The (3)collapse of Weimar democracy and rise of Nazism

Cards (68)

  • What three key themes surround the Nazi ideology?
    • Racism
    • Nationalism
    • Anti-democracy
  • What does Herrenvolk mean?
    It was the master race for the Nazis. The task of the Aryans was to remain pure and dominate inferior races.
  • What is Social Darwinism?
    Philosophy that portrayed the world as a “struggle” between people, races and nations. Hitler was influenced by this and the theory of natural selection.
  • What is Lebensraum?
    The Nazi’s aim to expand Nazi supremacy over Eastern Europe. This domination would eventually lead to the downfall of the USSR and communism.
  • What aims did Hitler have which were influenced by his belief in Nationalism?
    • Hitler wanted to restore the 1914 frontiers
    • Create an empire (Reich)
  • What did Hitler think of parliamentary democracy?
    Weak and effective. He thought it encouraged the development of communism
  • What is a Fuhrerprinzip?
    Leadership principle which believed the Fuhrer should be the supreme ruler of Germany
  • What was Hitler’s background before joining the German Worker’s Party?
    • Born during the Austrian-Hungarian empire
    • Rejected for a place at art school
    • Joined Bavarian regiment during war and awarded Iron Crosses
    • When war ended he was sent to hospital to recover from a British Gas attack
  • Who was Anton Drexler?
    • Right winger
    • Acted as a spy for the Bavarian regiment in the German army
    • Joined the DAP committee due to his energy and propaganda skills
  • When did Anton Drexler draw up the 25 point programme?
    February 1920
  • Who was Herman Goering in the Nazi party during the 1920’s?
    • Joined party in 1922
    • From a Bavarian landowning family
    • Had helpful social contacts which made the party more respected
  • Who was Julius Streicher in the Nazi Party during the 1920’s?
    • Previously a right wing leader in North Bavaria
    • Published a newspaper called Der Strumer which was anti-Semitic with seedy articles
  • Who was Ernst Rohm in the Nazi party during the 1920’s?
    • Led the SA in 1921
  • What was the SA(Strumabteilung)?
    Known in English as “stormtroopers”. They supported radical socialist aspects of Nazism and were infamously dressed in brown shirts
  • Why did Drexler resign as leader of the NSDAP?
    • Drexler had tried to limit Hitler’s influence but the party backed Hitler and so Drexler was humiliated
  • When did Hitler become Fuher of the NSDAP?
    July 1921
  • What was the Beer Hall Putsch?
    • Inspired by Mussolini’s takeover Hitler wanted to seize power
    • Hitler demanded Bavarian official support in a beer hall and then marched onto Berlin
    • Putsch failed
    • Hitler was imprisoned and wrote Mein Kampf
  • What were some of the consequences of the Wall Street Crash?
    • Collapse in world trade
    • Savings were destroyed
    • 1/2 US banks went bankrupt
    • Countries limited their exports
    • Communism prospered during this time
  • What other factors could be to blame for ruining the German economy other than the Wall Street Crash?
    • Balance of trade was already in debt
    • Unemployment averaged 1.9 million in 1929
    • German government finances from 1925 continually ran in deficit
  • What were some human effects of the Great depression?
    • Manual industrial workers faced long term unemployment
    • Wives couldn’t heat homes or feed families with money provided from social security checks
    • Agricultural depression lead to rural poverty
    • Tenant farmers were being evicted
    • City of Cologne couldn’t pay off their debts
  • How did the Great Depression go from a economic crisis to a political one?
    People began to seek salvation from political extremists so the economic crisis quickly became a political one
  • What were political effects of the Great Depression?
    • People had lost confidence in the republic as it couldn’t help them in their hour of need
  • What were some economic effects of the great depression?
    • USA wanted their repayment of their short term loans
    • Further decline in the price of food and raw materials
    • Bankruptcies increased
    • Demand for exports collapsed
  • Why was Bruning’s government politically unstable?
    • Nature of Bruning’s appointment
    • Bruning’s lack of control of the Reichstag
    • Bruning relied on using Hindenburg’s emergency decree powers
    • Nazi’s gain of political popularity
  • How did Brunings appointment as chancellor make the Weimar Republic unstable?
    Bruning first came to power through a select circle of political intriguers who surrounded President Hindenburg. He was not democratically elected
  • How did Bruning’s lack of control of the Reichstag lead to the republic becoming unstable?
    Bruning’s proposal to cut expenditure was rejected by the Reichstag however he still went ahead and put the proposal in place. This undermined the Reichstag’s authority
  • Why did the Nazi’s gain of political popularity contribute to the republic becoming unstable?
    NSDAP became the 2nd largest party in the Reichstag. Nazi’s directed their propaganda to the rural middle class/lower class audiences. People were looking to political extremists like the KPD and Nazis for solutions to their ongoing problems
  • How did Bruning’s reliance on Hindenburg‘s emergency powers contribute to the instability of the Weimar Republic?
    When Bruning abused article 48 to pass his economic proposal the Reichstag challenged this and its legality and voted for its withdrawal
  • How was Bruning’s economic policy of balancing the budget a failure?
    • Lowered demand which led to a worsening of the slump
    • Increase of unemployment
    • Decline in welfare provision
  • What do some people believe if Bruning introduced public works in the construction sector earlier?
    Could have lessened the effects of the Great Depression
  • How did Bruning “balance the budget”?

    Cutting public spending and raising taxes
  • How did Bruning think he could prevent inflation re-emerging?
    By cutting money supply in circulation
  • What was Bruning’s aims when cutting money supply in circulation?
    • Balance the budget
    • Prevent the chance of inflation
  • Why did cutting money in circulation for Bruning a bad idea?
    It worsened the situation and enabled the rise of the Nazis’s
  • Was Bruning able to successfully end German reparations?
    Succeeded in ending payment of reparations Which were cancelled at Lausanne in 1932 at the height of the depression
  • How did the Banking crisis contribute to Bruning’s fall from power?
    Collaspe of major bank Danat revived fears of another financial crisis. October 1931 the National Opposition who were renamed the Harzburg Front which brought together right wing political, military and economic forces who denounced Bruning and called for another election 
  • How did Land Reform contribute to Bruning’s fall from power?
    Bruning wanted the support of the emergency decree to turn some Junker States into 600,000 allotments for unemployed workers. Landowners saw this as a threats to their property interests 
  • What evidence is there to suggest Bruning was making good progress as chancellor?
    • Succeeded in ending reparations
    • Sympathised with the reduction of democratic powers in the Reichstag
  • What evidence is there to suggest Bruning was a failure?
    • Didn’t realise how insecure his position was (relied on Hindenburg)
    • Wasn’t astute enough to see how dangerous and unstable the economic crisis had become
  • How did the Young Plan come about?
    At the inter allied reparations commission they formed a committee of financiers under Owen Young which suggested a new scheme of payments for reparations