Germany 1919- 1945

Soviets

These were workers' councils set up on the same lines as the soviets that formed in Russia in 1917 just before the October Revolution. The soviets were heavily influenced by communist ideas and opposed democracy.

Sonderweg

Sonderweg This term, meaning 'special path', was used to express the belief held by German nationalists that Germany had achieved its power as an empire, under the kaiser's dominant rule, not under democracy.

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Social Democrats

Social Democrats The moderate socialist party in Germany during the twentieth century. It opposed both the kaiser and communism, but supported democracy.

Germany before the First World War

The state of Germany came into existence in 1871. Before this, it had been a collection of smaller states of varying size and power, including Bavaria, Saxony, Prussia and Hanover. These states had been connected by:

* a shared language

* special trade arrangements

* a shared mistrust of Germany's neighbours — especially France

In 1871, all these states came under the control of the king of Prussia, who became emperor or kaiser of Germany. The various rulers of the other states kept their own titles and a certain amount of control over their own affairs. However, despite their differences, the states were very conscious and proud of being German.

Until the start of the First World War, this sense of German identity held together not only all the German states, but also all classes in Germany. Even the Social Democrats — the biggest party in the Reichstag — pledged their support for the German war effort in 1914.

During the late nineteenth century, Germany had become a modern industrial state. This had two important results:

* the emergence of a powerful industrial working class, sympathetic to socialist and communist ideas

* a belief among nationalists that Germany did not need democracy — they believed that Germany had taken a Sonderweg towards being a modern state

Germany at the end of the First World War

Kaiser Wilhelm II's Germany was in a very weak economic and political position at the end of the First World War. It had a military-style government which faced serious problems. The Spring Offensive had collapsed by the summer of 1918. Communists and pacifists generated considerable anti-war feeling, and an Allied naval blockade worsened food shortages.

Finally, the military-style government fell in October 1918. In early November, a naval mutiny stimulated anti-war demonstrations across Germany. Soviets sprang up in the major cities. As a result of all of this, in November the kaiser abdicated and a new German democratic government accepted peace on the basis of the Fourteen Points proposed by US President Wilson.

Cunningly, General Ludendorff (commander of German forces on the Western Front), had persuaded the kaiser to abdicate in the hope that:

* a civilian government would get fairer peace terms from the Allies than the kaiser would have done (which did not happen)

* the new German government would get the blame for ending the war (which did happen)

The Spartacist Uprising, December 1918 to January 1919

The Spartacist Uprising took place in Berlin. It was led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. The Spartacists were communists. After the uprising, they renamed themselves the Communist Party (or KPD). They rose up against the new republic because:

* They wanted to improve workers' conditions.

* They did not support a democratically-elected parliament. Instead, they wanted workers' councils (or soviets) to be set up to run Germany.

The government put the uprising down brutally, with the help of the Freikorps. Thousands were killed, including the leaders.

Significance of the spartacist uprising

However, the uprising showed how weak the government was. It made the situation so serious that the new National Assembly was forced to set up in Weimar in Saxony. Furthermore, the government had needed the Freikorps to crush the uprising. The Freikorps despised the new democratic republic.

The uprising also had a big effect on the German left wing. It became divided. The Spartacists (later known as the Communists or KPD) never forgave the government. The Communist Party (KPD) continued to challenge the government through elections and secured 10–15% of the vote in the period 1919–23.

Left wing

This expression describes anyone whose political beliefs are in favour of change and equality. Communists have extreme left-wing ideas and support revolution. Socialists (like the Social Democrats or SPD in Germany) are more moderate and support democracy

Friekorps

The Freikorps (or Free Corps) were bands of ex-soldiers who refused to disband after the First World War. They opposed democracy, but also hated communism. Many Freikorps eventually joined the SA.

Fourteen points

These proposals were put forward by Wilson as suggestions on how to establish a peaceful Europe after the First World War. They emphasised fairness and ‘peace without victory’. Germany’s new government accepted an end to the war on the understanding that the Fourteen Points would be applied to Germany.

The Bavarian soviet republic 1919

The Bavarian Soviet, modelled on the communist government in Russia, lasted for a number of weeks, ending on 1 May 1919. It took place in Munich, in Bavaria. After a siege, this challenge to the new republic was put down by the army and Freikorps. Over 600 were killed.

