Hitler and the Rise of the Nazis

The early years of the Nazi Party Aims 1.Be able to explain what Hitler and the Nazis stood for. 2.Understand who the Nazi Party appealed to.

Activity: Why study the Nazis? The Nazi party and Hitler are studied in most schools. Many people find this period fascinating and the are hundreds of books and films about it. 1.Why do you think this is? 2.Is Nazi Germany relevant today?

The Early Years Read through the information on page 348 in the textbook. Complete the Paragraph on the worksheet. Use the information in the diagram on page 349 to complete the activity on that page.

Hitler’s Beliefs Complete the ‘Homework sheet’ detailing Hitler’s beliefs.

Why did Hitler’s attempt to seize power fail? Aims 1.To be able to describe the events of the Munich Putsch 2.To explain why it failed and what the consequences were.

Activity Use the information in the book to complete the rest of the worksheet ‘The early years of the Nazi party’

The Munich Putsch Causes  Hitler wanted to destroy Weimar Republic  He believed Ludendorff would support him  He believed the Bavarians would support him  Mussolini had succeeded  Hyperinflation had caused chaos

Events  Hitler stormed into a Bavarian government meeting on November 8 th SA surround the beer hall and Kahr is taken captive.  Kahr escapes and Hitler tries again the next day with 300 supporters. March is broken up by armed police, Hitler flees.

Consequences  Hitler looked foolish as Kahr did not support him. In fact it showed that there was not much support generally for the Nazis.  Hitler imprisoned for five years. But….

 Hitler managed to turn his trial into a propaganda success. He used the publicity to spread his views and gain popularity and notoriety.  His prison sentence was very short considering he had committed treason. He used the time to write Mein Kampf  He knew he could not take power by force. His change in tactics lead to the Nazis taking power in 1933.

How Useful is this painting to an Historian studying the Munich Putsch(9 marks) Hitler stands at the front, arm raised Ludendorff, a war hero, stands beside him. How does the picture compare with your own Knowledge? What are the posters origins? Why was the poster made? Does this affect how useful the poster is? What information can we get from the poster? Summarise the uses/limitations of the poster. This was not true! Utility questions require you to do two main things- use your own knowledge and analyse the provenance (origin) of the source.

Were the Nazis a failure between 1924 and 1929? Aims By independently examining the evidence I will be able to construct a balanced argument in answer to this question.

Gathering evidence Use the information on pages 353 to 355 (as well as notes on Munich Putsch) to decide if these areas were successes or failures  Membership of the Nazi Party  Election results  Results of Munich Putsch  Effect of the stability of the Streseman era.  The reorganisation of the party by Hitler.  For each area explain why it was a success/failure

Party Membership Steadily increased. In 1929, the total party membership was 178,000 — quite a considerable increase over the 1925 figure which stood at 27,000  This showed a steady increase over the period.

Election results Got worse in every election. 32 in May in December in Shows that people were not voting for the Nazis

The results of the Munich Putsch Appeared to be a failure – Hitler arrested and put on trial BUT allowed Hitler to turn trial into propaganda coup and write Mein Kampf Led to change in Nazi policy from seizing power to taking it democratically.

Stability Nazis only seem to have support when things are going bad (1923 and 1929). Streseman era was stable and prosperous.

Reorganisation Hitler used these years to reorganise the Party. Re-launched party with new branches (women, students etc) Party was made much more efficient This Nazi poster c.1927 reads ‘Despite the Ban, not dead’. This poster was drawn by "Mjölnir," (real name was Hans Schweitzer) who set new standards for Nazi publicity.

Why was Hitler able to come to power in 1933 when he had failed in 1923? Aims To be able to describe the factors that caused a huge increase in support for the Nazis in the early 1930s.

Activity Use your graph paper to plot the following figures… Number of Unemployed million million million million million Election date Seats Dec May Sep Jul Nov What do you notice?

Poster from 1932 says ‘Hitler:- Our last hope’

He was holding the masses, and me with them, under an hypnotic spell by the sheer force of his beliefs. His words were like a whip. When he spoke of the disgrace of Germany, I felt ready to attack any enemy. Karl Ludecke, an early follower of Hitler (1924).

Unemployment in Germany Total January million [Hitler's policies] were half-baked, racist clap-trap... but among the jumble of hysterical ideas Hitler showed a sure sense of how to appeal to the lowest instincts of frightened masses. Tony Howarth, a modern historian

Hitler’s rise to power

The Nazi Breakthrough Wall street cash caused economic chaos. People began listening to extreme views. The coalition government was too weak to deal with the crisis. The Reichstag leadership was split between the Centre Party and the SDP. Bruning, the Centre leader, asked Hindenburg to rule by article 48. democracy had ended.

Joseph Goebbels masterminded a propaganda campaign using leaflets, rallies, newspapers and radio. The Nazi programme appealed to many people. Hitler made promises that would benefit a wide range of people. Hitler also had powerful supporters and his personal charisma appealed to a lot of people.

Hitler becomes Chancellor March 1932: Hitler won 13.4 million of the votes in the presidential election. May 1932: Bruning was sacked as chancellor because he was unpopular. He was replaced by von Papen but he had little support in the Reichstag. July 1932: The Nazi’s won 230 seats in the elections. They were the largest single party but did not have a majority. Hindenburg disliked Hitler so he reappointed von Papen.

November 1932: Hindenburg decided on another election to gain support for von Papen. It was a disaster for the Nazis because they lost 34 seats. They lost seats because of a lack of funds and the thuggery of the SA. December 1932 to January 1933: von Schleicher persuaded Hindenburg to make him chancellor. Von Papen was angry so held secret talks with Hitler. They agreed that Hitler would be chancellor and von Papen vice Chancellor. On 28 January von Schleicher resigned because he had no support from the Reichstag or Hindenburg. 30 January 1933: Von Papen persuaded Hindenburg as chancellor by explaining that –R–Refusal may cause war –T–There will only be a few Nazis in the cabinet –V–Von Papen will be vice Chancellor –T–They will only be using Hitler