Summary 5 1929-1933: Depression and rise of the Nazis

Question 1

Why was Germany susceptible to the repercussions of the Wall Street Crash ?

Answer 1

• germany was dependent of foreign loans (particularly from the USA) but after the Wall Street crash, new loans dried up and existing loans were called in by US banks
• additionally world trade slumped and germany lost its valuable export market for its manufacture

Question 2

Why did the government not act decisively to tackle the slump ?

Answer 2

• widespread international belief that govts were fairly powerless to help
• 🔔 hard for coalition to decide in action (March 1930: Mullers coalition collapsed as could not agree on how to tackle the depression)
• govt terrified of a repeat of hyperinflation- thought this could be caused by govt increased spending on welfare and public works
• legal restrictions on the Reichsbank (as a result of Dawes and Young plans) meant govt not allowed to print more money or devaluate currency
• few trusted the long term finances of Germany (or govts ability to manage them) so loans hard to find
• evidence suggests Bruning (chancellor 1930-2) allowed crisis to worsen as part of his strategy to get reparations cancelled

Question 3

What was the govts initially strategy ?

Answer 3

• reduce govt expenditure because tax revenues were declining with declining industrial activity
• raise taxes to help balance the budget

the effects were catastrophic and eventually the govt became more interventionalist - a few public work schemes under Bruning were set up and Von Papen looked at allocating unused land to the poor but was too little to late

Question 4

What was the economic impact of the depression ?

Answer 4

• ❗️1929-32 the volume of world trade fell by 70%
• germanys export trade dropped by 61%
• industrial production fell by 58% (compared to its 1928 level)
• unemployment rose to 6 million (may even be as high as 8 million) in Germany (1 worker in 3)
• by jan 1933 the unemployment rate was 33% compared to 25% in the USA
• those who remained in work saw their wages drastically cut
• bankruptcies increased - 50,000 (1930-32)
• agriculture already in a depression since 1927- prices now fell further, export markets declined and more farmers forced to give up farms

Question 5

What was the social impact of the depression ?

Answer 5

• an unemployment benefit system set up but it was designed to help 800,000 people ➡️ the amount paid out had to be reduced as the system could not cope and benefits only payable for fixed period, after which people had to cut local authority for help- local benefits even less generous
• women received lower benefits than men (young people also)
• doctors reported increasing cases of malnutrition, TB and rickets (diseases linked to poor nutrition/living conditions)
• ❗️ high youth unemployment eg. Hamburg, June 1933: 39% 14-25 males were unemployed ➡️ led to social issues (crime/ social disorder) and some began to look to extremists parties (KPD & nationalist right)
• women experienced resentment for working when male unemployment so high, nationalists insisted married women should not be working ➡️ May 1932 law passed allowing married women civil servants to be dismissed- setback to cause of equal rights

Question 6

How did the depression affect the vote?

Answer 6

• to many ordinary Germans it looked as though society as breaking up and was out of control (lost faith in the Weimar government and looked to extremes for a solution)
  ❗️May 1928: unemployment 1.3m, Nazi votes 2.6%, KPD vote 10.6%
  ❗️Nov 1932: unemployment 5.4m, Nazi votes 33%, KPD votes 17%

Question 7

German vs USA impact of Great Depression ?

Answer 7

not comparable to the situation in the USA
❗️in Germany, 1 in 3 was unemployed, industrial production in 1932 was 42% of the 1929 level
❗️in the USA, 1 in 4 was unemployed, industrial production in 1932 was 46% of the 1929 level
- however in the USA the democratic system was never in danger

Question 8

Why was the depression so detrimental to the vote?

Answer 8

• the economic crisis became a political crisis because of the existing and growing lack of faith in the democratic system therefore the depression accelerated the end of the Weimar Republic because its democratic foundations was so poorly established
• the Nazis were able to offer an alternative to the floundering democracy

Question 9

What was the grand coalition ?

