(U1) Decline Of Weimar Republic And Rise Of Nazis 1929-33 Flashcards
1
Q
When was the Nazi party founded?
and
what was its message?
A
- founded 1919 by Anton Drexler - led by Hitler soon after
- Extreme, far right message of:
- anti-Semitism,
- the destruction of the treaty of Versailles,
- Lebensraum in the east for Germans,
- social revolution and
- the destruction of the Weimar Republic
Among other policies and beliefs
2
Q
What action did Hitler and the Nazis take in 1923
and
What were the results?
A
- attempted coup of government in the Munich Putsch
- Hitler imprisoned in Lansburg castle
- wrote Mein Kampf in prison setting out his ideas - decides on legality
3
Q
What were the main reasons for the huge growth in the Nazi party after 1928 (7)
A
- Economic Collapse: German economic collapse after Wall Street crash 1929 leading to electoral rise of extremist parties
- Nazi organization and tactics: Hitlers realization after 1923 that party would only achieve power through legality rather than just violence
- Role of the establishment: Nazi party offered only realistic alternative to communism leading to backing from bankers, businessmen and politicians in 1930s
- popular policies
- popular figures like Hitler and Goebbels - demagogues / charismatic
- successful propaganda campaigns
- appeal to youth: 1.8m new voters in 1930, many voted for the Nazis
4
Q
What were Hitler’s main ideologies (4)
A
- anti-semitism and racial supremacy: idea of Aryan racial supremacy and believed root of all problems were the Jews also viewed communism as a Jewish ideology
- Lebensraum and Versailles: destiny of aryan people to expand to the east of Germany this had been stopped by the removal of German land in the treaty of Versailles which Hitler promised to destroy
- anti-democratic: Hated democracy and believed the republic weakened Germany and promised to destroy it
- Führerprinzip: Hitler insisted that Germany be dominated by one powerful leader the Führer
5
Q
Who was Hermann Göring and what did he do for the Nazi party
A
- WW1 fighter pilot hero
- became close allies with Hitler in 1922 and played a role in the Munich putsch
- 1928 elected to reichstag 1932 he became the president of the reichstag and played a key role of getting Hitler the role of chancellor in 1933
- believed to have organised the reichstag fire and drew up the death list for the Night of the Long Knives
- Lost control of police to Himmler but became head of the Luftwaffe and the four year plan office in 1936 also responsible for removing jews from German economic life
- helped organize Munich conference and was appointed Reichmarshall because of luftwaffe success during Blitzkreig
- reputation damaged by loss in Battle of Britain and allowing bombing of Germany but despite this was appointed deputy to Hitler in 1941 and ordered Heydrich to prepare a ‘General solution to the Jewish question’
- position declined rapidly and was sidelined by Speer in 1942 withdrew from politics arrested by Americans and during Nuremberg trials committed suicide
6
Q
Who was Joseph Göbbels and what did he do for the Nazi party
A
- joined the Nazi party in 1925 soon became the parties expert on propaganda and was appointed party leader in Berlin
- invented the ‘Hitler myth’ publishing pamphlets and organizing demonstrations and election campaigns
- January 1933 was appointed minister of propaganda and popular enlightenment immediately taking control of newspapers, films, radios and the arts
- master of publicity taking advantage of the reichstag fire, the burning of the books and the 1936 Olympics
- violently anti-Semitic organizer of the Kristallnacht attack on Jews in November 1938 produced the anti-Semitic film Jud suss in 1937
- Affair and anti war stance lost him favor with Hitler in 1939 but successful war propaganda and anti-semitism regained favor in 1942
- played vital part in repressing the July bomb plot in 1944 awarded title Reich Plenipotentiary for Total war Mobilization
- tried to make deals with Allies to save him and his family was in bunker with Hitler to the end and committed suicide with his wife after killing all his children
7
Q
Who was Heinrich Himmler and what did he do for the Nazi party
A
- joined the Nazi party in 1922 took part in the Munich putsch
- in 1929 appointed head of Hitlers bodyguards, the SS, elected to reichstag 1930
- increased SS numbers from 200 in 1929 to 52,000 by 1933
- September 1933 took control of all political police units became head of Prussian police and Gestapo in April 1934
- set up first concentration camp in Dachau in 1933 and masterminded the Night of the Long Knives leading to SS domination over SA
- Believed Aryan superiority could only be achieved with the elimination of inferior racial and social groups tried to make SS a racial elite. Leading supporter of the final solution 1941 and urged SS officers to fulfill their task of exterminating Europe Jews in a 1943 speech
