Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship | AQA GCSE History (8145)

Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship

98 questions
9 subtopics
Paper 1
Paper 1

Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and Dictatorship is examined in Paper 1, Understanding the modern world.

It covers Kaiser Wilhelm and the difficulties of ruling Germany, impact of the First World War, Weimar democracy, the impact of the Depression, the failure of Weimar democracy, the establishment of Hitler’s dictatorship, Nazi economic changes and the impact of war, Nazi social policy: women, youth, education, churches and racial persecution and Nazi control: propaganda, the police state, opposition and resistance.

Sample questions from Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Kaiser Wilhelm and the difficulties of ruling Germany

What is meant by militarism?

Show the answer
The belief that a nation should keep powerful armed forces and be ready to use them, with soldiers and military values admired above civilian ones.
Impact of the First World War

What began at Kiel in November 1918?

Show the answer
Sailors ordered out on a last suicidal sortie refused to obey and mutinied, and their revolt spread within days to workers and soldiers in cities across Germany.
Weimar democracy

What did Hitler attempt in Munich in November 1923?

Show the answer
He and his followers burst into a beer hall to force the Bavarian leaders to back a march on Berlin, then paraded through the city with the war hero Ludendorff at his side.
The impact of the Depression

How did Chancellor Brüning's handling of the slump affect his standing?

Show the answer
He raised taxes and cut wages, benefits and public spending to balance the books, which deepened the hardship and earned him the nickname the Hunger Chancellor.
The failure of Weimar democracy

What did the Reichstag election of July 1932 leave Hitler demanding?

Show the answer
With the largest party but no majority, he demanded the chancellorship for himself and refused any lesser post, and Hindenburg turned him down.
The establishment of Hitler’s dictatorship

What became of the trade unions in May 1933?

Show the answer
Their offices were raided and their leaders arrested, the unions were dissolved, strikes were outlawed and every worker was enrolled in the Nazi-run German Labour Front.
Nazi economic changes and the impact of war

What did the Nazis mean by self-sufficiency, and why did Hitler want it?

Show the answer
Producing Germany's own food and raw materials so that no blockade could ever starve it into surrender again, as had happened in the First World War.
Nazi social policy: women, youth, education, churches and racial persecution

What were girls in the League of German Maidens expected to learn?

Show the answer
Physical fitness, marching and camping alongside cooking, sewing and childcare, so that they would grow into healthy mothers of many children.

The 9 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Kaiser Wilhelm and the difficulties of ruling Germany	Wilhelm II and the Reichstag, Prussia's dominance, militarism and the army's influence, the industrial boom and the growth of cities, state welfare, the rise of the Social Democrats, and the cost of the battle fleet.	11
Impact of the First World War	War weariness and the blockade, how the war was paid for, the Kiel mutiny and the Kaiser's abdication, the November Criminals, reparations, the occupation of the Ruhr, passive resistance and hyperinflation.	10
Weimar democracy	The constitution's voting rights, the Spartacists and the Freikorps, the Kapp and Munich risings, the Rentenmark, the Dawes and Young Plans, Locarno and the League, Bauhaus and Berlin culture, and how fragile the recovery was.	15
The impact of the Depression	The Wall Street Crash and the recalled loans, six million unemployed, Brüning the Hunger Chancellor, the growth of the Nazis and Communists, the SA, Hitler as a speaker, and the promises made to each group.	10
The failure of Weimar democracy	Article 48 and rule by decree, Hindenburg, the presidential election of 1932, the two Reichstag elections of that year, Papen and Schleicher, the deal of January 1933 and why Hindenburg made Hitler Chancellor.	10
The establishment of Hitler’s dictatorship	The Reichstag fire, the Enabling Act and how its majority was won, the end of the unions and other parties, Nazi governors, Rohm and the Night of the Long Knives, and Hitler as Führer.	10
Nazi economic changes and the impact of war	The labour service and rearmament, how the jobless figures were made to look better, self-sufficiency and the Four Year Plan, what workers gained and lost, forced labour, rationing, Allied bombing and the refugees of 1945.	10
Nazi social policy: women, youth, education, churches and racial persecution	Nazi views of women and the drive for larger families, the Hitler Youth and the League of German Maidens, the Nazified schools, the agreement with the Pope, the Reich Church and Martin Niemöller, the idea of the Aryan race, the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 and the Final Solution.	10
Nazi control: propaganda, the police state, opposition and resistance	Goebbels and the radio, the Nuremberg rallies, censorship and approved art, Himmler, the SS and the Gestapo, the Edelweiss Pirates, the Swing Youth, the White Rose, and Stauffenberg's bomb plot of July 1944.	12

Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship is 98 of the 1,889 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.