Hitler's Rise to Power
Early career of
Hitler; founding of the Nazi Party; Mein Kampf; Munich Putsch; decline
in support in the Stresemann years.
Inability of the
Weimar Republic to cope with the Depression.
Growth in support
for the Nazis, 1929-1933; and its reasons; elections of 1932; invitation
to lead coalition government, 1933.
Make sure you have detailed factual knowledge about AND HAVE
THOUGHT ABOUT the following issues and topics:
Hitler and the growth of the Nazi Party to 1933
1. A summary of Hitler's
early career.
2. An account of Hitler's
beliefs.
3. The story of the Munich
Putsch
4. The story of Hitler's
rise to power, 1929-33
5. The reasons why Hitler came
to power
and that you are able to explain:
Hitler and the growth of the Nazi Party to 1933
|
Background |
Hitler, after a troubled
youth (including a period as a tramp in Vienna which fixed his political
and racial theories), joined the German Army during WWI - where he
became a war hero.
He could not accept the
defeat of Germany and believed the 'Stab in the Back' theory, and blamed
the 'November Criminals'.
Hitler joined Anton
Drexler's German Workers' Party in 1919 while working as an Army spy.
Hitler became friends
with General Ludendorff
He was financed by the
newspaper owner Ernst
Hanfstaengl
|
|
Meat |
During
the crises of 1923, the membership of the Nazi Party grew from 6,000 to
55,000.
The Nazi Stormtroopers
(SA) grew quickly.
In November 1923, Hitler
attempted the
Munich
Putsch.
He failed and was sentenced to Landsberg prison.
He used the trial as a
chance to publicise his
beliefs.
He used his time in
prison to write Mein Kampf, and to plan a new strategy - to get elected
to power. He:
reduced the number of SA
put Goebbels in charge
of propaganda
promised businessmen he
would destroy the Trade Unions
started the Hitler
Youth.
The Nazis appealed most
to the middle class (farmers, small businessmen), as well as to
nationalists and fascists. It recruited relatively poorly
from the workers and intellectuals. |
|
End |
During the prosperity of
the late 1920s, support for the Nazis fell.
In 1924, the Nazis had
32 Reichstag members/ in 1928, only 12. |
IF YOU ARE ASKED THIS, MAKE
SURE YOU GIVE SOME
FACTS AS WELL.
(Foul Nazi Racists
Should Suck A Lemon)
Hitler's beliefs - 'National Socialism' - can
be found in his speeches, in the Nazi's Twenty-five Point Programme, and
in Mein Kampf (1924). They included:
Fascism
- a strong central government and control of the newspapers.
Opposition parties and Trade Unions should be abolished.
Nationalism
- all German-speaking people should be united in one country; the Treaty
of Versailles should be abolished; Germany should be the dominant world
power; and there should be special laws for foreigners.
Racism
- Jews should not be German citizens and immigration should be stopped.
Scapegoats - the November Criminals, the
Jews and the Communists were to blame for all Germany's problems.
Socialism
- eg farmers should be given their land; pensions should improve; and public
industries such as electricity and water should be owned by the state.
(Note that Hitler's 'socialism' lessened when he started to be funded by big
business.)
Autarky
- Germany should be self-sufficient.
Lebensraum
to expand into Poland and Russia to get Living Space.
|
Background |
Crisis of 1923 (invasion
of Ruhr/ hyperinflation/ rebellions).
Nazi party had been
growing - SA getting restless.
Anger of right-wing when
Stresemann called off the General Strike.
Hitler emulating the
example of Mussolini's march on Rome, 1922
In Bavaria,
Kahr (State Commissioner), Lossow (Army
Commander) and Seisser (Chief of Police) had planned a
march of 15,000 soldiers on Berlin. They asked
Hitler to help, but then tried to call it off.
|
|
Meat |
8
Nov 1923
Hitler
interrupted the Beer Hall meeting, and forced Kahr, Lossow
and Seisser at gunpoint to agree to support him.
The
SA took over the Army HQ (but NOT the telegraph office).
Jews
were beaten up, and the offices of the anti-Nazi Munich
Post newspaper offices trashed.
