A full in depth notes summary of AQA GCSE WW2 and Nazi Germany. These notes managed to get me a grade 8 on my AQA History GCSE in 2022. All notes have been made using class notes, teacher notes and AQA History guides. All notes that i have made are Dyslexia friendly, are colourful and easy to read!
Germany revision
Chancellor- the chief minister, who advised the Kaiser
with his other ministers
Bundesrat- made up of representatives from each state
Reichstag- parliament that is elected by men over 25.
Both debated and voted on the laws drawn up by the Kaiser
and ministers.
Kaiser- could ignore the government advice and make his
own decisions. He made all military and foreign policy decisions.
Kaiser Wilhelm II
- Spent most of his youth in the army
- Keen to maintain a powerful army and build up a large army
- Took great pride in leading the army and was interested in
military tactics.
- Wanted Germany to be a global power and have an empire
to rival Britain’s: this idea was called Weltpolitik (world policy)
- Was from Prussia.
- Militarism was the belief that a country should have strong
armed forces and this was important to Prussia.
Prussian generals, army officers and tactics formed the
basis of the new united German army.
Industrialisation
- In late 1800, Germany began to industrialise.
- This was supported by rich German business men and
production of coal and iron doubled.
- By 1913, Germany was producing as much coal as
Britain was as well as coal and steel.
- In 1914, Germany produced 2/3 of Europe’s steel in
industries like electrical goods and chemicals
- German companies dominated Europe and some leading
factory and business owners had become very rich and influential.
,Socialism growth
- Many workers were unhappy with low wages and
terrible working conditions.
- Workers decided to join trade unions and organised
strikes that they hoped to force the government to
improve pay and working conditions
- In 1914, over 3 million had joined trade unions
- A new political party- Social Democratic Party (SDP)
became popular among workers.
- The believed in socialism (that power and wealth should be
shared equally among the people)
- They hoped that the Kaiser might allow the Reichstag
to make more social reforms and laws to improve workers’
rights and conditions
- Disagreed with the power and privilege positions held
by many land and factory owners
- Around 1 in 3 Germans voted for this political party.
- Some socialists took the more extremist view:
they wanted to rebel against the Kaiser’s rule,
start a riot and allow cities and towns to be governed
by councils and workers.
Navy laws
What?
Between 1898 and 1912, a series of navy laws were introduced.
As a result, a huge amount of money was spent to increase the
size of the navy. The army size also expanded
Why?
The Kaiser wanted a large navy to help him take over more
countries and protect those already in the German empire.
How?
Taxes were increased and money was borrowed to pay for
this. Germany would remain in debt for a very long time.
Germany and WW1
Ww1 began in August 1914. Germany and Austria went to
war against France, Britain, Russia, Belgium and Serbia.
1914
The war was popular and patriotic Germans thought it would end quickly.
Soon the British navy stopped ships getting food into Germany, which
lead to food shortages.
, 1915-1916
In Germany, protesters demanded an end to the war.
These demonstrations increased from 500 people to
10,000 people. War weariness increased.
On the front line, soldiers were worn down by
bombs, gas and machine gun fires.
Politically unstable
Germany was very close to defeat. A flu epidemic killed many,
who were already weak from a poor diet. In October,
Army General Ludendorff stated that Germany couldn’t win
the war. He advised the Kaiser to make the country more
democratic so the winning Allies (Britain, France and the USA)
would treat Germany more fairly.Kaiser allowed the main political
parties to form a new government and transferred some of his
powers to the Reichstag. But the German people were not
satisfied and more demonstrations followed.
Defeat and the end of the Monarchy
28/10/1918
The German navy in Kiel mutinied (rebellion by soldiers or sailors
who refused to take orders). The mutiny spread and soldiers
were sent to deal with the protests and joined the sailors and
workers. In 6 days, workers’ and soldiers’ councils were governing
towns and cities all over Germany. The Kaiser realised he had
lost control and his army generals refused to support him.
09/11/1918
The Kaiser abdicated (gave up his throne over the country)
and secretly left Germany and never returned. Friedrich Ebert,
the leader of the SDP, took over Germany temporarily and he
promised to hold elections to end the war.
11/11/1918
Germany surrendered and the first world war was over.
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