How Did Hitler Rise to Power?

How Did Hitler Rise to Power?

Ian Hill

Where Did Hitler’s Party Begin?

•In 1919 Hitler joined the German Worker’s party and was soon promoted to one of the seven leaders

•The Worker’s party was tiny, its only functions were to discuss the present government, threats of communism, and the Jewish enemy.

Where did the Nazi Party Come From?

• The German Worker’s Party was not an active organization, it simply discussed issues.

• Hitler wanted change and action, he started making anti-semetic speeches to miniscule audiences until a newspaper article drew a larger crowd.

• The people in that crowd who liked what they saw in Hitler became the first members of Hitler’s Nazi Party

How did the Nazi Party Grow?• Now that Hitler had some followers he started sending

them on recruiting assignments.• The party grew slowly, but after a while it reached over

one thousand members.• This is when Hitler started turning it into a military group

under the name of the National Socialist German Workers Party.

• He started training Stormtroopers as a private Militia 1920• How was this aloud? It was kept quiet, but later Germany’s

powers were simply afraid of Communism becoming a part of Germany, and they supported any opposition to the Communist party, no matter how violent.

What Events Led up to The Beer Hall Putsch?

• The Putsch was a reaction to Germany’s response to France’s high reparations from WW1

• In April 1921 France demanded about 33 billion dollars from Germany, as the German Government started to pay these debts Germany became more and more inflated.

• Finally Germany defaulted their payments. This lead to France occupying The Ruhr.

• Fearing France would take more of Germany the government resumed paying the reparations.

Why did the Beer Hall Putsch Occur?

• This lack of defiance and strength shown by the German Government shot national pride down from 0 (losing WW1) to -1.

• The Nazi Party was avidly opposed to paying reparations for a war that they didn’t believe they had lost.

• When the German Government continued paying the reparations and forcing the economy into a depression, the Nazi party acted.

What was the Beer Hall Putsch?

• The first active move the Nazi party made was an utter failure.

• The Beer Hall Putsch was an attempt at a revolution and ultimately an overthrow of the German Government.

• The Nazi party learned of an important meeting involving the top three leaders of Bavaria. Hitler wanted to get them to back the Nazi party in an uprising at Munich.

What happened at the Beer Hall Putsch?

• Hitler’s Stormtroopers barged into the small Hall and quickly overwhelmed the little resistance.

• Commissioner Kahr, head of police, Colonel Hans Van Seisser, and Commander of the German Army in Bavaria, General Otto Van Bossow were kidnapped by Hitler at the meeting and were forced at gunpoint to sign a document saying that they agreed to back the Nazi Party.

• Hitler, thinking everything was in control, left the meeting to check on other matters. The top three leaders of Bavaria escaped and publicly announced that anything they had signed was void.

What was Hitler’s Response to His Failure to Win the Alliance of Bavaria?

• Hitler decided that he would still march on Munich to provoke an uprising. He and Ludendorff, a WW1 Hero, led their entire army of Stormtroopers.

• Hitler assumed two critical aspects of his plan, this was very detrimental.

• He assumed that police would not fire on Ludendorff or anyone in the march due to Germany’s respect for Ludendorff

• He also assumed that there would be many people to join in the protest.

• Unfortunately for the Nazis the public did not get involved at all and when they encountered a police line the police fired.

Side Question: Who was Ludendorff?

• Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff• 9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937• A German General, victor of Liege and of

the Battle of Tannenberg (1914). • Well known and admired General of WW1

What Were the Effects of the Beer Hall Putsch?

• Hitler and 9 other leaders were arrested and put in prison. Hitler was to serve 5 years.

• The Nazi failure may have actually benefitted Hitler’s cause in the long run; it generated publicity and gave birth to Hitler’s Mein Kampf

What was Mein Kampf

• Hitler only served 9 months of his 5 year term due to authorities sympathetic to his cause. He was released on December 24th 1924

• In prison Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) which later became the Nazi bible.

