Factors
impacting Hitler’s rise to power
ECONOMIC
-
WW1
-
Hyperinflation
-
Failure of the young plan
-
The Ruhr crisis: Germany wanted
to rebuild their economy but missed a delivery so France and Belgium invaded
Ruhr
-
The Great Depression (October 1929)
o
This saw the Nazi’s being the
second largest party in the Reichstag due to their empty promises
-
Economic instability before
WW1, therefore the dramatic decline in natural resources and labour
significantly affected the Germans
-
Hitler and Nazi’s gave false
hope, offering national unity, prosperity and full employment
-
1923- German currency collapse
-
1931- German banking system
collapse
SOCIAL
-
Treaty of Versailles was
unpopular (Made to better the rest of the world, “reorganize a shattered world”[1],
Germany was in debt 6.6 billion pounds
-
Feeling of humiliation because
of their constant failure
-
Hitler decides to go into
politics because he believes that the fact the Germans fought and died for
their countries, and took part in a four year hardship was all in vain
-
Hitler brought out a sense of
nationalism
-
Signed an agreement with the
pope to have an affect on religion to try and Control of the media
-
German social union bans trade
unions
-
People are taking extreme views
-
Didn’t realize the treat of the
Nazis because of the communists
-
Propaganda
-
Strength and appeal of Hitler
and the Nazi’s change them
-
Germans scared to vote against
hitler because of his power
-
Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei Secret State Police) set up in 1930 spy and
arrest anyone against Nazism
POLITICAL
-
Accepted Treaty of Versailles
-
The Weimar government weak and
unpopular
-
Fair representation was not
working, never had a majority vote and the number of parties
-
Change of monarchy to democracy
-
The enabling law: Where a
legislative entity grants another group power to do something
-
Threat of civil war (political
parties and the SA)
-
Political assassinations
-
Bans communist parties
-
Gets rid of all parties in 1933
-
Stalin told communists and
socialists not to vote together
-
Role of leader
-
Role of opposition
-
Hitler refused to accept the
title of vice chancellor, requesting to only be titled “Führer” (leader)
-
became a totalitarian state
-
hitler preferred to develop
parallel institutions which competed with one another
-
‘intentionalists’
-
the confusion due to the
competing institutions, caused the Fuher to take decisions and be regarded as a foundation of his power
-
“stress and chaos was entirely
unintended”
-
hitler provided the essential
goals such as territorial expansion eastwards and the removal of “enemies”
-
the basic principles were
altered radically
-
Law banning establishment of
parties, no provincial elections
-
23-29 Stressman was foreign
secretary
-
1925- Hindenburg elected
president
MILITARY
-
military wanted to feel secure
-
they did not want to support
Hitler, after he got rid of the SA they felt they had to
-
internal police forces
-
Wealthy Prussians (had to
supply their own horses, food ect)
-
Blomberg (leader)
-
Army limited to 100,000 men
without tanks or big guns
-
worried about the S.A launching
an attack as they have a considerable amount more people
-
The SS (Schutzstaffel) Hitlers bodyguards, expanded into an army
-
signed on to support hitler
because he got rid of the SA leadership, thus causing them to fall apart
o
THE SA
o
young german boys
o
lower middle class/ working
class
o
gave them employment
o
Roehm (leader)
o
Pro-nazi’s as early as WW1
o
Believed they would be rewarded
for their work
o
Create a socialist revolution
o
2 million men
o
Hitler worried he would lose
control of them and they would become a threat
o
by getting rid of the SA,
hitler didn’t have to worry about a revolution
o
beginning of the army becoming
Nazi’s
o
had to get rid of all his
oppositions or potential opposition
o
always talked about things in
legal terms
[1] Ross, S., Causes and Consequences of the Second World War. Evans Brothers
Limited, London. 1995.
Good to see the fundamental research. There will certainly be time for more in depth research.
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