GERMANY TOPIC 2: WHY WAS HITLER ABLE TO DOMINATE GERMANY BY 1934?

*5. How was the early Nazi party organised?*

At first, there were several people involved in running the party, but Hitler soon became the sole leader, and he built up the organisation so that he was unquestioned leader.

*10. Why was Hitler able to become Chancellor by January 1933? (LIMP PAPER) E₁?*

Economic depression: → The Crash had a devastating impact on the American economy but because America had propped up the Weimar Republic with huge loans in 1924 (the Dawes Plan) and in 1929 (the Young Plan), what happened to the American economy had to impact the Weimar Republic's economy. → Now America needed those loans back to assist her faltering economy. (After the Wall Street Crash, America gave Germany 90 days to start to re-pay money loaned to her. No other world power had the money to give Germany cash injections.) (Britain and France were still recovering from the First World War and the Wall Street Crash was to have an impact on industrial Britain.) (Stalin's Russia was still in a desperate state and embarking on the 5 year plans) (Therefore, an impoverished Weimar Germany could only call on America for help and she was effectively bankrupt by the end of 1929 and quite incapable of lending money.)

*15. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Rigged German Election Leads To Psychopath Nazi Fuhrer) E?*

Enabling Act - 23 March 1933: → The Enabling Act made Hitler the dictator of Germany, with power to do anything he liked - legally. → After the Reichstag fire, Hitler asked Hindenburg to grant him emergency powers in view of the 'communist takeover'. (Using the constitution, Hindenburg agreed to pass the Law for the Protection of the People and the State.) → This law gave Hitler what he wanted - a ban on the Communists and Socialists taking part in an election campaign. → The election took place in March - though Hitler was convinced it would be the last. (Hitler did not get the number of votes he wanted but he did get enough to get over a 50% majority in the Reichstag: Only 43.91%) (The 12 million people voted for what were effectively two outlawed parties is remarkable when the intimidation of voters is taken into account.) → After the Enabling Act, his only remaining problem from his point of view was loyalty within his own party ranks. In June 1934, he overcame this with the Night of the Long Knives.

*21. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Rigged German Election Leads To Psychopath Nazi Fuhrer) F?*

Führer - 19 August 1934: → When Hindenburg died, Hitler took over the office of President and leader of the army (the soldiers had to swear to die for Adolf Hitler personally). → Hitler called himself 'Fuhrer'.

*14. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Rigged German Election Leads To Psychopath Nazi Fuhrer) G?*

General Election - 5 March 1933 → Hitler held a general election, appealing to the German people to give him a clear mandate. (Only 44% of the people voted Nazi, which did not give him a majority in the Reichstag, so Hitler arrested the 81 Communist deputies (which did give him a majority).) (This may well have been one of the reasons why the Enabling Act was passed as such an act as it meant that Nazi Germany no longer needed elections when the word of the Fuhrer became law within 24 hours of pen being put to paper.)

*GERMANY TOPIC 2: WHY WAS HITLER ABLE TO DOMINATE GERMANY BY 1934?*

JEREMY FENG

*16. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Rigged German Election Leads To Psychopath Nazi Fuhrer) L?*

Local government - 26 April 1933: → The Nazis took over local government and the police. (Country split into 42 "gau", run by a Gauleiter) → The Nazis started to replace anti-Nazi teachers and University professors. → Hitler set up the Gestapo (the secret police) and encouraged Germans to report opponents and 'grumblers'. → Tens of thousands of Jews, Communists, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies, homosexuals, alcoholics and prostitutes were arrested and sent to concentration camps for 'crimes' as small as writing anti-Nazi graffiti, possessing a banned book, or saying that business was bad.

*19. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Rigged German Election Leads To Psychopath Nazi Fuhrer) N₁?*

Night of the Long Knives - 30 June 1934: → The Night of the Long Knives, in June 1934, saw the wiping out of the SA's leadership and others who had angered Hitler in the recent past in Nazi Germany. (After this date, the SS lead by Heinrich Himmler was to become far more powerful in Nazi Germany.) → For all the power the Enabling Act gave Hitler, he still felt threatened by some in the Nazi Party. (He was also worried that the regular army had not given an oath of allegiance.) → The Night of the Long Knives not only removed the SA leaders but also got Hitler the army's oath that he so needed. (By the summer of 1934, the SA's numbers had swollen to 2 million men.) (They were under the control of Ernst Röhm, a loyal follower of Hitler since the early days of the Nazi Party.) (The SA had given the Nazi's an iron fist with which to disrupt other political parties' meetings before January 1933.) (The SA was also used to enforce law after Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933.)

