Hitler’s Germany
THE RISE OF HITLER
Weaknesses of the Weimar Government
POLITICAL
In their attempt of trying to make Germany a democratic country, the govt faced many
political issues. These issues resulted to grave consequences, which includes resistance from
the people in Germany. They wanted order but the govt doesn’t provide them a sense of
security.
 Constitution and proportional representation
o System of proportional representation – led to a high degree of
fragmentation in the parliament
o Instability of the coalition govts – beliefs and ideologies were crashing
 Frequent changes of the govt
 Made it difficult to pass laws
 Made the Weimar govt appear weak to people
o Article 48****
 1920: Kapp Putsch
o An example of the weak support the govt received from the people,
politicians, and soldiers.
o Without support, the govt remained weak and struggled to hold onto power
and authority
 Faced opposition from the left and right as a result of a lack of support
o 1919: Spartacist Rebellion
 Left wing
o Munich Beer Hall Putsch
 Right wing
 Led by Hitler and Luderndorf
ECONOMIC
As with any country facing effects of post-war, Germany struggled with poverty, high
unemployment and a fragile economy.
 1923: Hyperinflation
o Made worse by reparations demanded in TOV
 Jan 1923: France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr
 Germany failed to pay
 Seized mines, factories, railways
o German workers: policy of non-cooperation
 From invasion of Ruhr
 Strikes
 Govt printed more money and prices spiraled out of control
o Savings and pensions wiped out overnight
 1929-1931: The Great Depression
o Germany was dependent on US loans and investments
o USA suddenly recalled the loans and deposits from German banks
 Economic crisis
o Social crisis
o Factories closed down, millions lost jobs
o Poverty, homelessness
 Political crisis
o Coalition govt did not have any support in the Reichstag to pass laws, did not
know what to do
o A decline in support for parties with moderates and an increase in support
for extremist ones – Nazi Party, Communism
Hitler’s leadership
 NAZI Ideology and his promises to German people
o Feb 1920: Twenty-Five Point Programme
o Mein Kampf
 Anti-semitism
 Create Lebensraum or ‘Living space’ for G
 Territorial expansion
 Overturn TOV
 Charisma and oratorical skills
 Exploitation of fears of communism
o Farmers, businessmen, industrialists
 contributed to the Nazis financially
o Example: Hitler used his personal armed forces to break up communist
gatherings and people started to feel that they needed him to bring order
back.
 Unemployed, other groups suffering economic losses
 Skillfulness at making deals with politicians
o Nov 1932: Elections
 Nazi support dropped
 Hitler made deals with conservatives
o Jan 1933: Invited Hitler to be Chancellor
o Willing to wait for the right opportunity to take power gradually
 Reorganization of the Nazi Party
o Increased party membership
 1920: Hitler youth
o Stormtroopers SA
 Broke up communist meetings and strikes. Gained support of anticommunist and industrialists
 Nazi Party’s Paramilitary organisation
o Defense corps SS
 Hitler’s personal bodyguard
o Nazi Propaganda
POLITICAL IMPACT OF HITLER’S RULE
Consolidation of power
 Feb 1933: Reichstag Fire
o Accused the guy of being part of a communist conspiracy
o Communist leaders charged with arson and attempt to overthrow govt
 Convinced President Hindenburg to invoke Article 48
 Signing of Reichstag Fire Decree (suspended civil liberties)
 Affected March 1933 Elections
 March 1933: Enabling Act
o Pass laws without President’s approval
o 23 Mar: SA surrounded and only allowed Hitler’s supporters to enter the
building
o Therefore passed
o Communist and social democrat party were banned
 July 1933: One Party Rule
o Nazi officials took charge of local govt
o Trade unions dissolves
o SA and SS dealt brutally with anyone who opposes Hitler
 June 1934: Night of the Long Knives
o Felt SA leader Roehm became too powerful
o SS arrested and killed him
o Power of SA broke and SS controlled them and G now
 Made SS swore oath of allegiance to Hitler only
 Aug 1934: Creation of the Fuehrer Position
o Hitler merged the powers of the president with those of the chancellor
through the enabling act
 Hitler had the authority to invoke Article 48
 German army swore to Hitler
ECONOMIC IMPACT
G economy recovered and appeared to be more stable than the Weimar govt. but all these
improvements came with a price.
 Re-employment
o Initiate public works programmes
o Provided infrastructure and facilities for the public
 Rise of big industrialists
o 1934: New Plan
 Production of important products increased
 Ban trade unions helped them
 No longer worried about strikes
o 1936: Goering four year plan
 Prepare G for war
 Spent on rearmament. Production of war materials
 Contributed to the boost in economy
 Control of trade unions
o German work front: united employers and employees
 Strictly controlled the workers
 Not allowed to change jobs
 G economy improved at the expense of the workers’ wage and benefits
 Organising workers’ leisure time
o Nazi propaganda
 Praised workers
o German work front
 Set up schemes ‘strength through joy’
 Provided cheap theatre and cinema tickets
 Cultural and sports events
 ‘beauty of labour’ scheme: improve working conditions
 Washing facilities
 Low cost canteens
 Control their leisure time but they often have to indirectly pay for these benefits too
 Militarization
o 1935: conscription for army
o Make war materials
o Luftwaffe: Modern air force
 Boosted the economy and provided employment
SOCIAL IMPACT
 Propaganda
o Set up ministry of propaganda
o Used every form of media
o Appeal to deep-seated German desires for national unity and order
o Nuremburg rallies
 Made sure people were loyal to Nazi rule and beliefs
 Stirred up racist, anti-semitic, anti-communist feelings
 Sharp increase in German nationalistic sentiments
 Increased the popularity of the Nazis
 Censorship
o 1933: Reich Chamber of Commerce in 1933
o Person had to be within the chamber to produce anything
o Public book burning event
o Controlled radio stations, played Hitler’s speeches
 Lack of freedom of expression and ideas among the Germans
 Made enforcement of the Nazi’s doctrine and control of public opinions much easier
 Rise of secret police
They aimed to make G a totalitarian state, with no opposition. Thus when propaganda
and censorship failed, violence was employed.