The Spartacist Uprising and the Bavarian Soviet Republic proved that Germany was split between extreme left-wing and extreme right-wing groups. Moderates had little real power unless they sided with the right wing and the army.

The red rising 1920

This uprising, which took place mainly in Germany’s industrial Ruhr region, involved 50,000 workers. These workers were hoping to exploit the fact that they had helped the government put an end to the Kapp Putsch in March (see below). However, after Kapp’s defeat, they continued with their strike action in the hope of forcing government concessions. Ironically, the rising was crushed by the Freikorps — the same Freikorps whom they had helped to defeat during the Kapp Putsch.

The German October 1923

This took place in the southeastern state of Saxony. The Social Democrats (SPD) and Communists (KPD) formed a coalition government in Saxony. The Communists pledged to use their paramilitary units to launch a ‘German October’.

The Weimar government (of whom the Social Democrats were the largest group) sent the army to drive the Communists out of Saxony’s government. Saxony’s Social Democrat prime minister, Zeigner, resisted. The German government then used Article 48 (see below) to remove his government from office. Eventually an all-Social Democrat government was put in place in Saxony.

For Communists, the German October was further proof that the Social Democrats could not be trusted.

Significance of the threats from the left

The widespread nature of the Communist challenge in Germany was very important. There is no doubt there was significant support for communism at this time. However, disorganisation was crucial and the Communist leadership failed to tap into this support.

Bullock (1962) sees the shock of defeat and the Communist challenge in 1918 and 1919 as crucial in awakening Hitler’s desire for power.

The kapp putsch march 1920

The main causes of the Kapp Putsch were:
▪ the Treaty of Versailles (in which the size of the army was reduced), in particular a government attempt to disband a unit of Freikorps — the Marinebrigade Erhardt
▪ its monarchist leader (Dr Wolfgang Kapp) was hostile to the new republic

Although the putsch was led by Kapp, it was essentially a Freikorps rebellion. About 5,000 Freikorps took part, led by von Lüttwitz, commander of the Marinebrigade Erhardt. The army took no action against it. The commander-in-chief, von Seeckt, declared ‘troops do not fire on troops’.

Kapp briefly seized power, but the putsch eventually collapsed because workers in Berlin organised (with government encouragement) a 4-day general strike. This shut off all essential supplies, such as gas and electricity. Kapp was forced to flee to Sweden.

Results of the kapp putsch

The leaders of the Kapp Putsch were not dealt with harshly. Of the 705 prosecuted for their part in the putsch, only one was punished. Kapp himself was captured, but died before he could face trial. The Kapp Putsch was not dealt with more severely because the government felt it could not risk losing right-wing support — once again showing how weak it was.

Layton (2005a) points out a decline in support for the three main democratic parties in Germany:
▪ In 1919 they won 76% of the vote in elections.
▪ In 1920, after the Kapp Putsch, they won only 48%.

Political assassinations 1919-1922

Matthias Erzberger was murdered by right-wing extremists in 1921. He was Germany’s representative on the Reparations Commission, and therefore had responsibility for carrying out these terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Walter Rathenau, the foreign minister, was murdered by right-wing army officers in 1922. However, the huge attendance at Rathenau’s funeral, showed considerable support for him as a democratic politician.

Overall, between 1919 and 1922, there were 376 political murders in Germany: 354 of them were carried out by the right wing. No one was executed for these. Usually right-wing murders went unpunished by a sympathetic legal system. Left-wing violence, however, was punished harshly. Of the 22 left-wing assassins, 10 were sentenced to death.

The Munich putsch November 1923 (what was the nazis position in 1923)

By 1923, Nazi membership had gone from 55 when Hitler joined to 20,000. By this stage, Hitler had established an impressive personal reputation and Nazism was very influential among nationalists in Bavaria. However, the Nazis remained largely regional and failed to control all the radical right-wing groups across Germany.

Putsch

An armed revolt in an attempt to seize power.

Munich putsch nov 1923 (2)

Furthermore, the Nazis struggled to appeal beyond the poorer middle classes and skilled workers. In 1923, 60% of their membership came from these groups. Generally, they appealed to those (such as shopkeepers and minor officials) with a limited amount of authority or a small stake in society who feared social slippage and communism.

