GERMANY- the rise and consolidation of the Nazi regime 1925-1934

Question 1

how was the Munich Putsch a failure for the Nazis?

Answer 1

• people didn’t rise up and support Hitler. his tactic relied heavily on people doing so. without peoples support his plan was a complete failure.
• he and other leading Nazis were arrested and sentenced to lifetime in jail

Question 2

how was the Munich Putsch a success for the Nazis?

Answer 2

• at the trial Hitler gained enormous publicity for himself and ideas
• he impressed the judges so much that he and his accomplices were given only 5 years in prison when they should’ve been given a life sentence
• in the end he only served 9 months of his sentence in great comfort in Landsberg Castle
• it was clear he had gained some sympathy and support from important figures in the legal system
• during his time in prison he wrote much of Mein Kampf

Question 3

what was negative cohesion

Answer 3

people supported the Nazis not because they shared Nazi views but because they shared Nazi fear (if you hate what i hate then i’ll support you)

Question 4

what were negative reasons that led people to vote for the Nazis?

Answer 4

1. dissatisfaction with democracy
2. politicians unable to tackle problems of the Depression
3. the chancellor urged people to make sacrifices and cut welfare benefits in the worst of the depression
4. new elections in 1930s allowed the Nazis to exploit discontent
5. many felt that democracy was not serving well = increased unemployment and decreased wages
6. reichstag seemed irrelevant as Hindenburg was ruling by decree anyway

Question 5

how did decadence lead people to vote for the Nazis?

Answer 5

• as for modern decadent culture, the Nazis could count on those who felt traditional german values were under threat
• they talked about restoring old fashioned values
• the democrats made a huge mistake in thinking people wouldn’t fall for these promises and underestimated the anger people felt towards the Weimar Government

Question 6

why did the people vote for the Nazis? (1.)

Answer 6

THE NAZIS PROMISED TO IMPROVE PEOPLES LIVES.

1. workers were promised lives
   
   • jobs were found in the army and public works programmes
   • many unemployed had already joined the SA
   • the Nazis set up soup kitchen and hostels for the unemployed
2. Small shopkeepers were promised protection from the competition of Jewish- owned department stores
3. farmers promised high prices

Question 7

why did the people vote for the Nazis? (2)

Answer 7

HITLER PROMISED TO MAKE GERMANY GREAT AGAIN

1. by abolishing the Treaty of Versailles
2. by rearmament
3. by uniting german speaking people
4. by conquering lebensraum

Question 8

why did the people vote for the Nazis? (3)

Answer 8

HITLER PROMISED STRONG LEADERSHIP

1. he would be a strong leader in comparison to the weakness of Weimar
2. he would deal forcefully with the ‘enemy within’ (jews and communists) using the SA
3. he would bring order out of chaos (SA)
4. his personal appeal

Question 9

why was the Nazis campaigning method effective?

Answer 9

• well organised, motivated and obedient
• flexible, if they found an idea was losing support they dropped it. used vague promises ‘make germany great again’
• skilled in propaganda and new technology
• every sector of germany heard something for them
• gained the support of powerful industrialists
• Hitler was focused and strong, posters portrayed him as a superman.

Question 10

how did the communist threat lead people to vote for the Nazis?

Answer 10

• fear of communisms was another shared negative
• communist threat scared 2 groups in particular:
  1. BUSINESS LEADERS = communist plans to introduce state control of business. concerned about growing strength of trade unions also
  2. FARMERS = in USSR millions of peasants had been killed / imprisoned when communists took over land. Nazis promised to help struggling farmers

Question 11

How did Hitler become chancellor in 1933?

Answer 11

1. elections 1932. Hitler denied chancellor position, given to Von Papen
2. Nazis in financial trouble and losing earlier appeal. Von Schleicher becomes chancellor
3. Von Schleicher forced to resign. Von Papen secretly agrees to work with Hitler in hope he would regain power
4. Von Papen persuades Hindenburg to bring in Hitler, and thinks that together they can control the Nazis
5. Hitler becomes chancellor and Von Papen vice chancellor

Question 12

how did NAZI STRENGTHS lead Hitler to become chancellor?

