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Unit 2: The World in Crisis: Chapter 2: Rise of Authoritarian Regimes - Nazi Germany

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History Unit

Upper Secondary Notes

Unit 2: The World in Crisis


Chapter 2: Rise of authoritarian regimes - Nazi Germany

Key Knowledge Required Key Inquiry Question


3.1 Reasons for the rise of Hitler in Germany
1. Weaknesses of the Weimar government
2. Hitler’s leadership

3.2 Impact of Hitler’s rule on Germany


1. Political: consolidation of power, one-party rule
2. Economic: re-employment and militarisation
3. Social: controlled society and persecution of
Jewish people and other minority groups

 Prior to Hitler’s appointment as the Chancellor of Germany, the ruling Weimar


Government was unpopular among the Germans.
 The Weimar Government was blamed for its inability to solve many of the post-war
problems Germany inherited from its defeat in World War I.
 The Weimar Government was also blamed for its role in the surrender in World War I
and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
 Hitler was able to gain support by promising to overturn the Treaty of Versailles and
regain Germany’s pride.
 Hitler and his Nazi Party were able to gain total control of Germany by 1933, turning
it into a totalitarian Nazi state.

What led to Hitler’s rise to power?


1. Weakness of the Weimar Government
 The constitution and system of proportional representation
- However, under this new system, governments did not last long.
- Regular changing of the governments proved to be disruptive to the stability of
the country.
- Moreover, most of the ruling parties were coalition parties that lacked unity.
- Many people had little faith in the ability of the government.
 Opposed by the right
- The ‘right’ comprised mainly of the German Army which objected to the signing of
the Treaty of Versailles.
- This group claimed the army had been ‘stabbed in the back’ and could have
continued fighting.
- Deeply resentful, they were determined to obstruct the work of the Weimar
Government.
- However, their claims were untrue.
- Germany’s allies, Turkey and Bulgaria, were ready to stop fighting and negotiate
for peace, leaving Germany’s south open to attack.
- Since 1915, the British naval blockade of Germany’s ports had prevented food
and raw materials from reaching Germany.
- Starved of food and basic goods, the Weimar Government had no choice but to
sign the Treaty of Versailles.
 Opposed by the left
- The ‘left’ refers to the Communists.
- One of the Communist groups was known as the Spartacists, a group which
wanted to set up a government similar to the one in the Soviet Union.
- Frequent uprisings by the Spartacists occurred between 1918 and 1919.
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Humanities Dept
Commonwealth Secondary School
History Unit
Upper Secondary Notes

- The Spartacists were opposed by anti-Communist ex-servicemen, the Freikorps


(or the Free Corps). There were frequent battles between both groups.
- Unable to keep order in the country
- The government spent much of its time trying to suppress riots and attempts to
overthrow the government.
- It relied heavily on the Freikorps to suppress revolts.
- The Freikorps themselves tried to overthrow the government in the 1920 Kapp
Putsch which almost succeeded.
- In November 1923, Hitler himself attempted to overthrow the government in the
Munich Beer Hall Putsch.
 Unable to keep order in the country and solve economic problems
- Members of the Weimar Government became targets for attack.
- Between 1919 and 1922, there were 376 political murders.
- Many people were deeply shocked by the level of violence in the country and lost
confidence in the government’s ability to maintain law and order.
- The judges and police, many of whom preferred the days of autocratic rule under
the Kaiser, were sympathetic towards the murderers and the murderers mostly
received light sentences.
- Lost the support of the middle class
- The Weimar Government was heavily in debt due to the payment of war
reparations.
- Germany’s problems were worsened by the hyper-inflation caused by the
overprinting of money which the government used to pay off its debts.
- Many Germans lost their savings overnight and they blamed the government.
- The middle class was the worst hit and they stopped supporting the government,
believing that the government and its democratic system had failed.
 Lost a capable leader
- Despite its weaknesses, the Weimar Government did not collapse.
- This was due to the efforts of Chancellor Gustav Stresemann.
- He was able to negotiate for a longer term for the repayment of reparations
through the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan.
- He also improved relations with the Allies and Germany was admitted to the
League of Nations.
- These positive developments led some people to describe the years between
1924 and 1929 as a golden age for Germany.
- His death in 1929 was a big blow to Germany.
 German over-reliance on American loans and the Great Depression
- This made Germany vulnerable as it depended on America’s ability to keep
lending.
- When the Great Depression hit and America was badly affected, the loans from
America to Germany dried up.
- Germany suffered as a result of this and was on the verge of collapse.

