p106 of the revision guide
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How many seats did the Nazis win in the March 1933 elections?
What did this make them?
Why was Hitler disappointed?
What percentage of the votes did they have?
5. How many seats had gone to other parties?
6. Which party did he join with to get an overall majority?
7. Why did this party join with the Nazis?
8. Which other party did he get support from?
9. Why did they support the Nazis?
10. What were the Communists prevented from doing?
11. How did Hitler ensure this?
12. What did the SA do?
13. Why did they do this?
The Enabling Act: p200 of core text, p106 of the revision guide
1. What did Hitler still not have?
2. How many votes did he need to pass this law?
3. Which was the next largest party after the Nazis?
4. What did the SA do?
5. What happened to the 81 Communist members?
6. How was Hitler able to do this?
7. By how many votes for/against was the law passed?
8. What did the Enabling Act allow Hitler to do?
9. What happened to the Reichstag after this?
10. What was different about the November 1933 elections?
The elimination of political opposition: p201 of core text, p107 of the revision
guide
1. What did Hitler do in July 1933?
2. What had Germany now become? What had been destroyed?
3. What did Hitler do to trade unions?
4. When did he do this?
5. Why do you think he did this?
6. What were they replaced by?
7. What positions did he appoint Nazis into?
8. What kind of power had this given Hitler?
9. Who was leader of the SA?
10. Give 3 reasons why Hitler saw the SA as a threat.
11. Explain the deal that Hitler made with the army generals.
12. When was the Night of the Long Knives?
13. Describe what happened.
14. What happened when Hindenburg died in August 1934?
C. How did Hitler then reinforce his dictatorship 1933-39?
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List the ways he reinforced his dictatorship- you can find them on the picture on page
105 of the revision guide.
One party law and order/police state: p204 of the core text, p107-8 of the
revision guide
1. What had Germany become by the summer of 1933?
2. How powerful was Hitler?
3. What role did the SS play in enforcing Hitler’s police state?
4. How many members of the SS were there by 1934?
5. What happened to enemies of the Nazis?
6. Who were considered enemies?
7. What methods did the Gestapo use to track down political opponents?
8. How were the Gestapo helped by ordinary people?
9. What did going into ‘protective custody’ mean?
10. What happened to the regular police and judges?
Propaganda and censorship: p209 of the core text, p108 of the revision guide
1. What were the 2 main aims of propaganda?
2. What was the role of Goebbels?
3. What happened to German newspapers?
4. How many were closed down by 1934?
5. How was radio controlled?
6. What were the cheap radios called?
7. How were films used?
8. How many films did the Nazis make a year?
9. What happened at the rallies?
10. How did the Nazis use sporting events? Give example of the Berlin Olympics.
11. What was the Reich Chamber of Culture?
12. Describe the booking burning of May 1933.
Control of Education and Youth movements: p207-8 of the core text, p108 of the
revision guide
1. Why were young people important to the Nazis?
2. What restrictions were placed on teachers?
3. How were school textbooks changed? Give examples from a couple of subjects like
history and biology.
4. Why was PE considered so important?
5. What were girls taught in school and why?
6. What were children taught about Nazi racial ideas?
7. What were parents encouraged to allow and what happened at these groups?
8. Who ran the youth movements?
9. What were the main aims of the youth movements?
10. What happened in 1935?
11. By 1939, how many young people belonged to the Hitler Youth?
12. Why was the movement attractive to young people?
13. How was their progress tracked and what happened to those with the best marks?
Control of the Churches: p206 of the core text, p108 of the revision guide
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What agreement did the Nazis and the Catholic Church come to in 1933?
What organisation did the Protestant churches become united under?
Why did the Protestants accept this?
Why do you think it was easier for the Nazis to take over the Protestant churches rather
than the Catholic ones?
5. Give examples of Protestant ministers who opposed the Nazis and describe what
happened to them.
The Nature of continuing opposition & resistance – see photocopied
handout in your pack
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Why did many people accept Hitler’s rule despite disagreeing with his policies?
Describe what happened to opponents in the 1930s.
Describe the lack of opposition from the churches.
Describe the opposition of Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoffer and what happened
to them.
5. Why was opposition starting to emerge at the end of the 1930s?
6. Why were some students feeling the need to set up opposition movements against the
Nazis?
7. Describe the White Rose group: their beliefs, target audience and tactics.
8. What happened to Hans and Sophie Scholl?
9. Who were the Edelweiss Pirates?
10. Why were they seen as opposition to the Nazis, despite not being an organised
movement?
11. How did the Nazis try to crush the Edelweiss Pirates? Give 3 examples.
12. What did the existence and growth of such movements show about the Nazi society in
the early 1940s?
