The Depression and the Nazis

How did the Depression Help the Nazis?

After reading pages 191-194, do you agree with Goebbels' view that people rallied to support Hitler for positive reasons - or do you think that Gordon Craig (bottom, pg. 193"negative cohesion") was right that people supported the Nazis out of fear and disillusionment?

Work through questions 1 - 3 to help you make up your mind.

1. Look carefully at Sources 3-7 and 9. For each source, write two sentences explaning whether you think it is evidence that:

• Supports the view of Goebbels
• Supports the view of Craig
• Could be used to support either interpretation

Source 3:

As unemployment rose, so did Nazi support. People thought that the Nazis could get them out of the dire situation that they were in; and that was how Goebbels thought that the Nazi party rose to power.

Source 4:

Source four could be used for either opinion. The Storm troopers could give the illusion that the Nazis could provide security and order, while on the other hand, they show that the Nazis will provide order in a time of chaos.

Source 5:

This source is agreeing with Gordon Craig. The image on the poster had fire, and the clenched fists create fear, so that people will not know what will happen if they do not try to get rid of the treaty of Versailles.

Source 6:

This source proves both points. We do not know the reason that those people were gathered at the rally; it could be just because they liked the ideas that the Nazis presented, or because they were worried about their lives and the ideas the Nazis gave them were the only party that seemed to five them a solution to their fear.

Source 7:

Source seven agrees with Gordon Craig. The poster creates fear in what will happen if the Communist party takes power; the poster makes it loos as though the communist party is full of murderers and cheaters.

Source 9:

Again, this poster shows how the Nazis tried to rule people with fear. They say what they will do that will be so great for all of Germany, while showing how awful the other parties are, and how they will destroy Germany.

2. Now work through the text and other sources on pages 191-94. Make a list of examples and evidence that seem to support either viewpoint.

Goebbels:

• It was Hitler's destiny to lead the German people.
• SA and SS game impression of order
• Nazis ran soup kitchens and gave shelter to the unemployed
• Hitler was a great orator and was well-liked

Gordon Craig:

• Germans were scared the the communists were going to destroy Germany
• Everyone hated democracy.
• Germans were scared of the hyperinflation crisis that had happened just a few year prior.
• Fear of Communism- business owners had been fed propeganda about the USSR, and farmers had the same thing happen.
• Many Germans felt that traditional German values were under threat.

3. Decide how far you agree with each of the following three statements and give them a score on a scale of 1-5. And then, write a short paragraph explaining your score for each statement.

a. Very few people fully supported the Nazis (Score = 2 ) Explanation:

Many people supported the Nazis. They were the most popular party in Germany. However, the reason that I gave this a 2 and not a one is because the definition of "support" can be debated. One could day that support can only agree with positive cohesion. However, many people supported the Nazis because they hated the same things.

b. The Key factor was the economic depression. Without it, the Nazis would have remained a minority fringe party. (Score = 4 ) Explanation:

I do believe that the main factor of the Nazi;s rise to power was the economic depression. The depression was the final straw for many Germans. The Depression let them know that something about the way that their government was run needed to change, and the Nazis promised to do this for them.

c. The politicians of the Weimar Republic were mainly responsible for the rise of the Nazis

(Score = 3 ) Explanation:

The politicians of the Weimar Republic did play an important role in the rise of the Nazis. The German people were not happy with the politicians in their government, and the Nazis promised to change that. However, part of the reason of the rise of the Nazis was the Nazi's promise to change. The people liked that idea, and felt that it was necessary to better their country,

Nazi Ideology

When Hitler was trying to come into power, Germany was facing many problems. Their economy was awful, and something needed to be done to fix it. Also, Germany was having problems because of the Treaty of Versailles. They lost land they thought that they needed, and their government was not being run in a way that all Germans considered correct.

The Nazis came up with ideas for all of Germany's problems. First, they wanted to do away with the Treaty of Versailles so that all of the German-speaking lands could unite as one. After that, they wanted to abolish the Democratic government and establish a Fuhrer, or a single authoritarian state. Also, the Nazis were strong believers in Social Darwinism. They thought that the Aryan race was the perfect race, and that the Jewish people were harming their vision of a perfect world.

These ideas were not necessarily new. Some of the ideas were from the Kaiser era. WHen the Kaiser was in power, Germany was strong. Germany only had one person in power for the most part, and all of the areas of Europe that spoke German were united. Other ideas were fiarly new, but had still been thought of by people for a long time. This included the belief in Social Darwinism.

The Nazis ideas were ideas that could be embraced by Germans. The idea of change caused excitement for many Germans.

However, Jewish people would not agree with these ideas. They were left out of what was seen as the future greatness of Germany.

Hitler's Background to 1923

Hitler's Background

Discuss Hitler's background to 1923 and how it influenced his rise to power with the NSDAP.

