History - Hitler's rise to Power

when was hitler appointed chancellor

1933

define totalitarian

a dictatorship - all citizens must conform to a leader

when was the enabling act passed

march 1933

what was the enabling act and what did it allow hitler to do?

allowed hitler to enact laws directly without needing approval from the Reichstag

what was the role of the SS in the Night of the Long Knives

carry out the purge/ kill SA leaders

what is the cartoonist’s perspective and overall/big message of this cartoon? (7/8 marks)

• perspective

  • views nazi leadership as oppressive and dishonest

• big message

  • hitler and the nazis have betrayed their own allies/ supporters and the german people

what is the cartoonist’s perspective and overall/big message of this cartoon? (7/8 marks)

explain the significance of the element that showcases ‘hitler’s unkept promises’

• who the unkept promsies were towards

  • german people

  • SA soldiers

• why were the promises ‘unkept’

  • german people

    • → hitler promised to prevent chaos caused by weimar republic from repeating

    • → broke the rule of law as during the night of the long knives, he had executed many SA members without trial, resulting in a purge

      • → showcased how hitler was above the law/superior to the public as it directly goes against his promises of peace and balance restoration

      • → violates his pormise for peace as it

  • SA soldiers

    • → hitler promised a 2nd revolution to transform germany into a socialist state and bring economic and social reforms

    • → rebellion against elites and industrialists, fairer wealth distribution

    • → however, once hitler was in power (he becomes leader = chancellor + president), he abandoned these promises and instead aligned his ideals with the elites to garner their support (vital because they were reputable and could offer high amounts of financial support to his actions).

    • → hitler then kills Rohm and purges the rest of the SA members whom he had saw as opposition.

      • → this demonstrates hitler’s false promises and manipulation of the SA to fulfil his own aims.

Who were the SA/brownshirts

The Nazi Party's paramilitary organisation, been with hitler since the beginning, made up of former soliders and unemployed men

Key factors that led to Hitler becoming chancellor (FT NEWS)

• Fear of communism

• Treaty of Versailles

• Nazi Party Tactics (propaganda)

• Economic Crises caused by the Depression

• Weakness of the Weimar Government

• Scheming of Von Papen & Von Schleicher

Why were the Nazis able to do well in the elections between 1930-1932?​

• the great depression hit in 1929 - causing extensive economic loss for germany

  • america had withdraw its loans from germany - meaning germany couldnt pay off their reparations on time

  • demand for german goods dropped—Germany had no income

  • farmers began to go bankrupt and plunge further into debt because nobdoy was buying their produce and prices were falling

  • nazis made extreme promises to resolve all these issues

    • restore germanys pride

      • recover all land lost under TOV,

• Hitler’s personal appeal

  • he was a charismatic speaker/orator - passionate and committed

  • awarded iron cross in WW2 - made him seem as heroic and many idolised him for this

  • made numerous promises to rescue germany from the weimar goverment chaos - people entrusted him

  • also promised o restore germanys former glory, eliminate the treaty of versailles

• SA

  • disiplined

    • had a unifrom, parades, rallies and marches - showcased devotion and that those in the SA took their job seriously and were commited

  • intimidation efforts - disrupted opposition rallies

• fear of communmism

  • hitler promised to prevent and protect germany from the spread of communism if the nazis gained majority

• Farmer support

  • Feared communists who wanted to ban private ownership of land.

  • Promised Lebensraum (living space in the East).

  • Another saying was ‘blood and soil’ which was hevaily aimed and appealed to farmers - hitler assured them that they were the backbone of the german economy and were heavily valued. their efforts wouldnt go unnoticed - this recognition gained the support of farmers

    → farmers ended up making 40% of votes

• Working class support

  • Nazis were initally named the German Worker’s party

    • Showing the public that they were so valued that they would have a whole party dedicated to representing their ideas - made them feel proud and prideful

    • Notable sayings such as ‘work and bread’, promised employment, income, and food which heavily appealed to the mddle class who were in desperate need for cash as tehy were then unemployed due to the great depression.