13. Why did many educated and conservative Germans oppose Hitler more and more?
14. Who were the Kreisau Circle? Why did they oppose the Nazis?
15. What happened to the Kreisau Circle?
16. Why did von Stauffenburg, and others like him, begin to oppose the Nazis after the
outbreak of WW2?
17. Describe the 1944 Bomb Plot and what happened to those involved.
D. To what extent did Germans benefit from Nazi rule in the 1930s?
Economic policy – increased employment and self-sufficiency: p211 of the core
text, p109 of the revision guide
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What had Hitler promised to remove and by what year had he achieved this?
What was the Labour Service Corps?
What kinds of projects did unemployed men embark on?
What did these schemes manage to achieve?
What was made compulsory in 1935?
6. How did this help solve the problem of unemployment?
7. By how much did the army increase between 1935- 38?
8. How did the Nazis manipulate the unemployment figures?
9. What was the policy of autarky?
10. What job did Schacht do from 1934?
11. What did he try to do?
12. What was his policy called?
13. When did Goring take over the economy?
14. What was Goring’s policy called?
15. What did this involve?
16. Why do you think Germany was trying to become more self-sufficient? What scenario
were they planning for?
17. What did the Nazis declare in 1939?
Social policy: p208, 212 and 213 of the core text, p109-110 of the revision guide
1. What replaced trade unions from 1933 onwards?
2. What were workers now not allowed to do?
3. What did workers accept and why did they accept this?
4. What was the ‘Strength through Joy’ movement?
5. What was the ‘people’s car’?
6. Why were many Germans satisfied in the mid 1930s?
7. How was this feeling reinforced in 1936?
8. What else did Germans feel proud about?
9. What did Hitler state that a woman’s role was?
10. What were the Nazis worried about?
11. What was the Law for the Reduction of Unemployment/ Law for the Encouragement of
Marriage?
12. What were the Nazis trying to encourage?
13. What did mothers of several children receive?
14. How else did the Nazis try to increase the birth rate?
15. What happened to women who had positions of responsibility? Give examples.
16. How were women expected to look?
17. Why were many women happy with their lifestyles?
18. What kinds of culture were allowed?
19. What was banned?
Racial persecution: p205-6 of the core text, p110- 111 of the revision guide
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What did the Nazis believe about the Jews? Give 2-3 examples.
What was Hitler trying to create?
Describe the Nazi organised boycott of 1933.
What were Jewish shops marked with from 1934?
What happened to jobs that many Jews held?
What other treatment did they face in daily life?
What happened to Jewish children in school?
Identify three restrictions Jews faced under the Nuremberg Laws of 1935?
9. What was the Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour?
10. What had persecution now become?
11. What did some Jews do at this point, including which famous individual?
12. Describe, using detail, the events of Kristallnacht, November 1938.
13. How many Jews had been sent to camps by March 1939?
14. Why had gypsies become a target for hatred?
15. What other groups were considered not ‘socially useful’?
16. What happened to homeless people?
17. What happened to people with physical or mental disabilities?
18. What law did the Nazis pass in 1933 and what did this mean?
19. What did they start to carry out from 1939?
Racial persecution: see copied sheet for these questions
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Describe Nazi beliefs and persecution of Gypsies, the homeless, and the disabled.
Why did the situation for the Jews become worse after 1939?
Describe what happened in 1941 in the USSR.
Describe the introduction and implementation of the Final Solution in 1941-2.
Describe what happened in the death camps, such as Auschwitz.
The effect of the war on the civilian population: see copied sheet
1. How did the situation change from good to bad for German civilians after the start of
WW2?
2. When did bombing raids become frequent and how did they affect people? What
problems did they lead to?
3. Describe the RAF bombing of German cities from 1942.
4. Which areas were most at risk?
5. How did Goebbels attempt to keep up morale?
6. Despite this, what were the overall effects on the population on of these raids?
7. Why did the Nazis introduce rationing- what were they trying to avoid?
8. How was rationing organised?
9. Why did shortages get worse after 1941?
10. Propaganda- why was it easy for the Nazis to keep morale high at the start of the war?
11. How did they portray the invasion of the USSR to the German people?
12. What were women encouraged to do?
13. What did posters encourage people to do?
14. Why did the mood worsen after December 1941?
15. Describe the further defeats faced by the army at the end of 1942.
16. What was the general attitude by 1944?
17. Why was propaganda less effective now?
18. How was Germany finally defeated?
19. Economy- How and why did the economy thrive at the start of the war?
20. What did the British and the Americans do?
21. What was ‘total war’ from 1943- what did this involve?
22. What was the effect of the Allied bombing? Give the example of the repairing of
electricity and gas supplies.
23. Describe the fall in production by the end of the war. Why do you think this was?
24. Describe the level of morale by early 1945. What were living standards like and what
had the overall effect on civilians been?
25. In what state had the German economy been left in and what was needed when it came
to a total rebuilding of the cities after the end of the war?