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THE NAZIS
A ND
GERMANY
1919-45
AS History Revision Guide
Paper 1 – June 4th ‘08
Good luck!
Mr. P Ó Brollaigh/ M Mc Cormick
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Option 5: The Nazis and Germany 1919–1945
• The rise of the Nazis 1919–1933;
– early life of Hitler and the origins of the Nazi Party,
the Munich Putsch and its significance for the Nazis,
– the economy 1919–1933,
– the political crisis 1930–1933.
• Nazi controlled Germany 1933–1945;
– consolidation of power 1933–1934 and the police state,
– culture in the Third Reich, eg the use of the arts and
media as a means of control,
– the economy during the Third Reich,
– the social impact of the Third Reich; women,
youth, religion, and treatment of minorities.
The key focus of this option is on the sources, it is a skills paper and as
such you must ensure that you can answer the source questions
accurately
Q1 – 12 mark question, spend no more than 15 mins
Q2 a- 13 marks source question, spend approximately 15 mins,
complete usefulness using DAMMIT and then bring in limitations
using PIDGE
Q2b – 25 marks – spend approx 25 mins, use DAMMIT to address how
and then a separate paragraph for WHY in which you investigate the
historical context, the motivation and perspective of the authors as
well as the material and their intended audience
Q2c – 30 marks – spend approximately 30 mins, treat this as a 12
mark question in which you have to integrate the sources, you MUST
INCLUDE ANALYSIS OF ALL THREE SOURCES AND MAKE CLEAR
WHAT SOURCE YOU ARE QUOTING FROM
ENSURE IN ALL QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE
QUOTED FROM THE SOURCE AND REMEMBER TO
Point
Example/evidence
Explain
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Below are samples of 12 mark questions and the key points taken from
the mark schemes, these are only a guideline to what must go into
questions, you must be able to expand on all these key points
To what extent was the rise of the Nazis to power due to the impact of
the economic crisis? (Jun 02)
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it brought instability to the Weimar republic
led to the decline of parliamentary govt
and was one of the main reasons the nazi’s grew to be the largest political
party
the effects of the slump were widespread- 50,000 businesses went bankrupt
between 1930-2 and 5 major banks closed down. By 1932 6 million people
were unemployed. American loans and investment were withdrawn and
there was a general downturn in world trade
in March 1930 the SPD led coalition collapsed under Muller when it failed to
agree on what cuts in unemployment relief to make. The govt believed that
spending its way out of the crisis by increasing expenditure on public works
without raising taxes could provoke another inflationary crisis.
Bruning deliberately allowed the economic crisis to continue as part of his
campaign to end reparations under von Papen the govt attempted to
intervene but it was too late. mass unemployment had a great impact
on how Germans voted.
1930-2 there were 5 major national elections
This led to an increase in the number of anti democratic deputies in the
Reichstag, especially for the Nazis who became the largest party by July
1932. parliamentary govt declined.
The economic effects of the slump reduced the chances of Weimar
democracy surviving even if it was not certain that a Nazi
government would take power.
OTHER FACTORS
In august 1932 Hitler had failed to be made chancellor despite having 37% of
the vote, in Nov the nazi share dropped to 33%. Hitler did not have a
majority in the Reichstag and had to persuade Hindenburg to appoint him.
Hindenburg had been using article 48 since 1930 to sustain governments
unable to get their legislation through but before 1933 he was not willing to
appoint Hitler
By 1932 the worst of the economic crisis was over
By Jan 1933 Hindenburg changed his mind and appointed Hitler. Right wing
nationalists felt they could use the nazi’s popular support to channel the
political system in a more authoritarian direction and that Hitler could be
controlled by Hindenburg and von Papen
Hitler came to power because Hindenburg legally appointed him chancellor
while the depression undermined Weimar democracy and gave
the Nazis mass electoral support, the role of right wing politicians
was crucial in bringing Hitler to power.
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How effectively did the nazi’s control the protestant and catholic
churches in Germany between 1933-45?
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at the beginning of the dictatorship the Nazis followed a policy of
conciliation and compromise as they feared that coming into direct conflict
with the church would upset large numbers of Germans
for the leaders of the church their most important priority was to secure
their position
by July 1933 a concordat was signed, in return for guaranteeing the
Catholic Church’s right to conduct its own affairs without interference from
the state, Hitler was guaranteed that the church would not interfere in
politics.
Hitler had little desire to respect this concordat and Catholic youth groups
were harassed and the Catholic Youth league was disbanded.
In March 1937 Pope Pius XI spoke out against the regime. In a papal
encyclical he condemned the regimes racial policies and lack of justice. He
objected to the regimes persecution of priests and accused it of breaking the
1933 agreement.
Hitler responded by putting the SS in charge of religious affairs, and the
Nazis began a campaign to remove crucifixes from classrooms.
In March 1941 – Cardinal von Galen led an attack on the nazi policy of
executing mentally ill people. The euthanasia policy in Germany stopped
The protestant churches
There were 28 different protestant churches of which the Lutheran church
was the largest. These divisions gave Hitler the opportunity to impose his will
on the Protestant churches.
In April 1933 Ludwig Muller was appointed as national bishop to lead all
protestants in embracing the German Christian church
In 1934 200 pastors lead a breakaway church – the Confessional
Church. Its leaders included Pastor Niemoller who insisted that the
church be independent of the state. He helped to set up the pastor’s
emergency league in 1934 to defend the church. He spoke out against
the regime in 1937 and was arrested and imprisoned in Dachau.
Most protestant churches lost their ability to defend themselves and failed
to speak out against the regime.
The churches as institutions failed to offer serious opposition to
Hitler. The churches used the weapons of pamphlets, sermons and
encyclicals to occasionally criticise the regime which could respond
with brutality, it was an uneven battle. Hundreds of pastors and
priests were intimidated, sent to concentration camps and
executed. Nazi control of the churches was not as strong as the
regime would have liked but opposition from the churches was
generally ineffective.
HOW FAR WERE THE WEIMAR GOVERNMENTS RESPONSIBLE FOR
GERMANY’S ECONOMIC PROBLEMS BETWEEN 1919 AND 1923? (JAN 02)
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they had difficulties in readjusting a war economy to the requirements of
peacetime
Versailles had imposed demands for reparations and also led to the growth
of colonies and important industrial regions which hindered economic
growth
There was generally a lack of capital for investment, trade deficits and
government deficits
Weimar governments were not prepared to increase taxation or cut
expenditure
Hyperinflation and the inability to pay reparations led to the occupation of
the Ruhr which disrupted the supply of coal, made the govt unable to collect
taxes in that region and increased inflation
Combination of both.
HOW SUCCESSFUL WERE NAZI POLICIES TOWARDS WOMEN AND
YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE PERIOD 1933-9? (04)(07)
WOMEN
- the Nazis believed that women should concentrate on childbearing and
support their husbands. This distinct role for women was seen as important
and of equal value to the role of men. Many of the nazi’s reactionary ideas
were widely held and many women viewed their role positively.
- The government provided marriage loans and increased welfare services for
mothers and the nazi’s set up several women’s organisations such as the NSF
and the DFW that involved women outside the family sphere. The Honour
cross was awarded to women who had many children.
- Women’s experience of the 3rd Reich was varied and was not simply a
reflection of Nazi ideology. The Nazi’s initially encouraged and forced
women to give up some jobs but the trend was then reversed in the
rearmament drive when the Nazi’s needed women in the labour force, it
was difficult to reverse policies which they had put in place.
YOUTH
- the nazi’s sought to indoctrinate the young from the age of 4, using youth
movements and the school system to impose their values. Great emphasis
was placed on physical strength and obedience.
- Millions joined the Hitler youth, initially attracted by adventurous activities
and membership was made compulsory in 1939
- The government attempted indoctrination via control of the curriculum and
teachers. There was no major attempt to reorganise schools except for a
decline in denominational schools and the creation of a few elite schools.
- There is mixed evidence of the overall effectiveness of nazi youth policies.
There is evidence of increasing disillusionment with aspects of the Nazi youth
movements as the years passed as the activities of the Swing Youth illustrate.
Organised groups of young people collectively described as the edelweiss
pirates directly challenged Nazi orthodoxy despite the danger of getting
caught.
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TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE FAILURE OF THE MUNICH PUTSCH IN 1923
DUE TO LACK OF POPULAR SUPPORT FOR THE NAZI PARTY? (07)
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the putsch was an attempt at an armed uprising by a local party with
minimal support in Bavaria
only a few thousand nazis marched through the city of Munich, gaining little
support and certainly not from the army or police
some historians suggest that it was more of a demonstration than an
uprising
the fact that Hitler changed his tactics after the failure of the putsch and
sought to gain electoral support across the whole of Germany suggests that
he appreciated that one of the reasons the Putsch failed was its lack of
popular support
other reasons
it was poorly planned
von Lossow and von Kahr were released from the beer hall and took
measures to suppress the rising
president Ebert declared a state of emergency and ordered von Lossow to
crush the revolt
the SA failed to gain control of the army barracks to acquire substantial
arm
it was suppressed by the Bavarian state authorities when armed police
backed up by Bavarian soldiers blocked the march of the Nazi’s through the
city streets
Hitler lost his nerve when the first shots were fired
HOW SIGNIFICANT WAS THE FAILURE OF THE MUNICH PUTSCH OF 1923
FOR THE NAZI’S RISE TO POWER 1924-33?
- the key significance of the Munich putsch was that its failure persuaded
Hitler to change to legal and parliamentary means to achieve power
- other factors
- the impact of the Depression 1929
- The nazi party was reorganised and restructured into a centralised
nationwide party with obedience to the Fuhrer which was accepted at the
Bamberg party conference in 1926.
- Gregor Strasser was the chief organisational leader who regulated the
activities of the party and Goebbels who was appointed head of party
propaganda in 1928. they campaigned via the media, rallies and Hitler’s
aeroplane campaign highlighting anti Weimar, anti Versailles and anti
communist attitudes. He was an excellent public speaker.
- The decision to divide the party into 35 regional districts which
corresponded with the 35 electoral districts in the Reichstag which was
advantageous for campaigning in elections
- Increasing party membership to 150,000 by 1929 from a wide range of
social groups – the Party created a host of ancillary organisations including
nazi leagues of teachers, doctors, students, civil servants, farmers, youth and
women
- the electoral support which by July 1932 made the Nazi’s the largest party
in the Reichstag. They had a broad cross section of support,
predominantly protestant, rural and lower middle class but also
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including elements of the professional middle class and even a minority of
the working class living in small towns. The nazi party became the focus for
the hopes of millions of disenchanted Germans during the economic and
political crisis Weimar experienced. This growth in electoral power was
important in Hitler’s rise to power as it placed him in a position to lead a
right wing authoritarian government with popular appeal if that option
was favoured by HINDENBURG.
the instability of the Weimar political system such as its inability to
sustain coalition governments and the use of article 48. from March 1930-Jan
1933 Germany was in a perpetual state of political crisis with all the major
decisions being taken outside the Reichstag by an inner circle of conservative
advisers surrounding President Hindenburg. The nature of the political
system meant that the conservative elites, including some industrialists had
much greater influence on Hitler coming to power than the electors
political intrigue of various right wing politicians until Hitler was
appointed chancellor in Jan 1933. these politicians believed that they could
use Nazi electoral support to prop up an authoritarian government rather
than sustain democracy
To what extent was the nazi consolidation of power from 30 Jan until 2
august 1934 a legal process? (05)
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legal aspects
with a 2/3rds majority they could legally change the constitution.
decree for the protection of the nation and state
the passing of the enabling law- valid 4 years
the law against the formation of parties
the army oath
becomes Fuhrer by merging the offices of chancellor and president this was
accepted by 95.7 % of the 45 million voters
not legal
intimidation and terror of the SA towards socialists, Jews and state
governments
SA and SS intimidation opponents in the Reichstag at the passing of the
Enabling Law
Night of the long Knives – however this was later made legal
To what extent was the economy of the Weimar republic stable from
1924-28? (05)
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was stable
low inflation
increasing production
low unemployment
not stable
budget deficits
rural recession
increasing imports
underlying weakness of depending on foreign investment
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How did Hitler consolidate his power and deal with opposition between
Jan 1933 and August 1934?
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decree for the protection of the nation and state after the Reichstag fire got
rid of the communists
the passing of the enabling law
the law against the formation of parties –move towards a one party
dictatorship
the army oath- took an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler
intimidation and terror of the SA towards socialists, Jews and state
governments
SA and SS intimidation opponents in the Reichstag at the passing of the
Enabling Law
Night of the long Knives – weakened the radical wing of his SA and
therefore reassured elements of the elite such as the army and big business
Death of Hindenburg – Hitler merged the offices of Chancellor and
president to become the Fuhrer
Assess the impact of propaganda and education as a means of control; in
nazi Germany 1933-45?
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the Nazis used propaganda and education as tools in their propaganda
machine in order to promote Nazi views with the intention of persuading
people to think or behave a certain way.
Control of the media, arts and education is typical of supposed totalitarian
regimes
Nazi control was exercised via the Ministry for Popular enlightenment and
Propaganda and the Reich culture chamber.
The press, the radio and cinema were all controlled while the arts were
compelled to serve as vehicles for the transmission of nazi ideology
The Nazi government influenced all paintings, sculpture, architecture,
literature, theatre and music.
In education the Nazi party tightened its control of teachers by encouraging
membership of the NSLB
By 1937 97% of teachers had joined
The NSLB took responsibility for indoctrinating teachers in Nazi ideology,
unacceptable teachers were purged
The Nazis insisted on a revised school curriculum as part of their attempt to
control the minds of Germany’s young people
The importance of sport, history and biology was up[graded
The regime also set up an elite school system consisting of the Adolf Hitler
schools
There was opposition to the Nazis which suggests that total control
was never achievable – the White Rose movement, Swing movt etc
How significant was the Enabling act in helping Hitler consolidate his
power by August 1934?
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the Enabling act gave Hitler dictatorial powers as it transferred powers from
the Reichstag to the government
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it gave the Chancellor rather than the President the right to draft laws
it was passed by 441 to 94 votes in the Reichstag with only the SD’s opposing
it
as a result the Reichstag ceased to play an active role. Hitler had become
independent of his conservative allies and the first phase of his seizure of
power was completed
Reichstag fire and Decree for the Protection of the German people
March 1933 election result
Abolition of other parties
Defeat of the second Revolution of the SA – Night of the Long Knives
Death of Hindenburg and army oath complete Hitler’s legal revolution
To what extent was the economic recovery in Germany from 1933 –36 due
to increased spending on rearmament by the Nazis?
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rearmament aided economic recovery by creating jobs
Schacht came up with the idea of using Mefo Bills which were used by the
regime to place orders with industry for arms. From 1933-5 the regime spent
10.2 billion RM on rearmament but in 1936 only 9.4% of GDP was invested in
armaments
The regime did not immediately launch into a rearmament t programme
rather it created an economic pattern that would be suited to such a policy
later on
The 1936 4 year plan revealed an expansion in rearmament required with
10.2 billion being spent on rearmament as opposed to 7.4 RM being spent on
construction and transportation in 1936
The key factor in the economy’s recovery was the extent to which
the state was prepared to9 intervene and manage the economy
Introduced work schemes which included the building of motorways
1933-35 15.3 billion RM was spent on construction and transportation
the Labour service and Emergency relief schemes were labour intensive
the govt lent money to private companies so they could create jobs
in 1933 unemployment was 25.9% by 1936 it was only 7.4%
the govt followed a policy of deficit financing under Schacht
How far would you agree that terror was the most important means used
by the Nazis to consolidate their power between 1933-34?
- answers will illustrate the importance of terror in the Nazi consolidation of power
in 1933–1934 with evidence such as the March 1933 election campaign
culminating in the Reichstag Fire, the intimidation preceding the passing of the
Enabling Law in 1933, the roles of the SA and the SS, and the Night of the Long
Knives in 1934.
- Legal constitutional means such as the Decree for the Protection of
the People and State, the Enabling Act and the Law Against the
Formation of Parties
- or the use of deception and propaganda with the creation of the Ministry of
Public Enlightenment and Propaganda and the Reich Chamber Culture;
- concessions to influential groups such as Catholics with the Concordat
between the state and the Vatican;
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- co-ordination with new controlling institutions such as the creation of the
German Labour Front to control the trade union movement;
- popular support with the 1933 March election when the Nazis got 44% of
the vote
how important was terror as a means of control in nazi Germany 193339?
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highlight the importance of terror and the Police State as a means of
control by discussing the roles of the SS and the Gestapo plus the
creation of concentration camps such as Dachau. Examples of terror such as
the 1934 Night of the Long Knives or the 1938 Night of Broken Glass.
other means of control:
Culture by using the mass media and the arts as forms of propaganda
through the Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda and the Reich
Chamber of Culture;
- the co-ordination of elements of society with the creation of organizations
such as the German Labour Front for workers and the Hitler Youth for
young people;
- government control of the economy such as the 1936 Four Year Plan to
achieve rearmament;
- but also the Consolidation of Power 1933–34 where legal means
can be illustrated such as the Enabling Law and the Law against the
formation
of parties to create a one party state dictatorship.
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Why did the Munich Putsch fail?
- The Putsch was an attempt at an armed uprising by a local party with minimal
support in Bavaria.
- Only a few thousand Nazis marched through the city of
Munich gaining little popular support and certainly not from the Army or
the police.
- Some historians suggest that it was more a demonstration than a
popular uprising.
- The fact that Hitler changed his tactics after the failure of the Putsch and sought
to gain electoral support across the whole of Germany suggests that he appreciated
that one of the reasons the Putsch failed was its lack of popular support.
it was poorly planned;
von Lossow and von Kahr were released from the Beer Hall and took
measures to suppress the rising;
President Ebert declared a state of emergency and ordered von Lossow to
crush the revolt;
the SA failed to gain control of the Army barracks to acquire substantial
arms;
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it was suppressed by the Bavarian state authorities when armed police
backed
up by Bavarian soldiers blocked the march of the Nazis through the city
streets;
and Hitler lost his nerve and fled once shots were fired.
How far did the lives of Young people and women in Germany change as
a result of Nazi policies between 1933-39?
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the Nazis attempted to change the lives of young people by imposing Nazi
values through the youth movements and the school system.
Nevertheless there is evidence of increasing disillusionment with aspects of
Nazi youth policies.
While the Nazis tried to impose their reactionary ideas concerning
childbearing on women through organizations such as the DFW, gave
financial incentives such as the marriage loan schemes and improved
welfare and medical schemes, many Nazi policies towards women were in
some respects contradictory.
The Nazis initially encouraged and forced women to give up
some jobs but the trend was then reversed with the rearmament drive.
How successful were the economic policies of the Nazis 1933-39?
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successes:
low unemployment due to work creation projects
low inflation
expanding GNP
increasing exports
increased spending on rearmament with an expansion of domestic product
after 1936
weaknesses
trade deficits in 1934 and 1938
government debt due to deficit financing
dependence on foreign imports
1936 4 year plan did not meet its targets
unable to achieve autarky
invisible unemployed
these are just key areas you must be able to talk about these in much
greater detail
assess the impact of Nazi anti Semitic policies on the Jews
Hitler expressed a violent hatred of the Jews throughout his political career; at the
very least he wanted them ‘eliminated’ from German society’. On coming to power
in 1933 the exact means by which policy would take shape was by no means clear.
There was a ‘twisted route to Auschwitz not a direct route’. The process towards the
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Final Solution of the Jewish question evolved in stages - legalised
discrimination, forced emigration, resettlement and ghettoisation and
extermination (Fischer)
Legalised discrimination
From 1933-37 government legislation to withdraw civil rights from Jews was the
chief weapon used by the Nazis. In 1933 there were 525,000 Jews in Germany.
In April 1933 the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil service
became the first of 400 Nazi race laws. Jews were categorised as ‘non Aryans’ and
stripped of a number of civil rights including exclusion from university education,
posts in govt, the civil service, the army, the media and certain professions. The
Entailed Farm Law in sept banned Jews from owning Farms.
On 1st April 1933 a government sponsored boycott of Jewish businesses took place
but it lasted for only one day. It was abandoned due to international pressure
The Nuremburg laws of 1935 officially made Jews second class citizens.
The first Nuremburg Law defined Reich citizenship as something which could only
be held by a ‘national German or kindred blood’ the Jews were considered neither.
The second law- ‘For the Protection of German Blood and German Honour’
prohibited marriage between Jews and Germans and stripped Jews of all civil and
political rights defining them as ‘non citizens’. The Law For The Protection Of The
Genetic Health Of The German People meant that a medical examination had to
be taken before marriage.
These laws formalised anti Semitism into the nazi state and were the result of
pressure from below. Hitler picked the most moderate draft of the laws
The laws were a very important turning point in the radicalisation of
policy against the Jews. The Nuremburg laws now ensured that
discrimination against Germany’s Jews was now considered not only
acceptable but legal.
The growth of radical anti Semitism
The turning point to more open persecution of the Jews took place between 193739. With the removal of Schacht from office, who had counselled caution in official
policy towards the Jews, a series of anti Jewish decrees were passed
In 1938 the Decree For The Registering Of Jewish Property meant that all property
over 5000 RM had to be declared there was many confiscations. By the summer of
1938 the number of Jewish businesses in Germany had been reduced by around 80%
to 9000.
Between Jun- Oct there was a series of anti Jewish decrees, Jewish doctors, dentists
and lawyers were forbidden to have patients, they had to add Sarah or Israel to
their names and identity cards were stamped with a J. the most openly violent act
against the Jewish population before 1939 was Kristallnacht which saw 7500
Jewish shops destroyed, 400 synagogues burnt down and over 90 Jews killed with
20,000 sent to camps. Goebbels initiated this pogrom after Ernst von Rath, an
official at the German embassy was shot in Paris by a young polish Jew. This gave
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the green light for radicalisation of the persecution of the Jews. The Jews
were forced to pay 1 billion RM for the damage. In Nov Jews were officially excluded
from economic life with decrees banning Jews from shops and businesses, from
gaining public contracts and excluding them from schools, universities and cinemas.
A number of state ministries and party agencies competed with each other to
prepare directives and decrees to isolate the Jews further.
In 1938 the solution to the Jewish Question was emigration be it to
Madagascar or Palestine. The longer term impact pf Kristallnacht was
the removal of Jews from Germany altogether.
The Final Solution
The advent of war in September 1939 was a crucial turning point in Nazi
racial policy, over the next 4 years the circumstances emerged in which
the removal of Jews from Germany and the destruction of the supposed
power of international Jewry could be activated.
The invasions of Poland and the USSR brought millions more Jews under direct Nazi
rule. Jews in the east were herded into ghettos and were forced to live in appalling
conditions.
In 1940 the Nazis came up with a plan to deport Jews to Madagascar hoping most
would perish during transportation.
In Eastern Europe the SS Einsatzgruppen shot over 1 million Jews Communists and
partisans. to continue this shooting was not a realistic option as it was not the
humane option for the Einsatzgruppen!!!
Up until September 1941 Hitler dithered about the fate of the Jews, he changed his
mind for 2 reasons: - Stalin ordered the deportation of ethnic Germans to Siberia
and the US navy were ordered to shoot German boats on sight. On 16 September
1941 Hitler and Himmler met for lunch and from mid September the order was
given for deportations to the east. Kershaw argues that this was ‘the trigger to a
crucial phase in the gradual emergence of a comprehensive programme
for genocide.’ In Oct 1941 Eichmann organised in 3 waves the deportation of
100,000 Jews to ghettos in Lodz, Riga and Minsk and then to the death camps at
Chelmno, Belzec and Auschwitz.
In Poland local Gauleiters were taking their own initiative in December 1942 gas
vans were used at Chelmno to kill 100,000 Jews.
In December 1941 with the declaration of war against the USA Hitler told Himmler
that the Jews ‘exterminated as partisans’ this was a throw back to his speech in
1939 when he promised to annihilate the Jews if they became involved in starting
another war.
On the 20th Jan 1942 the Wannsee conference was held in which a ‘systematic
programme for the annihilation of Europe’s Jews was formed.’
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The first death camp Chelmno became operational on 8 Dec 1941, Belzec in spring
1942 and Auschwitz in the summer. Chelmno used mobile gas vans, the other 5 built
gas chambers and used Zyklon B capsules an insecticide that produced cyanide
gas... there were 3 distinct types: prison camps, work camps and death camps.
Auschwitz – Birkenau had the capacity to kill 20,000 people per day. By 1945 6
million Jews had been exterminated.
Year 13 Revision Guide. The Nazis and Germany 1918-45
The Weimar Republic -‘A Republic without republicans’. 1919-33.
German Chancellors 1919-33
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1919 – Philipp Scheidemann (SPD) ( German Socialist Party)
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1919-20 – Gustav Bauer (SPD)
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1920 – Hermann Mueller (SPD)
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1920-21 – Konstantin Fehrenbach (Centre Party/Zentrum) (rightwing
catholic party)
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1921-22 – Joseph Wirth (Centre Party)
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1922-23 – Wilhelm Cuno
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1923-24 – Gustav Stresemann (DVP) (German Peoples Part-rightwing)
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1923-25 – Wilhelm Marx (Centre Party)
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1925-26 – Hans Luther
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1926-28 – Wilhelm Marx (Center Party)
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1928-30 – Hermann Mueller (SPD) (Grand coalition)
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1930-32 – Heinrich Bruning (Centre Party)
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1932-Fritz von Papen
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1932-33 – Kurt Schleicher.
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1933- Fritz von Papen
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January 30th 1933- Adolf Hitler.
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a) Hitler’s early years summary.
At 18 he received his father’s inheritance and moved to Vienna.
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Rejected at both the Vienna Art Academy and The Vienna School of
Architecture.
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Hated Austria and refused to register for the draft in 1909.
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Instead moved to Munich.
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War broke out in August 1914
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Hitler then volunteered for a Bavarian regiment.
Hitler’s War Record
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Awarded five medals for bravery. Including two Iron Crosses – First and
Second Class.
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Then in October 1918 he was a victim of a British gas attack.
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Temporarily blinded by Chlorine gas.
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In hospital when the war ended. He called this the worst time of his life.
Hitler’s Career after the War
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Went to Munich with the army after the War.
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Hired as a political officer to check on political parties.
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After being cleared for any part in the Socialist Revolt in Munich, Hitler was
given the job of lecturing on politics to the troops.
The Budding Politician
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Hitler began to test his political message on the troops:
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The German Army was not defeated during the war.
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It was stabbed-in-the-back by Germany’s enemies.
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Then was assigned to investigate political parties.
The German Worker’s Party
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Initially the Army was distrustful of the DAP thinking it was a socialist party.
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Hitler convinced them that it was not a threat.
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The Party was founded by Anton Drexler who encouraged Hitler to join the
Party.
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Joined the Party’s Executive Committee and became the Party’s Propaganda
Chief by 1919.
Anton Drexler, founder of the Deutsche Arbeiter Partei (German
Workers Party)
b) The DAP/German Workers’ Party and NSDAP/National Socialist German
Workers Party.
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Fringe political party led by Anton Drexler. Hitler’s future comrades such as
Hess, the Strasser brothers, Herman Goering and Ernst Rohm the future
leader of the SA.
Hitler’s talent for public speaking soon became a valuable tool for the Party.
In 1920 the party was renamed the NSDAP/ National Socialist German
Workers party.
The party was deeply anti-Semitic, anti-Marxist and dedicated to the
undoing of Versailles Treaty. Despite the inclusion of the word ‘Socialist’ in
the Party title, Hitler and many other early Nazis were extremely right wing.
However, may early Nazis also believed in the socialist elements of the party
programmes, especially Rohm and the Strasser brothers. This was to lead to
serious strains within the Nazi party from 1932-34 and eventually
culminated in the ‘Night of the Long Knives’.
In 1920 the Swastika was adopted as the party symbol and the Volkisher
Beobachter became the Party paper.
17
c) Hitler becomes leader.




