the rise of Hitler and the Nazis to January 1933

Question 1

(6) what were Hitler’s main values in 1919 ( main values of the German workers party)

Answer 1

The party developed a 25- point program which Hitler explained further in his book ‘Mein Kampf’.

The Nazi ideology

1. Lebensraum- the need for living space for the German nation to expand in size and influence
2. A strong Germany- the Treaty of Versailles should be abolished and all German speaking people united under one country
3. Fuhrer- the idea that there should be a single leader with complete power rather than a democracy
4. Social Darwinism- the idea that the Aryan Race was superior and that Jews, Poles, Homosexuals etc were ‘sub-humans’
5. Autarky- the idea that Germany should be economically self-sufficient
6. Germany was in danger- from Communists and Jews, who had to be destroyed.

Question 2

how did Hitler appeal to many groups?

Answer 2

In the 1920s, the Nazis tried to appeal to many areas of society by making broad and vague statements. They appealed to:

1. socialists who liked the pensions, the land distribution and the government owning of industries.
2. Nationalists who hated the TofV, wanted a united Germany and liked the idea of different laws for foreigners
3. Those who wanted a strong central government and leader. Those who liked the idea that ‘pure’ Germans were a superior race.

Question 3

(6) what made hitler a good leader?

Answer 3

1. powerful and dominant personality
2. inteligent and decisive
3. he had a great physical presence
4. he was an amazing public speaker and would start his speeches softly building up to a furious finish
5. he had piercing blue eyes which he could fix on his listeners
6. he was a charismatic speaker

Question 4

5 causes of the munch putsch

Answer 4

Causes

1. Hitler had the support of army general luddendorff so he thought that in a crisis ludendorff would be able to persuade the government to side with the army by persuading the army to d
   desert
2. By 1923, the Nazi party had 55,000 members and was stronger than ever before and the Weimar Republic was in crisis due to hyperinflation. Hitler was an opportunist who used this unhappiness.
3. In September 1923, the Weimar government had called off the general strike, and the German nationalists were furious with the government.
4. Hitler thought he had the support of important officials in Bavaria. he also thought that since the Bavarian government was already very right-wing and interested in overthrowing the Weimar government they would help him
5. gustav kahr (head of the bavarian government) doubted whether the army would support he coup and Hitler wanted to force him to act.

Question 5

what were the 3 Long term effects of the Munich putsch?

Answer 5

Long Term Success

• Hitler himself gained huge publicity as during the court case he was able to preach his ideas. Hitler, while imprisoned, was able to write his book, Mein Kampf, in which his main principles and ideals were able to become known to all. It was a bestseller.
• The Nazi party gained great publicity from the event and boosting their popularity perhaps without they would never have been a true great threat.
• Most importantly, Hitler realised that he had to attempt to gain power legally i.e through winning the democratic elections not through power. This led to Hitler reorganising the party to enable it to take part in elections.

Question 6

what were short term effects of the Munich putsch?

Answer 6

The Munich Putsch was a failure in the short term but it was also an important event in the Nazis’ rise to power.

Short Term Failure:
-The Nazi Party was banned, and Hitler was prevented from speaking in public until 1927. This would have been a huge set back for the Nazi Party as now they could not grow with the public and openly gain more support.

-Hitler was tried for high treason and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Question 7

(4) reorganisation of the nazi party 1924-1929

Answer 7

Improved Organisation of the Nazi Party

This meant that the Nazis set up branches and offices in each ‘Gaue’ or region of Germany ; each had its own Gauleiters, who were answerable only to him. This meant that Nazi ideology and the party itself could more rapidly spread and gain more popularity. He also appointed two efficient administrators to run the Headquarters: Philipp Bouhler and Frank Schwarz. The Nazi Party began to contest in municipal, state and federal elections with increasing frequency however, had very few successes in gaining seats in the Reichstag because Germany was at the time relatively stable.

Gained Funding from Business

Hitler, as he and the Nazi now had been taking a legal approach, could seek funding from big industries in order to fund campaigns and the party. He especially gained backing from powerful business who hoped Hitler would limit the power of the trade unions and detested the socialists. By the early 1930s, the Nazis were receiving donations from giants of German industry such as Krupp and Bosch.

