Germany-20th Century

GITIMH2 94107 20th Century Germany Page 1
Introduction
By the end of 1918, Germany had reached a state of total exhaustion after four years
of war. Facing the combined might of the Allies, Germany sought an armistice which
was signed on 11 November 1918. In June 1919, Germany was forced to sign the
Treaty of Versailles which, in German eyes at least, was seen as savage and unjust. As
well as losing territory and having the size of its armed forces severely reduced,
Germany was forced to pay the victorious powers reparations—vast sums of money as
compensation for the damage caused by Germany during the war. In late 1922,
Germany announced that it was unable to pay its next reparations instalment. France
was unwilling to let Germany ‘get away without paying’, and so in January 1923
invaded the Ruhr to collect its reparations. The occupation of the Ruhr lasted until late
1924 and did great damage to the new Weimar Republic.
One of Germany’s heroes from World War I was Paul von Hindenburg. He retired
after the war with his reputation high. Hindenburg was a monarchist and dearly had
little faith in democracy. However, in 1925, he stood for election and became president
of the Weimar Republic. It was during Hindenburg’s time as president that the Great
Depression hit Germany. As several chancellors tried and failed to deal with the
economic and political crisis of the early 1930s, Hindenburg was persuaded to appoint
Hitler chancellor. Hindenburg allowed Hitler to consolidate his hold on power and
supported his move against the SA (Sturmabteilung, or stormtroopers) in June 1934.
Hindenburg died in August 1934.
Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in January 1933. Until the Depression hit
Germany, his career had been unspectacular. However, a combination of brilliant
oratory, clever propaganda and the distress of the time gave him the chance to obtain
power.
Hitler faced opposition from inside his own party. The radical SA, led by Ernst Röhm,
sought a ‘second revolution’ and further radical change in Germany. Hitler was
warned by Hindenburg and the army that if he did not deal with Röhm and the SA, he
himself might be toppled. Despite his long association with Röhm, Hitler sided with the
army. He had Röhm and many SA leaders (and other opponents) arrested and shot on 30
June 1934, The Night of the Long Knives. This action left Hitler unopposed.
Hitler was a genuinely popular leader, even to the end of the war. His policies seemed
to provide a solution to the Depression and, as his foreign policy successes mounted, it
seemed that he was keeping his promise of destroying the Versailles Treaty and
restoring the pride of the German people. However, the price paid by the German
people was heavy − the establishment of a police state. The persecution of the Jews,
which began in 1933, resulted a decade later in the Holocaust. War came in 1939 and
at first Germany enjoyed victory after victory. However, economics, military defeats
and poor leadership on Hitler’s part resulted in a crushing defeat for Germany in
1945.
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Life inside Nazi Germany during the 1930s was one of great contrast. For many,
Germany became an exciting place, a country of drama and excitement. This was
certainly the case for young people. Both boys and girls were urged to join Nazi youth
groups. These groups provided young people with a wide variety of activities, ranging
from sport to camping to community work. However, there was a more sinister side to
the Youth Groups. They were also centres of military training and nonstop Nazi
indoctrination.
If Hitler’s Germany could be an exciting place for German youth, for the Jews it
became a place of horror. The Jewish community in the 1930s faced continuous
humiliation, harassment and danger. In Hitler’s mind, the Jews were the lowest form
of life and had no rights. As soon as the Nazis took power, the Jews suffered
persecution. At first, this persecution took the form of things like boycotts against
Jewish businesses and acts of petty humiliation. However, as the decade wore on, the
persecution took on a legal form. By the end of the decade the violence against the
Jews − which had earlier been random and inconsistent − had become all pervasive. As
early as 1939, Hitler was making veiled warnings about the ultimate fate of the Jews.
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Occupation of the Ruhr
In January 1923, French troops were sent into the industrial region of Germany
known as the Ruhr. France claimed that Germany was refusing to pay the reparations
that had been imposed on it by the treaty of Versailles. During this French occupation,
relations between French troops and German citizens grew steadily worse and often
resulted in violence. The Germans refused to cooperate with France and went on
strike. The main economic result of this was the collapse of the German currency with
the hyper inflation of 1923. The Weimar Republic faced many threats to its existence
during 1923, not only from the French but also from leftwing and rightwing
extremists inside Germany. One of these threats came from Adolf Hitler.
Germany before Weimar:
Before 1918 Germany was ruled by the Kaiser or Emperor. He appointed his
Chancellor and ministers as the Government. They, in turn, made decisions and wrote
laws which were approved by the Reichstag. This system of government was supported
by important groups of people in Germany such as army officers, civil servants, judges,
university teachers, landowners and businessmen. For a long time these groups were
the main sources of power in German life and politics.
German trade unions had grown to a massive 2.5 million members by 1913. The
unions supported their own political party, the Social Democrats (SPD). The
spectacular rise of the SPD to be the biggest party in the Reichstag was the major event
of the prewar German politics.
When WWI broke out a minority in the SPD opposed the war. They said that the war
was not to defend Germany but to expand it. As the war progressed, the split between
the two groups of the SPD became wider.
As the war continued, ordinary Germans suffered more and more. There were
shortages of food, medicines and clothing. Early in 1918 Germany’s generals began to
realise that they would lose the war. They advised the Kaiser to ask for peace. In
October 1918 the Kaiser acted. He chose members of the SPD dominated Reichstag to
form a new government to negotiate peace.
