China 1900 - 1949

Revolution and the warlord era:-

a) Background to the revolution of 1911:

b) The 1911 revolution

c) The warlord era (1916-28)

a. In the mid 19th century china found itself faced by a number of crises.

b. Europeans started to force their way into china to take advantage of trading

possibilities.

c. The british were first on the scene, fighting and defeating the Chinese in the opium

wars. They forced china to hand over Hong Kong and to allow them to trade at certain

ports.

d. Taiping Rebellion , a religious and political reform movement, aimed to set up a

heavenly kingdom of great peace. But it was eventually defeated by regional armies.

e. This began the process in which provinces began to assert their independence from

the central government, culminating in the warlord era.

f. China was defeated in a war with japan and forced to hand over territory.

g. A Chinese uprising – the boxer rising was defeated by international army, and the

empress Tz’u-his was forced to pay massive compensation for damage done to foreign

property in china.

h. More territory was lost to japan as a result of the Japanese victory in the russo-

japanese war.

i. Young Chinese were educated abroad and full of radical , revolutionary ideas of

overthrowing the Manchu dynasty and westernizing china. Some revolutionaries, like

Dr Sun Yat-sen, wanted a democratic state modelled on the USA.

a. The government tried to respond to the new radical ideas by introducing reforms,

promising democracy and setting up elected provincial assemblies, but still further

from the central government.

b. The revolution began among soldiers in Wuchang in 1911 and most provinces quickly

declared themselves independent of Beijing.

c. The government, ruling on behalf of the child emperor Pu YI, still had a lot of influence

with the generals.

d. Yuan Shih-kai , commander of northern army, deal with the revolutionaries- they

agreed to his becoming first president of the Chinese republic in return for the

abdication of Pu Yi and the end of the Manchu dynasty.

e. With the support of the army, yuan ruled as a military dictator from 1912 until 1915,

but he made the mistake of proclaiming himself emperor. This lost him the support of

the army, which forced him to abdicate.

a. The country now disintegrated into literally hundreds of states of varying sizes, each

controlled by a war lord and his private army.

b. As they fought each other it was the ordinary Chinese peasants who suffered untold

hardships.

c. However, two important positive developments took place during the period.

i. Fourth movement began in 1919 with a huge student demonstration in

Beijing, protesting against warlords and against traditional Chinese culture.

ii. The Kuomintang or Nationalist party grew gradually stronger and succeeded in

The movement also anti Japanese, especially when the 1919 versailles

settlement gave japan the right to take over Germany’s concession in

shantung province.

bringing the warlords under control by 1928.

The Kuomintang, Dr Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek

a) The Kuomintang:-

a. The Kumintang:-

i. The main hope for the survival of a united china lay with the Kuomintang or

ii. He wanted to create a modern, united, democratic state. He succeeded in

iii. The KMT was not a communist party, though it was prepared to co-

iv. After his death in 1925, little progress had been made towards

v. Until the KMT armies were built up, he had to rely on alliances with

National people’s party formed in 1912 by Dr Sun yat-sen.

setting up a government at Canton in southern china.

operate with the communists, and developed its own party organization slon

communist lines, as well as building up its own army. He summarized hisaims

as the three principles.

1. Nationalism

2. Democracy.

3. Land reforms.

achieving the three principles, mainly because he was not himself a general.

sympathetic warlord, and he had difficulty exercising any authority outside

the south.

b) Chiang Kai-shek:-

a. General Chiang Kai-shek became leader after sun’s death. He received his military

training in japan, being a strong nationalist he joined in KMT.

b. New soviet Russian government was providing help and guidance to the KMT in the

hope that nationalist china would be friendly towards Russia.

c. However, in spite of his Russian contacts, chiang was not a communist, in fact he was

more right wing that sun yat-sen and became increasingly anti-communist, his

sympathies ling with businessmen and landowners.

d. Soon after becoming party leader, he removed all left wingers from leading positions

in the party.

e. In 1926, he set out on the Northern march to destroy the warlords of central and

northern china.

f. Much of Chiang’s success sprang from massive local support among the peasants

attracted by communist promises of land.

g. The capture of shanghai was helped by a rising of industrial workers organized by

Zhou Enlai, a member of the KMT and also a communist.

h. During 1927 Chiang decided that the communists were becoming too powerful. It was

time to destroy an embarrassing ally. All communists were expelled from the KMT and

a terrible ‘ purification movement’ was launched in which thousands of communists,

trade union and peasant leaders were massacred;

i. The communists had been checked, the warlords were under control and Chiang was

the military and political leader of china.

j. The Kuomintang government proved to be a great disappointment for the majority of

Chinese. Chiang could claim to have achieved Sun’s first principle Nationalism but

didn’t the second and third.