Causes of the Munich putsch

There were a number of factors which helped bring about the Munich Putsch:
▪ Hitler was inspired by the successful March on Rome in Italy in 1922.
▪ By autumn 1923, Hitler was convinced that it was the right time to strike against his own government, badly weakened by the hyperinflation crisis and the French invasion of the Ruhr.
▪ Hitler was dismayed at how close the Communists came to taking over neighbouring Saxony during the recent ‘German October’.
▪ Hitler was sure he could get the support of the right-wing Bavarian government.
▪ Hitler thought the army and police would support him, having seen the army’s previously lenient attitude towards right-wing violence.

Events of Munich putsch

The putsch began on the night of 8 November 1923, when Hitler and the SA surrounded a Beer Hall in Munich where a meeting was being held by the leaders of the Bavarian government, von Kahr and von Lossow. Hitler, with Ludendorff’s support, announced that he was taking over the Bavarian government. Kahr and Lossow were forced to support this plan, but escaped. The following day (under pressure from the Weimar government and von Seeckt), Kahr ordered the Bavarian police to fire on Hitler and a crowd of over 2,000 Nazis as they marched into Munich to begin an attempted march on Berlin.

Significance of the Munich putsch

The putsch itself had been a fiasco:
▪ It was put down by those on whom Hitler was depending as allies and 16 Nazis were killed. Hitler was soon arrested and put on trial for treason. The failure of the Munich Putsch highlighted this.
▪ Hitler failed to win the expected support of the army. Von Seeckt put pressure on Kahr and Lossow, telling them to crack down on the putsch, or he would. Five days before the putsch, von Seeckt said: ‘salvation for Germany cannot come from one extreme or the other’.
▪ The Nazi Party was temporarily banned until 1925 and Hitler was forbidden from speaking in most German states until 1927.

However, Hitler proved to be able to turn failure into success:
▪ He used his trial in January 1924 as a huge publicity exercise. It got blanket coverage in the German press and was front page news for 24 days. It made Hitler into a national political figure. Hitler convinced many that he was a German patriot, unlike the Weimar government who signed the Treaty of Versailles, claiming: ‘There is no such thing as high treason against the traitors of 1918.’

▪ Hitler was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but he only served 9 months. Many others went unpunished. Ludendorff was acquitted. All this showed the sympathy of the judicial system to the Nazis.
▪ In prison, Hitler used his time to rethink his ideas and set them out in his book, Mein Kampf.
▪ Finally, and vitally, the Munich Putsch led to decisive change in Nazi tactics. Hitler decided, after some initial doubt, that the Nazis needed to gain a majority in the Reichstag. Votes were of more value than violence. Once in power, Hitler would destroy the Weimar Republic from within.

Significance of the threats from the right

There is a case for claiming that right-wing threats to the Weimar Republic were more significant that those from the left. They gained more support from the authorities and in the case of the Kapp Putsch, nationalist opponents of the new republic actually briefly held power. Nevertheless, the German right, like the left, was too divided to have a chance of taking power in the early 1920s. At this stage, there were about 70 quite small nationalist parties, of whom the Nazis were only one. No one nationalist leader seemed capable of uniting the German right. This would change.

The national constituent assembly February 1919 to June 1920

This new parliament had to meet in Weimar in Saxony. Its location outside Berlin (due to the Spartacist disturbances) revealed the weakness of the new republic. However, this was also an attempt by Friedrich Ebert, a leading democratic politician, to show the Allies that Germany was a civilised nation, deserving fair treatment at the Treaty of Versailles.

The National Assembly did the following important things:
▪ It officially elected Ebert as president of the new republic.
▪ It accepted the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919.
▪ It drew up a constitution for Germany, to be known as the Weimar Constitution, in August 1919.

By June 1920, parliament was restored to Berlin. This parliament was called the Reichstag, as it had been before the First World War.

The treaty of Versailles June 1919 (how did it weaken Weimar government)

Most Germans saw the Treaty of Versailles as unfair and a humiliation. Many believed US President Wilson’s Fourteen Points were being set aside. For example, the right of self-determination was not applied uniformly and 12% of the population were left outside Germany: 2 million of them were in the disputed ‘Polish Corridor’. This had a huge emotional impact. Wilson had called for ‘peace without victory’, but many Germans did not believe this had happened.

Germany’s armed forces were reduced drastically — the army was reduced to 100,000. Nationalists believed disarmament made Germany vulnerable.

