-
Period: to
Germany between wars
-
Paying for war
The road to war: GermanyAs the loser, Germany was forced to pay for the war. These "reparations" were set at 269 billion Marks, or approximatley 32 billion dollars. -
Coal And Steel
the road to war : GermanyGermany defaulted on its ability to deliver further amounts of coal and steel. In response, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr River valley inside the western border of Germany, the center of the German coal and steel industries. The German people passively resisted the occupation (workers and civil servants refused orders and instructions from the occupation forces), thus leading to a further strain on Germany's economy and contributing significantly to inflation (a rise in the prices -
Hitler
the road to warHitler had skillfully increased Nazi Party membership from 3,000 to 15,000, and had organized a private army of mostly ex-soldiers, the SA (also called storm troopers, or "brownshirts" because of the color of their uniforms) to attack his political opponents. They appropriated the swastika, an ancient symbol frequently used in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, which had become popular in the Western world as a symbol of good luck. -
New Economy
The road to wara payment plan was worked out and Germany's economy improved. However, it made the German economy, as well as the economies of the rest of Europe, dependent on the United States. -
Nazi party
The road to warThe Nazi party remained a fringe party into the 1928 elections. That year they polled just 810,000 votes, or 2.5% of the vote. But they gained ground. In 1929 the American stock market crashed. American banks recalled money from Europe, and cancelled the loans that made it possible for Germany to pay reparations. Spending cuts and tax hikes, put into effect by emergency decree, had the result of -
Period: to
Nazi rise
Nazi win poll aftr economy crash -
Disasterous German economy
The road to warBy 1932 the German economy was a disaster. Unemployment was up to 6 million, German banks were put under government control, and there was an epidemic of German bankruptcies. Finally, on June 1, 1932, Chancellor Brüning was ousted, and replaced by Franz von Papen. -
Appointing Chancellor
The road to warOn January 30, 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor of Germany. The German people celebrated with a torchlight vigil. This key appointment allowed Hitler, over the next year and a half, to consolidate power. -
Arsen attack on Reichstag
Hitler appointed ChancellorAnother key event was the February 27, 1933 arson attack on the Reichstag building, where the German parliament met. The Nazis blamed communists, and then pressured President Hindenburg to pass an emergency decree which suspended civil liberties and authorized mass arrests of communists, including all of the Communist parliamentary delegates. -
Volkswagen
Road to war.1934 Hitler announced plans to build the Volkswagen, "the people's car," at a cost of 1,000 Reichsmarks. Two big German car companies, Daimler-Benz, and Auto Union, agreed to fund the project, headed by Ferdinand Porsche. By 1935 they were road testing the first Beetle, but Porsche's engineering failed to get the cost of the car down to the 1,000 Reichsmarks Hitler had demanded. Hitler then made the decision that the car would not be built in any of the existing automobile plants. Instead, the s -
Remilitizaration of Rineland
the road to warHitler sent the troops in on March 7, 1936. He seems to have anticipated the worst. The reoccupation was carried out with minimal force, and many were sent in on bicycles with orders to retreat if met with any French resistance. But the action took place on a weekend, and the French were further distracted by their election season. This worked to Hitler's advantage. The French president did not want to start a war with Germany in the middle of an election. The French and British both vigorously
