1920-1922 THE EARLY NAZI PARTY

Cards (16)

  • German Workers Party (DAP)

    Started by Anton Drexler in 1919
  • National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)

    Name changed from DAP in February 1920, published 25-point programme
  • Hitler
    • Effective speaker with clear, simple appeal
    • Stirred up nationalism
    • Overthrew Drexler and made himself absolute leader of the party (Fuhrer Prinzip)
    • Gave important roles to allies like Rudolf Hess and Hermann Goering
  • Munich Putsch 1923
    1. Hitler assumed he would have support of local government and army
    2. Confrontation occurred, 16 Nazis and 4 police killed
    3. Hitler arrested 2 days later
    4. Convicted and sent to Landsberg Prison for 5 years
    5. Allowed to make speeches at trial, became famous
    6. Lenient prison conditions, wrote "Mein Kampf"
    7. Decided Nazis needed to take power through democracy not force
  • During the 'Golden Age' of Weimar, support for the Nazis was low
  • After the Munich Putsch, the SA was led by Ernst Rohm and Hitler set up the SS led by Heinrich Himmler
  • At the Bamberg Conference in 1926, Hitler secured his position as Fuhrer- the supreme leader of the Nazi Party
  • The years 1923-29 were lean years for the Nazi Party and in the 1928 elections they only gained 12 seats
  • The Wall Street Crash October 1929 caused a depression in Germany, leading to massive unemployment
  • Chancellor Heinrich Bruning
    Cut welfare benefits and wages, encouraged Germans to make sacrifices, called the 'Hunger Chancellor'
  • Unemployed workers began to feel let down by the government and turned to the Communist Party (KPD)
  • The Nazi Party gained from the depression, by 1933 they had 800,000 members and in the 1930 elections, 107 seats
  • In 1932, Hitler attempted, unsuccessfully, to defeat President Hindenburg in the election
  • Nazi propaganda
    • Used widely and effectively by Josef Goebbels
    • SS and SA gave impression of discipline and order
    • Exploited fear of Communism
    • Talked of restoring old-fashioned values
  • After the elections of July 1932, the Nazis had 230 seats and were the biggest party, so Hitler demanded to become chancellor
  • On 30 January, Hitler was offered the post of Chancellor, as Hindenburg and Papen believed they could control him