Nazi - Hitler's rise

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Hitlers Rise to Power
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Who was Hitler?

• Hitler was born in 1889 in Austria.
• He left school at 16 having failed his exams.
• At 18 he went to Vienna, Austrias capital. He
  lived in a hostel for down-and-outs and scraped a
  living painting postcards and selling them on the
  streets.
• He left Austria and went to Germany to avoid
  Austrian military service.
• When World War I broke out in 1914, Hitler signed
  up for the German army. He won six medals for
  bravery including an Iron Cross First Class, the
  highest award a German soldier could win.
• In 1918 he was temporarily blinded with mustard
  gas. He cried with despair when he heard of
  Germanys surrender.

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The birth of the Nazi Party
The Nazi Party began as the German Workers Party
(DAP). Hitler joined it in 1919 when it had just
six members. Before long, Hitler was running the
party and holding meetings in halls and beer
cellars.
Hitler soon began to attract big audiences. This
was due to the fact that he was an interesting
and powerful speaker who could get his message
across without using a microphone.
4
In 1920 Hitler renamed the party the
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
(National Socialist German Workers Party) or
Nazi Party. A 25-point programme was launched,
including demands for provision to be made for
old age, profit-sharing in the big industries and
the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles.
The party grew rapidly and had 3,000 members by
1920. The Nazi flag helped attract attention.
Swastika an ancient religious symbol
5
Party meetings
As members of opposing parties often came to
meetings to boo and heckle, meetings were often
rowdy and violent. To deal with this opposition,
Hitler set up a Gymnastic and Sports Division
in 1921. It contained ex-soldiers who liked to
fight, especially with Communists. This private
army was later renamed the Sturm Abteilung (Storm
Troopers) or SA.
A few angry cries, and a man suddenly leaped on
a chair and yelled Liberty! In a few seconds
the hall was filled with a yelling and howling
mob Chair legs smashed, glasses shivered My
storm troops, as they were called from that day
on, attacked. Like wolves they rushed in on the
enemy and began gradually to sweep them out of
the hall Hitlers account of a meeting in a
beer hall in 1921.
Once Hitler took over, why did the Nazi Party
membership increase so rapidly?
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Hitler
A new age was beginning history was once more
setting the mighty wheel in motion and
apportioning lots anew. We had come to a turning
point in world history He saw himself as chosen
for superhuman tasks, as the prophet of the
rebirth of man in a new form Hermann
Rauschning, 1939.
The most seductive factor was Hitlers messianic
image. For Germany found itself in an ideological
and ethical vacuum. We had lost our Emperor The
majority of the population had no religious faith
for many, National Socialism was a substitute
religion which aroused a deep enthusiasm and
provided a new source of strength Isa Vermehren.
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German people were vulnerable to the collective
self-delusion that a man would come, a
leader, a Caesar, a Messiah, and perform miracles
put an end to misery, create new people, a
glorious new Reich Ernst Toller, 1933, when his
books were burnt.
What impression do you gain of Hitler from these
sources?
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Hitler the orator
Hitler is not a man but a megaphone The
Observer, 1930.
The atmosphere of general enthusiasm into which
the old city has been plunged is amazing and
quite indescribable the peculiar frenzy which
has gripped hundreds of thousands of men and
women, the excitement and mystic ecstasy which
has overtaken them like a holy rapturethey
return home seduced and taken in, ready to save
the cause by the French Ambassador to Germany,
on Hitler at the Nuremberg Rally, 1937.
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As time went on he became drunk with his own
oratory and his voice lost its former character
through the intervention of microphone In his
early years he had a command of voice, phrase and
effect which has never been equalled E
Hanfstaegl, 1957.
What skill put Hitler apart from many other
politicians? How do you think this helped the
Nazis gain support?
10
Hitlers rise an historians view
Read the historians opinions on why Hitler came
to power. Which do you most agree with and why?
Zevedei Barbu (social psychologist) Hitler
succeeded not because of a conspiracy of the few
but because his movements gave high hope to the
many of solving the pressing psychological
demands of a people living under conditions of
acute stress. Defeated by war and broken by
inflation, the insecure Germans were attracted
to Nazism because they felt their personal
problems would be solved
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Franz Neumann (economist) Neumann believed that
economics was the main cause. The industrialists
and Junker landlords (aristocrats) feared popular
government, and so conspired with the Nazis to
prevent genuine social democracy so they could
continue making vast profits.
A J P Taylor (British historian) The political
parties were atomised and ineffective the
political leadership, inexperienced and inept