2. Hitler’s abilities
 Re-organised the Nazi party to gain political support
- He used his abilities and took advantage of the opportunities present to rise to
power.
- Hitler had the natural ability to capture people’s attention with his public speaking
skills.
- He was able to inspire confidence and belief among Germans that he could be the
one to lead Germany out of its problems.

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Humanities Dept
Commonwealth Secondary School
History Unit
Upper Secondary Notes

- Under Hitler’s leadership, the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP)
or Nazi Party grew and came up with its first programme known as the Twenty-five
Points in 1920.
- For his role in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, he was arrested.
- However, his stirring speech made the judges sympathetic towards him and he
received a light sentence of a five-year jail sentence. He was released on parole
after only nine months.
- The jail term proved to be a turning point.
- It convinced Hitler that legal means and not force alone would help him gain
power.
- Upon release, he concentrated his efforts on reorganising the Nazi Party.
- Among the changes made was the setting up of branches in different parts of
Germany as well as the creation of a youth movement.

 Shrewd use of propaganda to spread messages that people were desperate to hear
- Initially, the Nazi Party had very little support from the people.
- The working class supported either the Social Democratic Party or the
Communists.
- The years 1924–1929 saw general economic prosperity and political stability.
Thus, the people did not see the need to vote out the Weimar Government.
- At the time, most Germans were not interested in Nazi calls to keep Jews out of
German political life nor in the Nazi plan to invade other countries. The people
also did not like the way the Nazis beat up their opponents to intimidate them.
- After the Great Depression in 1929, many Germans suffered. The Weimar
Government’s popularity dipped even further.
- With improved organisation, Hitler was able to gain much popularity and support.
- The Nazi Party and the Communists became popular during the difficult times
after the Great Depression.
- Many Germans believed that the Weimar Government had failed them and were
open to trying out alternative forms of government.
- Hitler made use of propaganda to spread fear about the aims of Communism.
- He convinced people that the Nazi Party was the only party capable of providing
order and stopping the Communists.
- Many rich industrialists supported the Nazis as they wanted an anti-Communist
government.
- With strong financial support, Hitler was able to build a sizeable private army —
the Sturmabteilung (SA) or Stormtroopers.
- The Nazis won less than three per cent of the votes in the 1928 Elections.
- By 1930, they had won 37.3 per cent, making them the party with the most seats
in the Reichstag.
 Skilful at making deals with politicians
- In 1932, President von Hindenburg was pressurised to agree to Hitler’s demand
for chancellorship. He was persuaded by Franz von Papen who thought that the
conservatives could channel their support for Hitler into support for the policies of
the cabinet.
- Furthermore, it was hoped that Hitler could help the government to control the
Communists.
- This was welcomed by the rich industrialists who then supported the appointment
of Hitler as Chancellor.
- On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor. Within months, he ended
Weimar Germany and started the Third Reich.

How did Hitler’s rule impact Germany?

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Humanities Dept
Commonwealth Secondary School
History Unit
Upper Secondary Notes

Political Impact
Consolidation of Power I: The Reichstag Fire and the Communists
 Hoping for full control, Hitler dissolved the Reichstag and called for fresh elections in
March 1933.
 A week before the elections however, the Reichstag building caught fire.
 Blaming the incident on the Communists and claiming that the state was in danger,
Hitler managed to convince the President to grant him emergency powers.
 Using these powers, Hitler arrested the Communists and other political opponents.
 On 5 March 1933, the Nazis won 43.9 per cent of the votes in the Reichstag.
 This act gave Hitler full dictatorial powers for four years.
 To pass the Enabling Act, Hitler needed a two-thirds majority of the Reichstag.
 To achieve this, Hitler outlawed the Communist Party and arrested most of them to
prevent them from voting against him.
 On March 1933, he got two-thirds of the votes with the support of the Nationalists
and the Catholic Centre Party.
 Within a month, Hitler made use of his powers to strengthen his control.

Consolidation of Power II: Night of the Long Knives and the SA


 The SA was Hitler’s private army and played a crucial role in his rise.
 By 1934, the SA (also known as Brownshirts) had grown into a four-million strong
army under Ernst Rohm.
 Hitler was worried about the potential threat from the SA.
 Rohm’s calls for the SA to be made into a second German Army and large firms
nationalised worried the generals, industrialists and Hitler, who was afraid that the SA
might challenge his position.
 On 29 and 30 June 1934, Hitler had Rohm and many SA leaders arrested and
executed, together with other political leaders who opposed him. This event was
known as the Night of the Long Knives.
 One of Hitler’s aims was to gain complete control of the state.
 After getting political control of the state, he proceeded to gain tight control over the
people in order to achieve his goals.
 Hitler used his emergency powers to suspend political and civil rights after the
Reichstag fire.
 The government had the power to arrest anyone suspected of being against the
government.
 Suspects could be imprisoned for an indefinite period of time, without being brought
to a court of law.
 The courts were also under the total control of the Nazis.
 Only Nazis or Nazi supporters could become judges.
 Hence, it became impossible to get a fair trial in Nazi Germany.
 The SS (Schutzstaffel or Elite Guard) and the Gestapo (the secret police) often
arrested and killed opponents of the Nazi Party.
 The Gestapo were not accountable to the courts or to any law.
 The SS and Gestapo struck fear in all Germans.
 Nazi Germany is sometimes called a police state, because of the virtually unlimited
power of its police force.

