The Nazis' Rise to Power
The Early Years (1919-28)
1919-Hitler joins the German Workers' Party after spying on them for the police. 1920-Hitler renames the party the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). 1921-Hitler becomes leader of the party, calling himself 'Fuhrer' and sets up the SA . 1922-Under Hitler's leadership the party grows to have 20,000 members. 1923-The Nazis try to seize power in the Munich Putsch. Hitler is arrested and jailed. Hitler writes Mein Kampf in Landsberg prison. The main ideas in the book are: There should be one strong leader in Germany (the Fuhrer) and democracy should be destroyed. The Aryans (Germans) are the master race and all other races (especially Jews) are inferior. All German people should be united in one country. Communism must be destroyed. The Aryan race will need to conquer 'living space' (Lebensraum) in eastern Europe as it expands. 1925- Hitler rebuilds the party which has fallen apart whilst he is in prison. He introduces a new party structure and changes tactics from trying to seize power to winning votes and destroying democracy from the inside. 1928- The Nazis do badly in the general election, only winning 2.5% of the votes. At this stage, Gustav Stresemann has brought about a recovery in Germany and most people are not attracted by the Nazis' extreme ideas and they are put off by the violence of the SA.
Hitler Chancellor: They said no
Despite all of the success the Nazis had in the elections of 1930 and 1932, Hitler was still not Chancellor of Germany. This is because he had to be appointed by President Hindenburg. Hindenburg did not like Hitler for several reasons - he was Austrian; he had only been a corporal in the Army; he was from a poor background; his ideas were too extreme.
The Nazis won because- KILLED COMMUNISM
Hitler ordered the SA to disrupt Communist Party meetings. They were to beat up the Communists but withdraw as soon as the police arrived. This gave the impression that the Nazis respected law and order but were the only party that could resist communism.
Hitler Chancellor: But Hitler said yes
In the elections of November 1932 the Nazis' share of the vote actually declined. To some observers it appeared that the Nazis had peaked and were on the way out. However, just two months later Hitler was appointed as Chancellor by President Hindenburg. This was the result of a political deal struck between Hitler and Franz Von Papen, leader of the Catholic Centre Party and a former chancellor himself: July 1932 ‐ Nov. 1932 ‐ Dec. 1932 ‐ Jan. 1933 ‐ the Nazis become the largest party in the Reichstag but President Hindenburg appoints Von Papen as chancellor instead. Von Papen is forced to call new elections because he cannot get the support of the Reichstag for his policies. General Von Schleicher persuades Hindenburg to appoint him as chancellor instead of Von Papen, but Von Schleicher cannot get enough support in the Reichstag either. Von Papen is desperate to return to power. He approaches Hitler with a deal. Von Papen will persuade Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor (because he's good friends with the president) with Von Papen as vice‐chancellor. Hindenburg agrees to Von Papen's plan because there will only be three Nazis in the new cabinet. They think they can 'tame the tiger'. As a result Hitler is appointed chancellor of Germanys in January 1933.
The Nazis won because- PROPAGANDA
Josef Goebbels was in charge of the Nazis' propaganda machine, He used the latest technology to get the message across - loudspeakers, films, the radio. The Nazis' election posters were also much more effective than their rivals'.
The Nazis won because- HITLER'S LEADERSHIP
Without Hitler the Nazis had nothing. His speeches were a major vote winner. In his speeches he convinced many Germans that democracy was weak; that the Jews were to blame for Germany's problems; that Germany needed a single strong leader to escape from the depression; that he would restore German pride.
The Nazis won because- NAZI ORGANISATION
the Nazis had raised a lot of money from ordinary Germans and rich businessmen. They spent this on popular measures, e.g. soup kitchens for the unemployed; parades of the SA ; huge rallies which looked impressive; door‐to‐door leafleting; public meetings.
The Nazis won because- NAZI PROMISES
the Nazis made sure their election promises focused on the issues that were most important to the German people: ‐ To solve the economic crisis and create jobs for the unemployed ‐ To ignore the Treaty of Versailles and win back what Germany had lost ‐ To build up the army and make Germany strong again
Nazi Appealed to...
THE MIDDLE CLASS: they had lost a lot from the economic depression and they feared that a Communist government would confiscate all their property to give to the workers. The Nazis were the only party who seemed able to stand up to the Communists. FARMERS: they had lost out a great deal during the hyper‐inflation and had not benefitted much from the recovery under Stresemann. The Nazis were very active in going out to the countryside to hold meetings and win the support of Germany's farmers. They also feared that the Communists might seize their land and force them onto collective farms like in Russia. BIG BUSINESS OWNERS: owners of large businesses also feared the Communists. They also liked the Nazis' ideas of rearmament which would mean lots of business supplying equipment to the armed forces. Rich businessmen donated quite a lot of money to the Nazis to help them in the elections.
