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 explaining 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:

I believe that this source would support the views od Craig more than Goebbels. Once the people of Germany realized that the economy wasn't changing for the better anymore they sought for Nazis because they hated Communists so much.

Source 4:

I believe that this source could be used for Goebbels' interpretation of positive reasoning. This woman is happy that finally there is discipline and leadership being marched through the streets of her country and the Nazi party will continue this.

Source 5:

Source 5 is an example of the two ideas coming together. For the argument of Craig, since the majority hated the Treaty of Versailles they used that as a common ground and for the argument of Goebbels, it would make Germany a better place without the Treaty.

Source 6:

I believe this is also an example of both. This source just shows how popular the Nazi party was becoming which can make a good argument for both positive followers and negative.

Source 7:

This source is definitely an example of Craig's ideas. Because the bulk of the population disliked the communists, the common ideas of disliking communists was a large point that the Nazis drived off of.

Source 9:

This source could also be an example of Craig's ideas. Showing the negative side of the depression and how the majority of the people were middle class needed the basic necessities that the Nazis promised.

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.

• Source 1 - possible Craig viewpoint, negative living conditions may bring the people in the photo to vote with the Nazis for the sake of living standards
• Source 2 - like source 1 in negative conditions (unemployment) could drive people to sway with the Nazi party
• Nazi campaigning - Goebbels - mainly because the Nazis were the ones doing the campaigning but it was so good it may have engulfed people
• Communist hate around Germany - may have forced people into siding with the Nazis for the benefit of the doubt (Craig)
• People who wanted traditional social values may have sided with the Nazis for benefit (Craig)

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 = 4) Explanation:

I mostly agree with this statement that very few people fully supported the Nazis. I believe that most people saw the Nazi party as a new and promising future that could possibly be the final step in making Germany better. I think many people were merely following the Nazis seeing that they were the closest to their beliefs. For example, with the widely spread ideas of Communist dislike the Nazis played on this and often referred to their dislike with the Communist Party in Germany. I do believe that many people did fully support the Nazi Party at this time because of the failing government and economy on the other hand. I believe many people did support them because they were looking for change that didn't include Communists or people "responsible" for the failure of Germany.

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

The economic depression was a huge factor and the most prevalent for the Nazi rise to power but I do believe other aspects were responsible for the Nazis rise out of minority. Things like poor political leadership also contributed to the rise of the NSDAP. With Germany being a many party state during the time of the economic depression, this helped them because they were fans of a single party state which is what they sought for Germany to become. But also, the economic depression was a huge help with Nazi propaganda and a driving force for people to start to support them.

c. The politicians of the Weimar Republic were mainly responsible for the rise of the Nazis. (Score = 2) Explanation:

The politicians of the Weimar Republic were somewhat responsible for the rise of the Nazis but not completely. I would argue the conditions of the state to be the most significant way that the NSDAP rised to power. With the prevalent political and economic problems that were adressed by the Nazis, it was clear that this was their biggest help. Although politicians in the Weimar Republic were making the Weimar such a failure which then helped the Nazis, the issues that the state was going through was definitely the aspect mainly responsible for the rise of the Nazi party.

Nazi Ideology

Consider your homework on the Nazi 25-Point Program, Hitler's writings in Mein Kampf, and Hitler's background. Take all of your knowledge of the above and develop several solid paragraphs that discuss and analyze Nazi ideology. I've provided you several guiding questions below.

Ideology: A statement of broad principles and vision for the future

Key questions to consider when analyzing the ideology of a leader:

• What ideas are proposed?
• What issues or grievances do they address?
• Do they represent a new form or structure for the society?
• Do they introduce entirely new concepts, values or goals to the society?
• Have they been inspired by a particular individual, school of thought or philosophy?
• How relevant or effective are they in attracting support within the local, regional and international community?
• Is it revolutionary, visionary, or inspirational?
• Can it inspire support, cause excitement? Does it appeal to broad sectors of society? Who does it attract?
• Which groups in the society will feel challenged or threatened by the new ideas?

