... 27/11/13 Nazi Support ‘To what extent did support for the Nazi party change between the years of 1923-33?’ Between the years of 1923 to 1933 support for the Nazi Party grew 37% from 7% share of the votes in 1924 to a much larger 44% in the elections of 1933. The success that the Nazi Party gained over these years was due to many changes and promises that Hitler and the Nazi Party made to the public. As the Nazi party had done so poorly in the 1924 elections, gaining just a 5% share of the votes, Hitler knew that he would have to make some drastic changes in order to gain power. The failure of the Munich Putsch also led Hitler to realise that the only way that he would be able to gain this power was through democratic, legal means. After the Putsch Hitler set about making the changes to the Nazi Party that were required to turn around the parties fortunes. The Nazi Party used propaganda very effectively to gain support. They played on Historic fears and complaints with great effect. Hitler was well aware that the people of Germany felt great animosity towards the Treaty of Versailles. He used this for the Nazi Party’s own political gain by using the Jews as a scapegoat for Germany’s problems during the 1920’s and by promising to the people that if he was in power he would tear up the Treaty of Versailles. By doing these things he was able to gain massive support from the middle classes of Germany as they had suffered greatly...
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...their own constitution. Sooner or later we shall have a majority, and after that- Germany. (Heiden, 142)' Adolf Hitler spoke these words in 1920, soon after becoming leader of the newly named National Socialist German Workers' Party, commonly known as the Nazi Party. There are many contributing factors, which lead to Hitler's gain in power over the next thirteen years. The recent history of post-war Germany, and the events that would follow were of perfect conditions for the rise of an extremist party such as the Nazis. World War One had left Germany in defeat. Germany was put under immense pressure by the treaty of Versailles, which contributed to the disastrous and politically unstable early twenties. Hitler was a strong and manipulating character, with extraordinary leadership skills and his party was very tactical. He was very much underestimated by opposing political parties. All of these factors lead to Hitler and his Nazis' becoming the sole political party in the Reichstag in 1933. The German Empire was formed in 1871 and soon became one of Europe?s most influential countries. It dominated in industrial and military power, and the German people were proud of their achievements. Up until the end of World War One, a Kaiser ruled Germany. From 1888 the Kaiser was Wilhelm II. He was very ambitious and militaristic and a threat to other countries. The German people were very accustomed to success, and when Germany was defeated in World War One, they were shocked and angry...
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...In 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and transformed it into a totalitarian state. Through persecution and propaganda, Hitler convinced the German people that all of their problems could be blamed on the Jews, making the events of the Holocaust plausible. Throughout Europe, Jews were historically ostracized due to their minority status and beliefs contrasting with those of Christians. For these reasons, when Hitler came to power the Jews were a natural group to blame Germany’s struggles on. During World War One, people often said that “The Jews, [...] had done much to spread defeatism and thus destroy the German army” (Rise of the Nazis and Beginning of Persecution). As a result of this rumor, many people in Germany already had...
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...Hitler’s plans- Abolish the Treaty of Versailles – Hitler hated the Treaty and called people who signed it November Criminals., and was a living reminder of the losses in WWI; and that when Hitler came into power he would reverse ToV., and he stopped paying reparations. Expanding Territory- Hitler wanted to reclaim territory, and Anschluss with Austria., and German minorities to rejoin Germany, and give more lebensraum (living space.) Defeat Communism – A German empire carved out of Soviet Union would help Hitler to defeat communism, because Bolsheviks had brought the defeat of Germany in WWI, and believed they wanted control of Germany. Rearmament After coming into power in 1933, Hitler began to rearm, while thousands of unemployed joined the army reducing unemployment., a v large problem, and allowed him to deliver on his promise to make Germany great again, challenging ToV. He knew Gs supported rearmament, but others would not, so he rearmed secretly. He then chose to leave the league, following Japans example. 1935, Hitler formed a rally celebrating German armed forces, and in 36 reintroduced conscription, breaking the ToV and was getting away with it, in this point many other countries were using rearmament to fight unemployment. Failure of disarmament conference meant that other nations were not prepared to disarm. Hitler knew Britain had sympathy with Germany over armament, and the limits on Germany were too strict, and that Germany could be a good ally against...
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...burning of the Reichstag and the associated Decree for the Protection of the People and the State’.could be considered the deciding moment when Hitler consolidated Nazi authoritarian dictatorial power. This thesis is based on the decision of the Naizis to use the burning of the Reichstag as a launching pad to eliminate their perennial rivals, the communist. As compared and contrasted with other events such as the Depression, the Chancellorship, ‘Night of the Long Knives’, the Enabling Act and the overall failures of the Weimar Republic. The Reichstag Fire had an extreme impact upon Hitler’s consolidation to power as it allowed the Nazis to confirm that the international doctrine of, Bolshevism, controlled by the aspirations of the USSR were attempting to seize power over Germany, and the world. Thus Bolshevism were not only attempting to seize power over Germany but the world. In...
