Hitler's Rise to Power Flashcards
1
Q
What were the aims of the Nazi party?
A
Destroy the TOV and Reparations Make a pure German Nazi race Strong government with a clear leader Destroy communism Teach young Nazis to love their country Take over Eastern Europe to feed Germanys population
2
Q
What was the Nazi Party originally named?
A
German Workers Party
3
Q
What does Nazi stand for?
A
National Socialist German Workers Party
4
Q
What was the SA?
A
Made up of ex soldiers and members of the Freikorps who hated communists
5
Q
What was the impact of the SA? (positive)
A
Stopped parties spreading oppositional ideas eg Communists
Handed out leaflets and gave people food in hospitals as part of propaganda
Protected Nazi speakers
6
Q
What were the limitations of the SA?
A
They were seen as thugs to the middle class and upper class During the "Golden Age" after Stresseman his help was not needed
7
Q
What did the 1928 election show?
A
- The 1928 election showed that the Nazi Party was a long way from getting into power.
- Approximately 2.6% of Germans voted for the Nazis.
8
Q
What is the acronym for why the Nazis failed to gain power by 1928?
A
-PES.
9
Q
What does the P stand for in why theNazis failed to gain power by 1928?
A
- 1924-1929 was a time of peace and prosperity.
- Stresemann had managed to solve many of the economic problems of the early 1920s. Loans from America had helped to rebuild the German economy. As a result, most people felt better off.
- Stresemannhad built better relationships with other countries and political violence inside Germany had decreased.
10
Q
What does the E stand for in how the Nazis failed to get into power by 1928?
A
- The Nazis’ ideas were too extreme.
- People were put off by the Nazis’ foreign policy and racial ideas and their aim of invading other countries.
- The SA were very violent. They were seen by many people as a little more than hired thugs.
11
Q
What does the S stand for in why the Nazis failed to gain power by 1928?
A
- The Nazis lacked the support of the working class.
- Most workers voted for Social Democrats.
- Workers who wanted to see change tended to vote for the Communists rather than the Nazis.
12
Q
What were the two ways the Nazis changed their tactics between 1924 and 1929?
A
- Election and decline.
- Re-organising the Party.
13
Q
How did elections and decline help the Nazis between the years 1924 and 1929?
A
-After the failure of the Munich Putsch, Hitler decided that he would have to get power by being elected, rather than by rebellion.
14
Q
What were the limitations to elections and decline helping the Nazis between the years 1924 and 1929?
A
- However, Hitler was banned from speaking until 1928 - so took a while before it/he was effective.
- The prosperity of the Stresemann years, also, meant that the Nazi’s message became less appealing and the party lost support.
15
Q
How did re-organising the party help the Nazis between the years 1924 and 1928?
A
- In this period, Hitler set about reorganising the Party, he had made a decision in prison that he would now try to gain power through legal and democratic methods.
- He put many events in place which helped the Party to take power after 1928.
16
Q
What things did Hitler put in place between the years 1924 and 1928?
A
- He reduced number of stormtroopers (SA) and set up he SS, a personal bodyguard fanatically loyal to himself.
- He set up a network of local parties. He merged other right-wing parties, then took them over.
- He set up the Hitler Youth - attracted young people to the party.
- He out Josef Goebbels in charge of propaganda. Goebbels and Hitler believed that the best way to get the support of the masses was by appealing to their feelings rather than by argument. They waged a propaganda campaign using posters, leaflets, radio and film, and organised rallies.
- He cultivated the support of wealthy businessmen promising them that, if he came to power, he would destroy Communism and the Trade Unions. This gave him the finance to run his campaigns.
17
Q
What would you say if the question was why was Hitler was appointed Chancellor?
A
-You would do the same explanation/factors as why/how Hitler rose to power and how Hitler became Chancellor (Von Papen/von Schleicher etc.) because this meant it became increasingly difficult for Hindenburg to refuse his request to beChancellor as no one else could control the Reichstag.
18
Q
What is the acronym for how Hitler rose to power?
A
-PLOWPCOD.
19
Q
What does the first P stand for in how Hitler rose to power by 1932?
A
- Nazi promises - Nazis managed to appeal to the German people and this made people more likely to vote for them.
- Nazis concentrated on issues that the German people were worried about.
- They promised to reverse the Treaty of Versailles, create jobs and solve the economic crisis, restore order in Germany, restore traditional values and destroy communism.
- Their promises were designed to appeal to everyone from businessmen and farmers to factory workers and housewives.
- The Nazis were also flexible in what they said if they found that a policy was unpopular, they would change it.
20
Q
What does L stand for in how Hitler rose to power by 1932?
A
- Hitler’s leadership skills - his own skills helped to make the Nazi party more popular because he was a potential leader of Germany.
- Hitler was a strong leader who was able to make people believe that he alone could save them from the problems facing Germany.
- He was also a very powerful and inspiring speaker.
- He seemed to be able to fill audiences with a sense of hope.
21
Q
What does O stand for in how Hitler rose to power by 1932?
A
- Organisation - The Nazis managed to appeal to the German people and this made people more likely to vote for them.
- Nazis = good at raising money for their election campaigns.
- A lot of this money from ordinary members.
- Nazis also attracted huge donations from big businessmen because they promised to protect big businesses from the communist threat. These donations helped to fund the expensive election campaigns.
- Nazi Party members worked hard in their local regions to spread the Nazi message through leafleting and public meetings.
- Nazis also organised soup kitchens for the unemployed.
- SA played an important role - with their uniforms and marches the Nazis looked capable of bringing law and order to Germany.
22
Q
What does W stand for in how Hitler rose to power by 1932?
