rise of hitler

• Treaty of Versailles

  Imposed harsh conditions on Germany, including massive reparations payments, territorial losses, and military restrictions
• The Treaty of Versailles


  Humiliated Germany and fueled resentment among its population, creating a fertile ground for nationalist and extremist movements
• Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party

  Exploited the discontent, promising to restore Germany's honour, overturn the treaty, and create a powerful, racially pure state
• Key Nazi beliefs contained in the 25-Point Programme

  • Socialist
  • Nationalist
  • Racist
  • Fascist
• When Hitler joined the German Workers' Party he became its 55th member
• By the end of 1920 the newly named Nazi Party recorded a membership of 2,000
• During the upheaval of the hyperinflation crisis its membership grew rapidly, to 20,000 by the time of the Munich Putsch in November 1923
• Munich Beer Hall Putsch - 1923


  1. Hitler tried to take advantage of the hyperinflation crisis facing the Weimar government by trying to launch a revolution in Munich

  2. Poor planning and misjudgement resulted in failure and the subsequent imprisonment of Adolf Hitler
• Causes that led to Hitler attempting the Munich Putsch in 1923


  • The Nazi party had 55,000 members and was stronger than ever before
  • The Weimar Republic was in crisis due to hyperinflation
  • German nationalists were furious with the government
  • Hitler thought he would be helped by important nationalist politicians in Bavaria
  • Hitler had a huge army of SA members, but he knew he would lose control of them if he did not give them something to do
  • Hitler hoped to copy Mussolini - the Italian fascist leader - who had come to power in Italy in 1922 by marching on Rome
• Summary of events of the Munich Putsch


  1. Hitler and 600 SA members burst into a meeting that Kahr and Lossow were holding at the local Beer Hall

  2. Waving a gun at them, Hitler forced them to agree to rebel - and then let them go home

  3. The SA took over the army headquarters and the offices of the local newspaper

  4. The next day, Hitler and the SA went into Munich on what they thought would be a triumphal march to take power

  5. However, Kahr had called in police and army reinforcements, and there was a short scuffle in which the police killed 16 members of the SA

  6. Hitler fled, but was arrested two days later
• Consequences of the Munich Putsch


  • Short term failure: The Nazi party was banned, and Hitler was prevented from speaking in public until 1927
  • Long term success: Hitler wrote 'Mein Kampf' in prison, which became very well-known, and the lenient sentence suggested some had sympathy with Hitler's actions
  • Hitler realised he would have to use democratic means, so he reorganised the party to enable it to take part in elections
• The period up to 1929 is known as the Nazi Party's 'lean years' because it was growing in size but struggled to win seats in the Reichstag
• Mein Kampf


  An autobiography-cum-manifesto, laying out Hitler's political beliefs and ambitions, including the belief that Jews were an inferior race, the need to destroy the parliamentary system, and Germany's requirement for Lebensraum
• The Wall Street Crash in 1929


  Brought about a global economic depression - The Great Depression
• The Great Depression in Germany


  Caused a huge rise in unemployment, with one in three Germans unemployed by the time Hitler became Chancellor in 1933
• The rise in unemployment


  Significantly raised government expenditure on unemployment insurance and other benefits, causing Germans to lose faith in democracy and look to extreme parties on both the Left and the Right for solutions
• Chancellor Brüning's policies

  Further undermined Germans' faith in democracy by cutting government expenditure, wages and unemployment pay, and using Article 48 to govern by decree
• By 1932 parties committed to the destruction of the Weimar Republic held 319 seats out of a total of 608 in the Reichstag
• How Hitler became Chancellor, 1932-1933


  1. Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933, with Von Papen as Vice Chancellor, believing they could control Hitler

  2. The Reichstag fire on 27 February 1933 was used by Hitler to the Nazi Party's advantage, leading to the expulsion of communists from Parliament and increased support for the Nazis in the March 1933 election
• Both the Reichstag fire and the subsequent state of emergency declared by Hindenburg are seen as the start of the end of democracy in Germany
• lebensraum

  living space