Mao Zedong and the communists:

a) Mao Zedong and the Chinese communist party:-

b) Why did Mao and the communists gain support?

a. The party had been officially founded in 1921; at first it had very little military

strength, which explains why it was willing to work with the KMT.

b. Mao was responsible for changing the party’s strategy: they would concentrate on

winning mass support among the peasants rather than trying to capture industrial

towns where several communist insurrections had already failed because of the

strength of KMT.

c. Mao and his supporters concentrated on survival as Chiang carried out five

extermination campaigns against them between 1930 and 1934 and concentrated on

building up the Red Army.

d. Mao decided that the only chance of survival was to break trough Chiang’s lines and

set up another power base somewhere else.

e. In October 1934 the breakthrough was achieved and almost 1 lakh communists set out

on the remarkable Long March which was to become part of Chinese legend.

f. Mao was able to control the provinces of Shensi and Kansu. During the next ten years

the communists continued to gain support, while chiang and the KMT steadily lost

popularity.

a. The inefficiency and corruption of the KMT in government:

i. Made no effective attempts to organize mass support.

b. There was little improvement in factory conditions.

c. There was no improvement in peasant poverty.

i. Spread famine in rural areas.

ii. High taxes and forced labour.

iii. In contrast, the land policy followed in areas controlled by the

d. The KMT put up no effective resistance to the Japanese

i. This was the crucial factor. The Japanese occupied Manchuria in 1931 and

communists was much more attractive.

ii. Chian seened to think It was more important to destroy the communists than

iii. Chiang was taken prisoner by some his own troops, who were incesed

were obviously prepating to bring the nerghbouring provinces of northern

china under their control.

to resist the Japanese, and moved into south Shensi to attack Mao.

at the Japanese invasion. They demanded that chiang should turn against the

Japanese, but at first he was unwilling.

iv. Only after the prominent communist Zhou Enlai came to see him at

v. The new alliance brought great advantages for the communists; CCP was

vi. When full scale war broke out with japan in 1937, the KMT forces were

vii. This enabled the communists, undefeated in Shensi, to present

viii. This won them massive support among the peasants and middle

Sian did he agree to a fresh alliance with the CCP and a national front against

the Japanese.

secure.

quickly defeated and most of eastern china was occupied by the Japanese as

Chiang retreated westwards.

themselves as patriotic nationalist, leading an effective guerrilla campaign

against the Japanese in the north.

classes.

The communist victory

a) Victory for the communists was still not inevitable

b) There were several reasons for the CCP triumph

a. Japanese were defeated in 1945, the KMT and the CCP became locked in the final

struggle for power.

b. The americans helped the KMT to take over all areas previously occupied by the

Japanese- except Manchuria, which had been captured by the Russians.

c. Here the Russians obstructed the KMT and allowed CCP guerrillas to move in .

d. In 1948 the ever- increasing communist armies were large enough to abandon their

guerilla campaign and challenge Chiang’s armies directly.

e. The KMT armies began to disintegrate. 1949, the communists took Beijing, chiang and

what remained of his forces fled to the island of Taiwan, leaving Mao Zedong in

command of mainland China.

a. Communists won popular support by their restrained land policy.

b. Communist armies were well-disciplined and communist administration was honest

and fair.

c. KMT administration was inefficient and corrupt. Its policy of paying for the wars by

printing extra money resulted in galloping inflation.

d. Army gradually disillusioned with chiang and began to desert to the communists.

e. Finally, the CCP leaders, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, were shrew enough to take

advantage of KMT weaknesses and were completely dedicated.

Japan and Spain

Japan between the wars:

a) 1918, japan was in a strong position in the far east:

a. She had a powerful navy, a great deal of influence in china, and had benefited

economically from the first world war, while the states of Europe were busy fighting

each other.

b. Japan took advantage of the situation both by providing the allies with shipping and

other goods, and by stepping into supply orders, especially in Asia, which the

Europeans could not fulfil.

b) Why did japan become a military dictatorship?

- Influential groups opposed democracy

o Democracy was not popular with army and the conservatives, who were strongly

entrenched in the upper house of parliament and in the privy council.

o The army was itching to interfere in china, which was torn by civil war .

o They were strong enough to bring the government down in 1927 and reverse his

policy.