A
- The US stockmarket crashed in 1929 (29th October 1929). This was known as the Wall Street Crash.
- US banks started to recall their loans and this hit Germany particularly hard as German businesses were very dependant on US loans.
- As a result, German firms went bankrupt and unemployment rose. Many Germans were forced to live in poverty.
23
Q
What does the second P stand for in how Hitler rose to power by 1932?
A
- Nazi propaganda.
- Nazi propaganda was organised by Josef Goebbels.
- Nazis used latest technology - loudspeakers, slide shows and films - to spread their message.
- They used mass rallies and marches to give the impression of discipline and order.
- They also used powerful propaganda posters with simple slogans to spread their key ideas.
24
Q
What does C stand for in how Hitler rose to power by 1932?
A
- Fear of communism - the Nazis were well known for their intent to destroy communism and therefore Germans who feared communism were attracted to support the Nazi party.
- From 1930-1932, support for Communists increased.
- The German Communist Party = largest in Europe, outside the USSR (Russia).
- The Communists had a lot of support from the working class and people in Germany began to fear the communists would take over the country (due to their size and rapid increase in support).
- In particular, industrialists and farmers feared the Communists because in the Soviet Union the Communist government had taken over big industries and farmers’ land.
25
What does the second O stand for in how Hitler rose to power by 1932?
- Weak opposition - the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic made people question democracy and start to seek an alternative, which they found in the Nazi party.
- Opposition to the Nazis was weak and undivided.
- The Nazis' two main rivals, the Social Democrats and the Communists were bitter enemies and were not prepared to work together to stop the Nazis.
- People had lost trust in the parties who had ruled Germany during the Depression. As Chancellor in 1930, Bruning cut unemployment benefit and raised taxes. The Social Democrats walked out of the Reichstag in protest.
- The politicians did not seem to be able to do anything to solve the crisis and the German people questioned the effectiveness of democracy as the government was not meeting the needs of the people.
26
What does D stand for in how Hitler rose to power by 1932?
-Great Depression.
27
What is the acronym for how the Great Depression helped Hitler rise to power by 1932?
-SEW.
28
What does the S stand for in how the Great Depression helped Hitler rose to power by 1932?
- It made life a great struggle for people.
- Many businesses went bankrupt.
- Those that survived saw their profits drop.
- Farmers also struggled and many went out of business.
- By 1932, unemployment had reached 6 million.
29
What does E stand for in how the Great Depression helped Hitler rise to power by 1932?
- Increased support for extremist parties.
- Great Depression made people angry.
- Many blamed the government that had been running the country and started to criticise the democratic system. For example, in 1930, Bruning cut unemployment benefits and increased tax which angered many people so they turned to more extremist parties, such as the Communists and the Nazis.
- People started to support more extremist political parties, such as the Nazis and the Communists.
- As unemployment increased, so did the votes for Nazis.
30
What does W stand for in how the Great Depression helped Hitler to rise to power by 1932?
- Made the Weimar government look weak.
- Politicians could not agree what to do to help poor people and the unemployed
- As so many people has lost their jobs, the government relieved less money from taxes.
- They did not want to spend their extra money that they did not have on the poor because they thought that it could lead to hyperinflation (as it did in 1923).
- So to start with, they did nothing.
- Then, when they did act, they actually reduced the money they spent - cutting unemployment benefit and increasing taxes - angered people a lot as they were not helping them, in fact they were making their conditions even worse, so they turned to extremist parties, such as the Nazis/Communist who have them hope of helping them, such as some of the Nazi promises - improving economic situation in Germany/abolishing Treaty of Versailles/getting rid of the reparations.
- This made the government unpopular.
31
How was Hitler made Chancellor?
- In Juky 1932 - Nazis won 37% of the vote in the elections.
- Largest party in the Reichstag.
- But, Nazis did not have majority they needed to control the Reichstag.
- Hitler demanded to be Chancellor.
- However, Hindenburg refused.
- Instead, he appointed his friend Von Papen, leader of the Catholic Centre Party.
- However, he did not have the support of the Reichstag and his government collapsed. New elections were held in November.
- Nazis won 33% of the vote - still larges party in the Reichstag. This time Hindenburg chose Von Schleicher as Chancellor.
- He too failed to gain the support of the Reichstag.
- Von Papen wanted revenge - The Nazis were still the largest party, so he thought he could use them to get power for himself and remove Von Schleicher.
- He made a deal with Hindenburg.
- They agreed to form a new government with Von Papen as Chancellor and Hitler as Vice-Chancellor.
- In January 1933 Hitler became Chancellor.
- Hindenburg + Von Papen thought that they could control Hitler - they made sure that only 2 out of 9 people who made up the new government were Nazis.
32
How did Hindenburg and Von Papen think that they could control Hitler whilst he was Vice-Chancellor?
-Hindenburg + Von Papen thought that they could control Hitler - they made sure that only 2 out of 9 people who made up the new government were Nazis.
33
What was life like in Germany (government) in January 1933?
- Germany was still a democracy in January 1933.
- Support for Nazis had fallen from 37% to 33% during 1932.
- In order to control the Reichstag, Hitler needed over 50% of the vote.
- Hitler could be sacked by Hindenburg at any time.
- Apart from Hitler only 2 other Nazis had been given positions in the new government and the other 7 positions were filled by non-Nazis whom Hindenburg and Papen thought they could control.
34
What was life like (government) by the end of 1934?
- Germany was a dictatorship.
- Von Papenhad resigned.
- Hindenburg was dead and Hitler was now President as well as Chancellor.
- The Nazis were the only political party and all threats to the Nazi Party had been removed.
- Hitler had the power to introduce any law he wanted (Enabling Act which was established in 1934 I think).