• propaganda efforts

  • Goebbels was appointed propaganda minister and promoted the spread of propagnda through outlets such as newspapers, radio broadcasts, plane tours, and cinematic news reels

Who was Hidenburg

president of germany and ex ww1 army general

who was bruning

chancellor of germany from 1930-1931

who was von papen

appointted chancellor after bruning (hindenburg didnt want to appoint hitler)

von schleicher

chancellor after von papen was removed (was later replaced by hitler)

2 ways for hitler to become chancellor

1. chosen by president (hindenburg)

2. gain 50% majority (seats) in reichstag

who convinced hidenburg tio appoint hitler as chancellor

von papen

Why was Hitler able to become chancellor in January 1933

(hindenburg, support, presidential election)

• von papen and von schliser unpoplar as chancellors so papen had convinced hindenburg to appoint hitler instead

  • schliser’s goverment failed - leaving hitler as the only other option

  • hindenburg had initally hated hitler - which is why is prolonged and avoided electing hitler as chancellor

  • however, papen had convinced hindenburg that he would be able to control hitler if he was chancellor inwhich hindenburg had agreeded to

• Hitler had the support of many Generals

  • both hitler and the generals were anticommunist

    • feared a communist revolution as KPD began o grow in size - had 16.9% of votes in 1932

    • so were more inclined to offer hitler their support to battle communism

  • believed in hitler that he would be able to restore germany’s former glory

    • Hitler pledged to restore Germany's international standing and military prestige

      • scrapping TOV - one of the terms was disarming and reducing germany army size ro 100,000 men

• Hitler had taken part in the Presidential Election of 1932 and had won 13.4 million votes, so Hindenburg knew the public would support him as Chancellor

what did eveyrone fear duirng 1932

communsim

How did Hitler become the largest party in the Reichstag by November 1932? ​

• wallstreet crash

  • mass unemployment

  • wages cut

  • Nazis guaranteed to solve all these problems by creating new jobs and increasing wages

• Effective propaganda techniques

  • Modern conventions

    • Airplane tours

    • radio broadcast

    • newsreel shorts

• Promises of battling communsim heavily appealed to conservatives and Industrialists whom backed hitler financially

~

• the great depression hit in 1929 - causing extensive economic loss for germany

  • america had withdraw its loans from germany - meaning germany couldnt pay off their reparations on time

  • demand for german goods dropped—Germany had no income

  • farmers began to go bankrupt and plunge further into debt because nobdoy was buying their produce and prices were falling

  • nazis made extreme promises to resolve all these issues

    • restore germanys pride

      • recover all land lost under TOV,

• Hitler’s personal appeal

  • he was a charismatic speaker/orator - passionate and committed

  • awarded iron cross in WW2 - made him seem as heroic and many idolised him for this

  • made numerous promises to rescue germany from the weimar goverment chaos - people entrusted him

  • also promised o restore germanys former glory, eliminate the treaty of versailles

• SA

  • disiplined

    • had a unifrom, parades, rallies and marches - showcased devotion and that those in the SA took their job seriously and were commited

  • intimidation efforts - disrupted opposition rallies

• fear of communmism

  • hitler promised to prevent and protect germany from the spread of communism if the nazis gained majority

• Farmer support

  • Feared communists who wanted to ban private ownership of land.

  • Promised Lebensraum (living space in the East).

  • Another saying was ‘blood and soil’ which was hevaily aimed and appealed to farmers - hitler assured them that they were the backbone of the german economy and were heavily valued. their efforts wouldnt go unnoticed - this recognition gained the support of farmers

    → farmers ended up making 40% of votes

• Working class support

  • Nazis were initally named the German Worker’s party

    • Showing the public that they were so valued that they would have a whole party dedicated to representing their ideas - made them feel proud and prideful

    • Notable sayings such as ‘work and bread’, promised employment, income, and food which heavily appealed to the mddle class who were in desperate need for cash as tehy were then unemployed due to the great depression.

