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AQA HISTORY A - Unit 2D: Germany, 1919–1945
This Enquiry in Depth focuses on the causes of the development of totalitarianism and its impact in Germany in the period 1919–1945. The Enquiry requires investigation of developments and conditions in Weimar Germany as a basis for explaining Hitler’s rise to power and as an evaluation of the contemporary appeal and impact of National Socialism. It also requires an understanding of the reactions of individual people and groups to developments within Germany in the period.
This enquiry does not require detailed coverage of the events of the Second World War, but the continuing development of pre-war trends within Germany should be drawn upon to indicate the nature and impact of totalitarianism.
Part 1: The Nazi Rise to Power
Key issue: What were the weaknesses and strengths of Weimar democracy?
• The nature of Weimar democracy
• Post-war economic conditions as a cause of discontent
• Revolts, rebellions and opposition to Weimar, 1919–1923
• The origins and history of National Socialism, 1919–1925
• The Munich Putsch, 1923
• Stresemann and Weimar successes, 1923–1929.
Key issue: How was Hitler able to come to power?
• The depression, its impact on Germany and contribution to the rise of National Socialism
• Political instability, 1929–1933
• The emergence of the Nazis as a mass party, 1928–1930
• The role of Hitler in the development of the Nazi Party; the leadership of the Nazis
• The struggle for power, 1930–1933.
Part 2: Control and Opposition
Key issue: How did Hitler create a dictatorship?
• The creation of the one-party state: the Reichstag Fire, the Enabling Law, the Night of the Long Knives
• The removal of military and political opposition.
Key issue: How effectively did the Nazis control Germany in the years 1933–1945?
• The nature of the totalitarian state; the abolition of freedom, individual liberties and trade unions
• The nature of continuing opposition and resistance within the Third Reich
• The White Rose movement, the work of individuals such as Niemöller and Bonhoeffer
• The opposition of the military, the Stauffenberg bomb plot.
Part 3: German Economy and Society
Key issue: How much change did the Nazis bring about in German society?
• Changes in policies and attitudes to the role of women in German society, 1933–1945
• Nazi policies and attitudes towards religion and responses to this within Germany
• Nazism as social revolution and the impact of the regime on different social classes.
Key issue: How successful were the Nazis in rebuilding the German economy?
• The development of the economy and employment patterns in the 1930s
• Economic planning: preparation for war
• The response of the German people to economic changes in the 1930s
• The impact of the war upon the German economy and society.
Part 4: Race and Youth
Key issue: How successful were the Nazis in influencing young people?
• The appeal of Nazism to youth; the role of youth in National Socialism
• Youth movements in Nazi Germany
• Education in German schools and universities as an instrument of propaganda
• The extent and nature of youth resistance.
Key issue: How important in Germany were Nazis’ ideas on race?
• Nazi ideas: the belief in Aryan supremacy and the master race
• Racism in the Nazi state, the treatment of minority groups in society
• The persecution of the Jews and the Final Solution
• Reactions in Germany to these developments from different individuals and groups.
Part 5: Culture and Propaganda
Key issue: How did the Nazis change the cultural climate of Weimar Germany?
• The cultural climate of Weimar Germany as represented in entertainment and the arts, 1919–1933
• Reactions and responses to ‘Weimar culture’
• The effects of the Nazi regime on the cultural climate of Germany, 1933–1945
• The role and success of Nazi propaganda in sport, leisure, the media, entertainment and the arts
• The cult of the Führer.
This enquiry does not require detailed coverage of the events of the Second World War, but the continuing development of pre-war trends within Germany should be drawn upon to indicate the nature and impact of totalitarianism.
Part 1: The Nazi Rise to Power
Key issue: What were the weaknesses and strengths of Weimar democracy?
• The nature of Weimar democracy
• Post-war economic conditions as a cause of discontent
• Revolts, rebellions and opposition to Weimar, 1919–1923
• The origins and history of National Socialism, 1919–1925
• The Munich Putsch, 1923
• Stresemann and Weimar successes, 1923–1929.
Key issue: How was Hitler able to come to power?
• The depression, its impact on Germany and contribution to the rise of National Socialism
• Political instability, 1929–1933
• The emergence of the Nazis as a mass party, 1928–1930
• The role of Hitler in the development of the Nazi Party; the leadership of the Nazis
• The struggle for power, 1930–1933.
Part 2: Control and Opposition
Key issue: How did Hitler create a dictatorship?
• The creation of the one-party state: the Reichstag Fire, the Enabling Law, the Night of the Long Knives
• The removal of military and political opposition.
Key issue: How effectively did the Nazis control Germany in the years 1933–1945?
• The nature of the totalitarian state; the abolition of freedom, individual liberties and trade unions
• The nature of continuing opposition and resistance within the Third Reich
• The White Rose movement, the work of individuals such as Niemöller and Bonhoeffer
• The opposition of the military, the Stauffenberg bomb plot.
Part 3: German Economy and Society
Key issue: How much change did the Nazis bring about in German society?
• Changes in policies and attitudes to the role of women in German society, 1933–1945
• Nazi policies and attitudes towards religion and responses to this within Germany
• Nazism as social revolution and the impact of the regime on different social classes.
