Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
EIT Week 20- The Rise of Nazism (Wall Street Crash (‘Black Thursday’ (24…
EIT Week 20- The Rise of Nazism
Hitler
- born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, 1889- wanted to be an artist- rejected from the academy, 1907- moves to Vienna- 1913- moves to Munich
August 1914- bravery decorations- working as a courier- the traumatic defeat- became firm believer in the ‘stab in the back’ theory- blamed Socialists and Jews for their anti-war propaganda
German Workers Party, 1919
Hitler from spy to party member
1920- National Socialist German Workers Party
A movement, not a party
1922-23- Adoption of Fascist Elements- such as leader title, salute and rallies
The Beer-Hall putsch, 1923- violence- power- failure- significance- change of strategy- publicity
Core Ideology
- history as a race struggle- extreme nationalism-
Lebensraum
- hatred of democracy, capitalism, socialism, communism and Jews
The Great Depression
- endangers recovery- end to reparations- politics of revenge- 6 million unemployed
Weaknesses of Weimar
- the shadow of the war- weak right- divided left- unstable- 17 governments in 13 years- lack of support of traditional elites
Violence
- annihilation of enemy- SA Stormtroopers- widespread violence in East
Simple, well-targeted, constant propaganda- centrally organised- Cult of the Leader
Voted for by North and East Protestant farmers, middle classes, and not Catholics, working-class or unemployed
Reasons for inviting Nazis to a coalition
- authoritarianism, order, end to Communist threat, stop violence, harness Nazi support
Nov 1932- Franz von Papen offers a minor position in the cabinet- rejection
Dec 1932- Kurt von Schleicher tries to divide Nazi Party- fails
30 Jan 1933- Hitler is appointed Chancellor
Wall Street Crash
‘Black Thursday’ (24 October 1929)
‘Black Tuesday’ (29 October 1929)
Massive drop in prices for commodities, foodstuffs and raw materials
US as the ‘world’s banker’
For 1929, 1930 and 1931, average outflow was $86 million a year
In 1927-8, a net outflow of $900 million from US to rest of the world
Response
Opportunity to roll back labour prices
Lack of flexibility in labour prices
Deflationary policies pursued; interest rates kept high, spending on public services reduced
Legacy of hyperinflation, 1922-23
Received economic wisdom; do nothing
In Germany, hyperinflation crisis of 1922-23 means governments in 1929-1933 made their number one priority controlling the inflation rate- leads to increased unemployment
Democracy eroded before Hitler appointed Chancellor in Jan 1933
Rather than reducing interest rates to stimulate the economy, governments had to increase them, to keep money in the country and in the banks
18 September 1931- Britain leaves the Gold Standard (£ then devalued by 24%)
Nation-state becomes primary framework for economic policy- protectionism
Hitler- ‘the first cause of the stability of our currency is the concentration camp’
Collapse of the Weimar Republic wasn’t inevitable- the Republic was viable but vulnerable and was laid low by the Great Depression brought on by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 (
G. Darby, ‘Hitler’s Rise and Weimar’s Demise’, History Today, 67 (September 2010), 42-8
)