History - Germany, Collapse of democracy 1929-33

What was the Wall street crash, what impacts did it have on the US?

• the worst ever fall in share prices occured at the New york stock exchange on the 24th of October 1929, this is known as ‘black thursday’

• Another collapse occured on the 29th of October 1929, $10 billion was lost from the largest US companies

• many millionaires and smaller investors lost all their wealth

impacts

• companies would close and unemployment grew

• banks stopped lending and called in existing loans

Overall, this created a prolonged economic depression in the USA

What was the impact on Germany from the Wall Street crash?

Germany’s economy had only just recovered in some elements, however sectors like agriculture and industry struggled in 1928, this made the impacts of the wall street crash worse, also the economy relied on US investment, these loans were ‘called in’, also the US was a major market for German goods

• German exports had dropped 61%

• Industrial production had dropped 58% from 1928, to compare, Britain’s only fell by 11%

• The economy had entered a deep depression

Why was the Germany economy affected so badly?

Foreign trade collapsed and prices fell,

• companies went bankrupt and unemployment grew

• The surviving companies had their hours cut and workers made redundant

• customers withdrew money from banks and loans were left unpaid

This created a banking crisis

• Austrian bank collapsed in may 1931, (credit anstalt)

• German banking system followed into crisis

• in july 1931, the government closed banks for 2 days as well as suspending the stock exchange

• 1/3 of workers became unemployed by 1932

What were the issues with unemployment?

official figures were limited based upon only those registered, many woman for example aren’t registered

• some estimates suggested that by january 1933, 8 million were unemployed

• Worst areas for unemployment were the Ruhr, Silesia and Hamburg

• Severe cuts in civil service and wage reductions

What impact did the wall street crash have on Rural areas?

Farming in Germany had been previously affected in 1928, with the wall street crash agricultural products fell further in value

• exports went into further decline, food sales in Germany fell

• many farmers had given up their lands they were unable to pay back loans

• farm labourers lost their jobs

How did poverty increase during the Great Depression? What were the social impacts?

• Mass unemployment overwhelmed the welfare system, time limits were put into place on state benefits, local authorities were less generous and means tested

• Woman and young people received less

• Single industry towns and wee hit the hardest, one town which had a large glassware industry suffered and 50% of people were unemployed

• Diseases were caused by malnutrition like rickets and TB

• Suicide rates increased

• Evictions increased

What were the Impacts on youth from the Great Depression?

Unemployment and juvenile crime

Unemployment

• high unemployment, Hamburg in 1933 had males 14-25 at 39% unemployment, woman were at 25.2%

• This meant many large Gangs of young men formed, they often met in public places which felt threatening to the middle classes.

• Many of these men would form attraction to extremist political organisations

Juvenile crime

• the number of 14-25 year olds accused of crime increased, especially with theft or threatening behaviour

• Offences against the state were often reported, this included violent disorder during demonstrations

What were the Impacts on youth from the Great Depression?

• political extremism

• Government schemes helping the youth

Political extremism

• KPD we’re somewhat successful at getting working class men to support the party, they would attract ‘wild cliques’ to engage in street battles with their opponents

• The nationalist right had groups like the Hitler Youth and the SA which offered young men food, shelter and uniforms - a sense of unity

• However, membership to parties weren’t stable, many had no contact to parties especially woman

Government scheme to help the youth

• the government aimed to lower the effects of unemployment through labour exchanges

• They set up day centres which allowed working classes to engage in work related activities and socialise

• The schemes were unpopular and many still striked for higher pay in October 1930 and June 1932

• Priority was to get young “off the streets”

What were the Impacts on woman from the Great Depression?

• right wing parties stood by their ideology that woman who work as well as their husbands are “double earners”. This campaign achieved some success and in May 1932 a law was passed to stop married woman from working in parts of the civil service if seemed necessary, they could only do this if they had proof that the woman was economically stable, the reich postal service dismissed 1000 married woman

How did the ‘grand coalition’ collapse?

• collapsed in 1930 mainly due to the increased support for far right and left parties, the depression meant mullers government was in deadlock on how to tackle the economy

• The SPD argued to protect benefits and raise taxes - Keynesian economics, borrow big, create jobs and get the economy going

• The DVP argued to reduce benefits - austerity

• This led to muller resigning in march 1930

How did Bruning’s government form? How was this significant?

Hindenburg appointed Bruning in March 1930, This was from advice given from General Groener the defense minister and General von schleicher (presidential political adviser), they were both part of the elite and opposed democracy, this gave oppurtunity for authoritarian regime.

