HITLER EMERGENCE

Economic factors

Economic factors

• WW1 consequences - war debts, reparations, occupation of the Ruhr

• 1923 hyperinflation - value of mark fell to 4.2 quadrillion

• Great Depression 1929 - unemployment, 10,000 businesses closed per year

• economic difficulties from Depression made votes for NDSAP rise to 18.3%, never before had double figures

• lower middle class most affected by Depression, voting sympathies went to Nazi party as promising to lower unemployment

Social divisions

• hatred for November Criminals and Weimar government

• united through ultra-nationalism, which Nazi party appealed to

• communists vs nationalists and their frequent violent meetings on streets

• hatred of Slavs, Jews exploited - Mein Kampf - common goal to work against

• class division: Landbund (landlords) pledged support to Nazi party in 1931 after promising to protect from land-grabbing communists, lower middle class being enormously affected by the Great Depression

War

• economic difficulties

• alienated the people and the government

• uprisings - Munich Putsch and Hitler’s subsequent arrest gave him platform

Political system

• Weimar failed to solve economic problems for Germany

• proportional representation - majority not possible so Reichstag reliant on Hindenburg to rule by decree

• Article 48 allowed Reich President to make decisions without approval of the Reichstag

• presidential elections every 7 years - April 1932 Hitler 13 milion votes: Hindenburg 19 million votes

• rivalry between von Papen and von Schleicher for Chancellor, Schleicher managed to persuade Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Chancellor

Coercion/force

• against political opponents: SA/brownshirts under Rohm, ex-soldiers/unemployed men, attacked Jews and communists, disrupted opponents meetings, violent marches and processions by torchlight

• against civilians: SS taken over by Himmler in 1929, by 1933 had 35,000 members. Chosen for being fanatically loyal to Hitler, racial purity. Uniforms featured death head badge, all black uniforms, lightning-bolt badges - created fear.

• against Weimar government: Munich Putsch backed up by the SA, armed procession through Munich, returned fire to the police

Propaganda

• Mein Kampf defined Hitler’s ideas surrounding German nationalism and hatred of Jews - also shown in posters

• message: ‘Bread and work’ aimed at working class and their fear of unemployment

• Gobbels displayed Hitler as strong and capable leader

• for Hitler, working people, mothers

Ideology

• Hitler’s blaming of Jewish-Bolshevik plot for Germany’s crisis and appealed to nationalist’s sense of victimhood - idea stemmed from Hitler’s association with the White Emigrees

• Aryan race

• hatred of communists + Jews

• Hitler took ideas that were already popular in Germany to appeal to more people in votes

Leaders

• Ernst Rohm - leader of SA, brief imprisonment for role in Munich Putsch

• Himmler - leader of SS which he expanded massively

• Goring - minister in Reichstag, had the ear of Hindenburg

• Hindenburg - appointed Hitler as Chancellor

• Goebbels - propaganda minister