Mein Kampf:1. Jews were the natural enemies of the superior Aryan race.2. The two races should never marry or even connect

What was in Mein Kampf?

3. Jews were dangerous and therefore needed to be exterminated because they controlled the press, money, and land.4. The Jewish race also needed to be exterminated because the blood could poison Aryan blood.

• Hitler thought the Jews were trying to make the two races equal with democracy.

What Were the Effects of Prison and Mein Kampf?

• Prison had made Hitler famous; by 1930 the Nazi party was second most powerful in Germany

• Mein Kampf was soon looked at as a guide to Nazism

• Many Germans read Mein Kampf and joined the Nazi Party

How did the Great Depression Affect Germany?

• The German Economy was dependant on foreign loans, making it dependant on the United States

• When the U.S. Stock Market crashed Germany experienced hyperinflation.

• Inflation came to a peak when people would require wheelbarrow loads of bills to purchase groceries and cigarettes were a more popular currency.

How did the Economic Crash Affect Political Parties?

• Only two Parties had predicted the economic crash: the Nazi Party, and the Communist Party

• All of the major parties were stunned and helpless, so much so that War Officials and other important people started looking to Hitler for guidance.

• (When the public saw that the Nazis were correct about the Depression they started looking to them for advice on other matters as well.)

What did the Nazi Party do with Their Newfound Fame?

• Hitler Immediately pointed towards remilitarization which the public as a whole eagerly accepted.

• Although this violated the Treaty of Versailles most Germans did not want to be an Insignificant country.

• Because Hitler wanted to rebuild military he immediately won the favor of most Generals paving the way for a larger, undisputed private army.

What Were the Effects of the Great Depression on Hitler?

• This was one of the most critical determinates of him winning his position as chancellor and later the opportunity of Supreme Chancellor.

• The Depression killed all other political competition other than the communist party who had also predicted the collapse.

What Were the Events Leading Up to Hitler Becoming Chancellor?

• The German Public had witnessed the Nazis foresee the Depression and stood behind remilitarization.

• Hitler began to campaign, making 3 speeches a day promising jobs and resurrection of pride

How Will Hitler Being Chancellor Affect Germany?

• Hitler is appointed to Chancellor on January 30th, 1933 by President Von Hindenburg

• Although Hitler is in a more powerful position he cannot start his war on the Jewish race due to Hindenburg.

• Hindenburg had defeated Hitler as a presidential candidate earlier and was opposed to Hitler’s philosophy

• This did not stand in Hitler’s way for long. Hindenburg was getting old (85); 1933 was his last full year of presidency.

What was the Reichstag Fire?

• The Reichstag was a burning Hitler initiated that would make sure the Nazi Party would win over the Communist Party in the 1933 elections.

• The fire was supposedly started by members of the Communist Party.

• When Hitler announced that the communists had burnt down the Reichstag he immediately began arresting prominent enemies of the Nazi Party.

How did Hitler Deal with the Reichstag?

• Hitler called for his Stormtroopers and police to arrest the leaders of the Communist party and try them in court.

• Luckily for Hitler a Dutch Communist was heard jokingly talking about how “the only way to change the German government would be to burn government buildings” before the fire occurred.

What Were the Effects of the Reichstag?

• This gathered huge support for the Nazi party for dealing with the fire and also killed the Communist Party.

• After the fire Hitler called for Hindenburg to sign a degree that would essentially give Hitler complete power.

• Hitler legitimized the decree by saying it was “to protect the people.”

• Hindenburg, perhaps being to old to care anymore, signed the decree on February 28, 1933.

Hitler Is Now Supreme Chancellor

• Hindenburg dies less then a year later killing hope for any combatants of Nazism.

• Now Hitler Is free to do whatever he wants.

Bibliography

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Ludendorff• http://

www.mmog.asia/games/war2/index.php?lang=eng&sec=ghistory2-04

• http://www.rossel.net/Holocaust01.htm• http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/tim

eline/putsch2.htm• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_von_Hinde

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