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Hitler and Nazi Germany (Emergence of an Authoritarian Regime in Germany…
Hitler and Nazi Germany
Emergence of an Authoritarian Regime in Germany
After WW1: Germany's political conditions
Before WW1
Kaiser Wilhelm II
was Germany's authoritarian ruler.
1871 constitution restricted the Parliament, causing
political tension
.
Aggressive foreign policy
led to WW1
WW1
War
destroyed the imperial regime
.
9 November 1918: Kaiser abdicates and
republic is declared
.
After WW1
Ebert's
Socialist
Republic
Armistice,
stabbing the army in the back
.
Treaty of Versailles
(1919)
Forbidden Anschluss;
Heavy war reparations;
War guilt;
Land loss;
Demilitarised Rheinland;
Restricted armed forces.
New constitution
Weakened politics
(too many parties) due to
proportional representation
.
Very
high powers to President
.
The war left
Germany
very
politically weak
.
Continuous
political threats
.
Spartacus League
, extreme
left
wing socialist movement.
Conservative elites, nationalists
and
right
-wing extremism
Freikorps
: volunteer demobilised soldiers fighting for right wing values
1920: Kapp Putsch
1920-1922: White Terror
1928-1930: a
Grand Coalition
controls the Reichstag.
1930: Grand Coalition collapses, leading to a
total political breakdown
.
1919-1929: Germany's economic conditions
WW1
effects
High costs of the war
Wartime blockade
Wounded returning soldiers
War reparations
Land loss
Consequences
Workers resistance (Ruhr)
Hyperinflation
1924 Dawes Plan
USA lending money to Germany
, which became dependent on the Americans.
Disaster for agricolture
1929: Wall Street Crash
The
economy was finally destroyed
by the USA claiming back their loans
1919-1929: Adolf Hitler & the Nazi Party
The Nazi Party
(1919-1923)
Born a small
right-wing opposition party
to Weimar Rep.
1919: NSDAP
, by Drexler in Munich
1919: Hitler joins
1920: Hitler is chairman
Right wing: Hitler is a
nationalist
, against the Republic, Jews and Communists
Left wing: Hitler is a
socialist
(Eg. nationalising big businesses
The
25 points
as ideology
Early 1920s
1921:
SA
is founded, paramilitaries
Nazi newspaper is established
Regional branches are established
1923: 55,000 members
Initial support
Freikorps
Lower-middle classes
Students
1923: Beer Hall Putsch
Failed
attempt to overthrow
Propagandistic effect
, making Hitler known
1925:
Mein Kampf
Fight
Marxism
Fight
Jews
, as they are communists
Nazism was the
only way
Prepare population for
war for Lebensraum
1889-1919:
Adolf Hitler
Born in Austria
Lived rough
Fought WW1 and stayed in the army
1924:
Führerprinzip
Tighter party discipline
1925-1926:
SS
Party organisations
Leadership of Hitler
, as "he knew best"
1929-1933: Germany's conditions and Nazi state establishment
1929: Unemployment and weak government
Masses desired extremism
Nazi's campaign
Keep Communism far
Law and order
Restore nation's strength
1932 elections
With 230 seats the Nazis are the
biggest party in Reichstag
1932 elections to 30/01/1933
President Hindenburg switches from von Papen to von Schleicher, while Nazis gain support
30/01/1933: Hitler is chancellor
1933: Reichstag fire and propaganda
23/03/1933: Enabling Act
Emergency powers to Hitler,
allowing
him to nazify Germany and
establish his authoritarian state
Gleichschaltung:
nazification
of Germany
05/03/1933: Nazis win elections
The support to the Nazi Party
Lower-middle classes, farmers
"Blood and soil"
, the link with land and the importance of farmers for the Reich . Promised better living conditions.
Middle classes
Defence against
Communism
and
Jews
, especially from the economical point of view .
