RiseofHitler-inquirynotes

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How was Hitler able

to become the leaderof Germany?

Events beyondHitlers control:

Weakness of Weimar

govt, economicdepression

Hitlers abilities:Leadership skills, Nazi

organisation


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+In a Nutshell

n Prior to Hitlers appointment as the Chancellor ofGermany, the ruling Weimar Government wasunpopular among the Germans.

nThe Weimar Government was blamed for its inabilityto solve many of the post-war problems Germanyinherited from its defeat in World War I.

nThe Weimar Government was also blamed for its rolein the surrender in World War I and the signing of theTreaty of Versailles.

n Hitler was able to gain support by promising tooverturn the Treaty of Versailles and regainGermanys pride.

n Hitler and his Nazi Party were able to gain total

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Opposed by

the right

Opposed by

the left

Economic

Depression

Political

deals madewithGermanleaders

Events beyondHitlers control:Weakness of Weimar

govt, economic

depression


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+ 44Opposed by the

rightnThe right comprised mainly of the GermanArmy which objected to the signing of the

Treaty of Versailles.

nThis group claimed the army had beenstabbed in the back and could have continuedfighting.

n Deeply resentful, they were determined toobstruct the work of the Weimar Government.


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+ 55Opposed by the

leftnThe left refers to the Communists.n 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.

n Frequent uprisings by the Spartacists occurredbetween 1918 and 1919.

nThe Weimar government and German public wasthus very fearful about the possibility of aCommunist takeover.

n A strong leader and government could prevent

such a takeover.


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+ 66Economic

DepressionnThe Weimar Government was heavily in

debt due to the payment of war

reparations.n Germanys problems were worsened by

the hyper-inflation caused by theoverprinting of money which thegovernment used to pay off its debts.

n Many Germans lost their savingsovernight and they blamed the

government.


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+ 77Economic

Depressionn Germanys economic recovery relied on

US loans.

nThis made Germany vulnerable as itdepended on Americas ability to keeplending.

n When the Great Depression hit andAmerica was badly affected, the loansfrom America to Germany dried up.

n Germany suffered as a result of thisand was on the ver e of colla se.


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nThe Nazis won less than three per cent of the votesin the 1928 Elections.

n By 1930, they had won 37.3 per cent, making them

the party with the most seats in the Reichstag.

Political deals made with

German Leaders


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+Political deals made with

German Leadersn In 1932, President von Hindenburg was

pressurised to agree to Hitlers demand forchancellorship.

n He was persuaded by Franz von Papen whothought that the conservatives could channeltheir support for Hitler into support for thepolicies of the cabinet.

n

Furthermore, it was hoped that Hitler couldhelp the government to control theCommunists. On 30 January 1933, Hitler wasappointed Chancellor. Within months, he endedWeimar Germany and started the Third Reich.


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Excellentspeaker andcharismatic

leader Reorganisedthe Nazi Party

Exploited fearof Communismto win support

Hitlers abilities:Leadership skills, Naziorganisation


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+Excellent speaker and

charismatic leadern Hitler had the natural ability to capture peoplesattention with his public speaking skills.n He was able to inspire confidence and belief among

Germans that he could be the one to lead Germany

out of its problems.n Under Hitlers leadership, the National Socialist

German Workers Party (NSDAP) or Nazi Party grew

n For his role in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, he wasarrested.

n However, his stirring speech made the judgessympathetic towards him and he received a lightsentence of a five-year jail sentence. He wasreleased on parole after only nine months.


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nThe jail term proved to be a turning point.

n It convinced Hitler that legal means andnot force alone would help him gain

power.

n Upon release, he concentrated his effortson reorganising the Nazi Party.

n Among the changes made was thesetting up of branches in different partsof Germany as well as the creation of ayouth movement.

Reorganised the Nazi Party


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n Initially, the Nazi Party had very little support from thepeople.

n The working class supported either the Social Democratic Party orthe Communists.

n The years 19241929 saw general economic prosperity andpolitical stability. Thus, the people did not see the need to vote outthe Weimar Government.

n At the time, most Germans were not interested in Nazi calls tokeep Jews out of German political life nor in the Nazi plan to invadeother countries. The people also did not like the way the Nazis beatup their opponents to intimidate them.

n After the Great Depression in 1929, many Germans suffered.The Weimar Governments popularity dipped even further.

n With improved organisation, Hitler was able to gain muchpopularity and support.

Reorganised the Nazi Party


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nThe Nazi Party and the Communists became popularduring the difficult times after the Great Depression.

n Many Germans believed that the Weimar Government had

failed them and were open to trying out alternative formsof government.

n Hitler made use of propaganda to spread fear about theaims of Communism.

n

He convinced people that the Nazi Party was the onlyparty capable of providing order and stopping theCommunists.

n Many rich industrialists supported the Nazis as theywanted an anti-Communist government.

n With strong financial support, Hitler was able to build a

Exploited fear of

Communism to winsupport

RiseofHitler-inquirynotes

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