Germany was given sole responsibility for the outbreak of the First World War in the War Guilt Clause (Article 231) and so was required to pay extensive reparations. The figure was set in 1921 at 136,000 million marks. This would contribute to hyperinflation in 1923, as Germany struggled to make the payments required.

The treaty had a huge political impact on the German people. All Germans despised it. Even moderates called it a ‘Diktat’. Nationalists claimed the army had been stabbed in the back by the German government. This nationalist discontent was partly responsible for the Kapp Putsch in 1920. Resentment of the treaty did not lessen over time. A. J. Ryder (1973) maintains that the Allies in making Germany sign the Treaty of Versailles forced them to sign the ‘death warrant of German democracy’. Hitler was able to revive hatred of the treaty during the Great Depression.

The treaty also had a huge economic impact. Reparations were so high that Germany struggled to pay, and this helped lead to the hyperinflation crisis in 1923. The loans Germany secured from the USA to pay its reparations eventually helped contribute to the Great Depression in the 1930s, when the USA had to recall its loans. Germany also lost important economic resources. It lost 13% of its land, 16% of its coal production and 48% of its iron ore

Short term impacts of the treaty of Versailles

Reparations were harsh but not so burdensome that they destroyed the German economy. Gustav Stresemann proved that the German economy was capable of surviving the effects of the Treaty of Versailles and hyperinflation. By the mid-1920s, the issue in itself was not a major obstacle to the consolidation of the Weimar Republic. Another crisis would be needed to bring it down.

Despite the severe effects of the treaty, Germany still had an economy much stronger than its neighbours. France, for example, possessed a largely rural economy, while the Russian economy was in crisis due to revolution and civil war.

Great Depression

A severe economic slump after 1929 which forced banks and businesses in Germany to close and created mass unemployment.

The Weimar constitution

In August 1919 the new National Constitent Assembly drew up Germany’s first democratic constitution which came to be known as the Weimar Constitution. It made Germany one of the most democratic countries in the world, but contained fundamental weaknesses which could be exploited by the republic’s enemies.

Strengths of the Weimar constitution

In spirit the constitution was democratic and progressive, based on firmly established democratic principles.

Proportional representation was introduced. This meant that minor parties would have influence on German politics and the German economy. Moreover, all Germans over 20 years of age could vote. This compared favourably with Britain, where men could vote at 21 and women not until they were 30.

A Bill of Rights was drawn up. This guaranteed a range of individual rights. These included:
▪ the right to freedom of speech
▪ the right for workers to belong to a trade union
▪ equality of all Germans before the law
▪ limited welfare provision (e.g. for housing, the disabled and orphans)
▪ protection of labour (which allowed trade unions to be formed)

Leading politicians’ powers were restricted. The chancellor could only rule with majority support in the Reichstag and had to be elected every 5 years. The president had to be elected every 7 years and was expected to defend the constitution against its enemies.

Proportional representation

A voting system whereby the percentage of seats for each party in the German parliament would be roughly in proportion to the percentage of votes they received in elections.

Chancellor

Head of the government.

President

Head of state — in republics, all the heads of state are presidents.

Weaknesses and how the constitution damaged Weimar

Despite its many advantages, proportional representation also caused problems for the new republic’s stability. No one party ever had a majority in the Reichstag. Therefore, governments always had to be coalitions. These worked well in good times, but fell apart in times of crisis. As a result there were six different governments between 1918 and 1923.

In a crisis the only person who could govern effectively was the president, using Article 48 of the constitution. This allowed him (and his chancellors) to rule by decree, effectively suspending Germany’s democracy. Article 48 had to be used often in the period 1918–23, such as during the German October and the hyperinflation crisis. Over 100 decrees were issued between 1930 and 1932. This created an undemocratic atmosphere, which helped Hitler to gain power in January 1933.

The constitution failed to reform Germany’s traditional institutions. The army, civil service and judiciary operated independently from the Weimar Constitution. Many generals believed that they owed no loyalty to the new republic.

In fact, basic political attitudes of traditional Germans had not changed. Most generals, judges, civil servants and teachers remained hostile to democracy. For these traditional Germans, Germany had no need of democracy to be a strong nation. Layton (2005a) describes the Weimar Republic as ‘a republic without republicans’.

The Weimar Constitution incorporated some welfare provisions, but these were crucially limited in some aspects, particularly unemployment benefit.

Coalitions

Governments made up of more than one political party. Often such governments either fail to take key decisions or collapse due to disputes.