Answer 12

1. POLICIES
   - clear and simple policies
   - vague policies
   - something to please most groups
   - abolish treaty of versailles
2. HITLER’S SPEAKING SKILLS
   - excellent speaker with clear and simple messages
   - stirred nationalist passions in audiences
3. PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGNS
   - appointed Goebbels
   - used many forms of propaganda
4. SUPPORT FROM BIG BUSINESS
   - gained support of powerful industrialists (financial too)
5. CRITICISM OF WEIMAR REPUBLIC
   - it introduced unpopular policies
   - nazis used this to their advantage
6. VIOLENT TREATMENT OF OPPONENTS
   - SA disrupted communist meeting
   - stirred up violence at election meeting so the SA could crush it and be seen as ‘dealing with the communist threat’

Question 13

how did OPPONENTS WEAKNESSES lead Hitler to become chancellor?

Answer 13

1. FAILURE TO DEAL WITH THE DEPRESSION
   - weakened weimar government
   - mass unemployment crisis in 1929-30 to avoid hyperinflation
   - article 48 enforced = undermined democracy
2. FAILURE TO COOPERATE WITH EACH OTHER
   - up to 1930 social democrats never won enough votes to govern on their own = constant coalitions
3. ATTITUDES OF GERMANS TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTIES
   - around 30% of vote went to extremist parties

Question 14

how did OTHER FACTORS lead Hitler to become chancellor?

Answer 14

1. THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES
   - many hated the treaty of versailles and felt germany had been unfairly treated
   - nazis promised to rearm germany and abolish the treaty
2. SCHEMING OF VON PAPEN AND HINDENBURG
   - allowed Hitler to become chancellor and have more power to enforce his policies
3. IMPACT OF DEPRESSION ON ORDINARY GERMANS
   - farmers had not done well in 1920s and debts only increased in 1930s
   - elderly pensions were cut
   - businesses forced to close. income of middle classes fell
   - taxes increased to pay for benefits for the poor
   - 40% of all workers were unemployed. unemployment rose to 6 mill by end of 1932
4. WEAKNESSES IN WEIMAR CONSTITUTION
   - politics mostly unstable, 25 governments in 14 years
   - economy constantly under threat of US loans coming in at any time
5. MEMORY OF ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF 1923
   - Hitler promised to solve of Germany’s economic problems and give everyone a fair wage

Question 15

what positives did the Weimar Government give (POLITICS)

Answer 15

• gustavo stresemann had put together a coalition of moderate parties on right and left which helped him win the 1924 and 1928 elections
• THE NAZIS GAINED 12 SEATS IN THE 1928 ELECTIONS (ONLY 3% OF THE VOTE)
• berlin was now a safe place to visit having previously witnessed political violence

Question 16

what negatives did the Weimar Government give (POLITICS)

Answer 16

• 25 separate governments in 14 years
• many nationalists wanted the treaty of versailles abolished, not just revised
• around 30% of vote regularly went to extremist parties that stood against weimar
• up to 1930 the SDP never won a enough votes to govern on their own
• even during stable years of government there were 4 different chancellors
• in 1925 the war hero hindenburg was elected president. he was a prominent critic of weimar republic

Question 17

what positives did the Weimar Government give (ECONOMY)

Answer 17

1. by 1928 industrial production had finally overtaken pre WW1 levels, by 1930 it was one of the leading exporters of manufactured good
2. a high speed rail line was built
3. in 1924 the hyperinflation crisis was delt with by introducing the Retenmark
4. the Dawes plan allowed 800 million marks of loans to come in from USA to help industry recover

Question 18

what negatives did the Weimar Government give (ECONOMY)

Answer 18

• farmers wages around half the national average by 1929
• still a concentration of power in a few industrialists, especially in steel and chemical industry
• many small business owners felt threatened by large, mostly Jew owned department stores
• US loans could be called in at any time