When Hitler was rising to power, he utilized his different ideologies in order to make the NSDAP the main part in Germany. With his propaganda, Hitler was able to address the problems in Germany that were on everybody's minds. He was able to capture the minds of the German people with his eloquence and charismatic speaking that included his 25 point program that he though was surely going to better Germany and convince the people that the NSDAP was the right vote. His words were inspirational, revolutionary and visionary to a people tired of the economic and political sufferings of Germany.

He was very effective when persuading the people of Germany to vote for him. He made them think that Germany would be in the hands of someone great when he was to take power and that they should not fear the future. They needed guidance at this time and saw Hitler as someone who would help them even if they didn't believe everything he said.

Hitler gave the people of Germany things to look forward to in the state regarding politics and government. He was planning on making the state a single party and making the NSDAP the leader because democracy was so "weak" and capitalism was only stealing from the people of Germany. He promised them that they would have a strong leader. Regarding the economy, Hitler told the people that he would help the crisis by proposing a new idea. He thought that if the people worked for the state, the state would in turn work for the people and make everything better. People were very happy with the ideologies of Hitler and thought that he would bring new change to a struggling Germany.

Hitler's Background

One of the crucial elements in writing an essay about a dictator is understanding their background and how it influenced their early thinking and behavior during their rise to power. Hitler's background is extremely important as it influenced his interactions with the NSDAP. Using the information on the reading, sift through the most important aspects about Hitler's early life to be able to develop two strong paragraphs that are relevant in his rise to power up to 1923.

NOTE: Use only the most important information. Try to avoid the "trivia" because it will bog down your writing. Also, you may bullet point this information, but then you must still write it out in paragraph form, as you would on an essay. (The bullet points will help you when studying.) HINT: I strongly suspect this question will appear on Wednesday's test.

Hitler's Background

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

Hitler's Past

• Born Austrian - continues to live there for years
• Lives in the slums of Vienna w/ Jewish and Marxist advocates -- begins his anti-Semitic and anti-marxism feelings
• Moves to Munich, Germany in 1913

Hitler's Character

• Shy, awkward, moody, lonely
• Contemptuous of mankind >:(
• Tremendous energy and willpower
• Single minded fanatic

Propaganda Skills

• Great Orator and captured the audience w/ his speeches
• Turned what the crowd wanted to hear into words

Ideas he had

• Social Darwinism/survival of the fittest (German race should override all others)
• All Germans should join together - Pan-Germanism
• "Lebensraum" Germany must expand and become more of a world power to feed growing population
• Believer in socialism - stressing the needs of the national community
• Anti-Marxism and the idea of Karl Marx because he was a non-religious Jew
• Anti-democracy - it provided weak government and needed to be replaced with a single party state
• Anti-capitalism - power that came from being very rich - owners of the big businesses and firms; the Jews

The beginning of Hitler's life and when he moved to Germany:

Hitler was born Austrian to the Schicklgruber family. He continues to live in Austria for many years. After being denied to a school for the arts that he strived to get into in Vienna, he drifts around for years living in the slums of Vienna. In these slums he was forced to live with different minorities including people that had different political and religious views. He began to get anti-semitic, anti-marxist, and anti-democratic reactions from living amongst people that practiced these different views. After being drafted for the Austrian-Hungary army, he flees to Munich and lives there until he is called back to Austria.

Hitler's character and propaganda skills:

Hitler had an odd combination of character traits and interesting propaganda skills. He was a shy and awkward man that really hated mankind. Although he was filled with negative traits, he also acquired tremendous energy and he had a lot of willpower. These positive traits were an excellent edition for his propaganda skills. He was able to give an extremely powerful speech because of his excessive willpower and his tremendous amount of energy. He was able to captivate the audience with his speeches and he was able to put into words the thoughts of the audience members. His speeches and propaganda work helped him greatly in his successes with the NSDAP.

