Rise of Hitler

1
Rise of Hitler

• Nick Evans

2
Hitler in IB History

• Paper 2 Rise and Rule of Single Party States
• Paper 3 Option 3 Europe and the Middle East

3
Paper 2 Weimar and Hitler

• Origin and nature of authoritarian and single
  party states

• Conditions that produced Hitler
• Emergence of Hitler aims, ideology, support
• Totalitarianism the aim and the extent to which
  this was achieved

4

• Establishment of authoritarian and single party
  states

• Methods force, legal
• Forms of government, ideology
• Nature, extent and treatment of opposition

5

• Domestic policies and impact

• Structure and organisation of government and
  administration
• Political, economic, social and religious
  policies
• Role of education, the arts, media, propaganda
• Status of women, treatment of religious groups
  and minorities

6
Sample Essay Questions

• Compare and contrast the conditions which helped
  the rise to power of two right wing leaders of
  single party states
• Strong economic policies are the key reason for
  a single party state maintaining power. With
  reference to either Hitler or Castro, to what
  extent do you agree with the statement?

7

• Evaluate the contributions to the rise to power
  of Hitler of each of the following National
  Socialist ideology the use of force economic
  crises
• In what ways, and to what extent, was propaganda
  important in the rise, and rule, of Hitler?
• Discuss a) the ideology of, and b) the support
  for, one right wing ruler of a single party state.

8
Paper 3 Weimar and Hitler

• Interwar Years conflict and cooperation 1919 -
  1939

• Germany 1919 1933 political, constitutional,
  economic, financial and social problems
• The impact of the Great Depression (case study of
  one country in Europe)
• Hitlers domestic and foreign policy (1933
  1939)

9
Sample Essay Questions

• Evaluate the success of Hitlers domestic
  policies between 1933 and 1939.
• Assess the importance of indoctrination and
  propaganda in maintaining control in Germany
  under the Third Reich between 1933 and 1939.

10

• Why was the Weimar Republic so short lived?
• Analyse the reasons for the collapse of the
  Weimar Republic and the establishment of a Nazi
  dictatorship in the period 1929 to 1934.

11
Why the Weimar Republic failed?

• Origins
• Structure of the Republic
• Treaty of Versailles

12

• Opposition from the start
• Economic problems

13
Origins
14

• Political structure of the Second Reich
• Economic and social problems
• Nationalism and foreign policy
• The Great War

15

• Defeat on the battlefield BUT no widespread
  retreat and no fighting on German soil
• Deprivation at home due to naval blockade
• General Ludendorff I have advised His Majesty
  to bring those groups into government whom we
  have in the main to thank for the fact that we
  are in this messLet them conclude the peace that
  has to be negotiated. Let them eat the broth they
  have prepared for us.

16

• Economic deprivation and war weariness caused
  growing unrest
• REVOLUTION!
• Kaiser overthrown and Republic declared two
  different republics from two different balconies!
• Two days later Armistice signed

17

• Republic born in defeat stab in the back!
• Our repeated requests for strict discipline and
  strict laws were never met. Thus our operations
  were bound to fail and the collapse had come the
  revolution was only the last straw. An English
  General quite rightly said The German army was
  stabbed in the back. No blame was to be attached
  to the sound core of the armyIt is perfectly
  clear on whom the blame rests.
• General Hindenburg

18

• The guilty consciences of those laden with guilt
  later invented the stab in the back. The
  collapse was not the result of revolution it was
  the other way about without revolution, without
  the collapse, the revolution that broke out six
  weeks later would probably have not occurred.
• Phillip Scheidemann
• Socialist Leader and future chancellor

19

• No tradition of democracy in Germany
• Sources of power in Germany unchanged from before
  the war
• Republic born in defeat and revolution - given
  responsibility for defeat and no legitimacy as a
  result of coming to power in revolution

20

• There is still dispute amongst historians as to
  whether there was a genuine revolution in
  November, 1918. In view of the fact that there
  was so little real changeit is more accurate to
  talk of a revolution that ran away with the sand,
  rather than the genuine article. The republic
  that emerged contained at once too much and too
  little of the old Germany powerful institutional
  centres of the old ruling class remained intact
  and were not subject to democratic control while
  many Germans saw the Republic as originating in a
  revolution and therefore illegitimate.
• M. Hughes

