Persecution of Jews

Once in power, Hitler put his anti-Semitic ideas outlined in 'Mein Kampf' into operation. 

• In 1933, Jewish shops and businesses were boycotted.
• In 1934, any Jews who were employed in Civil servant jobs were fired.
• Jews were banned from Public Places.
• The Nuremburg Laws of 1935, took away the Jew's rights to be German citizens. Marriages between Jews and non-Jews were banned.
• Many Jews began to leave Germany
• In November 1938, Jewish shops and synagogues were ransacked and destroyed in Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass).
• Thousands of Jews were arrested over the following weeks, and 30,000 were sent to concentration camps.
• After 1939, the Final Solution (The extermination of Jewish people) began. This resulted in 6m Jews being killed.

Persecution of Other Groups

• Anyone who was not 'Aryan' suffered under the Nazis. Including, Blacks and Gypsies.
• People not 'socially useful' were put into concentration camps. e.g. Mentally and physically ill and tramps.

Why/How did Hitler become Chancellor?

Why/How did Hitler become Chancellor?

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Long Term Reasons (1920s)

1. Anger about WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles.
2. Weaknesses with the current government.
3. Financial Support from wealthy businessmen.
4. Nazi Propaganda.
5. The Stormtroopers (SA) attacked the Jews and those who were opposed to Hitler.
6. Hitler was a brilliant speaker and promised something to everyone.

Short Term Reasons (1929-1933)

1. After the Wall Street crash of 1929, the US called it's loans on Germany, causing the German economy to collapse. Unemployment grew, people starved on the streets. In the crisis people wanted someone to blame, they looked for extreme solutions - Hitler offered both of these.
2. Franz Von Papen was the current chancellor, but he could not get enough support in the Reichstag (due to the Nazis disrupting it). Hidenburg and Von Papen had to govern by emergency decree under Article 48 of the constitution. They offered Hitler the role of Vice-Chancellor, but he demanded to be made Chancellor. On the 30 January 1933, Hitler was made Chancellor.

How did the Depression help the Nazis? 1929

How did the Depression help the Nazis?

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What was the depression?

• In 1929 the Wall Street Crash forced US banks to recall their loans to Germany.
• German industry was hit by a fall in demand and was unable to pay back loans from the USA.
• Millions of workers were unemployed as factories closed down.
• None of the government's methods to combat the Depression had any effect, which brought out all the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic.
• Coalition Groups were formed as different parties disagreed on how to solve the depression. This lead to it being increasingly hard to setup a coalition government.
• After 1929, a presidential emergency was declared, and Germany was ruled by the President.

How did these problems help the Nazis?

The Depression was a gift to Hitler & the Nazis as for every problem the people had, the Nazis had an explanation or a promise.

• The Weimar government is weak: You need strong leadership. Hitler is your man.
• Unemployment? The Nazis will get people back to work through road-building and public works.
• Worried about the communists? Look at the Nazi's SA, they know how to deal with them.

Summary: How did the Nazis do it?

The Depression was only part of the reason that the Nazis had such success. 

• Organisation
• The Nazis were extremely organised. Most of them had been soldiers in WW1, and carried the same obedience and determination with them into the party. They has skilled leaders at almost every level.
• Propaganda
• The Nazi National leaders were masters at propaganda. They trained their local groups with propaganda skills. They knew all the tricks in the book. They stirred up violence at election meetings, just so the SA could crush it and be seen as crushing the communist threat.
• Support of the Industrialists
• Hitler made sure to become friends with some of the rich right-wing parties in order to gain large amounts of financial support.
• Use of Technology
•  Hitler made the use of radio to make sure he really brought his message home, and every home in Germany could hear him. Furthermore, he made good use of aircraft so that Hitler could give up to 4 or 5 speeches at massive rallies each day. This hugely increased the number of people supporting him.
• Promise to Voters
• Every sector of German society heard what it wanted to hear. Workers were promised jobs, Employers were promised profits, farmers were promised higher prices and shopkeepers were promised protection against competition.
• Flexibility
• The Nazis were extremely flexible with their ideas. If an idea was losing them support, they would simply no longer mention it again. For example, they said they would nationalise industry, but the industrialists did not like that, so they simply never mentioned it again. They realised it doesn't matter what you promise, as long as people trust you. Furthermore, they promised many vague things, such as 'making Germany great again'.
• Hitler
• Hitler was the Nazi's party superman. He was the driving force behind things, and he kept improving and improving. He improved his speech writing, and was displayed in propaganda as a physically strong leader. He refused to wear spectacles in public, so had his speeches written in 12mm high print.
• Weakness of Opposition
• Other parties were very weak and consistently underestimated the Nazis. They often just argued amongst themselves, rather than uniting together to overcome the Nazis.

