Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39 | Edexcel GCSE History (1HI0)

Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39

175 questions
16 subtopics
Paper 3
Paper 3

Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39 is examined in Paper 3, Modern depth study.

It covers the origins of the Republic, 1918–19, the early challenges to the Weimar Republic, 1919–23, the ‘Golden Years’: recovery of the Republic, 1924–29, changes in society, 1924–29, early development of the Nazi Party, 1920–22, the Munich Putsch and the Nazi Party, 1923–28, the growth in support for the Nazis, 1929–32, how Hitler became Chancellor, 1932–33, the creation of a dictatorship, 1933–34, the police state, 1933–39, controlling and influencing attitudes, opposition, resistance and conformity, Nazi policies towards women, Nazi policies towards the young, employment and living standards and the persecution of minorities.

Sample questions from Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39

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

The origins of the Republic, 1918–19

What was signed on 11 November 1918 and what did it do?

Show the answer
The armistice, which stopped the fighting in the First World War.
The ‘Golden Years’: recovery of the Republic, 1924–29

What did the Dawes Plan of 1924 change about reparations?

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Yearly payments were reset to a level Germany could actually manage, with the amount rising as the economy grew.
Early development of the Nazi Party, 1920–22

When did Hitler take over the party, and with what title?

Show the answer
In July 1921, when he threatened to resign unless given complete control and became its Führer.
The growth in support for the Nazis, 1929–32

Why did the Communist Party gain support after 1929?

Show the answer
Ruined workers blamed capitalism for the crisis, and the Communists promised them jobs and food and had armed squads of their own.
The creation of a dictatorship, 1933–34

What did the Enabling Act of March 1933 allow Hitler to do?

Show the answer
Make laws for four years on his own authority, without a vote in the Reichstag or the President's signature.
Controlling and influencing attitudes

Why were the Berlin Olympics of 1936 valuable to the Nazis?

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A huge new stadium and a faultlessly organised games were meant to show the world German efficiency and the supposed superiority of the Aryan race.
Nazi policies towards women

How were women who did not fit the Nazi ideal regarded?

Show the answer
Women judged racially unfit or hereditarily ill were discouraged or prevented from having children altogether.
Employment and living standards

What is meant by invisible unemployment?

Show the answer
People who had no proper job but were simply left out of the official count, so the fall in unemployment looked far greater than it was.

The 16 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The origins of the Republic, 1918–19	The Kiel mutiny, the Kaiser's abdication, Ebert, the armistice and the November Criminals, why the assembly met at Weimar, who could vote, proportional representation and its weakness, Article 48, and the Reichstag and Reichsrat.	10
The early challenges to the Weimar Republic, 1919–23	The stab in the back, reparations, military limits, the war guilt clause, lost land, the Diktat, the Spartacists and the Freikorps, the Kapp Putsch and the general strike, the Ruhr occupation and hyperinflation.	15
The ‘Golden Years’: recovery of the Republic, 1924–29	Stresemann's offices, the end of the Ruhr strike, the Rentenmark and Reichsmark, the Dawes and Young Plans, the danger of American loans, Locarno, the League of Nations, the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the Nobel Prize.	13
Changes in society, 1924–29	Rising wages and the unemployment insurance law of 1927, farmers left behind, new housing, women's political rights and work, the new woman and objections to her, the Bauhaus, New Objectivity with Grosz and Dix, and Fritz Lang's Metropolis.	10
Early development of the Nazi Party, 1920–22	Hitler's war, the German Workers' Party and Drexler, the renaming of 1920, Hitler as Führer, the Twenty-Five Point Programme on Versailles, citizenship and socialism, and the SA and its work.	10
The Munich Putsch and the Nazi Party, 1923–28	Why Hitler struck in 1923, the beer hall and Ludendorff, the failed march, the trial and Landsberg, Mein Kampf, the ban, the lesson of the ballot box, the 1928 result, Bamberg and the rebuilt party.	10
The growth in support for the Nazis, 1929–32	The Wall Street Crash, unemployment to six million, Brüning's cuts, the rise of the Communists and the fear it caused, Hitler's promises to each group, Goebbels' propaganda and the SA's marches and street fighting.	11
How Hitler became Chancellor, 1932–33	The presidential election of 1932, the July and November Reichstag results, Hindenburg's refusal, von Papen and von Schleicher as Chancellors, the bargain of January 1933 and why von Papen thought Hitler could be controlled.	10
The creation of a dictatorship, 1933–34	The Reichstag fire, the decree against communists, the Enabling Act and how it passed, the end of unions and parties, Röhm and the SA, the Night of the Long Knives and the Führer's oath.	10
The police state, 1933–39	The Gestapo and Himmler's control of the police, denunciations by ordinary Germans, the SS and who could join it, the Death's Head units, who was sent to concentration camps and conditions there, Nazi control of the courts and the People's Court of 1934.	10
Controlling and influencing attitudes	Goebbels's Ministry of Propaganda, control of newspapers, the People's Receiver, the Nuremberg Rally, the Berlin Olympics and Jesse Owens, the book burnings of 1933, approved and degenerate art, Speer's architecture, cinema and Riefenstahl, the Concordat and its breaking, and the Reich Church.	14
Opposition, resistance and conformity	Why many Germans backed the regime, evidence of grumbling, why support is hard to judge, outward conformity, Niemöller and the Confessing Church, Catholic protest, the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Youth.	10
Nazi policies towards women	The Nazi ideal of woman as wife and mother, the three Ks, the birth rate, women judged unfit, marriage loans of 1933, the Mother's Cross, dismissals from the professions, limits on girls' education, expected appearance and behaviour, and the return of women to work after 1937.	10
Nazi policies towards the young	What the Nazis wanted children to become, the stages of the youth movement, Hitler Youth activities, the League of German Maidens, compulsory membership in 1939, growing resentment, the treatment of teachers, rewritten textbooks, physical education and biology, and girls' domestic lessons.	10
Employment and living standards	The National Labour Service, the autobahns, rearmament and conscription, invisible unemployment and who was left out of the figures, the Labour Front, Strength Through Joy, the People's Car scheme, Beauty of Labour and whether workers were really better off.	10
The persecution of minorities	The Aryan master race, Untermenschen, the Slavs, Roma and Sinti, homosexual men, the Sterilisation Law and propaganda against the disabled, the boycott of April 1933, Jewish dismissals, the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht.	12

Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39 is 175 of the 2,881 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.