Hitler comes to power The early 1930’s witnessed the worst economic conditions of the 20 th century. In a period of only 4 years the Nazis went from a.

Hitler comes to power

• The early 1930’s witnessed the worst economic conditions of the 20th century. In a period of only 4 years the Nazis went from a small party of extremists to holding absolute power within Germany.

• What is your definition of a depression (Economically speaking)

• Why does a depression cause a rise in hatred?

• Does this still happen today?

Did you know? Hitler hated the Reichstag building and never used it. Instead the German parliament met across the street at the Knoll Opera House

The Great Depression• The Great Depression hit by 1929. Unemployment

skyrocketed, people lost their homes, farms, and investments. Even those with jobs had to take pay cuts.

• People now began to listen to the Nazis. There were plenty of disillusioned people in every social class. Hitler promised help for farmers, jobs for factory workers, a better future for white collar workers, and anti-communist programs for the rich.

• Membership in the Nazi party exploded from 27,000 to 178,000 by 1930. In September a new Reichstag election was held and the Nazis exceeded even Hitler’s expectations.

Look at the past elections, What other party made gains in this election? What similarities do they have with the Nazis?

In addition to good economic times, the Nazis also lacked an issue. Speeches about the “November Criminals” and the Treaty of Versailles could only go so far.

Presidential Election of 1932• Despite being 85 years old Hindenburg was

persuaded to run for a second term as president because many thought he was the only person who could beat Hitler. Hitler went on a huge campaign trail that was dubbed “Hitler over Germany”, visiting many cities and making speeches to crowds as high as 120,000. Despite the effort Hindenburg still won, a majority of Germans were still unwilling to vote for the Nazis.

Hard Times Return Activity Directions

• All Groups: Read the Social Democrat, Communist, and Nazi Party Platforms – Summarize each Party’s goals

• Read the selection of each person and answer the following questions.– What party would this person vote for?– Justify your choice by identifying particular grievances and explaining how each party

will address them

How Hitler becomes the Leader of Germany• In June of 1932 Hindenburg

appointed a man named Franz Von Papen to be the new Chancellor of Germany. Von Papen called for new elections to be held. During this time the effects of the depression kept getting worse.

• Von Papen had good intentions but was an ineffective administrator, as a result his time in office was only 5 months.

After this election Hitler demanded to be named Chancellor but President Hindenburg refused. The Nazis made it impossible for the government to run effectively and Von Papen resigned, being replaced by General Kurt Von Schleicher.

• Kurt Von Schleicher was a longtime and influential aid to President Hindenburg. Due to this he made many enemies who grew frustrated over his power over Hindenburg, and few trusted him. Von Papen blamed him for his downfall as Chancellor.

• Schleicher believed he could divide the Nazi party and put an end to Hitler. Greggor Strasser was a high ranking Nazi who differed from Hitler on core objectives and was asked by Schleicher to become Vice-Chancellor. Upon hearing this Hitler flew into a rage and forced him to resign.

• Very quickly everyone realized that Schliecher’s policies were not going to work.

• Von Papen wanted to get even with Schleicher and also thought he could control Hitler. He met with Hitler and proposed leading a new government with Hitler as chancellor and himself as Vice-Chancellor and most of the cabinet being non-Nazis. Hindenburg agreed and on January 30, 1933 Hitler become chancellor. The Third Reich was born

• Hitler’s First Step was to establish a dictatorship and wipe out all other political parties.

Ludendorff wrote a letter to Hindenburg that said, “I predict most solemnly that this man will die in incredible misery.” “Coming generations will curse you for naming him chancellor.”

• In February 1933 the Reichstag building burned down. A Dutch communist was arrested and charged with the crime. Hitler lashed out at Communists and had all the Communist members of the Reichstag arrested. He also arrested many of his political opponents and sent more than 27,000 of them to concentration camps. The first camp, Dachau, opens near Munich in March.

Hitler Destroys Democracy and becomes Dictator

As you can imagine it was the Nazis themselves who burnt the building, using a tunnel between Goering's house and the Reichstag to sneak inside.

The Enabling Act• In order to support his “war against communism”

Hitler demanded broad dictatorial powers which he called the Enabling Act.

• The Enabling Act allowed laws to be passed without consent of the Reichstag, allow Hitler to make any change to the constitution, and the right for Hitler to suspend all civil liberties. All members of the Social Democrat party went against the bill, but intimidation leads to its passage.

• By July 1933 The Nazis were able to abolish all rival political parties. Hitler was also able to replace most of the non-Nazi members of his cabinet with loyal Nazis.

All the members of the Communist party couldn’t vote because the SS had sent them to concentration camps.

The Downfall of the SA• The SA grew rapidly because they gave the

unemployed some purpose and a sense of self-respect. Street fighting with communist and other political armed groups became common. The SA intentionally would start large brawls at opposition rallies. In addition they would pull fire alarms, send death threats, and even drop mice and snakes down women's dresses to cause confusion. Membership soared to more than 3 Million by 1932.

Horst Wessel

How big was the Army in Weimar Germany? The army, rightfully so, feared the power of the SA.

• There were also very serious problems with the SA. Many of its members took the “Socialist” part of the party seriously and wanted to start a social revolution in Germany, as well as replace the official German army with the SA, two things Hitler had no intention of doing. He needed the Army to fight future wars, and he needed the rich industrialists to supply his army.

• Once in power Hitler had to choose between the SA and the army, he chose the latter.

One time the SA even went on strike and Joseph Goebbels had to get police protection. Only after Hitler made a tearful speech to them did they return to work.

The Night of Long Knives• Hitler needed to show the Army and the industrialists

that the SA would not pose any threat to them. On June 30, 1934, in what became known as the Night of Long Knives, Hitler had more than 1000 SA leaders arrested and shot, effectively eliminating any threat to Hitler’s power. Ernst Rohm was shot by the SS after refusing to take his own life. From this point on the SA will play no major role in Nazi Germany and will be totally overshadowed by the SS.

• Hitler also eliminated others including Von Schleicher and Gustav Von Khar, the former ruler of Bavaria who betrayed him during the Beer Hall Putsch.

• On August 2, 1934 Hindenburg dies and Hitler combines the office of chancellor and President together, becoming the sole ruler of Germany.