HISTORY IGCSE CONTENT - 20TH CENTURY OPTION - DEPTH STUDY GERMANY: THE NAZI REGIME - DID THE WAR CHANGE LIFE IN NAZI GERMANY?

1. DEPTH STUDY
GERMANY
THE NAZI REGIME
HOW DID THE COMING
OF WAR CHANGE LIFE
IN NAZI GERMANY
9

2. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
INTRODUCTION
When war broke out in September 1939, Germans were affected
by shortages of labour, food and clothing.
In the first years, any inconveniences suffered were offset by
Germany’s military victories as Poland, Norway, Denmark, France
and western Russia fell victim of the German army.
New luxury items such as furs and perfumes were imported from
the conquered territories, though few of them found their way
into the households of ordinary Germans; they became the
possessions of the rich or of high-ranking Nazi officials.

3. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
THE TURNING POINT
The turning point in the war occurred during the winter of 1941-
1942 when the German army suffered its first serious reverses
against the Russians.
From this point onwards there was an intensification of the
problems that had affected Germany from the beginning of the
war.

4. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D

5. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
SHORTAGES
Food rationing was introduced in September 1939 followed by clothes
rationing in November.
Other items in short supply included soap, toilet paper, and tobacco.
By 1945, food shortages had become so acute that Germans had to
scavenge for food from rubbish tips and even eat from dead horses.
For those with money there was a flourishing black market.
Labour shortages became increasingly serious as more and more men
called up to the war front.
They were replaced by women, prisoners of war, and people from
conquered territories.

6. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
Woman scavenging for
food, Bayreuth, Germany,
April 1945. An illustration
of the hardships of life for
civilians in Germany as
World War II neared its
conclusion. Bayreuth was
heavily bombed by the
Allies in the latter stages of
the conflict, resulting in
the destruction of a third
of the city and the death
of 1000 of its inhabitants.

7. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
BOMBING
This had a dramatic impact on the lives of the German population as
3.6 million homes were destroyed with a similar number of civilian
fatalities.
Many more were made homeless and 2.5 million children were
evacuated to rural areas.
Cities particularly badly damaged by Allied bombing raids included
Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, and Dresden where as many as 150,000
people lost their lives during two days of intensive bombing in
February 1945.

8. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
The bombing
of Dresden
created a
firestorm that
destroyed the
centre of the
city.

9. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
TOTAL WAR
A series of emergency measures were introduced by Goebbels in mid-
1944 in order to direct all the resources of Germany towards the war
effort.
These included the reduction of rail and postal services, the closing of
all places of popular entertainment (except cinemas which were
necessary for propaganda purposes), and the raising of the age limit
for compulsory female labour to 50.

10. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
THE FINAL SOLUTION
The killing of Jews began in 1941. The executioners were a branch of
the SS, the Einsatzgruppen, who followed the German armies as they
marched eastwards during the invasion of Soviet Russia.
800,000 Jews were killed, mainly by shooting, at this stage in the war.
At the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, the decision was taken to
eliminate all European Jews.
This was to be achieved by evacuating all Jews by rail to a number of
remotely-located extermination camps in Poland, such as Treblinka or
Auschwitz.
The gas camps were equipped with gas chambers and crematoria. In
total the Nazis killed 6 million Jews.