21
Structure of Weimar Republic

• Weimar Constitution - basis for German democracy
• The President elected every 7 years,
  appoints/dismisses Chancellor, could dissolve the
  Reichstag, commanded the army
• Article 48 allowed for rule by emergency decree

22

• The Chancellor had to have the confidence of the
  Reichstag was responsible for policy appointed
  by the President
• The Reichstag voted for every 4 years universal
  suffrage over 20 deputies elected using
  proportional representation

23

• Fundamental Rights and duties of Germans liberal
  rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of
  assembly, freedom of religion, welfare state and
  right to nationalize industries, equality before
  the law all enshrined in the Constitution.
• So what was the problem?

24

• Article 48 undermined power of Reichstag and
  Fundamental Rights
• Proportional Representation very democratic but
  it enabled small parties representation AND
  resulted in coalition government
• Key structures unchanged military hostile, power
  of landed elites unchallenged, bureaucracy and
  judiciary unreconciled to new government

25
Treaty of Versailles

• Hated by Germans because
• It was a Diktat - a dictated peace
• Germany lost land 13 of its pre war borders,
  and 10 of its population
• Germany was disarmed no air force, no tanks,
  only 100,000 strong army and small navy
• Germany forced to take guilt for war
• Germany forced to pay reparations

26

• It was the Weimar Republic politicians who signed
  it

27
Opposition

• From the Left Sparticist Uprising, 1919
  government made deal with Army to put uprising
  down also used the Freikorps militia of right
  wing ex soldiers
• From the Right the Kapp Putsch and series of
  assassinations

28
Main Pro Weimar Parties Jan 1919 June 1920
SPD (Social Democrat Party) 38 21
DDP (German Democratic Party 19 8
Z (Centre Party) 20 18
29
Main Anti Weimar Parties Jan 1919 June 1920
USPD/KPD (Independent Social Democratic Party/ Communist Party) 8 19
DVP (German Peoples Party) 4 14
DNVP (German National Peoples Party) 10 15
30
Economic Problems

• Inflation caused by reparations and Ruhr 1923
  

31
Marks to the
1914 4.2
1918 8.9
1920 39.5
1921 76.7
1922 January 191.8
1922 July 493.2
1923 January 17,792
1923 July 353, 412
1923 4 August 620,455
1923 Sept 98,860,000
1923 October 260,208,000
1923 November 200,000,000,000
32
(No Transcript)
33

• Winners those who had debt, those who had access
  to cheap credit, owners of foreign exchange
• Losers people with savings, especially
  pensioners and the lower middle class workers,
  whose wage increases did not keep pace with price
  hikes
• Resulted in an attempt to take power in Munich by
  the NSDAP

34
The NSDAP

• National Socialist German Workers Party also
  known as the
• Nazi Party

35

• Started as German Workers Party
• Hitler joins in 1919 through oratory, becomes
  central to party, renamed NSDAP
• Writes 25 Point program in 1920

36
(No Transcript)
37

• By 1923, Nazi Party had 70,000 members and the
  Sturm Abteilung (SA) 15,000 members
• BUT
• Putsch was a failure Hitler sent to jail

38

• Several important results
• Turned Hitler from obscure provincial radical
  into national figure
• Taught Hitler that power would not be gained by
  force BUT by use of the Constitution
• Made it clear to Hitler that he needed the Army
• Hitler used his time in jail to write Mein Kampf
  to hone his weltanschauung his world view

39
Hitlers Weltanschauung

• Nationalism Hitler believed that Germany and the
  German people had lost their position of
  greatness was determined to regain it thought
  that Germany were destined to create a greater
  Germany
• Race he believed that the Aryan race was
  dominant race, the creative force in human
  history the Jews were the absolute contrast, an
  represented a threat to the Aryan races purity

40

• Social Darwinism he believed in eternal struggle
  that the weak would be dominated by the strong,
  that superior races would dominate weaker ones
• Democracy and the State he had contempt for
  parliamentary democracy personal freedom,
  equality, rights of the individual played no part
  in Hitlers world view instead, the individual
  could only find fulfilment in submitting to the
  will of the nation.

