UCSB Hist 133C, L 6:
The Experiences of Weimar and Nazi Germany
by Prof. Marcuse, Jan. 16, 2004
(superceded by Jan. 2006 version)

Weimar: important events

• Nov. 9, 1923: Hitler's failed coup attempt
  • during height of hyperinflation
  • occupation by France & Belgium, Dawes Plan
• 1926: Germany joins League of Nations
  • Stresemann gets the Nobel Prize
• 1930-32: worst years of the depression
  • made preceding good years pale in memory
  • profound fear of economic insecurity for 13-26 age group

1920 Free Corps poster: "Protect the Homeland" The reactionary Freikorps preyed upon German fears of invasion after World War I.	1923: German tractors on a train to France When the French and Belgians occupied the Ruhr, they ensured that German factory production went straight to France. The occupation was ended with the acceptance of the Young Plan in 1930.	"For 3 Generations you'll have to slave away". The Young Plan scheduled the repayment of 59Billion RM dept in 2 billion RM/year installments. It was VERY unpopular. The DNVP, NSDAP and Stahlhelm got 10% of vote for a referendum to criminalize the German signatories. In 1932 it was abandoned, and Germany was only required to repay 3 billion RM total

Nazi period: Duality

• 1930s as good years (except for non-Aryans)
• 1940s as bad years

The Good, I: German "Mt. Rushmore": Postcard from the 1933 Nuremberg Nazi Party Rally

What the king conquered, the prince formed, and the field marshal defended, was rescued and united by the soldier	Friedrich II (1712-1786); Otto v. Bismarck (1815-1898); Paul v. Hindenburg (1847-1934); Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) source: Sebastian Haffner, Preussen ohne Legende (the English edition is not illustrated)

The good 1930s II: The Autobahns--today still seen as Hitler's achievement

1938 Anschluss referendum: The reversal of what was bad about the 1920s

Step by Step           Adolf Hitler ripped up                       the dictated Treaty of Versailles! 1933 Germany leaves the League of Nations created by Versailles 1934 Reconstruction of the Wehrmacht, the navy and the Luftwaffe begun! 1935 Saarland brought back home! Armed power of the Reich regained! 1936 Rheinland completely liberated! 1937 The myth of war guilt ceremoniously extinguished! 1938 Germany and Austria united in the Reich! Greater Germany achieved! Therefore the whole of Germany will acknowledge their liberator on 10th April. Adolf Hitler All say: YES!

The "Bad" 1940s

• 1943: Battle of Stalingrad, the obvious turning point of the war
• huge German losses, beginning of "total war"
• 1945: Liberation of Concentration Camps
  • trauma of facing the conquering armies
  • guilt or no guilt?