From Kaiser to Fuhrer: Germany 1900-45
Topic
The issues of the
Second Reich 190014
Were Germany
responsible for WWI?
CONTROVERSY
The impact of WWI
on Germany 1914-18
Key aspects to revise
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Creation of the German Empire in 1871
The Constitution of the Second Reich
Kaiser Wilhelm II
The role of the Reichstag
The role of the army
The Chancellor, particularly von Bulow and Bethmann-Hollweg
The importance of Prussia
The growth of the German economy, agriculture and industry
Various Political Parties e.g. SPD, Centre Party, Conservatives, etc
Pressure Groups
The divisions within the Second Reich
Sammlungspolitik, Weltpolitik and Flottenpolitik
Von Bulow’s reforms
The Herero Uprising - 1906
The Hottentot election – 1907
Daily Telegraph Affair – 1908
The 1912 election
Zabern Affair – 1913
The Alliance System (Triple Alliance and Triple Entente)
Weltpolitik
The Arms Race
The First Moroccan Crisis 1905
The Second Moroccan Crisis 1911
Problems in the Balkans
Bosnian Crisis 1908
Balkan Wars 1912-13
The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
The July Days and Blank Cheque
The Schlieffen Plan
Burgfieden and the reaction to the outbreak of war
The start of the war in 1914 and the impact
The problems faced
by the Weimar
Government 1919-23
The ‘Stresemann
Years’ 1924-29
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The economic impact
Challenges and changes to politics
The human experience – the home front
The 1917 July Crisis
The roles of Hindenburg and Ludendorff
The Ludendorff Offensive of 1918 and its failure
The impact of the defeat
The Treaty of Versailles
The Birth of the Republic
The Constitution and its setup
The various political parties, e.g.SPD, DDP, DVP, DNVP, KPD, NSDAP
The National Assembly of January 1919
The Spartacists and Freikorps
The threats from the left and the right
The Kapp Putsch in 1920
The threats from the army and judiciary
Munich Beer Hall Putsch in 1923
Reparations
The financial crisis – hyper inflation
The invasion of the Ruhr in 1923
Gustav Stresemann
The May election in 1924
The Dawes Plan in 1924
Locarno Pact 1925
President Hindenburg being elected – 1925
League of Nations 1926
Kellogg-Brian Pact 1928
The Young Plan in 1929
Political instability
Collapse of the grand coalition
Economic and social changes
Weimar Culture
Foreign Policy
The rise of the Nazi
Party 1920-33
How popular was the
Nazi regime 193339?
CONTROVERSY
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Was Stresemann a success?
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Anton Drexler
Ernst Rohm
The origins of the Nazi Party
The Munich Putsch 1923
Adolf Hitler
Reorganising the Nazi Party
The growing exposure of the Party
The Wall Street Crash
The increase in unemployment
Electoral success in 1930
The elections of 1932
The use of propaganda
The role of von Papen and von Schleicher
President Hindenburg
Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in 1933
Consolidating Nazi power
The failure of the left
The Reichstag Fire in 1933
The Enabling Act 1933
The views of consent and consensus
Removing the Communist threat
Gleichschaltung
The use of propaganda
Joseph Goebbels
Controlling the SA and army
The use of terror to gain support
Opposition from the left
The cult of the Fuhrer
The economic recovery
Opposition from the churches
How effectively did
the Nazi state
operate 1933-39
CONTROVERSY
Life in wartime
Germany 1939-45
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Control of women and education
Solving the employment problem
The four-year plans
The central role of Hitler
Omnipotent leadership
A polycratic state
The struggle between party and state
Hitler as a dictator
Foreign policy (as a case study)
Working towards the Fuhrer
Cumulative radicalisation
The dynamic for radicalisation
The outbreak of war
Early successes
Operation Barbarossa 1941
The Battle of Stalingrad
North Africa
The defeat on the Western Front
Morale on the home front
Opposition
The Bomb Plot 1944
German war economy
The Final Solution
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