Answer 9

• 1928 until 1930
• SPD leader Muller’s included 5 different parties (SPD, DDP, Z, DVP, BVP) and was the last majority government of the Weimar republic but by Spring 1930 the coalition was falling apart
• disagreements centred on how to finance the unemployment insurance system which was under growing strain from unemployment

Question 10

Why did the grand coalition fall apart ?

Answer 10

• disagreements on how deal with the depression
• SPD wanted to see contribution from employers increase and benefit payments maintained at existing levels (reflecting their trade union links)
• the DVP wanted payments to be reduced (reflecting their links with big businesses)
• SPD wanted to decrease taxes and increase welfare spending however the DVP wanted to increase taxes in order to balance the budget
• a compromise could not be agreed ad the cabinet and Muller resigned
  🔔 the end of the grand coalition marks the effective end of parliamentary government

Question 11

How did Bruning become Chancellor ?

Answer 11

• March 1930- June 1932
• Hindenburg was influenced by his right wing advisors (General Groener and General Schleicher) who wanted a more right wing/ authoritarian chancellor
• the army was hoping to start rearming Germany and believed this required a more authoritarian government (independent from the Reichstag)
• the appointment of Bruning is an indication that the army had begun to play a key role in politics

Question 12

What was Brunings government like ?

Answer 12

• was centre right coaltion but did not include the SPD and could only muster under 40% support of the Reichstag (it was a minority govt)
• Bruning made it clear that if he did not get support for his policies in the Reichstag, he would request the dissolution of the Reichstag and rule by ‘emergency’ decree

Question 13

Evidence to show Brunings dissolution of democracy?

Answer 13

• 1930 : laws passed by reichstag 98
  laws passed by decree 5
• 1932 : laws passed by reichstag 32
  laws passed by decree 66
• Brunings response to the Depression was to cut govt expenditure and raise taxes but without majority support in the reichstag, Bruning pushed the budget through using Article 48
• the SPD objected to the use of emergency powers and Bruning dissolved the reichstag and persuaded Hindenburg to call an election

Question 14

How is the election of Sept 1930 significant ?

Answer 14

• the Nazis made major gains- vote rose to 18% from 2.6% in 1928
• Nazis now the second largest party in the reichstag and communist (KPD) vote also rising
• extremists were gaining support at the expense of pro-democracy parties
• Bruning tried to get Hitler to support a coalition but refused unless chancellor, in the end was only able to form a minority govt with SPD support (who were scared by the rise of extremism)
• the reichstag became unmanageable (the Nazis being abrupt and shouting in reichstag) and the number of emergency decrees rose from 5 in 1930 to 66 in 1932
• political power shifted from the reichstag to the President and his circle of advisors (right-wing)

Question 15

Why was there growing political violence ?

Answer 15

• echoing the early years of the WR
  -1930-33 saw an increase in political violence, the KPD’s Red Fighting League clashed with the Nazi Stormtroopers (SA), attempting to break up the meeting of the other
• by spring 1932, the violence was so bad that Hindenburg issued a decree banning the SA (had little effect as membership of the SA grew and violence continued)

Question 16

How did the Nazis become an electable force ?

Answer 16

• while in prison, Hitler had concluded that the NSDAP would have to campaign through the ballot box to gain power by a ‘legal revolution’

Question 17

Who did Nazis appeal to ?

Answer 17

• social class/occupation: groups that were over represented were self employed, farmers, white collar workers, public/civil servants
  ❗️workers were under represented (33% in jan 33 when they represent 46% of population)
• religion: protestants were more likely to be party members than catholics (Germany predominantly protestant) - ❗️in catholic areas vote rose to around 30% but in protestant areas it rose to over 50% between 1928 and 1933
• age: ❗️18-30 year olds represented 31% of the population but 61% of Nazi membership (47% of pop over age of 41 but only 16% were party members)
• women were more likely to vote Nazi in most regions

Question 18

Why did people vote for the Nazis ?

