Historical Conditions
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War:
-Destroyed imperial regimes -Military felt betrayed by the Jews -Bitter from defeat in WW1 (1918) and felt betrayed by Weimar -Destroyed illusion of liberalism -Treaty of Versailles -Humiliation from foreign powers Ideology: -Many people blamed the Jews after 1917 -Threat of communism (Middle class conservations) Weimar Opposition: -Spartacist’s -Kapp Putsch -Sign of the failure of the government -Discontent of German citizens Economy: -1923 – year of crisis hyperinflation, passive resistance -Reparations (Unfair) -1929 wall street crash -> great depression -Blamed Jew bankers Political Chaos: -Assassinations 1919-22 -Luxemburg assasination -Intimidation -Not used to democracy -Spartacist uprising 1919 -Reichstag – proportional representation -Citizens of Germany were used to a monarchy Social: -Moral decadence (night clubs) -Western values – Roaring 20s -Erosion of traditional values -Germans blamed Jews for everything bad -Decommission of army -> felt weak -Cultural -No history of democracy -Believed Weimar republic – golden age |
Leader and Party
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Prison:
-Munich putsch -> trial gave him a national platform, even judges favored him -Mein Kampf was written Enabling act: -Reichstag voted itself out of existence -Hitler became dictator Ideology: -Hatred of communism -German superiority -Nationalism – pride after WWII -Rejected the treaty of Versailles -Anti Semitism -His ideologies were very popular with the German public Propaganda: -Election campaign -First person to use TV, radio, papers etc. -Flying around Germany to give 2-3 speeches a day -Goebels -Convinced much of the German population that union workers were a threat to the future of Germany Style of leadership: -Charismatic -Passionate -Delivered Opinion in a way that excited crowd Policies: -Changed to fit public opinion -No concrete policies – he constantly changed his policies -Said what needed to be said -Provoked disorders and claimed he was the only one capable of stopping it |
Weakness of Opposition
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Weimar Republic:
-Unpopular economic policies -Frequent changes of chancellor -Tried to limit Hitler’s powers as chancellor in 1932 -Political instability -November criminals – stabbed in the back -Massive public spending reduced unemployment Communist Party: -Fear of Bolshevik revolution -Top businessmen supported Hitler -Reichstag Fire – communists were to blame Conflicts within the party: -Hitler expelling the Straser brothers because they didn’t agree with Hitler’s ideology -Socialists or nationalists -Hugenberg – encouraged a rival to Hitler, Duesterberg -Leader of the nationals peoples party |