The electoral breakthrough of the Nazis in the Presidential + Reichstag elections 1929-1933

Flashcards about the rise of the Nazi party

What percentage of German workers were unemployed by the winter of 1932?

About 1/3

What impact did widespread unemployment have on German voters during 1929-1933?

It heavily influenced their voting behavior.

In what year did the Nazi party have only 0.8 million voters?

1928

How many seats did the Nazi party gain in the 1930 Reichstag elections?

107 seats

Which group's support for the Nazis is considered more complex than it appears?

The Mittlestand

What did many Nazi voters lack regarding the Weimar system?

Faith in and identity with the Weimar system

What was a common belief among many middle-class Nazi voters?

Their traditional role and status in Germany was under threat.

What made the Nazi party stand out from other small extreme right-wing parties?

Their use of propaganda and how they packaged themselves

What characteristic of Hitler appealed to many people who felt alienated in Germany?

His charisma as a leader

Which class longed for a sense of security and direction that the Nazis offered?

The Mittlestand

What type of party did the Nazis create by appealing to all classes with promises of action?

Volkspartei (Peoples’ Party)

According to Brustein, why did blue-collar workers support the Nazis?

They believed the Nazis would continue the welfare benefits begun by Weimar.

What did the Nazis offer as a 'third way'?

A third way between Marxist state planning and laissez-faire capitalism

What did the Nazis promise to do for farmers?

Support them through controls on prices

Which industries gave financial backing to Hitler and the Nazis?

IG Farben and Krupps

What action in 1929 enabled the Nazis to use Hugenberg's mass media empire?

Their support of Hugenberg in the Anti-Young Plan referendum

What sentiment did the Nazis downplay and play up near elections to gain greater support?

They downplayed Anti-Semitism and played up anti-communism.

Whose actions in 1932 led to calls of agrarian bolshevism and increased fear of communists?

Bruning and Von Schleicher

What did Hitler promise to restore?

A strong government and German pride

According to Goebbels, what was the Nazi's sharpest weapon in conquering the state?

Propaganda

What was Nazi propaganda more successful at doing than creating Nazi ideology?

Reinforcing existing sympathies

What did Nazi propaganda portray Hitler as?

The solution

What did Nazi propaganda portray Communism as?

The threat

What did Nazi propaganda portray the Weimar government as?

The problem

What mode of transportation did Hitler use to campaign throughout Germany in 1932?

A plane

What was the slogan on a 1932 Presidential election poster featuring Hitler?

Our last hope

What type of program did the Nazis distribute 600,000 pamphlets about in July 1932?

Immediate Economic Programme

Why were Nazi policies purposely vague?

To facilitate Hitler's ability to tailor his speeches to the audience's problems

What is the term for the emotional, choreographed exhilaration created by the Nazis at rallies?

Mass suggestion

What did Nazi policy advocate regarding public investment and financial control?

Public investment, financial control of debt, autarky and the creation of a German dominated zone