In 1921 Hitler became undisputed leader of the Nazi party using the
Fuhrerprinzip or leader principle, ie, the leader was beyond criticism or
challenge and his word was law on all party matters.
August 1921-SA were set up to protect meetings and attack opposition
gatherings. They were ex-soldiers and many had been members of the
rightwing Freikorps who crushed the Spartacist revolt (1919) and the Red
Republic revolt in Munich (1918).
They were led by Ernst Rohm.
Until 1923 the Nazis were only a fringe movement competing with many
other rightwing parties in Germany. They were organised only in Bavaria
and centred in Munich.
d) The Munich/Beerhall Putsch Nov 1923.
Background.





Versailles had led to huge discontent in Germany due to the tough
restrictions and especially reparations. Seen as a ‘Diktat’ or dictated and
unacceptable peace:
In 1922 the Weimar Govt claimed it could not afford reparations repayment.
French and Belgians invaded the Ruhr.
Wilhelm Cuno’s govt called for passive resistance.
Thousands were not working and businesses were losing profits. Govt had
make up the shortfall due to lack of industrial output or work.
Effects –



Began printing more money, refused to cut welfare payments or raise taxes.
Hyperinflation ran out of control.
Good for govt and big business as it wiped out internal debts.

Disaster to those with pensions or savings and led to rise in unemployment.
18

Huge surge in extremism. Rightwingers blamed Weimar Republic, Versailles
Treaty, Jews and socialism.
Reasons for the Putsch.





Hitler scorned democracy and the Nazis were wedded to a strategy of
armed revolt against the WR. Refused to contest elections or follow a legal
path.
Many SA believed that Hyperinflation and the perceived surrender of
Stresemann to the French (by ending passive resistance) were the signal for
armed revolt.
They severely pressured Hitler for the ‘National revolution’ he had always
promised.
Fearful that they might choose a new leader or begin a revolution without
him, Hitler decided to strike in November 1923.
Stresemann’s introduction of the Rentenmark and call to end passive
resistance was the trigger for the Putsch.
Bavarian govt and Hitler’s plans.





This appalled the rightwing government in the state of Bavaria.
The Bavarian leader Von Kahr and army leader Von Lossow hatched a plan
to march on Berlin and seize power but soon changed their minds.
When Hitler learned they were planning a coup he hoped to co-opt them
for his own revolt.
On 8th Nov. Von Kahr and Von Lossow were addressing a meeting in Munich
when Hitler entered the hall, fired his pistol in the air and claimed the
national revolution has begun.
Under pressure, the two Bavarian leaders assured him of their support, but
soon escaped and reneged on their promise.
Aims of the Putsch.


Hitler hoped first to seize Munich and then, like Mussolini, march on the
nation’s capital.
However, the next day the Nazis were stopped by the police and a fire-fight
ensued in which 16 Nazis died along with several policemen. The help of the
army and police, promised by the Bavarian leaders, had failed to
materialise and the Putsch was quickly snuffed out. Ijn 1934 Hitler was to
exact revenge on Lossow and Kahr during the ‘Night of te Long Knives’.
Reasons for failure.





Hitler was forced into the Putsch and was unsure of success.
Police and Army in Bavaria had acted against him
Von Lossow and Von Kahr had refused to help.
Nazi Party was too small to attempt a nationwide coup. Support base was
limited to a few thousand in Bavaria.
Badly planned and poorly executed.
19
Trial and re-organisation of NSDAP.



Hitler stood trial for treason and was made an overnight celebrity due to his
strong arguments in defence of the Putsch.
Sympathetic judges(the establishment generally disliked the WR and
wanted a return to an authoritarian state) gave him a light sentence which
he spent in Landsberg Fortress writing Mein Kampf.
The ideas of the Nazis began to spread on a nationwide basis and Hitler
decided to re-organise the Nazi Party in 21925.
Key features of re-organisation.