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...repudiating Versailles, uniting the German peoples, and acquiring territory to implement lebensraum. All three of these strategies helped lead the German’s to war in 1939, although forcible acquisition of Lebensraum was mainly the goal of Hitler and his Nazis. Since the beginning of Hitler’s career up until the day he was dying Lebensraum was what really fueled Hitler to do the things he did. Though he could not just start by taking the land he wanted, Hitler had to openly violate the Treaty of Versailles to start his campaign and gain even more support from the German peoples. When WWI ended and the Treaty of Versailles was signed, Germany was angered. Reparations killed the German economy, land was lost, and Germany had to assume full responsibility for the war (The War Guilt Clause). Hitler said the treaty was “the greatest villainy of the century” and used it to gain power in Germany by promising to get her land back, and to stop the payment of reparations. Hitler’s first act against the treaty was in March of 1935, by introducing compulsory military conscription in Germany, and rebuilding the armed forces, after Goering announced the formation of the Luftwaffe. With Hitler’s stronger armed forces he and the Nazi’s reoccupied the Rhineland, a demilitarized zone along the Rhine River in western Germany. When this happened France and Britain did nothing; France was between governments at the time, and Britain was weak in her forces. Hitler took from this that he could get away...
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...most hated names of the 20th Century was Adolf Hitler. His role as dictator of Germany and his harsh treatment of Jews led to the deaths of millions of people during World War II. His leadership skills and his ability as a speaker appealed to the German people who were in a poor economic state following World War I. His political career began as Chancellor of Germany. Later he became the Fuhrer or leader of Germany and the founder of the Nazi Party. Hitler’s time as leader of Germany left the entire world with scars that took many years to heal. Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship was based on violence and hatred of certain races and minorities. He enforced his ideas using a secret police force known as the Gestapo. He formed concentration camps for those Germans who wouldn’t follow his rules as well as to murder millions of Jews. His success in World War II was short and when it became evident that his government would fail, he committed suicide. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in a small town close to the German border. His father was a strict Catholic man who was very demanding of young Hitler. This strict way of life was very common at this time. As a young Catholic, Hitler sang in the choir and served as an altar boy. He did not practice the Catholic faith as an adult but considered himself a Christian. His hatred of Jews began as a young boy. Because of the political movements of the time that involved several Jewish leaders, Hitler blamed the Jews for the economic and social problems...
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...In the years between WWI and WWII, Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany, a country recently devastated by the loss of the first world war. At the end of WWI all the countries involved in the war meet in Versailles to discuss the terms of peace. The peace treaty, known as the Treaty of Versailles, placed harsh punishments on Germany. Germany was forced to pay for the cost of the war, and accept full blame for the war. Also, in order to weaken Germany, territory was taken from Germany and given to other countries, or used to create new countries. These terms of peace left Germany impoverished and its people angry. Hitler’s inevitable rise to power was a direct result of the reparations, war guilt, and loss of territory demanded by the Treaty...
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...In the midst of the economic hardship of the Great Depression, between 1929 and 1933 millions of Germans willingly turned their back on previous party allegiances and decided to support Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. This was done despite knowing that Hitler intended to destroy the German democratic system and openly supported acts of violence. The reason for this was that the Nazi message found new appeal in the German people with the Nazi message, which was mostly ignored before 1929 despite being founded in 1919, with the Nazi message promising to fix the people’s problems. The Nazis promised a strong stable government in opposition to the “weak” Weimar democracy which seemed unable to handle the economic crisis, and they promised to remove...
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...troops to the Nationalist cause. Hitler’s involvement in the Spanish war was consistent with a larger Nazi foreign policy aimed at diverting British and French attention from Central and Eastern Europe so that he would be unhindered in his plans for eastern expansion. However, the ramifications of the Spanish war for the rest of Europe were great in other ways. The Spanish Civil War was a major contributor to the hardening of the division between the democracies (Britain and France) and the dictatorships (Italy and Germany). Germany also gained the valuable raw materials from Spain that it needed for eastern expansion and the accompanying possibility of war. The Spanish Civil War also undermined British and French credibility to Hitler, emboldening him to make more dramatic eastern expansion moves. Furthermore, the war helped drive the USSR away from Britain and France and was one of the reasons why Stalin reluctantly...
