The Depression and the Rise of Hitler 1929-34 Flashcards
Why did the Depression start?
In 1924, German foreign minister, Gustav Stresemann agreed a deal with America, the Dawes Plan. They borrowed huge sums of money from America.
In October 1929, the Wall Street Crash on the US stock market, leading to a global depression. America demanded money they had loaned out to all European countries back (affected Germany the worst).
The German industry lost its finance and businesses began laying off workers = less money = less demand = dropped prices = workers fired etc.
Winter 1929-30 - unemployment rose from 1.4 mill - >2 mill.
1933 - 1 in 3 Germans were unemployed and industrial production had halved.
1929 - 33 = the DEPRESSION
How were different groups in Germany affected by the Depression?
Upper middle: Businessmen = production halved in 1933, prices rose, more costs, businesses lost.
Middle-lower: Young people = hard to get house/job/education - bleak future.
Working class: Factory workers = closed businesses, huge unemployment, 1 in 3 unemployed by 1933.
Lower: Farmers = self employed, but the international market is smaller, still doesn’t affect as much.
How did the Depression weaken the Weimar government?
Unpopular economic policies:
- rising unemployment, growing poverty. A way out was to print more money and increase gov expenditure, leading to inflation in 1925
- to combat this, the Chancellor raised taxes, cut wages and reduced unemployment benefit
- decreased support from Germans - looked to extremist parties
Presidential rule:
- President Hindenburg used Article 48 to keep the Chancellor in power, undermined democracy and weakened the Reichstag
- this made the gov weaker as Hindenburg was an 84 year old war hero controlled by business/army leaders
Rise of extremism:
- seemed to the German people that the Weimar gov was a disaster, they became more involved and started voting for extremist parties - communists and Nazis who promised to help
- this made the gov weaker as political violence/extremism increased with comms v nazis fighting regular battles - 500 killed/seriously injured in frenzy during 1932 elections
Who supported the Nazis and why?
wealthy businessmen: frightened by the increase in support for the communists, they began to finance Hitler and the Nazis
the middle-class: alarmed by the obvious failure of democracy, they decided that the country needed a strong government and gave their votes to Hitler
nationalists: they blamed the legacy of the Treaty of Versailles and reparations for causing the depression and so lent their support to the Nazis
rural areas: Nazi support was particularly strong amongst both middle class shopkeepers and artisans, farmers and agricultural labourers
How was propaganda used by the Nazis to gain support?
Nazi propaganda was controlled by Joseph Goebbels and had three mains themes:
- The Führer cult. Hitler was always portrayed as Germany’s saviour – the man who would rescue the country from the grip of depression.
- Volksgemeinschaft (people’s community). This was the idea that the Nazis would create one German community that would make religion or social class less relevant to people.
- Scapegoating the Jews (and others) for Germany’s ills. Jews were often portrayed as sub-human, or as a threat to both the racial purity and economic future of the country.
Hitler was a great orator with an extraordinary power to win people over. Goebbels’ propaganda campaign was very effective and brought huge support for the Nazis by targeting specific groups of society with different slogans and policies to win their support.
How was the SA used by the Nazis to gain support?
The SA played a part in the Nazis’ increasing popularity by:
- intimidating the Nazis’ political opponents – especially the communists – by turning up at their meetings and attacking them
- providing opportunities for young, unemployed men to become involved in the party
- protecting Hitler and other key Nazis when they organised meetings and made speeches
How was the Treaty of Versailles used by the Nazis to gain support?
The Nazis had consistently attacked the Treaty of Versailles, calling it a Diktat that had been imposed on the German people, not only by the victorious Allies, but also by the new Weimar government who had signed it. Hitler promised to discard the restrictions of the Treaty and restore Germany’s armed forces and its position of strength and pride in international affairs. Hitler also promised to ignore the payment of reparations.
How did Hitler become Chancellor in January 1933?
Mar 1930-May 32 Brüning = Chancellor = ineffective in dealing with unemployment crisis during Depression.