• Bruning had excluded the SPD from the coalition, there was no majority in the reichstag so he governed using article 48 which should of only been used in emergancies

• By 1932 5 laws passed were agreed upon by the reichstag and 66 were passed through article 48

What were Bruning’s intentions, what did he do?

Bruning from Z had strong conservative values and a background in economics and fiance he designed policies to balance the budget

• Deep cuts in govenment spending, reduced unemployment benefits, public sector jobs and wages

• He raised taxes

• increased army spending and gave subsides to ‘junkers’ as he relied on their support

As Bruning was governing through article 48 this was angering people, the SPD won a motion to withdraw the budget decree and this led to the dissolotion of the reichstag and a general election being called

What were the major changes in the 1930 election?

• the biggest chang was the support for the nazi party increasing, 2.6% in 1928 to 18.3% in 1930

• DNVP and DVP had their votes halfed

• KPD gained 13%

• SPD lost 5% taking them to 24.5%

How did the 1930 election make the reichstag difficult to govern?

• 2/5ths of the electorate voted for parties which opposed democracy, KPD gained 77 seats and NSDAP gained 107, 6.5 million votes

• The reichstag became unmanagable, Nazi’s would shout and disrupt talks, the reichstag didn’t meet between feb and october 1931

How did political violence grow? What did the government do to prevent this?

The SA from the far right, and the Red front fighters league from the far left, violence grew with instability with many of these members of groups being unemployed. These political attacks would happen during political rallies and meetings

Bruning’s government in december 1931 banned the wearing of political uniforms however this didn’t work, In april 1932 Hindenburg banned the SA, however by the end of the year they had 400,000 members

What was the background to the NSDAP?

The DAP (german workers party) was founded by Anton Drexler in 1919

• Hitler was previously hired to inform on the party to the army, however, he was drawn into political conversations and he had a talent for speaking

The party was renamed the NSDAP in 1920, Hitler became leader in 1921

• They brought a newspaper and renamed it ‘volkischer beobachter’

• They established local party branches in North Germany and Bavaria, the north was more radical and Bavaria was more traditional

Membership grew from 6000 to 50,000 in a year which caused fundraising

How did the Nazi party develop, How did they change with the Bamburg conference?

Key ideas the nazi party had were; Ultra-nationalism, Racism, Authoritarianism, anti-communism

They initially were anti-capitalist however big businesses funded the party changing their priorities

• The Munich Putsch gave Hitler a platform, after the putsch he needed to reassemble the party through the Bamburg conference

• He created a Fuhrerprinzip which created absolute obeidience to the leader

• Socialist elements were defeated

• they created a system of hierarchy from power to region - district - local area

• In 1927 they had there first rally at nuremburg

However all of this failed as Germany only gained 2.6% at the 1928 election

What were some of the policies prioritised by the NSDAP in 1920?

• Nationalist policies like taking back land to ‘feed our people’ and settle the population, revokation of the treaty of versailles

• Racist policies like Non germans to live in germany as ‘guests’ and voting rights for German citizens only

• socialist policies like nationalising all businesses and old age insurance

• Authoritarian policies like making it legal obligation to take part in sports, newspapers against ‘common good’ to be banned

Who supported the Nazis and why, which groups did they appeal too?

Before 1929, core support was from the lower middle classes (mittlestand)

• white collar workers, small shopkeepers (against big businesses), independent craftsman. All of which struggled during the 1920s

• The Nazis appealed to farmers especially from the agricultural apparatus. They were successful at exploiting farmers and their discontent and promised protection from imports

• They appealed to the overall middle class as they feared the rise of communism and the re-distribution of wealth, many were disillusioned by the DNVP and DVP who weren’t fulfilling their promises

• Gained support from non-unionised working classes

Why did the middle class vote for the nazis?

• they were disillusioned by the successive Weimar Republic, especially with the governments handling of the economy and political crises, the nazis were a new party, the middle class were impressed by hitlers drive

• Fear of communism

Why did the farmers vote for the nazis?

• Agricultural depression from 1928x the nazis promised solutions like protections from foreign competition, dealing with ‘Jewish financiers’ they were targeted by nazi propaganda through the agricultural apparatus

Why did the Protestants vote for the nazis?

• They were more likely to vote for the Nazis than the catholics who had the traditional Z party

• They were hostile to atheistic communism

Why did younger people vote for the Nazis?