• propaganda efforts

  • Goebbels was appointed propaganda minister and promoted the spread of propagnda through outlets such as newspapers, radio broadcasts, plane tours, and cinematic news reels

when was the wallstreet crash

1929

effects of the wallstreet crash on germany

• mass unemployment

• rise in popularity of extremist parties (eg nazis, kpd)

  • spread belief that they could resolve germanys problems

• coalition government couldn’t find a proper plan

  • led to hindenburg using art. 48 to declare a time of emergency and pass any laws he wanted

• economy collpased

  • dawes and young plan loans withdrawed

paramilitary

illegal politcal army

who led the SA/brownshirts

ernst rohm

what kind of propaganda techniques did hitler use to spread his ideologies?

• modern tatics

  • plane tours

  • radio broadcasts

  • reel shorts

  • films

  • rallies

  • media

    • posters

    • newspapers

    • music

Explain the signifcance and outcomes of the Reichstag fire​?

• Timing was very convenient for the nazis election - 4 weeks before hitler became chancellor

• Hitler and Göring immediately blamed the Communist Party (KPD)

  • They claimed the fire was the beginning of a communist revolution

    • by doing so, they villainized the communists, therefore gaining more votes for the nazis

• President Hindenburg was convinced to sign article 48 the next day

  • Allowed nazis to arrest people without warrants

  • intercept in phonecalls and open letters

  • Allowed detention without trial

Explain the importance (outcomes) of the Enabling Act in March 1933

• Hitler declared a Communist "plot," using Article 48 to order..

  • members of opposition political parties to the Nazis were to be arrested and sent to concentration camps - eliminating the competiton in reichstag

  • execute communists

  • listen in on telephone calls

  • SA could search homes of those suspected to be communists without warrants

  • banned trade unions - workers unallowed to go on strike

• Enabled mass arrests of Communists/Socialists, crippling opposition.

Who set the reichstag on fire

van der lubee

but theorised to be apart of the nazi’s scheming in order to get sympathy votes from the german public.

• evidence that there was a tunnel linking goering’s house to the reichstag so nazis could entry and exit unnoticed

• fire spread in an unusual pattern that hinted at the involvement of multiple people

what happeneded duirng the munich putsch?

• hitler and nazis attempted to take power through an interruption of a beer hall meeting at Munich/ bavaria

• pointed the 3 Bavarian leaders at gunpoint and forced them to support his ideas of a national revolution

• however, Ludendorff allowed the polictains to leave the hall on the agreement that they wouldn't expose them

• inwhich the polictians did nit follow and ratted hitler out to the police

• inturn, the next day, a fire fight occurred between the authorities and the SA group and hitler

• nazis were ultimately imprisoned

when did the beer hall putsch/munich putch occur

nov 1923

when did Hitler merged Chancellor/President roles into Führer

1934

why did hitler call another election after the reichstag fire?

gain 50% majority in teh reichstag and govern alone + become chancellor

what was the night of the long knives

• occured in 1934 june 30 to july 2

• was a series of mass killings by the SS/Gestapo

• Eliminate SA leader Röhm (who wanted a "second revolution") and other opposition

  • SS murdered 200+, including Röhm, von Schleicher, and SA leaders.

explain the significance of the Night of the Long knives

• Significance:

  • Secured army loyalty 2 weeks later (Hitler’s oath of allegiance).

  • SS replaced SA as key enforcers.

  • Terrorized potential opposition party members into submission.

  • The German cabinet passed a law declaring the murders legal as "emergency defense of the state"

  • Showed that the Nazi regime was above the law

why did the night of long knives occur?

(3 reasons, SA, german army, appease)

1. Eliminating the SA Threat

• The SA had grown to over 3 million members by 1934

• Ernst Röhm wanted the SA to become the core of a new German army

• Röhm advocated for a "second revolution" with more socialist elements

• Hitler saw this as a threat to his leadership and alliance with the traditional army

2. Securing Military Support

• The regular German Army (Reichswehr) distrusted the SA

• Military leaders pressured Hitler to reduce the SA's power

• By eliminating Röhm, Hitler gained the army's loyalty

• The military subsequently swore a personal oath to Hitler

3. Appeasing Conservative Elites

• Industrialists and aristocrats feared the SA's revolutionary rhetoric

• The purge reassured conservative supporters that Hitler would protect their interests

• Demonstrated Hitler's rejection of the more radical socialist elements of Nazi ideology