Hitler and the rise of the Nazi Party, 1919-33 Flashcards
Describe key features of the early German Workers Party (DAP).
- Led by Anton Drexler, founded 1919
- Disliked communism/socialism
- Disliked Weimar Politicians who had betrayed Germany
- Disliked democracy, considering it weak
- Disliked Jewish people
Hitler agreed with the DAP’s viewpoints.
Name three points on the DAP’s 25-point plan launched in February 1920.
- Scrapping the Treaty of Versailles.
- Expanding Germany’s borders; lebensraum
- Removing citizenship of Jews
When did Hitler become leader of the NSDAP?
1921
Name key leaders, loyal to Hitler, within the NSDAP.
Ernst Rohm
Hermann Goerring
Rudolf Hess
Julius Streicher
Describe the SA (Hitler’s Stormtroopers)
- Founded in 1921
- Private army of the Nazi Party
- Recruited from unemployed, homeless, ex-soldiers
- Nicknamed the ‘brownshirts’
- Provided security to Nazi events
- Harassed opposing political groups.
They were thuggish and hard to control. As a result, Hitler formed a more professional bodyguard unit (the SS).
Describe the impact of the Munich Putsch
Hitler was put on trial for treason, but used the court proceedings to get national publicity. While the NSDAP was initially banned, it was weakly forced and lifted not long afterb eing introduced.
As a result of this publicity, the NSDAP gained its first seats in the Reichstag.
- Hitler was released after 9 months.
- Wrote the book, Mein Kampf
- Hitler decided to adopt an electoral approach to gaining power in Germany
In the 1924 Reichstag election, how many seats did the Nazi Party win?
32 seats
Describe changes in the Nazi Party during its lean years, 1924-28.
- In 1925, the party was relaunched. 4000 people came to hear Hitler speak.
- The party was reorganised; divided into regional sections.
- Hitler attracted donations from industrialists such as Krupp and Bosch.
- Hitler began expanding the SA.
What is the SS? When was it created? Why was it created?
The SS was created by Hitler in 1925 as a personal bodyguard unit that offered the professionalism that the SA lacked. The SA had a reputation for being thuggish, and owed its loyalty to Ernst Rohm.
Concerned that the SA would undermine Hitler’s control, the SS helped increase his personal control over the party.
Between 1924 and 1928, describe Nazi propaganda efforts.
Dr Joseph Goebbels was put in charge of party propaganda. The idea was to get a simple powerful message across to the German people:
- Jews, immigrants, communists and Weimar Politicians are the cause of Germany’s problems. They betrayed Germany by signing the Treaty of Versailles.
The Nazi Party created an image of strength through mass rallies held by the SA. It used the latest technology, included radio and film, to keep Hitler in the public eye.
Most importantly, Hitler was presented as a strong leader.
During the 1928 elections, how many Reichstag seats did the Nazi Party win?
12
Why was the Nazi Party lean during the years 1924-28?
- The economy was recovering due to Stressemann’s reforms.
- Hindenburg was elected in 1925 as president, and was trusted as a strong leader for the Weimar Republic.
- They had only 12 seats in the Reichstag.
- They polled less than 3% of the vote.
Describe key features of the Wall Street Crash (1929)
- Began in New York, October 1929
- Stock prices began falling.
- Panic selling, prices fell even further.
- Black Thursday, 24 October, 13 million shares were sold.
- Tenfold decrease in many share prices.
- Huge loss of investments for many Americans
In Germany, how many were unemployed by January 1933?
6 million people.
By 1932, how far had industrial production fell in Germany?
By 40%
Who was elected chancellor in 1930 and what did he propose?
Heinrich Bruning was elected chancellor, he wanted to raise taxes to pay the cost of unemployment benefit. he wanted to reduce the unemployment benefit to make payments more affordable.
What problems did Bruning’s coalition face?
Both left-wing and right-wing parties opposed Bruning’s reforms, making it very difficult to the coalition to agree on key issues. As a result, the coalition failed and Bruning was forced to rule by decree.
In 1931, how many presidential decrees were issued on the behalf of Chancellor Bruning?
44 decrees
When did Bruning resign?
1932
In 1928, how many votes did the Nazi Party receive?
1 million votes
In 1932, how many votes did the Nazi Party receive?
13 million votes
By 1930, how large was the SA?
400,000 troopers
Describe the result of the 1932 presidential election.
In 1932, Hitler put himself up for presidency, however did not secure enough votes. A second election was held, and Hindenberg was able to hold onto his presidency.
Why did Bruning fall from power?
His ban on the SA and SS angered right-wing parties, so von Schleicher decided to organise a coalition of right-wing groups to oust him. He convinced Hindenberg that he had a majority and sacked him.
Von Papen was made chancellor in May 1932.