Key issue: How successful were the Nazis in rebuilding the German economy?
• The development of the economy and employment patterns in the 1930s
• Economic planning: preparation for war
• The response of the German people to economic changes in the 1930s
• The impact of the war upon the German economy and society.
Part 4: Race and Youth
Key issue: How successful were the Nazis in influencing young people?
• The appeal of Nazism to youth; the role of youth in National Socialism
• Youth movements in Nazi Germany
• Education in German schools and universities as an instrument of propaganda
• The extent and nature of youth resistance.
Key issue: How important in Germany were Nazis’ ideas on race?
• Nazi ideas: the belief in Aryan supremacy and the master race
• Racism in the Nazi state, the treatment of minority groups in society
• The persecution of the Jews and the Final Solution
• Reactions in Germany to these developments from different individuals and groups.
Part 5: Culture and Propaganda
Key issue: How did the Nazis change the cultural climate of Weimar Germany?
• The cultural climate of Weimar Germany as represented in entertainment and the arts, 1919–1933
• Reactions and responses to ‘Weimar culture’
• The effects of the Nazi regime on the cultural climate of Germany, 1933–1945
• The role and success of Nazi propaganda in sport, leisure, the media, entertainment and the arts
• The cult of the Führer.
Weimar Germany, 1919–1929
Key issue: How far do the early problems of the Weimar Republic suggest that it was doomed from the start?
• The origins of the Weimar Republic; the armistice; the effects of the Treaty of Versailles
• Political problems: the constitution and its consequences for government; political instability
• Challenges to Weimar, 1919–1923: the Spartacists; attempted takeovers by the right-wing: the Freikorps;
Kapp Putsch; Munich Putsch
• Economic problems leading to hyperinflation; the invasion of the Ruhr.
Key issue: How far did the Weimar Republic recover under Stresemann?
• The role of Stresemann, as Chancellor and then Foreign Minister
• The recovery of the economy: new currency; the Dawes and Young Plans
• Developments in international relations: Locarno Pact, League of Nations, Kellogg-Briand Pact
• The extent of recovery – politically, economically and culturally.
Key issue: How far did the Nazi Party develop its ideas and organisation up to 1929?
• Early career of Hitler; German Workers’ Party under Drexler; early development of the Nazi Party
• The Munich Putsch and its consequences; Mein Kampf
• Decline in support in the Stresemann years; consolidation of Nazi organisation in the later 1920s.
Key issue: How far do the early problems of the Weimar Republic suggest that it was doomed from the start?
• The origins of the Weimar Republic; the armistice; the effects of the Treaty of Versailles
• Political problems: the constitution and its consequences for government; political instability
• Challenges to Weimar, 1919–1923: the Spartacists; attempted takeovers by the right-wing: the Freikorps;
Kapp Putsch; Munich Putsch
• Economic problems leading to hyperinflation; the invasion of the Ruhr.
Key issue: How far did the Weimar Republic recover under Stresemann?
• The role of Stresemann, as Chancellor and then Foreign Minister
• The recovery of the economy: new currency; the Dawes and Young Plans
• Developments in international relations: Locarno Pact, League of Nations, Kellogg-Briand Pact
• The extent of recovery – politically, economically and culturally.
Key issue: How far did the Nazi Party develop its ideas and organisation up to 1929?
• Early career of Hitler; German Workers’ Party under Drexler; early development of the Nazi Party
• The Munich Putsch and its consequences; Mein Kampf
• Decline in support in the Stresemann years; consolidation of Nazi organisation in the later 1920s.
Hitler’s foreign policy and the origins of the Second World War
Key issue: How did Hitler challenge and exploit the Treaty of Versailles 1933–March 1938?
• Hitler’s aims in foreign policy
• The return of the Saar, 1935
• The beginning of rearmament in Germany: withdrawal from the Disarmament Conference 1933; non-aggression
Pact with Poland 1934; reintroduction of conscription from 1935; Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935
• The remilitarisation of the Rhineland 1936
• The Anschluss with Austria 1938.
Key issue: Why did Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement fail to prevent the outbreak of war in 1939?
• Reasons for and against appeasement
• The Sudeten Crisis and Munich Agreement, 19383
• The collapse of Czechoslovakia, March 1939
• The role of the USSR 1938–1939: the Nazi-Soviet Pact
• Poland and the outbreak of war
• Responsibility for the outbreak of war.
Key issue: How did Hitler challenge and exploit the Treaty of Versailles 1933–March 1938?
• Hitler’s aims in foreign policy
• The return of the Saar, 1935
• The beginning of rearmament in Germany: withdrawal from the Disarmament Conference 1933; non-aggression
Pact with Poland 1934; reintroduction of conscription from 1935; Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935
• The remilitarisation of the Rhineland 1936
• The Anschluss with Austria 1938.
Key issue: Why did Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement fail to prevent the outbreak of war in 1939?
• Reasons for and against appeasement
• The Sudeten Crisis and Munich Agreement, 19383
• The collapse of Czechoslovakia, March 1939
• The role of the USSR 1938–1939: the Nazi-Soviet Pact
• Poland and the outbreak of war
• Responsibility for the outbreak of war.