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1928 Elections

SPD KPD Centre BVP DDP DVP DNVP

1930 Elections
SPD KPD Centre BVP DDP DVP DNVP Nazi Party

July-1932
SPD KPD Centre BVP DDP DVP DNVP Nazi Party

November - 1932
SPD KPD Centre BVP DDP DVP DNVP Nazi Party

Notes + Summary The Nazis and Rural Germany: -A large portion of Nazi electoral support originated in the countryside. -1928 the impoverished rural areas of northern Germany flocked to the Nazis, followed by smaller cities and towns across northern Germany. -The Nazis party offered hope to farmers; a radical way out of poverty. -German agriculture had been depressed since mid-1920s, with a steady decline in world commodity price. -Increase in the level of indebtedness and a decline in living standards for the rural population. -The Nazi party preached the importance of the farming community; promising to subsidize farming and attacking the high interest rates. -Hitler believed in the racial purity of the farming community (promoted by Himmler) because they were away from the corrupting influence of the cities. -When they came to power, the Nazis took steps to preserve the existence of the farming community the bond called Blut and Boden (Blood and Soil). The Importance of region and religion -Strongest Nazi backing originated in Protestant northern and central regions of Germany. -Northern and central regions of Germany traditionally backed middle-class parties such as the democrats and the peoples party. -Most of the Nazi electoral gains were made at the expense of parties like the DDP and the DVP. -Smaller gains made at the expense of the socialists. -One of the strengths of the Nazi party was its ability to penetrate provincial cities and villages to capture the support of the middle class. -Support was never great for the Nazis in the industrial regions to the west and only marginally better in Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt. -1933, 63 percent of Germany was protestant and 33 percent was Catholic. -Support for the Nazis was mainly from protestant voters to the north, Catholic voters proved more resilient, supporting the Catholic Centre Party and the Bavarian Peoples Party instead.

Depression Cause + Effects -German prosperity post-1924 was financed through money borrowed from the Americans. -1920s The Reichsbank kept the interest rate high in order to attract foreign investment. -Between 1924 and 1929 the investment was substantial, 23 billion marks coming into Germany from the US. -The borrowed money was used to finance the industrial boom, and to improve the transport system and finance housing. -Eight billion marks, directly from foreign loans, was used to pay reparations. -Basic weakness was that the country used short-term loans to finance long-term projects. -Germany never had a favorable balance of trade; the cost of her imports was greater than the value of her exports. -1928 decline in the flow of foreign investment as money moved out of Europe and into New York. -Interest rates rose in the hope of attracting investment, this led to a fall-off in economic activity. -Production slowed as unemployment began to rise. -1929 1.5 million people unemployed. By the end of the year, 3 million. -October 1929 New York stock market collapsed, US began to slide into depression. -US banks recalled investment, and the German economy slid into collapse. -Late 1932, six million unemployed. -Deflationary policy adopted; the government sought to cut expenditure and balance its own budget. -Cuts in welfare spending and increases in taxation; only made the depression worse. -Alan Bullock men standing hopelessly on the street corners of every industrial town in Germany; of houses without food or warmth; of boys and girls leaving school without any chance of a job one may begin to guess something of the incalculable human anxiety and embitterment burnt into the minds of millions of ordinary German working men and women -Political instability generated. -The Great Depression shortened the lifespan of the Weimar Republic and the German Democracy more than anything else. -Triggered the revitalization of extremist movements. The Fall of the Muller Government, March 1930 -The Government was originally a coalition of socialists, democrats, the centre party and the German Peoples Party under Chancellor Hermann Muller. -The economic problems divided the Government over how relief payments for the unemployed should be handled. -SPD wanted to maintain relief payments, both to lessen the hardship and to reduce the risk of the working class supporting the Communists.. -The other parties of the coalition opposed the proposal to increase taxes to fund additional employment relief. -27 March 1930 the Government fell.