Growth of the SA and the Founding of the SS

As well as protecting Nazi meetings and intimidating opponents, the uniformed men also gave the Nazis the appearance of strength and order. By 1930, Hitler expanded the SA to 400,000 members. However, Hitler became anxious about the SA’s growing allegiance to its leader, Ernst Roehm, so began to set up the Schutzstaffel, or SS. The SS were Hitler’s personal bodyguards and led by Heinrich Himmler, one of Hitler’s most loyal supporters. They were widely feared and respected.

also development of hitler youth and department for propaganda

Question 8

what was the Wall Street crash?

Answer 8

In October 1929 the Wall Street Crash on the US stock exchange brought about a global economic depression. In Europe, Germany was worst affected because American banks called in all of their foreign loans at very short notice. These loans, agreed under the Dawes Plan in 1924, had been the basis for Germany’s economic recovery from the disaster of hyperinflation. The loans funded German industry and helped to pay reparations. Without these loans German industry collapsed and a depression began:

Question 9

effects of the wall street crash

Answer 9

This lead to huge unemployment- over the winter of 1929-30 the number of unemployed rose from 1.4 million to over 2 million. By January 1933, there were about 6.1 million unemployed.
This led to mass homelessness and people turning to more radical parties in search of solutions which the current government simply could not employ. Furthermore, the rise in unemployment significantly raised government expenditure on unemployment insurance and other benefits.

Question 10

political failure in 1929 after the Wall Street crash

Answer 10

In March 1930 the German Chancellor, Hermann Müller, resigned when his government could not agree on how to tackle the rise in government spending caused by the rise in unemployment. He was replaced by Heinrich Brüning. His policies were ineffective in dealing with the unemployment crisis and further undermined Germans’ faith in democracy:

In July 1930 Chancellor Brüning cut government expenditure, wages and unemployment pay. This added to the spiral of decline and unemployment continued to rise, as well as making those who had lost their jobs even poorer.
However, Brüning could not get the Reichstag to agree to his actions, so President Hindenburg used Article 48 of the Weimar constitution, which gave the President the power to pass laws by decree, to govern. This undermined democracy and weakened the power of the Reichstag – arguably opening the way for Hitler’s later dictatorship.

Question 11

(4) how wall street crash helped the nazis

Answer 11

By 1932 parties committed to the destruction of the Weimar Republic held 319 seats out of a total of 608 in the Reichstag, with many workers turning to communism.
The communists had their own version of the SA, the Communist Red Fighting League, which broke up opposition party meetings. They confronted the police in street battles, and clashed with the Nazis’ SA as well. However, ultimately, the party that did better out of all this unrest were the Nazis.

1. more people turn to radical parties as they are unhappy with the current govenment
2. invoked article 48 - paved way for hitler
3. unpopular president - use of article 48 - 84 year old man- past his prime
   hitler was dynamic and a strong leader
4. unpopular economic policies - nazis promised to deal with unemployment

Question 12

how did the nazis appeal to so many groups after the Wall Street crash?

Answer 12

Because the Nazis’ 25 Point Programme appealed to people all over the country from all walks of life, they became popular. Other extremist groups like the communists only really appealed to the industrial workers in Germany’s cities and couldn’t keep up.

• Wealthy businessmen: were frightened communists would take their wealth away and did not want to see any more increase in support for them. To combat this, they began to give money to Hitler and the Nazis, hoping they would gain more seats – not the communists.
• The middle-class: were generally quite traditional and were not convinced by the Weimar democracy. Hitler promised them a strong government and won their votes.
• Nationalists: they blamed the legacy of the Treaty of Versailles and reparations for causing the depression and so lent their support to the Nazis who had promised to make Germany strong again.
• Rural areas: The Nazis appealed to people in the countryside - especially middle class shopkeepers and craftsmen, farmers and agricultural labourers.

Question 13

why did hitler become chancellor?

