The state of Germany in 1945

The state of Germany in 1945

By May 1945 the war was lost:•Hitler and Goebbels among others had committed suicide•Central government had broken down•Germany and Berlin had been divided by the Allies into four zones controlled by the Soviet Union, the USA, Britain and FranceThe Battle of Berlin had been the largest of the war – in Jan 1945 alone, approx. 450,000 German troops were killed

Social and economic crisis in Germany

In the short term, Germany’s biggest problem in the Spring of 1945 was the extent of social and economic crisis. Use Layton p.185-88 to complete the spider diagram

Germany in 1945

Population displacement

Urban destruction

Food and fuel shortages

Economic dislocation

The state of Germany in 1945

• As morale collapsed, so too did the authority of the Nazi Party and Hitler

• However the Nazi regime did not relax its efforts to maintain a firm grip on Germany – police, SS and armed forces ordered to intensify terror to prevent defeatist attitudes including executions of those unwilling to fight, deserters captured and shot

• Civilian population was exhausted and suffering severe hardship but few signs of outward resistance or rebellion

• On the whole, Germans reacted passively and with resignation to the final collapse of the regime and occupation by foreign forces – bound together in a ‘community of fate’

The end of Nazi Germany

‘When it came, the collapse of the Nazi dictatorship was remarkable

in its speed and thoroughness. Seemingly overnight the hold of the regime evaporated. Despite

expectations to the contrary, despite the remarkable grip which National Socialism had had on the

German people across twelve years of indoctrination in the schools, the media and public

institutions of all kinds, despite police terror and widespread

complicity in the crimes of the Nazi regime, when German towns and

cities were occupied by Allied forces Nazism disappeared.’ Complete the mind map activity on p.55 of

the revision guide – a sentence to explain each point then prioritise your reasons

homework

• Start revising for a full practice paper on 23/04

• Revise content AND techniques• A good list of practice 12 mark ‘explain’ questions on moodle and past papers with

mark schemes• To get the full hour and a half you will

need to stay for some of break – this is obviously optional but I highly recommend

you use the full amount of time!