• attracted by dynamism of SA and Hitler, early involvement with the hitler youth set up in 1926

• Some rebelled against their parents views

• Hope for the future

Why did some of the working class vote for the nazis?

• most of the working classes would typically vote for the SPD and the KPD but a minority of the working class held conservative nationalist views. Often these people were self-employed and non unionised

• They shared hostility to big businesses and finance and they were attracted from the promise of ‘work and bread’ as well as stability

Why did the conservative elite vote for the nazis?

• they hated socialism and communism

• Their nationalist views and desire for more authoritarian government

What quote is a good way to describe the attraction to the nazi party?

“A catch all party of protest”

How did the 1932 presidential election go down?

Hindenburg’s 1st term ended in 1932 leading to a presidential election,

• Hindenburg was 84 so he was reluctant to stand again but DNVP and other parties convinced him to stand

• Other opponents were Thallmann and Hitler

• In the first round Hindenburg was just short of 50%

• In the second round Hindenburg won with 53%

• Hitler achieved 37% of the vote and used modern campaign techniques “hitler over Germany”

• Impact reflected in nazi successes in states like Bavaria and Saxony

What was the appeal of nazism?

• the power of will

• Struggle and war

The power of will

• Hitler and the Nazis presented themselves as a force of change in Germany. Hitler had strength and determination, the movement shared and image of discipline and unity

Struggle and war

• Nazi thinking empathised on the struggle of war and violence he ‘scientifically’ justified that conflict between race was part of natural order

What was the Appeal of nazism?

• Volksgemeinschaft

• National socialism

Volksgemeinschaft

• ‘people’s community’ was a key element in nazi ideology. Hitler advocated a state based on racial community, only aryans were given citizenship whilst others were dismissed and treated as ‘subjects of the state

• Within the community there would be no social classes and there would be equal opportunities. If you committed to ‘German values’ you could have access to employment and welfare benefits, this marked the beginning of a social and cultural revolution

• Working unselfishly for common good

• Wanted to return to traditional German past ‘blood me soil’

National socialism

• the party gained the titles of ‘nationalist and socialist’ to appeal to the working classes. They did this to separate themselves from international socialism and communists

• They used similar policies and communists like gaining monopoly over large businesses. These policies didn’t last long as the nazis recognised they needed funding and could access this through businessman like Hugenburg

What was the appeal of nazism

• the fuherprinzip

• Aggressive nationalism

The fuherprinzip

• Hitler set out to destroy the democracy of Weimar Germany as it was alien to German tradition

• It means ‘the principle of leadership’ the party had a hierarchy of control with Hitler having the supreme power and control, he wanted to replicate this with Germany and have one supreme leader

Aggressive nationalism

• Hitler had three main aims;

  • to reverse to humiliation of the treaty of Versailles

  • Establish a greater German reich

  • Lebensraum, settling it’s people and providing food and resources to sustain power

• This was an aggressive form of nationalism which wanted to restore the old borders as well as expanding = war, this was justified through hitlers racial theories

What was the appeal of nazism?

• antisemitism

Hitler saw the Jews as the reason for germanys problems, Jews were presented as greedy cunning and self-motivated individuals working towards a worldwide Jewish conspiracy, they were also seems as being responsible for communism and germnat

How was Hitler important for nazi success?

Hitler established control of the Nazi party

• in 1926 he hosted the Bamberg conference, this was done as hitler knew to gain power he needed to work internally rather than have a putsch

• Hitler created a Füherprinzip, this gave him undisputed authority

Hitler was able to speak well to catch the German audiences interest

• he was charismatic, he did however speak for hours which was repetitive and a simple message

Hitler identified with the German people

• He identified their emotions and fears

• He created a tailored message to audience and convinced them that he alone had answers

How were the Jews used as a scapegoat by Hitler to gain votes?

the nazis labelled Jews as being responsible for Germany’s political and economic issues

• mittelstand was susceptible to the idea of ‘Jewish capitalism’ which threatened their interests

• Anti-semites welcomed claims and anti-semitism was already common

Not all Germans were anti-Semitic and economic hardships distracted them from nazi anti-semitism but they focused on their economic plans

• the NSDAP propaganda and message would be adapted to different people

• Hitler spoke to 650 Düsseldorf businessmen without mentioning Jews, 16 mass meetings focused economic matters

• However, the nazis empathised the message of Jews with farmers and people living in Bavaria and Saxony

how was the role of propaganda used by nazi’s to attain electoral success?

