Germany 1919–45

What Germany 1919–45 covers

Germany 1919–45 is examined in Unit AS 1, Historical Investigations and Interpretations — the option chosen from five. It covers the Weimar Constitution and the Treaty of Versailles, political threats from left and right 1919–23, reparations, the Ruhr and the hyperinflation of 1923, the Weimar economy 1924–29, the Nazi Party from the Munich putsch to 1929, the Wall Street Crash and the end of parliamentary government, the Nazi electoral breakthrough and Hitler's appointment as Chancellor, the creation of the Nazi dictatorship 1933–34, anti-Semitism and persecution 1933–39, Schacht, Göring and the Nazi economy 1933–39, culture, the arts and the media in the Third Reich, the war economy: Todt, Speer and total war, the home front: rationing, bombing, labour and morale, opposition and resistance in wartime and the Holocaust: ghettos, Barbarossa, Wannsee and genocide.

The 17 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• The Weimar Constitution and the Treaty of VersaillesRepublic's first President, parties of the Weimar Coalition and powers the constitution gave the President.Open →
• Political threats from left and right 1919–23Ebert–Groener agreement, bavarian Soviet Republic and ruhr Red Army.Open →
• Reparations, the Ruhr and the hyperinflation of 1923Passive resistance and scale of the collapse of the mark.Open →
• The Weimar economy 1924–29The Dawes Plan and American loans, the return of the mark, the strengths and weaknesses of the recovery and the Young Plan.Open →
• Stresemann's foreign policy and the 'golden years'Fulfilment, Rapallo, Locarno, League entry, the Treaty of Berlin and Kellogg–Briand, political stability under Hindenburg, Weimar culture and its critics, and how historians judge the golden years of 1924–29.Open →
• The Nazi Party from the Munich putsch to 1929Munich Beer Hall Putsch, outcome of Hitler's trial and what Hitler produced during his imprisonment.Open →
• The Wall Street Crash and the end of parliamentary governmentSocial effects of the depression and brüning's economic policy.Open →
• The Nazi electoral breakthrough and Hitler's appointment as ChancellorPeak of the Nazi vote in a free election, what the Nazis offered to voters in the depression and schleicher's plan as Chancellor.Open →
• The creation of the Nazi dictatorship 1933–34What the Enabling Act did and night of the Long Knives.Open →
• Anti-Semitism and persecution 1933–39The boycott of 1933, the Nuremberg Laws, exclusion from professions and public life, and the Night of Broken Glass.Open →
• Youth, women and the churches 1933–39The Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls, Nazi schooling, policy towards women and Lebensborn, the Reich Church, the Confessing Church and the Catholic Church, and how far a Volksgemeinschaft was created.Open →
• Schacht, Göring and the Nazi economy 1933–39Mefo bills, central aim of the Four Year Plan and göring's role in the Four Year Plan.Open →
• Culture, the arts and the media in the Third ReichReich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda, exhibition of degenerate art and triumph of the Will.Open →
• The war economy: Todt, Speer and total warArgument that Germany fought a blitzkrieg economy, case against the blitzkrieg economy interpretation and todt's work as Minister of Armaments.Open →
• The home front: rationing, bombing, labour and moraleWhen rationing began in Germany, development of Allied bombing of Germany and overall human cost of the bombing.Open →
• Opposition and resistance in wartimeEdelweiss Pirates, swing Youth and white Rose group.Open →
• The Holocaust: ghettos, Barbarossa, Wannsee and genocideGhettos of occupied Poland, conditions in the Warsaw ghetto and jewish councils.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Germany 1919–45 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• The Spartacist rising vs The Kapp Putsch

  The Spartacist rising: a communist attempt of January 1919 crushed by volunteer units. The Kapp Putsch: a nationalist march on Berlin in 1920 defeated by a general strike.

• The Rentenmark vs The Reichsmark

  The Rentenmark: the emergency currency of November 1923 backed notionally by land. The Reichsmark: the permanent currency that replaced it in 1924.

• The SA vs The SS

  The SA: the mass brownshirt militia broken in 1934. The SS: the elite black-uniformed order that broke it and went on to run the police and the camps.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Why did the National Constituent Assembly meet at Weimar rather than Berlin?

   Model answer

   Berlin was still disturbed by street fighting and the Spartacist rising in January 1919, so the assembly met in the quieter town of Weimar in February.

2. 2

   Name the republic's first President.

   Model answer

   Friedrich Ebert, the Social Democrat leader, was elected President by the National Assembly in February 1919.

3. 3

   Name the parties of the Weimar Coalition.

   Model answer

   The Social Democrats, the Catholic Centre Party and the Democratic Party formed the Weimar Coalition and together won about three quarters of the vote in January 1919.

4. 4

   Outline the powers the constitution gave the President.

   Model answer

   The President was elected directly every seven years, appointed and dismissed the Chancellor, was commander-in-chief of the armed forces, could dissolve the Reichstag and could rule by emergency decree.

5. 5

   State what Article 48 allowed.

   Model answer

   Article 48 allowed the President to suspend civil rights and govern by decree in an emergency, subject only to the Reichstag's right to cancel the decree.

6. 6

   How were Reichstag deputies elected?

   Model answer

   Deputies were elected every four years by proportional representation, with the vote given to all men and women over the age of twenty.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Germany 1919–45 revision questions

What does Germany 1919–45 cover in CCEA A-Level History?

17 subtopics: the weimar constitution and the treaty of versailles, political threats from left and right 1919–23, reparations, the ruhr and the hyperinflation of 1923, the weimar economy 1924–29, stresemann's foreign policy and the 'golden years', the nazi party from the munich putsch to 1929, the wall street crash and the end of parliamentary government, the nazi electoral breakthrough and hitler's appointment as chancellor, the creation of the nazi dictatorship 1933–34, anti-semitism and persecution 1933–39, youth, women and the churches 1933–39, schacht, göring and the nazi economy 1933–39, culture, the arts and the media in the third reich, the war economy: todt, speer and total war, the home front: rationing, bombing, labour and morale, opposition and resistance in wartime and the holocaust: ghettos, barbarossa, wannsee and genocide. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Germany 1919–45 organised?

By the CCEA 4010 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.