Hitler realised that power could not be gained through force alone.
Decided to begin building an electoral base for the Nazis and contesting
Reichstag elections.
NSDAP would have to become a nationwide movement.
Split Germany into Gaue and appointed Gaueleiters/regional leaders in
each region to begin the task of increasing Nazi support nationwide.
Formed Nazi youth, womens’ and students organisations.
Began to cultivate good relations with businessmen such as Thyssen and
Hugenburg.
Goebbels was put in charge of spreading Nazi ideas through propaganda.
SA actions would not be directly linked to the Fuhrer.
The SS was founded in 1925 under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler.
Despite this the Nazis remained a fringe party and only secured 2.6% of the
vote in the Reichstag elections of 1928.
The German Economy 1919-33
Effects of World War One.





Massive 144 billion war debts.
1919-23 economic problems caused political instability and revolts.
Spartacist revolt and red Rising in Ruhr 1919, Kapp Putsch 1920, Hitler putsch
1923.
1923-29 partial recovery after hyperinflation crisis.
1929-33 Wall Street Crash helped Nazis into power.
Versailles Terms.






Loss of huge natural resource bases.
Financial burden reparations, £6.600 billion and 25% of export profits to
allies.
Worked out under London Payments Plan May 1921.
Loss of merchant shipping and fishing fleet.
200 thousand tonnes of shipping a year to be built for allies.
Loss of colonies,territories and stringent military restrictions.
Useful Quotations on TOV
20

“Death rather than slavery” – Deutsche Zeitung (German Times

“The criminal madness of the Versailles Diktat was a shameless blow in the
face”. – Hugo Preuss, lawyer who drew up Weimar Constitution.

“The only people who approve are the old fire eaters”. – Harold Nicolson,

“…a disgraceful peace” – Field Marshall (later President) Paul von

The terms were’…unrealisable and unbearable’ - President of Provisional
Govt, Ebert.

‘May the hand wither that signs this Treaty’– Chancellor of the Provisional

‘No one in their right mind would claim that the Treaty of Versailles did not
play a major role in the collapse of the Weimar Republic’ – Geary.

Josef Wirth’s govt (1921-22) began policy of ‘fulfilment’ ie,
fulfilling the Treaty terms to avoid an allied invasion. In 1922 he
asked for a suspension of payments.
Newspaper).
GB observer at Versailles.
Hindenburg.
Govt, Philip Sheidemann.
Reasons for suspension request.




Cost of losses due to Versailles.
Extension of welfare payments to unemployed and sick.
Unemployment had risen due to demobilisation of army after war.
By December 1922 the national debt was 469 billion marks.
Allied reaction.




The French believed the Germans were simply holding out to defy the terms
of the Treaty and could afford the repayments.
Along with the Belgians they invaded the industrial Ruhr region in Western
Germany and began taking huge amounts of factory produce and resources
such as steel and coal back to France as repayment.
The Germans called for passive resistance which led to Hyperinflation.
By the end of 1923 the mark was virtually worthless and unemployment was
spiralling out of control. The govt still refused to cut expenditure on welfare
or raise taxes to end the crisis.
‘ The government actually favoured inflation as it reduced its burden of
international debt.’ (Hinson)
21
Stresemann and recovery.
Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Weimar Republic1923-
24.




Ended passive resistance and Finance Minister Hans Luther introduced a
new currency, the Rentenmark.
Luther put strict limits on the printing of the new currency which took its
value from mortgage bonds on agricultural and industrial assets.
Cut public expenditure by sacking 700,000 state employees.
Created the Reichsbank and appointed the brilliant economist Hjalmar
Schact to oversee the new currency.
1924-29 The period of recovery?






Referred to as’Golden Age of Weimar Republic.
Relatively stable economically but serious underlying problems.
7 different chancellors and KPD growth indicates weaknesses.
Stresemann was a key figure in improving economic situation after 1923.
Believed that Germany should fulfil the TOV terms, including
reparations, until such times as she was strong enough to undo the
Treaty.
Also realised that Germany needed new foreign markets, raw materials
and sources of capital. Germany needed to rebuild itself economically
but steadily and surely.
The Dawes Plan April 1924.

Charles Dawes and group of international experts put this plan together to
find a solution to reparations burden.
22
French to
leave Ruhr.
Limits on
Ruhr
Invasion type
sanctions
Reparations
spread over a
longer
period.
THE
DAWES
PLAN
TERMS
800 million
foreign loan
to cover 80%
of reps
Until 1929
yearly
payment
1,000m
After 1929
yearly
payment
2,500m






Dawes plan meant that Germany had a chance to recover
economically.
Problem – recovery based on foreign loans. If they were suddenly
withdrawn German economy would collapse. Loans totalling 250
billion up to 1929. Helped to finance public works and
modernisation of Industry.
Restructuring of reparations meant more money in the economy
and general improvement in lives of many Germans.
National income 12% higher than before war.
Coal and steel industries grew massively.
However, there were still many problems:
23
20,000 work
days lost by
strikes
Still 3 million
out of work
in 1928
Exports only
outstripped
imports in
1927
Weaknesses
of Weimar
economy
1924-29
Slowest
growth of big
four-(USA,
GB,
France,Ger)
Agricultural
prices dropped
after 192731% lower
than 1924
labour unrest
over wages,
hours and
unemploymt
insurance
KPD vote
held firmresult of
labour unrest
The Young Plan 1929.



Would pay reparations of 2,000 million instead of 2,500 million a
year until 1988.
If agreed France would leave Rhineland June 1930
Wall Street Crash in October 1929 destroyed the German economy.
As foreign loans were withdrawn businesses and banks collapsed.
Unemployment spiralled out control. The Young Plan had no time
to take effect.
The end of the Weimar Republic and Hitler’s rise to power.
Useful quotations:
24

(the Weimar Republic) ..“ tottered from its birth”. –William
Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

“Tarnished by its opponents with the stigma of Versailles and
saddled with staggering socio-economic problems, the new
Republic found few passionate supporters.” – K Fisher, Nazi
Germany, a New History.

“..under the façade of stabilisation there were many cracks, both
political and economic.” - M. Fulbrook, The Fontana History of
Germany, 1918-1990.
Elite despised
Weimar
Republic
Many
Germans saw
Weimar as a
result of
defeat in war
Weaknesses
of WC- weak
coalitions
KPD/Nazis in
Reichstag etc
Longterm
reasons for
Hitler’s rise
to power.
Verailles/stab
in back myth
created huge
resentment
Hindenburg
wanted
return to
authoritarian
system
Still
economic
problems in
‘Golden
Twenties’
25
Effects of Wall Street Crash 1929-33







Badly hit by subsequent depression due to over reliance on US and
foreign loans.
Industrial exports, imports and exports in general dropped
dramatically by 1933.
6million unemployed(50% rise) from 1929-33.
National income dropped by 39%. 50,ooo businesses went
bankrupt as did 18,000 farmers.
Huge drop in govt spending (Public spending) on transport,
housing and education.
Increase in welfare payments could not meet the needs of the
population.
Serious psychological damage to once powerful nation increased
anger at Weimar Republic and attractiveness of Hitler’s promises
to make Germany great again.
Failure of Parliamentary Democracy.







Germans, fed up with the inability of the democratic parties to
find a solution to the severe crisis, began to vote for Nazis and
KPD in their millions.
The Grand Coalition of Muller collapsed due to SPD insistence that
unemployment benefit could not be reduced. With 29.8% of the
vote, no coalition could survive without the SPD.
Govts continued to cut expenditure on welfare and pensions which
angered many Germans.
Bruning and Papen’s policies were seen as too little too late. (see
notes)
The constant series of elections confused and angered voters who
were sick of instability.
All this instability led to Germans voting for the stability and
certainty promised by Hitler and the KPD.
Constant use of art.48 and collapse of coalitions over
disagreements on policy led to disillusionment on the part of the
electorate.
The Establishment/elite.




Impossible after 1939 to form a coalition with a working
majority.
Hindenburg began to appoint non-party chancellors.
Without a majority of votes in the Reichstag Hindenburg had
to rule by decree.
Reichstag became almost completely bypassed.
26




Big industrialists and army pressed Hindenburg to give
Chancellorship to the leader of largest party who would be
under tight presidential control thus a more authoritarian
type govt.
Bruning’s cost cutting measures and call for election in 1932
alled the Nazi vote to explode.
Papen and Hindenburg’s attempt to control Hitler did not take
into account the lengths to which the Nazis would go to gain
their dictatorship.
Schleicher’s attempt to split the Nazis by offering Strasser the
vice chancellorship signalled the power of rthe Nazis and the
fear that they may revolt and take control of Germany.
The German People.




Hitler came to power by using democracy to destroy it from
within. In the final analysis he came to power because millions of
Germans voted for the NSDAP.
July 1932 was the big breakthrough – 13.7 million votes.
March 1933 (After burning of Reichstag) – 17.3 million votes.
The strength of the Nazi vote meant they could not be ignored by
the establishment. Hitler’s key promises to end unemployment
and provide stability were deeply attractive to many Germans.
Role of Hitler and the Nazis.





Hitler had great charisma and was an excellent speaker who kept
his message simple and repetitive.
He was able to appeal to all sections of German society through
his message of economic recovery and stability, the undoing of
Versailles and the building of a new Greater Germany.
More radical elements in the party and the Nazis’ anti-Semitism
were carefully restricted to avoid negative publicity.
Propaganda was used to spectacular effect. Hitler’s Presidential
campaign was an excellent example of the Nazis’ clever use of
propaganda.
The voting pact with the Right wing Zentrum party in 1932-33
meant no legislation could be passed by the Reichstag and
Hindenburg was forced to rule by decree and eventually try to coopt Hitler by making him chancellor.
27
Promise to
suppress
communism
appealed to
middle classes
Used
nationalism to
unite all
classes
Simple message
– promised
work and food
(arbeit und
brot)
Why did
Germans
vote for
Hitler?
Promised a
return to order
and stability
Huge rallies
and visual
spectacles
deeply
impressed
young people
HITLER COMES TO POWER Jan. 1933.
Hitler meets with Hindenburg in January 1933
Not tainted with
failures of
Weimar
Republic– had
always opposed
it.
Party
programme
appealed to
industrialists
and antiSemites
The violence of
the SA and SS
attracted many
who argued for
a security
clampdown
28
Consolidation of power-key steps.
1.




Calls elections for March in hope of gaining 66% majority to
change WC.
Reichstag fire 27th Feb blamed on communists. Possible SA
involvement.
Convenient for Nazis as means to suppress communists.
Law for Protection of People and State (LPPS) passed.
LPPS – Suspends constitutional and civil rights, arrest without
trial/charge (protective custody), thousands of communists rounded up,
papers banned and KPD outlawed.
March elections only 44% vote Nazi.
2.
Ministry for Public enlightenment and Propaganda (RMVP) set up
under Goebbels – Nazis have public funds to spread propaganda and
gain control of mass media.
3.
Enabling Act (EA) passed on 24th March 1933, with help of Zentrum,
when Hitler agrees to protect rights of Catholic Church in Germany.
EA – Gives emergency powers to govt for 4 years and Hitler can pass
laws without needing Presidential approval as required by WC.
4.
Gleichschaltung (co-ordination).
Process of taking control of all aspects of political and social life in
Germany.
The Nazis used a mixture of fear/force and legal means to consolidate
their power.
29
Law for
Restoration of
Professional
Civil Service
SA murders
and
concentration
camps used
Co-ordination
1933-34
Employment
Law in June
sets up
compulsory
work schemes
Law Against
Formation of
New Parties.
All parties
banned.





Trade Unions
banned. DAF
set up to bring
workers into
line
Concordat
with Vatican
ensures
church
support
Lander/local
govts
dissolved and
replaced by
Gauleiter
Opposition was now almost completely suppressed.
The only organisations that could threaten Hitler now were the
Army, big business and the SA/socialist elements within the Nazi
movement.
Big business was delighted with the restrictions of workers’ rights
laid out by the DAF.
They were also beginning to get huge contracts for public works
done cheaply through compulsory labour.
They were also content that the communists and socialists had
been quickly suppressed by the new regime.
30
The Night of the Long Knives 29-30th June 1934.
Reasons for:








SA leader Ernst Rohm wanted a second revolution based on a more
socialist programme. The SA were accusing Hitler of selling out to
the capitalists and the old German elite.
SA was now 3 million strong and Rohm wanted it to form the new
German army.
Both these demands could seriously undermine Hitler’s position.
The SA could possibly overthrow the Fuhrer himself were it not
challenged.
The Army detested Rohm and if Hitler acceded to his demands the
might overthrow Hitler in a military coup. The leaders of the
Army, with Hindenburg’s support were putting severe pressure on
Hitler to do something about the SA leadership.
Big business, which had helped Hitler into power, was now wary
of the SA which was demanding a second, ‘socialist’ revolution.
The public had begun to tire of the SA’s brutality and the private
lifesyles of SA leaders such as Rohm and Edmund Heines were
causing scandal and disgust in many circles.
The SS leader Heinrich Himmler, along with his deputy and leader
of the SD, Reinhardt Heydrich, loathed the SA leadership and
wanted the SS to become the main security organisation in the
NSDAP.
Hitler struck on 30th June 1934. SS detachments arrested and shot
the SA leadership and many other old enemies including Von Kahr
and General Schleicher.
31
1933
SA propaganda poster.
Rohm with Himmler
Effects.



As a result of the purge the Army gave an oath of loyalty to Hitler
and was now under his control.
When Hindenburg died that same summer Hitler proclaimed
himself Fuhrer of Germany. He had created and consolidated his
dictatorship and now began to tackle the economy and increase
Nazi control over the population.
The SS became the more powerful and was made independent of
the SA.
Propaganda, Culture and control in the Third Reich.





Propaganda was led by Josef Goebbels head of RMVP.
Reich Press Chamber controlled newspapers. Editors Law of Oct.
’33 tightened Nazi control and all journalists had to be members
of Reich Assoc. of German press.
Radio used widely for propaganda. Peoples’ Radio sold cheaply
and used to spread Nazi propaganda. Millions sold by 1936.
Loudspeakers in public places to carry Hitler’s speeches and
addresses.
Films also used widely. Some were specifically on Nazi ideas such
as anti-Semitism. Nazisi controlled all cinema by1942. Reich Film
Chamber censored all films.
32

Meetings and rallies were frequently used to enthuse the masses
and demondtrate the power of the new Reich. Marching military
bands, armed columns of SS and Hitler Youth etc gave impression
of order and discipline as they filled the huge stadiums fro Hitler’s
speeches.
Culture in the Third Reich. (see notes)






DAF gradually began to control all sport in 3rd Reich. Olympics of
1936 were a showcase for Nazism. All sports controlled by the
Reichsportsfuhrer.
Literature was widely censored, book burnings by student
included those by Jewish writers or any author whose ideas
challenged Nazi ideology. Mein Kampf sold 6 million copies.
Music was generally confined to classical or traditional German
folk. Jazz etc was banned due to its racial roots.
Art was also carefully controlled and was used to show the positive
elements of Nazism.
Modern Art was viewed as ‘degenerate’ and freedom of expression
in art was discouraged. (see notes on facts on Nazi art).
Architecture was a favourite hobby for Hitler and he viewed the
construction of his new cities as an important symbol of Nazi
power and authority.
SS officer from the Leibstandarte
with top SS commanders.
Adolf Hitler. This unit acted as Hitler’s
bodyguard.
Heinrich Himmler
Security and political control.

