3. The Rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party Flashcards
(21 cards)
What were the aims of the Nazi Party from 1920-22
- National unity: all german countries should be under one leader
- Treaty revisions: Nationalists were keen on the destruction of the treaty
- Lebensraum: more living space for the germans specifically in the East
- Exclusive german citizenship: citizenship should only be given to germans
What were the racial beliefs of the Nazi Party from 1920-22
- Racial superiority of germans
- Anti - semitism- jews were blamed for making germany weak
- Racial purity: only germans could marry other germans to keep their race “pure”
- German right to territory: take back the land they lost
What were the events of the Munich Putsch
- On 8 November 1923, Hitler and his supporters stormed a beer hall in Munich to force Bavarian leaders to back their coup.
- The next day, 2,000 Nazis marched through
Munich, aiming to overthrow the government - Armed police sent by von Kahr confronted the Nazis, and a violent clash resulting in 14 Nazi supporters being killed
What were the consequences of Munich Putsch
- Hitler was arrested and put on trial, which
he used as a platform to promote his ideas - During his short prison sentence, Hitler
wrote Mein Kampf, outlining his vision for Germany - The Putsch failed, but Hitler shifted to a
legal strategy to gain power, reorganizing the Nazi Party in 1925 - Hitler only spent 9 months in prism and Ludendorff was found not guilty
How did the Nazi party change after Hitler came out of prison
- Hitler reorganised the party and placed support into all regions
- The party adopted Hitlers 25 point plan
- Hitler increase membership of Nazi groups e.g. Hitler youth
- Joseph Goebbels in charge of propaganda
What was the wall street crash
- October 28- 29 1929: US stock market fell 23% in 2 days
- April 30 - June 1932: stock market fell continuously
- Total fall over 3 years was 89.2%
What were the effects of the wall street crash/the great depression on the German people
- US recalled loans to GermNy
- German businesses closed leading to mass unemployment and german government cutting unemployment benefits
- 50% of people aged 16-30 were unemployed
- 4 out of 10 factory workers could not get a job
- Business men and farmers were struggling
How many seats in the Reichstag did the Nazis have in 1928 and march 1932
1928: 12
1932: 288
What were the events in the Reichstag during 1930
- Brüning was appointed chancellor but he was not popular as he worsened the economic crisis
- There was LOTS of support for the Nazis
- They were now the 2nd largest party in Reichstag
What were the events of the July 1932 Reichstag elections
- Bruning resigned became he was unpopular
- Hindenburg then appoints Von Papen (another unpopular politician)
- Vom Papen calls an election and the Nazi are the largest party with 230 seats
What happens in the November 1932 Reichstag elections
- Because of their success Hitler demands he should be chancellor but Hindenburg says NO
- Hindenburg appoints von papen again
- Von Papen calls yet another election and the Nazis are still the largest party so von Papen RESIGNS! (plot twist)
What events occurred after von Papen resigned
- Hindenburg appointment yet another chancellor which was Kurt von Schleicher (appointed Nov 1932)
- Unsurprisingly von Schleicher had no support and resigned in Jan 1933
- Hindenburg had no options left
- ON 30th JANUARY 1933 HITLER WAS APPOINTED CHANCELLOR
What were the effects of the Great Depression on the Weimar Republic
- Bruning became chancellor
- Bruning did not have support of the Reichstag so he invoked Article 48
- This meant Germany was no longer run as a democracy
- Bruning introduced many unpopular policies such as tax rises and cuts to unemployment benefits
What was the effect of Bruning’s new policies
- The suffering of the German people greatly increased
- Many Germans turned to extremist parties
- The Nazis began to use the Weimar Republic, jews and communists as scapegoats and blamed them responsible for all Germanys problems
Why was their limited support for the Nazi’s between 1923-29
Because of Stresemann Germany’s economy had stabled and Germany was welcomed back into the international community. Hindenburg became the president which pleased the conservative and nationalist views. So many of the German people began o like the Weimar Republic
How did the appeal of Hitler help the Nazi’s get votes
- Hitler was presented as almost superhuman
- Hitler had a strong and persuasive speaking style
- Hitler used different slogans to appeal to different groups of people
e.g. “Make Germany strong again” or “Smash the chains of Versailles”
How did Hitler’s appeal get businesses to support him
- They were willing to give Hitler financial backing because the trusted Hitler to stop the rise of communism
- The communist were saying that the Great Depression showed that capitalism didn’t work
- The communist party’s support was growing and big businesses were desperate to shut it down
How did the SA play a key role in the growth of the Nazi Party
- In 1930 the SA had 400,000 members and their presence at Nazi rallies helped the Nazis appear strong
- The SA disrupted meetings of political opponents
- In the elections between 1930-32 the SA used violence to threaten opposition, some people were killed and many people were intimidated into voting for the Nazi’s
How did the Nazi party adapt their propaganda to keep their support high
The Nazi Party was trained to change ideas as soon as they began to lose them support
What different methods of propaganda did the Nazi party use to gain support
- Parades and marches which included both political speeches and entertainment such as plays and concerts
- The Nazi’s owned 8 different newspapers each paper aimed to sell the Nazi message to a different audience
- Posters were designed to target different groups
- Huge rallies demonstrated the Nazi’s power and discipline
What were the causes of the Munich Putsch
- Many Germans were angry about the Treaty of Versailles and blamed the Weimar Republic for the nation’s struggles
- Hyperinflation in 1923 caused widespread poverty and chaos, creating an opportunity for extremists
- Hitler was inspired by Mussolini’s successful March on Rome in 1922 and believed the Nazi Party was ready to seize power