Answer 18

• the power of will: 🔔 Nazis presented themselves as a force for change & Hitler personified the qualities of power strength and determination, SA contributed with their image of discipline and unity
• struggle and war: part of natural order, war would be necessary to reconstruct german society and build a new German Reich based on the subjugation of other races ➡️ Nazi propaganda glorified military qualities of courage and self-sacrifice
• a racial community: the concept of ‘Volksgemeinschaft’ (peoples community) was a strong theme of Nazism ➡️ would allow German to become a state based on a racial community
• a national socialism: the Nazis 25 Point Programme included economically radical, socialist aims
• the Fuherprincip: Nazis believed Germany needed a dictatorship, a one party state run on the basis of the fuhrerprincip (the principle of leadership)
• aggressive nationalism
• anti-communism: the KPD share of the vote rose to nearly 17% in 1932 and the Nazi made their anti-communism explicit and active
• anti-semitism: was apparent in Nazi electoral propaganda but was NOT a significant reason for growing support

Question 19

What was the Nazi concept of ‘Volksgemeinschaft ?

Answer 19

• meant ‘peoples community’ and was a strong theme of Nazism
• it would allow Germany to become a state based on a racial community
• aryans only would be citizens and no classes would be necessary as all would work towards common goals and all would have equal chances
• this was an ambitious aim for a cultural and social revolution but it was primarily backward- looking (Germany was to return to a romanticised past before blood was polluted with inferior races and before industrialisation divided society along class lines)

Question 20

What was the Nazi’s 25 Point Programme ?

Answer 20

• it included economically radical and socialist aims such as the confiscation of war profit and land from large estates
• it also talked of nationalising monopoly industries
• an attempt to appeal to the working class in the early days of the Nazi party, however Hitler was never fully committed to the ‘socialism’ of the programme and increasingly saw the need for the support of big business
• Hitler sewed the term socialism to loosely refer to the need of work for the good of the community

Question 21

What was the Fuhrerprincip ?

Answer 21

• ‘the principle of leadership’
• Hitler believed democracy to be weak and alien to German traditions of strong authoritarian government
• democracy even encouraged communism
• it was the democratic leader of the WR that had ‘stabbed Germany in the back’ by signing the armistice and the TofV
• Germany needed a dictatorship, a one party state run on the basis of the Fuhrerprincip

Question 22

What were Hitler’s goals ?

Answer 22

• Hitler did not want to merely restore Germany to its 1914 borders, he wanted to expand ➡️ reverse the TofV
• reunite all German speakers into one Reich
• secure Lebensraum to sustain the reich
• this would involve war of conquest to achieve Lebensraum which Hitler justified on racial grounds
• he believed Jews were responsible for the evils of capitalism and the growth of communists and also for Germanys defeat and decline

Question 23

What specific messages was in Nazi propaganda ?

Answer 23

🔔 Nazis used specific messages and propaganda to target the grievances of particular groups and to make the relevant promises:
- workers were promised bread and work
- middle classes were promised family values (‘restore mothers to the home’)
- peasants were promised fair prices and restricted food imports
- industrialists were promised law and order (removal of the communist threat)

Question 24

Why did the Nazis appeal to so many Germans ?

Answer 24

• emotional appeal (charismatic leader, stirring rallies) ➡️ offered a direction and security
• the prospect of firm action to take Germany out of its turmoil attracted millions of Germans regardless of class
• propaganda played a significant part in this emotional appeals although some argued that it reinforced existing sympathies rather than creating new one

Question 25

How was Nazi appeal based on rational economic reasons ?

Answer 25

• Nazis offered rational economic policies which were a 3rd way between communist state planning and the liberal capitalism of the Weimar regime
• the Nazis offered govt. investment in industry, financial controls and autarky (put the economic needs of Germany before those of foreigners) ➡️ this would support farmers through the control of prices/import and debt
• workers were attracted by the idea of govt investing in industry and intervening… (doing something)

Question 26

How did Nazis portray communism ?