The Nazi Party 1924-33

The Nazi Party, 1924-33

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As the German economy improved, the Nazi party made very little progress. It only held 12 seats in the Reichstag in 1925. However, during this time it gained lots of members. By 1928 it had 100,000 members. Support for the Nazis grew, especially among certain groups of Germans who were attracted by                                                                                                                               nazi ideas.

• Nationalists who wanted to destroy the Treaty of Versailles.
• Racists who hated Jews and thoughts that Germans were superior.
• Business people who feared communism.
• Young people attracted by the parades and the future hope of a 'Great Germany'.

Growth of Support from 1929 to 1933.

Effects of Depression

• The Weimar republic could not solve the problems of Depression.
• The Nazis promised to end the Depression and unemployment.
• The Nazis were well organised and used propaganda to convey their messages. 

Electoral Gains

• 1930 Reichstag Election: 107 seats won.
• July 1932 Reichstag Election: 230 seats won. Largest party.
• November 1923 Reichstag Election: 196 Won. Remains largest party.
• April 1932 Presidential Election: Hitler lost to Hidenburg, but 13 million Germans voted for him.

Nazi Party Early Years & The Munich Putsch

Hitler and the growth of the Nazi Party to 1933

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Early Years, 1920-2

The German Workers' Party was formed in 1919. Hitler joined the party, and quickly became leader, this was mainly due to his amazing skill at public speaking. In 1920, the party was renamed the National Socialist German Wokers' Party, AKA the Nazis. With Hitler as leader, they announced the 25 point programme. This mainly consisted of ideas saying that Germany belong to the Germans so only they should live there, and others, such as Jews, must leave. 

Hitler organised his own private army in 1921, called the SA, (Stormtroopers). They were mostly young men, some used to be Friekorps. They dressed in brown, and were nicknamed the brownshirts. Supposedly, their role was to protect speakers at Nazi meetings from left-wing opponents. But in actual fact, they spent most of their time starting the violence and opponent party's speeches.

The Munich Putsch

Causes

1. Weimar Weaknesses: After the main period of the Weimar, people begun to feel their government was very weak, along with lots of extremist groups being set up. This lead to anger.
2. Nazi Party Growth: During the 1923 Crises, (Occupation of the Ruhr and Inflation). the Nazi party rapidly grew. It went from 6,000 members to 55,000. The SA were desperate for a revolution. Hitler became friends with General Ludendorff (An old German General). Hitler thought the army would follow Ludendorff in a Putsch.
3. Stresemann calling off Passive Resistance in the Ruhr: Every German was furious that Stresemann called off passive resistance in the Ruhr, they felt like he was giving it to France. There was a right-wing revolt in Berlin and the Rhineland declared independence as a result of this. The government had to proclaim a state of emergency.
4. Mussolini's Example: In 1922, Mussolini has seized control of the Italian government by marching on Rome. Hitler wanted to copy this.

Events

8 Nov 1923: Hitler interrupted the Beer Hall meeting, and forced Kahr, the Bavarian Prime Minister, and two officials to support him in overthrowing the Reich government. The SA took over the Army HQ. Jews were beaten up and the anti-Nazi newspaper offices were trashed. However, Hitler then made a mistake by releasing Kahr. Kahr went on to call in the police with army reinforcements.

9 Nov 1923: The Nazis marched on Munich, but got stopped by the police in one street. They had made a blockade. The Nazis tried to push through, but as a result 16 Nazis died, and 3 policeman. Hitler ran off, and got arrested two days later. Whereas Ludendorff kept trying to push on through the blockade, but he got arrested.

Results

The Nazis were defeated and their leaders were arrested. Hitler was arrested and put on trial for treason. He was imprisoned for 9 months and forbidden to speak in public. BUT: Hitler turned his trial into a publicity stunt, giving long speeches. Before the Putsch, no one had really heard of Hitler, but after his trial, he became a national hero, as he went against the idea of stopping passive resistance in the Ruhr.

 Even the judge said he agreed with Hitler, so gave him a short sentence. 

While in Prison, Hitler wrote his book, 'Mein Kampf', this sold in the millions. He set out his beliefs in this book, and made him the leader of right-wing opposition to Weimar. Furthermore, Hitler realised he was not going to gain power by force and rebellion, but in fact he would have to be elected.