The Nazis divided Germany into 30 Gaue (regions) which were
tightly controlled from above by the Gauleiter. Right down to
city blocks and streets there were Nazi party members in control
33




of spreading propaganda and serving the party on a number of
levels.
The SS and Gestapo were the mostr powerful and fanatically loyal
of the security organisations deployed by the Nazis to maintain
the security of the regime. Hitler always claimed that there
would never be a revolution in Nazi Germany such as had taken
place in November 1918. As a result the Nazi security structure
was powerful and widespread.
The SS became the most powerful security force in the Reich with
the exception of the Wehrmacht (Army). Himmler was indeed
building it up to rival the power of the army and in 1939 the
Waffen SS or military branch went into battle with regular
German forces in the Polish campaign.
The Gestapo was the secret police and relied mainly on
information from the public to keep control.
Due to their wide ranging powers of arrest and detention they
were feared by the population. See notes for statistics on
detentions, executions etc.
The Jews in Germany. (See notes and make a list of Laws/actions from
1933-45)








Anti- Semitism was a key part of the Nazi programme for govt
and Hitler had an intense and irrational hatred for the Jewish
race.
Beginning in 1941 the ‘Endlosung der Juden Frage’(Final solution
of the Jewish Question) saw the slaughter of European Jews in a
manner unprecedented in the History of mankind.
Historians still argue over whether the Final Solution was planned
all along by the Nazis or whether the cover of War was used to
implement the industrial annihilation of European Jews.
Beginning in 1933 there were SA boycotts of Jewish businesses.
In 1935 the Nuremburg Laws were passed which deprived German
Jews of citizenship and forbade mixed marriages or sexual
relations between Jews and ‘Aryans’.
Gradually Jews were forced out of government jobs and the
professional and commercial life of Germany. By 1938 they had
been banned from university, cinemas and sports facilities.
In 1938 the huge pogrom against the Jews was called Kristall
Nacht or the night of the broken glass due to the destruction
caused to Jewish businesses, homes and synagogues.
By 1939 many Jews had begun to leave Germany. When war
broke out in September, Heydrich, the leader of the SD, was
ordered by Himmler to send the Einsatzgruppen into Poland and
later the USSR, behind the invading Wehrmacht. Here they
34
slaughtered the Jewish populations of towns with a breathtaking
ferocity.
Members of the Einsatzgruppen at
Execution of mother and
child.
the site of a mass execution 1941.
Some of the Jewish Victims of a mass execution.
Babi Yar, Ukraine,
USSR 1941.
Other groups persecuted




‘Asocials’ by Nazi standards, such as beggars, prostitutes,
alcoholics etc.
Homosexuals.
Religious sects such as Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Romany Gypsies originally from the Indian subcontinent and in
turn, Eastern Europe.
Women in the Third Reich.

Women were to be confined to a domestic role, raising healthy
children and caring for their family.
35











Kinder, Kuche, Kirche(children, kitchen. Church) was the slogan
used by the Nazis to denote the position of women under the new
regime.
May 1933 Robert Ley established the FrauenFront or Women’s
Front. All other women’s groups were banned.
Due to the Law for Restoration of Civil Service, women, like Jewish
people, lost their jobs and became part of the ‘invisible’
unemployed. (Copy out statistics in notes)
Despite this the number of women in profession actually rose by
1939 due to economic necessity.
Conscription and rearmament created a labour shortage in
Germany and women were increasingly encouraged back in to the
workplace.
Medals were given to women who had several children and the
birth rate grew slowly but steadily between 1933 and 1939. This
policy was known as ‘Pro-natalism’ ( The support of birth).
Marriage loans were introduced with the condition that women
who received them could not work outside the home.
Tax cuts were introduced for families and state allowances were
paid.
Abortion was banned by the Nazis but the number still remained
high with illegal abortions taking place throughout the country.
The Lebensborn (Fountain of Life) project was Himmler’s
brainchild and led to the setting up of hospitals where soldiers
and particularly SS men home from the front would be encouraged
to have children with members of the BDM (League of German
Maidens).
The divorce rate rose during the Nazi era despite the lip service
paid to ‘family values’.
Youth in the Third Reich.
36
Poster for a BDM rally.
encouraging Hitler youth to join the SS



Poster
Indoctrination of the young was a vital task in Hitler’s eyes.
Boys would be soldiers and girls would be child bearing
housewives.
Baldur Von Schirach was given control of the Hitler Jugend (Hitler
Youth).
Baldur Von Schirach
37
Hitler Jugend
Pimpfen ages 6-10





Jungvolk ages 10-14
HJ Hitler Youth ages 14-18
Encouraged to join Army/ SS
HJ members did physical training, sports and military drill.
Instructed in hiking, map reading, setting up camps and shooting.
Learned Nazi songs and rituals at military style camps that
encouraged teamwork and comradeship.
By 1935 60% of German boys were in HJ and huge pressure wqs
put on parents to enrol their sons. By 1939 membership in HJ was
compulsory.
Jungmadel was for girls age 10 to 14 when they joined the Bundes
Deutscher Madel (League of German Maidens). 2 million members
by 1936 were encouraged to accept the role outlined for them by
the Party. Membership compulsory by 1939.
Education.
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Bernard Rust appointed Minister of Education and Culture in 1933.
1934 became Reich Minister for Science, Education and Culture.
Got rid of Jews and anti-Nazis from teaching profession.
Teachers were encouraged to join the National Socialist Teachers’
Alliance (NSLB).
Elite schools known as the ‘Adolf Hitler Schulen’ or Adolf Hitler
schools were set up to take the brightest an d most talented
\German children. Here they learned Nazi racial doctrine and
physical fitness as well as other subjects and extra-curricular
activities.
The Nazi military academies, Napolas, were set up to train
members of the Waffen SS.
The Ordensburg were schools for the cream of the elite students.
Here they were taught to become leaders of the SS. Himmler
viewed these future leaders as an elite order of German Knights.
In ordinary schools, History, biology and even Maths were
subverted to teach Nazi doctrine.
As with schools, academic and teaching standards in German
universities dropped dramatically. Many German academics fled
the country as did Jewish scientists, artists and writers. Notable
examples of these immigres included Albert Einstein and Thomas
Mann.
38
Opposition to the Nazis.
The Catholic Church
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The Church was seen as the main obstruction to Hitler becoming
the supreme political and moral authority in Germany.
Hitler was clever enough to realise that the church had huge
power and influence over German catholics and at frst he worked
out a deal under the Concordat which said that the church would
stay out of political affairs and the State would stay out of church
affairs.
However, many Nazis were dismayed at the Concordat and
actively worked to undo the influence of the church.
By 1937 Hitler was ready to confront the church. Monasteries and
schools were closed down and the Catholic Youth League was
broken up.
In 1937 the Pope condemned the Nazis as being hostile to ‘Christ
and his Church’, but this had little effect on Nazi actions.
Archbishop Galen of Munster openly condemned the Nazis in 1938
when it was discovered that they were operating an
extermination programme, on disabled children, codenamed T4.
Hitler moved quickly to close the programme down but vowed
revenge against the church when the coming war was over.
The Protestant churches.
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The 28 protestant groups in Germany merged into the Reich
Church with a Nazi as leader.
However, many protestants remained bitterly opposed to the
Nazis and set up the Confessional Church led by veteran
Submarine Captain Martin Niemoller.
Over 800 pastors were arrested and many were executed.
Niemoller was sent to a concentration camp where he remained
until the end of the War.
Other opposition to the Nazis.
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Leftwing ‘Red Orchestra’ which passed on German military secrets
to the Soviets during the War. Led by Anton Saefkow they carried
out acts of sabotage and encouraged soldiers to desert from the
German Army.
The Kreisau Circle, a group of professionals, academics and
intellectuals met at Kreisau in an attempt to work out plans for a
Germany without Hitler.
39
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Youth groups included the Edelweiss pirates and Navajos as well
as the White Rose led by Hans and Sophie Scholl. The latter were
executed after handing out anti-Nazi leaflets in their university.
The July plotters, who came within inches of killing Hitler with a
bomb in his Headquarters in 1944 we re a group of senior army
officers. They planned a military coup but the attempt failed and
they were rounded up and brutally executed by the SS.
All in all despite this opposition, Hitler’s security apparatus of the
SS, SD and Gestapo was able to quickly quash any movement or
individual who attempted to undermine the regime.
The German Economy 1933-45.
Hitler’s economic objectives 1933-36.
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Reduce unemployment which stood at 6,014.000 in 1933.
Improve balance of trade
Overall economic recovery.
Unemployment policies.

