3.1 Reasons for the rise of Hitler Flashcards
1
Q
What are the reasons for the rise of Hitler (favourable circumstances)
A
- —> Weakness of Weimar govt
- —> Hyperinflation
- —> Great Depression
2
Q
What are the weaknesses of the Weimar government?
A
- —> constitutional & proportional representation
- —> coalition govt
- —> Article 48
3
Q
Weakness of Weimar (proportional representation)
A
proportional representation
- —> people voted for a party rather than specific candidates
- —> parties gained seats based on no. of votes won
- —> high degree of fragmentation in parliament
- —> too many small parties w/o any party gaining majority
4
Q
Weakness of Weimar (coalition govt)
A
coalition govt
- —> all parties
- —> some parties had extreme ideas, not willing to compromise
- —> kept breaking up
- —> difficult to pass laws
5
Q
Weakness of Weimar (Article 48)
A
Article 48
- —> allowed the president to dissolve both houses of parliament
- —> rule in ‘time of emergency’ for 6 months
- —> civil liberties could be suspended
- —> exploited by Hitler to seize power legally and remain in power
6
Q
Weakness of Weimar (Right & left-wing)
A
Left-wing
- —> want equality
- —> communist
- —> Spartacist rebellion (strike against Weimar)
Right-wing
- —> Hated TOV
- —> wanted Germany to be strong again (expanding)
- —> want dictatorial govt
- —> blamed politicians for not having courage to continue war
- —> Kapp putsch
7
Q
Reasons for Hitler’s rise (leadership abilities)
A
- —> Nazi ideology
- —> charisma & oratorical skills
- —> exploitation of fears of communism
- —> reorganisation of Nazi party
8
Q
Hyperinflation
A
- —> germany could not afford to make reparations
- —> france and britain invaded Ruhr
- —> german workers refused to cooperate with foreign troops, causing industries in the region to reach a virtual standstill
- —> govt responded by printing more money
- —> the more money printed , the more its value decreased and prices of everything soared out of control
9
Q
Great Depression
A
- —> USA loaned Germany a sum of money to pay off reparations
- —> german economy dependant on financial aid from USA
- —> US economy collapsed
- —> great depression began with the collapse of wall street
- —> US recalled their loans
- —> resulted in total collapse of german economy which created a social crisis
- —> millions lost jobs
- —> government cut social services
- —> 6 million people unemployed
10
Q
nazi ideology
A
- —> promise to abolish TOV
- —> incited geman pride,
- —> pure aryan race
- —> Greater Germany where all german speaking people will be united
11
Q
charisma & oratorical skills
A
- —> powerful speaker
- —> strong belief in himself
- —> master at guaging mood of audience
- —> knew exactly what to say
- —> knew concerns of people
- —> appeal to people’s emotions (used scapegoats)
12
Q
exploitation of the fears of communism
A
- —> capitalised on the fears that people had of communism to advance his own cause
- —> capitalised on the fears of wealthy industrialists by saying that should a communist regime come into power, they would lose their wealth and status
- —> industrialist: hitler appeared to take sides by promising to help them once he is in power
- —> won support of peasants by working on the peasant’s fear that the communist would confiscate their lands if they came into power