Economic Problems for the Weimar Government, 1923

Economic Problems for the Weimar Government, 1923

When the German government was ordered to pay £6600m in reparations as part of the Treaty of Versailles, the government announced that they could not afford the payments.
As a result of this, the French invaded the Ruhr, which is Germany's main industrial error. The idea behind this was that they would take what they were owed by force. However, as a passive resistance, the workers went on strike and the industrial production rates dropped to nothing.
 The government tried to solve the problem by simply printing more money. Money lost it's value and went out of control. For example, in 1918 a loaf of bread cost 0.6 marks but in November 1923 it cost 201,000million marks.

Winners from Hyperinflation

• Borrowers: Money borrowed in 1919 was worthless by 1923, so could very easily be paid back.
• Big Businesses: Exporters could sell goods abroad for more valuable currencies.
• Landowners: As prices went up, so did the value of land.

Losers from Hyperinflation

• Workers: The price of goods always rose faster than wages. Trade Union funds were wiped out.
• Savers: Savings in the bank were now worthless.
• People on fixed Incomes (Pensioners): Their incomes were now to low to live on.
• Small Businesses: They could not deal with rapid changes in prices. These were normally ran by the Middle Class, and many of them began to look towards the Nazis for improvement. 

Establishment of Nazi Dictatorship

Establishment of Nazi Dictatorship, 1933-34

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Summary

When Hitler first became Chancellor, he wanted to establish a dictatorship. He achieved this between the beginning of 1933 and August 1934, when he removed all opposition to the Nazi Party. He even destroyed the   SA because they were considered a threat to the party. He appointed Nazi ministers to all governmental roles in Germany, to ensure he had control of all aspects of the country. Finally, when President Hindenburg died, Hitler had achieved total control and became Fuhrer.

The Events

The Reichstag Fire

• After becoming Chancellor, Hitler called an election so that he could increase Nazi seats in the Reichstag.
• On the 27th of February, the Reichstag building was burnt down. Within the building a communist called 'Van Der Lubbe' was found inside with matches. (Some believe he was planted here by the Nazis).
• This event, gave Hitler an excuse to pass emergency laws, which were to 'protect' Germany from Communists. He also took this as a chance to arrest many of his Communist opponents and banning them from running in the March election.

The Enabling Act

The Nazis had done well in the March election, however they only won 44% of the seats. They then teamed up with the Nationalist party. This did give them the majority, however it was still not enough to change the Constitution of the German Republic (66%). 

As a result, Hitler then used the SA to threaten and bully other parties and force them to vote for his new law, the 'Enabling Act'. The Enabling Act gave Hitler complete power to make laws for 4 years without consulting anyone, be it the Reichstag of the President. The Wiemar Constitution had been destroyed.

Removal of Opposition

With his recently gained powers from the Enabling Act, Hitler then removed any opposition to the Nazi party.

• April: They took over the local-government and the police. They started to replace teachers and University professors who were anti-Nazi, and replaced them. Furthermore, the set up the secret police called the Gestapo, they encouraged people to report on opponents of Nazism and 'grumblers' Anyone who did a 'crime' against the Nazis were sent to concentration camps. These crimes were such things as writing anti-Nazi graffiti or even just having a book that was banned.
• May: Trade unions were abolished and Hitler set-up the German Labour Front. This banned a worker's right to strike, and meant they got paid less.
• July: Hitler banned all other parties.
• Political opponents were arrested, and Nazi supporters were put into important positions such as Judges.

Night of the Long Knives

The SA was run by Ernst Roehm. Hitler, basically, felt that he was getting too much power and was becoming a threat to him. For example, they wanted more communist-type of policies put in and things to be more socialist. However, Hitler knew these would affect big businesses, and he needed the support of big businesses. Furthermore, they wanted control of Germany's army. Yet Hitler wanted and needed the army's support and did not want it to be used against him.

 As a result, on the 30th of June, Hitler ordered the murder of many SA leaders. Including Roehm. Also, he killed the former Chancellor von Schleicher.

Death of Hindenburg

On August the 2nd, President Hindenburg died, and Hitler declared himself the new President, and took the title of 'Fuhrer'. The army took a personal oath of loyalty to Hitler, and promised to serve him. Hitler now had complete control.

Key Dates

1933

January: Hitler becomes Chancellor

February: Reichstag Fire

March: Election gave Hitler control of Reichstag & Enabling Act

May: Trade Unions abolished.

July: All political parties banned.

1934

June: Night of Long Knives eliminates the SA.

August: Hindenburg dies and Hitler becomes Fuhrer.

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