Social Impact
Lack of Freedom and Terror as Control Tactics
 The Nazis divided each town into smaller units called viertels or quarters.

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Humanities Dept
Commonwealth Secondary School
History Unit
Upper Secondary Notes

 Each quarter had its own Nazi Quarter Warden who would visit the houses in his
quarter every week to check and gather information on everyone.
 The Quarter Wardens acted as informers to the Nazi Party of any possible opposition.
 People were encouraged to report on their families and neighbours who did not show
total support for Hitler and the Nazi Party.
 Concentration camps were built to house the huge number of people arrested for
being anti-government.
 Between 1933 and 1939, more than 200 000 Germans were arrested and sent to the
concentration camps.
 The people were very badly treated there — they were forced to work very hard and
had very little food to eat.
 As a result of the hardship and suffering they had to endure, there were many deaths
in the concentration camps.
 Under Nazi rule, all cultural activities, such as musical performances, films and art
exhibitions, were aimed at shaping the minds of the Germans to think like Nazis.
 The Nazis organised a lot of cultural activities to encourage the Germans to support
Hitler.
 The development of other forms of culture was not permitted.
 Joseph Goebbels, one of Hitler’s most trusted ministers, was put in charge of the
Nazi propaganda programme.
 He played an important role in spreading Nazi propaganda in Germany to gain the
people’s support for the ‘Führer and the Fatherland’.
 The Nazis brought all radio stations under their total control. All Germans were
encouraged to buy radios which were sold very cheaply in Germany, and radio
loudspeakers were also installed in all public and work areas.
 Whenever Hitler gave speeches, orders would be given for everyone to switch on
their radios and listen to his speech.

Pervasive Use of Propaganda


 The Nazis also controlled the cinemas, a very popular form of entertainment in the
1930s.
 Only movies approved by the Nazis could be shown.
 Short films which highlighted the achievements of the Nazis and which contained
Nazi beliefs had to be screened before the start of all movies.
 German movies in the 1930s usually praised the Nazis or showed the Jews as the
enemies of the Germans.
 The Ministry of Propaganda made sure the only information the German people got
was what the government wanted them to hear, read and see.
 The Nazis controlled all forms of media and there was very strict censorship.
 Publications, including newspapers, could publish only what was approved by the
Ministry of Propaganda.
 Any publication that did not follow this was closed down and the people responsible
arrested and thrown in the concentration camps.
 Books written by Jews and other ‘undesirable’ people were removed from libraries
and shops, and burnt in public.
 Even after gaining political control of the state, the Nazis continued to use
spectacular and colourful rallies just as they had done before coming to power.
 The biggest rally was an annual one held in Nuremburg. Hundreds of thousands of
people witnessed or took part in the rally.
 The people were very impressed by the Nazi uniforms, colourful flags, searchlights
and torchlight processions. These gave an impression of power and unity, which
greatly appealed to the Germans.

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Humanities Dept
Commonwealth Secondary School
History Unit
Upper Secondary Notes

 Nazi youth organisations were set up for both sexes.

Creation of the Ideal Nazi Aryan and the Response of the Youths
 Boys went through programmes of military athletics while girls were prepared for
eventual motherhood.
 German youths who were not members of these youth organisations found it difficult
to enter universities or obtain jobs.
 Through these programmes, German youths were brainwashed by the Nazis.
 Though many young people enthusiastically joined these organisations, others did
not. One of the largest anti-Nazi youth groups was the ‘Edelweiss Pirates’.
 The ‘Edelweiss Pirates’ were youths who did not like the strictly-controlled life
required by Nazi youth organisations.
 The Nazis punished the members of the ‘Edelweiss Pirates’ by putting thousands of
them in prison and hanging the leaders of the group, but this did not deter them.
 The presence of these groups showed that the Nazis did not have complete control
over the German people.
 Hitler made sure that schools encouraged loyalty and obedience to Nazi beliefs.
 All teachers had to attend special training camps to help them teach Nazi beliefs
more effectively.
 Physical Education was emphasised to ensure all German children were healthy.
 Students were taught how unfair the Treaty of Versailles was.
 Textbooks portrayed the Jews and the Communists negatively.
 Students were also taught the superiority of the German (Aryan) race.
 The Nazis believed that women should only be concerned about ‘children, church,
kitchen’ (kinder, kirche, kuche).
 Hitler thought the role of German women was to produce racially pure and healthy
German babies and to look after their families.
 Many professional women were forced to give up their jobs and stay at home.
 Women who bore many children received special awards and cash to encourage
them to have more children.