RAD/public work schemes, first introduced by Papen and
Schleicher were massively expanded under Hitler.
40
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Built autobahnen (motorways), hospitals, schools, housing and
did intensive agricultural work.
Artificially reduced unemployment, long hours low wages.
‘Battle of Labour’ was name given to crusade to end
unemployment.
Unions banned, German workers had to be members of German
Labour Front(DAF) led by Dr. Robert Ley.
Both Rad and DAF were warmly welcomed by big business due to
cheap labour, ban on strikes and huge profits made from public
works.
Workers were compensated by Beauty of Labour (SDA) and
Strength Through Joy (KDF) organisations which improved leisure
facilities and leisure time for many German workers. (see notes).
‘Help Hitler build. Buy German goods.’
Invisible unemployment.
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This was the name given to the Nazi policy of hiding the true
extent of unemployment through a series of legal and dishonest
means.
Massive public funding 37.1 million marks by 1938.
Jews, minorities, women lost jobs but were not counted as
unemployed.
Re-armament cost billions and put Germany severely in debt even
though it created millions of jobs.
Conscription into the Army and the expansion of the security
apparatus of the state also created huge employment.
All in all the impressive unemployment figures were based on an
economy gearing up for war and could not have been sustained in
a normal peacetime economy.
41
The New Plan 1933 onwards.
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This was devised by the brilliant German economist Hjalmar
Schacht.
The main theory behind it was to break Germany’s dependence on
foreign loans, trade agreements and investments which had led to
economic collapse after the Wall Street Crash.
He negotiated trade agreements with weaker economies such as
those in South America and the Balkans. The key aims were:
To promote German exports, reduce imports, strengthen the
German mark and have trade agreements with poorer countries
that were rich in raw materials needed by Germany.
Introduction of MEFO bills and use of credit to gain materials from
poorer nations enabled the economy to stabilise and rearmament
to continue.
1936-39 Rearmament.
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Hitler wanted to be ready for War and conquest in the East in four
years.
Led to Four Year Plan under Goering’s leadership.
Wanted Germany to be completely self-sufficient (autarky) to
avoid the huge shortages caused by a naval blockade (such as the
British naval blockade from 1917-19 which almost starved
Germany into submission).
Although re-armament would have many benefits for the
economy it also caused serious problems. So much so that by 1939
Germany had to fight a war and conquer new territories if she was
to have enough raw materials and goods to sustain the population
and industry.
Problems.
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The main problem was whether Germany should sacrifice the
import of essential foodstuff such as oil and fats to continue the
massive rearmament programme.
Schacht was keenly aware that Germany could not afford to have
both.
A widespread shortage of consumer goods would be a serious blow
to the morale of the German people and indeed might undermine
Hitler’s leadership.
The only way out was to push for almost complete autarky so that
Germans were no longer dependent on such huge imports.
42
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Thus the second four year plan was begun with the aim of
producing key commodities such as iron and artificial fats as well
as synthetic replacements for rubber and oil.
This was time consuming and expensive and by 1933 Germany still
depended on foreign imports for 33% of its raw materials.
By 1939 the Balance of Trade deficit stood at 432 million
Reichsmarks (RM).
A war economy 1939-42.
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Hitler believed that when Germany conquered the East and had
access to the wheat oil and other raw materials of the USSR, she
would be completely self sufficient.
Slave labour from the East would make up the labour shortfall
and the new military tactic of Blitzkrieg (lightning war) would
mean that the War would be over quickly without great loss of life
or equipment on the German side.
By the end of 1941 Germany controlled western Europe and the
Wehrmacht was at the gates of Moscow. It seemed that the war
would soon be over and the Soviet Union was about to collapse
under the hammer blows delivered by Hitler’s huge invasion force.
From 1939-42 war expenditure rose by 37 million RM and the
labour force doubled.
By May 1940 Germany needed to find another 3.5 million workers
in the economy.
Raw materials and prisoners from the newly occupied territories
plugged the gaps for the time being.
By 1942 there were 6.4million foreign workers in Germany.
Success in the war meant that the economy was producing enough
both for the War and for domestic consumption. Despite rationing
morale was high.
Totaler Krieg (Total War) – 1943-45
43
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After a renewed offensive in Southern Russia the German Army
was poised to capture the city of Stalingrad on the Volga in
November 1942. Hitler declared war on the US in December 1941
after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in the belief that the
capture of Stalingrad would guarantee the defeat of Russia and
the capture of the vital oilfields in Baku and Grozny.
However, just when the Soviets seemed beaten they launched a
massive counterattack surrounding the Sixth Army at Stalingrad
and eventually destroying them by February of 1943.
It was a killer blow to the overstretched Wehrmacht and from that
point Germany was on the retreat.
Following the disaster at Stalingrad Hitler ordered that the
economy be geared up for total war, a move that was to destroy
the German economy.
German troops in the rubble of Stalingrad 1942. Some of the 90
thousand German soldiers captured at StalingradFeb 1943.
Effects of total war.
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Albert Speer became minister of War Production in May 1942.
Industry shifted to war production.
A universal labour service was announced.
All non essential businesses were forced to shut down.
Production rose in 1943.
By 1944 slave and foreign labour accounted for 30% of the
German workforce.
Women were conscripted into the workforce – 42% by 1944.
(reversal of Nazi policy towards women)
Despite massive Allied bombing raids industrial production
increased.
44
By the spring of 1945 Germany was exhausted economically. Invasion
from East by the Soviets and the West by the US and GB/France
forced her to surrender in May.
Allied bombing had flattened German cities and millions of soldiers
and civilians were killed.
By the time of the surrender Hitler had committed suicide, Nazism
was extinct and Germany was at the mercy of her conquerors.
45
Nazi Leaders.
Heinrich Himmler. Reichsfuhrer SS. Committed suicide May 1945 after
capture by the Allies.
Arguably the most powerful man in Germany after Hitler. Built the SS
up into a huge organisation. Controlled the Gestapo, SD, the Deaths
Head units that guarded and ran the concentration and extermination
camps. Waffen SS were the most fanatical and well trained troops
attached to the German army during the Second World War.
Reinhard Heydrich. Head of SD and Brigadier General of the SS.
Head of SD (Reich security service). Key figure in the ‘Final Solution’
and commander of Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing squads) which
followed the army into Poland and USSR 1939-41. Assassinated by
British trained Czech resistance fighters 1942.
46
Hermann Goering.
Head of the FourYear Plan and subsequently chief of the Luftwaffe
(German airforce). Committed suicide hours before his execution by
War Crimes Tribunal at Nuremburg 1946.
Josef Goebbels. Minister for Enlightenment and Propaganda
Goebbels was in charge of all propaganda and had complete control of
the press, media and culture through the Ministry for Enlightenment
and Propaganda. As the Red Army approached the centre of Berlin in
April 1945 he committed suicide along with his wife and six children.
Rudolf Hess. Deputy Fuhrer until 1941.
Hess was Deputy Fuhrer but disappeared to England in 1941 before the
invasion of USSR in an attempt to persuade England to sue for peace.
47
The attempt failed and after the war he was imprisoned in Berlin
following the Nuremburg Trials. He died in Spandau Prison in 1989.
Ernst Rohm, leader of the Sturm Abteilung (SA)
One of Hitler’s earliest comrades, Rohm had fought in WW1 and joined
the Freikorps in 1919 to crush the communist revolt in Bavaria. He was
appointed leader of the SA and oversaw its growth and organisation. He
believed that the SA/Brownshirts would become the new German army
when Hitler came to power and that Nazi policy would include the
socialist elements of the party programme. As tension grew with the
Reichwehr, Hitler came under pressure to act against Rohm and the
leadership of the powerful SA. On the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ Rohm
was executed by the SS.
Martin BormannDeputy Fuhrer and Head of Reichs Chancellery
In 1942 Bormann became Hitler's secretary and was given the post of
deputy fuehrer. Bormann controlled all the papers Hitler saw and in this
way he had a growing influence on government policy. He also
sometimes blocked Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Goering, Heinrich
Himmler and Albert Speer from seeing Hitler. Rarely leaving
headquarters his judgements were invariably wrong during the final
stages of the war. He disappeared in May 1945 and his remains were
found during an excavation in Berlin in 1972.
48
Albert Speer, Hitler’s architect and Minister of Armaments.
Speer was a gifted architect and was given the responsibility for
designing many new public buildings and stadiums by Hitler. In
February, 1942, Adolf Hitler appointed Speer as Minister of Armaments.
A good administrator, Speer considerably raised production levels of
armaments. At the end of the Second World War Speer was arrested and
was charged with using slave labour in his production programmes.
Speer pleaded guilty and was sentenced to twenty five years in prison.
After being released from Spandau Prison in 1966, Speer published his
memoirs, Inside the Third Reich (1970) and Spandau: The Secret Diaries
(1976). Speer died in 1981.
Bernhard Rust Minister of Education 1933-45
When Adolf Hitler gained power in 1933 he appointed Rust as Minister of
Science, Art, and Education for Prussia. The following year he was
promoted to the post of Education Minister for the Reich. On one occasion
he remarked that "the whole function of education is to create Nazis."
Bernhard Rust committed suicide when in May 1945, it became clear that
Germany had lost the Second World War.
49
Robert Ley Leader of the DAF
On 2nd May, 1933, Adolf Hitler ordered the arrest of Germany's trade
union leaders. He then gave Ley the task of forming the German Labour
Front (DAF) to replace the now outlawed trade unions. Ley confiscated
union funds and used the money to fund the Strength through Joy (KDF)
programme. After the war Ley was charged with war crimes. While
awaiting trial in Nuremberg Ley wrote a statement denouncing AntiSemitism and then hanged himself in his cell on 25th October, 1945.
Hjalmar Schacht, Minister of Economics.
In August, 1934, Hitler appointed Schacht as his minister of economics.
Schacht encouraged Hitler to introduce a programme of public works,
including the building of the Autobahnen. Schacht also introduced the
New Plan which rigorously controlled everything that was imported into
Germany. This involved negotiating a series of bilateral trade
agreements including one with the Soviet Union in 1935. Schacht also had
doubts about the large amounts of money being spent on armaments.
He warned Hitler that he was building armed forces far beyond the
country's economic capacity. He found it increasingly difficult working
under Hermann Goering who fully supported the government's policy on
military spending. As Goering told Schacht "If the Fuehrer wishes it then
two times two are five." Arrested by the Allies he was accused of crimes
against humanity at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. He was found not
guilty but the German government had him re-arrested and charged
him with other offences. He was sentenced to eight years imprisonment
but he was freed on 2nd September, 1948.
50
Timeline 1 . The Nazis
1889
1905
1908
1913
1914
1916
1918
1918
1918
1919
Adolf Hitler is born on 20th April, the
son of Alois and Klara, in Braunauam-Inn, Linz, Austria.
Adolf Hitler leaves school without
graduating. His favourite subjects
were History and German
literature.
Hitler moved from his hometown of
Linz to Vienna. He fails to win a
place at the art academy and
begins to sleep rough, even though
he is getting a student’s allowance.
Hitler moves from Vienna to escape
military service in the Austrian army
and goes to live in Munich, the
capital of Bavaria in Germany.
Hitler celebrates the beginning of
the Great War as Germany declares
war on Russia and Serbia.
Corporal Adolf Hitler is injured in
the thigh during the Battle of the
Somme. He is sent to Berlin’s
military hospital.
Hitler, now a winner of the Iron
Cross (First Class) for his bravery in
the Ludendorff Spring Offensive, is
blinded by gas and sent to hospital
in Munich.
Faced with revolution at home,
Kaiser Wilhelm, the German
Emperor, abdicated (resigned) and
handed over power to a new
government made of SocialDemocrats. The war was over. The
German communists, or Spartacists
attempted to have a revolution like
in Russia.
Hitler hears of Germany’s surrender
in November and swears to avenge
this ‘stabbing in the back’.
The Versailles Treaty was signed –
making Germany pay money
(reparations) to the winning
countries of the war. Germany’s
armed forces were reduced, her
empire was broken up and
Germans were made to accept ‘War
Guilt’. Many nationalists, such as
51
1920
1920
1921
1922
1923
Hitler, were furious. They called the
German government the
‘November Criminals’.
Hitler, discharged from the army,
and now working as a government
agent, is sent to spy on the small
German Workers’ Party (DAP) in
Munich.
The ‘Kapp Putsch’ failed. This was
an attempt by nationalist exsoldiers called the Freikorps. The
workers refused to help the
Freikorps in their rebellion. Later
the Freikorps help the government
to crush a workers’ strike, killing
hundreds.
Hitler takes control of the German
Workers’ Party and renames it the
National Socialist German Worker’s
Party (NSDAP). He is the 55th
member of this small group.
Benito Mussolini, the fascist, takes
power in Italy. Hitler is impressed by
his black-shirted supporters, their
raised-arm salutes, and their hatred
of Communists.
French and Belgian troops marched
into the Ruhr industrial region after
Germany stopped paying her war
debts. German workers went on
strike.
Hyperinflation gripped the
economy as money lost its value
and people could not keep up with
rising prices.
1923
New chancellor Gustav Stresemann
ended the resistance in the Ruhr
and began the reparations
payments again.
Hitler, Roehm, Goering and the
NSDAP attempt to overthrow the
state government in Munich. The
rebellion, based from the
Burgerbraukellar (Borough Beer
Hall). The army fail to support the
Nazis. Over a dozen Nazis are
killed, the police overpower the
revolt and Hitler is arrested.
Hitler is tried for treason and uses
52
1924
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1932
1932
the trial to put forward his views.
He is jailed in Landsberg Prison. The
Nazi Party and the SA are banned.
Hitler, with help from his secretary,
Rudolf Hess, finishes his book, Mein
Kampf (My Struggle) which outlines
his beliefs and aims. Hitler is
released from Landsberg Prison
having served just 13 months for
treason.
Stresemann signed the Dawes Plan
– borrowing money from the USA
to pay off the war reparations.
Unemployment fell and German
businesses began to recover. The
‘Golden Years’ were beginning.
The SS (Schutzstaffel), Hitler’s
personal bodyguard army is
formed. Heinrich Himmler is
appointed leader. They wear
leftover black ski-hats to distinguish
them from the Brownshirts to begin
with, and later wear all-black
uniforms.
The Hitler Youth (Hitler Jugend) is
formed as a branch of the SA.
The first Nuremburg rally for the
Nazi Party attracts 30,000 SA men.
It is claimed that Nazi Party
membership is 70,000.
The Nazis win 12 seats in the
Reichstag. Hermann Goering and
Josef Goebbels are amongst the new
deputies. Goebbels takes over the
popaganda branch of the Party
from
The second Nuremburg rally
attracts 60,000 SA men and
200,000 Nazi supporters. Hitler
demands that the Versailles Treaty
is torn up. Within a month, the stock
markets collapse in America – the
Wall Street Crash.
Hindenburg defeats Hitler in the
presidential elections by 49.6
percent to 30.1 percent. The SA,
now with over 400,000 members, is
banned again. A month later, a
repeated election sees Hitler lose
(53-37) but increase his vote.
The two Reichstag elections of this
year see the Nazis lose some of their
53
1933
1933
1933
1934
1934
1933
1933
vote but stay as the biggest single
party. Kurt von Schleicher is named
Chancellor of Germany, taking over
from Franz von Papen, the Catholic
Centre Party leader who unbanned the SA.
Schleicher resigns due to his
unpopularity in the Reichstag. Von
Papen agrees to form a mainlyConservative cabinet with Hitler as
Chancellor. He thinks he and the
others can control the Nazis.
Reichstag Fire: Germany’s
parliament building is burnt down.
Goering claims he has proof that the
Communists are responsible.
Thousands of anti-Fascists such as
Communists, Socialists and Liberals
are arrested. Industrialists and big
businesses pledge money to the
Nazis.
The last Reichstag elections see the
Nazis increase their vote to 44
percent. The Communists are
banned and the Reichstag passes
the Enabling Law – which allows
Hitler to make laws without asking
the Reichstag.
The Night of the Long Knives –
following a huge rise in SA
membership to over a million – the
SS swoop on the homes of leading
SA members and murder them
Roehm, the leader of the SA and
Nazi since the beginning, is shot in
the throat. Kurt von Schleicher,
former Chancellor is also killed.
President Hindenburg, the last
remaining obstacle to complete
power for Hitler, dies. Hitler now
joins the post of President to
Chancellor and becomes Fuehrer
(Supreme Leader). The army swears
an oath of loyalty to Hitler. Hitler
now has total control of Germany.
The first concentration camp is
opened in Dachau, near Munich, to
jail the Communist Party members.
The SS is in charge of the camps.
Trades Unions are banned and
replaced by the German Labour
Front or DAF (Deutsche
54
Arbeitsfront)
1935
1935
1936
1936
1938
1939
1939
Jews were banned from jobs in the
government – the ‘Law for the
Restoration of the Professional Civil
Service’
The ‘Reich Labour Law’ made all
young men between 18 and 25 do
six months work service
(Arbietdienst). This reduced the
unemployment figures.
‘The Law for the Protection of
German Blood and Honour’ banned
marriages between Aryans and
Jews. Jews and non-Jews were also
banned from having sexual
relations. The citizenship rights of
Jews was removed by the ‘Reich
Citizenship Law’. These laws
became known as the Nuremburg
Laws.
The ‘Hitler Youth Law’ makes the
Hitler Youth as important as home
or school.
Berlin hosts the Olympic Games.
Hitler wanted the games to be used
as a propaganda spectacle for the
Nazis. Leni Riefenstahl made a
famous film, ‘The Triumph of the
Will’ about the event. It was spoiled
for Hitler by the black American
runner Jesse Owens winning four
gold medals.
Following the assassination of a
German Embassy official in Paris,
France by Herschel Grynszpan, a
young Polish Jew, thousands of
Jewish shops, homes and synagogues
were attacked. Over 100 Jews were
killed and 20,000 arrested in the
Night of Broken Glass or Crystal
Night (Kristallnacht). Jews were
ordered to pay one billion
Reichsmarks to clear up the
damage.
The ‘Second Hitler Youth Law’
makes membership of the Hitler
Youth compulsory, and all young
people have to swear an oath to
Adolf Hitler.
Germany invaded Poland and
Britain and France declared war on
55
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1944
1945
Germany. The second world war in
Europe had begun.
The Nazis began to round up Polish
Jews to be put in ‘ghettoes’ – walled
areas of cities. Many died of
starvation.
Operation Barbarossa – the
German invasion of the USSR
begins. A Blitzkrieg attack takes
hundreds of thousands of Red Army
prisoners. Einsatzgruppen units
move in to execute Communists
and Jews.
The Wannsee Conference, attended
by the senior Nazi leaders, decided
on a final and permanent solution
to the ‘Jewish Problem’. The first
extermination camp was set up at
Belzec in Poland.
The Germans surrendered at
Stalingrad in the USSR. This is the
turning point in the war, and from
now on Germany would fight a
defensive war as Stalin’s Soviet Red
Army advance towards the heart of
the Reich.
The second front in the West is
finally begun as hundreds of
thousands of US, British, Free French
troops land in Normandy on the
day known as ‘D-Day’.
The ‘July Plot’ fails and the bomb
laid by Colonel Claus von
Stauffenberg fails to kill Adolf
Hitler. Nearly 6,000 suspected
plotters including 19 generals and 2
ambassadors were executed by
beheading or hanging slowly with
wire.
Hitler married his girlfriend, Eva
Braun in the bunker underneath
Berlin while Soviet troops were
conquering the city.
The next day, after she took poison,
Hitler put a pistol to his head and
blew his brains out. His body was
taken out and burned. Within a
week Germany surrendered, and
the ‘Thousand Year Reich’ ended
56
after 12 years
Timeline 2 - The Weimar Republic and the Third Reich
1918 Oct. 28
Nov. 9
Mutinies by sailors and soldiers begin in the home garrisons in
Germany, followed by the formation of workers' and soldiers'
councils.
Revolution in Germany: The Empire collapses, the Kaiser
abdicates, and a republic is proclaimed.
Nov. 10 Feb. 6
A provisional government of socialists is established, nominally
responsible to the workers’ and soldiers' councils; until Dec. 29 it
includes the radical USPD as well as the moderate SPD.
Nov. 11
Armistice: The end of the war.
1919 Feb. 6
The National Assembly (elected on Jan. 19) meets in Weimar
because Berlin is too violent. A government of the "Weimar
Coalition" (SPD, DDP, Center) is formed with Philipp
Scheidemann as Chancellor.
Feb. 11
The National Assembly elects Friedrich Ebert (SPD) as first
President of the Republic.
April 4 May 1
A Soviet Republic in Bavaria is the most dramatic of a series of
revolts and military conflicts during the spring between
government troops and radical workers.
57
June 23
Versailles Treaty: The Treaty, drafted by Britain, France, and
the United States, is imposed on the protesting German
government. Germany is forced to yield up territory to France
(Alsace-Lorraine), Poland (the Polish Corridor, Silesia),
Denmark, and Belgium, and is forbidden to unite with Austria.
Germany is also forced to limit its army to 100,000 men;
forbidden to keep troops in its Western provinces (the
"demilitarized" Rhineland); required to make heavy
reparations payments for damage caused in the war; and
barred from the League of Nations.
July 31
Weimar Constitution: The National Assembly, sitting in
Weimar, adopts a constitution for the Republic.
Sept.
Adolf Hitler joins the tiny German Workers Party (later
renamed the National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP,
or Nazi Party) in Munich.
1920 March 13 - 17 The Kapp Putsch, an unsuccessful military revolt against the
Republican government. It is followed over the next two weeks
by armed radical revolts in the Ruhr and elsewhere, also
unsuccessful.
June 6
1921 May 11
Oct. 12
The parties of the "Weimar Coalition" lose their Reichstag
majority in national elections; they never again have enough
seats to form a majority coalition.
The German government (under duress) accepts the Allies
claims for reparations, the amount of which was left open in the
peace treaty.
After a plebiscite, the League of Nations partitions Upper
Silesia and awards a large part to Poland.
1922 April 16
The Treaty of Rapallo between Germany and Soviet Russia
opens a diplomatic back door for Germany.
June 24
Foreign minister Walter Rathenau is assassinated by rightwing anti-Semites. In reaction to this outrage, Republican
institutions are consolidated for a time.
1923 Jan. 11
Occupation of the Ruhr and Great Inflation: Germany’s main
heavy industrial area is occupied by French and Belgian troops
in an attempt to force payment of reparations. The local
population practices passive resistance, subsidized by the
German government; these expenditures lead to rapid
escalation of the already steep inflation in Germany.
Aug. 12 Nov. 23
A "Great Coalition" government (SPD, DDP, Center, DVP) led
by Gustav Stresemann (DVP) ends the passive resistance and
the inflation. Stresemann remains as foreign minister in every
succeeding government until 1929.
Nov. 8 - 11
"Beer Hall Putsch": Hitler’s failed coup d'état takes place in
58
Munich. Afterwards Hitler flees, is arrested and spends about a
year in prison during 1924-25.
Nov. 15
The currency is stabilized on terms that bankrupt many savers:
each new Mark is worth one trillion of the old ones.
1924 April 9
The Dawes Plan eases Germany's reparations obligations and
leads to an influx of American loans.
1925 April 26
Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg is elected as President of
the Republic, following the death of Ebert.
Oct. 16
Germany signs the Locarno Treaties are signed, voluntarily
guaranteeing her Western borders. This restores normal
relations with the Western powers.
1926 Sept. 8
Germany is admitted to the League of Nations.
1928 June 13
A "Great Coalition" government (the first since 1923) is formed
under Hermann Müller (SPD), after national elections that
seems to confirm the stabilization of the Republic. This cabinet
survives until March 1930.
1929 June 7
The German government accepts the Young Plan, which further
eases German reparations obligations. In the ensuing
nationalist campaign to force rejection of the Young Plan
(unsuccessfully) Hitler gains his first national prominence.
Oct.
1930 March 27
The Wall Street crash, symbolic start of the Great Depression,
finds the German economy already in decline, and leads to the
withdrawal of American short-term loans.
Brüning cabinet: After the collapse of the Great Coalition
government, a minority government of the center and rightwing parties is formed under Heinrich Brüning (Center). When
the Reichstag fails to cooperate with his program, Brüning
resolves to rely on President von Hindenburg's powers of
emergency decree. He remains Chancellor until May 1932.
Sept. 14
National elections, called by Brüning to strengthen his position
in the Reichstag, result in a big surge in the Nazi and
Communist vote. The "Great Coalition" loses its ability to form
a majority coalition, and Brüning now has no way to legislate
except by Presidential decree.
1931 May 11
The collapse of the Austrian Credit-Anstalt starts a banking
crisis in Germany that accelerates the slow decline of the
German economy and makes it clear that the depth and
duration of the depression will be extraordinary.
1932 April 10
Hindenburg is reelected President by a small margin over
Hitler.
May 31
Franz von Papen becomes Chancellor after Brüning loses
Hindenburg's confidence and resigns.
June
An international conference effectively ends German
59
reparations obligations.
June 16
The Papen government lifts a ban on the SA.
July 20
The Papen government takes over the government of Prussia,
Germany's largest federal state, dismissing the Weimar
Coalition government that had ruled there until this point.
July 31
National elections, called by Papen to strengthen his position in
the Reichstag, result in doubled Nazi representation. Now no
coalition government of any kind is possible without either the
Nazis or the Communists.
Aug. 13
Hitler declares that he will not serve in the government in any
office other than as Chancellor.
Nov. 6
National elections fail to resolve the deadlock; the Nazis lose
some seats, but the Communists gain.
Dec. 2
General Kurt von Schleicher becomes Chancellor.
1933 Jan. 30
Nazi "seizure of power": Hitler becomes Chancellor with a
cabinet numerically dominated by conservatives.
Feb. 27
Fire partly destroys the Reichstag building. The government
takes the occasion to step up persecution of the opposition
parties.
March 5
In national elections the NSDAP wins 44%, the Nationalists 8%,
for a majority between them; after the Communist deputies are
arrested or forced underground the Nazis themselves have a
majority.
March 23
Enabling Act: This bill, which receives the necessary two-thirds
April 1
An official national boycott of Jewish businesses, which lasts
only a few days because of public resistance.
April 7
The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
provides for the dismissal of all Jews and opponents of the
regime from the civil service.
May - July
All political parties other than the Nazis are disbanded and all
trade unions are absorbed into the Labor Front.
June
Inauguration of the Reinhardt Plan of expanded public works
expenditure, including construction of superhighways
(Autobahns).
Oct. 14
Germany withdraws from the Disarmament Conference and the
League of Nations. In a referendum 93% of the voters approve
of these actions.
1934 Jan. 26
majority with the aid of the Center Party, grants full
legislative powers to the cabinet without requiring the assent
of the Reichstag. It is the formal basis of Hitler’s power for the
remainder of the Third Reich.
A non-aggression treaty with Poland begins Hitler's display of
60
peaceful intentions; it also serves to undercut France’s policy of
defensive alliances against Germany.
June 30
Röhm Purge ("Blood Purge", "Night of the Long Knives"):
Hitler uses the SS to assassinate the leaders of the SA,
representing the radical wing of the Nazi party, who had come
to seem a threat to his plans; there are also a number of other
well-known victims.
Aug. 2
1935 March 16
June 18
President von Hindenburg dies, and Hitler assumes the
Presidency as well as the Chancellorship. 88% of the voters
endorse this step in a plebiscite.
Hitler repudiates the disarmament clauses of the Versailles
Treaty and Germany begins to rearm openly.
Britain signs Naval Agreement with Germany, a sign that the
Western powers will try to tame Hitler by accommodation
("appeasement").
Sept. - May Crisis over the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), during
1936
which Germany supports Italy and thereby cements a habit of
mutual support.
Sept. 15
1936 March 7
The Nuremberg Laws deprive Jews of citizenship rights.
Reoccupation of the Rhineland: Hitler repudiates the
demilitarization clauses of the Versailles Treaty and the
Locarno Treaties (1925), and German troops march into the
demilitarized Rhineland.
July
The Spanish Civil War begins. German and Italian forces
support the insurgent Nationalist (Franco) side, the ultimate
victors (in 1939).
Oct. - Nov.
German treaties with Italy (the "Rome-Berlin Axis") and Japan
(the "Anti-Comintern Pact").
Oct. 19
Inauguration of the Four-Year Plan intended to make
Germany economically self-sufficient.
1937 Nov. 24
Hjalmar Schacht loses his post as Minister of Economics.
1938 Feb. 4
Hitler dismisses the two top military commanders, Blomberg
and Fritsch, and assumes direct personal command of the
armed forces. He also replaces Foreign Minister von Neurath
and other leading conservatives. This amounts to the last stage
of dissolving the Nazi alliance with the conservatives.
Anschluss: Germany abruptly invades and annexes Austria.
Sept. 12 - 29 Munich: A crisis over the Czechslovak Sudetenland ends in the
Mar. 12 - 13
Munich Agreement and German annexation of large areas of
western Czechoslovakia; this is the peak of Western
appeasement.
Nov. 9 - 10
Kristallnacht ("night of broken glass"): Nazis burn synagogues,
61
destroy Jewish property, and beat and arrest thousands of
Jews. This is the start of the harsher phase of persecution.
1939 March 15
Germany violates the Munich agreement and suddenly occupies
the rest of western Czechoslovakia, turning Slovakia into a
client state.
Aug. 23
The Nazi-Soviet Pact (or Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) provides
that Germany and Russia will observe benevolent neutrality
towards each other if either becomes involved in a war.
Sept. 1
Outbreak of World War II: German armies invade Poland,
followed two days later by declaration of war on Germany by
Britain and France.
1940 April 9
May 10
German armies invade Denmark and Norway.
German victory in the West: German armies invade the
Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and two days later
enter France. Thoroughly defeated, France signs an armistice
on June 22.
Aug. - Nov. The Battle of Britain, consisting of sustained air attacks
intended as a prelude to invasion. In the end no invasion is
attempted.
Oct. - Nov.
1941 April 6
June 22
The Jews of Warsaw are herded together into the Warsaw
Ghetto.
German armies invade Yugoslavia and Greece.
Invasion of Russia: German armies sweep into the Soviet Union,
making vast gains at first.
Summer
Start of the Holocaust: The Einsatzgruppen begin operating
behind the advancing German armies in Russia, rounding up
and killing various undesirables, principally Jews, by the tens
of thousands.
Aug. 28
Hitler ends the euthanasia program for the mentally deficient
in Germany as a result of public protest mainly from Catholic
quarters.
Nov.
Death camps: Chelmno, considered the first of the death
Dec. 11
Hitler declares war on the United States, four days after the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
1942 Jan. 20
camps, goes into operation, followed within months by Belzec,
Sobibor, Majdanek, Treblinka, and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The Wannsee Conference, called to coordinate "the Final
Solution to the Jewish Problem" under the direction of the SS.
Feb. 8
Albert Speer is put in charge of German war production, which
is only just beginning to organize for a long war.
Oct. 23
El Alamein: British forces push back the German armies at El
Alamein; the turning point of the war in North Africa.
62
Nov. - Feb.
1943
Stalingrad: Soviet forces counter-attack at Stalingrad on the
Nov. 8
American forces land to join the war in North Africa.
1943 April 19 May 16
Volga, surround a large German army, and force its surrender.
This is the turning point of the war in Russia.
The Warsaw Ghetto is destroyed by military action when the
inhabitants offer armed resistance.
July 10
Allied forces land in Sicily.
Sept.
Allied forces land on the Italian peninsula and begin their slow
advance northwards.
1944 Feb. 13 - 15
Allied aircraft fire-bomb Dresden, an open city.
June 6
D-Day: Allied armies land in Normandy.
July 20
An attempt is made on Hitler's life by a group of mainly upperclass conspirators with army or government connections. It
fails, and wide-spread executions follow.
Aug. 1 - Oct. Warsaw uprising: Polish partisans revolt, but are eventually
2
crushed by German armies while nearby Russian armies fail to
intervene.
Dec. 16 - 25
1945 Jan. 12
German forces mount a briefly successful counter-offensive
against American forces in the Ardennes (Belgium), the socalled Battle of the Bulge.
Russian armies begin their final attack, which within a week
takes Warsaw and crosses the Vistula.
March 7
American forces cross the Rhine.
April 30
Hitler commits suicide.
May 8
End of the war: The remnants of the Nazi government surrender
unconditionally
63
The Seeds of evil
Section 1-The Nazi Party in the 1920’s
64
 What were the origins of National Socialism?
March 1918- Anton Drexler formed Committee for Independent Workmen- mainly
artisans and lower middle class
Jan 1919- German Workers Party- a group established immediately after the First
World War- hostile to wealth of upper class and strongly anti Semitic- aimed to
create “classless socialist organisation led only by German leaders.”
S Lee- Long history of pan Germanism and anti Semitism
The Early Nazi party
Early conception of nazi party- revolutionary
 What were the 25 points?
25 points contained points that were both nationalist and socialist
Lee argues it soon became clear that Hitler was not particularly committed to
socialist element of party programme
Key themes
Revision of Treaty of Versailles
Citizenship of German state to be given to those of German blood
Lebensraum
War profiteering to be made a criminal offence
Large dept stores to be divided up and leased to small traders
 What was the Munich Putsch?
Bavaria and state capital Munich- reputation for extremism
Communist revolt 1919
1921- Gustav von Kahr- head of right wing government- openly resisted control
from Berlin
Oct 1922- Mussolini- “March on Rome”- influenced Hitler- wanted Bavaria to march
on Berlin- rejected by Kahr
8th- 9th November 1923
8th Nov- Von Kahr addressed gathering at beer hall in Munich- in hall police chief
and army commander as well as Nazi’s
Hitler arrived with SA- entered room and sealed building- fired revolver and cried
“A national revolution has started.”
Kahr refused to work with Hitler- tricked into supporting Nazi’s by Hitler
In morning Nazi’s released Kahr, army commander and police chief- they didn’t
back Hitler
Hitler, Goering and Ludendorff marched into Munich- met by 3,000 police- 16 died
Hitler fled
 What were the consequences of the Munich Putsch?
Provided publicity for Hitler- (Feb/March 1924) trial showed Hitler off as superb
speaker- wore iron cross- gained sympathy of judgesPress gave verbatim reports of trial- many public impressed
Sent to prison at Lansberg- shared cell with Hess
Wrote Mein Kampf- Mein Kampf dictated by Hitler in Lansberg prison
65
After his release Germany very different- government had control- Evans states“The banned Nazi party was no longer a credible force in German politics and the
SA, although still in existence, had lost its fearsome image.”

