History Revision Unit 2 Key Topic 2

Hitlers first political activity:

Joining the DAP:
Hitler was assigned an army assignment, which led him to the
German Workers Party, where he found he agreed with all of their
views. They were against the; communists, socialists, Weimar
politicians, democracy, the Jews.
The 25-Point programme, February 1920:
Hitler and Drexler:
o Scrapping the Treaty of Versailles
o Expanding German borders (lebensraum)
o Depriving the Jews of German citizenship
They were willing to use force
Early Nazi Party:
7 August 1920, Dap changed their name to the NSDAP (Nazi)
The swastika became the symbol
The raised arm salute was added
During 1920, membership grew to 3000
They had a newspaper enabling them to spread their views even
further
Powerful leaders and friends;
o Ernst Rhm
o Hermann Goering
o Rudolf Hess
o Julius Streicher
o General Ludendorf
The SA (Brownshirts) Hitlers stormtroopers, 1921
o Nazi Partys private army
o Many from the Freikorps, ex-soldiers who were angry at the end
of WW1
o Provided security at meetings and acted as leader bodyguards
o Broke up meetings of opposition groups
o Difficult to control
The Shock Troop
o In 1923, Hitler handpicked a selected few and created his own
bodyguard the Strosstrupp
The

impact of the Munich Putsch

Hitlers trial improved publicity
The NSDAP ban was lifted quickly
In May 1924, the Nazis won 32 seats in the Reichstag
Hitler was released after only 9 months

 Hitler wrote Mein Kampf

The political ideas of the Nazi party after 1924:
Nationalism
o Breaking the restrictions on germany in the treaty
o Reviving the power of Germany
o Making Germany self-sufficient, not dependent on imports
o Expanding Germany's borders
o Purifying the German 'race'
Socialism
o Like the communists, Hitler wanted control of the big
businesses
o However, communists wanted land and buisnesses in the hands
of the worker
o Hitler did not support this form of socialism,. To him, socialism
meant running the economy in the national interest so that:
both agriculture and industry would flourish
buisnesses would not make unfair profit
Jews could not control buisnesses.
Totalitarianism
o Hitler despised democracy. He said it was weak.
o He believed in Fhrerprinzip (leadership) ; total loyalty to the
leader.
o This way he said, the leader could organise every aspect of
society for the benefit of the German people.
Traditional German values
Hitler said that the Weimar Republic had weakened moral and
cultural values. He wanted the return of:
o Strong family values with clear male and female roles.
o Christian morality
o Old-style German culture, with traditional art, music and
theatre
Struggle
o Hitler saw life as a competition, in which people struggling
against oneanother made them fitter and stronger.
o Nazis believed that Germany should struggle:
Outside her borders, against other countries, for land, to
get lebensraum, so that all German peoples could unite.
Inside her borders, against non-German people, so that
thye could strengthen the German race.
Racial purity
o Hitler said that people were either superior or inferior

o According to Hitler, the Aryans were the superior race. These

were the Germanic people of northern Europe, who, he said,
had produced all that was good in human culture.
o He believed that other races, from places like Eastern Europe
(for example the Slavs), and from Africa and Asia were inferior
races.
o The lowest form of life was the Jews. "Fed of the countries they
lived in."
Re-launch:
Hitler re-launched the party on 27 February 1925:
Administration and finance:
o He had two organisers: Philipp Bouhler and Franz Schwarz
o The party was organised into regions
o Hitler befriended Germanys wealthiest businessmen to ensure
donations
The SA and the SS:
o By 1930, the SA had 400,000 members
o Hitler set up the Schutzstafel, his private protection squad
o They were first controlled by Julius Schreck and then Heinrich
Himmler
Nazi Propaganda:
Hitler used Dr Joseph Goebbels to improve Nazi propaganda to portray
their message.
o They blamed the Jews November criminals
o Hitler was the voice of the party by the 1930s, his speeches were
read by hundreds of thousands of Germans a week
o They used the most up-to-date technology radio, films,
gramophones and even used private jets to visit 5 cities a day
o The image was clear, strength Hitlers passionate speeches, the
sight of his rallies and the power of the SA
The lean years:
By 1928, conditions in Germany had improved and the want for extremes
had fallen
o Inflation had eased, employment rates had risen and the public were
better of
o Stresemann had improved Germanys worldwide status
o In 1925, Hindenburg became a highly reputable President
In the May 1928 general election the NSDAP received poor results:
o They had just 12 seats
o They were the 9th biggest party
o They only won 2.6% of the vote

Support grows, 1929-32:

The bank collapsed, business failed and unemployment had grown again
people were yet again desperate. Brnings government was weak and
not well received due to its inefectiveness.
Communists
Nazi seats
Nazi votes

May 1928
54 seats
12 seats
1 million

Sept 1930
77 seats
107 seats
6 million

July 1932
89 seats
230 seats
13 million

Hitlers appeal
o Strong leader
o Unite the country
o Restore order
o Force other nations to treat Germany fairly and scrap the treaty
The SA
o 1930, 400,000 stormtroopers
o Used in the rallies to make the Nazis seem strong, organised,
disciplined and reliable
o Gave hope for the future
o Disrupt opposition
Working-class support
o Biggest group of supporters
o The NSDAP knew how to appeal to all people
o Attracted to strong, traditional Germany
o Posters, which appealed to workers
Middle-class support
o Hitler could help recovery after the Great Depression
o The communists wanted to abolish all private ownership etc.
Nazis could protect them
o Return after moral decline
Farmers
o Hitler could promise to protect Farmers land as long as they
werent Jewish
Big Business
o Industrialists saw Hitler as their best hope to protect from
communism
o They poured money into the party so they had to support it
o Newspaper owners let Goebbels use them for propaganda
against the communists
Young people and women

o Young attracted to passionate speeches and ambitions for

future change
o Women propaganda claimed Nazis were best for families and
country
Presidential elections:
Hindenburg
Ernst Thllman
Communist
Hitler

March 1932 (no 50%)

18 million
5 million

April 1932
19 million winner
4 million

11 million

13 million

Hitlers rise to power:

The government was in chaos. President Hindenburg dismissed
Brning in 1932. His replacement - Papen - lasted six months, and
the next chancellor - Schleicher - only lasted two months.
Hindenburg had to use Article 48 to pass almost every law.
In January 1933, Hindenburg and Papen came up with a plan to get
the Nazis on their side by ofering to make Hitler vice chancellor. He
refused and demanded to be made chancellor. They agreed, thinking
they could control him.
In January 1933, Hitler became chancellor, and immediately set
about making himself absolute ruler of Germany using Article 48.