By 1932 Pres Hindenburg had to use Article 48 to pass almost every law.
1932:
Apr - Pres election. Hitler (37%) = 2nd to Hindenburg (53%).
May - Brüning resigned as Chancellor. Hindenburg appoint Von Papen = conservative, as replacement.
Jul - Reichstag elections. Nazis = largest party w 230 seats, but still did not have a majority. Hitler demanded to be made Chancellor but Papen remained.
Nov - Reichstag elections called by Papen to try to win maj in parliament. Nazis lost 34 seats but remained largest party.
Dec - Papen resigned. Hindenburg appointed Von Schleicher, (army general), as Chancellor.
1933:
Jan - Von Papen and Hindenburg turned to Hitler, appointing him as Chancellor with Von Papen as Vice Chancellor. Believed could control Hitler + get him to do what they wanted.
What were Hitler’s aims?
Initially, Hitler needed more support in the Reichstag if he was to be head of a strong government and then eventually gain absolute power, as was his aim, and to eliminate all sources of opposition.
He therefore convinced President Hindenburg to call a new Reichstag election for March 1933. This set off a series of events that ended with Hitler becoming a dictator.
What happened in the Reichstag Fire and how did it help Hitler gain power?
27 Feb 1933:
The Reichstag building was set on fire. A Dutch communist, van der Lubbe, was blamed - at the scene of the crime, holding matches but had the mental capacity of a 10 year old.
Hitler used the fire to persuade Hindenburg to pass an emergency law restricting personal liberty - the Emergency Decree. This enabled him to imprison many communist leaders, which stopped them campaigning during the election.
Goering’s Nazi police arrested 4000 communists (including their leader Ernst Thalmann), they shut down the communist and social democratic newspapers and the SA killed 51 Nazi opponents.
What were the results of the March 1933 elections and how did they help Hitler gain power?
5 Mar 1933:
In the election 44% of the population voted for the Nazis, who won 288 seats in the Reichstag – still not an overall majority. Hitler had to join with the nationalists to form a majority.
The Nazis did not gain the overall majority that Hitler had hoped for in the Reichstag, yet it gave them enough seats - after Hitler had arrested all the communist deputies and the other parties had been intimidated by the SA - to pass the Enabling Act.
> 50% = change the law = majority
66.6% = change the constitution = supermajority
How was the Enabling Act passed in March 1933?
23 Mar 1933:
With the communist deputies banned and the SA intimidating all the remaining non-Nazi deputies, the Reichstag voted by the required two-thirds majority to give Hitler the right to make laws without the Reichstag’s approval for four years.
Arguably this was the critical event during this period. It gave Hitler absolute power to make laws, which enabled him to destroy all opposition to his rule. This removed the Reichstag as a source of opposition.
What act did Hitler pass in July 1933?
14 July 1933:
Political parties were banned: only the Nazi party was allowed to exist.
Banning political parties made Germany a one-party state and destroyed democracy in the country. This removed other parties as a source of opposition.
What happened in the Night of the Long Knives and how did it help Hitler gain power?
30 June 1934:
Night of the Long Knives: Many members of the SA, incl its leader Ernst Röhm, demanding that the Nazi party carry out its socialist agenda and that the SA take over the army. Hitler could not afford to annoy businessmen or the army, so the SS (Hitler’s personal body guards) murdered around 400 members of the SA, including Röhm, along with a number of Hitler’s other opponents like the previous Chancellor, von Schleicher.
This destroyed all opposition to Hitler within the Nazi Party and gave power to the brutal SS. It also showed the rest of the world what a tyrant Hitler was. This removed any internal Nazi Party opposition to Hitler.
How did Hitler become Fuhrer in August 1934?
19 Aug 1934:
Hitler became Führer: when Hindenburg died, Hitler declared himself jointly president, chancellor and head of the army. Members of the armed forces had to swear a personal oath of allegiance not to Germany, but to Hitler.
This formally made Hitler the absolute ruler of Germany. This neutralised any sources of opposition to Hitler within the army.
