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: This Source, I think is supporting the "negative cohesion" because it shows that when unemployment is rising exponentially, so does the Nazi Party votes in the Reichstag, which means that when there are poor conditions and people are not happy, the Nazi Party gains power because of its views against the Weimar Republic and SPD and KPD Parties, which means that people are sharing a common enemy. 

Source 4: This quote supports the view of Goebbels because it shows the point of view of an elderly person agreeing with the order and discipline of the Storm troopers (associated with the Nazi Party), which is an Nazi ideology, so therefore a positive way of agreeing with the Nazi policies and standpoints. Basically she says that order in times of chaos and poverty is hope for the future and good to see. 

Source 5: This poster supports Craig's point of view because the propaganda of the Nazi Party revolved around blaming others for Germany's misfortune, and so going against the Treaty of Versailles gives Germans something or someone to blame, and therefore people unite over a common dislike or hatred, such as a Treaty. 

Source 6: This picture shows the immense suport for the Nazi Party, which doesn't prove much for either side of the argument, so therefore it is neutral. This picture is a representation of the Nazi followers, but we as a view cannot determine the reasoning behind the support.

Source 7: This poster supports the Craig point of view because it is yet another propaganda poster disagreeing with Communist ways, and therefore giving the Communists a bad facade and giving the Nazi Policies more support. This is negative cohesion because it is showing how terrible Communist Policies are, and if Communist policies are that bad, then Nazi Policies must not be that bad. 

Source 9: This propaganda poster both agrees with Goebbels and agrees with Craig because it describes the positive policy in which the Nazi's stand for, but then it compares the positive of the Nazi Party, to the negative policies of the other leading political parties.  This supports Goebbels because it shows how people love Nazi policies in a positive way, but then uses the negative cohesion of corruption and lying to the people (other parties) as a back up.

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.

Negative Cohesion

-Economic Crisis (Depression) and unemployment helped Hitler and the Nazi Party use negative cohesion to find common enemies and blame opponents such as the Treaty of Versailles, "November Criminals" Communist Revolutions and Jews to find a common ground with the people and to give them something to blame for their suffering.

-With all of these circumstances in chaos in the Weimar Germany time period, Hitler started to question Weimar Governmental authority, and thought Germany needed a stronger leader.. 

-Nazi Party's 25 Points were very appealing to those in most despair, such as the elderly, the unemployed and the middle class. 

-Democratic Weimar Government was indecisive and could not agree on anything to make the German economy any better. 

-Using the failure and fear of other circumstances and parties to give false promises to the people and make them believe that things would get better if the Nazi's were brought to power. 

-Hitler didn't like the Government having thirty political parties and instead should just have one party to get everything done that needs to be done. 

-Some people thought HItler to be creepy and tending to yell a lot even at the most simplistic statements, the more educated and wealthy peoples recognized that Hitler wasn't exactly the most stable mental person.

-Hitler made a Communist Red Fighting League, like the Storm troopers, but instead used to destroy the Communist rebellion. 

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:
As soon as the Depression hit Weimar Germany, Hitler became a demagogue and promised false changes and traditional views to the democratic Weimar Germany. He used the panic and poverty of the times to bring down other political parties and point out their flaws while he promised good recognizable policies that resembled the Kaiser. This gave the Nazi Party lots of publicity and therefore they had a lot of supporters.

b. The Key factor was the economic depression. Without it, the Nazis would have remained a minority fringe party. (Score = 5    ) Explanation:
 As it turns out, when the Weimar Republic was prosperous and successful under Stresemann and before the depression radical political parties were not nearly as popular as the democratic Weimar Republic government. Then, just as the Depression hit, Hitler used the hard times as a catalyst for his policies and undermining of other parties because many German's were unhappy with the governmental decisions. Then, it shows that as the Depression starts to get better, radical groups popularity drops dramatically. 

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

(Score = 2     ) Explanation: 

No, I find this not true because they were doing things correctly, it was the Democratic system that the Weimar Government was built under that was flawed and therefore gave way to accusations such as this. Proportional Representation prevented politicians from all parties in the Reichstag from accomplishing anything and then Article 48 had to be used often to compensate. Also, the Weimar Politicians were called "November Criminals" and falsely accused of Stabbing the German Army in the Back, which was all Nazi Propaganda.

Nazi Ideology

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?

The Nazi Party or the 'Socialist Workers Party" was far right conservative party that believed in a strong central government, and less contact from the people, therefore a single leader (Fuhrer)would lead away from the ideals of a democracy and towards Nazi ideals and conservationism (far right). They used the pseudo-party name to trick the public into thinking that the Nazi's were a good party that supported the working class and gave them rights, which was nothing close to the ideals of the Nazi Party as seen above. The Nazi Party believed in extreme German Nationalism, which entailed loyalty to the country of Germany and therefore to the Fuhrer, but yet expressed the value of equality when Social Darwinism was one of their major ideals. Social Darwinism was included in the 25 points of the Nazi system that included Jews, foreigners, and immigrants. Social Darwinism in the Nazi's case, is when the true German people (Aryan race) are better or higher up in the human hierarchy than Jews, foreigners and immigrants (whom were "sub-human" to Germany. This was accepted because the Nazi's felt that the Jews were liars and thieves to the wage worker because they were the land owners that needed to take away the German farmers' land when they could not afford the land, so they were portrayed as thieves.

