Amiga Format CD 5/amigaformatcd05.iso/readerstuff/mark_tebbutt/theroadtoworldwar.guide

Amigaguide Document | 1996-08-13 | 24KB | 447 lines

@database
@author M.Tebbutt
; Revision 1.0
 1996 M.Tebbutt
; Code: Omega
@node Main
@toc Main
                          The Road To World War

 1996 M.Tebbutt
   Welcome to The Road To World War by Mark Tebbutt. Please feel free to browse
through this GSCE History revision aid on "Hitler`s Germany".
   PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS DOCUMENT IS SHAREWARE!
@{"Document notes" link Notes}
@{"The end of World War One" link EWW1}
@{"Five Treaties" link treaties}
@{"A new leader and a new problem" link NWNP}
@{"Economic collapse" link EC}
@{"The invasion of the Ruhr" link IR}
@{"Hitler" link Hitler}
@{"The NSDAP" link NSDAP}
@{"The Putsch" link Putsch}
@{"The loss in value of the German Mark" link Mark}
@{"Communism, Fascism & Democracies" link C,F&D}
@{"SHAREWARE NOTICE" link SHAREWARE}
@{"Distribution" link Distribution}
@{"Thanks to..." link Thanks}
@{"The author" link Author}
@{"Disclaimer" link Disclaimer}
@{"A request to fellow Amiga users" link Request}
@endnode
@node Request
   A request to fellow Amiga users
   If you like this product, and have a method of making this distribution
accessible to yet more Amiga users, then please use it! I`m begging you!
   Personally, I`m not on-line. So, if you care to do so, why don`t you
upload it onto BBS`s? Or even the Aminet? Go on. Pretty please! Owners of
PD Houses - here`s another disk to add to your library! Even include
it on collections! The ENTIRE distribution (see below) is only tiny! Pretty
please with a cherry on top! (Pardon? Ahem. I`m calm now.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   More legal thingies: ONLY DISTRIBUTE THIS PRODUCT FULLY INTACT (i.e-
including every file, and don`t change anything within the files
themselves).
   Remember that this product is SHAREWARE and under copyright.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Anyone caught doing naughty pirate things will get the long arm of the
law thrust upon them. And I`ll personally slap their wrists and then chop
them up into tiny pieces. Ha.
@endnode
@node Distribution
   This product can be distributed freely provided that it remains INTACT,
e.g- includes all files. It may be distributed on any CD collection, by any
Public Domain or Shareware stockist, or on any BBS or the Aminet.
   Please note that this product is
 1996 M.Tebbutt and unauthorised
amendment of this product is illegal. PIRACY IS THEFT.
@endnode
@node Notes
   Reading only one subject will not benefit you. It is necessary to see
"the picture as a whole" before you can fully understand the situations in
which Germany was put into.
   NOTE: This publication is by no means "comprehensive". It is necessary to
study many sources (e.g- books, etc.) before coming to any conclusions or
writing about the subject. This is especially true of GSCE when writing
essays or revising, etc.
   Put your resources to good use and read about as many different
viewpoints as possible before drawing your own conclusions. Also, check the
reliability of your sources (are they primary or secondary? - If you don`t
know what this means then ask your History teacher). DETERMINING THE
RELIABILITY OF SOURCES IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF HISTORY.
   As I said, this document is by no means comprehensive, and in the present
version it does not cover the entire topic for GCSE, just the early parts.
In later revisions (if I do any - register to help ensure this) I should
cover the whole topic (eventually).
@endnode
@node SHAREWARE
   Legal things: As this product is shareware, using it without registering
it after the "testing" period is illegal. The "testing" period for this
product is 4 weeks, after which if you do not register you MUST
trash/delete all traces of the product from your system.
   Unauthorised amendment is ILLEGAL!
   Please appreciate my (enormous) efforts in creating "TRTWW" by
paying the shareware fee! Besides, its only a measly
2. If there`s
enough response then I will produce new versions. And, once you`ve
registered you don`t have to for any later versions. So, register now and
put your mind at rest today!
