Section II (National Study): Germany 1918-1939

8 dot points across 8 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Why did the Weimar Republic collapse between 1929 and 1933?

The collapse of the Weimar Republic 1929 to 1933, including the impact of the Great Depression, the rule by presidential decree under Bruning, Papen, and Schleicher, and the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor on 30 January 1933

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History National Study dot point on the collapse of Weimar. The impact of the Wall Street Crash, mass unemployment, the end of parliamentary government in March 1930, the Bruning, Papen, and Schleicher chancellorships, the 1932 elections, and the appointment of Hitler on 30 January 1933, with the verdicts of Kershaw, Evans, and Turner.

10 min answer →

How did the Nazis consolidate power and shape the state between 1933 and 1939?

The Nazi consolidation of power and the nature of the Nazi state 1933 to 1939, including the Reichstag Fire Decree, the Enabling Act, the Night of the Long Knives, the role of the SS, Gestapo, and SD, and the role of propaganda under Goebbels

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History National Study dot point on Nazi consolidation and the nature of the state. The Reichstag Fire Decree, the Enabling Act, Gleichschaltung, the Night of the Long Knives, the SS under Himmler, the Gestapo, and propaganda under Goebbels, with the verdicts of Kershaw, Evans, and Gellately.

10 min answer →

What were the aims and outcomes of Nazi economic policy between 1933 and 1939?

Nazi economic policy 1933 to 1939, including the work-creation programmes under Schacht, the Mefo bills, the Four-Year Plan of 1936 under Goering, rearmament, autarky, and the limits of the economy by 1939

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History National Study dot point on Nazi economic policy. Schacht's New Plan, Mefo bills, autobahns, the Volkswagen, the Four-Year Plan under Goering, rearmament, autarky, and the limits of the economy by 1939, with the verdicts of Adam Tooze and Richard Overy.

9 min answer →

What were the aims and methods of Nazi foreign policy between 1933 and 1939?

Nazi foreign policy 1933 to 1939, including withdrawal from the League, conscription and rearmament, the Rhineland, the Anschluss, the Munich Agreement, the Nazi-Soviet Pact, and the invasion of Poland

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History National Study dot point on Nazi foreign policy. Withdrawal from the League and the Geneva Disarmament Conference, the 1934 Polish pact, the Rhineland, the Rome-Berlin Axis, the Anschluss, the Munich Agreement, the Pact of Steel, the Nazi-Soviet Pact, and the invasion of Poland, with the Taylor-Overy debate.

10 min answer →

How did Nazi social and racial policy reshape German society between 1933 and 1939?

Nazi social and racial policy 1933 to 1939, including the position of women, youth, and churches, the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, the persecution of Jews and other minorities, and Kristallnacht of November 1938

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History National Study dot point on Nazi social and racial policy. Women, the Hitler Youth and BDM, the Concordat, the Confessing Church, the Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht, and the persecution of Sinti, Roma, the disabled, and homosexuals, with the verdicts of Burleigh, Friedlander, and Pine.

10 min answer →

What was the nature and effectiveness of opposition and resistance to the Nazi regime?

The nature of opposition and resistance to the Nazi regime, including political, religious, youth, and conservative-military opposition, and the reasons resistance was limited

HSC Modern History National Study dot point on opposition and resistance in Nazi Germany. Peukert's spectrum; the KPD and SPD underground; the churches (Niemoller, Bonhoeffer, Galen); youth (Edelweiss Pirates, White Rose); the July 1944 bomb plot; and why resistance stayed limited, with Kershaw, Peukert and Gellately.

11 min answer →

How stable was Weimar Germany during the Stresemann era of 1924 to 1929?

The Stresemann era 1924 to 1929, including the Dawes and Young Plans, the Locarno Treaties, League of Nations membership, the cultural life of the Weimar Republic, and the limits of recovery

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History National Study dot point on the Stresemann era. The Dawes Plan, the Locarno Treaties, League membership, Weimar culture, and the limits of recovery, with the verdicts of historians including Peukert, Kolb, and Wright.

9 min answer →

How did the Weimar Republic emerge, and why did it face such severe crises between 1918 and 1924?

The emergence of the Weimar Republic 1918 to 1924, including the collapse of imperial Germany, the impact of WWI, the Treaty of Versailles, the Weimar Constitution, and the political and economic crises of 1918 to 1923

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History National Study dot point on the early Weimar Republic. The 1918 revolution, the abdication of the Kaiser, the Weimar Constitution, the Treaty of Versailles, the Spartacist Uprising, the Kapp Putsch, the Ruhr occupation, hyperinflation, the Munich Putsch, and the verdicts of historians including Peukert, Kolb, and Feldman.

10 min answer →