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Title: HI136 The History of Germany Lecture 9


1
HI136 The History of GermanyLecture 9
  • The Rise of the Nazis
  • and the Nazi Seizure of Power

2
Possible Coalitions
  • Weimar Coalition of center-left, which was never
    able to constitute more than a minority govt.
  • Center-right, also a minority coalition
  • Great Coalition of a left-center-right majority
    coalition like under Stresemann in 1923
  • Bourgeois Coalition center-right-far-right
    majority coalition

3
Who were the NSDAP?
  • National
  • Socialist
  • German
  • Workers
  • Party

4
The Origins of Nazism
  • Interwar Germany a fertile breeding ground for
    radical right-wing organizations.
  • 1919 Anton Drexler founds the Deutsche
    Arbeiterpartei (German Workers Party, DAP).
  • Adolf Hitler joined the DAP in Sept. 1919,
    quickly rising through the ranks to become the
    partys chief theorist and propaganda officer.
  • Feb. 1920 Hitler heads a committee which draws
    up the Partys 25 Point Programme which remains
    the basis of Nazi ideology until 1945.
  • April 1920 The DAP renamed the
    Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
    (National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP
    or Nazi for short).
  • July 1921 Hitler ousts Drexler is appointed
    Party Chairman.

5
Peoples Party
  • Boasted a wide range of support.
  • Actual Membership depended on the middle classes
  • White-collar workers 25.6
  • Farmers 14.1
  • Small businessman shopkeepers 8.2
  • Self-employed professionals 3
  • Teachers 1.7
  • Other govt. employees 6.6
  • Workers 28.1

6
The Rise of Nazism
  • 1925 Nazi party refounded with a new commitment
    to achieving power through legal means.
  • 1926 The Bamberg Conference Hitler
    re-established his supremacy in the Party,
    overcoming the challenge to his leadership from
    Gregor Strasser, but was forced to concede that
    the 25-Point Programme (with its socialist
    elements) remained inviolable.
  • Establishment of new efficient Party structure
    and youth and womens organisations led to a
    growing membership 27,000 in 1925 increased to
    108,000 in 1928.
  • But still had little popular support they won
    only 2.6 of the vote in the Reichstag elections
    of 1928.

7
National Socialist Ideology?
  • Key concepts
  • Race
  • Führerprinzip
  • Anti-Communism
  • Nationalism
  • Volksgemeinschaft
  • From the 25 Point Programme (1920)
  • Creation of a Greater Germany encompassing all
    ethnic Germans
  • Revocation of Treaty of Versailles
  • Demand for colonies (Lebensraum)
  • Only members of the Volk can be citizens no Jew
    can be a citizens all non-citizens to be
    deported
  • The primary duty of the State is to provide a
    livelihood for its citizens introduction of
    profit sharing extension of welfare state.

8
Who Voted for the Nazis?
Source G. Layton, Democracy and Dictatorship in
Germany (2009)
9
Peoples Party
  • Boasted a wide range of support.
  • Actual Membership depended on the middle classes
  • White-collar workers 25.6
  • Farmers 14.1
  • Small businessman shopkeepers 8.2
  • Self-employed professionals 3
  • Teachers 1.7
  • Other govt. employees 6.6
  • Workers 28.1

10
Soucre R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of
the Third Reich (1996)
11
Why did people vote for the Nazis?
  1. How did their ideas fit into right-wing,
    anti-Republican thought?
  2. What international factors aided their
    breakthrough in the polls?

12
Triumph of the Will, 1935
Documentary of the 1934 Nazi Party Rally in
Nuremberg dir. Leni Riefenstahl
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vGcFuHGHfYwE
13
The Great Depression
  • October 1929 the Wall Street Crash led to a
    worldwide economic downturn.
  • Germany was particularly hard hit the German
    economy was heavily dependent on foreign loans
    and the banking system was geared towards
    short-term credit to finance long-term ventures.
  • As foreign investment dried up and debts were
    called in, German firms folded and banks
    collapsed leading to mass unemployment.
  • 2 million Germans out of work by the winter of
    1929-30.
  • Unemployment reached 3 million in 1931 had
    risen to 5.1 million by Sept. 1932. It peaked at
    6.1 million in early 1933.
  • This led to material hardship, but also had an
    important psychological effect fear,
    uncertainty, loss of pride and status, feeling
    that the fabric of society was unravelling.
  • The economic crisis quickly became a political
    crisis as the social insurance system became
    overloaded.

Soucre R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas
of the Third Reich (1996)
14
Immediate Effects in Germany
  • German loans by 1929 were nearly 15 billion
    marks.
  • German stock exchange fell drastically
  • Business failures multiplied
  • Unemployment rose to three million during the
    course of the year.
  • By the winter of 1932, unemployment reached six
    million.
  • Germany's industry fell to less than 50 of
    capacity.
  • German foreign trade fell by two-thirds between
    1929 and 1932.

