chapter 3 nazi germany Flashcards
the rise of hitler and the nazis to january 1933
when DAP set up
january 1919
When did Hitler join the German Workers’ Party?
Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party after attending a meeting as a spy for the German Army on 19th September, 1919.
How did Hitler take over the German Workers’ Party?
Hitler took over the party slowly. By 1921 he had replaced Anton Drexler as the head of the German Workers’ Party.
How did Hitler change the German Workers’ Party?
❖In February 1920, Drexler and Hitler wrote the Twenty-Five Point Programme which stated the party’s policies.
❖He increased the membership using his personal appeal and skill as a public speaker.
❖In 1920, the name of the party was changed to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) and introduced the swastika and the Nazi salute.
❖He officially took over from Drexler as the leader in July 1921, and gave jobs to his supporters such as Rudolf Hess, whom he made his deputy, and Ernst Röhm.
❖He created the Sturmabteilung, or SA, in August 1921, who were nicknamed the ‘Brownshirts’. They were the NSDAP’s private army.
How many members did the German Workers’ Party have?
Twenty-three people attended a DAP meeting on 12th September, 1919. By the end of 1920, membership had increased to 3,000 people
What was the Munich Beer Hall Putsch?
The Munich Beer Hall Putsch, was an armed uprising led by Hitler. He planned to establish a dictatorship in the Bavarian city of Munich, with the ultimate aim of overthrowing the Weimar Republic. It was the last in a series of uprisings that threatened the Weimar Republic between 1919 and 1923.
When was the Munich Beer Hall Putsch?
The Munich Beer Hall Putsch happened on the night of 8th November, 1923 and the morning of 9th November, 1923.
What caused the Munich Beer Hall Putsch?
❖Many people resented the Weimar Republic because they blamed the republic for Germany’s defeat in the First World War and the government were known as the ‘November Criminals’ for signing the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles.
❖Hitler was inspired by the actions of Benito Mussolini, who had overthrown democracy and set up a dictatorship in Italy in 1922.
❖The Nazi Party had grown to around 55,000 members in Bavaria by 1923.
❖The hyperinflation of 1923 had weakened the Weimar Republic, so it seemed that it was the perfect time for Hitler to organise a Putsch.
❖The former commander-in-chief of the army during the First World War, General Ludendorff, gave Hitler his support. General Ludendorff was very popular in Germany and had a great deal of influence in the German Army.
What were the main events of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch?
Hilter took over a political meeting at a beer hall being held by Gustav von Kahr, the leader of Bavaria’s state government, von Seisser, the head of the Bavarian police, and von Lossow, the head of the German Army in Bavaria.
❖The three men were forced to agree to Hitler’s plan of a Putsch at gunpoint. They were then released on 9th November, 1923.
❖Under Röhm, the SA took over the local police and army headquarters.
❖On 9th November, Hitler and his supporters marched on the town centre of Munich.
❖The police stopped them. Sixteen members of the Nazi Party were killed and Hitler fled, although he was arrested on 11th November, 1923.
Why did the Munich Beer Hall Putsch fail?
-Hitler made several errors - trusting Kahr and Lossow, the two nationalist politicians he planned the revolution with, was one of them.
❖The Putsch failed to gain the support needed from the Bavarian people.
❖The army also didn’t support the movement.
What were the negative consequences of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch for the Nazis?
❖Hitler was sent to prison for 5 years, but served only 9 months.
❖The Nazi Party was banned and Hitler was forbidden to speak in public until 1927.
What were the positive consequences of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch for the Nazis?
❖Hitler decided to use what had happened, and his subsequent trial, to his advantage to gain publicity across Germany, not just in Bavaria.
❖Hitler used his time in prison to write his book, ‘Mein Kampf’, which means ‘My Struggle’.
❖In the long-term, Hitler realised the Nazi Party would have to come to power through elections, not by force.
❖In the long-term, Hitler would have to re-organise the party.
What was done to reorganise the Nazi Party?
The Nazi Party underwent many changes between 1924 and 1929 when Hitler relaunched it after his release from prison. Hitler used his ideas in ‘Mein Kampf’ as a blueprint of how to change the party.
When did the Nazi Party reorganise under Hitler?
The Nazi Party was relaunched officially on 27th February, 1925.
Why was the Nazi Party reorganised by Hitler between 1924 and 1929?
❖To create a party that could appeal to the electorate and win seats in the Reichstag.
❖To turn the Nazi Party into a party that was active throughout Germany and not just Bavaria.
What was reorganised in the Nazi Party by Hitler between 1924 and 1929?
The headquarters.
❖The structure of the Nazi Party across Germany.
❖The creation of the SS.
❖The party finances.
❖Propaganda.
❖The SA.
When was the Bamberg Conference?
14th February, 1926.
What was the Bamberg Conference?
The Bamberg Conference was a very important meeting that occurred while Hitler was reorganising the Nazi Party between 1924 and 1929. Hitler used the conference to establish total control over the Nazi Party
What happened at the Bamberg Conference?
❖Hitler dominated the conferences. He made the northern ‘socialist’ members out to be communists who were the enemies of the Nazi Party.
❖Hitler persuaded Goebbels to change his views so that he joined the party’s nationalist wing
What were the results of the Bamberg Conference?
❖Hitler was now in complete control of the Nazi Party as he had used the conference to put in place the ‘Führerprinzip’, or ‘Leader Principle’. This meant that Hitler, as the party’s leader, was in total control and party members must show total obedience to him.
❖The socialist ideas of the Nazi Party were now no longer as important as its other ideas, such as nationalism.
Why did the Great Depression have an effect on Weimar Germany?
American banks and businesses had loaned money to Germany under the terms of the Dawes Plan in 1924. This connected America’s economy directly to Germany’s.
❖German banks suffered terrible losses because they were investors on the US stock exchange on Wall Street.
❖Ordinary people panicked about their savings in the banks and rushed to withdraw them. This caused some banks to run out of money.
❖German industry and businesses were affected because the collapsed German banks demanded they pay back any bank loans.
❖As a result, businesses, farms and industry had less money and had to reduce production or close. Both led to job losses.
❖After the Wall Street Crash, US banks and businesses recalled the loans they had made to Weimar Germany.
❖Businesses were closing all over the world, which meant there was lower demand for goods, which led to businesses laying off workers. By January 1933, there were 6.1 million Germans unemployed.
How many people were in the SA?
By 1932 the SA had 400,000 members, which quickly surged to 2 million after Hitler became chancellor of Germany.
Why did the support for the Nazi Party increase in the 1930s?
❖Unhappiness with the Weimar Republic’s failure to solve the Great Depression.
❖Hitler appealed to many voters.
❖The tactics of the Nazi Party.
❖The impact of the Great Depression.
❖The fear of the Communist Party.
How did the appeal of Hitler help increase support for the Nazi Party?
❖He presented himself as a strong leader who promised to solve the crisis.
❖He promised to restore law and order which was breaking down.
❖He was a powerful speaker.
❖He promised something for everyone.
