Nazi Germany

(Source: Cambridge IGCSE History, Modern World History, Ben Walsh, Hodder Education)

The Nazis began as a worker party, created by Anton Drexler.

At the end of the First World War, Hitler found it hard to accept the armistice, and the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Like many Germans, he looked back to the 'glorious days' of the Kaiser. He despised the Weimar Republic, he believed the new socialist government had stabbed the army in the back (see the 'stab-in-the-back myth').

He joined the NSDAP party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) and was in charge of propaganda and political ideas of the party.

In 1921, he overtook Drexler as the leader of the NSDAP. He was a great speaker and soon attracted attention.

#What did the NSDAP stand for in the 1920s?

In 1920, the Nazis announced their Twenty-Five Points Programme. The main points were:

  • the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles;
  • union of Germany and Austria;
  • only 'true Germans' to be allowed to live in Germany. Jews were to be excluded;
  • large industries and businesses were to be nationalised;
  • a strong central government;
  • generous old age pension.

The appeal was quite clear and simple, stirring nationalist passion. Hitler gave his audiences scapegoats to blame for all Germany's problems: the Treaty of Versailles, the Allies, the Jews, the Communists and the 'November Criminals' (the Socialists who had signed the armistice and the terms of the Treaty).

#Why did the Nazis have little success before 1930?

There are several factors which explain the Nazi's lack of success in the 1920s. They include :

  • the disastrous Putsch of 1923;
  • the disruption of meetings by political enemies lack of support in the police and army;
  • most industrial workers supported left-wing parties;
  • Nazi aims were irrelevant to most Germans;
  • the Weimar government was succesful after 1923, with Stresemann as a Chancellor.

#A. The failed putsch

By November 1923 Hitler believed that the moment had come for him to topple the Weimar government. On 8 November, Hitler hijacked a local government meeting and announced he was taking over the government of Bavaria. He was joined by the old war hero Ludendorff.

The next day, however, the Weimar government forces hit back. The rebellion broke up in chaos. Hitler escaped in a car, while Ludendorff and others stayed to face the armed police.

Hitler had miscalculated the mood of the German people. In the short term, the Munich Putsch was a disaster for him. People did not rise up to support him. He and other leading Nazis were arrested and charged with treason. At the trial, however, Hitler gained enormous publicity for himself and his ideas, as his every word was reported in the newspapers. In fact, Hitler so impressed the judges that he and his accomplices got off very lightly.

Ludendorff was freed and Hitler was given only five years in prison, even though the legal guidelines said that high treason should carry a life sentence. In the end, Hitler only served nine months of the sentence and did so in great comfort in Landsberg castle. It was clear that Hitler had some sympathy and support from important figures in the legal system. Because of his links with Ludendorff, Hitler probably gained the attention of important figures in the army. Time would show that Hitler was down, but not out.

#B. The Weimar Republic recovery after 1923

The new Chancellor, Stresemann was a leading member of every government from 1923 to 1929. He was a skilful politician, having wide support. He was also helped by the fact that through the 1920s the rest of Europe was gradually coming out of its post-war depression. Slowly but surely, he built up Germany's prosperity again. Under the Dawes Plan, reparations payments were spread over a longer period, and 800 million marks in loans from the USA poured into German industry.

Even politics became more stable. To begin with, there were no more attempted revolutions after 1923. Hitler's NSDAP gained less than 3% of the vote in the 1928 election.

There was also a cultural revival in Germany. In the Kaiser's time there had been strict censorship, but the Weimar constitution allowed free expression of ideas. Writers and poets flourished, especially in Berlin. Artists in Weimar Germany turned their back on old styles of painting and tried to represent the reality of everyday life, even when that reality was sometimes harsh and shocking. The 1920s were a golden age for German cinema, producing one of its greatest ever international stars, Marlene Dietrich, and one of its most celebrated directors, Fritz Lang. Berlin was famous for its daring and liberated nightlife.

#C. Lack of support from the workers

By 1927 the Nazis were still trying to appeal to German workers, as they had when the party was first founded. The results of the 1928 elections convinced the Nazis that they had to look elsewhere for support. The Nazis gained only twelve Reichstag seats and only a quarter of the Communist vote. Although their antisemitic policies gained them some support, they had failed to win over the workers. Workers with radical political views were more likely to support the Communists. Despite the Nazis' arguments that workers were exploited, urban industrial workers actually felt that they were doing rather well in Weimar Germany in the years up to 1929.

Other groups in society were doing less well. The Nazis found that they gained more support from groups such as the peasant farmers in northern Germany and middle-class shopkeepers and small business people in country towns. Unlike Britain, Germany still had a large rural population who lived and worked on the land — probably about 35% of the entire population. They were not sharing in Weimar Germany's economic prosperity. The Nazis highlighted the importance of the peasants in their plans for Germany, promising to help agriculture if they came to power. They praised the peasants as racially pure Germans.

Nazi propaganda also contrasted the supposedly clean and simple life of the peasants with that of the allegedly corrupt, immoral, crime-ridden cities (for which they blamed the Jews). The fact that the Nazis despised Weimar culture also gained them support among some conservative people in the towns, who saw Weimar's flourishing art, literature and film achievements as immoral.