• He was possible 1/4 Jewish. His father does not know who his father is but his mother was payed an allowance by a German family for 14 years.
• He was lonely, but looked up to strong people as role models
• believed that he was destined for greatness
• Great at saying what the people wanted to hear, controlled the crowd
• Felt that the German blood was being ruined by Jews, and that they needed to be exiled
• Very big on Darwinism
• Believed that Germany should expand (Lebensraum)
• anti-democracy/capitalism, hated Marixism, loved socialism

The background of any dictator is very important. This is no exception for Hitler. Hitler was born in 1889. His father, Alois Hitler was born illegitimately to Adolf Hitler's grandmother. At the time, she worked for a Jewish family who payed his grandmother an allowance for 14 years. This raised suspicions that Hitler was a quarter Jewish, a guess that Hitler came to resent. As a child, Hitler was very lonely, but he looked up to strong people as his role models. Hitler believed that he was destined for greatness.

A he grew up, Hitler became a master of propaganda. Hitler was a great orator. HE could control a crowd with what he said, and he said exactly what they wanted to her, exactly how they wanted to hear it. Hitler's beliefs grew with his skills. He was a strong believer in Social Darwinism, and he thought that only the strong would survive. Hitler felt that purity of the German blood was threatened by the Jewish people and he thought that they should be exiled. He also thought that Germany should expand, a belief called Lebensraum. HE was against democracy, capitalism, and Marxism, but he loved the idea of socialism.

Mein Kampf

The first section that we read of Hitler's Mein Kampf was about war propaganda. Hitler's main point as he greatly referenced in paragraph 4, people as a whole are not the most intelligent. Hitler says that people forget easily, and that one point needs be drilled into their heads.
Chapter 10 is about about the collapse of the German economy. Hitler writes that the War is the cause of the comic collapse. In chapter nineteen, Hitler writes that the Jewish people did nothing to help the German people, and that all they did was smile.
The eleventh chapter of Mein Kampf is about the role of race. Hitler starts the chapter out by saying that the breeding of children is very important to the integrity of the nation. In paragraph 26, Hitler refers to North America. He says that Germany is far above that of North America, because Germany has only bred up, with Germans, while people that live in North America breed down. Hitler thinks that the loss of the pure Aryan blood line would result in the loss of inner happiness.
In chapter 14, Hitler writes that the German people need to do whatever they can to maintain Germany. In paragraph 30, Hitler says that the Germans must fight for their right to "German" lands.
Hitler, while evil, was a brilliant man. He knew how to control the people, and to make them do what he wants. The German people felt that he was doing all of this to protect them. Hitler must of had problems with people of other races in his life to explain why he wants to crush them.
Germany did not know what thy were in for when Hitler eventually came into power. With the ideas of Mein Kampf, Germany was in for something different than what they were used to. The Jewish people would be suppressed. Also, the government would be more controlling than what they were used to.

The Munich Putsch and the Nazis 25-point Program

There are many main points that the Nazis included in their 25-points Program. The first point is creating a purity in the German race. The Nazis felt that he only true race was the German race. With this point was the point of being against the Jewish people. They weren't allowed to practice their religion. Also, the 25-points were said that Germany needed to get more land, and to do this they would cast aside the Treat of Versailles. Lastly, the 25-points Program targeted children. The points use children as a way to instill their ideals to give the parents the same ideas.

The Birth of the Weimar Republic

1. Why was it called the Weimar Republic and not the Berlin Republic?
It was called the Weimar Republic because the new government met in a town called Weimar. They met here instead of Berlin because Berlin was too violent and unstable.

2. What new rights did Friedrich Ebert promise to the German people?

Ebert promised the German people the freedom of speech, freedom of worship and better working conditions.

3. Hey, democracy. Sounds great! Why was this a shock to the German people's systems?

The German citizens were not used to having all of these freedoms. They were used to the traditional, autocratic German system of government.

4. What positions did the opposition on the right hold that restricted Friedrich Ebert's new government?

On the right were all of the Kaiser's former advisors. They all held positions in the army, judiciary, civil service, and industry. They restricted what the new government could do. They still hoped that the Kaiser would come back.

5. Why was the "powerful myth" that developed and what "evidence" was there to support the myth?

The powerful myth was that men such as Ebert has stabbed Germany in the back and caused Germany to lose the war. It was men like Ebert who had signed the armistice and treaty, even though the people on the far right had told them to.

6. Study Source 3: What position was Ebert elected to in Jan. 1919? Who elected him?

Ebert was elected as president I. Jan. 1919. The German people elected him.

7. Study Source 3: How would a Chancellor gain power in the Weimar Republic?

The chancellor would gain power by appointing government ministers to who sent laws to the Reichstag for approval. If he loaded the government ministers, then he would be able to do whatever he wanted to.