15
Chancellors, 1930-33
General Kurt von Schleicher (Non party) Dec. 1932
Jan. 1933
Franz von Papen (Centre Party) June Dec. 1932
Heinrich Brüning (Centre Party) March 1930 May
1932
16
Article 48
  • Constitutional article granting the President the
    right to declare a state of emergency
  • Built-in safety clause Parliament could overturn
    the presidents emergency decree by mustering a
    majority vote

17
Paul von Hindenburg
  • Elected president in 1925 at age of 78 after
    Eberts death
  • Conservative candidate
  • Had helped disseminate the stab in the back
    legend
  • Worked to strengthen the role of the presidency

18
Crisis of Legitimacy
  • Max Webers notions of traditional, rational, or
    charismatic legitimacy.
  • Continued popularity of Wilhelmine elites
    burden of war
  • Compromises economic weakness
  • New moves to tap into charismatic appeals rather
    than pro-Republic sentiments
  • Political fragmentation preceded the Nazi rise to
    power

19
The Final Crisis, 1930-33
  • March 1930 Hermann Müllers Grand Coalition
    collapsed
  • Hindenburg appointed Heinrich Brüning, leader of
    the Centre Party, Chancellor.
  • By 1930 the Nazis were the 2nd largest party in
    the Reichstag.
  • Oct. 1931 the Harzburg Front anti-republican
    alliance between the Nazis, Alfred Hugenburgs
    DNVP and the Stahlhelm.
  • 1932 Hitler challenged Hindenburg for the
    Presidency.
  • By May 1932 Brüning lost the support of the
    President and his advisors
  • June 1932 Franz von Papen headed the right-wing
    Cabinet of Barons.
  • July 1932 Preussenschlag
  • Nov. 1932 Papen replaced by General Kurt von
    Schleicher.
  • Papen entered into secret negotiations with the
    Nazis, big business and large landowners.
  • Jan. 1933 Hindenburg reluctantly agreeed to
    dismiss Schleicher and replace him with Hitler.

20
30 January 1933
21
Hitlers first Cabinet, 30 January 1933 Seated
(left to right) Hermann Göring, Hitler, Franz
von Papen Standing (left to right) Baron
Konstantin von Neurath (Foreign Minister),
Günther Gereke (Commissioner for Job Creation),
Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk (Finance
Minister), Wilhelm Frick (Interior Minister),
General Werner von Blomberg (Defence Minister),
Alfred Hugenberg (Minister of Agriculture and
Economics)
22
(No Transcript)
23
The Reichstag Fire
  • 27 Feb. 1933 The Reichstag burned down.
  • An unemployed Dutch bricklayer named Marius van
    der Lubbe arrested.
  • The Nazis claimed this was part of a Communist
    plot.
  • Decree for the Protection of the People and the
    State suspended civil liberties increased the
    power of central government the Nazis rounded
    up political opponants.
  • Van der Lubbe Bulgarian Communist Georgi
    Dimitrov put on trial for the fire.
  • But on-going debate about who was responsible.

24
Election Results, 5 March 1933
Party Votes
NSDAP 43,90
DNVP 8,00
DVP 1,10
BVP 2,70
Zentrum 11,20
Deutsche Staatspartei 0,90
SPD 18,30
KPD 12,30
Other 1,60
25
The Enabling Law (Ermächtigungsgesetz)
  • Without the two-thirds majority in the Reichstag
    necessary to change the Constitution, Hitler
    proposed an Enabling Law that would enable him
    the government to pass legislation without the
    approval of either parliament or the President.
  • 23 March 1933 Law for the Removal of Distress
    from People and the Reich
  • Article 1 In addition to the procedure
    prescribed by the constitution i.e. decision by
    parliament, laws of the Reich may also be
    enacted by the government of the Reich. This
    includes laws as referred to by Articles 85
    sentence 2 and Article 87 of the constitution.
  • Article 2 Laws enacted by the government of the
    Reich may deviate from the constitution as long
    as they do not affect the institutions of the
    Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The rights of the
    President remain undisturbed.

26
Gleichschaltung
  • April 1933 Laws passed enabling Nazi-dominated
    State governments to pass legislation without the
    approval of provincial parliaments.
  • Jan. 1934 State parliaments abolished local
    government subordinated to the federal Minister
    of the Interior.
  • 2 May 1933 Leading Trade Unionists arrested
    workers organizations merged to form the
    Deutscher Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front,
    DAF).
  • 22 June 1933 The SPD officially banned.
  • June-July 1933 Other political parties dissolved
    themselves.
  • 14 July 1933 The Nazi Party proclaimed the only
    legal political party in Germany.

27
The Night of the Long Knives,30 June 1934
  • Pressure from the party rank-and-file (and
    particularly from within the SA) for a second
    revolution.
  • Fears that the radicalism of the SA would bring
    about a military coup against the Nazis.
  • This led to a purge of the party on 30 June 1934
    the SS carried out raids against targets across
    Germany. Critics of the regime such as
    Vice-Chancellor Papen were arrested, while old
    enemies such as Gregor Strasser Gustav Ritter
    von Kahr were summarily executed. Over 1000
    people were arrested at least 85 killed.

Ernst Röhm (1887-1934)
28
Understanding the Collapse of Weimar Democracy
  • Domestic Factors
  • Lack of popular support
  • Constitutional flaws
  • Role of established elites
  • International Factors
  • Legacy of Versailles
  • World economic crisis (the Great Depression)
  • General crisis of liberal democracy
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