Download 1918-1923 1923 – 1929 1929-33 THIS SECTION 1933

1918-1923
1923 – 1929
Time of disorder and chaos Time of stability and
caused by defeat in WW1. prosperity
 Germans angry at
 Germany recovers
defeat and at Treaty of
under Gustav
Versailles
Stresemann
 Weimar Republic set
 International
up.
agreements
 Spartacist uprising
 Nazi Party very little
support
 Kapp putsch
 Founding of Nazi
Party
 Hyperinflation
 Munich putsch
1929-33 THIS SECTION
1933 - 1945
Germany collapses – due to Nazi era
Wall Street Crash
 Hitler becomes
Great Depression in
German Chancellor
Germany
 Hitler becomes
Mass unemployment and
dictator
hardship
 Nazi methods of
Dramatic rise of the Nazi
control
party
 Life in Nazi Germany
By 1932 Nazis the biggest
 Nazis and youth
party
 Opposition to the
Nazis
 Who did the Nazis
persecute
 Nazis and the
economy
REVISION 3 :THE RISE OF HITLER AND THE NAZIS 1929 – 1933
HOW DID THINGS CHANGE FOR HITLER 1929-33?
 During the years 1923-29 Hitler had  Strengthened the Nazi party
 Increased its membership to 100,000
 Set up new branches and organisations
 Gave it new tactics to win power by winning Reichstag elections
 AND YET – he got nowhere – the Nazis gained only 12 members of the Reichstag in 1928
 The Nazis got nowhere because times were good for ordinary Germans.
BUT -  By 1933 the Nazis were the biggest party in Germany and Hitler became Chancellor (Prime Minister)
 What were the causes of Hitler’s dramatic rise to power?
CAUSE 1 : THE GREAT DEPRESSION
 The German economy had been successful during 1923-29
 But this had depended on the American loans to German business which Stresemann had
provided.
 In October 1929 the WALL STREET CRASH
 Caused the collapse of shares in America and the ruin of American businesses and banks.
 So the Americans called back their loans from Germany – and - - Effect 1: GERMAN BUSINESS COLLAPSES
 German businesses were forced to close without the American money.
 Factories closed down
 Banks also went bust and once again millions lost their savings.
 And for the second time inflation returned as German money began to lose its value
 Those who suffered most were the middle classes who now lost their savings
Effect 2 : MASS UNEMPLOYMENT
 As business closed so workers became unemployed and on the streets
 By 1932 6 million Germans were out of work
 40% of factory workers lost their jobs
 At the same time the government cut unemployment benefit to save money
 Many had to rely on charity – many lost their homes
 Those worst affected by this – the working class
Effect 3 : DISILLUSIONED YOUNG
 The young were also badly hit as well as the middle class and workers
 By 1932 half all Germans between 16 and 30 were out of a job
 60% of University graduates could not find a job
 The young were angry and many turned to the Nazis
BIG EFFECT – HOW ALL THIS HELPED HITLER
 The depression made people angry and disillusioned
 Many blamed the Weimar Republic and its governments
 This was the ideal opportunity for Hitler and the Nazis to gain ground in Germany.
CAUSE 2 : THE FAILURE OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
The Depression weakened the Weimar Republic and in the end destroyed it -  The Weimar government now faced its biggest crisis – and failed to deal with
the Depression because -  Stresemann died a few weeks before the Wall Street crash – Germany had lost
its only strong leader
 Two parties shared power at that time - the Social Democrats (like Labour)
and the Centre Party (Conservatives) and they fell out over cuts in
unemployment benefit – the Social Democrats left the government
 This meant that the centre party led by BRUNING had to rule alone – and it
did not have enough seats in the Reichstag
 So Bruning asked for the President – Hindenburg – if he could have emergency powers (Article 48)
so that he could rule without the Reichstag. Hindenburg agreed – so the German Parliament could now
be ignored.
 Bruning now passed measures to deal with the Depression which were unpopular and did not work –
he raised taxes and reduced wages and cut unemployment benefit!
BIG EFFECT
 Germans lost all faith in the Weimar government
 They did not believe the moderate parties like the Socials Democrats or Centre party knew how to deal
with the Depression
 Instead they turned to extreme parties who promised drastic action – the Communists (KPD) and the
Nazis
SUPPORT FOR GERMANY’S PARTIES IN THE DEPRESSION
 This shows how in the early years of the Depression -  The votes of the moderate parties – SPD Social Democrats (Labour) and
the Centre (Conservative) declined
 At the same time support for the extreme Nazis and KPD (Communists)
went up.
CAUSE 3 : THE APPEAL OF THE NAZIS
 After 1930 Germans began to support the extreme parties
 But it was the Nazis who really gained most and not the Communists.
 This was because the appeal of the Nazis was so much greater. Their
appeal was due to several factors -APPEAL 1 : ADOLF HITLER
 Hitler himself was the Nazi parties greatest attraction because
 He was a brilliant speaker who could appeal to the emotions of his
audience.
 His ideas began to appeal to the sufferings of the German people –he
blamed Communists and Jews for the depression, he promised to end the
depression and make Germany great again, he promised to tear up the
Treaty of Versailles and restore national pride
APPEAL 2 : THE SA (Stormtroopers or Brownshirts)
 The SA helped to make the Nazi Party more attractive because
 They attracted the unemployed and the young and gave them a sense of purpose
 Their numbers grew to 600,000
 They organised parades and marches and impressed Germans with their discipline and determination
 But – their use of violence also put many people off and sometimes they acted without Hitler’s orders.
