HI136 The History of Germany - Week 10

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HI136 The History of Germany - Week 10

• The Rise of the Nazis
• and the Nazi Seizure of Power

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Possible Coalitions

• Weimar Coalition of center-left, which was never
  able to constitute more than a minority govt.
• Center-right, also a minority coalition
• Great Coalition of a left-center-right majority
  coalition like under Stresemann in 1923
• Bourgeois Coalition center-right-far-right
  majority coalition

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Who were the NSDAP?

• National
• Socialist
• German
• Workers
• Party

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The Origins of Nazism

• Interwar Germany a fertile breeding ground for
  radical right-wing organizations.
• 1919 Anton Drexler founded the Deutsche
  Arbeiterpartei (German Workers Party, DAP).
• Adolf Hitler joined the DAP in Sept. 1919,
  quickly rising through the ranks to become the
  partys chief theorist and propaganda officer.
• Feb. 1920 Hitler headed a committee which drew
  up the Partys 25 Point Programme-- the basis
  of Nazi ideology until 1945.
• April 1920 The DAP was renamed the
  Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
  (National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP
  or Nazi for short).
• July 1921 Hitler ousted Drexler was appointed
  Party Chairman.

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Peoples Party

• Boasted a wide range of support.
• Actual Membership depended on the middle classes
• White-collar workers 25.6
• Small businessman shopkeepers 8.2
• Self-employed professionals 3
• Other govt. employees 6.6
• Teachers 1.7
• 45.1
• Workers 28.1
• Farmers 14.1
• Other 12.7

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Nazi Membership
Source G. Layton, Democracy and Dictatorship in
Germany (2009)
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The Rise of Nazism

• 1925 After Hitlers release from prison, the
  Nazi party was reestablished with a new
  commitment to achieving power through legal
  means.
• 1926 The Bamberg Conference Hitler
  re-established his supremacy in the Party,
  overcoming the challenge to his leadership from
  Gregor Strasser, but was forced to concede that
  the 25-Point Programme (with its socialist
  elements) remained inviolable.
• Establishment of new efficient Party structure
  and youth and womens organisations led to a
  growing membership 27,000 in 1925 increased to
  108,000 in 1928.
• But still had little popular support they won
  only 2.6 of the vote in the Reichstag elections
  of 1928.

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National Socialist Ideology?

• Key concepts
• Race
• Führerprinzip
• Anti-Communism
• Nationalism
• Volksgemeinschaft
• From the 25 Point Programme (1920)
• Creation of a Greater Germany encompassing all
  ethnic Germans
• Revocation of Treaty of Versailles
• Demand for colonies (Lebensraum)
• Only members of the Volk can be citizens no Jew
  can be a citizens all non-citizens to be
  deported
• The primary duty of the State is to provide a
  livelihood for its citizens introduction of
  profit sharing extension of welfare state.

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The Great Depression

• October 1929 the Wall Street Crash led to a
  worldwide economic downturn.
• Germany was particularly hard hit the German
  economy was heavily dependent on foreign loans
  and the banking system was geared towards
  short-term credit to finance long-term ventures.
• As foreign investment dried up and debts were
  called in, German firms folded and banks
  collapsed leading to mass unemployment.
• 2 million Germans out of work by the winter of
  1929-30.
• Unemployment reached 3 million in 1931 had
  risen to 5.1 million by Sept. 1932. It peaked at
  6.1 million in early 1933.
• This led to material hardship, but also had an
  important psychological effect fear,
  uncertainty, loss of pride and status, feeling
  that the fabric of society was unravelling.
• The economic crisis quickly became a political
  crisis as the social insurance system became
  overloaded.

Soucre R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas
of the Third Reich (1996)
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Immediate Effects in Germany

• German loans by 1929 were nearly 15 billion
  marks.
• German stock exchange fell drastically
• Business failures multiplied
• Unemployment rose to three million during the
  course of the year.
• By the winter of 1932, unemployment reached six
  million.
• Germany's industry fell to less than 50 of
  capacity.
• German foreign trade fell by two-thirds between
  1929 and 1932.

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Soucre R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of
the Third Reich (1996)
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Why did people vote for the Nazis?

1. How did their ideas fit into right-wing,
   anti-Republican thought?
2. What international factors aided their
   breakthrough in the polls?