Hitler's Ideals Expressed in Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf

Read several selections out of Hitler's Mein Kampf located on my website. Please write several paragraphs summarizing some of Hitler's views. Be sure to reference at least one paragraph (its numbered) from each section.

As you read, reflect and write. What does his writing / thinking suggest about his background and political ideas? What possible ramifications does it have for Germany if he comes to power. (Remember, when he wrote this he was still a relatively obscure person and the Nazi party was almost non-existent.)

Volume 1, Chapter 6 Summary of View
-propaganda does not rely on the individual planning, but on calling everyone to the attention of certain facts and issues at hand. 
-you must skillfully play with propaganda, because you must try to convince everyone that the fact is real. 
-propaganda relies on understanding the emotional ideas of everyone, so that you can reach the heart of the people. 
One of the ways in which Hitler came into power was by propaganda, and effectively tricking the people to believe in his cause by relating with them on an emotional level and economic crises was a heavy influence to believing the Nazi Party propaganda.


Volume 1, Chapter 10 Summary of View
-The War is the cause of present evil. 
-Jews should be blamed- they always lie and there a religion and a race?
-Jewish business men are the alienation of property from the wage-worker was increased ad infinitum. 
-The press was actively engaged in sabotaging the German people and the German Reich
Hitler could use the war to blame the left for being "November Criminals" and take use of "the stab in the back." He also was angered with the Jews because they always lie and keep money for themselves as the economy suffered. Takes jobs away from the German people and harms the Reichstag. 


Volume 1, Chapter 11 Summary of View
-The superior race must not breed with people not of that superior races, no inferior-superior breeding because it risks the superiority's greatness. 
-The consequence of a superior race is that it will eliminate other various races because they are not superior. 
-No more than Nature desires the mating of weaker with stronger individuals, even less does she desire the blending of a higher with a lower race
-Perfect Aryan race
-Jewish menace.
Hitler will use the race card later on because he can persuade people to be as racist as he is and use propaganda to help turn fact into reality, such as Jewish people are bad, and a perfect Aryan race deserves to be stronger and better than anyone else. 


Volume 1, Chapter 14 Summary of Views
-must be strong with foreign policy so Germany can keep its land and colonies. 
? 

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.
I think that the Munich Putsch was not a failure because when Hitler was arrested after his trail, he was no longer just known in Bavaria, but now nation wide in Germany and it was great publicity for the Nazi Party, and Hitler by the end transformed this “failure attempt at takeover” into an accomplishment because people recognized him for his nationalism. Hitler also, got many supporters from the publicity and will start to become more active after his prison sentence with new ideas of turning against the government, with not revolt, but rumors about the opponents that would cause the citizens to turn against the government, especially at the height of the economic crises in Germany. People wanted to blame someone for their suffering, so Hitler (demagogue) will take advantage of this.

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.

The first main point that the Nazi party was based on when Hitler joined it was the unification of Germany and Austria because by the Treaty of Versailles Austria and Germany were not allowed to unify and become one state because the country of Germany-Austria would be too powerful, and therefore, Germany would not be as crippled as if was before. Germany needed Austria's resources. Another Nazi ideal was to destroy the Treaty of Versailles and the limits and restrictions that it put on Germany, and this prevented Germany from holding an offensive army and navy, instead of being limited to 100,000 men and therefore being solely for defensive purposes (creating a national army). Germany wanted to regain its strength and take back its land and territories (lebensraum), industrial strength and army in which they were so proud of before the war in order for the nation to expand. Another strong Nazi ideal was anti-semitism, which meant that Jewish people could not be German citizens or a "member of the race" which was Social Darwinism because the Nazis believed that people of true German descent were the better humans and the other foreigners and Jews were "sub-human." Also, in order for Germany to get back to its standards before the war, every able body must work to get their money and therefore inhibit Nationalization of industry, in which Germany needed in order to get back to being the world power that it was and to support the economy. Also, Nazi's believed that education should be taught the "German way," which would be based on the governments opinion of what is German (Nazi ideals). Nazi's would also encourage athleticism and fitness so that Germany may be a power house of able bodied and disciplined beings, and therefore stronger people. Finally, Nazi's outlawed child labor to protect the child and the mother in difficult times in the economy like in the 1920's (economic crisis at its height). 

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 first governmental meeting was held in the small town of Weimar instead of the German capitol of Berlin because even in 1919 Berlin was thought to be too violent and unstable to hold a governmental meeting without causing an outrage. 

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

Fredrich Ebert promised that the new republic would give the German people the freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and better working conditions, and a new constitution was drawn up. 

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

It was a shock to many German people because they were used to the traditional autocratic German system of government to the new democratic system. 

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

The right wing (Kaiser's advisers) had held their positions in the army, judiciary, civil service and industry, which restricted what the new government could do.

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

The powerful myth that developed was called "The Stab in the Back" which stated that Ebert had stabbed Germany in the back and caused the defeat in the war.

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

Ebert was elected President in 1919 of the Weimar Republic by the German people.


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.)
If the Chancellor got the approval and support of the Reichstag, who approved the laws coming from the Chancellor and President and people, then the Chancellor could pass any law he wanted to pass.