How was the party re-organised after the Munich Putsch?
Party led by Rosenberg whilst Hitler in prison- poor leader
Hitler banned from political activity- couldn't make speeches in public from March
1925- March 1927- permitted to speak to party gatherings
Ban on Nazi party lifted in Jan 1925 and on 26th Feb NSDAP officially re-founded
Bamburg Conference- Hitler called for a meeting aimed to restore party unity and
agree future programme
Hitler at meting aimed to diminish socialist influence upon policy
At conference little debate- Hitler led speaking- spoke for five hours and headed
off attempt by Gregor Strasser to re-write the Party Programme along “socialist”
lines
Goebbels converted to Hitler's view
Kershaw on significance of Bamburg- “The way to the fully fledged Fuhrer Party
was paved.”
Significant increase in activist base in this period- over 100,000 members
S. Lee- after 1925 the middle class became basis of electoral strategy after 1925
S Lee- Hitler focussed much more on racial policy rather than economic
By mid 1926- Hitler in control of party
Membership falling- 35,000
Communists dominating industrial areas
1927- ban on Hitler’s involvement in politics officially lifted
Hitler believed Golden Years of Weimar would be short lived- wanted party to be
in position to exploit future problems- created new party framework from MunichDivided Germany into GAUE (regions) - each Gaue had a Gaueleiter or leader
1928- Gaue reorganised- match Reichstag electoral districts- these regions then
divided into units
Structure controlled by Hitler
1928- election- Nazi’s 12 seats- 3% of vote- Hitler re-establishing control over party
rather than concentrating on election
66
Section 2- World Depression
 How was Germany affected by world depression?
Layton- Loans made Germany more susceptible to impact of crash
Initial reaction- many Germans rushed to convert savings into gold or a stronger
foreign exchangeGrowing trade gap post Wall Street Crash
Rising unemployment- those that were working- many jobs short term- 1929
unemployment 132,000, over 5 million by spring 1931, mid 1932- 6 million
1929-31- value of German exports fell by 55% from £630 million to £280 million
Layton- statistics fail to convey sociological and psychological consequences
German industrialists calling for restriction on taxes
Division in government widened over unemployment- SPD increase insurance
contributions, DVP cut welfare
June 1931- banking crash- DANAT closed
Farmers already hit by high interest rates and falling agricultural prices before 1929position worsened- 18,000 bankrupt by 1932
50,000 industries went bankrupt between 1930-32
By 1932- 6 million people unemployed
Layton- “… the world economic crisis should really be viewed as simply the final
push which brought the Weimar system crashing down.”
But it must be remembered that economic decline evident before 1929- Dr Edgar
Feuchtwanger- The German economy began to falter even before the Wall Street
stock market crash of October 1929 signalled a world wide depression of
unprecedented severity.”
 How did governments respond to crisis?
For long time government did very little due to number of reasons
1) Widespread international belief that governments were powerless
2) Germany recovered from minor slump in 1926 without intervention
3) Coalition government divided over economy- Grand Coalition split by issue
of unemployment relief
4) Great fear of hyperinflation- psychological impact of 1923 massive impact
upon both government and society
5) Legal restrictions on Reich bank due to Dawes and Young Plan
6) Government found it difficult to borrow money as foreign countries lacked
confidence
7) Bruning wanted problems to continue so as to stop reparations
Budget cuts- 1928-33- budget for war victim's pensions cut by 1/3- blame on
democracy
Schacht- German industrialist warned foreign banks not to provide loans to the
German government to balance its books
Section 3- The collapse of the Weimar Republic
67
 What was the Grand Coalition (1928-30)?
Led by Muller- contained SPD, DDP, Centre and DVP- 301 out of 491 seats
Nazis less than 3% of vote
Coalition flawed- parties driven by self-interest and inter party divisions e.g. SPD
divided between moderates and left wing
Muller- well-intentioned but lacked assertiveness and dynamism of a great
charismatic leader
Big problem- Social Security Payments
DVP moved to right after Streetman’s death
Key dividing issues
1) Republic versus Imperial flag- 1927 the flying of both flags greatly offended
SDP's
2) SPD against financing new battle cruiser
3) Nov 1928- owners of iron and steel works in Ruhr refused to accept pay
award from state for workers- locked out workers- emphasised growing
divide within German society
 What impact did the Young Plan have upon German politics?
Young Plan- Germany regained control of banking system and there was a final
date for the settlement- BUT the amount agreed was still considerable and would
be paid for another 60 years
Hitler said- “Why should generations unborn be saddled with the debts of their
elders.”
Young plan received great deal of criticism- led by Hugenburg new leader of
DNVP- moved party considerably to right- owned large proportion of mediamade lot of money from hyperinflation
A Bullock on Hugenburg- “a bigoted German nationalist… An ambitious,
domineering and unscrupulous man with large resources at his disposal.”
Anti Young Plan- Hugenburg, Stahlhelm (ex-servicemen group) Pan German
league joined with Hitler in 1929
This group drafted “Law against the Enslavement of the German people.”Demanded end of Germany’s reparations- charges of high treason against Muller
National referendum on Young Plan- 13.8% support anti
March 1930- Young Plan passed
 Why did the Grand Coalition collapse?
Dec 1929- vote of no confidence in government- Muller survived
Mar 1930- Muller asked Hindenburg to use Article 48 to pass financial bill- SPD
wanted to increase insurance contributions from 3% to 3.5%- DVP opposed as this
would have hit the employers
Hindenburg refused
Muller resigned 27th mar 1930
SPD never in government again
No future government had majority in Reichstag
Collapse of Coalition had long term causes
1) Failure to resolve differences between DVP and SPD
2) Fears for the future of the economy
68
3) Drift to the right in politics largely inspired by German capitalists and
industrialists
 Was Bruning's appointment damaging to democracy?
Key Issues
1) Was Bruning a sincere statesman doing his best in an impossible position?
2) Did Bruning aspire to create a more authoritarian regime?
Layton- Bruning’s appointment marked major shift away from parliamentary
democracy
Bruning new chancellor- coalition- Centre, DVP and DNVP
Bruning known as the “Hunger Chancellor”
Hite and Hinton argue he tried to work with the Reichstag but found this
increasingly difficult over time- inability to inspire masses and his politics seen as
harsh- agrarian reforms upset the elites
July 1930- proposal of tax increases and reduction in government expenditurerejected by Reichstag- passed by Article 48
Evans and Jenkins- “The introduction of rule by presidential decree certainly made
Bruning entirely dependent on Hindenburg and reduced the role of the Chancellor
to that of merely being the Presidents yes-man in the Reichstag.”
Layton argues Bruning was arch conservative and monarchist prepared to use
Article 48 and look for backing from traditional elite's
 What changes did the September 1930 election have upon German politics?
Hindenburg called election after SPD got Reichstag to approve withdrawal of
Article 48- was this an irresponsible action by Hindenburg? - Unscheduled election
Elections- 1930- significant swing to parties of extreme left and right
Nazis second biggest party- 6.5 million votes- 107 deputies in ReichstagCommunists 77 seats
Real losers- DNVP and DVP
William Carr- “two out of every five Germans voted for parties bitterly opposed to
the principles on which the Republic rested.”
Hindenburg refused to give Hitler place on cabinet
 Why did Bruning struggle to do anything post Sep1930?
Impossible position for Bruning- worsening economic situation
Adopted deflationary policies- cut wages and spending
Cut government expenditure including wages, salaries and welfare payments
regardless of political consequences- drove many to Nazi’s- civil servants
particularly badly hit
Spending required from abroad or Reichsbank and this was prevented by Young
Plan
Bruning aimed to exploit depression by making it worse- hopefully lead to
cancellation of reparations but very few options available to him
Street violence- SA versus Communists
Oct 1931Hitler and Hugenburg joined forces to oust Bruning- the two met aiming to
create a combination of industrialists, financial and political interests with NSDAPcalled Harzburg Front- achieved little as Hitler feared he was being used by
Hugenburg
69
 What were the results of the presidential elections in 1932?
Presidential election 1932- Hitler encouraged to stand by Goebbels- First Round
Hindenburg didn’t get majority
In Second Round Hitler gained 36.7%
Hitler didn’t regard this result as a success but led many to believe that Nazi’s
should be included in government
Hindenburg supported by moderate left and centre
 Why was Bruning dismissed?
May 1932- Hindenburg dismissed Wilhelm Groener (Defence Minister) when Groener
placed ban on SA
June 1932- Bruning sought Hindenburg’s signature on emergency decree that
intended to turn estates of former Prussian aristocrats into 600,000 allotments for
unemployed- opposed by landowning class- this class put pressure on Hindenburg
to sack Bruning
Bruning forced out by Schleicher and Hindenburg- Schleicher felt Bruning’s
opposition to Hitler was wrong.
Feuchtwanger- on the role of Schleicher and friends- “It was another element in
Weimar’s weakness that the officer corps of the small professional army permitted
by the Versailles treaty gave only conditional loyalty to the Republic.”
Bruning was not dismissed by a vote of no confidence in the Reichstag but because
Hindenburg had turned against him
Feuchtwanger on Hindenburg and the elites- “Rule by presidential decree had
made the decisions and misjudgements of the small circle of men around the
President crucial.”
Could Bruning have done anything else?
Layton- Bruning victim of political situation that he had helped to create- his brand
of moderate authoritarianism re-asserted the influence of the old elites at the heart
of government
 What were the features of Papen's government?
Schleicher played key role in encouraging Hindenburg to appoint Papen- felt
Papen would be easier to manipulate than Bruning
Papen’s cabinet known as “cabinet of the barons”- represented mainly landed and
industrial elitesFirst act- removed ban on SA and SS- immediate increase in violence- bloodiest
fighting- 7,000 Nazis paraded through a working class district of Bamburg
Lawlessness provided Papen with excuse to dismiss Socialist government of Prussia
on grounds that it could not keep order- when decision challenged by SDP'sHindenburg sent in army- showed Nazis just how easily democratic system could be
replaced by autocratic system
Papen dissolved Reichstag- elections July1932
Massive Nazi campaign- 37% of vote- became biggest party
 Had the political crisis reached its peak by December 1932?
Allied troops withdrawn from Germany in 1930
Reparations virtually ended in July 1932
In December 1932 Germany was granted the right to equality of armaments at
Geneva Disarmament conference
BUT
70
Communist vote increased in November 1932- key in mobilising middle class and
industrialists
Was there an alternative to Hitler-?
1) Authoritarian government
2) Democracy surviving
3) Communist revolution
 Why was Hitler appointed chancellor in 1933?
Many of elite's wary of radicalism and generally vulgar nature of Nazi movement
Jan 1933- members of elite persuaded Hindenburg to appoint Hitler Chancellor
1932- Key industrialists and land owners concerned about lack of effective
government – some believed Nazi’s support could be used to create more
authoritarian system- JUNKERS upset by Bruning’s and Schleicher's attempt to buy
up bankrupt estates to resettle poor farmers
Members of elite had taming policy for Hitler
1) Initial proposal- make Hitler vice chancellor August 1932- Hitler rejected this
2) Dec 1932- Schleicher hoped to split Nazi’s- bring in G Strasser as vice
chancellor- failed- Strasser left Nazi party
3) Put Hitler as chancellor surrounded by Papen and conservatives- difficulties
in nazi party- make them easy to control- Papen said of decision- “We’ve
hired him.”
Kershaw on elite's support for Hitler as chancellor- “Had they opposed it a Hitler
chancellorship would have been inconceivable. Hitler needed the elite's to
attain power.”
Dr E Feuchtwanger- “Hitler did not seize power, but was given it by a back stairs
intrigue.”
Evans and Jenkins- Hitler came to power as a re4sult of the other political partiesSPD and KPD failed to realise that their disagreements were small compared with
the size of the Nazi threat
If Hitler hadn’t been appointed chancellor what would have happened- electoral
vote declining- would he have attempted a second coup
Why did democracy decline in Germany?
71
Section 4- The Nazi Party post Wall Street Crash
 Who voted for the Nazi’s?
It is difficult to assess voting patterns because
1) Results of secret ballot do not tell us who voted for whom
2) Don’t have modern opinion polls
3) Normally historians have had to compare regions but can be massive range of
details
Evidence used
1) SA membership- eg’s of occupations etc
2) Nazi propaganda and its audience
3) Nazi autobiographies- Abel's survey of 581 autobiographies- 1934- American
academic offered prizes to Nazi party members who wrote account of why they
joined- are these representative
4) Comments by Germans and foreigners in 1930’s Germany
1928- 810,000 votes for Nazi’s
1932- July- 13,450,000
3 million new young voters from 1928-32
Return of a number of non voters in elections- 1928- 75.6% turnout- July 1932- 84.1%
Nazi party performed best in predominantly Protestant and rural districts of North
Germany. Pomerania, Schleswig- Holstein
Big cities and heavily industrialised districts and predominantly Catholic areas in
west and south proved least vulnerable to Nazi’s appeal
Catholic church openly hostile to nazi’s pre 1933
Higher number of peasant holdings seemed to correlate with higher Nazi vote
Unemployed felt alienated from system but care must be taken to recognise
varying working class vote
J Noakes argues that Nazi’s made breakthrough by integrating 1) Middle class- self
employed artisans, small retailers, and peasant farmers 2) Pensioners- small
investors and those on fixed incomes 3) New middle class- civil servants
Feuchtwanger- Hitler's appeal cut across all classes- thus justifying to some extent
the claim that Nazism was a movement and not a divisive party, like the others.”
J Noakes- “Despite the marked differences between the Mittelstand groups, they
were united by a shared and very strong sense of status distinction, particularly vis a
vis
S Lee- “The middle class experienced a crisis of industrialisation which made them
susceptible to radical ideas.”
Hite and Hinton- “Religion and local community influences seem to have a greater
determinant of voting behaviour than class.”
Hite and Hinton argue all people represented Nazis
After anti Young Plan- Hitler attracted backing of German industrialists such as
Kirdorff and Thyssen