they could have stopped the Bohemian corporal
if they had summoned the will to resist. Instead
they sought to accommodate him he did not seize
power it was handed to him.
12
William L Shirer Shirer concludes that the Nazis
came to power because the movement was ...a
logical continuation of German history. For
centuries, leading German intellectuals had
proclaimed the mystique of racism, endorsed the
Leadership principle, glorified the power of the
State, scoffed at democracy and quashed
individuality. Many historians in this school use
the following as examples of this view Luther in
religion, Hegel and Nietzsche in philosophy,
Spengler in history and Wagner in music.
Basically, all humane and liberal tendencies had
been stifled out by ruthless efficiency and
military dominance. It was the importance of
German militarism and the long history of
anti-Semitism which led to the success of Hitler.
13
The Beer Hall Putsch
In November 1923, with hyperinflation at its
worst, Hitler decided that the Nazis were strong
enough to overthrow the government. Stresemann
had also just given in to the French and ended
the passive resistance campaign in the Ruhr.
Hitler felt sure that when he marched to Berlin,
people would flock to join him.
On 8th November, Hitler, backed up by 600 SA,
broke into a meeting being held by three leaders
of the Bavarian government in a Munich beer hall.
Holding a gun to one of the leaders heads, he
forced him to tell the audience they would help
him with his plan. Then General Ludendorff, a
great German war hero, entered the hall and
promised his support. The audience were convinced.
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The next day, however, the three Bavarian leaders
went back on their word and ordered the army to
attack the SA. In the centre of Munich the two
sides met. 16 Nazis were killed, and Hitler
escaped with a dislocated shoulder. He and
Ludendorff were arrested and charged with high
treason.
The Putsch had failed, was this the end for
Hitler?
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Hitler imprisoned
Hitlers trial lasted 24 days, and catapulted him
onto the front page of every German newspaper.
Everything Hitler said was reported in the paper.
Finally, he was speaking to a national audience.
Hitlers eloquence in his defence so impressed
the judges that they set Ludendorff free and
sentenced Hitler to five years imprisonment, with
the chance of parole after six months. The other
Nazis in the dock got off with equally light
sentences.
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Most of Hitlers time in prison was spent writing
Mein Kampf (my struggle), in which he described
his ideas on history, politics, race and
Germanys future.
After serving only nine months of his sentence,
Hitler was set free. A police report said The
moment he is set free, Hitler will become the
driving force of new and serious public riots
The punishment for high treason should be life
imprisonment. Why did Hitler get such a light
sentence?
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Why were ordinary Germans swayed?
Things had become so bad for the ordinary German,
that the hope offered in Hitlers powerful
speeches was bound to sway them toward Nazism. As
a Social Democrat in the Ruhr mining community
put it They had four, five, even six years of
unemployment behind them they would have hired
on with Satan himself Workers were promised
the prospect of mass consumerism. They were to
have what the people of the West
had. Working-class girls and boys liked the
freedom of the Nazi Youth organizations.
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Unemployment and the growth of Nazism
What link do you notice between unemployment and
membership of the Nazi Party? Give reasons for
the pattern.
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Why did the Nazis come to power?
Read the reasons given below and put them in
order of importance.
Hitler appointed chancellor of Germany.
Germany finished paying reparations to France.
The Reichstag agreed to the Enabling Law.
Beer Hall Putsch.
Nazi Party grows.
The Great Depression world trade has collapsed.
Nazis are the largest party in the Reichstag.
Reichstag dominated by power struggles, with many
small political groups vying for power.
Hitler wrote Mein Kampf while in prison.
Kaiser Wilhelm flees Germany.
The Reichstag Fire.
France seizes German coalfields.
The Nazis used the Jews as scapegoats for
Germanys problems.
Unemployment worsens.
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The main points of the Nazi programme

1. The union of all Germans to form a Great Germany.
2. Equality of rights for the German people in its
   dealings with other nations, and the abolition of
   the peace treaties of Versailles and St Germain.
3. Extension of Germanys territory for the
   nourishment of the population.
4. None but those of German blood, whatever their
   creed, may be members of Germany. No Jew,
   therefore, may be a member of the nation.
5. Anyone who is not a citizen may live in Germany
   as a guest, and is subject to the Alien laws.

continued
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1. The right of voting for leadership is to be
   enjoyed by the citizens of the state alone.
2. The state shall make its first duty to promote
   industry.
3. All further non-German immigration must be
   prevented.
4. All citizens of the state shall possess equal
   rights and duties.
5. All citizens must work for the state.