2.3 The growth in support for the Nazis, 1929–32

Question 1

Wall street crash

When was the wall street crash?

Answer 1

October 1929

Question 2

Wall street crash

What effect did the Wall streetcrash have on Germany?

Answer 2

-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, 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 3

Wall street crash

What were the consquneces of German deppression?

Answer 3

-Huge rise in unemployment.
-Over the winter of 1929-30 the number of unemployed rose from 1.4 ->2 million.
-By the time Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933, 1 in 3 Germans were unemployed, with the figure hitting 6.1 million.
-Industrial production had also more than halved over the same period.

Question 4

Wall street crash

What was the impact of unempolyment?

Answer 4

-The rise in unemployment significantly raised government expenditure on unemployment insurance and other benefits.
-Germans began to lose faith in democracy and looked to** extreme parties** on both the Left (the communists) and the Right (the Nazis) for quick and simple solutions.

Question 5

Wall street crash

Political failure following the crash

Answer 5

In March 1930 the German Chancellor, Hermann Müller, resigned when his government could not agree on how to tackle the rise in government spending . He was replaced by** Heinrich Brüning. His policies were ineffective ** 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
(pass laws by decree).=> This undermined democracy and – arguably opening the way for Hitler’s later dictatorship.

Question 5

Wall street crash

The rise of extremism

Answer 5

->During Econmicl deppression many people were affected and poverty hit Germany hard. Extreme political parties offering simple solutions to their problems appeared at both ends of the political spectrum. Between** 1930 and 1933**, support for the extreme right-wing Nazis and the extreme left-wing communists soared.
->By 1932 parties committed to the destruction of the Weimar Republic held **319/608 ** 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.

Question 6

When was the period of ecomic depression in Germany?

Answer 6

1930 and 1933

Question 7

How many seets did the Nazis have in 1928

Answer 7

12

Question 8

How many did they have in 1932

Answer 8

230-> largest party

Question 9

The appeal of Hitler and the Nazis

Wealthy businessmen

Answer 9

-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.

Question 10

The appeal of Hitler and the Nazis

The middle-class

Answer 10

-were generally quite traditional and were not convinced by the Weimar
democracy.
-Hitler promised them a strong government and won their votes.

Question 11

The appeal of Hitler and the Nazis

Nationalists

Answer 11

-they blamed the legacy of the
Treaty of Versailles and reparations
for causing the depression
-lent their support to the Nazis who had promised to** make Germany strong again.**

Question 12

The appeal of Hitler and the Nazis

Rural areas

Answer 12

The Nazis appealed to people in the countryside - especially middle class shopkeepers and craftsmen, farmers and agricultural labourers.

Question 13

The effects of propaganda

Who controled Nazi propaganda?

Answer 13

Joseph Goebbels

Question 14

The effects of propaganda

The Führer cult

Answer 14

Hitler was always portrayed as Germany’s saviour – the man who would rescue the country from the grip of depression.

Question 14

The effects of propaganda

Volksgemeinschaft

Answer 14

people’s community->This was the idea that the Nazis would create one German community that would make religion or social class less relevant to people.

Question 15

The effects of propaganda

The work of the SA

Answer 15

The SAplayed a part in the Nazis’ increasing popularity by:
->Intimidating the Nazis’ political opponents – especially the communists – by turning up at their meetings and attacking them
->providing opportunities for young, unemployed men to become involved in the party
->protecting Hitler and other key Nazis when they organised meetings and made speeches

Question 15

The effects of propaganda

Scapegoating the Jews (and others) for Germany’s ills

Answer 15

Jews were often portrayed as sub-human, or as a threat to both the racial purity and economic future of the country.

Question 15

The effects of propaganda

Methods of gaining support

Answer 15

-Hitler was a great speaker with an extraordinary power to win people over.
-Goebbels’ propaganda campaign was very **effective **(he used **aeroplanes **to bring Hitler to speak across the country, radios to broadcast important speeches and rallies to make supporters excited) and brought huge support for the Nazis by targeting specific groups of society with different slogans and policies to win their support.