What role did Hitler play in the rise of the Nazi’s?
72
1925 Feb- refunded party- Hitler supreme power over policy and strategy
25 point plan remained fixed
Fuhrerprinzip- party obedient tool of Hitler’s will
Hitler introduced brown shirt for SA
Introduced right arm salute and designed flag- used old colours of empire
1926- Bamburg- defeated more socialist inclined rivalsHitler and Goebbels recognised importance of propaganda- used it to target
Germans specific grievances- tailored message to grievance- able to appeal both to
socially downtrodden and agrarian and industrial elite's. - Hitler very flexible in his
message- tailored ideas to audience- central feature that unified movement
Central rallying figure
Erdmann- “Hitler’s greatness was diabolical: it was that of a world figure who
confused the minds of men.”
Cult of leadership- important in Nazi’s
Albert Speer- “I became committed (to Hitler) when I first heard him speak…I was
enthusiastic, elated; I felt that he could save Germany, give us back faith in
ourselves…I am ashamed of it now, but at the time, I found him deeply exciting.”
David Welch- “Nazi propaganda that depicted Hitler as an uncompromising
opponent of the Weimar Republic had the effect of setting Hitler apart from other
politicians tainted by their association with the Weimar system which had now
become synonymous with political humiliation and economic failure.”
Welch describing Hitler- “… an intuitive opportunist determined to gain power first
in order to impose his “utopian visions”.”
Care though must be taken not to overestimate Hitler’s role
Nazi’s did well in areas that didn’t have massive propaganda campaign
Many people whom encountered Hitler not impressed

How was the Nazi party structured?
After Anti Young Plan campaign- centre of much media attention and attracted
the backing of industrialists such as Emil Kirdorff and Fritz Thyssen
Jan 1932- Düsseldorf conference- Nazi’s met leading industrialists- showed elites he
represented capitalist friendly ideas
Built up range of organisations e.g. Nazi Welfare Organisation- soup kitchenshelped develop idea of national community- VOLKSGEMEINSCHAFT
Gregor Strasser built up efficient structure- allowed it to exploit economic
deterioration post 1929
Local propaganda developed personal contacts- key individuals spread messages
such as teachers and butchers
Training message- 6,000 passed through training school by 1933- speakers licensed
by party- booklets produced on politics and propaganda techniques
Nazis used slide shows, loudspeakers, films and planes- 1932 presidential election
“FUHRER over Germany.”
Funding mainly from ordinary members- some money from industrialists
Membership rose very quickly- 1931- 390,000 at start of year to 800,000 by end
but turnover very high
73
 What was the role of the SA?
SA formed in 1920- sports detachment of Nazi party- protect speakers
1933- 500,000 members
1921-23 and 1930-34- led by Ernst Rohm
Rohm eager for Nazis to seize power- saw SA as army of new Nazi state
Rohm- radical socialist and not intellectual
Why join the SA?
a) Hatred of communism
b) Hitler
c) Excitement
d) Free soup and general charity
e) Creates sense of purpose
Sa leader- SA offered recruits “what they almost always lack at home, a warm
hearth, a helping hand, a sense of comradeship.”
SA distributed propaganda and beat communists
1930-32- increased city battles with communists- July 1932- 100 killed
1932- Bruning banned Sa
Papen ended ban
Disciplined marches created sense of order
Fear of SA amongst elites encouraged elites to work with Hitler as he could control
them
Hitler- “We must struggle with ideas, but if necessary also with fists.”
 Who were the key individuals in the rise of the Nazi’s?
Otto Strasser- former member of SPD
Left wing of nazi party
Wanted nationalist and racist form of socialism
Became disillusioned with Hitler
Left party in 1930
Survived Night of long knives- went into exile
Gregor Strasser
Joined NSDAP- 1920
Built up a mass movement in northern Germany- working with Goebbels and his
brother
Took part in Munich putsch- led party when Hitler in prison
By early 1930’s second in popularity only to Hitler
Opposed to Hitler's anti Semitism and links with big business
Resigned 1932
Murdered in Night of long knives
74
Section 5-Consolidation of power
 How did Hitler gain control over Germany?
Two other Nazi’s admitted into Nationalist coalition- Frick- Minister of Interior and
Goring- Minister without Portfolio
Hitler Jan 31st 1933- “Appeal to the Nation” speech- convinced Hindenburg to
dissolve Reichstag- called election for 5th march- presented Nazi party as
alternative to weakness of old regime
Hitler said “give us four years and then judge us.”
Goring- position gave him control of nearly 2/3’s of Germany- purged Prussian civil
service and police of people opposed to NSDAP
Goring recruited 50,000 “police” auxiliaries to help maintain “law and order”recruits attached to SA and SS
Goring- Shooting Decree- any policemen shooting someone engaged in activities
hostile to the state had Goering's support- democratic parties attacked
4th Feb 1933- decree that gave Hitler power to suppress newspapers hostile to
NSDAP- media prevented from reporting in favour of political rivals
 Reichstag Fire
Van der Lubbe- Dutch Communist caught but communists little to gain from fireVan der Lubbe posthumously acquitted by West Berlin court in 1980
At time 4,000 Communists arrested including party leader Thalmann
Day following fire- Hitler got president to sign Emergency Decree for the Protection
of the German People- suspended democratic freedoms provided by Weimar
constitution- this became legal basis of Nazi dictatorship until 1945
Replaced constitutional government by permanent state of emergency
Gave legal basis for persecution, terrorism and repression
Freed Hitler from reliance upon coalition
By 5th march 51 opponents’ dead
Election- 89% of people voted- NSDAP vote up 10% but still not a majority- 43.9%
13th march- Goebbels appointed Minister of Propaganda and Popular
Entertainment