- Corruption

- The trade boom ended

- The world economic crisis

- The situation in Manchuria

o The great trading boom of the war years lasted only until the middle of 1921,

when Europe began to revive and recover lost markets.

o Unemployment and industrial unrest developed.

o Farmers were hit by the rapidly falling price of bumper harvests.

o Farmers and industrial workers to organize themselves into a political party, they

were ruthlessly suppressed, they became hostile to the democracy.

o 1929, affected japan severely.

o Worst affected trades was export of raw silk, which went mostly to the USA,

which had no time for luxuries.

o About half population in japan was relied on the production of raw silk as well as

rice.

o There was desperate poverty, especially in the north, for which factory workers

and peasants blamed the government and big business.

o 1927, many officers, attracted by fascism , were planning to seize power and

introduce a strong nationalist government.

o Large province of china, where japan had valuable investment and trade.

o The Chinese were trying to squeeze out Japanese trade and business, which was a

severe blow to a Japanese economy already hard hit by the depression.

o Japanese army units invaded and occupied Manchuria.

o For the next thirteen years the army more or less ran the country, introducing

similar methods to those adopted in italy and Germany.

o This led to an attack on china (1937) and participation in the second world war in

the pacific.

Japan recovers

- End of the second world war japan was defeated; her economy was in ruins, factories and

- Until 1952 she was occupied by allied troops mostly American, under the command of

- For the first three years the americans aimed to make sure that japan could never again

- During 1948 the American attitude gradually changed as the cold war developed in Europe

housing destroyed by bombings.

general MacArthur.

start a war- she was forbidden to have armed forces and was given a democratic

constitution .

and the Kuomintang crumbled in china. They felt the need for a strong ally in south east

asia and began to encourage Japanese economic recovery.

- From 1950 industry recovered rapidly and by American forces were withdrawn in 1952.

a) How was japan’s rapid recovery possible?

a. American help was vital

i. Supplied aid, new equipment.

ii. Economically healthy japan meant a strong bulwark against communism in

south east asia.

b) Japanese recovery was not without its problems

b. The Korean war brought orders for military equipment and supplies.

c. The alliance with the USA meant that Japan felt well protected and was therefore

able to invest in industry money that would otherwise have gone on armaments.

d. Profits for exports were ruthlessly ploughed back into industry.

e. Recovery was helped by a series of stable governments.

a. There was a good deal of anti- American feeling in some quarters:

i. Many Japanese felt inhibited by their close ties with the USA;

ii. They felt that the americans exaggerated the threat from communist

china; they wanted good relations with china and the USSR ;

iii. The renewal of the defence treaty with the USA in 1960 caused strikes

and demonstrations.

iv. Gradually japan improved their relations with china.

b. Another problem was working class unrest at low wages and overcrowded living

conditions.

c. Japan’s prosperity caused some problems:

i. USA, Canada and western Europe that the Japanese were fooding foreign

markets with their exports while refusing to buy a comparable amount of

imports from their customers.

ii. In response japan abolished import duties on many commodities.

                The Japanese success story was symbolized by a remarkable engineering feat a tunnel 54

kilometers long linking Honshu with Hokkaido to the north.

Spain:-

a) Spain in the 1920s and 1930s:

a. The constitutional monarchy under Alfonso XIII was never very efficient and a Spanish

army sent to put down a revolt in Spanish Morocco , was massacred by the Moors.

b. 1923, general Primo de Rivera seized power , with Alfonso’s approval, and ruled for

c. He was responsible for a number of public works and he managed to end the war in

d. When the world economic crisis reached spain , Primo had to get down from the

e. 1931, republicans got control of all the large cities, Alfonso decided to abdicate to

the next seven year.

Morocco in 1925.

power.

avoid bloodshed, and a republic was proclaimed. The monarchy had been overthrown.

b) Why did civil war break out in Spain in 1936:-

1. The new republic faced some serious problems:-

2. right-wing opposition:

3. Left-wing opposition:

4. The actions of the new right-wing government:

a. Catalonia and the Basque provinces wanted independence;

b. The roman catholic church was bitterly hostile to the republic, which in return

disliked the church and was determined to reduce its power;

c. It was felt that the army had too much influence in politic and might attempt

another coup;

d. Depression, agriculture prices are falling , wine and olive exports declined, land

went out of cultivation and peasant unemployment rose.

e. In industry iron production fell by a third and steel production by almost half .

a. dominant grouping in the Cortes (parliament), the socialists and middle class

radicals, began energetically.

i. Catalonia was allowed some self-government.

ii. An attack was made on the church;

iii. A large number of army of army officers were compulsorily retired;

iv. A start was made on the nationalization of large estates;

v. Attempts were made to raise wages of industrial workers;

b. This infuriated the right-wing groups;1932, some army officers tried to overthrow

the prime minister, Manuel Azana, but was suppressed. A new right wing party,

the CEDA , was formed to defend the church and the land lords.

a. Republic was further weakened by opposition from two powerful left-wing

groups, the anarchists and the syndicalists who favored a general strike and the

overthrow of the capitalist system.

b. They organized strikes, riots and assassinations .

c. This caused even the socialists to withdraw support from Azana, who resigned. In

the following elections the right-wing parties won a majority, the largest group

being the new catholic Ceda under its leader Gil Robles.

a. The new government aroused the left to fury.

i. Cancelled most of Azana’s reforms.

ii. Interfered with the working of the new Catalan government and

iii. Refused to allow the Basques self-government.

b. Basques had supported the right in the elections , but now switched to left.