Anti-Semitism (anti-Jewish sentiments)


 Jews were treated cruelly
 Hitler was also known for his anti-Jewish stance and laws.
 Hitler and the Nazis believed that Germans were part of the Aryan race. They
believed that the Aryans were the superior race (Ubermensch) and the non-Aryans
were the inferior race (Untermensch), and that the inferior races should be the slaves
of the superior race.
 Hitler had made it clear from the time he entered politics that he hated the Jews and
that they should not be allowed to take part in German life.
 Hitler was strongly opposed to marriages between Germans and Jews for he felt that
this weakened the German race. He wanted the Germans to remain racially pure.
 Although the Jews were only about one per cent of the German population, Hitler
convinced many Germans that the Jews were responsible for all the bad things that
were happening in Germany.
 When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they immediately began to take measures
against the Jews.
 Jews were treated cruelly
 On 7 November 1938, following the killing of a German official, Ernst vom Rath, by a
Jew, the Nazis used this as an excuse to organise a night of violence against the
Jews.
 More than 7 500 Jewish shops and over 400 synagogues were destroyed.
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Humanities Dept
Commonwealth Secondary School
History Unit
Upper Secondary Notes

 More than 90 Jews were killed while another 30 000 were arrested.
 This event was known in history as Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass).
Note: It is not definite why the Nazis (and Hitler in particular) had such a deep-seated hatred
of the Jews. There are many theories that revolve around this. Some theorize that Hitler had
spent a part of his youth peddling postcards he painted in a rich Jewish neighbourhood,
which bred in him a strong resentment towards the Jews. However, what is important and
interesting to note is that anti-Jewish sentiments is not something that Hitler introduced to
Europe. In fact, there had already been underlying resentment against the Jews from the
18th century onwards, when the Jews settled in Europe and rose to economic prominence
(as most of them were traders / merchants). During the Great Depression, these feelings
were obviously intensified. As such, Hitler’s use of the Jews as a ‘scapegoat’ (to be
responsible for / bear the blame for) all of the problems Germany was facing was also a
brilliant political tactic – whether or not he had a personal vendetta against them – as people
in desperate times often look for someone (other than themselves) to blame.

Control of Religion
 The Reich Church controlled all Protestant churches and preached Nazi values.
 Members of the Catholic church who opposed the Nazi party were arrested and sent
to concentration camps.
 Hitler was able to reduce the influence of Christian churches over the people
significantly.
 This was achieved through closing all church schools and church youth groups.

Economic Impact
Hitler’s three main economic policies were :
1. To reduce unemployment.
2. To build up the German weapons building industry so as to create jobs and make
Germany a great military power again.
3. To achieve autarky or economic self-sufficiency.
 To ensure that the industries were not disrupted, Hitler banned all trade unions and
declared strikes illegal in 1933.
 The German Labour Front (DAF) replaced the trade unions.
 The DAF controlled the workers to ensure that wages were fixed according to the
employers.
 Efforts were made to improve the lives of the workers, e.g. the ‘Strength through Joy’
(Kraft durch Freude) programmes included cheap holidays, cruises and sporting
activities to encourage the workers.
 The DAF also included a programme that enabled all workers to own cars at low
prices. This was stopped however, when war broke out. Many workers paid their
instalments but did not receive their cars.
 Hitler spent large sums of money on government projects that involved many workers.
 The National Labour Service employed many jobless people in government building
projects. Schools, hospitals and highways (autobahns) were built using this labour.
 The civil service was expanded to provide more jobs.
 Unemployment was further reduced with the reintroduction of conscription and the
removal of Jews from their jobs.
 Overall unemployment fell from six million in 1933 to below one million in 1939.
 The rearmament programme benefited big businesses.
 This was due to the increase in demand in the coal, steel, chemical and transport
sectors.
 Small businesses did not benefit as they were not treated as favourably by the Nazis,
compare to the large companies.

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Humanities Dept
Commonwealth Secondary School
History Unit
Upper Secondary Notes

 However, due to the lack of natural resources, Germany did not achieve self-
sufficiency. Germany was still spending money to buy goods from abroad.
 Overall, although unemployment fell, the German economy did not improve.

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Humanities Dept
Commonwealth Secondary School

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