Answer 26

• the Nazis made their anti-communism explict and active
• propaganda stoked the fear of a communist revolution and the SA was portrayed as tackling this danger
• the SA heckling and violence towards the Red Fighting League and the KPD was portrayed by the Nazis as action to restore law and order
• Marxism/Bolshevism/Communism was portrayed as the enemy of Germany and was repeatedly linked with the Jews
• Jewish-Marxism was a convenient scapegoat, blamed for Germanys problems

Question 27

Hitler and anti-semitism ?

Answer 27

• anti-semitism was apparent in Nazi electoral propaganda but was NOT a significant reason for growing support
• Hitler down-played his anti-semitism at this point and saw more success in stressing his communism ➡️ this message was more attractive particularly to the elite and middle class

Question 28

How did the Nazis achieve electoral success ?

Answer 28

• Hitler: he ensured he had a position of absolute power over policy and demanded complete obedience from the party (central to success)
• propaganda: used to target specific grievances and tailored messages to different audiences
• anti-semitism: Jews were often used as scapegoat in Nazi propaganda but not always as Hitler was aware that not all would be receptive to anti-semitism
• reorganisation of the party
• the role of the SA
• the Young plan referendum

Question 29

What was Hitlers role in the Nazis achieving electoral success ?

Answer 29

• he ensured he has a position of absolute power over policy and strategy
• he demanded complete obedience from the party (central to their success)
• by 1926 he had defeated more socialist inclined rivals and was undisputed leader
• 🔔 he provided charismatic leadership and his passion to rebuild Germany was infectious and inspiring and his speeches impressed listeners, giving people faith ➡️ tailored his messages to his audience in order to win their support

Question 30

How did propaganda play a vital role in the Nazis electoral success ?

Answer 30

• Josef Goebbels + Hitler realised the importance of propaganda
• used it to target specific grievances and to tailor messages to different audiences (from the unemployed to the industrial elite)
• Hitler was the central rallying figure who travelled the country making speeches that attracted the wider support ➡️ the rallies and the SA marches showed discipline and order

Question 31

Did anti-semitism play a role in the Nazis electoral success ?

Answer 31

• Jews were often used as scapegoats in Nazi propaganda but not always
• Hitler was aware that not all Germans would be receptive to anti-semitism and so he would tone it down if necessary
• the focus of Nazi propaganda in 1932 was much more on unemployment and the failures of democracy
• it is likely that many people voted Nazi in spite of anti-semitism rather because of it
• it is notable that anti-semitism was evident in the 1920s but not a major reason for Nazi support in the early 1930s

Question 32

How did Hitler rebuild/reorganise his party into an electable force after 1925 ?

Answer 32

• Nazis build up a serious of associated organisations eg. for teachers, factory workers, students ➡️ 🔔 the Nazi Welfare Organisation was hugely important as it ran soup kitchens and organised food donations, this was the Nazi ‘Volksgemeinschaft’ in action and later allowed the Nazis to exploit the GD
• local propaganda was well organised, the nazis targeted influential people in a community eg. a teacher and they would play a part in growing membership of the party and then organised door to door campaigning
• ❗️ 6,000 speakers were trained and were provided with booklets in policy and propaganda (not every Nazi was recruited by seeing Hitler speak, but many joined the party after contact with local, well trained speakers
• campaigning was sophisticated and effective and relied in part on powerful messages

Question 33

What did the Nazis promise in their campaigning ?

Answer 33

• to restore hope
• to create a national community for all Germans
• economic problems would be solved and the people would get bread and work
• true German peasants and small traders would be saved from ‘the clutch of Jewish moneylenders’
• strong leadership would replace feeble democracy
• the Nazis would destroy the TofV, communism and end Jewish influence and reparations
• Germany would be restored to a great nation again
  🔔 Nationalism was crucial to Nazi appeal and provided a way of appealing to a diverse range of Germans

Question 34

Who were the SA and what was their role ?