Working class
Promised
better
living and working
conditions
Elites
Stable
politics
and
economical
advantages, for example in autarky
Nationalists
Stundents
Consolidating and Maintaining Power
Power consolidation to create an authoritarian regime
Politics in 1933
One party state
All political parties were first
forced to disband
Law Against the Establishment of Parties
, which made it illegal to organise parties outside the NSDAP
Regional control
Länder as local Nazi authority
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
Excluded non-Aryans from any kind of political, administrative and educational position
Trade unions
DAF, the only Nazi trade union
Associations to control professions
Law to Ensure the Unity of Party and State
Legally establishes the authoritarian state
Night of the Long Knves
The SS is used to kill the leaders of the rioting SA
Confirmed Hitler's authority
Depicted Hitler as the saviour of Germany
Made the SS the leading force
The army swore loyalty to Hitler
Allowing him to take Hindenburg's position as President
Army
Very related to the Nazi Party, unchanged until 1938
Disagreeing with the party on the pace of rearmament, the role of SS, Lebensraum and Hitler's expansionistic ideas
1938: Hitler takes control of the army as supreme commander
Generals are substituted with Nazis
Military actions are taken following Hitler's will
Anschluss
Ruhr remilitarisation
Personality and propaganda
Personality
The "Cult of Hitler"
Propaganda
Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (Goebbels)
Different means:
Press and censorship
Radio
Salutes
Stamps
Movies
Music
The Nazi Government
Political authority over every aspect of German life
Constant vigilance of the SS
1939: Reich Main Security Department, overseeing security matters
Law and justice were modified as Nazis willed
The opposition
There wasn't strong opposition until 1943
Opposition as popular resistance
Protecting Jews
Banned literature and foreign news
Foreign music
Students
1941: White Rose Group
Authorities' opposition
Socialists
Underground movements
Judges and churchmen
Army opposition
1944: July Bomb Plot
Solutions
Secret police
Concentration camps
Foreign policies
1933-1939
Leave the League of Nations
Revenge the Versailles Treaty
Anschluss
1938
Rheinland
1936: occupied back again
Occupation of Czechoslovakia
1939: Invasion of Poland
1939-1945
WW2
Turn at Stalingrad in 1943
1944: D-Day, Germany is condemned
Lack of success turned people against Hitler
Nazi Policies and their Impact
Hitler's ideological aims
Community of the people - Volksgemeinschaft
role of the individual to create loyal, German people
Social darwinism
the idea of natural selection and how Aryans evolved to be the superior race
Living space - Lebensraum
the desire to conquer as much land as possible for Germany
Pan Germanism
All German speakers should be united in one same place
Cult of the Führer
principle of one leader and the "worshiping" of him, Hitler
Anti-semitism
total hatred towards Jews, as everything Jewish was evil
Blood and soil
national identity through blood (Aryan community) and soil (German land)
Anti-feminism
women were caretakers, mothers and wifes
Domestic policies
Overall aims
People's community
Remove non-Nazi influence
Support Hitler
Focus on militia
YOUTH
Indoctrinate with Nazi ideology
Create loyalty to sacrifice for the nations's well-being
Separate spheres: boys are strong fighters, girls cared children
1936: Membership of all other youth organisations banned
Hitler Youth became the dominant monopoly for German kid's spare time
Although many were loyal to Hitler, Hitler Youth became less successful in the 1930s
EDUCATION
Nazying by controlling teachers
1937: 97% of teachers joined the Nazi Teachers' League
Politicise curriculum to reflect Nazi ideology
Biology (Darwin's Theory), History (the "eternal" Germany") and German as main language
Greater focus on needlework and homecrafts for girls
While being an effective way to spread Nazism, students were ignorant individuals very much dependent on one ideology
WOMEN AND SOCIAL CONTROL
Separate spheres: men fought for Reich, women fought for the family at home
No female emancipation
Volksgenmeinschaft involved the rejection of freeedom
Reduce of women's employment
Increased number of marriages
Aryan women offered interest-free marriage loans
Motherhood skills taught by Women Enterprise
1933: quality births
Sterilisation against hereditary/mental diseases
MINORITIES
Nordic Germans, or Aryans were a Master race
In the hierarchy, below black people were Romas Stinti (gypsies) and Jews
Persecution of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and those mentally-ill
1939: Euthanasia programme, or assisted suicide
Starvation
Lethal injections
Gassing
1941: stop of programme after Catholic protests
With the Concordat, the Church had declared to not impose itself in-between the Nazi Regime. As most citizens were Protestants or Catholics, Hitler must have listened for the nation's approval
Sent to concentration camps
Economic policies
Reich Food Estate - 1933
Minister of food gave peasant farmers guaranteed prices for their produce
Reich Entitled Farm Law - 1933
farmers provided with security of tenure
only Aryans could own a farm
New Plan - 1934
increase government regulation of imports
develop trade with less-developed countries
development of German trade in South-East Europe
led to a series of trade agreements with Balkans and South America too, to provide vital raw materials
Four Year Plan - 1936
managed economy with big businesses
had some success, with small growth in output in all areas
by 1938, German economy had reached a crisis point which drove the country to war
Speer worked extremely hard, but Germany had too many disadvantages in the war
economic destruction was the product of Hitler's personal obsession, resulting in a failed Nazi economy
Wehrwirtschaft
a defence economy for Germany's future needs in war
1936: managed economy
development of large scale modern farms
cartels agreements between companies to work together to reduce production costs and improve efficiency
many industrialists and companies became closely associated to regime
"guns and butter"
to provide German people with reasonable living standards (butter), rearmament (guns) was extremely difficult
1933: law to reduce unemployment
government spending
subsidies for private construction
loans to encourage industrial activity
law of construction of motorways
discouragement of female labour
1935: tax concessions offered to businesses
result of deficit financing, or spending more government money than is recieved
Schact took action to erode Germany's debt and improve balance of payments
Propaganda increased the illusion of success and prosperity, maintaining confidence
Hitler's political ideologies considered at all times
Economic miracle?
Hitler emphasises and enlarges previous economic situation
It's thanks to Bruning if reparations ended and unemployment began to fall in 1932
NO
Nazi's reserves of foreign currency remained low
Balance of payments still in deficit
Rearmament put a strain on economy and price of food rose
Weren't thought carefully and evolved according to political confusion