*22. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Overdo The Power You Worthless Ranting Rogue) O?*

One-Party State: → The Enabling Act (23 March 1933) made Hitler was the all-powerful Fuhrer of Germany. (The Law against the Formation of Parties (14 July 1933) declared the Nazi Party the only political party in Germany.) (It was an offence to belong to another Party.) (All other parties were banned, and their leaders were put in prison.) → Nazi Party members, however, got the best jobs, better houses and special privileges. (Many businessmen joined the Nazi Party purely to get orders.)

*18. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Rigged German Election Leads To Psychopath Nazi Fuhrer) P?*

Political Parties banned - 14 July 1933: → The Law against the Formation of Parties declared the Nazi Party the only political party in Germany. → All other parties were banned, and their leaders were put in prison.

*24. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Overdo The Power You Worthless Ranting Rogue) P₁?*

Propaganda: → The German people were subjected to continual propaganda, under the control of Josef Goebbels. (It was the cult of personality - everything was organised to make Germans permanently grateful to Adolf Hitler.) (Germans were made to feel part of a great and successful movement - in this respect the 1936 Olympic Games was a propaganda coup.) → The Nazis used the most up-to-date technology to get their message across. (E.g. book-burnings, films, ban of jazz, Volksempfänger, Olympics, Newspapers, speeches, parades) → To ensure that everybody thought in the correct manner, Goebbels set up the Reich Chamber of Commerce in 1933. (This organisation dealt with literature, art, music, radio, film, newspapers etc.)

*13. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Rigged German Election Leads To Psychopath Nazi Fuhrer) R?*

Reichstag Fire - 27 Feb 1933: → The Reichstag (the German Parliament) burned down. (A Dutch Communist named van der Lubbe was caught red-handed with matches and fire-lighting materials.) (Hitler used it as an excuse to arrest many of his Communist opponents, and as a major platform in his election campaign of March 1933.) → At his trial, van der Lubbe again said: ("I can only repeat that I set fire to the Reichstag all by myself. There is nothing complicated about this fire. It has quite a simple explanation. What was made of it may be complicated, but the fire itself was very simple.") (Van der Lubbe was found guilty and executed in January 1934.) → The March 5th election went ahead as planned but now in the shadow of the 'attempted communist revolt'. (Even so, the Nazis only polled 288 seats and in the unlikely event that all the other parties voted as one against the Nazis, they would have lost the vote.) (He had already decided that the Reichstag as a properly working entity should cease to exist and be replaced by himself - all 'legally' done via the Enabling Act of March 1933)

*29. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Overdo The Power You Worthless Ranting Rogue) R(e)?*

Religion: → Hitler signed a Concordat with the Pope, agreeing to leave the Roman Catholic Church alone if it stayed out of politics - so most Catholics were happy to accept the Nazi regime. → Protestants and Jehovah's Witnesses - if they opposed the Nazis - were sent to concentration camps.

*23. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Overdo The Power You Worthless Ranting Rogue) T?*

Terror: → The Nazis took over local government and the police. (On 26 April 1933, Hitler set up the Gestapo (the secret police) and the SS, and encouraged Germans to report opponents and 'grumblers'.) (Tens of thousands of Jews, Communists, gypsies, homosexuals, alcoholics and prostitutes were arrested and sent to concentration camps for 'crimes' as small as writing anti-Nazi graffiti, possessing a banned book, or saying that business was bad.) → On the Night of the Long Knives (13 June 1934) Hitler used his legal power to assassinate all his opponents within the Nazi Party, → During World War Two the Gestapo was under the direct control of Heinrich Himmler who controlled all the police units within Nazi Germany. → After the outbreak of World War Two, the work of the Gestapo covered Occupied Europe where it had two main tasks. (The first was to hunt out Jews and other 'Untermenschen' while the second was to tackle the threat of resistance movements.)

*30. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Overdo The Power You Worthless Ranting Rogue) R(a)?*

The Nazi regime was from the start based on anti-Semitism.

*17. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Rigged German Election Leads To Psychopath Nazi Fuhrer) T?*

Trade Unions banned - 2 May 1933: → The Trade Unions offices were closed, their money confiscated, and their leaders put in prison. → In their place, Hitler put the German Labour Front which reduced workers' pay and took away the right to strike.

