Nazis in the wilderness (1924-29)

Question 1

What did Hitler write whilst in jail after the Munich Putsch?

Answer 1

Mein Kampf (My Struggle)

Question 2

What key change did Hitler make during his time in jail?

Answer 2

He decided the Nazis needed to take power democratically - not violently

Question 3

The Nazis fought their first election in May 1924. How many seats did they win?

Answer 3

32 seats

Question 4

How many seats did the Nazis win in 1928?

Answer 4

12 seats

Question 5

How many seats did the Nazis win in July 1932?

Answer 5

230 seats

Question 6

How many seats did the Nazis win in November 1932?

Answer 6

196 seats

Question 7

After the Nazis won 32 seats in the May 1924 elections, what did Hitler establish?

Answer 7

Local networks of Nazis such as The Hitler Youth and the Nazi Students’ League

Question 8

Which key event allowed the Nazis to dramatically increase the number of seats they had in the Reichstag?

Answer 8

The Great Depression

Question 9

What happened to the Nazis’ vote share at the end of 1932?

Answer 9

It began to decline (230 seats down to 196 seats)

Question 10

Which other extremist party also gained during the Great Depression?

Answer 10

The Communist Party

Question 11

Between 1924-28, the Nazis were appealing to workers, but in 1928 their poor election showing convinced them they needed to look elsewhere. Which groups did they target?

Answer 11

• peasant farmers in northern Germany
• middle-class shopkeepers
• small business people in rural towns

Question 12

Who did not - despite the Nazis’ name - generally support the Nazis?

Answer 12

Workers. They mostly supported the Social Democratic Party (SPD) or, sometimes, the Communists

Question 13

Roughly what percentage of Germany’s population lived in rural areas?

Answer 13

35%

Question 14

What contrast did the Nazis emphasise between the cities and rural areas?

Answer 14

• They depicted cities as decadent, immoral and crime-ridden (and blamed the Jews for this)
• They depicted rural areas as being morally pure - where ‘true Germans’ (Aryans) could live a simple and honest life

Question 15

What did the Nazis promise rural peasants?

Answer 15

To help agriculture if they came to power

Question 16

What did Hitler enlarge in 1925?

Answer 16

The SA (Brownshirts)

Question 17

When did Hitler enlarge the SA?

Answer 17

In 1925

Question 18

What percentage of the SA came from the unemployed?

Answer 18

About 55%

Question 19

What were many SA members?

Answer 19

Ex-servicemen who had fought in the war

Question 20

What did Hitler also establish in 1925?

Answer 20

The SS - Hitler’s elite, personal bodyguard who were fanatically loyal to Hitler

Question 21

Who did Hitler put in charge of Nazi propaganda?

Answer 21

Joseph Goebbels

Question 22

What did Goebbels believe about appealing to ‘the masses’?

Answer 22

That it was more effective to appeal to people’s emotions (as opposed to their reason)

Question 23

What forms of propaganda did the Nazis use?

Answer 23

• posters
• leaflets
• films
• radio broadcasts
• rallies

Question 24

Why was there no electoral breakthrough in 1928, despite all the hard work of the Nazis to change their strategy?

Answer 24

Germany was prospering under Stresemann. Few Germans were interested in extreme parties.

Question 25

How many members did the Nazis have by 1928?

Answer 25

100,000

Question 26

Was state was the Nazi Party in by 1929?

Answer 26

Although they had relatively little support, they were highly organised around a charismatic and emotive speaker - Hitler.
They were well-positioned to seize the opportunity presented to them by the Wall St. Crash and Great Depression

Question 27

What did American journalist William Shirer say about Nazism in 1928?

Answer 27

“Nazism appears to be a dying cause…One scarcely hears of Hitler except as the butt of jokes.”