Humanities: History

Unit 2: The World in Crisis

Chapter 3: Hitler’s Germany
3.1 Hitler’s rise to power

3.1: Hitler’s Rise to Power - How did Hitler rise to power?

1. Weaknesses of the Weimar Government
a) Economic instability under the Weimar Government
b) Political problems under the Weimar Government
2. Hitler’s leadership
a) The appeal of Nazi ideology
b) Hitler’s charisma and political manipulation
c) Organisational Strength of the Nazi Party
d) Use of propaganda

1. Weaknesses of the Weimar Government

a) Economic  Hyperinflation:
instability under o In order to solve the Ruhr Crisis, the Weimar government
the Weimar printed more money to pay the workers on strike and to pay off
Government Germany’s reparations
o The more money was printed, the more its value decreased
o This resulted in hyperinflation where the uncontrolled increase
in the supply of money led to the devaluation of money
o The German currency (the Reichsmark) became worthless
o Many Germans were angry and unhappy because their
savings became worthless overnight
o Gustav Stresemann, German Chancellor did try to solve the
situation when he introduced a new currency, the Rentenmark
and negotiated the 1924 Dawes Plan to loan money from USA
to pay Germany’s reparations. However Stresemann died in
1929 and his efforts to help Germany’s economy were
interrupted
o As there were no good leaders to lead Germany after the death
of Stresemann, many Germans looked to other political leaders
whom they felt could lead Germany.
 Great Depression:
o In October 1929, the stock market in USA crashed resulting in
the start of the Great Depression – a serious economic
recession. Thousands of businesses in USA went bankrupt
and were forced to close. Millions of Americans lost their jobs.
o Germany’s economy was dependent on USA’s economy due
to the USA’s loans to Germany. USA’s economic situation
badly affected Germany as she no longer had the money to
loan to Germany and German businesses were also forced to
closed, many Germans lost their jobs.
o The Weimar government did not take decisive action and many
Germans blamed the Weimar government for their economic
hardship. They supported other parties such as the Nazi Party
who promised to solve Germany’s economic problems.

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b) Political  System of proportional representation
Problems under o The system of proportional representation was used. This
the Weimar meant that a political party receives the same % of seats in
Government parliament as the % of votes it wins in the election. This was a
democratic and fair system, but because there was no party
that was able to win a large % of the votes, parliament was
made up of many small parties who could not easily come
to an agreement or decision.
 Coalition-led governments
o Because of the system of proportional representation, parties
in parliament had to form a coalition government in order to
lead Germany. Coalition governments were not successful as
they often argued within each other because they were made
up by very different groups of people and parties. When no
decision could be made, the coalition government would be
broken up and re-formed. Between 1919 to 1933, there were
20 different coalition governments! The German people would
have seen the government as weak and ineffective because of
their inability to make decisions that would help Germany.

2. Hitler’s leadership
a) The appeal of  Hitler gained popular support because of the promises and ideology
Nazi ideology which he presented to the Germans
 His political party – the National Socialist German Workers Party
(NSDAP) aka the Nazi Party presented their ideas and plans to the
people in their 1920: “25 point programme”
 This included:
o Removing the Treaty of Versailles, Union of Germany and
Austria, establishing a strong, powerful government,
expanding into Russia and Poland to create more “Living
space” for Germans, expand into other parts of Europe to
gain land and resources so that Germany could be great
again
 Hitler’s book Mein Kampf also presented these promises to make
Germany powerful and strong again and became very popular
amongst the German people.
 Hitler also emphasized that the Aryan Germans were a superior race
and should be treated as superior by other countries and other
races.

b) Hitler’s charisma Hitler’s charisma and oratorical skills

and political  Hitler was a powerful speaker and very charismatic which allowed
manipulation him to gain the support of many Germans who believed him and
were easily influenced by what he said
o He carefully prepared and practiced his speeches
o He was energetic and could make 3-4 speeches a day
o He made sure to express the concerns of the people and
appear sincere and understanding of their problems

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 o He made many speeches in Beer Halls where people were
relaxed, drunk and easily influenced by him
 Even when Hitler was arrested for his role in the failed Munich Beer
Hall Putsch, he was able to turn his court trial into a publicity stunt
o His defence speeches over 24 days were specially prepared
to help him win over more support
o Newspapers which reported on his trial also helped Hitler
gain more support
o His speeches made him so popular that even though the
possible sentence for his crime was life imprisonment, he
was only sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with eligibility
for parole in 6 months.

Hitler’s political manipulations

 Hitler was a good political strategist and he looked out for
opportunities to make deals with other politicians to advance his
power
 In Nov 1932 and Dec 1932 elections, even though the Nazi party
won many votes, German President Hindenburg chose Franz Von
Papen and later Kurt von Schleicher to be Chancellor instead of
Hitler. President Hindenburg was concerned that Hitler would claim
too much power for himself.
 However both Von Papen and von Schleicher lacked support within
the Reichstag (German Parliament) and were forced to resign.
 President Hindenburg and Von Papen decided to make a deal with
Hitler, in making him Chancellor, they would have the support of the
Reichstag and he would keep order in Germany by keeping the
Communists under control with his armed forces.
 Hitler’s ability to make deals with the politicians who needed his
popularity helped him to gain more control over the government.
c) Organisational  He increased Party membership by establishing local Nazi parties,
Strength of the setting up youth organisations such as Hitler Youth which helped the
Nazi Party Nazi party to grow in size and popularity. The Hitler Youth
organisation was also very effective since it was able to attract Nazi
supporters from young.
 He established the Stormtroopers (SA - Sturmabteilung) and the
Defence Corps (SS – Schutz-Staffel) as part of the Nazi Party’s
armed forces. They broke up Communist party meetings and helped
to establish order in Germany. The SS was set up as Hitler’s elite
personal bodyguard. The existence of the SA and SS made the Nazi
Party look powerful, disciplines and united.
d) Use of  Hitler appointed Joseph Goebbels to be in charge of using posters,
propaganda speeches, films, parades etc., to appeal to the German people’s
emotions and convince them of the power and strength of the Nazi
Party.

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