5. The new government turned out to be ineffective.

c. Left wing groups drew closer together to form a popular front. revolutionary

violence grew.

d. The miners of Asturias fought bravely but were crushed ruthlessly by troops under

the command of General Franco.

e. In elections of 1936, the Popular Front emerged victorious.

a. Socialist decided not to support it, hoping to seize power when the middle-class

republican government failed.

b. Government is incapable of keeping the order, right-wing politicians were

murdered.

c. This terrified the right and convinced them that the only way to restore order was

by a military dictatorship.

d. A group of generals, conspiring with the right, especially with the new fascist

Falange party of Jose Antonio de Rivera, had already planned a military takeover,

e. They began a revolt in Morocco, where General Franco soon assumed the

leadership. The civil war had begun.

c) The civil war 1936-39

a. By the end of 1936, the right, calling themselves nationalists, controlled much of the

north and the area around Cadiz and Seville in the south; the republicans controlled

the centre and north-east.

b. Both sides committed terrible atrocities.

c. Church suffered horrifying losses .

d. The nationalist were helped by italy and Germany.

e. The republicans received some help from Russia, but france and Britain refused to

f. The nationalist s captured Madrid and the War ended.

g. Reasons for nationalists success.

intervene.

i. Franco was extremely skilful in holding together the carious right-wing groups.

ii. The republicans were much less united.

iii. Foreign help for the nationalists was probably decisive.

d) Franco in power

a. Franco, taking the tile Caudillo (leader), but he was not a fascist;

b. He supported the church, which was given back its control over education.

c. Franco was also shrewd enough to keep spain out the second world war.

d. When Hitler and Mussolini were defeated, Franco survived and ruled spain until 1975.

e. Gradually relaxed repressiveness; elections were introduced for some members of

f. Much was done to modernize Spanish agriculture and industry and the economy was

g. Alfonso XIII ‘s grandson, Juan Carlos succeeded Franco; he showed that he was in

h. The first free elections were held in 1977, under the leadership of socialist prime

parliament.

helped by spain’s growing tourist industry.

favor of a return to all party democracy.

minister Felipe Gonzalez, spain joined the European community

China between 1918 - 1948

How successful was Mao Zedong in dealing with China’s problems

a) What were the problems facing Mao Zedong?

a. Country was devastated after the long civil war and the war with japan.

b. Problems- industry was backward, agriculture was inefficient and incapable of feeding

c. He began by looking closely at stalin’s methods and experimented, by a process of trial

the poverty-stricken masses, inflation.

and error, to find which would work in china and where a special Chinese approach was

necessary.

b) The constitution of 1950

a. National people’s Congress- members were elected for four years by people.

b. The state council and the chairman of the republic-both elected by the congress. Function

c. The state council chose the political Bureau which took all the main decisions.

d. Only party members could stand in elections.

e. The constitution was important because it provided china with a strong central

c) Agricultural changes

a. First, land was taken from large landowners and redistributed among the peasants, no

b. Next step was achieved without violence: peasants were persuaded to join together in

c. By 1956, 95% of all peasants were in co-operatives with joint ownership of the farm and

d) Industrial changes

a. Government nationalized most businesses.

b. Five year plan concentrating on the development of heavy industry with the help of USSR.

c. The country had recovered from the ravages of the wars: full communications had been

e) The hundred flowers campaign (1957)

a. Developed out of industrialization which produced a vast new class of technicians and

b. The party cadres believed that this new class of experts would threaten their authority.

c. The government , decided that open discussion of the problems might improve relations

d. Critics attacked on cadres for incompetence and over enthusiasm, over centralization,

e. Mao hurriedly called off the campaign and clamped down on his critics.

f) The great leap forward:

a. It involved further important developments in both industry and agriculture, in order to

b. The introduction communes, units larger than collective farms, divided into brigades and

was to make sure that laws were carried out.

government for the first time for many years, and It has remained largely unchanged.

doubt with violence in places.

co-operative farms in order to increase food production.

