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Importance of youthvotes in Nazi Germany

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With the end of the First World War in 1919 Germany is left in a state of

economic, social and national collapse. Hitler rises to power in the National Socialist German Workers Party or

commonly known as the Nazi Party (1919-1921) . Hitlerjugend Hitler Youth formed in 1922. Economic Depression of 1929 propels the rise of the Nazi party. Elections of 1930 see Nazi Party receiving 18.3% of the vote and winning 107

seats in Parliament, becoming a powerful force in German politics. By 1933 Elections, under Hitler as Chancellor of the coalition of the government,the Nazi party wins 43.9% of votes and a majority of 288 seats.

By 1934 a plebiscite is held in which 90% of people vote in favor of making Hitlerboth leader of the nation and Reich chancellor. By this time Nazi policies arealready in force: opposition parties banned, SS functional and Anti-Semiticpolicies beginning.

Background

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Studying the Parliamentary elections in Germany between the period of1928 and 1932 one can see a dramatic increase in votes gained by theNazi Party: From only 2.6% of total votes gained in 1928 to 37.4% in

1931. These votes can be attributed to new voters gaining franchise at the ageof 20. There were an estimated 5.7 million new voters in 1930.

German Political Sociologist Heinrich Steifler argued that not only werethere new voters being added but between the period of 1928 and 1933but about 3 million older voters died out.

Steifler also argued that in 1928 there was a reserve of about 3.5 millionyoung voters who had never voted. It only took a radical party like theNazi Party to mobilize them.

Hitler Youth program replaced the youth wings developed by the Churchand other organizations. Gave young boys and girls uniforms, power andideology. Youth were indoctrinated to love and follow Hitlerunquestionably.

Importance of youth votes

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Germany had been intentionally humiliatedinternationally by being made to sign the Treaty of

Versailles. Germany was banned from having a large standing army,was made to pay war reparations to the allies and hadterritories partitioned away from it.

The Weimar Government was very weak and ineffectual. There was unabated political violence and unrest. There was a fear of Communist takeover. The economy of the country was in a very poor state. There were very little jobs and high inflation.

State of Germany after WWI

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The Nazi Partys youth -centric policies

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to prominence due to their policies, all of whichappealed to the youth: Blamed Socialists, Jews, the older politicians of other parties and other nations

for the state of Germany after the War. Rejected payment of War reparations by Germany to Allied Nations. Wanted to revive the German Army. Had an aggressive foreign policy: Wanted to take back the lands that had been

partitioned away from Germany after the war. Talked about ideas of National Pride and Destined Greatness. Had a revolutionary and militaristic ideology. Adolf Hitler was an enigmatic leader, around which a personality cult began to

form. The Nazi youth wing: Hitlers youth was a very distinguished organization. The Nazi Party recruited a lot of young people: in 1932 the average age of party

members was 32 years.

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The Nazi Party used all forms of mass media to push forward their agendainto the minds of its citizens: Movies Books Newspapers Posters Radios Books Speeches RalliesA lot of these were aimed towards the youth. Hitler Junge Quex was a veryfamous movie, which depicted the life and death of Herbert Norkus, A Hitleryouth who was shot dead by a Communist Youth wing.

Use of Propoganda

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Using the psychodynamic theory of personality development, ProfessorLoewenburg argues that children who were born or were very youngduring the time of World War I in Germany composed the young votersof Germany in the 1920s.

Traumatic experiences of being raised in the war and especially in thepost-defeat atmosphere had huge effects on the personalities of thesechildren.

The children who were born or raised during the First World War hadgrown up in a home where there was no father figure around andmother was either away working in the factory or anxious.

These children saw the father figure return from war humiliated andembarrassed

As they grew up, they saw the collapse of traditional institutions andauthority and thus turned towards Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Not only did Hitler give them a conduit threw which they could expresstheir anger, he also become a maternal and paternal figure for them.

Voter Behavior

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Bibliography

Geary, Dick. "Who voted for the Nazis?" History Today October 1998.History Learning Site. Impact of World War One on the WeimarRepublic. 30 October 2013.Loewenburg, Peter. The Psycho-historical origins of the Nazia youth

cohort. Psychological report. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University ofCalifornia Press, 1985.The History Place. Hitler Youth - Road to Power. 1999. October 2013.United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. WORLD WAR I:

AFTERMATH. 31 October 2013.