Question 19

what positives did the Weimar Government give (CULTURE)

Answer 19

• thriving new movement in architecture known as Bauhaus
• in 1927 there were 900 dance bands in berlin
• the weimar constitution allowed free expression of ideas and artist such as george Grosz and Otto Dix thrived
• golden age of german cinema

Question 20

what negatives did the Weimar Government give (CULTURE)

Answer 20

• the wandervogel movement campaigned for a return to simple country values and against what they saw as the decadence and moral decline of the cities

Question 21

what positives did the Weimar Government give (FOREIGN RELATIONS)

Answer 21

• in 1926 stresemann took germany into the LN
• in 1925 stresemann signed the Locarno treaties in which Germany guaranteed not to change its borders with France and Belgium

Question 22

what were things like in the Weimar government?

Answer 22

• politics mostly unstable but democracy was beginning to overpower other parties so it was improving
• the economy was becoming more stable as hyperinflation had been dealt with, despite threat of US loans coming in
• culture had significantly improved and became more stable with art film and music thriving
• foreign relations became more stable after Stresemann signed the Locarno treaty and joined the LN

Question 23

what did the early Nazi party stand for?

Answer 23

• in 1920 the german workers party was renamed the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis)
• Hitler was put in charge of the party’s propaganda and political ideas
• they saw the social democratic party as a communist government and wanted to overthrow it.
• hitler became its leader in 1921

Question 24

in what ways were the early Nazi party NATIONALIST?

Answer 24

• abolish the treaty of Versailles
• challenge terror or violence with your own terror or violance
• destroy Marxism
• remove Jews from all positions of leadership in Germany
• no non-german newspaper editors
• educate gifted children at the states expense
• nationalise important industries
• strong central government
• conquer lebensraum
• rearm germany

Question 25

in what ways were the early Nazi party SOCIALIST?

Answer 25

• destroy the Weimar Republic
• challenge terror or violence with your own terror or violence
• increase old age pension
• strong central government
• nationalise important industries

Question 26

what were the early Nazi symbols and tactics?

Answer 26

1. The swastika
2. the SA
   - stormtroopers, uniformed thugs ‘the Brown Shirts’
   - thugs who protected their party’s meetings and disrupted the meeting of other parties
3. Hitler’s speeches
   - good speaker
   - stirred nationalist passions in audiences
   - clear and simple messages

Question 27

how did the Depression affect middle classes?

Answer 27

businesses were forced to close. incomes of middle classes fell, taxes were raised to pay for benefits for the poor

Question 28

how did the Depression affect the elderly?

Answer 28

pensions provisions were cut

Question 29

how did the Depression affect farmers?

Answer 29

farmers had not done well in the 1920s and debts only increased in the 1930s

Question 30

how did the Depression affect workers?

Answer 30

• 40% of all factory workers were unemployed by 1932.

- unemployment rose from 1.5m in 1928 to nearly 6 mill by end of 1932

Question 31

how did the depression weaken Weimar government? (1)

Answer 31

1. FORCED TO INTRODUCE UNPOPULAR ECONOMIC POLICIES
   - desperate to avoid hyperinflation so avoided printing more money to deal with economic problems
   - instead resorted to raising taxes and cutting benefits
   - growing numbers of unemployed were paid less and less in benefits = weakened support for government
   - ECONOMIC CRISIS, NOT HYPERINFLATION BUT MASS UNEMPLOYMENT

Question 32

how did the depression weaken Weimar government? (2)

Answer 32

2. LED TO PRESIDENTIAL RULE
   - government was so unpopular that chancellor brunimg couldn’t get the Reichstag to agree to his actions
   - president Hindenburg used article 48 to govern without Reichstag
   - this undermined democracy

Question 33

how did the depression weaken Weimar government? (3)

Answer 33

3. LED TO THE RISE OF EXTREMISM
   - established parties of weimar system were unpopular because of their failure to address the issues of the depression
   - people turned to the extremist parties who promised simple solutions
   - extremist parties were committed to overthrowing democracy