Rise of Hitler/Nazis

• What were the origins of the Nazi Party?

  - began with the German Workers' party who believed:

  --- democracy was weak & a powerful leader was needed to rebuild G's strength

  --- Jews were to blame for making G weak

  --- communists & socialists had brought abt the fall of the Kaiser

  --- socialist Weimar politicians had betrayed G by signing the TOV
• What happened in 1920 in the German Workers' Party?

  - H put in charge of propaganda & played an important role in increasing party membership

  - H and Drexler rewrote the aims of the party (in 25 point programme)

  - party was renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) or the Nazi Party
• What happened in 1921 in the NZ party


  - H became party leader & party aims were kept deliberately vague - so they would appeal to many diff groups in G

  e.g.:

  - nationalists were keen on the destruction of the TOV

  - people who wanted some1 to blame for G's problems & defeat in WW1 are attracted by the party's anti-Semitism

  - the middle classes & big businesses like H's anti-communist ideas
• What were the Sturmabteilung (SA)?

  - in 1921 H set up the SA (sometimes called the stormtroopers)

  - Ernst Röhm (1 of H's loyal supporters @ the time) became leader of the SA

  - members were provided with uniforms (brown shirts), meals & hostel accommodation

  - created as a paramilitary force who's role was to disrupt meetings of opposing political parties & control crowds @ NZ meetings

  - SA paraded the streets as a show of force & to demonstrate H's strength & their power / organisation impressed many people
• What were the causes of the Munich Putsch?

  - 1918-1923, many Germans were angry abt the reparations (stab-in-the-back) & loss of G colonies & as a result support for nationalist parties like NZ had grown significantly

  - leaders of the Bavarian state gov were hostile to Weimar & agreed with NZ " agreed to ignore SA violence " H knew he would have supporting Munich

  - 1923 G's economy worsened & when hyperinflation reached its peak in Nov, H saw an opp to take power

  - NZ's influenced by the Fascists (Italian right wing party) & copied their violent approach to take power

  - H believed the NZ party was ready to seize power with its 20,000 supporters & its SA

  - H had built a close relationship with the former army leader and he believed he could persuade the army to support the party against the gov
• What happened on 8 Nov 1923?


  - a right-wing meeting was held in a Munich beer hall

  - H & his SA supporters stormed the beer hall

  - H forced Kahr & Lossow (who were speaking at the meeting) to support his plan to march to Berlin & install Ludendoff as G's leader

  - members of the SA used violence & intimidation against members of Bavarian state gov

  - Lossow & Kahr swore loyalty to he Putsch & left the beer hall
• What happened on 9 Nov 1923?


  - President Ebert declared a state of emergency & Lossow was told to crush the uprising

  - Lossow & Kuhr announced their opposition to the Putsch

  - Ludendorff believed the soldiers would give him their support & persuaded H not to give up
• What happened on MIDDAY on the 9 Nov 1923?

  - 2000 NZs & their supporters marched into Munich, aiming to take over vital buildings in the city

  - armed police & soldiers confronted them

  - fire was exchanged & 14 NZs were killed
• What happened on 11 Nov 1923?


  - H was arrested & awaited his trial
• What were the effects of the Munich Putsch?


  - H was put on trial however H used this as a stage where he made speeches attacking the gov & claimed the leaders of Weimar gov were the traitors not him

  - since H was very convincing newspapers portrayed him as a nationalist standing up for G rights & his popularity grew
• What were the effects of the trial after the Munich Putsch?

  - his speeches impressed the judges " him & 3 others were found guilty of treason & were sentenced to 5 yrs in jail (light sentence)

  - however he only spent abt 9 months in jail bc he won an early release

  - the fact that the judges gave them a light sentence showed that there were still powerful forces in G who wanted Weimar gov destroyed

  - H's imprisonment gave him the opp to write his book that outlined his beliefs (Mein Kampf)

  - however NZ party was banned
• When was the ban on the NZ party lifted?

  February 1925
• What did Hitler do to reorganise the NZ party between 1924-28?

  - created a national HQ in Munich

  - divided G into 34 districts & appointed a leading Nz to increase support in each district

  - 1926: called a party conference in Bamberg where he was confirmed as leader & he persuaded members to re-adopt the 25 point plan

  - encouraged more young people to join SA & set up the Hitler Youth

  - established a new private bodyguard (SS)

  - Goebbels (edited Nazi newspaper & in charge of propaganda) emphasised Nz's opposition to Jews (message became very popular)

  - Nzs held public meetings across G & trained members to be effective public speakers

  - established various organisations (E.G. Women's League) to take its message to particular grps of people

  - party concentrated on winning support of farmers bc G's agriculture was suffering badly in the late 1920s
• What are 2 effects of Hitler's reorganisation of the Nazi Party 1924-28?