its equipment.

restored, inflation was under control and the economy was looking much healthier.

engineers.

between cadres and experts .

undemocratic government.

increase output and to adapt industry to Chinese conditions.

work teams with an elected council; the ran their own collective farms and factoriws,

carried out most of the functions of local government.

c. A complete change of emphasis in industry: much smaller factories were set up in the

d. At first it looked as the great leap might be failure. But in the long term the importance of

e. The communes proved to be a successful innovation, they were an efficient unit of local

f. The crucial decision had been taken that china would remain predominantly an

countryside to provide machinery for agriculture.

the great leap became clear: eventually both agricultural and industrial production

increased substantially.

government and they enabled the central government in Beijing to keep in touch with

local opinion.

agricultural country with small-scale industry scattered around the countryside. The

economy would be labour intensive. Thus , this was the best way of making sure that

everybody had a job.

g) The cultural revolution(1966-69)

a. When the success of the great leap was by no means certain, opposition to Mao grew,

b. There should be an expert managerial class to push forward with industrialization on the

c. Maoists, were totally unacceptable, they dismissed Russians as revisionists taking the

d. There was a great public debate about which course to follow. Mao rouse the young

e. His supporters, the red guards , toured the country arguing Mao’s case, while schools ,

f. Unfortunately, it brought chaos and something close to civil war; student masses had

right-wing members of the party believed that incentive were necessary if the communes

were to function efficiently.

Russian mode. Instead of relying on the cadres.

capitalist road. The party must avoid the emergence of a privileged class who would

exploit eh workers; It was vital to keep in touch with the masses.

people, launched a desperate campaign to save the revolution.

and later factories were close down.

been rouse, attacked anybody in authority, not just critics of Mao. Teachers,

professionals, local party officials, all were targets; millions of people were disgraced and

ruined.

call in the army to restore the order.

committing excesses.

g. By 1967 the extremists among the red guards were almost out of control, and Mao had to

h. Mao, admitted that he had made mistakes, many were arrested and executed for

i. 1969, cultural revolution was formally ended.

j. The cultural revolution caused great disruption, ruined millions of lives, and probably

k. The most surprising development in Mao’s policies during his last years was in foreign

held up china’s economic development by ten years.

affairs, when Mao and Zhou Enlai decided it was time to improve relations with the USA.

Life after Mao

a) There was a period of dramatic policy change:

a. 1978, Deng Xiaoping gained the ascendancy.

b) Demands for more radical reforms: the democracy wall:

c) Modernization and its problems:

d) The thoughts of Deng Xiaoping:

b. Many changes introduced during the cultural revolution were reversed.

Democratically elected groups would run the local government. Property confiscated

from former capitalists was returned to survivors, more religious freedom and great

freedom for intellectuals to express themselves in literature and the arts.

c. Deng wanted technical and financial help from the west in order to modernize

industry, agriculture, science and technology. Loans were accepted from foreign

governments and banks, and contracts signed with foreign companies for the supply

of modern equipment. In 1980, china joined the IMF and the world Bank. State paid

higher prices to the communes for their produce and reduced taxes in order to

stimulate efficiency. These measure had some success, and many peasants became

prosperous.

a. Democracy wall , where public could express itself with huge wall posters. People

demanded a wide range of human rights.

i. The right to criticize the government openly;

ii. Representation for no communist parties in the National peoples’s congress;

iii. Freedom to change jobs and to travel abroad;

iv. Abolition of the communes.

b. This infuriated Deng, launched a fierce attack on the leading dissidents, accusing them

of trying to destroy the socialist system. 1979, democracy wall was abolished

altogether.

a. Democracy wall incident made the Deng to move toward the modernization as soon

as possible.

b. Communes were broken up and given to peasants, which would be allowed to keep

most of the profits.

c. This was successful in raising agricultural production and standard of living.

d. It was announced that the compulsory purchase of crops was to be abandoned.

e. Surplus would be allowed to fluctuate on the open market.

f. But the market socialism had unfortunate side-effects-

i. Imports increased by 38%. Trade deficit increased.

ii. Annual rate of inflation was raised.

a. To enable his people to get richer.

b. In industry, sweeping decentralization was still needed.

c. Party must withdraw from administrative tasks, issue fewer instructions, and allow

more initiative at the lower levels.

d. Only capitalist investment could create the conditions in which china could become a

prosperous, modernized state.

e. China’s international role- to lead a peace alliance of the world against the dangerous

ambitions of the USA and the USSR.

