DS2 Flashcards
(21 cards)
1
Q
How did hitler gain control of the Nazi party
A
- hitler joined in 1919
- the leader, Anton Drexler realised that hitler had a great talent for public speaking and invited him to join the party’s executive committee
- in 1921, he replaced drexler as head of party
- he insisted headquarters should be in Munich
- he was leading speech maker of party, often in beer halls
2
Q
Nazi development 1920 - 1921
A
- party adopts 25 - point programme
- extreme nationalism, anti-semitism and opposition to ToV
- swastika becomes symbol of nazis
- Hitler becomes fuhrer of party
- SA is formed
3
Q
Why did the Munich putsch take place
A
- 1923
- hitler wanted to destroy Weimar
- he believed the government was occupied with the economic crisis
- Hitler wanted to secure power through his close relationship with Ludendorff and believed Ludendorff would be able to persuade the German army to desert the government and side with the nazis
- many nationalists still hated the treaty and were mad at stresemann for calling off the passive resistance
- he believed the Bavarian right wing leader Von Kahr and Von Lossow wold support him
4
Q
Events of Munich putsch
A
- Bavarian leader was addressing meeting in beer hall
- SA surrounded the hall where Von Kahr was speaking
- Hitler was supported by Ludendorff
- Von Kahr was persuaded at gun point to say that he supported the revolution
- Von Kahr was locked in a room overnight, but he escaped and went back on his promised to support hitler
- the next day hitler staged a march of 3000 nazis with general Ludendorff through the streets wit general Ludendorff through the streets of Munich to gain public support
- armed police arrived to confront hitler and his supporters. 16 marchers were killed. Hitler escaped in a car
- hitler was arrested and charged with treason. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison
- at his trial he gained much publicity for himself and his ideas
- he became known nationally
- he only served 9 months in landsberg castle
5
Q
Why did Munich putsch fail
A
- hitler overestimated the level of support he would have
- he thought that general Ludendorff would be able to persuade the army to support the putsch and that the leaders of bavaria would do the same, but he was wrong
- hitler has miscalculated the mood of the German people
- Von Kahr went back on his word to support hitler
6
Q
Why was the Munich putsch important for hitler and the nazis
A
- showed SA was no match for the police and armed forces in Bavaria
- it meant nazis wouldn’t be able to seize power by force, it would have to be acheived politically
- it turned hitler into a nationally known politician. He gained lots of publicity for himself and his ideas as every word was reported in the newspapers
- in jail he wrote Mein Kampf which set out the Nazi’s man beliefs and this became the basis of the party’s manifesto at future elections
7
Q
What were nazis doing Stresemann era (1924-1929)
A
- hitler wrote Mein kampf
- he came to the conclusion that the nazis would have to use democratic methods to achieve power rather than seizing by force
- gain more members
- set up youth organisations
- enlarged SA
- set up SS
- used propaganda to spread message (Goebbels)
- rallies
8
Q
Main ideas in Hitler’s Mein kampf
A
- nationalism: intense loyalty to and pride in Germany
- foreign policy: expansionism, remilitarisation, Lebensraum
- racism: German racial purity, Aryan, anti-semitism
- war: armed struggle as an essential part of the development of a healthy Aryan race
- the fuhrer: total loyalty to the leader better than debate and democracy
9
Q
Why did the Nazis struggle to gain support before 1930
A
- Munich putsch was a fail and the party had a ban
- stresemann’s economic and foreign policies were so successful that people gave very little support to extremist parties
- 1928 nazis only had 12 seats in the Reichstag and was only the 8th largest party
- Munich putsch revealed that nazis didn’t have support of either army or police
- nazis had little appeal to workers at this time
10
Q
How did Great Depression help nazis
A
- inability of Weimar government to take strong decisive action: hitler said Germany needed a strong leader like him to solve the economic problems
- continuing reparations: hitler argued that these were now more intolerable than ever and that the ToV must be reversed
- unemployment: the Nazis would create more employment in the army, armaments industry and public works
- someone for hitler to blame for the depression: allies, Weimar government and Jews
- result: in 1930 Reichstag election the nazis won 107 seats, November 1932 nearly 200 seats,making them the largest party in the Reichstag
11
Q
What did hitler promise the German people in election campaigns of 1930-1933
A
- promised a strong Germany
- to defend traditional order
- remove reparations
- strong leadership
- full employment
- to defeat communism