   Send your dosh/cash/whatever-you-call-it to:-
                  Mark Tebbutt
                  The Road To World War registrations
                  12 Grenville Avenue
                  Rhuddlan
                  Denbighshire
                  N.Wales
                  UK
                  LL18 5PN
      POUNDS STERLING ONLY, PLEASE!
     (PLEASE USE THE SUPPLIED REGISTRATION FORM)
@endnode
@node Thanks
   Many thanks to Mr Corkhill (my history teacher), Amiga Format for
encouraging my computing interest, Mark Traynor (my Amiga-owning friend),
the now-dead Commodore (for my A1200), and, of course, my mum and dad!
   NOTE TO FELLOW YOUNG AMIGA USERS: Learn to produce Amiga software
and make the Amiga a much nicer platform to use than PCs or Macs (even
though it is already).
   Also, good luck to Viscorp on their new Amiga ownership. Let`s hope they
do more than the previous owners, eh?!
      ONLY AMIGA MAKES IT POSSIBLE!
@endnode
@node Author
   Well, I won`t bore you too long with my own details!
   I`m a 15 year old Amiga user who also likes History. At present I have an
A1200 (old Commodore one) with a Squirrel SCSI interface, a Mediavision Reno
CD-ROM drive, a Goliath PSU, Viper II 28Mhz accelerator with 4 Megs Fast
RAM and an external floppy. (New users: ignore previous techno-babble!).
   Unfortunately, this quite "substantial" system is only running through a
portable! Never mind, eh?
   Right. I think that history is a hard subject to do. So, I thought, why
not write something that will help others? So, here is the end product. Like
it? I hope so.
   To contact me for suggestions/notes on my accuracy/SHAREWARE
registrations, etc you`ll have to use snail mail. My address is:-
                  Mark Tebbutt
                  12 Grenville Avenue
                  Rhuddlan
                  Denbighshire
                  N.Wales
                  UK
                  LL18 5PN
@endnode
@node Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability will be accepted for any damage that may
appear  to  have resulted from use of this product.  All use is at your
own  risk. The  product  is  provided  "as  is" without any warranty
implied  or  otherwise  to  the fitness or accuracy of the software and
documentation.   The  documentation  is  believed to be correct but the
author reserves  the  right  to update this product without notice.
@endnode
@node C,F&D
   Communism, Fascism and Democracies
   Democracies are when parties are voted into power by a
secret and free election. This ensures no discrimination for sex
or colour denotes a person's right to vote, and that a person's
vote is not released.
   A Communist or Facist dictatorship is when a single person
or party takes power in a restricted and/or non-secret election,
or with no election at all. Fascist dictatorships have racism and
social classes, Communist dictatorships have no social classes
and no ownership of property.
@endnode
@node NWNP
A new leader and a new problem
        Frederick Ebert became the first leader of the new
government. He was a socialist and a member of the Socialist
Democratic Party (SPD). He had the support of many Army Generals
who were afraid of a Communist revolution. Russia had gone
Communist in 1917 (Lenin forced Russia out of the war), and it
was feared the new Communist Party (KPD) formed in Germany in
December 1918 would try to overthrow the government.
        Meanwhile, on the Allies side, Woodrow Wilson of the USA,
Lloyd George of Britain, Clemencau of France and Orlando of Italy
pondered what to do with Germany in the Palace of Versailles,
near Paris. Wilson, the United States President, had earlier set
out 14 points outlining a fair treaty for Germany to accept. Many
Germans expected the treaty to based upon these points. They were
to be proved wrong.
        Many people blamed the Republican government for their
losses, believing the government was responsible for their
defeat. In January 1919, a Communist group called the Spartacists
tried to take over Berlin. Ebert was forced to call upon the
Freikorps, bands of ex-soldiers with their weapons still with
them, to crush the Communists. Berlin became a battle ground.
        In June Germany was forced to sign the humiliating treaty of
Versailles. Premier Clemencau had fought for revenge against
Germany, as much of the war had been fought in France, his people
shared his view. Priminister Lloyd George of Britain was looking
for a fair treaty, the people of Britain, like those of France,
were after revenge. Wilson shared Lloyd George's view. Orlando
was just bargaining for territory for Italy's dwindling
industrial power. Clemencau had got what he wanted, and the
treaty was extremely harsh, angering Germany, one of many seeds
for future war.