- controlled political administration in occupied territories and in August 1943 made Minister of the interior
- convinced Germany was on the verge of collapse tried to make peace with Allies offering himself as leader of a new German state
- He was stripped of his offices by Hitler arrested by the British 23rd May he committed suicide
8
Q
Who was Rudolph Hess and what did he do for the Nazi party
A
- Joined Nazi party in 1920 took part in the Munich putsch and helped Hitler write Mein Kampf
- appointed Deputy leader and Reich minister without portfolio 1933
- joined secret cabinet council 1938 and Ministerial council for Reich Defense 1939 after outbreak of war he was the 3rd most important Nazi after Hitler and Göring
- believed a war with both Russia and Britain would end in German defeat
- 10 May 1941 flew to Scotland in unofficial attempt to secure peace with Britain imprisoned in Britain and Hitler declared him insane
- sentenced to life imprisonment after Nuremberg died in prison
9
Q
Who was Martin Bormann and what did he do for the Nazi party
A
- second most powerful Nazi by the end of the war after Hitler
- joined in 1927 appointed to staff of rudolf Hess in 1934
- Hitlers personal secretary in 1935 giving him significant power
- influence grew after flight of Hess 1941
- after defeat at Stalingrad controlled all access to Hitler able to undermine his rivals engineered the expulsion of Göring and Himmler from the party
- supervised the handover of power to Admiral Dönitz attempted to escape from the bunker on 1st May but was almost certainly killed in Berlin soon after
10
Q
Who was Albert Speer and what did he do for the Nazi party
A
- joined in 1931 became Hitlers favorite architect 1934
- developed the Nazi style of politics e.g Parades and rallies and was commissioned by Hitler to design new Reich chancellory in Berlin and Party Palace in Nuremberg
- 1937 made responsible for the rebuilding of Berlin and other cities in a neo classical monumental style
- in charge of the ‘Beauty of labour’ Department and was elected to the reichstag in 1941 and joined the central planning office in 1942 and became minister of Armaments and war production
- transformed the German war economy became much more productive and efficient
- at Nuremberg denied all knowledge of the final solution but accepted that the nazis were morally guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison
11
Q
Who founded the Nazi party
What was its originally called
When was it founded
A
- Anton Drexler
- DAP (German workers party)
- January 1919
12
Q
What was the name of the original Nazi owned newspaper
and
When was it created?
A
- Volkischer Beobachter (Peoples observer)
- December 1920
13
Q
When did Hitler become chairperson of the Nazi party
and
What was one of his first actions?
A
- July 1921
- Creation of the SA the paramilitary branch of the party headed by Ernst Röhm
14
Q
When did the Munich Putsch happen?
How many Nazis were killed?
A
- Nov 8th + 9th 1923
- 16 Nazis killed
15
Q
What were the results of the Munich Putsch? (5)
A
- Hitler’s trial for high treason February/March 1924 gave him a platform to spread his ideas - media circus —> Nazis grow in popularity
- Judges sympathetic gave him the minimum sentence of 5 years - ended up being only 9 months in Landsberg castle
- spent his time writing Mein Kampf and formulating a political direction
- decided on legality
- this created some opposition from the SA
16
Q
What other changes did Hitler make to the Nazi party between 1926-1927
A
- 1926 Hitler Youth and Nazi student association founded
- 1927 unsuitable Gauleiters(Regional bosses) being replaced and Central bureaucracy reorganized
17
Q
Why was the NSDAP invited to a coalition and what were the results (3)
(during the 1920s)
A
- DNVP wanted to oppose the young plan by creating a right wing coalition and invited the NSDAP
- referendum for the freedom plan to oppose the young plan failed miserably only gaining 13.8% of votes in favor
- Exposure to Hitler and the party leading to a significant rise in election results
18
Q
What issues plagued politics in Germany after the Wall Street crash? (4)
(Brüning govt)
A
- government under Heinrich Brüning (Center party) was heavily influenced by Hindenburg
- even though they only have a minority Hindenburg made it clear if they got brought down by no confidence vote he would use article 48 rule by decree
- rejection of the finance bill in July (Brüning pushed for austerity) led Hindenburg to introduce by decree, Reichstag passed motion condemning the tactic and demanding withdrawal of the decree as they had the right to do
- Hindenburgs response was to dissolve the reichstag and hold new elections in September 1930
- in summary, the issue was a lack of popular support for the ruling party and the austerity measures they tried to introduce - article 48 was used
- The continued use of article 48 began to erode the parliamentary democratic element of the govt