The nazi party was very skilled at using propaganda, joeseph goebals became reich propaganda chief in 1928 and they used money from big businesses like Benz and Hugenburg to fund their campaigns

• hitler travelled by air and car which gave him the modern appearance

• They had their own newspaper ‘volkischer beobachter’

• They published posters, leaflets, films, shows, rallies and songs.

• The SA were able to show nazi strength

What was the appeal of communism?

Between 1928 and 1932 support grew from the unemployed. The idea of “you lose everything so you have nothing to lose”

• the KPD gained 2 million votes

• Party membership tripled

• There was a growing force from larger industrial areas

• Hunger marches campaigned against benefit cuts, the party attracted working class youth

• The red front fought the SA and the police

Why did Bruning being chancellor fail?

• unrest worsened in Germany so schliecher, he feared a nazi uprising and the SA seizing power, the liason between politicians and the presidential office withdrew his support for Bruning

• The junkers were cautious about Bruning as he mad promises to the unemployed to give them state owned land

• Hitler refused to join any coalition unless he was made chancellor, this was refused by schliecher so hitler said he would potentially support if the ban on the SA was removed and a new election

• Bruning resigned in may 1932 and was replaced by Von Papen

Who was Von papen, what were his views?

What did he do as chancellor?

Von papen was recommended by Schliecher, he had hard right views but he was inexperianced, he was able to increase presidential role taking Germany to near dictatorship, he wanted to solve the crisis with Nazi support.

• The ban on the SA was lifted in june 1932

• The SPD government of prussia was removed in July

• He formed a “cabinet of barons”

However only the DNVP supported him in the Reichstag, which was a small minority 6%, he fufilled promises to Hitler for Nazi support, an election was called in July 1932

How can we analyse the July 1932 election?

• Moderate, pro republic parties lost out on votes except Zentrum

• DNVP dropped in support, many moved to support the Nazis

• The nazi vote grew from 18% to 37%, they took votes from the middle classes and of new voters

However, the nazis knew they were at their peak, they were running out of funds and had to rely on other parties, even with the DNVP they wouldn’t have a majority

What was the aftermath of the july 1932 election?

• Hitler and the nazi parties position strengthened but they had no majority

• This led to six months of ‘backstairs intrigue’ with Hitler, Schleicher, Hindenburg and Von Papen

• Hitler continued to refuse anything other than the role of chancellor which Hindenburg refused

• Hitler broke his arrangement with schleicher and sided with parties like the KPD to pass a vote of no confidence in Von Papen

• Hitler withdrew from the reichstag which meant another election was called in november 1932

How can we analyse the november 1932 election?

The vote for the Nazi party decreased, they went down to 33%, this was because the iddle class felt alienated by Hitler’s hostility towards Von Papen and his refusal to work with others

• The DVP and DNVP picked up some of the Nazi vote

• The KPD gained 16% of the vote, a further increase

• The nazis ‘supported’ KPD led strikes during the election to create instability

• Nazi funds decreased from the campagins

Papen’s government was weakened and they considered banning the KPD and the NSDAP and install a military government, they lost support from the army and elite

Who was in Hindenburg’s inner circle?

President Paul Von Hindenburg had a military background and didn’t like the nazis due to their radical ideas and for being mostly lower middle class. seen as too common

• Schliecher was the political head of the army since 1926 before moving on and being the minister of defence in 1932, he was known to be pragmatic and ambitious and wanted to restore German tradition through authoritariansm with nazi popular support

• Oskar Von Hindenburg was the presidents son and kept the diary (therefore access) to the president

• Otto messiner was the head of Hindenburg’s office and went between the president and the nazis

What did Von schleicher do as chancellor from December 1932 to January 1933?

Schleicher had convinced Hindenburg to replace Von papen with no backing from the Reichstag or country,

• Schleicher hoped by doing this he could get the Nazis to join a coalition which they could’ve been very tempted to do as they needed funding and votes

• Schleicher aimed to split the Nazis between the northern faction who were more anti-capitalist and the traditional Bavarian faction

• Gregor strasser (part of the northern faction) was offered the role of vice chancellor but hitler reasserted authority over the party and schleicher’s plan failed

Schleicher changed his strategy and thought that by introducing progressive social policy he could appeal to the SPD, he cancelled Von Papens wage cuts and benefit cuts and distributing land

He asked Hindenburg to suspend the consitution and create a dictatorship

How did Schleicher lose power as chancellor?

In january 1933, he resigned after Hindenburg refused his request to create a dictatorship

• whilst this happened, Von Papen was secretly negotiating with Hitler, Hitler continued to say he would only join a coalition if he could be chancellor

• The DNVP leader Hugenburg agreed to support a coalition

• Hindenburg was persuded by Von Papen to allow this

How did Hitler’s new government form?