Tiananmen square, 1989, and the crisis of communism:

a) The crisis of 1987

b) Tiananmen Square, 1989:

c) China since 1989

a. Deng did a clever balancing act between the reformers and the hardliners.

b. Deng encouraged criticism from students and intellectuals but up to some point.

c. 1986, there was a series of student demonstrations supporting Den Xiaoping and

the modernization but urging a much quicker pace, more democracy.

d. Deng decided to disperse the demonstrations; hardliners forced Deng to resign;

however he was replaced with another economic reformer Zhao Ziyang.

a. Economic reforms ran into inflation went up to 30%.

b. Probably encouraged by Gorbachev’s political reforms, and the knowledge that

he was to pay a visit to Beijing, student demonstrations began again in

Tiananmen Square; they were demanding political reform, democracy and an end

to communist party corruption.

c. The demonstrations continued throughout Gorbachev’s visit.

d. Meanwhile , power struggle was going on in the politburo and Li Peng, with the

support of Deng Xiaoping, eventually won .

e. Thousands of troops were brought in and attacked the students, killing between

1500 and 3000 .

f. There was world wide condemnation of the massacres, but hardliners were

convinced that they had taken the right decision. They felt that to have given was

to the students demands for democracy would have caused too much disruption

and confusion: one- party control was needed to supervise the transition to a

socialist market economy.

g. USSR seemed a disaster, whatever the rest of the world thought about the

Tiananmen square massacres, the Chinese leadership could congratulate itself on

avoiding grobachev’s mistakes and preserving communism in china at a time

when it was being swept away in eastern Europe.

a. Although they had clamped down on any political change, government was still

committed to progressive open door economic policies. They hoped that a

successful economy which enabled more and more people to become prosperous

would make people forget their desire for democracy.s

Germany between 1918 - 1945

Why did the Weimar republic collapse:-

a)      It had a number of disadvantages:-

a.       It had accepted the humiliating and unpopular Versailles Treaty. German nationalists could never forgive it for that.

b.      There was a traditional lack of respect for democratic government and a great admiration for the army and the officers class as the rightful leaders of Germany.

c.       The parliamentary system introduced in the new Weimar constitution had weaknesses. It enable all parties could get fair representation. So that no party could ever win an overall majority. No party was able to carry out its programme.

d.      The political parties had very little experience of how to operate a democratic parliamentary system. In the new constitution the chancellor was responsible to the Reichstag, which had the final say. But it usually failed to compromise all parties.

e.      Parties organized their own armies led to more outbreaks of violence and attempts to overthrow the republic.

b)      Outbreaks of violence:-

a.       The Spartacist rising:

                                                              i.      The communists inspired by the success of the Russian revolution occupied almost every major city in Germany.

                                                            ii.      Government managed to defeat only because it accepted the help of the Freikorps ( anti communist ex-army officers).

b.      The Kapp Putsch(1920):

                                                              i.      Attempt by right-wing groups to seize power.

                                                            ii.      Government tried to disband the Freikorps.

                                                          iii.      Berlin was occupied by Freikorps; german army took no action because general were sympathetic.

                                                           iv.      With the help of workers of berlin government regained control and Freikorps were disbanded.

c.       A series of political assassinations took place:

                                                              i.      Carried out by ex- Friekorps members.

                                                            ii.      Government did not take control measures because there was great opposition from the right wing parties.

                                                          iii.      Communist leaders were brutally murdered.

d.      The Beer Hall Putsch:

                                                              i.      the French occupation of the Ruhr and the disastrous fall in the value of the mark caused severe public annoyance.

                                                            ii.      Hitler aimed to take control of the Bavarian state government in Munich, and then lead a national revolution to overthrow the government in berlin.

                                                          iii.      The police easily broke up hitler’s march, and the beer Hall Putsch soon fizzled out. Hitler was sentenced to nine months.

e.      The private armies expanded:

                                                              i.      The violence died down during the 1924 and 1929.

                                                            ii.      But when unemployment grew in the early1930’s, the private armies expanded and regular street fights occurred between Nazis and communists.

c)       Economic problems:

a.       In 1919 germany was close to bankruptcy because of the war.

b.      Her attempts to pay reparations instalments made matters worse. 1922, germans claimed they were unable to make the full annual payment.

c.       In 1923, French troops occupied the Ruhr and attempted to seize goods from factories and mines- galloping inflation and the collapse of the mark.

                                                              i.      Thanks to the Dawes plan and young plan to make the economy stable.

d.      The prosperity was much more dependent on the American loans than the most people realized.

e.      Wall street crash- the USA stopped any further loans and began to call in many of the short-term loans already made to Germany. This caused a crisis of confidence in the currency ; exports were severely reduced, factories had to close, unemployment was high.

f.        To deal with the crisis the government reduced the social expenditure, introduced high tariffs, bought shares in factories hit by the slump.

g.       But the government came under criticism from almost all groups in society, especially industrialists and the working class who demanded more decisive action.