41

• Fuhrerprinzip Germany had to find the will to
  renew, and this would take a strong leader who
  would emerge unrestrained by democracy and
  parliament and who would lead the nation to glory
  Germany needed a leader who ruled absolutely
  and without restraint
• Propaganda and control he believed propaganda
  essential to effective leadership if you repeat
  your message enough with conviction, it will be
  believed

42

• Lebensraum was the destiny of Germany to carve
  out a European empire that would dominate Europe
  as the dominant race, they would need living
  space and would get in in the East
  untermenschen who lived there would become German
  slaves this living space would come from the
  Soviet Union

43
Economic Recovery 1924 - 1928

• The Rentenmark
• The Dawes Plan

44
(No Transcript)
45

• Some indications of prosperity economic growth
  up, loans coming in from US gave prosperity to
  some, brief drop in unemployment, standard of
  living improved
• BUT

46

• Unemployment persistently high, welfare state
  cost large sums of money, balance of payments
  problem, loans that were short term invested long
  term or to pay reparations, agriculture prices
  remained low
• Germany is dancing on a volcano. If the short
  term credits are called in, a large section of
  our economy would collapse.
• Gustav Stresemann
• 1928

47
The Great Depression

• Depression began in 1928 loans dried up
• Interest rates rose to counteract this worsened
  problem as business began to close
• Unemployment up!

48
(No Transcript)
49
Government response

• Deflationary sought to cut expenditure and
  balance budget
• INCREASED IMPACT OF THE DEPRESSION

50

• Caused political problems government was
  coalition disagreement over welfare payments
  Socialists wanted them and wanted a tax increase
  other parties opposed this Muller government
  falls and is replaced by Bruning
• Bruning continued deflationary policies
• BUT
• Reichstag refused to pass them

51

• Article 48 used President Hindenburg passed the
  budget by decree

52

• Authority taken away from elected parliament and
  placed in hands of President
• Reichstag passed vote of no confidence Bruning
  called an election
• DISASTER

53

• Extremist parties big winners!

54
Collapse of Weimar
55

• Presidential Elections, 1932

56

• May 1932 Bruning betrayed von Papen
  installed
• July, 1932 elections

57

• August, 1932 Hitler refused power
• November, 1932 Elections
• Nazi Party seats down! 230 to 196
• Communist Party seats up! 89 to 100

58

• December, 1932 von Papen removed and von
  Schliecher appointed
• January, 1933 von Papen makes deal with
  Hitler and persuades Hindenburg to
  appoint coalition with Hitler as Chancellor

59

• Hitler has made it!

60
Who supported the Nazis

• Contentious question
• Traditional view petty bourgeoisie (shop
  keepers, white collar workers)
• More recent view support broader than thought
  before German workers more attracted and
  support came from a broader cross section of
  German society

61

• Jurgen Falter called the Nazi Party a peoples
  party of protest with a middle class bulge

62
Why did Hitler take power?

• Treaty of Versailles
• Great Depression
• Weaknesses of Weimar

63

• No single problem caused the downfall of the
  Weimar Republic the integration of problems,
  many of which predated the Republic,
  progressively weakened the German state.
• J. Hiden

64
(No Transcript)
65
Historiography

• Product of German history AJP Taylor
• Crisis of capitalism Marxist historians
• Product of European History Ritter, Blackbourn
• Chance events and bad luck Kershaw

66
From Government to Dictatorship
67
Bibliography

• J.Hite and C. Hinton Weimar and Nazi Germany,
  Hodder Education, London, 2000
• K. J. Mason Republic to Reich A History of
  Germany, 1918 1945, Mc Graw Hill, 2003 (2nd ed)
• R. Evans, The Coming of the Third Reich, Penguin,
  London, 2004
• S. Waugh, Essential Modern World History, Nelson
  Thornes, 2001