9. How Did Nazis Gain Power And Hitler Become Chancellor By January 1933?

Question 1

Actions of Weimar politicians 1929 - January 1933

Answer 1

• in October 1929 Gustav Stresemann died robbing the republic of its most able supporter while the wall street crash occurred
• faced with such a range of problems the grand coalition which had been formed after the 1928 general election began to break up
• in March 1930 chancellor Hermann Müller resigned
• Heinrich Brüning of the centre took over as chancellor his use of article 48 earned him the title of the hunger chancellor
• the government still remained divided
• several of the coalitions smaller parties wanted to reduce the governments welfare spending as it was struggling to provide payments to so many unemployed, however the social democrats refused
• within months the governments finally collapsed and an election was announced for 1930
• the immediate cause was the Reichstags refusal to support the governments plans to cut spending while increasing taxation
• in this election the nazis and communists increased their support with the former winning 107 seats and the latter 77
• all of the parties committed to supporting Weimar and using democracy lost votes and seats in the Reichstag
• Weimar Republic turned to extremists such as the communists and the nazis. These parties had never been part of the government and so could not be connected with the failures
• Brüning remained chancellor even though he was incapable of forming a stable government, unable to get parliament to agree with his laws, he was forced to ask Hindenburg to use article 48
• for the next two years all key laws were passed this way as a result Germany had become a presidential democracy

Question 2

Actions of the nazis leading to increased support 1929-January 1933

Answer 2

• Joseph Goebbels head of propaganda used sophisticated propaganda e.g an aeroplane to ferry Hitler around the country in the 1932 presidential election called ‘Hitler over Germany’
• canvassing door to door
• nazi policies focuses on people hit hardest by the Great Depression e.g middle class, farmers, young people
• starving, homeless, unemployed: the nazis offered jobs and the restoration of a vibrant economy ‘bread and work’
• those angry at the reduction of the German military - Hitler offered the overthrow of Versailles and return to greatness
• those looking for someone to blame for all of Germany’s problems: hitler pointed to the Jews and communists
• hitler also enjoyed the support of Alfred Hugenberg the owner of many newspapers which the nazis used to spread their message
• the SA grew massively launching regular attacks on opposition meetings
• SA + Hitler youth gained many new supporters
• Hitler was a talented orator who portrayed an image of strength + other members were trained as oriators
• leading industrialists such as Krupp and Thyssen supported Hitler financially
• Hitler promised to destroy Germany’s trade union movement

Question 3

Step 1 : dictator

Answer 3

The enabling law March 1933

Gave hitler the power to make laws for the next four years without Reichstag approval

Question 4

Step 2 Eliminate national opponents unfinished

Answer 4

The states-
1 state parliaments re-organised to give nazi majorities
2 nazi governors appointed to all states with power to make state laws

Question 5

Nazi change in tactics after the Munich putsch 1924-29

Answer 5

• after the failure of the Munich putsch the nazis decided to use political methods to get into power, Hitler said he would ‘hold his nose and enter the reichstag’
• hitler was released from prison in December 1924
• he reestablished the nazi party
• he began to set up branches across the country in an attempt to make it a national rather than regional organisation
• the refounded party was based around the leadership principle which emphasised absolute obedience to Hitler
• as part of this process new nazi groups were formed such as the SS in 1925 and the hitler youth in 1926 to train future members of the nazi party
• at the same time the use of violence was completely removed as a tactic
• when occasion demanded the SA was still involved in street fights, particularly against the KPD’s equivalent force, the red fighting league
• whether these changes had any impact on the parties electoral fortune was answered in the 1928 election, the nazis won only 12 seats
• when Germany appeared to be recovering both politically and economically there seemed to be no reason to vote for a party who’s main policy was to destroy the Weimar government