By the end of 1932 the Weimar republic had thus been brought to the verge of collapse.

d)      the alternative- Hitler and the Nazis:

a.       the fortunes of the Nazi party were linked closely to the economic situation; the more unstable the economy, the more seats the Nazis won in the Reichstag.

b.      Rise of Hitler was one of the most important cause of the downfall of the republic.

e)      What made the Nazis so popular?

a.       They offered national unity, prosperity and full employment.

b.      They promised to overthrow the Versailles settlement, to build Germany into a great power again.

c.       The Nazi private army was attractive to young people.

d.      Wealthy landowners and industrialists encouraged the Nazis because they feared a communist revolution and they approved of the Nazi policy of hostility to communists.

e.      Hitler himself had extraordinary political abilities. Possessed tremendous energy and will-power and a remarkable gift for public speaking.

f.        The striking contrast between the governments of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi party impressed people.

g.       Without the economic crisis though it is doubtful whether hitler would have had much chance of attaining power.

f)       Hitler became chancellor:

a.       By 1932, hitler was able to form the single largest party in the Reichstag.

b.      A small clique of right –wing politicians with support from the Reichswehr decided to bring Hitler into a coalition government with the nationalists. Their reasons for this decision were:

                                                              i.      They were afraid of the Nazis attempting to seize power by a Putsch;

                                                            ii.      They believed they could control hitler better inside the government than if remained outside; taste of power would make the Nazis modify their extremism;

                                                          iii.      It would give them a better chance of controlling the communists.

What did National Socialism stand for?

1.       It was more than just one political party among many. It was a way of life dedicate to the rebirth of the nation. All classes in society must be united to make Germany a great nation again. Since the Nazis had the only correct way to achieve this, all parties must be eliminated.

2.       Great emphasis was laid on the ruthlessly efficient organization of all aspects of the lives of the masses under the central government. To achieve greatness, violence and terror are necessary.

3.       Greatness could only be achieved by war, the entire state must be organized on a military footing.

4.       The race theory was vitally important- Aryans were the germans, ideally tall, blond, blue-eyed and handsome; master race, destined to rule the world. Slavs, coloured people and particularly Jews were inferior and were destined to become the slav races of the Germans.

Hitler consolidates his power

a)      The election of 1933:

a.       The election campaign was and extremely violent one.

b.      Nazis, now in power were able to use all the apparatus of state, including media to try to whip up a majority.

c.       Senior police officers were replaced with reliable Nazis, and auxiliary police men were called up, most of them from the SA and SS ( Schutzstaffein- hitler’s personal and private army).

d.      Meetings of all parties except Nazis and nationalists were wrecked and speakers beaten up.

b)      The Reichstag fire:

a.       Reichstag was badly damaged by a fire apparently started by a young Dutch anarchist , who was arrested, tried and executed.

b.      Hitler used the fire to stir up fear of communism and as a pretext for the banning of the party.

c.       Nazis still failed to win an overall majority and had to depend on the support of nationalists.

How was Hitler able to stay in power?

a)      the enabling Law, 1933:-

a.       the law was passed by use of SS force.

b.      the government could introduce laws without the approval of the Reichstag for the next four years, could ignore the constitution and sign agreement with foreign countries.

c.       All laws would be drafted by the chancellor.

d.      Weimar constitution had been abandoned

b)      Gleichschaltung:-

Means forcible co-ordination which turned Germany into a totalitarian state. The government tried to control as many aspects of life as possible, using a huge police force and the notorious state secret police, the Gestapo. The main features of the Nazi state were :

·         All political parties were banned .

·         Separate state parliaments still existed but lost all power. Nazi Commissioner had complete power over all officials and affairs within his state. No more elections to province or municipality.

·         The civil service was purged. Jews and enemies of the state were removed .

·         Trades unions were abolished and replaced by German Labour front to dealt with all grievance, and strikes were not allowed.

·         The education system was closely controlled so that children could be indoctrinated with Nazi opinions.

·         Hitler youth- all boys had to join at 14; girls joined the league of german maidens.

·         Hitler took on title Fuhrer (  leader ).

·         All communications and the media were controlled by the minister of propaganda.

·         The economic life of the country was closely organized:

o   Telling industrialist what to produce, depending on what the country needed at that moment; closing factories down if their products were not required;

o   Moving workers around the country to places where jobs existed;

o   Controlling food prices and rents;

o   Manipulating foreign exchange rates to avoid inflation;

o   Introducing vast schemes of public works.

o   Forcing foreign countries to buy german goods .

o   Manufacturing synthetic rubber and wool and experimenting to produce petrol from coal in order to reduce the dependence on the other countries for fuel.

o   Religion was brought under state control, since the churches were a possible source of opposition.