        The treaty was so harsh because of the sheer cost and social
impact on Germany. Clause 231 was the war guilt clause, which
said that Germany had to admit to starting the war, of course
this was not true, and angered the German people. This clause had
a purpose, it was to make Germany pay reparations (damages for
the war) of a massive 6,600 million pounds sterling. 25,000
square miles of land (13% of Germany) was shared between various
countries, containing 5 million Germans. All colonies were lost.
Germany also lost most of her military power, the Army was
reduced to only 100,000 men, with no conscription (forced joining
of the armed forces) allowed. Only 6 small ships in the Navy,
with no submarines. Also, the Airforce was to be disbanded.
Germany was angry. Many Germans who signed the treaty were either
committed suicide or were assassinated.
        In 1920, a group of resentful Nationalists, led by the
Freikorps leader Wolfgang Kapp, took control of Berlin. The Army
stood by and refused to help the government. However, the Kapp
putsch failed because the Weimar government called for a general
strike. This brought Berlin to a standstill and forced Kapp to
surrender.
@endnode
@node EWW1
   The end of World War One
   On the 9th November 1918 the Kaiser (the German King) fled
to Holland and Germany was pronounced a Republic. Two days later,
the ceasefire or Armistice was signed. The German Parliament, the
Reichstag, which had been in existence for many years but had
never had a say in German law, was left with the job of running
the defeated country. This new German government began its rule
in a small town called Weimar, because the violence in Berlin was
too much for the Parliament to meet safely. This was because the
government agreed to end the war, this was very unpopular because
many Germans thought their army was winning (part of the Kaiser's
media censorship). In fact, most Germans were not aware their
army was in full retreat.
   Many Generals of the German Army later lied to the people,
not wanting to lose their high position in society, as many
Generals had run the government during the war. General
Hindenburg (later President) and General Ludendorf (whom later
supported the Nazi Munich Beer Hall Putsch) blamed the Republican
government for "stabbing the German in the back".
@endnode
@node EC
   Economic collapse
   During its first four years the Weimar Republic was in deep
economic trouble. Most Germans blamed the high cost of
reparations, infact between 1921 and 1923 hardly any reparations
were paid. The real cause was the failiure of the German
government to tax the rich heavily enough. Between 1919 and 1923
the government spent four times more than it collected in taxes.
As a result it was unable to balance its budget and keep up its
reparation payments.To solve the shortage of money the government
simply printed more and more money. The result was was hyper
inflation.
@endnode
@node IR
   The invasion of the Ruhr
   During its economic troubles, Germany had problems paying
her reparations. To force Germany to pay France invaded and
occupied the Ruhr, the industrial heart of Germany, in 1923. In
reply to this the German workers went on strike. Industrial
production stopped and there was consequently little to buy in
the shops, forcing prices up and inflation got worse. Money
became worthless.
@endnode
@node Hitler
 HITLER
   Adolf Hitler was born on April the 20th, 1889 in the small town of
Branau-am Inn, Austria. His parents were Alois and Klara Hitler. His father,
Alois was a customs official and was well respected in the community.
However, Adolf did not get on with his father too well and they soon drifted
apart.
   Alois Hitler was an old man, and Alois was his third wife. Adolf was
their fourth child, however, all Klara`s previous children had died. As all
her children had died, she wanted to smother Adolf with her love, and she
ended up spoiling him.
   Adolf Hitler failed in academic subjects in school, a situation that
contributed to his interests in the arts. He was a bright pupil, but was too
dreamy to bother trying. Dr. Huemer, one of Hitler`s teachers, later
remembered what he was like:
   "I can recall the gaunt, pale-faced youth pretty well, he had definite
talent, though in a narrow field. But he lacked self-discipline, being
notoriously cantankerous, wilful, arrogant and irascible. He had obvious
difficulty in fitting in at school. Morever, he was lazy; otherwise, with
his gifts, he would have done very much better."
   When Hitler was thirteen, in 1903, his father died. This came as a great
relief to Adolf, as this marked his freedom of thought. He could now at
least try and realise his dream.
