Reorganisation and the election

• how did Hitler make the Nazi party a national party

  divided Germany into 55 regions, each with a Gauleiter (local leader of party)
• name two Gauleiters in the North. what ideology did they favour

  Gregor Strasser and Joseph Goebbels. socialism over nationalism
• how did Hitler improve organisation of the party

  central hub based in Munich. party secretary = Philipp Bouhler, party treasurer = Franz Schwarz. diff departments for finance, foreign affairs, industry etc.
• what did Hitler do to draw diff people into his party


  created groups certain ppl could join e.g. Hitler Youth, the German Women's order and School Pupil's League
• what changes did he make to the SA

  expanded to 400,000 in 1930. replaced Ernst Rohm as leader as SA had become loyal only to him during imprisonment
• what was the SS

  new military group formed in 1925. Hitler's private security. led by Heinrich Himmler who expanded it to 3000
• how was the party split

  split between northern/urban areas and southern/rural areas. northern = more socialist, southern = more nationalist
• how did Hitler address this issue

  called national conference in Bavaria (southern- mostly nationalist Gauleiters attended) called the Bamberg Conference
• what happened


  northern leaders put forward their views then hitler gave a speech that depicted the more socialist leaders as complete communists. Goebbels (northern) abandoned Strasser's (northern) argument to side with Hitler
• outcome of conferenece


  socialist principles of party = weakened
• why did the nazi party lose support

  the golden age- economic + political stability meant extremist parties lost their popularity.
• what economic developments occur in an economic crash

  rise in unemployment, ppl claiming state benefits and gov spending. fall in industrial production, prices, world trade, gov income and personal consumption
• what political developments occur in an economic crash

  greater divisions with coalition govs, increased votes for extremist parties. increase of extreme nationalism, increase in despair and of use of article 48 by president. declining faith in democracy
• how did the economic crash in the US lead to the Depression in Germany

  Wall Street crash created unemployment in US. US banks losing millions so call in Dawes Plan loans. German banks call loans back from ppl. German industry begins cutting wages. fall in personal consumption. much less demand in German industry so less production. lay workers off. unemployment rises
• what is the name of the process described above

  economic death spiral
• which parties took advantage of the depression and how

  nazis + communists- extremist parties who advertise drastic change to a country become less popular in times when there is less struggle (golden period). desperate times call for desperate measures
• what percentage of the vote did the Nazis have in 1928 and what does this tell us

  2.8%. they needed the depression to regain support and popularity
• what was the impact of the Depression in Germany (unemployment, dole)

  worst hit country in europe (dawes plan, reparations). unemployment peaked at 6 mill in 1933. dole = 5 marks a week, 17 mill dependant on it (third of pop)
• political impact of the Depression

  coalitions collapsed as no one could decide on a solution- 35 parties promised separate solutions. frequent elections. political chaos- ppl began losing faith in democracy + turn to extremist parties
• impact on the communist party

  gained popularity and support (mainly from working class) workers = deeply unhappy with pay cuts + unemployment. like idea of Bolshevik revolution like in Russia. 13% of vote in 1932 election- largest communist party outside soviet union
• how did the nazis exploit the depression

  hitler = strong leader, only one able to save Germany (like Kaiser). middle + upper class chose nazis over communists to protect businesses and savings.
• how did their percentage of the vote change from 1930 to 1933

  1930- 6.5 mill votes- 2nd largest party. 1933- 30% of the vote- largest party so Hitler made chancellor
• who was chancellor Hermann Muller


  leader of SDP and chancellor when depression began
• what was the Muller coalition (aka Grand coalition) government and what happened to it

  gov Muller was leading, SDP + DVP. coalition collapsed in 1930 when Muller resigned. could not agree on a solution to the economic crisis (DVP wanted to cut benefits completely) + Hindenburg refused to use article 48 to support Muller + raise contributions from employers
• who was Hindenburg


  president at the time
• who was the next chancellor and what did he want to do

  Heinrich Bruning, head of the Centre Party. cut unemployment benefits, cut wages for civil servants and raise taxes 'the Hunger Chancellor'. resigned only 2 years later in 1932
• how did the Reichstag react and why

  rejected his policies by 256 votes to 193. his coalition did not have a majority
• what did Bruning ask Hindenburg to do? how many laws were passed in 1932?

  use article 48 (66 times!!!). 5 laws passed in 1932 compared to 98 in 1930
• what did Bruning do next, what were the results?

  called an election to win majority in reichstag. nazis won 107 seats (2nd largest party) SDs won 143 seats
• how did the economic crisis worsen in 1931

  5 of Germany's major banks collapsed. foreign investors withdrew 800 mill marks, unemployment rose further.
• how did the nazis hit their target audiences

  'Arbeit und Brot'- working class. defend against communism- upper/middle class. catered towards both nationalists and socialists simultaneously
• nazi propaganda + Joseph Goebbels


  mass rallies, posters, banners. Goebbels = head of nazi propaganda, later minister for propaganda + popular enlightenment. early 1930s- nazis owned 120 newspapers. used radio + television to advertise. constants reminder of the party's presence
• in what way did hitler campaign during the presidential election of 1932 that was different to the other candidates

  used a plane to fly to 5 cities in one day
• financial support from big businesses

  received funds from leading industrialists e.g. Thyssen, Krupp, Bosch who were scared of communism + trade unions
• Rote Frontkampferbund


  (RFB). paramilitary group for the KPD
• the role of the SA and street violence

  Rohm reappointed as leader of SA- increased by 70,000 in 1 year. constant conflict between SA and RFB- seems as though Hitler is capable of eradicating Bolshevik violence + threat of communist revolution
• the appeal of Hitler himself


  post Putsch- altered his public presence- law-abiding and democratic. cater to all demographics. sustained charisma + passionate extremism- people drawn in by his determined energy and focused passion in time of crisis