o SS: Responsible for destroying Nazi’s enemies, and carrying out their racial
policies
 Concentration camps
 Mass extermination of Jews
o Gestapo: responsible for finding and removing threats
 Feared throughout G
 Unlimited powers of arrest
 People taken into custody based on suspicion, without trial
 Torture, murder, arrests and dirty tactics to stifle opposition
 Persecution of Jewish people and other minority groups
o He conducted vicious propaganda campaign against them
o April 1933: boycotted Jewish businesses
o 1935: Nuremberg Laws
o 1938: The Night of Broken Glass
 Many jews died
 Role of women in Nazi Germany
o Confined to roles of mother and spouse
 In their admiration for Hitler, they saw this as a chance to establish a firm identity for
themselves
 The Hitler Youth
o Indoctrinated with anti-semitism and Nazi ideology
 Ensured complete loyalty of German youth to the Nazis and provided manpower for
Nazi military when war broke out
OUTBREAK OF WWII IN EUROPE
Weakness of LON
 Failure of the disarmament
o 1921: Washington Naval Conference SUCCESS
 Organized by USA
o 1925: Locarno Treaties PARTIAL
 Took matters in their own hands
o 1926: League Commission to prepare for World Disarmament Conference
FAILURE
o 1928: Kellogg-Briand Pact FAILURE
o 1932-1934: World Disarmament Conference FAILURE
 The major powers refused to cooperate. There was a general unwillingness to disarm
as it would make the country less able to defend itself against foreign attacks and
conflicts. They did not trust each other and wanted to protect their own national
interests.
o Britain and France, two powers who were capable, saw their own national
interests as more important. Their refusal and unwillingness mean that no
meaningful process could be made.
 Failure of disarmament showed how important the involvement of USA was. USA
commanded more respect than the league itself.
 By 1930s, the inability to trust and work together contributed to a general
atmosphere of distrust and tension which would eventually lead to WWII
 1935: Abyssinian Crisis
o Italy wanted to invade. But since Britain and France were allies with Italy at
that time, they imposed limited economic sanctions.
o May 1936: Italy took over Abyssinia
 Prime example of LON’s ineffectiveness in maintaining world peace and resolve
conflicts.
 Made Mussolini and Hitler even bolder in their ambitions.
 Britain and France attempt to prevent Italy from allying with Hitler proved to be a
mistake from the Rome-Berlin Axis later on
 Convinces Hitler that the league was not able to stand in his way of his ambitious
plans for expansion.
Hitler’s Expansionist Policy
 Withdrawal from the LON and Geneva Disarmament Conference
o Proposed France to disarm to the same level but of course France refused.
o He used their objection to withdraw out of LON
 Took concrete actions to increase Germany’s military capabilities towards achieving
his expansionist aims.
 1933-1934: Conscription and Rearmament
o Secret programme
o Allies made verbal protests instead of imposing sanctions due to their pacifist
mood
o June 1935: Anglo-German Naval with Britain as they favoured a policy of
appeasement
 Allies still had stronger military at that point in time.
 Seeing their attitudes, he was thus able to turn G into a formidable and dangerous
military power.
 The agreement allowed G to have a navy
 March 1936: Remilitarization of Rhineland
o Used Franco-Soviet alliance as his justification
o Did not send in a strong force though
o France did not react as they were having elections
o The alliance between France and soviets were ineffective as neither wanted
to cooperate
o LON condemned his actions and did nothing else. They were distracted by
the Abyssinian crisis
 Had the French and British responded with a show of force, they might have had a
chance of containing him.
 Hitler’s standing among the german people increased tremendously and became
bolder in his demands.
 1937: German involvement in the Spanish Civil War
o Divert British and France attention from his plans for expansion into Eastern
Europe
o Gave him opportunity to test his army
o LON took no actions
o Br and Fr resonated with disdain towards communism
o 1936: Anti-Comintern which made the allied powers trust Hitler and believed
that he could support them against the rise of communism
 This lack of intervention also strengthened Hitler’s view that Br and Fr were weak
which made him more aggressive.
 Germany Unification with Austria
 Austria’s resources of gold and iron were now at Hitler’s disposal, as were its army
and weapons
 Sept 1938: Munich Agreement over Czechoslovakia
o Policy of appeasement
o Excluded SU
 Having gained Sudetenland without a fight, Hitler wanted to occupy the entire
Czechoslovakia
 16 March 1939: Invaded.
 Aug 1939: Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
 1 Sept 1939: Invasion of Poland
o Willing to continue negotiations
o Invaded
 Declared war on G on 3 sept 1939
Reasons for the Policy of Appeasement
Historians believed that if Br and Fr had stood up to Hitler, WWII could have been
prevented.
 Fear of another major war
 Weakness of LON
 Time to rearm
 Genuine sympathy for Germany over TOV
 Chamberlain’s misjudgement of Hitler
 Fear of communism
Examples:
- Anglo-German Naval Agreement
- Lack of action against Hitler’s act of aggression
o Rhineland
o Spanish Civil War
o Austria
- Munich Agreement
Reasons for Germany’s defeat on WWII
Entry of USA into the War
 Initial isolationism
 Indirect involvement with the war
o Sept 1939: Cash and carry
o March 1941: Land lease act
o Arsenal of democracy
o