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...Versailles signed June 1919 ▪ It is a DIKTAT – something forced on to Germany. Allies say that they will carry on the war if Germans do not sign. ▪ For many Germans the defeat in WW1, national humiliation, the Treaty of Versailles, the Weimar constitution & democracy are all linked – helps explain why democracy is weak in Germany ▪ Terms of the Treaty – ▪ Germany has to pay REPARATIONS (fixed in 1921 as £6600 million) ▪ Germany loses all its COLONIES (overseas parts of their empire) ▪ German army limited to 100,000 men with no air force & a small navy with only 6 battleships and no submarines ▪ 13% of Germany is now transferred to neighbouring countries as the map is redrawn ▪ Germany loses land to France (Alsace-Lorraine), Belgium, Poland (Posen & West Prussia) & Denmark ▪ 15% of German coal mines are lost in map changes ▪ Many Germans blame the defeat in the war on “the stab in the back” (DOLCHSTOSS) – i.e. the Socialists / Communists / Jews betrayed Germany & the army was never defeated. This myth makes it harder to accept the Treaty ▪ Treaty weakened democracy in Germany and the German economy ▪ Friedrich Ebert appointed Chancellor in October 1918 2) The Weimar Constitution ▪ A National Assembly was elected to write this new constitution ▪ It met in Weimar because Berlin was not safe – so we call this whole period in German history the WEIMAR REPUBLIC, or WEIMAR GERMANY (or just WEIMAR!) ▪ Constitution ready by August 1919 ▪ Very democratic...
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...Adolf Hitler was born on 20th April, 1889, in the small Austrian town of Braunau near the German border. Both Hitler's parents had come from poor peasant families. His father Alois Hitler, the illegitimate son of a housemaid, was an intelligent and ambitious man and later became a senior customs official. Klara Hitler was Alois' third wife. Alois was twenty-three years older than Klara and already had two children from his previous marriages. Klara and Alois had five children but only Adolf and a younger sister, Paula, survived to become adults. Alois, who was fifty-one when Adolf was born, was extremely keen for his son to do well in life. Alois did have another son by an earlier marriage but he had been a big disappointment to him and eventually ended up in prison for theft. Alois was a strict father and savagely beat his son if he did not do as he was told. Hitler did extremely well at primary school and it appeared he had a bright academic future in front of him. He was also popular with other pupils and was much admired for his leadership qualities. He was also a deeply religious child and for a while considered the possibility of becoming a monk. Competition was much tougher in the larger secondary school and his reaction to not being top of the class was to stop trying. His father was furious as he had high hopes that Hitler would follow his example and join the Austrian civil service when he left school. However, Hitler was a stubborn child and attempts by his parents...
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...Germany in which all German people lived. These aims found support from the German people who disliked the treaty of Versailles and did not necessarily accept the terms of the Locarno Pact. In 1933 Germany was in a weak position By the treaty of 1919 her armed forces had been severally limited. Germany also faced “little Entente” of France Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia. Also France and Poland were allies. Hitler withdrew from the disarmament conferences at the Hague in 1933/1934. When France refused to accept a British proposal for a general reduction in armaments. In 1934 Hitler withdrew Germany from the League of Nations. In January 1934 Germany signed a 10-year non-aggression pact with Poland. This was designed to upset the relationship between France and Poland, to counter this France signed a non-aggression pact with Russia. In 1934 Hitler Began to increase the size of Germany’s armed Forces, by the beginning of 1935 the German army totalled 234,000 and it had an air force of 2000 planes. The First Austrian Crisis In 1932 Engelbert Dollfuss became chancellor of Austria. In march 1933 he suspended government and banned rival political party’s. He developed a close relationship with Mussolini. In July 1934 Austrian Nazis killed Dollfuss. Any possibility of German interventention was halted when Italy sent troops to the Austrian Border. In 1935 the Saar plebiscite was held, 90% voted to return to Germany. Encouraged by this Hitler accelerated rearmament...
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...Adolf Hitler (German: [ˈadɔlf ˈhɪtlɐ]; 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and Führer ("leader") of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. He was effectively dictator of Nazi Germany, and was a central figure of World War II in Europe and the Holocaust. Hitler was a decorated veteran of World War I. He joined the precursor of the NSDAP, the German Workers' Party, in 1919 and became leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923, he attempted a coup in Munich to seize power. The failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which time he dictated his autobiography and political manifesto Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"). After his release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. Hitler frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as being part of a Jewish conspiracy. Hitler's Nazi Party became the largest elected party in the German Reichstag, leading to his appointment as chancellor in 1933. Following fresh elections won by his coalition, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which began the process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of National Socialism. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a...
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...of damage to cities, factories, homes, and transportation. In the face of this devastation, the German public fell under the influence of Adolf Hitler, who was very intelligent and knew that he could teach the german people however he wanted since they were in need of great help. Adolf was born in 1889 on April 20th, as a child he gathered his anti semitic ideas in Vienna. As people would join in and discriminate against other religions, like the Jews. At a young age both of his parents ended up dying and leaving him parentless the rest of his life....
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