Decree

A law which is passed by the government without the consent of parliament.

We’re the constitutions weaknesses decisive

Layton argues that the constitution’s weaknesses were less significant than might be imagined. He says it is unrealistic to imagine that any ‘piece of paper’ could have resolved all Germany’s problems at this time

Causes of hyperinflation crisis 1923

The First World War and a disastrous harvest in 1918 brought severe shortages. Due to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany lost key resources including 15% of its agricultural production, and nearly 50% of its iron ore. All this brought price rises.

Government action pushed inflation up. In 1921 reparations were set at 136,000 million marks. Under pressure to find money quickly, two chancellors in the early 1920s, Wirth and Cuno, simply resorted to printing more. The more money in circulation, the less value it had.

Reparations were set to be paid in instalments. The German government just managed to pay the first instalment to the Allies, but in 1922 could not pay the second. The French decided, therefore, to take their payment in the form of resources and invaded the Ruhr (Germany’s industrial heartland), to take control of its coal.

Hyperinflation causes (2)

The German government called on the workers to carry out a policy of passive resistance to the French. This was a popular political move but had a big economic cost. Industrial production ground to a halt in the Ruhr, but the government still had to pay the striking workers. Yet more money was printed, sending inflation out of control:
▪ In 1919 £1 was worth 20 marks.
▪ In 1923 £1 was worth 20,000 million marks.

Passive resistance

Non-cooperation without violence — usually through strikes, as in the Ruhr. However, violence also took place in the Ruhr and around 130 civilians were killed.

Results and significance of hyperinflation crisis

Germany was turned into a barter economy. Middle-class savers were hit badly and were unable to recover their fortunes, even during the recovery of the late 1920s. Old people lost the value of their pensions and this loss of income had a detrimental effect on their health. All this caused resentment against the Weimar Republic. The hyperinflation crisis was one reason why Hitler attempted the Munich Putsch, believing he could exploit the situation. Hitler and others were quick to link the crisis to the Treaty of Versailles, democracy and Jewish financiers.

Trade unions were hit hard by the collapse of industry and their power went into decline. This was good news for the Nazis, as the trade unions were among the Nazis’ fiercest opponents.

However, the hyperinflation did bring some positive results too. Those in serious debt saw their debts wiped out. Furthermore, Hite and Hinton (2000) point out that despite the loss of faith in the Weimar Republic, the crisis did not result in a surge of support for radical right wing groups.

Nevertheless, while the hyperinflation did not destroy the Weimar Republic in the short term, in the words of Hite and Hinton, it ‘inflicted wounds that in the long term contributed to Weimar’s death’.

Strengths of the German economy 1924-1929

The hyperinflation crisis brought a change in government. The new government was led by Gustav Stresemann. Stresemann, first as chancellor and then as foreign minister, took a number of actions which strengthened the German economy.

Under Stresemann a new currency, the Rentenmark, replaced the old devalued one. The new currency was accompanied by a new national bank which provided greater stability. Stresemann appointed Hjalmar Schacht, an expert banker, as Special Currency Commissioner. As a result of all this, Germany overcame its hyperinflation problems.

Stresemann promised Germany’s former wartime enemies that Germany would resume paying reparations. This positive approach persuaded the French to withdraw their troops from the Ruhr so Germany was able to build up production in its most industrialised area.

Stresemann secured vital help from the former Allies in the payment of reparations. The concept of payment in instalments was dropped in favour of more flexible methods. In 1924, US banker, Charles Dawes, drew up the Dawes Plan. It stated that:
▪ Germany would pay what it could over the next 5 years.
▪ The USA would provide a loan of 800 million gold marks.
▪ The overall total Germany had to pay was reduced.
▪ Germany got more time to pay.

In 1929 another US banker, Owen Young, produced the Young Plan. It stated:
▪ The amount in reparations was reduced to just 25% of the 1921 figure. (Germany finished up paying only an eighth of the original figure.)
▪ The period for repayment was extended to 58 years.

These economic developments brought some important signs of recovery. The new currency, the Rentenmark, created greater financial stability and helped end the hyperinflation crisis.

Heavy industry revived to almost pre-war levels of production. By 1927, steel production was up to 86% of these levels. Overall, by 1929, Germany was producing 33% more than in 1914 and exports rose. Loans were used to build new factories and homes — between 1924 and 1931, 2 million new houses were built.