*28. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Overdo The Power You Worthless Ranting Rogue) W?*

Workforce: → Hitler banned all Trade Unions on 2 May 1933. (Their offices were closed, their money confiscated, and their leaders put in prison. In their place, Hitler put the German Labour Front which reduced workers' pay and took away the right to strike. The National Labour Service sent men on public works programmes.) → To keep the workers happy, the Nazis set up the Strength through Joy movement, which offered good workers picnics, free trips to the cinema and (for the very few) free holidays.

*27. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Overdo The Power You Worthless Ranting Rogue) Y?*

Youth: → Hitler boasted: 'When an opponent declares, 'I will not come over to your side', I calmly say, 'Your child belongs to us already'. → The Nazis replaced anti-Nazi teachers and University professors, and school lessons included hidden indoctrination - requiring children to calculate how much mentally disabled people cost the state, or to criticize the racial features of Jewish people. → German boys were required to attend the Hitler Youth, which mixed exciting activities, war-games and Nazi indoctrination. (German girls went to the BDM and learned how to be good mothers, and to love Hitler.)

*4. What was Mein Kampf?*

→ After the failure of the Munich Putsch in 1923, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) advocating: (National Socialism - loyalty to Germany, racial purity, equality, and state control of the economy.) (Racism - the triumph of the Aryan race by armed force, because all races, especially the Jews, were inferior to the Aryan (pure German) 'Master Race'.) → Lebensraum - to expand into Poland and Russia to get 'Living Space'. → Strong Government - complete obedience to the Führer.

*6. Why did the Nazis have little success before 1930?*

→ After the failure of the Munich Putsch, Hitler decided that he would have to get power by being elected, rather than by rebellion. However, he was banned from speaking until 1928. → The prosperity of the Stresemann years also meant that the Nazi's message became less appealing and the party lost support.

*11. Why was Hitler able to become Chancellor by January 1933? (LIMP PAPER) E₂?*

→ Companies throughout Germany - though primarily in the industrial zones such as the Ruhr - went bankrupt and workers were laid off in their millions. (Unemployment affected nearly every German family just 6 years after the last major economic disaster -hyperinflation - had hit Weimar. 840% percentage increase of unemployed from September 1928 to January 1933) → In the crisis, people wanted someone to blame, and looked to extreme solutions - Hitler offered them both, and Nazi success in the elections grew. (Germans turned to Nazism because they were desperate. In the July 1932 Reichstag election, the Nazis gained 230 seats making them the largest party in the Reichstag)

*7. How did Hitler re-organise the party before 1930?*

→ He reduced the number of Stormtroopers (SA) and set up the SS, a personal bodyguard fanatically loyal to himself. → He set up a network of local parties, merged with other right-wing parties and then took them over. → He set up the Hitler Youth, which attracted young people to the party. → He put Josef Goebbels in charge of propaganda. (Goebbels and Hitler believed that the best way to get the support of the masses was by appealing to their feelings rather than by argument.) (They waged a propaganda campaign using posters, leaflets, radio and film, and organised rallies.) → He cultivated the support of wealthy businessmen promising them that, if he came to power, he would destroy Communism and the Trade Unions. This gave him the finance to run his campaigns.

*3. What was the Nazi 25 point programme?*

→ In 1920, the party renamed itself the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazis), and announced its Twenty-Five Point Programme. → At first, the Nazis were both nationalist (they believed in Germany's greatness) and socialist (they believed the state should benefit (E.g. unity of all Germans and abolition of Treaty of Versailles vs. all profits by profiteers during the war must be shared, nationalisation of public industries (most owned by Jews))

*12. Why was Hitler able to become Chancellor by January 1933? (LIMP PAPER) R?*

→ In keeping with the constitution, Hindenburg selected his own chancellor - Franz von Papen. (His support in the Reichstag came from the Centre Party, who in July 1932 only gained 97 seats.) → However, in September 1932, the Reichstag overwhelmingly expressed its no confidence in his leadership by 513 votes to 32 (They had to govern by Article 48) → He called the November '32 election in an attempt to get more support within the Reichstag. (The number of Centre Party seats dropped to 70. It was clear that von Papen had barely any support in the Reichstag. The Nazi's share of the vote fell - from 230 seats to only 196 and Hitler contemplated suicide.) → After the results of the November election were announced, Hitler again demanded to be made chancellor: the only person with any form of credibility left was Hitler. (He had the support of the Reichstag and his party was the most popular in Germany.) → Hindenburg expected the vice-chancellor- von Papen - to control Hitler as one had the experience of leading the nation while the other did not.