Shifts in the nature of the Presidential role and the running of the WR -Great demands placed upon president Hindenburg; forced to play a more active role in the decision-making. -Unprepared for the role, he turned to a small circle of conservative military figures for advice. -General Kurt Von Schleicher, Chief of the Army Department, a man who enjoyed political intrigue and exercising his powers. -Oskar Von Hindenburg and Otto Meissner believed Germany needed a strong Government that would be above the party divisions of self-interest. -On Schleichers advice, Hindenburg appointed Heinrich Bruning, leader of the central party, as the new chancellor. -Bruning was supportive of the interests of the German army. -Brunings government did not have majority in the Reichstag, so Hindenburg instead exercised article 48 in order to appoint Bruning in March 1930, the end of a parliamentary government and the beginning of presidential rule. -Brunings attempts to solve the Depression was to follow the traditional policy of deflation. -Tried to balance the budget by cutting expenditure and increasing taxes. -Despite harsh opposition from socialists, communists and nationalists, Bruning believed the harsh measures necessary, and was not swayed. -When the Reichstag voted against his budget in July, he had the President intervene and the budget was implemented under article 48 of the constitution. -As article 48 was only meant to be used in emergency, Bruning argued that Germanys economic woes constituted a state of emergency. -Authority was taken from the German parliament and placed in the hands of the president. -Reichstag retaliated by passing a vote of no confidence in the Chancellor, carried 256 votes to 193. -Bruning responded poorly, asking the president to dissolve the Reichstag and call new elections for September. -At such a time of economic crisis, it was inevitable that extremist economic parties would benefit from this. -What was a crisis for the party now became a crisis for democracy. 1930 Elections -Nazi party took hold of the September 1930 opportunity offered to them, launching a campaign of action, portraying themselves as a party of action. -Hundreds of rallies and political meetings, Hitler and the other Nazi leaders attacked the weaknesses and inefficiency of the parliamentary system. -Hated the divided political parties, the threat of communism, and the social and economic consequences of the depression. -Nazis tapped into the mood of resentment and frustration; promising a revitalization of will and a new beginning. -Hitler appealed to small business operators, rural and farming population, anyone who suffered badly from depression. -Hitler did not specify how he would solve the economic problems, but he projected determination and a conviction that he would. -Hitler won wide support, and the communists attempted to emulate his tactic, hammering the republic and attracting support from a suffering working-class.

-35 million Germans voted, Nazis went from twelve to 107 seats in the Reichstag. -Now the second largest party in the German Parliament. -The German Communist party won 77 seats, making them the third largest party, seeking to overthrow the German Democracy. Bruning holds onto power -The Nazis came to parliament not to debate, but to end debate. -After September 1930 elections the Reichstag was essentially unworkable, because the Nazism the KPD and the DNVP were all opposed to Bruning and his frail coalition Government. -Nevertheless, Bruning survived as Chancellor, because the SPD with their 143 seats were now prepared to support him in the Reichstag. -Socialists opposed Brunings economic policies because of the great hardship they put upon the working class, but they were fearful of the fall of his Government, as it may cause the Nazis to come to power. -1931 Bruning persisted with his policy and used article 48 to have his measures implemented. -New tax measures, further cuts in wages and unemployment relief. -Confidence in banking system fell, and Danat Bank fell. -Food prices rose and unemployment continued to climb, reaching 4.6 million in October 1931. The end of reparations -Continued burden of reparations payments made economic problems even more difficult. -Bruning wanted to end the payments, but to achieve this goal, Germany had to show the allied powers that it trying to deal with its own economic problems. -June 1931, President Hoover proposed a one-year moratorium on the reparations payments. -A year later, the allied powers cancelled reparations payments altogether. -Bruning lost office a month before; credit for ending the payments went to his successor, Franz von Papen. 1932 Presidential Elections -Hindenburgs seven-year term as president came to an end. -Bruning tried to have the Reichstag vote to extend his term by two years, but the Nazis and nationalists opposed the appeal. -Reluctantly, Hindenburg agreed to stand in the presidential elections in March backed up by the socialist and middle-class parties he privately despised. -The Nazis conducted a vigorous electoral campaign. -party membership, which stood at 450 000, was activated under Goebbels. -In an intense 3wk campaign the party organized 300 meetings across the country, whilst Hindenburg did not campaign due to declining health and dignity. -Chancellor Bruning addressed election meetings on Hindenburgs behalf. -March 14 no candidate received an absolute majority, so a second round of voting was scheduled for April 10. -Hitler was the first politician to appear on air, appearing in 21 cities in a week. -Goebbels devised an appropriate slogan Hitler over Germany which increased the Nazi vote, but not enough for a victory.