Kahr,
released by Hitler, called in the police and army.
9
Nov 1923
The
Nazis marched on Munich.
Stopped
by police in Residenzstrasse, 16 Nazis were killed.
Ludendorff
was arrested.
Hitler
hid, then fled (he was arrested 2 days later). |
|
End |
1.
Disaster
- Hitler was arrested, put on trial for treason, imprisoned for 9 months and forbidden to
speak in public.
2.
Trial
-
Hitler turned his trial into a publicity opportunity = became
a national right-wing hero.
3.
Mein
Kampf
-
While
he was in prison, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, in which
he set out his beliefs = sold in
millions, making Hitler the leader of the right-wing
opponents of Weimar.
4.
Strategy
-
Hitler
realised that he would not gain power by rebellion = new strategy to gain power by being
elected.
|
|
Background |
In 1929, Wall Street (the American Stock
exchange) collapsed, and
America recalled all its foreign loans.
This caused an economic depression in Germany. Unemployment
rose to 6 million.
In July 1930 Chancellor Brόning cut
government expenditure, wages and unemployment pay (the wrong thing to
do during a depression).
The Depression
pushed Hitler towards power:
Anger and bitterness caused many
workers to turn to communism,
but this frightened wealthy businessmen = they financed Hitler.
Many middle-class people were alarmed by the
chaos = they decided Germany needed Hitler.
Remember that
Hitler had been building up the Nazis electoral machine/ propaganda
since 1924.
|
|
Meat |
The Nazis rose in importance: in 1928, they
had 12 seats in the Reichstag; in July
1932 they had 230 and were the largest party.
The government was in chaos - President
Hindenburg had to use Article 48 to pass almost every law.
He dismissed Brόning in 1932. The next Chancellor (Papen)
lasted six months, the next (Schleicher) only two months.
But note that the
depression DID NOT bring Hitler to power. In the November
1932 elections the Nazis got fewer (only 196) seats.
Hitler
contemplated suicide - he thought it was all over. |
|
End |
In the end, Hitler
was GIVEN power.
In January 1933, Hindenburg and Papen
offered the Nazis an alliance, with Hitler as vice-chancellor.
Hitler demanded to be chancellor.
They agreed, thinking they could
control him.
Hitler became Chancellor, and immediately set about making himself
absolute ruler of Germany
using Article 48. |
IF YOU ARE ASKED THIS, MAKE
SURE YOU GIVE SOME
FACTS AS WELL.
(LIMP
PAPER)
1.
Long-term bitterness
-
anger about WWI and the Treaty of Versailles.
2.
Ineffective
Constitution
-
Proportional
representation crippled the government.
Many people in Germany wanted a return to
dictatorship there was no
one who was prepared or able to fight to stop Hitler.
3. Money
-
The
financial support of wealthy businessmen gave Hitler the money
to run his propaganda and election campaigns (e.g. Schacht,
Thyssen, Krupp, Faben, Schroeder PLUS Ford, du Pont, Harriman
& Co., Union Banking).
4.
Propaganda
-
Goebbels persuaded the German masses to believe that the Jews
were to blame and that Hitler was their last hope.
5.
Programme
-
Hitler
promised everybody something, so they supported him.
6.
Attacks
on other parties - by the
Stormtroopers: opponents kept quiet simply because they were
scared of being murdered.
7. Personal
Qualities -
a brilliant speaker, his eyes had a peculiar power, good organiser,
self-belief kept him going.
8.
Economic
Depression -
people wanted someone to blame, and looked to
extreme solutions Hitler offered them both.
9.
Recruited
by Hindenburg -
In the end, Hitler did not TAKE power at all he was
given it in a shady deal by Hindenburg.
|
Revision Focus
This is a Paper 2
topic, so you need to have factual KNOWLEDGE IN DEPTH but also a
degree of understanding which will allow you in the exam to write
MULTI-CAUSAL EXPLANATIONS of the key issues.
Links
e-books on the Hitler's Early Career
and Hitler's Rise to Power, as well as a
detailed account of the Munich
Putsch.
Online revision sheet
|
Revision Diary