- uphold capitalist system
- abolish ToV
- regain lost German territory
- to punish those who ‘stabbed Germany in the back’
- restore German pride
- deal with jewish problem
- rearmament
12
Q
How did hitler go from chancellor to dictator
A
- Reichstag fire
- enabling act
- night of the long knives
- death of Hindenburg
13
Q
Reichstag fire
A
- Reichstag building was destroyed by a communist
- hitler used fire to intensify communist hysteria
- 4000 leading communists were arrested and imprisoned, removing threat
- hitler persuaded Hindenburg to pass an emergency decree suspending all articles in the constitution which guaranteed personal liberty and freedom of speech
- it gave hitler the power to search houses, confiscate property and detain people without a trial
14
Q
Enabling act
A
- used SA and SS to intimidate he Reichstag into passing this act
- it gave him power to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag, only socialists voted against it
- it gave Hitler dictatorial powers
- he could remove parliamentary democracy
- he banned the communist party and stopped its delegates taking their seats o that he could have an overall majority
15
Q
How did Hitler use the enabling act powers
A
- civil service, courts and education purged of Jews and opponents of Nazis
- trade unions banned and workers forced to join German Labour Front
- nazis confiscated all property and funds of the communist party
- made Germany a one-party state
- opponents of nazis had to leave German or be taken to concentration camp
16
Q
Night of the long knives
A
- hitler felt that Rohm, the leader of the SA, could be a threat t his position as leader of the party
- he also wanted the army’s support but the army didn’t like the rough violence of the SA
- on 30th June 1934, Rohm and SA leader were arrested or shot.
- around 200 and 400 were killed
- rohm was offered to take his own life but he refused and he was killed instead
- politician Von Schleicher was also killed as he was a threat to hitler
- this tightened Hitler’s control and he absorbed many SA members into the army
- army pledged full allegiance to Hitler
17
Q
Death of Hindenburg
A
- August 1934
- became fuhrer of Germany
- army agreed to serve him and in return hitler began rearmament and brought back conscription and made plans for expansionist foreign policy
18
Q
Why did nazis do well in elections
A
- electoral tactics: catchy generalised slogans rather than specific policies, impressive discipline order shown by SA and SS, soup kitchens and hostels for unemployed people, emphasis on traditional values,targeting Weimar government for not being able to solve economic problems
- hitler: power speaker , modern ideas, a man of people who understood ordinary Germans
- negative cohesion: people who didn’t like the nazis views still supported them because they shared some of their fears and dislikes (voting for negative rather than positive reasons)
- disillusionment with democracy: inability of Weimar politicians to tackle depression, chancellor Bruning cut spending and welfare benefits and urged people to make sacrifices
- threat of communism: middle class business men were sacred tat if communist got into power they would introduce state control of business etc
- decadence: nazis promised to bring back old fashioned values and end decadent Weimar culture
19
Q
Effects of Great Depression on Germany
A
- Dawes plan collapses as USA demands repayable of loans
- German industrial output fell
- 40% of all factory workers were unemployed by 1932
- youth couldn’t find jobs
- unemployment reached 6 million
- middle classes lost savings
- democracy wast working as bruning wanted to pass decrees using Article 48
- German companies struggling
- farmers doing badly
20
Q
How did hitler become chancellor in 1933
A
- hitler challenged Hindenburg for presidency in march 1932 and won 13.4 million votes. It provided much needed publicity for Nazi ideas
- nazis he most seats in the Reichstag (230)
- Hindenburg originally wanted Von Papen as chancellor but he had no support in Reichstag so he the appointed Von Schleicher who also had little support
- Hindenburg was forced to appoint hitler as chancellor
- Papen and Hindenburg believed they could resist Hitler’s influence an extremist demands and at the same time use hitler to get support of the Reichstag for their ideas, but they were wrong
21
Q
Why did hitler become chancellor
A
- skilled public speaker and persuasive
- had attractive policies (ToV, unemployment)
- effective propaganda
- Nazis could get rd of communist threat (business and farmers were worried about communism)
- hitler was popular amongst military leaders
- death of Stresemann and all street crash
- economic depression which Weimar government couldn’t solve
- muller, bruning, von Papen and Schleicher were all appointed but none could deal with the crisis and din have enough support
- Hindenburg was forced to make hitler chancellor
