germany 1890 - 1945 - germany and the depression

in 1929 what happened in america

what did this cause in the USA and worldwide

wall street crash

the great depression

conssequences in america

what did they ask germany to do and why

how long did they give them to do this

what did this result in for germany

bankers and businessman lost huge amounts of money

to give back the money germany borrowed so ameirca could pay off debts

90 days

economic collapse and depression

how many people were unemployed by 1932

how was unemployment a big problem

6 million

homelessness, starvation, there was begging on streets

for those still in work, how did their wages change

their wages decreased - by 1932 = value of worker wages was down by a third

who did unemployment particularly affect

who did they join

wat did ths cause an increase in

young people

gangs

crime, disorder, violence on streets

how many banks went bust

5, so people lost their savings

what factors led to increased support for the nazi party

• hitler’s leadership skills and character

• the role of the sa

• fear of communism

• appeal of nazi policies, e.g. ‘work and bread’

• propaganda

• great depression

wy was germany so acutely affected

they were very economically vulnerable after hyperinflation and too dependent on US loans

still had to pay reparations to allies

organsation of weimar constitution made it very difficult to take firm and decisive action

between 1929 and 1932 how many german buisnesses closed down

50,000

what happened to food prices

by 1932 how many farmers went bankrupt

rose dramatically

18,000

did the optimistic mood from the stresemann era stay

no - germany’s problems became glaringly obvious

therefore, who did people turn to?

extremist parties.

workers tuend to the commmunists - they promised a workers’ revolution

others looked to right wing parties, e.g. nazis, because they promised a strong rule and the restoration of germany’s status in the world

HOW HITLER SPUN GERMANY’S PROBLEMS INTO REASONS PEOPLE SHOULD SUPPORT THE NAZIS:

problem - weimar government is indecisive. hitler’s solution?

weimar germany needs a strong leader!

HOW HITLER SPUN GERMANY’S PROBLEMS INTO REASONS PEOPLE SHOULD SUPPORT THE NAZIS:

problem: reparations are adding to germany’s problems. hitler’s solution?

reverse and get rid of the treaty of versailles

HOW HITLER SPUN GERMANY’S PROBLEMS INTO REASONS PEOPLE SHOULD SUPPORT THE NAZIS:

problem: unemployment. hitler’s solution?

let the unemployed join the army, build germany’s armaments and be used for public works like road building

in what did hitler write about his beliefs and policies and ideals in

what other views did it have, apart from these last three

mein kampf

aryans are the master race

germans should be united

destroy communism

lebensraum

what did the nazis use to convince people to support them (apart from hitler’s speeches - we know he was a very talented and convincing speaker)

the 25-Point Programme

who did this programme appeal to most

give 3 examples of these people

those who had been the most profoundly affected by the dpression

the unemployed, elderly and middle classes

which culrpits did hitler offer germans to blame for germany’s problems (3)

the allies

november criminals

jews

who was hitler’s propaganda chief

joseph goebbels

how did he get people to support nazis

simplified main nazi party policies to make them more digestible for the public

put forward generalised statements of their beliefs, e.g. criticising weimar republic and its democratic system and how it couldn’t solve problems, wanting a return to traditional values.

these weren’t detailed policies so they couldn’t really be criticised. they were also understood by a lot of people and therefore appealed to them more

they made simple promises like ‘work and bread’

where could you find nazi posters and pamphlets

everywhere

what did nazis organise for the poor

nazi soup kitchens

why did nazi rallies impress people

energetic

enthusiastic

big

how were nazis seen as a party of order compared to communists

during this period = frequent street battles between communist gangs and the police

but SA and SS were prepared to fight communists

they were better organised

had the support of police and army when they beat up opps and disrupted any meetings and rallies

what were the SA also called

Brownshirts

what did the SA do

protect nazi rallies and nazi memebrs

delivered propaganda

disrupt communist meetings

quite violent - some people disliked this, others thought it would help bring law and order to the chaotic germany

were the SA always ordered

no

memebers were not always striclty disciplined

were not fully under Hitler’s control

who were the SS also known as

Blackshirts

who were the SS originally part of

but thy became separate under who?

the SA

heinrich himmler

how loyal were they to hitler and how disciplined

completely loyal and very disciplined

how many seats did nazis win in november 1932

did they have the majority of votes

196

no, but they were still the biggest single party

when did hitler run for president

did he win

even still, how did this benefit him

trhough what media did he bring his message to millions with

1932

no, hindenburg did

the campaign raised his profile hugely

films, radio and records

where did the nazis hold rallies

from what year onwards

hitler would make a dramatic entrance and s______. it was full of p____________

at nuremburg. lots of people would attend

1932

hitler would make a dramatic entrance and speech. it was full of propaganda.

the peeople’s impression pf hitler

powerful speaker, modern, magnetic, impassioned

this was reminiscient of the kaiser

appeared as a savior figure who would make germany strong again

gave his audience a sense of hope

always dressed in military uniform, so had an image of a strong/powerful leader

even though some people didn’t share nazi views or take to hitler’s character, why did they support the nazis

what was this called

because people shared nazi fears and dislikes. they wanted to preserve traditional german values in a modern germany.

negative cohesion

communist threat was growing, and middle class business owners and industrialists feared them (for obvious reasons.) therefore, what party did they turn to

what did industrialists give to nazis and why

give an example of an industrialist who did this

nazis, as they promised to destroy commmunism

money to help hitler stand up to communists. important as it elped fund nazi propganda, plane trips for rallies, etc

fritz thyssen

there was a growing strength of trade unions. what is a trade union

an organized association of workers in a trade, group of trades, or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests.

why were farmers alarmed by communists

in the USSR, there were communist farming policies

the soviet government took over all the land

millions of peasants killed in the process

so what did nazis do

promised to help struggling farmers

why did no one like the weimar deomcracy

they couldn’t tackle the problem of the depression

because of coalition government and there being so many different parties with dfferent views, what did the chancellors from 1928-1932 rely heavily on

article 48 (emegency powesr)

who was president from 1925 to 1934

hindenburg

recount events of september 1930

• chancellor Brüning tried to tackle economic problems by cutting unemployment pay and raising taxes

• (could have been to deliberatly make the situation worse s international countries would get sympathetic and cancel reparations)

• SPD refused to support this

• so Brüning called for an election in sept 1930

why was the 1930 election a bad decision

what did it result in

gave nazis opportunity to exploit fear and discontent in germany

another divided reichstag, so problems continued into 1931 and 1932

random fact; since 1932, how much had the average german’s income fallen by

40 percent

how many times did the reichstag meet in 1932

therefore, how much did Brüning rely on Hindenburg to use his emergency powers

5 days (embarassing)

all the time. he would bypass the deomcratic process altoghether

in reichstag election of 1932 how many seats did the nazi party get in the reichstag

were they the largest single party or the majority

230

largest single party

even though hitler demanded it of him, why did hindenburg refuse to give hitler the role of chancellor at this time

hindenburg was suspsicious of hitler

who was the current chancellor at this time

did he have support in the reichstag

so another e_________ was called. when was this?

franz von papen (replaced bruning)

no - he had virtually no support

so another election was called in novermber 1932

what was the result of the november 1932 election

did hindenburg stilla ppoint hitler as chancellor

nazis were still the single largest party, but their share of the votes fell

no, he still refused

when did hindenburg choose a new chancellor

who was it

who was he to von Papen

december 1932

Kurt von Schleicher

a bitter rival

by this time how was it clear the weimar system of government wasn’t working

hindenburg had essentially overthrown the principles of democracy by running germany with emergency powers

papen wanted to gain revenge on schleicher.