*8. Why was Hitler able to become Chancellor by January 1933? (LIMP PAPER) LIMP?*

→ Long-term bitterness: Deep anger about the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles created an underlying bitterness to which Hitler's viciousness and expansionism appealed, so they gave him support. → Ineffective Constitution: Weaknesses in the Constitution crippled the government. In fact, there were many people in Germany who wanted a return to dictatorship. When the crisis came in 1929-1933 - there was no one who was prepared or able to fight to stop Hitler. → Money: The financial support of wealthy businessmen gave Hitler the money to run his propaganda and election campaigns. → Propaganda: Nazi propaganda persuaded the German masses to believe that the Jews were to blame and that Hitler was their last hope. As Minister of Enlightenment, Goebbels had two main tasks: (To ensure nobody in Germany could read or see anything that was hostile or damaging to the Nazi Party and to ensure that the views of the Nazis were put across in the most persuasive manner possible.)

*9. Why was Hitler able to become Chancellor by January 1933? (LIMP PAPER) PAP?*

→ Programme: Hitler promised everybody something, so they supported him (25 point programme) → Attacks on other parties: The Stormtroopers attacked Jews and people who opposed Hitler. Many opponents kept quiet simply because they were scared of being murdered → Personal Qualities: Hitler was a brilliant speaker, and his eyes had a peculiar power over people. He was a driven, unstable man, who believed that he had been called by God to become dictator of Germany and rule the world. His self-belief persuaded people to believe in him: part of Volksgemeinschaft → (Führer Principle): (Rudolf Hess: "Hitler is Germany and Germany is Hitler. Whatever he does is necessary. Whatever he does is successful. Clearly the Führer has divine blessing.") (The Führer Principle required everyone in Nazi Germany to accept that Hitler had all the solutions to Germany's problems and that whatever he said had to be right.) (The Führer Principle in its most basic form was that what Hitler said had to be carried out or if it was not the person who challenged it was betraying Hitler and therefore Germany.)

*2. How was the Nazi Party founded?*

→ The German Workers' Party, led by Anton Drexler, was formed in 1919. → Hitler joined and soon became leader. → His speeches gave people scapegoats to blame for Germany's problems: Allies, Versailles Treaty and the 'November Criminals' (the politicians who signed it), Communists and Jews.

*26. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Overdo The Power You Worthless Ranting Rogue) P₃?*

→ The ensure that everybody could hear Hitler speak, Goebbels organised the sale of cheap radios. (These were called the "People's Receiver" and they cost only 76 marks. A smaller version cost just 35 marks.) (Goebbels believed that if Hitler was to give speeches, the people should be able to hear him.) → Goebbels and his skill at masterminding propaganda is best remembered for his night time displays at Nuremberg. (Here, he and Speer, organised rallies that were designed to show to the world the might of the Nazi nation.) (In August of each year, huge rallies were held at Nuremberg.) → Goebbels: "The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it."

*25. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Overdo The Power You Worthless Ranting Rogue) P₂?*

→ The same approach was used in films. (The Nazis controlled film production. Films released to the public concentrated on certain issues: the Jews; the greatness of Hitler; the way of life for a true Nazi especially children, and as World War Two approached, how badly Germans who lived in countries in Eastern Europe were treated.) (Leni Riefenstahl was given a free hand in producing Nazi propaganda films:a young film producer, she had impressed Hitler with her ability. It was Riefenstahl who made "Triumph of Will") → What was seen in the cinemas was controlled. ("The Eternal Jew" was a film that vilified the Jews - comparing the Jews in Europe to a hoard of rats, spreading disease etc.)

*20. How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933-34? (Rigged German Election Leads To Psychopath Nazi Fuhrer) N₂?*

→ To all intents, they were the enforcers of the Nazi Party and there is no evidence that Röhm was ever planning anything against Hitler. → However, Röhm had made enemies within the Nazi Party - Himmler, Goering and Goebbels were angered by the power he had gained and convinced Hitler that this was a threat to his position. → By June 1934, the regular army hierarchy also saw the SA as a threat to their authority. The SA outnumbered the army by 1934 and Röhm had openly spoken about taking over the regular army by absorbing it into the SA.