-Hindenburg achieved 53 percent of the vote and at 84 years of age was reelected president of Germany for another 7 years. Flow chart of Hitlers steps to power 1. General Von Schiecher began moves to have Bruning removed he had failed to solve the economic problem, and the Government was far too dependant upon the Socialists for support. 2. The Defence Minister General Groener finally moved to ban the SA and SS on account of violent behavior, 3. Schleicher and others convinced Hindenburg that Bruning was no longer acceptable, that he had moved too far to the left, and banning the SA and SS had unsettled the army. 4. President Hindenburg asked Bruning for his resignation. 5. Power no longer resided within the elected parliament but with the elderly president and his inner circle. 6. The inner circle set up the next government one led by Franz Von Papen, a former member of the centre party. 7. Von Papen had the support of Hindenburg and Schleicher but few others a hat without a head 8. Papens circle of Barons had no support from the Reichstag. 9. Socialists and Nationalists opposed Papen, and the Centre, Democrats and Peoples party, furious at the way Bruning had been dumped, also refused to support him. 10. Schleicher resumed contact with the Nazis secured an understanding that Hitler would co-operate with the new Government if the ban on the SA and SS was lifted and new elections called. 11. 1932 election campaign was vigorous and violent as opposed parties clashed on the street. 12. 17th July, the Nazis staged a proactive march through the working-class area of Hamburg; the inevitable violence led to 19 dead and 200 injured. 13. Nazis won 37.4 percent of the vote and more than doubled their representation in the Reichstag, from 108 to 230 seats; 13.7 million Germans had voted for the Nazis. 14. Hitler demanded Chancellorship and five cabinet places; Hindenburg refused to appoint Hitler as Chancellor. 15. 13 August Hitler was offered the position of Vice Chancellor and reminded of his promise to co-operate with the Government; the offer was rejected, and Hitler demanded Chancellorship. 16. November 1932 Nazi vote dropped 5.4 percent representation in the Reichstag fell to 196 seats, although they were still the largest party in the house. 17. 1 December Papen proposed to Hindenburg that the Reichstag be suspended and the President assume control until the crisis was past. 18. Schleicher decided Papen had failed and wanted to make an arrangement with the Nazis he persuaded the President the army had lost faith in Papen, using the fear of civil war, he told the President the army could not take sides if civil war erupted. 19. Demember 2 Hindenburg asks Papen for his resignation, and in a last effort to keep Hitler out of power, appoints Schleicher the Chancellor.

20. Schleicher survived as Chancellor for all of two months. 18 months later, he was shot by the SS after offering Hitlers second-in-command, Strasser, the position of vice-chancellor. 21. Papen and Hitler conspire against Schleicher for a coalition government of Nazis, the German Nationalist Party and his own conservative supporters. The Government would have majority in the Reichstag. 22. 28 January Hindenburg dismissed Schleicher as Chancellor, and two days later, appointed Hitler Chancellor of Germany. 23. General Ludendorff to Hindenburg: Future generations will damn you in your grave for what you have done. (Gutachen des Instituts fur Zeitgeschite, Vol. 1, Munich, 1958, p. 42) Nazi Party -Obsessed with order one human being as part of a national community. -Nazis political opponents were the first to be rounded up Communists. -Dachal German concentration camp outside Munich used on political opponents. -Physical + Psychological torture -The gates of Dachal Work will set you free -Extermination camps different to concentration camps. -12wks after Hitler became Chancellor all Jewish shops were boycotted for a day. -Jewish people randomly attacked by stormtroopers taken to a sport stadium and made to cut the grass by eating it. -Nazi storm troopers burned unsuitable books particularly ones by Jewish authors. -Himmler fabricated a story against Rherm that he was planning a coup. Rherm was arrested and shot. -Soldiers forced to swear to serve Hitler commit suicide if they betray him. -Hitler cared very little about political decisions often signed documents without reading files. -Thousands of Jews emigrated. -Gestapo burned as many records that opposed the Nazi Party as possible. -Primary job for the Gestapo was sorting out denunciations. -Every German was at risk of denunciation perfect behavior. -Crimes included not fitting in, having Jewish friends, and not talking to neighbors. -Denunciations are primarily gossip Miss Totska does not seem to have normal predispositions. -Ilza Sonya Totzke Occasionally invites over friends of Jewish appearance. -The population was not just manipulated and brainwashed but manipulated from below by selfish + idealistic individuals denouncing for their own benefit. -No policies could be implemented without Hitlers benefit people sought to please him by feeding his rampant anti-semitism. -The Night of Broken Glass Goebbels unleashes the stormtroopers to take revenge upon innocent Jewish people for the actions of one Jewish man who assassinated a politician. -1000 synagogues destroyed. -Post - Night of Broken Glass Hitlers reputation was untainted violence put down to the hotheadedness of the Stormtroopers.

-Politically, it was all about obtaining Hitlers favor. -5 different offices claimed to represent the will of Hitler spent most of their time fighting each other. -Philip Bouler, an ambitious Nazi, exploited his control over the mail to curry favor with Hitler. -Hitler authorized the murder of newborn disabled babies and children. -Eventually, staff in child farms made the decision as to whether children should be killed or not on their own steam. -Any idea within the Nazi system given to a leader who spoke in visions could radically spiral into a policy leading to thousands of deaths.

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