The new government was formed on the 30th of January 1933 with Hitler as chancellor and Von Papen as Vice chancellor, only 2 other NSDAP politicians placed in cabinet

DNVP leader Hugenburg was in control of the economy and food

The idea of this was to Give Hitler an illusion of power “we’ve hired him and pushed him in a corner” Von Papen

Who was in Hitler’s Cabinet?

• Hitler was appointed as chancellor on the 30th of january 1933

• They had 3 or 4 cabinet ministers out of 12

  • Hitler

  • Frick, made minister of interior (in control of the police, law and order)

  • Goring, no real department but made the interior minister for Prussia

  • Blomberg, he was sympathetic to nazi policies but not actually a member, defence minister

• Papen was Vice chancellor and minister president of Prussia

• there was an expectation of a non nazi dominated govt that papen believed could contain a dictatorship

What role did the SA have to create a terror?

• The nazi’s used state money to fund the expansion of the SA from 500,000 in Jan 1933 to 3 million the next year. They merged the SA with the Stalhelm by gaining legal authority as an auxiliary police force (reserve force)

• The regular police were told not to intervene

• The SA began sustained violence on the SPD and the KPD, the SPD newspaper who condemned killings was banned and the meetings were attacked

What role did concentration camps have to create terror?

• Communists, trade unionists, socialists were rounded up and taken to be placed in “protective custody”

• The first purpose built concentration camp was Dachau with a 5,000 person capacity and was established in march 1933

• By July 1933, 70 camps were established holding 26,789 political prisoners

What occurred during the run up to the 1933 election?

• On February 27th 1933, the reichstag fire took place. allegedly by martin van der lubbe (dutch communist)

• The nazis claimed it was part of a plot to start a revolution which in turn played on the middle classes fear of a revolution

Hindenburg was persuaded to issue “decree for the protection of the people and the state”. This allowed;

• Arrest and detain without charge if someone is a threat to state security

• enter and search private properties

• freedom of speech and assembly suspended

• control of state govts if not acting against nazi opposition

• KPD and SPD were driven underground and KPD membership was seen as treason

• 10,000 communist arrests were made in 2 weeks

• Nazis claimed control of the state radio, part of propaganda

What was the result of the March 1933 election?

• The NSDAP gained 43.9% of the vote, the KPD decreased to 12.3%. SPD to 18.3% and DNVP to 8%, within the context of what happened during the run up to the election it is surprising that other parties still retained many votes

• The SA were brought in to control the streets and state funds were diverted to support Nazi propaganda

• SPD and KPD offices were smashed up and their funds were confiscated

• With the DNVP allies the Nazis did have a majority but still needed 2/3rds to change the constitution

What was the enabling act?

The act was agreed at the Kroll opera house on the 23rd of March 1933, it was a “law to alleviate the sufferings of the people and the country”

• It allowed Hitler to pass decrees without the presidant and the reichstag for 4 years, making treaties with foreign powers without reichstag approval, it required a 2/3rd majority overall

• The Nazis had 288 seats 44% and the DNVP had 52 seats 8%

• The KPD were excluded from proceedings and 26 SPD deputies were placed under arrest, the SA were involved with intimidation inside and outside of the chamber

Who voted for the enabling act?

• NSDAP and DNVP

• Zentrum voted for the act to pass through as they feared the KPD to a greater extent

  • Hitler gained their support by expressing that christianity was an important part of German culture, Hitler promised to safeguard Z’s existance if they voted for the act, he would protect catholic schools and keep catholic civil servants in employment

• SPD was the only party to vote against the act

• It was passed with 444 in favour 83% of deputies

How can we observe the German state in March 1933, what would the Nazi’s soon do?

• Within two months of Hitlers appointment the process of Gleichschaltung was underway, This is the ‘nazification’ of Germany

• The KPD was effectivly banned with members gone into hiding or living abroad

• Indivdual rights diminished and the violence against jews increased

Soon, the Nazis would create a one party state, banning trade unions, have total censorship over the media, control over education and youth groups and create a racial state

Why could Hitler have been prevented from creating his revolution?

• Hindenburg remained as presidant

• There was a severe economic crisis taking place

• The army remained an independant force and could remove Hitler, despite sympathies to Nazi ideology

• Kershaw, an unwritten “pact of 1933” made between the army and industrialists to protect their interests from Gleichschaltung