APPEAL 3 : GOEBBELS AND PROPAGANDA
 Propaganda = methods of persuading people to accept your point of view or ideas.
 The Nazis were brilliant at this thanks to the man Hitler placed in charge of propaganda –
JOSEPH GOEBBELS
How Goebbels achieved this -  Method 1 : Mass rallies – Goebbels organised huge open air meetings (or in large halls).
Thousands would attend and he made sure that that the crowds were impressed by the massed
ranks of uniformed storm troopers who dominated the meetings. The highlight was a speech by
Hitler which whipped the crowd up into a frenzy. During election campaigns Goebbels hired
planes to fly Hitler from one rally to another – ‘Hitler over Germany’.
 Method 2 : Parades and marches – More common than the mass rallies – regular Nazi marches
and parades by Stormtroopers or members of Nazi organisations through towns and villages all over
Germany. They even put on local entertainments
 In this way they could reach out to everyone all over Germany – the Nazis became the most well
known party for many
 Method 3 : Newspapers – The Nazis owned 8 newspaper of their own – but they were supported by the biggest
newspaper owner in Germany – Alfred Hugenburg. He made sure that Hitler was constantly being reported and in a
positive light. His papers build Hitler and the Nazis up and this helped them a lot in elections.
 Method 4 : Radio and film – In the 1930s radio was the main means for gaining regular information and also
entertainment (no TV!)
 Goebbels made clever use of the radio to get coverage of Hitler’s election campaigns. He was ahead of his time
 Goebbels also made use of film – he had Hitler’s election campaigns filmed portraying Hitler as a heroic leader and
they were put on in the cinema - especially one called ‘Hitler Over Germany’ which covered
how he used aircraft to fly from one rally to another during the election campaign.
 Method 5: Posters – Goebbels covered German towns and cities with pro Nazi posters
praising Hitler and attacking their enemies.
CAUSE 4 : THE SUPPORT OF BIG BUSINESS
 The Nazis were a wealthy party because they had the backing of many big businessmen.
 These businessmen support Hitler and the Nazis because they were afraid of the rise of Communism – Communists
would take all their wealth away.
 So they thought that backing Hitler was the best way to stop the Communists.
EFFECTS OF ALL CAUSES SO FAR –
 The Nazis began to gain support and do well in elections
 By 1932 they were the biggest party in Germany and had most seats in the Reichstag
Party
Share of people votes
Seats in Reichstag
Nazis (NSDAP)
38%
230
Social Democrats
22%
133
Communists (KPD)
14%
89
Centre Party
12%
75
National Party
6%
37
What do these results mean?
• That Nazis were by far the biggest party in Germany
• But – if the other parties joined together they could still outvote the Nazis
• They could still keep Hitler out of power!
WHO SUPPORTED THE NAZIS?
1.THE COUNTRYSIDE
Because farmers had suffered most in the 1920s –and then even more after the Wall Street Crash. Low food prices menat they
made little money. They were desperate and were the first to support the Nazis
2.THE MIDDLE CLASSES
People like shopkeepers, officials, teachers all were very worried about the collapse of Germany after 1929 and the rise of the
Communists. They supported the Nazis as a way of stopping the Communists.
3.THE UPPER CLASSES
There were the very well off owners of land and big business – they were even more scared of a Communist take over in
Germany because the Communists would take away all their wealth. Some of them supported the Nazis to stop the Communists
taking over eg big business gave money to help the Nazis and a rich newspaper owner, Alfred Hugenburg, used his papers to
support the Nazis.
4.THE WORKING CLASSES
Some workers supported the Nazis because they were unemployed and struggling and saw Hitler as the only hope – but most
did not because they supported the Socialists or Communists.
5.WOMEN
Many women were attracted to the Nazis because they supported the family and the traditional role of the housewife and
mother.
6.THE YOUNG
Some of the strongest supporters of the Nazis – they were attracted by the discipline and energy and newness of the Nazis – of
the people who joined the Nazis before 1933 40% were young people.
CAUSE 5 : FINAL CAUSE – THE POLITICAL DEAL OF 1933
 After 1932 the Nazis were the biggest party in the German parliament - the Reichstag
 Hitler demanded to be appointed Chancellor – Prime Minister – of Germany
 Problem – the Chancellor was chose by the President and at that time the President was HINDENBURG
and ex army general from the First World War who was 85.
 Hindenburg despised Hitler and turned him down
 Hindenburg chose his friend and ally from the Centre party – VON PAPEN to head the government –
not Hitler.
 Papen was in a weak position because Hitler’s Nazis were still the biggest party – so to change this he
called an election in November 1932 hoping that the Nazis could be beaten
 Although the Nazis lost votes and seats in November 1932 they were still the biggest party.
 Papen could find no other parties to join him – so he resigned.
 Again Hitler demanded to be made Chancellor but Hindeburg said no
 Hindenburg chose an army officer who was close to him – Kurt von Schleicher.
 But non of the main parties would work with Schleicher. He asked Hindenburg to give him special
powers to rule on his own. Hindenburg said no.
 So – Schleicher resigned
 Hindenburg finally gave in and chose Hitler to be Chancellor – but part of the deal of January
1933 was that his Vice Chancellor would be Hindenburg's friend von Papen. They hoped that von Papen could control
Hitler.
 Also – only 4 other Nazis were allowed in the government – the rest would be von Papen’s men.
 On January 30th 1933 Hitler was sworn in s German Chancellor. He had won!