Hitler's ideas:

The ideas that Hitler had about struggling Germany definitely helped him in his success with the NSDAP. First he believed deeply in Social-Darwinism where there should be one superior race in Germany and to eventually override all others. He also believed in the popular idea of "Lebensraum" and expending Germany to its full potential all over the world and increase its strength. This would have made the people of Germany praise Hitler because of the harsh land terms of the Treaty of Versailles and it would improve the countries the low moral. His ideas of socialism were also praised by most of the Germans because Hitler wanted to focus on the national community where the people will provide for the state and in turn the state will provide for the people. He was against Marxism and democracy because he believed that they both provided a weak government and that the state would be much more powerful and successful with a single-party. He also hated capitalism and believed that it would promote Jewish big-business owners that will take all the money from the people.

Hitler's Ideals Expressed in Mein Kampf

Volume One, Chapter Six:"War Propaganda" In this part of Hitler's Mien Kampf Hitler explains what he believes is necessary to win the popular vote of the German people. He believed that the people who were already educated about the Nazi party didn't need to be further educated and that the people who knew nothing about the party needed to understand so that everyone would know about them. He believed that the emotional aspect of the crowds needs to be adressed in order to actually pursued them enough to go with the Nazis. He said that the speeches had to be brief and something that the public understand in order for the mto retain what they are told. They believed that slashing the enemy in propaganda was a bad thing. Hitler lays out a good way to prepare the army with his example of British and American soldiers being warned about the Germans.
Volume One, Chapter Ten:"Causes of the Collapse"
In this chapter Hitler explains what he believed was the cause of the collapse and how he sought to change things. He believed that it wasn't what the popular belief was (that the War had caused it) but rather the Jewish people were the cause for the collapse. He explains that the Jewish people's religion is based on lies which ultimately ruined the state. He believed that a large part of the economic downfall had to do with the disappearance of the right of public property and the national ownership of stocks. He says that the Jewish people had controlled the businesses and were turning the country into turmoil. He said that the Jews had been slowly trying to "break the backbone" of Germany and slowly take away the nationalism of the people.
Volume One, Chapter Eleven:"Nation and Race"
Hitler believed that there should be one dominant race in Germany. This would be the national race. He says that a consequence of this is the 'delimitation' of the different races that naturally come to Germany. He disliked the idea of Aryan people having children with non-Aryan people and compares this to the Americas and the different peoples that live there. He wants to address the problem of Jewish people immediately and make sure that they no longer contribute to the racial problems. They need to also address the issue of the blood-Germans and the 'fake' Germans.
Volume Two, Chapter Fourteen:"Eastern Orientation or Eastern Policy"
Hitler addresses the issues of national power and government in this section. He says that they must 'unflinchingly' take back the land that they are entitled to. He uses an analogy to blood sacrifice of one to the government to show how the public will work hard for the government and the government will work hard for the people. He says that the 'pen-pushers' are the people that are ruining the country. He continues to talk about how they will eventually conquer more land that other people are going to destroy with their ideas someday. He says that it is their right to have land and that they will become a world power or they will not be satisfied. Germany must provide to its citizens. This will probably look really good to the people of Germany and get them excited about the Nazi Party.

Hitler's Background

Hitler's Past

• Born Austrian - continues to live there for years
• Lives in the slums of Vienna w/ Jewish and Marxist advocates -- begins his anti-Semitic and anti-marxism feelings
• Moves to Munich, Germany in 1913

Hitler's Character

• Shy, awkward, moody, lonely
• Contemptuous of mankind >:(
• Tremendous energy and willpower
• Single minded fanatic

Propaganda Skills

• Great Orator and captured the audience w/ his speeches
• Turned what the crowd wanted to hear into words

Ideas he had

• Social Darwinism/survival of the fittest (German race should override all others)
• All Germans should join together - Pan-Germanism
• "Lebensraum" Germany must expand and become more of a world power to feed growing population
• Believer in socialism - stressing the needs of the national community
• Anti-Marxism and the idea of Karl Marx because he was a non-religious Jew
• Anti-democracy - it provided weak government and needed to be replaced with a single party state
• Anti-capitalism - power that came from being very rich - owners of the big businesses and firms; the Jews

The Munich Putsch and the Nazis 25-Point Program

The Munich Putsch

1. Finish / Transcribe your paragraph response to the failed Munich Putsch. You started it / completed it during class today. Please keep in mind that next week you will be asked an open-ended question regarding the causes and significance of the Munich Putsch.