  - Nz party was well organised & had a membership of over 100,000 (due to H's efforts in reaching out to diff grps of people (women & young))

  - however they had little success in gaining seats in the Reichstag (1924 won 32 seats - 1928 won 12 seats)

  ---- this was due to Stresemann's efforts that gave the people more confidence in the gov & less need to vote for extreme parties
• When was the Wall Street Crash?

  October 1929
• What was the effects if the Great Depression on young people?

  - 1933 more than 50% of people aged 16-30 were unemployed

  -- even people with a good level of education could not find work
• What was the effects if the Great Depression on factory workers?

  - 4/10 could not get a job

  - unemployment benefits were reduced by the gov " they suffered

  - food prices are high & many unemployed people couldn't afford 2 eat
• What was the effects if the Great Depression on farmers?


  - since the mid -1920s farmers had been struggling bc the price of their goods were galling

  - many farmers were in debt

  - economic problems in rural areas led to an increase in support for Nzs

  - Nzs used existing farmers' organisations to spread their influence & take advantage of the economic troubles that farmers faced
• What was the effects if the Great Depression on businessmen?

  - those who managed 2 keep their businesses struggled bc people had less money to spend on goods

  - this was partly bc many people were unemployed & partly bc of gov tac rises
• What were the effects of the Great Depression on the Weimar Republic?


  - SDP & Centr party (the 2 main parties in the coalition gov) fell out over their diff views on how to solve this crisis

  - Muller (SDP) resigned & Brüning (Centre) became chancellor

  - Brüning didn't have majority in Reichstag so asked President Hindenburg to use Article 48

  - " from 1930 G was not run as a democracy & the Reichstag met only occasionally & G was effectively controlled by Hindenburg

  - Brüning introduced several unpopular measures: tax rises & further cuts 2 unemployment benefit (these greatly increased suffering of the G people)

  - Nzs gave people scapegoats - claimed that G's problems had been caused by Jews, Communists & Weimar politicians

  - 1930 election: Nzs won 107 seats & Comms won 77 seats
• Explain the link between the Wall Street Crash & the economic depression in Germany?

  - in order to pay loans back to US, they had to cut spending & revise taxed " leaving more people without jobs

  - WSC affected G bc they were not getting any more loans form the US & also the US called in the loans they had given them as they suddenly needed more money
• What 3 methods did the Nazis use to win support during the Great Depression?


  - the appeal of Hitler

  - activities of the SA

  - skilful use of propaganda
• How did the Nazis use the appeal of Hitler to win support?

  - during election campaigns 1930-32 H was presented as the strong leader that G needed (H developed a powerful & convincing personal style when making speeches)

  - he said that G's last hope was him & he promised a better future (messages very popular w people who were desperate for G to be great again - while also appealing to many diff groups across G)

  - powerful business interests were willing to support H & provide financial backing for his campaign with the aim of stopping the rise of communist support
• How did the Nazis use the role of the SA to win support?

  - 1930: SA had 400,000 members & their presence @ NZ party rallies helped NZs appear strong

  --- @ rallies SA used lights & symbols of power (swords/flags) to reinforce the idea that the NZs could bring a better future for G

  - SA disrupted the meeting of political opponents

  - elections of 1930-32: SA used violence 2 threaten opposition & those voting
• How did the Nazis use election propaganda to win support?


  - parades & marches organised by mobile NZ units - included both political speeches & entertainments such as plays, concerts, sport

  - NZs owned 8 diff newspapers - each paper aimed to sell the NZ message to a particular audience

  - huge rallies were held to demonstrate order & discipline of the NZ party

  - posters were designed to target diff grps in G - messages were deliberately clear & simple
• What happened in the 1932 elections?

  - July: NZs biggest party in Reichstag w 37% of the vote

  - April: H polled 13 mill votes for President but in the end was beaten by Hindenburg (despite this H had become a major political figure)

  - Brüning tried to use a presidential decree to ban SA & SS bc there had been considerable political unrest

  - however an ambitious army generational (von Schleicher) removed Brüning & replaced him with a coalition of army officers, rich landowners & industrialists - then persuaded Hindenburg to sack Brüning as chancellor
• What role did von Papen play?

  - von Schleicher was determined to take control so decided that a wealthy politician (Papen) would make a suitable figurehead for a new coalition

  - H had a place in the coalition however Sch dramatically underestimated H's ability to manipulate the situation

  - coalition led by Papen was weak & H argued he should be chancellor however Hind refused bc he hated H

  - Papen called another election & while NZ position was weakened they still remained largest party in Reichstag

  - " von Papen resigned
• What happened in December 1932?

  - Hindenburg appointed von Schleicher as chancellor

  - Sch asked Hind to suspend the constitution & give him special powers bc he though Papen & H were trying to overthrow him

  - however Hind refused & news of his request lost Sch support in the Reichstag
• Why & when did Hindenburg appoint H as chancellor?


  - 30 Jan 1933

  - bc von Papen was determined to take power & though he would be able to control H from the background

  - Papen persuaded Hind to make him vice-chancellor & H chancellor