Enabling Law-
This gave Hitler dictatorial powers for it transferred for period of four years powers
from Reichstag to government
Hitler needed 2/3’s of Reichstag- relied upon Catholic Centre Party- they supported
after Hitler promised to respect Catholic Church
Hitler was now independent of elites
Rise of the Nazis in Germany
The ideological roots of Nazism
Its roots lay in two movements of the last 25 years of the 19th century:
75
o
o
Anti-Semitism which grew during that period of
depression and from the racial theories of the time
Radical right-wing politics (i.e.: Pan-German League)
in favour of authoritarianism.
From it’s founding to the putsch of 1923:
o
o
o
o
Founded during the chaotic period immediately after
WWI. Bavaria was then under the control of a right
wing Gov. which sheltered extremists (including the
Nazis)
Formed Jan. 9th 1919 under the name German Workers
Party (DAP), Hitler joined as propaganda chief in
Sept.
Aug. 1921: Hitler became leader and introduced: the
notion of the leader / a more centralized system w/ all
branches subject to the authority of the original
branch in Munich.
June 1922: the now renamed National Socialist
German Workers Party (NSDAP) is banned in all
states except Bavaria.
The Munich or ‘Beer Hall’ Putsch:
o
o
o
o
o
End 1922: Germany defaulted on reparation payments
Jan. 1923: Invasion of the Ruhr
Aug. 1923: Streseman became chancellor (& called for
passive resistance and began negotiating w/ the
French)
beginning. Of a communist takeover…he decided to
lead a putsch.
Hitler decided to convince leading members of the
Bavarian Gov. to help him on his ‘March on Berlin’ he
seized them, they gave their consent but once released
w/drew their aid. On Nov. 9th 1923 the Nazis marched
on Gov. buildings and were dispersed by gunfire and
had their leaders arrested.
Hitler went for 5 years in prison, but now he was a
nationally known figure.
The Creation of a Nationwide Party Organization (1923-1928)
Background to this period:
o
o
o
period of recovery / the Weimar Republic seemed to
have survived attempts against it and have gained
support
1924: the Ruhr was reintegrated into the German
economy / the Dawes Plan (rescheduled payments
and made loans)
1925: Locarno Treaties — Germany accepted the
frontiers of 1919
76
o
o
1926: Germany joined the League of Nations
1928: Kellog-Briand Pact
These favoured improved international relationships and recovery.
The appeal of extremists (i.e.: declined during this period).
Nazi Party Measures:
o
o
o
Refounding of the Party, Feb. 1925: Hitler refounded
the party (which had been banned) to participate in
the political processes of the Weimar Republic. Hitler
planned to use the democratic process to gain power,
and then destroy it.
Consolidation of the ‘Fuhrerprinzip’: Dispute (over
participation in elections / the Party Programme) was
ended when Hitler imposed his views, and by 1926 his
control of the party had been greatly strengthened.
Creation of a Party cadre: the country was divided
into Party regions w/ a leader for each region.
The Role of the S.A.: Hitler restricted its activities to propaganda and
bodyguard duties since he did not wish to antagonize middle class &
wealthy supporters.
Nazism Becomes a Mass Movement 1928-33
The insecure foundations of economic prosperity:
o
o
o
US short term loans were invested on long term
projects
Middle classes being ‘squeezed’ by gains made by: the
leading industrialists who were forming into large
thrusts / the workers, whose unions had pressured for
higher wages, etc…
World wide agricultural depression by late 1927
The effects of the May 1928 election:
Gain for left wing parties, decline of the right. The right and centre parties
concluded that coalition Gov. had weakened them. There was danger that the
parliamentary system would break down b/c coalition Gov. would not be possible.
The Economic Depression 1929 onwards:
o
o
o
Had to face w/drawal of US short term loans
The Young Commission and the Great Depression
served as foci for right wing attacks against the
Versailles settlement.
March 1930: collapse of Gov. coalition / appointment
of Bruning (Catholic Centre Party) He tries to force
unpopular budget measures.
77
o
Sep. 1930: Election in which Nazis become the second
largest party in the Reichstag.
o
Modern techniques (press campaigns, whirlwind
campaigns by air, film shows, etc.)
Forming special propaganda sections for individual
interest groups.
Emphasis on appeal to youth.
Nationalism as a uniting force.
Propaganda:
o
o
o
The Struggle for Power 1930-33
Obstacles:
o
o
o
Reluctance of conservative right wing parties to ally w/
the Nazis. They wanted: Nazi officials only in minor
cabinet posts / Nazis to drop many of their demands
and restraining their followers.(becoming more
‘civilized’)
Attitude of Pres. Hindenburg
Divisions w/in the party. Hitler did not want to
alienate the army & the wealthy industrialists.
However, opposition w/in the party felt this would
betray the revolutionary nature of the party (such
feelings were strongest in the S.A.)
The Major developments of this period:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
See notes
Jan. 1933: Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor b/c:
Only way to have mass support for a right wing Gov.
Instability during 1930-33 might turn to the
advantage of the left
He was persuaded the Nazis would become more
moderate
He was persuaded Hitler could be controlled (clear
majority of non-Nazis in cabinet)
Hitler accepted b/c:
Loss of seat in Nov. 1932 election foreshadowed a
decline of the Nazis
He believed that once in power he could strengthen
his position
He hoped he could organize the next new elections so
the Nazis would obtain an overall majority
He had demanded the Enabling Act to give him
special powers to deal w/ the crisis and thought this act
would pass.
The Seizure of Power 1933-34
78
Situation in 1933:
o
o
Only three cabinet posts held by Nazis / no Nazi
Reichstag majority / Hitler could be dismissed by
Hindenburg
Hitler represented only hope of the Right for mass
support / the Right could not simply govern through
pressure groups (army, business, etc.) / Hindenburg
becoming increasingly senile.
The Election of March 1933:
Nazis received generous donations from industrialists
(who feared a left wing revival)
o Goring (then Prussian Minister of the Interior) allowed
Nazi violence in the campaign to go on uncontrolled.
o Opponents of the Nazis had a passive attitude.
The Reichstag Fire: Feb. 27th 1933 The man considered responsible was
o
o
takeover / Hindenburg passed the ‘Decree of the Reich President for
this, the Nazis arrested communists and other political opponents.
 Results: Communists were banned, and Nazis in coalition w/
the Nationalists obtained a majority.
The Enabling Law
To obtain 2/3 majority needed to change the constitution the Nazis carried a
campaign of intimidation: they depicted opposition as unpatriotic / Nazis in the S.A.
seized control of state Gov. / opponents in the SPD and trade unions were arrested /
the building where the Reichstag was surrounded by S.A. and SS troops. This law
granted Hitler the right to:
o
o
make laws w/out Reichstag approval
make treaties w/ foreign states w/out Reichstag
approval
Hitler now no longer needed the support of political parties.
Creation of a one-party state:
o
o
June 1933: SPD banned
July 1933: Law makes all political formations (except
Nazis) illegal
Conflict between Hitler and the S.A.:
o
o
The S.A. demanded that Hitler follow socialist
measures as laid down in the 1920 Nazi Programme
The S.A. wanted a greater say in party affairs
79
o
They wished to replace the army w/ a national militia
Hitler feared that they would lose him the support of the non-Nazi right, and the
army. The army was then the only group w/ the power to remove him.
The Night of the Long Knives:
Night of June 30th/July 1st: arrest of the main S.A. leaders by the S.S. / leaders are
shot / Hitler congratulated by Reichstag, Hindenburg, & the army.
Death of Hindenburg:
Aug. 2nd 1934: Hindenburg dies / Hitler replaces him w/out election
to as the Fuhrer / new oath of loyalty for soldiers and civil servants (to Hitler)
A Drive to a Totalitarian State, Main Measures of the Nazis: 1934-36
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Professions are ‘synchronized’ w/ Nazi beliefs. (i.e.:
teachers / judges)
Purges of Gov. workers of communist sympathizers,
Jews and replacement by party members.
Nazis tried to restrict the influence of the Church and
the application of the 1933 concordat (allowing the
Catholic Church to have its own school & property but
to keep out of politics) Nazis took more direct control
over the Protestant churches…soon swastikas were
displayed alongside the Christian Cross.
Membership of one Nazi youth group was obligatory
for all Germans until age 18.
Toward workers: labour unions abolished,
establishment of ‘Strength Through Joy’ movement
which provided subsidised holidays, sporting activities,
etc.
Creation of Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and
Propaganda — bringing under control the mass media
and using them towards Nazi propaganda.
Rapid expansion of the S.S. (w/ Himmler) In 1934 the
S.S. became an independent org. answerable to Hitler
and Himmler only. Gestapo was placed under its
control. Reg. Criminal police merged w/ the S.S. in
1936.
Hitler’s Consolidation of Power: Jan 1933 - Aug 1934
Hitler ensured his consolidation of power using a combination of several key factors:

LEGALITY;
80




TERROR and INTIMIDATION;
CONCESSIONS;
HITLER’S OWN PERSONALITY, AND
THE POLICY OF GLEICHSCHALTUNG.
LEGAL PROCEDURE THE MOST IMPORTANT
Feb 28, 1933: Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the Nation and
the State Issued by Hindenburg using Article 48. Suspended constitutional civil rights
resulted in: Imprisonment without trial. Secret Police could hold people indefinitely
in protective custody. Used to repress KPD.
March 13, 1933: Control of Media Goebbels appointed head of new Ministry for
Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.
March 24, 1933: Enabling Act Passed with 441 v 94 majority (only SPD voted
against, KPD banned; Centre supported it after H’ made promises). Gave Hitler
power to pass decrees without President’s involvement. Terror and Intimidation
helped him pass this law!
July 14, 1933: Law against the Formation of New Parties Germany effectively
becomes a One-Party State.
January, 1934: Law for the Reconstruction of the State Created new Reich
Governors to control states. Dissolved state assemblies.
August 1934: Office of the Fuhrer Merges the offices of President and Chancellor.
Hitler becomes Dictator!
TERROR AND INTIMIDATION
Used SA to intimidate voters. Example- In assembly on Enabling Act, the SA
surround the Opera House.
CONCESSIONS
July 1933: Concordat Signed between Nazi’s and Pope. Several concessions given
to ensure Church would ban all political activity and give approval to Nazis.
81
Concession to Elites/ Big business
Eliminated threat of left-wing political party and reduced workers powers by
banning TU’s and creating DAF.
Concessions to the Army
Most important concessions. Army wanted assurances from Hitler that they were
the only Military force of German. Rohm and SA want to be new army. Absorbed
SA into Army and made them swear of allegiance in August 1934.
GLEICHSCHALTUNG
Policy of sub-ordinating all important government and non-government
institutions under Nazi control. Extends their reaches of influence and reduces
outside interference. Gleichschaltung, coupled with Policing network made any
organised resistance almost impossible.

Creates DAF in May 1933.

The Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.
Nazi Economic Policy 1933-1939
People will vote for or join a political party that they believe will increase their wealth,
power, and prestige. One of the most important reasons why the Nazi Party gained in
popularity in the late 1920s was because of the economic chaos in Germany after the
Wall St Crash of 1929. The Nazis realised that if they were to gain and keep mass support
from the German people, they would have to tackle these serious issues:

Unemployment – this had risen to over 6 million by 1932

Inflation and hyperinflation – Germany had faced devastating hyperinflation in
1923 when $1 = 4,200,000,000,000 marks

Self-sufficiency (autarky) - Germany relied on overseas trade for vital raw
materials and food supplies. Part of the reason Germany had lost the Great War
was because it hadn’t been able to maintain these supplies. Hitler hoped to make
Germany self-sufficient.
The Nazis had been relatively unpopular between 1923-1928, but their fortunes changed
with the Wall Street Crash in October 1929. Desperate for capital, the United States
began to recall loans from Europe. One of the consequences of this was a rapid increase
in unemployment. Germany, whose economy relied heavily on investment from the
United States, suffered more than any other country in Europe.
82
Before the crash, 1.25 million people were unemployed in Germany. By the end of 1930
the figure had reached nearly 4 million, 15.3 per cent of the population. Even those in
work suffered as many were only working part-time. With the drop in demand for labour,
wages also fell and those with full-time work had to survive on lower incomes. Hitler,
who was considered a fool in 1928 when he predicted economic disaster, was now seen
in a different light. People began to say that if he was clever enough to predict the
depression maybe he also knew how to solve it.
By 1932 over 30 per cent of the German workforce was unemployed. In the 1933
Election campaign, Adolf Hitler promised that if he gained power he would abolish
unemployment. He was lucky in that the German economy was just beginning to recover
when he came into office. However, the policies that Hitler introduced did help to reduce
the number of people unemployed in Germany.
Nazi economic policies:

On 2nd May, 1933, Adolf Hitler ordered the Sturm Abteilung (SA) to arrest
Germany's trade union leaders. Robert Ley formed the Labour Front (DAF), the
only union organization allowed in the Third Reich.

A pay freeze was introduced in 1933 and this was enforced by the Labour Front.
Wages were now decided by the Labour Front and compulsory deductions made
for income tax, and for its Strength through Joy programme. The Labour Front
issued work-books that recorded the worker's employment record and no one
could be employed without one.

The government banned the introduction of some labour-saving machinery.

Employers had to get government permission before reducing their labour force.

The Nazi government gave work contracts to those companies that relied on
manual labour rather than machines. This was especially true of the government's
massive autobahn (motorway) programme.

The Nazis concentrated on rearming. Thousands of Germans worked in factories
producing weapons.

Conscription into the German armed forces helped to reduce the numbers of
unemployed.

Hitler also encouraged the mass production of radios. In this case he was not only
concerned with reducing unemployment, but saw them as a means of supplying a
steady stream of Nazi propaganda to the German people.

Youth unemployment was dealt with by the forming of the Voluntary Labour
Service (VLS) and the Voluntary Youth Service (VYS), these planted forests,
repaired river banks and helped reclaim wasteland.

Women in certain professions such as doctors and civil servants were dismissed,
while other married women were paid a lump sum of 1000 marks to stay at home.

In the summer of 1935 Adolf Hitler announced the introduction of Labour Service
(RAD). Under this measure all men aged between the ages of nineteen and
twenty-five had work for the government for six months. Later women were also
included in the scheme and they did work such as teaching and domestic service.
83
Strength through Joy
The Strength through Joy organisation was set up to encourage workers to work as hard
as they could for Germany and the Nazis. The offer of cheap holidays and a car were
good ways to win the support of the average person in the street. A cruise to the Canary
Islands cost 62 marks - easily affordable to many, though most cruises were taken up by
Nazi Party officials. Walking and skiing holidays in the Bavarian Alps cost 28 marks. A
two-week tour of Italy cost 155 marks. Ley ordered the building of two new cruise-liners
that were used to take German workers on foreign holidays. In 1938 an estimated
180,000 people went on cruises to places such as Maderia and the Norweigian fjords.
Others were given free holidays in Germany. The Strength through Joy programme also
built sports facilities, paid for theatre visits and financially supported travelling cabaret
groups. Although the German worker paid for these benefits through compulsory
deductions, the image of people being given holidays and subsidized entertainment was
of great propaganda value to the Nazi government.
Although he couldn’t drive, Hitler loved cars and wanted every family in Germany to
own a car. He even became involved in designing the affordable Volkswagen (The
People's Car). The Nazis created a scheme whereby the workers could get a car. The
Beetle, designed by Ferdinand Porsche, cost 990 marks. This was about 35 weeks wages
for the average worker. To pay for one, workers went on a hire purchase scheme. They
paid 5 marks a week into an account. Theoretically, when the account had reached 750
marks the worker would be given an order number which would lead to them receiving a
car. In fact, no-one received a car. The millions of marks invested into the scheme were
re-directed into the rapidly expanding weapons factories. This accelerated as World War
Two approached. No-one complained as to do so could lead to serious trouble with the
secret police.
Leisure
The leisure time of the workers was also taken care of. An organisation called Kraft
durch Freude (KdF) took care of this. Ley and the KdF worked out that each worker had
3,740 hours per year free for pursuing leisure activities - which the state would provide.
The activities provided by the state were carefully and systematically recorded. For the
Berlin area (1933-38):
Type of Event
Theatre performances
Concerts
Hikes
Sports Events
Cultural events
Holidays and cruises
Museum tours
Exhibitions
Week-end trips
Number of events
Number of people involved
21,146
11,507,432
989
705,623
5,896
126,292
388
1,432,596
20,527
10,518,282
1,196
702,491
61,503
2,567,596
93
2,435,975
3,499
1,007,242
84
Courses/Lectures at the German
Adult Education Office
19,060
1,009,922
Did the Nazis produce an economic miracle for Germany?
How successful were the Nazis in tackling unemployment, inflation and creating selfsufficiency?

Unemployment had fallen from 6 million in 1933 to 300,000 by 1939

Industrial production in 1939 was above the figure for Weimar Germany before
the 1929 Wall Street Crash.
BUT

By 1939, Germany still imported 33% of its required raw materials

Government income had been 10 billion Reichsmarks in 1928. In 1939, it was 15
billion. However, government spending had increased from 12 billion
Reichsmarks in 1928 to over 30 billion in 1939.

From 1933 to 1939, the Nazi government always spent more than it earned so that
by 1939, government debt stood at over 40 billion Resichsmarks.

Annual food consumption in 1937 had fallen for wheat bread, meat, bacon, milk,
eggs, fish vegetables, sugar, tropical fruit and beer compared to the 1927 figures.
The only increase was in rye bread, cheese and potatoes.

Real earnings in 1938 were all but the same as the 1928 figure. (Real earnings are
wages adjusted to allow for inflation).
85