Overall, unemployment fell. In 1928, industrial wages rose by 12%. In 1927, an Unemployment Insurance Act made employers partly responsible for unemployment welfare, having to pay half the contributions.

Bullock (1962) describes the 1924–30 period as one of ‘astonishing recovery’ in the economy.

Weaknesses of the German economy 1924-1929

Impressive as Germany’s economic recovery after 1923 seems, the progress masked some important underlying weaknesses. As a result of the Dawes Plan, the economy was now heavily dependent on loans. Shirer (1991) points out that US investors failed to plan for how Germany would repay these. Furthermore, despite new jobs in these years, unemployment was still over 1 million and the overall rate of industrial growth was low.

The government continued to have budget deficits, partly due to increasing welfare costs. Germany was importing more than it was exporting and the trade deficit was growing — by 1928 it was 2.9 billion marks.

Nor was there growth in all sectors of the economy. In agriculture, yields remained low. An agricultural slump hit Germany in the late 1920s. By this time, German agricultural production was at only 75% of pre-war levels and income per head in agriculture was 44% below the national average.

The middle classes were struggling too. By 1929, industrial wages had drawn level with those of the middle class and over half of middle-class employees seeking unemployment benefit did not qualify.

J. W. Hiden (1974) reflects that: ‘German governments were hardly able to ensure that the recovery benefited all sections of German society.’ Stresemann himself confessed in 1929 that ‘Germany is…dancing on a volcano’, thus illustrating the country’s continuing precarious economic position.

Debate on the German economy in the late 1920s

Right-wing historian Borchardt claims that Germany in the late 1920s was a ‘sick economy’. The government had let public spending get out of control. Wage increases were not matched by increases in production. This, he argues, reduced levels of investment by businesses, which had to spend so much on their workers. Borchardt adds that this situation could not have continued, even without the Depression.

The left-wing view, represented by Holtfrerich, maintains that a negative attitude from the leaders of business was responsible for the problems in the late 1920s. This explains the lack of investment in the economy and wage increases. He also argues that the German economy was not in as dire a position as Borchardt claims, but just temporarily off the rails.

Development of the nazi party 1924-1929

Layton (2005a) claims that their change in tactics meant the Nazis ‘could exploit the increasingly difficult economic times of the Great Depression’. This change was accompanied by improved party organisation and attempts to widen their appeal.

Restructuring the nazi party (initial steps)

As we have seen, even though the Munich Putsch failed, afterwards Hitler was still able to take some steps which improved his prospects of power:
▪ He exploited the opportunity of his trial in January 1924 to gain valuable publicity and establish himself as a nationwide figure for the first time.
▪ He used his time in prison to set out his ideas, including his nationalist and anti-Semitic views in a book, Mein Kampf.
▪ He decided to change tactics — to take the political path to destroy the Weimar Republic. Hitler was more reluctant to change than some of his colleagues and took several weeks after his trial to be convinced this was the right approach.

Gauleiters

Local party leaders, put in charge of districts (Gaue) and charged with strengthening the Nazi party in their assigned district.

Reorganisation of nazi party

After his release from prison in 1924, Hitler found the Nazi Party in a state of disarray. He took a number of measures to strengthen it.

The first key event was the Bamberg Conference in 1926. Here, Hitler re-established his dominance over the party. Bamberg also put an end to regional rivalries and got Nazi leaders in northern Germany, like Gregor Strasser and Josef Goebbels, behind Hitler.

After Bamberg, a vertical party structure was established, run according to the leader principle (Führerprinzip). Also, the party became more centralised, with Gauleiters (local party leaders) appointed to develop Nazi support across Germany.

In the mid-1920s, new Nazi organisations sprang up. The SS (originally part of the SA, but becoming Hitler’s elite bodyguard) was set up in 1925. The Hitler Youth was set up in 1926, to tap into the considerable Nazi support from young people. The Nazi Teachers Organisation (NSLB) was also established at this time, to harness support from Germany’s teachers.

The Nazis also used a variety of forms of propaganda in the late 1920s and early 1930s, particularly under the guidance of Josef Goebbels. Cleverly worded posters had a broad appeal and included specific Nazi themes. The Nazis also made extensive use of newspapers, radio appeals and mass rallies, appealing to the young and impressionable.

