GCSE History (Edexcel)

Weimar and Nazi Germany Topic Summaries

Nazi dictatorship (1933–1939)

Resistance groups

  • The White Rose group consisted of university students, such as Hans and Sophie Scholl, who secretly distributed leaflets criticising Nazi rule. They were caught by the Gestapo and executed.
  • The Swing Youth rejected Nazi culture by listening to jazz and wearing non-Nazi fashion. 
  • The Edelweiss Pirates openly mocked and attacked Hitler Youth, spread Allied leaflets, and assisted deserters. Some were caught and publicly hanged.
  • Operation Valkyrie: in July 1944, some senior army officers led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg who opposed Hitler’s dictatorship attempted to assassinate him by planting a bomb in a briefcase, but the plot failed and the Gestapo arrested and executed over 5,700 people in retaliation.

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