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Topic 10- the appeal of Nazism and Communism: - Coggle Diagram
Topic 10- the appeal of Nazism and Communism:
A. presidential election
at the end of his 7 year first term in spring 1932, Hindenburg was 84 and increasingly senile, but his advisors pressured him to stand (they knew he was the only person who could stop AH)
AH was cautious about standing due to the nations respect for the old general, but threw himself into the Hitler over Germany campaign that was orchestrated by Goebbels
1st Ballot: Hind got 18.6m votes (49.6%), Hitler got 11.34m (30.1%) and Thalmann came 3rd and won 13%
2nd ballot: Hind won 19.3m (53%) and Hitler won 13.4m (37%)
many votes came from SPD voters wanting to stop AH accepting that Hindenburg was safer
allowed AH to start his campaign to become chancellor, and Nazis gained bigger wins in 1932
B. The Appeal of Nazism
Nazi Ideology
The Power of Will- based on Hitlers desire to rebuild germany and destroy ToV
Based on Furherprinzip- sole obedience to one leader as democracy was weak- Hitler ran the party from 1925 on this principle
National Socialism- aimed at gaining support from across the political spectrum, gaining nationalists and socialists.
Socialist principle based on equality of status for white Aryans- detested Marxist socialism which preached for equality for all
Members of the community known as 'national comrades' and these were members of a volksgemeinschaft- working for common good of society and condemning enemies of the state
Aggressive Nationalism- Nazis had three main aims:
-1. Reverse Tov
-2. Acheve 'Grossdeutchland' of pure aryans- uniting with Austria
-3. Destroy USSR and achieve lebensraum
based on a continued struggle
Role of Anti-semitism in Nazi success
difficult to prove a direct link, most Nazi propaganda after Crash was based on economic issues and AH being a saviour
Did give some who held existing prejudices against jews a platform to express these views
SA frequently beat jews and would chant about bringing down the jewish- however most SA members were not ideological but saw the group as a meal ticket, anti communism was greater than anti-semitism in the SA
Role of Propaganda
Goebbels in charge of party propaganda from 1928, and had orchestrated 'Hitler over Germany' campaign
In the pre-internet days Goebbels was exceptional- huge rallies, marches, films, posters, banners which all attempted at forwarding the Hitler Myth
Hitlers charismatic appeal
AH had rare talents in the pre-TV age to captivate, and by 1930 had created a cult of fanaticism
His speeches are famous for their passion ranting, and he would tailor his speech to the audience, e.g. would perform differently to workers than to bankers
however he was never mass appealing until after the Great Depression, 2.6% in 1928, and the Nazis never won an outright majority, even in 1933 they only achieved 44% with SA intimidation
C. The Appeal of communism:
had concentrated on building up support amongst factory workers in the 1920s, but after the depression they switched focus onto those affected by unemployment
Some areas of big cities, such as in Berlin, became communist strong holds ran by mafia-style groups such as the Red Front who fought with police and SA
KPD never hid its aim of destroying weimar, its was propaganda was openly violent- it aimed to ally Germany with the USSR, however it tragically followed Stalin's line slavishly and saw the Depression as the death of capitalism which would lead to a communist uprising
it was this view that led the KPD to violently opposed the SPD, calling them 'social fascists' and hated them equally as much as they hated the Nazis
this division on the left meant that the left never co-operated against the Nazis, and failed to stop Hitler
Peaked at 17% of the vote in 1932, and became 3rd largest party in 1930
It had built its membership from 117,000 in 1929, to 360,000 in 1932
Strengths and Weaknesses of the KPD:
STRENGTHS: their rhetoric attracted the unemployed during the crisis of 1929, "Bread and Freedom" was an attractive slogan
Many but a minority still saw the USSR as an exciting new experiment in equality, as the horrors of Stalins mass political murders were yet to come
Their leader Thalmann was energetic and effective, many of the poor turned to them due to the SPD being seen as weak
WEAKNESSES: Their turnover of membership was huge, suggesting that there was a lack of commitment
It failed to win votes outside of the urban WC and its violent rhetoric put women off
The Ridiculous 'social fascists' campaign against the SPD divided the left at a critical time when they needed to unite against the Nazi movement