1. Authoritarian Regimes – Case Study: Nazi Germany
CHAPTER 4:
Authoritarian Regimes – Case Study: Nazi Germany

2. Focuses of Chapter 4 What led to the rise of Hitler / the Nazi Party?
Weaknesses of Weimar Republic
Strengths of Hitler / the Nazi Party
How did Hitler become the dictator of Germany by 1934?
What was the impact of Hitler’s rule on Germany?
Political control
Social control
Economic policies

4. Hitler – The Leading Man of the Chapter
Hitler – the aspiring artist

5. Hitler – The Leading Man of the Chapter Hitler – the soldier in WWI

6. Hitler – The Leading Man of the Chapter
Hitler – the dictator

7. 1914-1918: World War I – The Great War that should end all wars
Background to Germany
: World War I – The Great War
that should end all wars
Allied Powers
Britain
Russia
USA
France
Central Powers
Germany
Italy
Austria-Hungary VS

8. Background to Germany 1918: - Germany was forced to sign an armistice,
they agreed to a ceasefire because they were running low on supplies
- Persistence would lead to defeat as USA had entered the war in 1917

9. Background to Germany 1919: Signing of the Treaty of Versailles
Signed by the Weimar Republic
First democratic govt of Germany :
- A very weak Weimar Republic was in power

10. What was the Nazi Party known as before? German Workers’ Party
Background to the Nazi Party
What was the Nazi Party known as before?
German Workers’ Party

11. Background to the Nazi Party
How did it come to be known as Nazi Party?
Anton Drexter was the leader of GWP - invited Hitler to speak
Hitler spoke - party's popularity rose
Hitler gained power
Had more say - suggested for change in name

12. Background to the Nazi Party
How did it come to be known as Nazi Party?
From GWP, it became National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party).
Hitler got rid of Drexter and became its new leader.
Nazi Party = Hitler
Engaged private army (SA), led by Ernst Rohm - maintained order during Hitler's speeches and got rid of oppositions

13. Ernst Rohm
Poster on Sturmabteilung (SA)

14. Background to the Weimar Republic
New government that replaced the German monarchy after WWI = Weimar Republic
It was a democratic government
Elections were held to choose the President and representatives in the German Parliament (the Reichstag)
Head of government (Chancellor) appointed by the Reichstag – must have 50% of support from the Reichstag

15. Background to the Weimar Republic
System of proportional representation
A political party will receive the same percentage of seats in the Reichstag as their votes
Is this good or bad?

16. Background to the Weimar Republic
Bad because:
Difficult to get a single majority party
Hence had to form coalition governments
Coalition governments were weak and disunited especially in times of crisis

17. Background to the Weimar Republic
Largely an unstable period for Germany
Faced many political and economic challenges which made the Weimar Republic weak

18. Rise of Hitler Focus 1: What led to the rise of Hitler? Weaknesses of
Rejection of
Democracy
Threats from
right and
left wings
Treaty of
Versailles
Weaknesses of
Weimar Republic
Hyperinflation
Great
Depression
Ruhr Crisis

19. Political Challenges (1) Blame for the Treaty of Versailles
Weimar Republic signed the Treaty of Versailles
Stabbed-in-the-back theory
People blamed Weimar Republic and supported the Nazis who promised to get rid of the treaty

20. Political Challenges (2) Rejection of Democracy
Weimar Republic was a democratic govt
No able leader, except for Gustav Stresemann who died in 1929
Coalition governments were formed but were not united
Different parties had different views of how Germany should be governed

21. Gustav Stresemann Ended the Ruhr occupation by France
Introduced new currency (Rentenmark)
Negotiated the DAWES PLAN (1924) and the YOUNG PLAN (1929)
Improved foreign relations
Economic stability  political stability (more support for Weimar Republic)

22. Political Challenges (3) Threats from the Left and Right Wings
Political assassinations
Putsches = attempts to overthrow the Weimar Republic

23. Political Challenges (3) Threats from the Left and Right Wings
Examples of putsches
1919: the Spartacist Uprising by Communists (left-wing)
1920: the Kapp Putsch by Freikorps (right-wing)
1923: the Munich Beer Hall Putsch led by Hitler (right-wing)

24. Economic Challenges (1) Hyperinflation
Treaty of Versailles  printed more paper money to pay off the debt  HYPERINFLATION  savings became worthless  poverty

25. Price of bread, 163.15 marks in 1922, went up to 201,000,000,000 marks in 1923
HYPERINFLATION
Price of egg , which was just 1.6 marks in 1921 went up to 320,000,000,000 marks by Nov 1923

26. Economic Challenges (2) The Ruhr Crisis
France invaded the Ruhr region after Germany failed to pay reparations
Weimar govt. got German workers to go on strike, causing industrial production to collapse

27. Economic Challenges (3) Impact of the Great Depression
Wall Street Crash (1929)
American investments and loans withdrawn from Germany
German businesses went bankrupt and unemployment increased
Weimar govt cut down on welfare payments, causing widespread poverty
People blamed Weimar Republic and supported the Nazis who promised them jobs

28. Number of Unemployed
million
million
million
million
million

29. Rise of Hitler Focus 1: What led to the rise of Hitler? Hitler’s
Charismatic
Leadership
of Hitler
Exploited Fear
of Communism
Hitler’s
(the Nazi Party’s)
Strengths
Nazi Election
Campaign
and Propaganda

30. Charismatic Leadership of Hitler
Brilliant public speaker
Able to stir up emotions with his passionate speeches
Portrayed the Jews as public enemies – a way to unite the people
Convinced people that he was the leader who would make Germany strong again

31. 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)
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer!" – One People, One Empire, One Leader.

32. Exploited Fear of Communism
Spread fear about the aims of Communists
Communists wanted nationalisation (state control) of all major industries – alarmed businessmen
Businessmen provided financial support to Hitler to get rid of the Communists

33. Number of seats in Reichstag
Date of Election
Number of seats in Reichstag
Nazis
Communists
May 1928 12 54
Sep 1930
107 77
Jul 1932
230 89
Nov 1932
196
101
The growing vote for the Nazis and Communists,

34. Hitler’s financiers
Many industrials bankrolled the Nazis, including allegedly:
Hjalmar Schacht, Head of the Reichsbank, organised fund-raising parties for Hitler
Fritz von Thyssen, the German steel businessman
Alfried Krupp, the owner of Krupp steel firm
Emil Kirdorf, the coal businessman
IG Faben, the German chemicals firm, gave half the funds for the 1933 elections
The German car firms Skoda and Opel
Schroeder Bank – on Jan. 3, 1933, Reinhard Schroeder met Hitler and asked him to form a government

35. The SA (Sturmabteilung)
Private army of the Nazi Party
Protected Nazi gatherings, broke up meetings of rival political parties, fought in street battles against the Communists and other political opponents
The SS (Schutzstaffel)
Hitler’s personal guards
Destroyed all opposition to Nazism and made sure that party members remained loyal

36. Nazi Election Campaign and Propaganda
Used the mass media to spread Nazi views
Portrayed as modern party in touch with modern technology and ideas
E.g. Hitler travelled around by plane
Created the image of a disciplined and strong political party with the ability to solve Germany’s problems
Huge and well-organised party meetings and rallies – floodlights, military music, marches by Nazi supporters
The SA and the SS looked smart in uniform

37. The caption says: “Germany Awake!”
This poster of 1932 says: “Hitler – our last hope”

39. The President, Hindenburg, appointed Hitler as Chancellor in 1933
Beginning of the end for Weimar Germany and the start of the “Third Reich” (the third German empire)