   In 1907, his mother died. As he was so close to his mother, her death
struck him emotionally. At the age of 18 he recieved an allowance from the
money and pension left by his parents. From this time to 1913 he lived in
Vienna, trying to gain entry to the Academy of Arts, but he lived in the
city, after failing the entrance exam, making a living from odd jobs.
   In May 1913, Hitler moved to Munich in Germany. During the following year
the First World War began and war fever grew. Crowds of people gathered and
cheered at the news that war had been declared. Among them was Adolf Hitler.
   He joined an infantry regiment in 1914. This was the 16th Reserve
Bavarian Infantry Regiment. Army life brought him comradeship and
discipline, both of which he needed. He was a Corporal runner in the trenches, and
was wounded twice, winning both the Iron Cross first class and second class.
He was wounded in 1916 and gassed in 1918. In fact, as the war closed,
Hitler was in hospital recovering from the effects of the gas (which he
encountered in 1918) on his eyes.
   The Armistice brought him a feeling of humiliation. Like many other
ex-servicemen Hitler felt the army had been let down by the government. In
his view the army had not been defeated but "stabbed in the back". The Treaty
of Versailles hurt Hitler even more, he believed the terms of the treaty
were unnacceptable. He also thought that the government which accepted the
terms had betrayed Germany.
   After the war until April 1920, Hitler remained on the Army reserve and
became a political agent and lecturer, making the sure new recruits had the
`correct`, or Nationalist, ideas. In September 1919 he joined the NSDAP
or Nazi party, as member number 7. By 1921 Hitler had become
its leader. The badge they adopted was the swastika.
   After the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler served 9 months
of a 5 year sentence of imprisonment. He let his party fall while in prison,
to make sure no one could take over his position as party leader. From
1925 to 1929 he made great efforts to revive its strength. He spoke to Karl
Ludecke about the methods he intended to employ:
   "Instead of working to achieve power by an armed coup, we shall have to
hold our noses and enter the Reichstag against the Catholic and Marxist
deputies. If outvoting them takes longer than out-shooting them, at least
the result will be guaranteed by their own constitution...Sooner or later we
shall have a majority - and after that - Germany."
   While in prison he lived a comfortable life, dictating his book "Mein
 Kampf" or "My Struggle", in which he
outlined his ideas for a future glorious Germany. He also told the story of
his life, and how his father surpressed his artistic ideas. "Mein Kampf"
became a best seller, making Hitler a millionaire before he even entered the
Reichstag.
   When the NSDAP finally entered the Reichstag, for a long time they could
not win any election. People only vote for extremist parties when life is
bad, between 1924 and 1929, germany was in a period of prosperity. In 1928
the Nazis received only 2.6% of the vote.
   Their main support came from middle-class people (e.g. shopkeepers,
skilled workers, teachers and civil servants). Their savings had been made
worthless by the inflation of 1923. Hitler also targeted the working class
with the socialist parts of the 25 point programme. In 1928 he began to
target farmers who had been hit hard by falling prices. Some businessmen
supported him because he promised to get rid of Communism and Trade Unions.
Despite this, until 1929, the Nazis remained a minor party.
   What Hitler did well during this period was to make the party look bigger
than it actually was. He used rallies, marches, meetings, speeches, flags
and symbols, etc. to attract attention. His stormtroopers (SA) were used to
provoke violence with other parties. The Weimar Republic failed to tackle
this problem of violence in Germany. That was a mistake...
   They should have banned the Freikorps (bands of ex-servicemen looking for
revenge) and the private armies, but there were too many right-wing
sympathisers in the government, army and police.
   Finally, German prosperity was on bad foundations. American loans
financed German industry, and if they were withdrawn German industry would
collapse, and along with it the only reason people had for supporting the
government. The fateful event took place in October 1929, the Wall Street
crash was to prove a godsend for Hitler.
@endnode
@node Mark
   How the German Mark lost its value
   After 1914, because of hyper inflation caused by the Weimar
Republic's huge overspending and reparation payment, the German
Mark became worthless. Here are some figures to give you an idea
of how much of a problem this was.