The Munich Putsch seemed to be a "failed" attempt for Hitler to spread Nazi ideas in the Bavarian state. There were different reasons that the Munich Putsch failed. One of these reasons was because it was poorly planned and the Nazis were not ready for power. They were not organized enough for the march and everything they had planned turned sporadic and disorganized. Another reason the Putsch failed was that Hilter's drive was low. If it wasn't for Ludendorff marching on, the Putsch would have been a completely ended when Hitler ran away because of his dislocated shoulder. It also seemed like the crowds at the Beer Hall that were once eagerly listening to Hitler's speeches had stopped and lost intrest all together. It seemed as though the Nazi Party was on its death bed and there would be no victory that they once thought would come.

It turned out that in the longrun many of the "failed" aspects in the attempt turned out to be slow victory for the Nazis. Once the Munich Putsch was over, the Nazis had time to figure everything out and learn from the mistakes that they had made. Hitler was given time in a comfortable jail to think about the different policies he was previously trying to enforce and how he could change them. He also had time to finish writing his book Mein Kampf a success for him that would pave the road to the beliefs he was trying to persuade the German people with. Overall the fail of the Munich Putsch had given Hitler time to think about what he could change to the government to make the people of Germany side with him, getting him the all important popular vote.

The Nazis 25-point Program

2. Based on the 25-point Program, what were the main ideas of the NSDAP when Hitler joined it? (He helped framed these points after joining in 1919, along with Nazi founder Anton Drexler. Hitler would replace Drexler as leader in 1921.) The 25-point Program is at my website. Please keep in mind that on next week's exam you will be asked to discuss the main ideas of the NSDAP.

• Exclude the Jewish people from the Government
• Expand the German Empire (get Germany + Austria back) - Lebensraum
• Get rid of the Treaty of Versailles
• Only German blood can live in Germany -- Except the Jews
• Everyone must work except for the mothers
• Nationalization of Industry
• Kill the criminals
• Education will be reformed -- taught the "Germany way"
• Education of the gifted children
• Encouraging sports like gymnastics and swimming
• Create national Army
• The state must provide for its people
• The people must provide for the state

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 the little town of Weimar because Berlin was seen at the time as too violent and unstable.

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

Friedrich Ebert promised the people of Germany things that are usually seen in a democracy like the right to free worship, freedom of speech and better working conditions.

3. Hey, a democracy. Sounds great! Why was this a shock to the Germany peoples' systems?

This was a major shock to the German peoples' systems because they had been used to having a Kaiser and a monarchy (basically a dictator). The people of Germany had never really lived in a democracy before this.

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

The right held positions directly from the Kaiser's ruling in the army, judiciary, civil service, and industrial areas of the government.

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

The name of the 'powerful myth' that developed was "The Stab in the Back". Most of the "evidence" was found that the right side had been purposely plotting to make Germany lose the war. People believed that the German army had been betrayed by Social and Liberal politicians that agreed to the Armistice. The people that believed the legend of the "Stab in the Back" believed that the Germans hadn't lost on the battlefield but that they were betrayed by their own people on the home front.

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

Friedrich Ebert was elected to president of the Weimar Republic in January 1919. The Kaiser added him into the picture when he abdicated the throne even though it says that he was elected by the people in source 3. He put him in charge making him the president.

7. Study Source 3: How would a Chancellor gain power in the Weimar Republic? (Why you need to know this: By 1933 Hitler will have this job.)

A chancellor would gain power in the Weimar Republic by being appointed by the President of the Republic. The chancellor needed the support of half of the Reichstag.