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Chancellors, 1930-33
General Kurt von Schleicher (Non party) Dec. 1932
Jan. 1933
Franz von Papen (Centre Party) June Dec. 1932
Heinrich Brüning (Centre Party) March 1930 May
1932
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Article 48

• Constitutional article granting the President the
  right to declare a state of emergency
• Built-in safety clause Parliament could overturn
  the presidents emergency decree by mustering a
  majority vote

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Paul von Hindenburg

• Elected president in 1925 at age of 78 after
  Eberts death
• Conservative candidate
• Had helped disseminate the stab in the back
  legend
• Worked to strengthen the role of the presidency

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Crisis of Legitimacy

• Max Webers notions of traditional, rational, or
  charismatic legitimacy.
• Continued popularity of Wilhelmine elites
• Weimar beset by legacy of compromises and burden
  of war as well as economic weakness
• New moves to tap into charismatic appeals rather
  than pro-Republic sentiments
• Political fragmentation preceded the Nazi rise to
  power

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The Final Crisis, 1930-33

• March 1930 Hermann Müllers Grand Coalition
  collapsed
• Hindenburg appointed Heinrich Brüning, leader of
  the Centre Party, Chancellor.
• By 1930 the Nazis were the 2nd largest party in
  the Reichstag.
• Oct. 1931 the Harzburg Front anti-republican
  alliance between the Nazis, Alfred Hugenburgs
  DNVP and the Stahlhelm.
• 1932 Hitler challenged Hindenburg for the
  Presidency.
• By May 1932 Brüning lost the support of the
  President and his advisors
• June 1932 Franz von Papen headed the right-wing
  Cabinet of Barons.
• July 1932 Preussenschlag
• Nov. 1932 Papen replaced by General Kurt von
  Schleicher.
• Papen entered into secret negotiations with the
  Nazis, big business and large landowners.
• Jan. 1933 Hindenburg reluctantly agreeed to
  dismiss Schleicher and replace him with Hitler.

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30 January 1933
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Hitlers first Cabinet, 30 January 1933 Seated
(left to right) Hermann Göring, Hitler, Franz
von Papen Standing (left to right) Baron
Konstantin von Neurath (Foreign Minister),
Günther Gereke (Commissioner for Job Creation),
Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk (Finance
Minister), Wilhelm Frick (Interior Minister),
General Werner von Blomberg (Defence Minister),
Alfred Hugenberg (Minister of Agriculture and
Economics)
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The Reichstag Fire

• 27 Feb. 1933 The Reichstag burned down.
• An unemployed Dutch bricklayer named Marius van
  der Lubbe arrested.
• The Nazis claimed this was part of a Communist
  plot.
• Decree for the Protection of the People and the
  State suspended civil liberties increased the
  power of central government the Nazis rounded
  up political opponants.
• Van der Lubbe Bulgarian Communist Georgi
  Dimitrov put on trial for the fire.
• But on-going debate about who was responsible.

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Election Results, 5 March 1933
Party Votes
NSDAP 43,90
DNVP 8,00
DVP 1,10
BVP 2,70
Zentrum 11,20
Deutsche Staatspartei 0,90
SPD 18,30
KPD 12,30
Other 1,60
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The Enabling Law (Ermächtigungsgesetz)

• Without the two-thirds majority in the Reichstag
  necessary to change the Constitution, Hitler
  proposed an Enabling Law that would enable him
  the government to pass legislation without the
  approval of either parliament or the President.
• 23 March 1933 Law for the Removal of Distress
  from People and the Reich
• Article 1 In addition to the procedure
  prescribed by the constitution i.e. decision by
  parliament, laws of the Reich may also be
  enacted by the government of the Reich. This
  includes laws as referred to by Articles 85
  sentence 2 and Article 87 of the constitution.
• Article 2 Laws enacted by the government of the
  Reich may deviate from the constitution as long
  as they do not affect the institutions of the
  Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The rights of the
  President remain undisturbed.

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Gleichschaltung

• April 1933 Laws passed enabling Nazi-dominated
  State governments to pass legislation without the
  approval of provincial parliaments.
• Jan. 1934 State parliaments abolished local
  government subordinated to the federal Minister
  of the Interior.
• 2 May 1933 Leading Trade Unionists arrested
  workers organizations merged to form the
  Deutscher Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front,
  DAF).
• 22 June 1933 The SPD officially banned.
• June-July 1933 Other political parties dissolved
  themselves.
• 14 July 1933 The Nazi Party proclaimed the only
  legal political party in Germany.

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The Night of the Long Knives,30 June 1934

• Pressure from the party rank-and-file (and
  particularly from within the SA) for a second
  revolution.
• Fears that the radicalism of the SA would bring
  about a military coup against the Nazis.
• This led to a purge of the party on 30 June 1934
  the SS carried out raids against targets across
  Germany. Critics of the regime such as
  Vice-Chancellor Papen were arrested, while old
  enemies such as Gregor Strasser Gustav Ritter
  von Kahr were summarily executed. Over 1000
  people were arrested at least 85 killed.

Ernst Röhm (1887-1934)
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Triumph of the Will, 1935
Documentary of the 1934 Nazi Party Rally in
Nuremberg dir. Leni Riefenstahl
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vGcFuHGHfYwE
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Understanding the Collapse of Weimar Democracy

• Domestic Factors
• Lack of popular support
• Constitutional flaws
• Role of established elites
• International Factors
• Legacy of Versailles
• World economic crisis (the Great Depression)
• General crisis of liberal democracy