Answer 13

1. The impact of the depression - both economic and political -
2. Nazi Strengths:
   Propaganda: (Joseph Goebbels):
   organisation
3. Negative Cohesion: this is the idea of people supporting the Nazi Party because of shared fears and dislikes rather than interests and likes.
4. political rivalry - scheming f Hindenburg and von paper

Question 14

nazi strength - (7) propaganda

Answer 14

-Organised modern and effective campaigns

-Used generalised slogans than detailed policies because they were flexible and had wide appeal
Good at adapting to their audience

• Negative cohesion: for example that communists and Jews were behind Germany’s problems
• Vague Policies: And adaptable meant that they were able to gain vote from industrialists by dropping the nationalism policy and focusing instead on anti-communist areas
• Organisation: A strict hierarchy of Gaues, Gauleiters and military to easily order and spread key messages.
• Violent Treatment of Opponents: The SA were prepared to fight the communists and the strength of the SA impressed Germans.
• Hitler’s speaking skills: arguably the Nazi’s campaigning asset even though the presidential campaign in 1932 failed it raised his public profile hugely. Travelled around Germany with a plane doing rallies. He appeared as a dynamic man of the moment, the modern leader of a modern party.

Question 15

nazi strength - organisation

Answer 15

Organisation:
A strict hierarchy of Gaues, Gauleiters and military to easily order and spread key messages.

• Violent Treatment of Opponents: The SA were prepared to fight the communists and the strength of the SA impressed Germans.
• Hitler’s speaking skills: arguably the Nazi’s campaigning asset even though the presidential campaign in 1932 failed it raised his public profile hugely. Travelled around Germany with a plane doing rallies. He appeared as a dynamic man of the moment, the modern leader of a modern party.

Question 16

areas of negative cohesion

Answer 16

-Disillusionment of Democracy:
The Weimar Government seemed incapable of solving Germany’s economic problems especially the Depression.
The government seemed increasingly reliant on Article 48 to pass laws so showing that democracy was not functioning anyway. Because in 1930 the SPD left the coalition government in protest at the measures being proposed to deal with the Depression. It seemed that an alternative stronger solution was necessary.

-Communism:
The middle class were particularly concerned about communism. They did not want Germany to become like Russia where businesses had been taken over by the workers and profits shared. Furthermore, farmers and large industries wanted to prevent sharing out of industry and land. The Nazis seemed to be strong in dealing with the communist threat with violence and their propaganda supported their view.

-1920s decadence in culture:
Nazis focus on a return to traditional values which appealed to those Germans who were appalled by the cultural change of the 1920s.

Question 17

the events leading up the the 1932 election and ultimately hitler becoming chancellor

Answer 17

NOVEMBER 6, 1932
NAZIS LOSE SUPPORT IN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
In the Reichstag (German parliament) elections of November 1932, the Nazis lose almost two million votes from the previous elections of July. They win only 33 percent of the vote. It seems clear that the Nazis will not gain a majority in democratic elections, and Adolf Hitler agrees to a coalition with conservatives.

Events of 1932-33:
The chain of events that led to Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor on 30 January 1933 is a complicated one.

Chancellors in this period were normally weak because proportional representation made it hard for political parties to gain a majority of seats meaning the Chancellor found it difficult to control the Reichstag. By 1932 President Hindenburg had to use Article 48 to pass almost every law.

It was against this backdrop that the events of 1932 ad 1933 unfolded.

Major events leading to Hitler becoming Chancellor

1932

April – Presidential election. Hitler came second to Hindenburg, who won 53 per cent of the vote to Hitler’s 36.8 per cent.

May – Brüning resigned as Chancellor. Hindenburg appointed Franz Von Papen, a conservative, as his replacement.

July – Reichstag elections. The Nazis became the largest party with 230 seats. Hitler demanded to be made Chancellor but Papen remained.

November – Reichstag elections called by Von Papen to try to win a majority in parliament. Nazis lost 34 seats but remained the largest party with 196 seats.

December – Von Papen resigned. Hindenburg appointed Kurt Von Schleicher, an army general, as Chancellor. Von Schleicher tried to split the Nazis by asking a leading Nazi called Gregor Strasser to be his Vice Chancellor. Hitler forced Strasser to decline.

1933

January – Von Papen and Hindenburg turned to Hitler, appointing him as Chancellor with Von Papen as Vice Chancellor. They believed they could control Hitler and get him to do what they wanted.