·         Above all, Germany was a police state. Gestapo and SS tried to prevent all open opposition to the regime; concentration camps introduced; they contained political prisoners- communists, social democrats, catholic priests, protestant pastors and above all jews.

·         The worst aspect of the Nazi system was Hitler’s anti-sematic policy.   

o   Hitler decided to use them as scapegoats for everything- the Versailles, the depression, unemployment, communism.

o   Lots of germans were in such a desperate situation that they were prepared to accept the propaganda about the Jews.

o   Thousands of the jews were removed from their jobs.

o   Nuremberg law- deprived jews of their German citizenship, forbade them to marry non-jew.

o   Their property was attacked and burnt; jews themselves herded into concentration camps.

o   Eventually, hitler intended to exterminate the entire Jewish race.

o   Including in the occupied territories, 5 million jews were murdered.

c)       Hitler’s policies were popular with many sections of the German people:

a.       His arrival in power in 1933 caused a great wave of enthusiasm and anticipation after the weak and indecisive governments.

b.      Hitler was successful in eliminating unemployment .

                                                              i.      The public works schemes provided thousands of extra jobs.

                                                            ii.      Large party bureaucracy was setup. Provided thousands of extra office and administrative posts.

                                                          iii.      There were purges of Jews and anti-Nazis from the civil servie and from many other jobs.

c.       Care was taken to keep the support of the workers – provided benefits such as subsidized holidays in Germany and abroad, cheap theatre tickets etc.

d.      Wealthy industrialists and businessmen were delighted with the Nazis in spite of the governments interference with their industries.

                                                              i.      They now felt safe from a communist revolution.

                                                            ii.      They were glad to be rid of trades unions.

e.      Farmers were in specially favoured position in the state because of the declared Nazi aim of self- sufficiency in food production.

1.       Prices of agricultural produce were fixed so that they were assured of profit .

2.       Farms were declared to be hereditary estates.

f.        Hitler gained the support of the Reichswehr( army) one organization which could have removed him by force. Hitler had won it over:

                                                              i.      Setting aside the restrictions of the Versailles treaty by rearmament and expansion of the army to its full strength.

                                                            ii.      There had been a steady infiltration of Nazis into the lower ranks .

                                                          iii.      The army leaders were much impressed by Hitler’s handling of the troublesome SA in the notorious Rohm Purge.

g.       Finally. Hitler’s foreign policy was a brilliant success.

Nazism and Fascism:

a)      Similarities:

a.       Anti-communist and because of this drew a solid basis of support from all classes;

b.      Attempted to organize a totalitarian state, controlling industry, agriculture, way of life of the people, so that personal freedom was limited;

c.       Attempted to make the country self-sufficient;

d.      Emphasized the close unity of all classes working together to achieve these ends;

e.      Emphasized the supremacy of the state, were intensely nationalistic, and glorified war and the cult of the leader.

b)      But there were come important differences:

a.       Fascism never seemed to take root in Italy as deeply as it did in Germany.

b.      The Italian system was not as efficient as that in Germany. They never achieved self-sufficiency and never eliminated unemployment;

c.       The Italian system was not as ruthless and brutal as that in Germany.

d.      Italian fascism was not particularly anti-jewish or racist until when mussolini adopted the policy to emulate hitler.

e.      Mussolini was more successful than hitler with his religious policy after his agreement with the pope.

f.        Their constitutional positions were different. The monarchy still remained in Italy. Unfortunately there was nobody in Germany who could dismiss Hitler.

How successful was hitler in dometic affairs up to 1939

a)      He was successful

a.       Nazis were extremely successful because they provided many benefits of the sort mentioned above, and developed a flourishing economy.

b.      If only Hitler had managed to keep Germany out of war, all would have been well.

b)      The was superficially successful

a.       Hitler’s policies were only superficially successful and could not stand the test of time.

b.      The so called ‘economic miracle’ was an illusion; there was a huge budget deficit and the country was, technically , bankrupt.

                                                              i.      Full employment was achieved only at the cost of a brutal anti-jewish campaign and a massive rearmament programme;

                                                            ii.      Self-sufficiency was not possible unless Germany wsa able to take over and exploit large areas of eastern Europe belonging to Poland, Czechoslovakia and Russia;

                                                          iii.      Permanent success therefor depended on success in war, thus there was no possibility of Hitler keeping out of war.