   Date
1=? Marks
July 1914         20
Jan 1919          35
Jan 1920          256
Jan 1921          256
Jan 1922          764
Jan 1923          71,888
July 1923         1,413,648
Sept 1923         3,954,408,000
Oct 1923          1,010,408,000,000
Nov 1923          1,680,800,000,000,000
   The price of one egg (in Marks)
  Date         Price
1914           0.09
July 1921      1.60
July 1922      7.00
July 1923      5,000
Sept 1923      4,000,000
Nov 1923       320,000,000,000
@endnode
@node treaties
 FIVE TREATIES
   The treaty of Versailles was not the only treaty after WWI. Four others
were drawn up, and they together altered the map of Europe. These treaties
created new countries, and changed old ones.
   In Eastern Europe, the Austro-Hungarian empire was split into two small
republics of Austria and Hungary, which were mere shadows of their former
greatness, and the new countries of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia was a greatly enlarged Serbia.
   A new Poland was created from Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia, the
same countries that had swallowed the ancient kingdom of Poland over a
hundred years before. The new Poland had a corridor (the "Polish Corridor")
to the sea.
   In the North East, four new states now existed, which had been part of
the vast Russian Empire: Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
   All these changes were to stop the the spread of Natinalism.
Incidentally, all victorious countries gained in territory.
@endnode
@node NSDAP
 THE N.S.D.A.P: POLICIES AND VOTES CAST
   The NSDAP was the party that Adolf Hitler joined and gradually took
control of. This parties policies were interesting, with both Nationalist
and Socialist properties. Hitler probably saw the advantage of policies
appealing to the middle and working classes to gain power easily. However,
when he took power, he conveniently "forgot" all his Socialist policies.
   Here are some of the 25 points of the party taken from the 1925 party
programme.
1. We demand the union of all Germans...to form a great Germany.
2. We demand the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles.
3. We demand land and territory for the nourishment of our people and for
the settling our surplus population.
4. None but members of the nation may be members of the state. None but
those of German blood...may be members of the nation. No Jew, therefore, may
be a member of the nation.
6. The right of voting is to be enjoyed by citizens of the State alone...all
official appointments...shall be granted to citizens of the State alone.
8. All further non-German immigration must be prevented.
11. We demand the abolition of incomes unearned by work. [This means no
money lending, etc.]
14. We demand that there shall be profit sharing in the great industries.
[This means all profits shall be shared between workers.]
15. We demand a generous development of provision for old age. [This means
pensions in Germany - for the first time ever.]
18. We demand a ruthless war against all whose activities injure the common
interest. Common criminals against the nation - money lenders, profiteers,
etc - must be punished with death.
19. We demand the education of specially gifted children of poor parents at
the expense of the State.
25. That all these points may be realised, we demand the creation of a
strong central government in the Reich.
   The following of the above were anti-Jewish: 4, 6, 8, 11 & 18.
   These appeal to Nationalists: 1, 2, 6, 8, 18 & 25
   These appeal to the working class: 3, 11, 14, 15, 18 & 19.
   Here are Nazi election results, 1924-28:
               % votes cast         Nazi seats     Total seats in Reichstag
May 1924             6.5               32                   472
Dec 1924             3.0               14                   493
May 1928             2.6               12                   491
   Nazi support was stronger in 1924 because of mass unemployment. Things
had got better in Germany by 1928, so Nazi support plummeted very quickly.
Before 1929, no one gave mention to the NSDAP (The National Socialist Democratic
Workers Party).
@endnode
@node Putsch
 THE PUTSCH
   The Munich Putsch on 19th of November, 1923, was a dismal failiure.
Hitler believed that, like Mussolini in Italy, he could just march on the
government buildings and they would surrender. The Italian government
surrendered to Mussolini, the Germans did not to Hitler. Things were bad in
Germany, and Hitler thought it would be easy to take power.
   On this occasion, the army refused to help Hitler. His 3,000 SA
supporters were stopped by a handful of Police, and 16 Nazis died. Hitler
was arrested and put on trial in 1924.
   Instead of apologising, Hitler turned the trial into a giant publicity
stunt, and became a national figure. In his speeches at the trial he
attacked the Weimar government, and the only time the right-wing
sympathising Judge intervened was to stop people standing up and applauding.
The Court sentenced him to the minimum sentence for treason, just five years
in Landsberg prison.
@endnode