Answer 34

• ‘we must struggle with ideas, but if necessary also with fists’ - Hitler
• the SA were also known as the Brownshirts
• ❗️formed in 1920, initially set up to protect Nazi speaks and by 1933 there were 500,000 members
• led by Ernst Rohm who saw them as the army of the Nazis, the SA attracted young men for different reasons: hatred of communism, ex-military looking for new purpose, bullies, many were unemployed
• members were provided with uniform (a brown shirt), meals and sense of comradeship
• their role was to distribute leaflets, protect Nazi meetings and to try and drive communism out
• from 1930-32 there was increasing violence on the street between different political paramilitary groups eg. Red Front Fighters League and the SA
• 🔔 they played a major role in Hitlers success, the Nazis proved they would deal with the communist threat through the SA and their disciplined marches and parades created an image of law and order

Question 35

What was the Young plan Referendum ?

Answer 35

• another event which led to a change in Nazi fortunes was the heated debate over the Young Plan in 1929
• Stresemann managed to negotiate a reduction in the overall reparations bill and gained the promise that Allied forces would evacuate the Rhineland by June 1930
• however the right wing seized on the re-emergence of the reparations issue as an opportunity to show the recent events as a further betrayal by the WR, acceptance of paying any reparations, based n the lie of war guilt was betrayal
• a national committee of RW nationalists, the Nazis, ex-servicemen and leading industrialists was formed under ALFRED HUGENBERG to oppose payment of any more reparations
• Hugenberg owned 150 newspapers and was able to generate considerable publicity
• ❗️the growing opposition forced a national referendum in Dec 1929, the RW lost the referedum vote (gained 5.8m votes but needed 21m to win)

Question 36

What did the Young Plan Referendum achieve for the Nazis ?

Answer 36

although the RW lost the referedum vote:
✅ nationalist emotions had veen stirred ❗️(200,000 atteneded a rally in Nuremberg in Aug 1929)
✅ RW opponents had been drawn together into a powerful opposition group
✅🔔 Hitler and the Nazis gained a national standing for the first time

Question 37

What was the appeal of communism ?

Answer 37

• between 1929-32 the communists became a growing political force in Weimar Germany (alongside the growth of Nazism)
• ❗️ May 1928: KPD had 10.6% of the vote
• ❗️ Nov 1932: KPD had 17%
• before 1929, the KPD had focussed on unionised industrial workers but the Depression forced them to focus more broadly on the unemployed
• had success in winning support through its actions against benefit cuts and marches against hunger
• Red Front Fighting League engaged the Nazi SA in violent battles- the communists presented themselves as defenders of working class districts

Question 38

What were the Communists’ policies and ideology ?

Answer 38

• the KPD advocated close cooperation with Russia, the end of military spending as well as to end the cuts in unemployment benefits and wages
• although they participated in elections , they were committed to the overthrow of the WR
• the KPD (and Russia) believed that the Depression was the last nail in capitalism coffin and would soon lead to a workers’ revolution
• its priority was to undermine the SPD as the main party of the left

Question 39

What were the communists strengths ?

Answer 39

• effective propaganda talked of smashing capitalism and the workers taking control
• the SPD were often attacked as the tool of capitalism
• organisation at a local level gave the KPD support as did political violence that stood up to the Nazi threat

Question 40

What were the communists weaknesses ?

Answer 40

• the KPD never came close to achieving a revolution
• turnover of members was high and its support remained relatively restricted to industrial areas
• it had very limited appeal to women and it was also always short of money, unlike the Nazis who had big business backing
• the communists could raise little money from the unemployed
• focus on attacking the SPD also meant they missed valuable opportunities to attack more the more serious threat of the Nazis

Question 41

What was the political impact of the depression ?

Answer 41

• Nazis vote went from 6% to 33%
• SPD vote fall

Question 42

How does the Great Depression magnify political problems of the WR ?

Answer 42

• extremists allowed within the system (over 40% of vote) becomes very problematic and brings violence
• coalition govt becomes problematic as no majority govt (hard to pass anything in Reichstag)
• article 48 abused by chancellors