As a result, by 1927, Nazi Party membership had risen to 72,000 (from 27,000 in 1925), but it was still only able to win 12 seats in the Reichstag, 1928. The Nazis needed a crisis to increase their vote significantly.

Role of Gregor strasser in nazi reorganisation

Strasser was an important figure in the Nazi Party right from 1921 when he joined it — a member of the Freikorps and then SA leader, who took part in the Munich Putsch. Although a Bavarian, he was to play a key role, with the help of his brother Otto, in helping the growth of the Nazi Party in northern Germany. Both Gregor and Otto had strong socialist views which they refused to tone down.

In 1925 the Nazis took the decision to appoint Gauleiters for all the local districts of Germany — Strasser became one of these. In 1926 Strasser was made Reich leader for propaganda until Goebbels took over responsibility for propaganda in 1928. During this time, he (together with Otto) founded a Nazi publishing organisation in Berlin called Combat Publishing (Kampf Verlag), which published a variety of propaganda journals.

It was in organisation that Strasser made his biggest contribution to the rise of the Nazi Party. In January 1928 he was made Reich organisation leader. He reorganised the whole Nazi Party structure in the following ways:
▪ He made it a centralised organisation with a clear vertical command structure (results of the Bamberg Conference).
▪ He helped give it a high propaganda capability.
▪ The Berlin SA was set up in 1926.

As a result of Strasser’s work the membership of the Nazi Party rose from 27,000 in 1925 to more than 800,000 in 1931. Furthermore, the Nazis had now become firmly established in northern and western Germany — which soon provided more members even than Hitler’s southern section of the party.

However, Hitler was concerned about Strasser because of his socialist ideas and because he feared Strasser’s strength in northern and western Germany. Eventually in December 1932, Strasser was offered the post of vice-chancellor (in preference to Hitler) by Schleicher. Hitler then had him dismissed from all his posts. Strasser was later murdered during the Night of the Long Knives.

Widening the Nazi appeal before the depression

A crucial group to whom the Nazis widened their appeal were peasants, particularly in northern Germany. The Nazis were helped by the agricultural slump of the late 1920s. North German peasants were hit very hard. The Nazis promised fair prices to farmers who were restricted in how much they could charge for their goods. This helped the Nazis extend their power base geographically, out of Bavaria.

The Nazis particularly targeted farmers in their propaganda, with their ‘Blood and Soil’ campaign. As a result, in 1930, the Nazis won 22.6% of the rural vote. In 1933, they won 52.4%. This contrasts with the Nazis’ share of the urban vote, which never rose above 39.6%. Burleigh (2001) believes that the local leadership of Protestant clergy was also very important in helping the Nazis grow at local level

The role of josef goebbels in widening Nazi appeal

Goebbels was from the Rhineland. For several years in the early 1920s, he had tried to become a published author and he became one of the founders of the idea of ‘scientific’ anti-Semitism. Goebbels first came into contact with the Nazis during the French occupation of the Ruhr. Gregor Strasser was an important early influence on him. Goebbels became editor of a Nazi paper in the Rhineland called National Socialist Letters. At this stage he was also a Nazi Gauleiter.

In 1925, Goebbels wrote a letter urging unity with the socialist parties against capitalism. However, after the Bamberg Conference in 1926, Hitler rejected the ideas of the socialist wing of the party. Despite this, Hitler offered to forgive his socialist views if Goebbels accepted his leadership. Goebbels did so. After this, the increasing power Goebbels enjoyed in the party made him sideline his socialist principles.

Gobbels widening Nazi appeal (2)

Becoming Gauleiter of Berlin in 1926 helped Goebbels to gain further influence. He was crucial in organising street violence against Jews and political opponents in Germany’s capital city.

Goebbels and propaganda

While Gauleiter of Berlin, Goebbels also published his own newspaper, Der Angriff (The Attack) from 1927 onwards. The newspaper was vital in raising the profile of the SA and strengthening their image, even making a limited appeal to Berlin’s workers. It was also helpful as a counter to his rival Gregor Strasser’s newspaper, Berliner Arbeiter Zeitung.

Goebbels was made Reich leader for propaganda in 1928. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, his actions made a big propaganda impact. These included the creation of the ‘Führer Legend’ around the person of Hitler and the development of the ritual of party celebrations and demonstrations which appealed to the German masses — particularly young people. In addition, Goebbels was second only to Hitler himself as a speech maker, having his own unique sarcastic, cynical style.