Hitler’s rise to power

What brought Hitler to power?

1. Bitterness and anger about the War and the Treaty of Versailles won him support.

• Weimar Republic• The National Socialist

German Workers Party (NSDAP-Nazi) formed in 1920

• As nationalists they believed in Germany’s greatness and as socialists they believed the state should benefit everyone equally

What brought Hitler to power?

2. Weaknesses in the Weimar Republic

• Hitler’s speeches gave people a scapegoat to blame for Germany’s problems:– The Allies.– The Versailles Treaty – The Communists– The Jews

‘What Do We Want?’ "Do not believe that

other parties can save the Germany of

misfortune and misery, the nation of profiteers

and debt, the land of Jewish corruption!"

This 1920 Nazi poster advertises a speech by Hitler:

• A right-wing terrorist group of ‘Stormtroopers’ who attacked opposition parties

1922 Hitler poses with members of the

group's paramilitary organization, the Sturmabteilung,

known by its initials, the SA

Weimar Republic, 1923

• Hyper-inflation made German money worthless

Failed Beer Hall Putsch, 1923

1923, Munich• Hitler tried to

overthrow the government in the Beer Hall Putsch

• He was arrested and tried.

• During the trial he was given unlimited time to speak and his popularity soared.

Mein Kampf

In jail, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) advocating:– National Socialism – loyalty to Germany, racial

purity, equality and state control of the economy.– A Master Race – pure German, Aryan triumph by

armed force– Lebensraum – ‘Living Space’ requiring expansion

into Poland and Russia – Strong Government – complete obedience to the

Führer

Hitler and Henry Ford• Henry Ford was a

long-time supporter of Adolf Hitler

• After Hitler came to power, Ford sent him 50,000 Deutsch Marks every year on his birthday

• Ford received the Grand Cross of the German Eagle from the Nazis in 1938

“In the future we may be faced with problems which can be solved only by a superior race of human beings, a race destined to become master of all the other peoples and which will have at its disposal the resources of the whole world.” Hitler, Mein Kampf (1924)

“Of course, I was ripe for this experience. I was a man of 32, weary with disgust and disillusionment, a wanderer seeking a cause, patriot seeking an outlet for his patriotism.”

Karl Ludecke (1924)

“He was holding the masses, and me with them, under an hypnotic spell by the sheer force of his beliefs. His words were like a whip. When he spoke of the disgrace of Germany, I felt ready to attack any enemy.”

Organization of the Nazi Party

• The Nazi party was almost bankrupt• Hitler built up the organization so that he was

unquestioned leader.• Hitler decided that he would have to get

power by being elected, rather than by rebellion. However, he was banned from speaking until 1928.

1927 Nazi poster ‘Despite the Ban, not dead’.

• Hitler reduced the number of Stormtroopers (SA) and set up the SS, a personal bodyguard fanatically loyal to him.

• He set up a network of local parties. • He merged with other right-wing parties, then

took them over.• He set up the Hitler Youth, which attracted

young people to the party.

• He put Josef Goebbels in charge of propaganda.

• Goebbels and Hitler believed that the best way to get the support of the masses was by appealing to their feelings rather than by argument.

• They waged a propaganda campaign using posters, leaflets, radio and film, and organized rallies.

• He cultivated the support of wealthy businessmen promising them that he would destroy Communism and the Trade Unions.

3. MoneyThe financial support of wealthy businessmen gave Hitler money to run his propaganda and election campaigns.4. PropagandaNazi propaganda persuaded the German masses to believe that the Jews were to blame and that Hitler was their last hope.5. 25 point ProgrammeHitler promised everybody something, so they supported him

.6. Attacks on other partiesThe Storm troopers attacked Jews and people who opposed Hitler. Many opponents kept quiet simply because they were scared of being murdered

7. Personal QualitiesHitler was a brilliant speaker, and his eyes had a peculiar power over people. He was a good organizer and politician. He was a driven, unstable man, who believed that he had been called by God to become dictator of Germany and rule the world. This kept him going when other people might have given up. His self-belief persuaded people to believe in him.

After 1929, two short-term factors brought Hitler to power:

8. Economic DepressionAfter the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the US called in its loans to Germany, and the German economy collapsed.

Unemployment

• Massive unemployment meant people started to look to the extreme political parties for answers

• Nazi’s on the right• Communists on the left

September 1928 650,000 unemployed

September 1929 1,320,000 unemployed

September 1930 3,000,000 unemployed

September 1931 4,350,000 unemployed

September 1932 5,102,000 unemployed

January 1933 6,100,000 unemployed

1929, Hitler gaining prominence.

1930 Reichstag election, The caption: “The people rise! They vote List 9.” andFreedom and Bread

This 1932 poster says: ‘Hitler – our last hope’

The Brain and the Fist

Fight hunger and despair

9. Recruited by Hindenburg• In a series of elections, the National Socialists

became the largest party in the Reichstag, or Parliament.

• In 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg was forced to appoint Hitler, the party leader, as Chancellor.

• Hindenburg though he could control Hitler

1933

• Hitler is greeted by Hindenburg

• The Enabling Act granted Hitler full power to make laws, amend the constitution, or use executive power without any consideration by the Reichstag.

1933, political prisoners arrive at a concentration camp

1934, Gigantic political rallies were now common in Nazi Germany.

1935, Hitler examines his troops

1935, Nuremberg laws stripped Jewish citizens of their rights

• Austria is pressured to join with Germany• Hitler wants the Sudatenland, a German-speaking

region of Czechoslovakia. • At a summit held in Munich in 1938, the allies agreed

to allow Germany to annex the lands.

Expansion

1937, Duke and Duchess of Windsor visit Germany

1937, Hitler youth

1938, Nazi vehicles paraded triumphantly through the streets of the Sudatenland.

The Night of Broken GlassOn November 8, 1938, Nazis smash windows and ransack thousands of Jewish shops in German cities and villages. The coordinated attacks were the first large-scale, openly anti-Semitic act of the Third Reich

the swastika

• the swastika was adopted as a symbol of the Nazi Party of Germany in 1920

swastika

• Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient India as well as Classical Antiquity.

• It remains widely used in Indian Religions, specifically in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

Svastika

• The word swastika came from the Sanskrit word svastika, meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and in particular a mark made on persons and things to denote good luck.