But the changes came too late to halt the unrest and dissatisfaction with the war. Mass
meetings were held against the war. Revolution war in the air. By November 9, the
capital, Berlin had been taken over. The army generals told Kaiser Wilhelm that he
had to give up the throne to save Germany from civil war. Without the support of the
army, the Kaiser abdicated. The SPD took advantage of the great enthusiasm for
change. A new government was formed with Friedrich Ebert, as Chancellor. Germany
was a parliamentary democracy. The armistice agreement to end the war was signed
on November 11, 1918.
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The Birth of the Weimar Republic:
The SPD arranged for a general election. However, the SPD were worried that they
might be hijacked by revolutionary leftwing groups. So the SPD leader, Freidrich
Ebert, made secret agreements with the new head of the German military as the trade
union leader to keep influence and prevent more radical change.
Some were disappointed with these changes. The Spartacus League started a new
party, the German Communist Party (KPD), which criticised the other Socialists. They
wanted to take the revolution a stage further and make Germany a Communist state
like Russia.
KDP plans alarmed the German middle classes. They knew how Russian Communists
shared out privately owned land, took over banks and factories, and terrorised or killed
their opponents.
These political differences about Germany’s future could not be contained long.
Fighting broke out in 1918 and peaked in January 1919. Sparracist supporters had to
act quickly before the election. On January 5 they tried to take over the government in
a Putsch in Berlin which succeeded in gaining control of some newspaper offices.
Their rebellion was ruthlessly crushed by the Freikorps.
Set up by Ebert, these new military units were made up of former soldiers who had no
sympathy with the workers. By January 13, the Spartacist Putsch had failed. On 19
January 1919 the general elections to the new National Parliament were held.
The results of the election seemed a victory for peaceful democratic parliamentary
government. The ‘Weimar’ parties − the SPD, the DDP (a progressive liberal party) and
the Zentrum Party received more than three quarters of the vote. However, the election
did not end left wing threats to the Government. Groups of workers disillusioned with
the lack of progress towards further democracy staged uprisings in the industrial
centres’ of Germany. Indeed an uprising in Berlin so worried the new members of the
Parliament that they preferred to hold their first meetings in the safer and quieter town
of Weimer,, from which the new state took its name, rather than the capital. The
Freikorps continued their bloody work of putting down these workers’ rebellions which
were never properly led or organised enough to succeed.
The effect the November 1918 revolution and the Spartacist Putsch had
upon the politics of Weimar Germany
The result of this period was important for the new government. It was forced into
closer cooperation with the traditional sources of power in Germany. These more
conservative forces in Germany, the judges, the civil servants, the army, industrialists,
and the newspapers owners were in turn able to reclaim some of their influence on the
direction the country was taking. In the election the SPD made good use of the idea of
the Communist threat. It was obvious to the other leftwing parties, the USP and KPD,
that there was little prospect of further democratic change. The SPD lost the support of
many German workers who believed that the new Republic had sold Out, They now
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backed the newer leftwing parties. The power of the Left and the labour movement
was divided amongst itself, The USP and KPD wanted important industries like coal
and steel taken over by the State. Here the workers were most militant and the
industrialists most powerful, However little change could be made without alienating
important supporters of the SPD government, Thus an opportunity was missed that
might have removedthe workers’ taste for revolution and led to a more democratic
system of government in Germany.
Sheet – The 1918 Revolution
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Why the France invaded and occupied the Ruhr:
France invaded the Ruhr on 11 January 1923 because Germany had fallen behind in
its reparation payments. However, French motives went deeper than just a desire to
make a debtor pay.
The 1919 Treaty of Versailles, which Germany had been forced to sign, stated that
Germany had to pay massive reparations to the victorious Allies. This was to
compensate the Allies for the damage caused to them by Germany during WWI. In
1921 a figure was finally agreed upon – US $40 billion. For France, the issue of
reparations was not simply a matter of vengeance though most French people felt that
Germany needed to be punished for invading France in 1914. It was also a crucial
matter for economic survival. Much of the terrible fighting of WWI had taken place on
French territory. France had suffered terribly because of the war: 1.3 million people
had died; 2.5 million people had been driven out of their homes; France had lost one
million cattle, 5 000 kilometres of railway, 23 000 factories and 52 000 kilometres of
roads. The French government believed that the only way to rebuild its shattered
country was to squeeze reparations out of Germany. As a result, it was likely to be very
tough on Germany if the latter tried to get out of paying its debts.
However, there was absolutely no way that Germany could possibly pay such an
enormous amount of money. Reparations were calculated at compound interest. This
meant that if, in any one year, Germany could not keep up with the interest payments,
it would end up owing more at the end of the year than at the beginning, even though
it might have made a sizeable payment.
Germany quickly got into trouble with its reparations. With the help of a London loan,
it made its first payment in 1921 but by late 1922 it was in trouble. Germany failed to
deliver a consignment of telegraph poles to France. The French premier, Poincare,
believed that Germany was simply trying to get out of paying its debts and he was
determined not to let Germany get away with it. The French view was: if Germany will
not pay, then we will go in and get it ourselves. Many at the time held the view that
Germany would do anything to get out of paying.
France had been disappointed with the outcome of the Versailles Conference. It had
wanted to see Germany weakened to such an extent that it could never contemplate
invasion again. The French leader in 1919, Clemenceau, shared the view of many of
his countrymen when he said he would have been happy to see Germany broken up
into small states. This did not happen. However, some French leaders did encourage
separatist groups in the Rhineland area of Germany. That is, they supported those
Germans who wanted to break apart from the rest of Germany and form an
independent state. The French liked this idea as it would have created a ‘defensive
buffer’ between France and Germany.
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“Poincare was not only interested in collecting reparations, he also intended to push
France’s border with Germany towards the Rhine River, a goal that had escaped
France in the Versailles Peace Treaty.”1
Sheet – The Treaty of Versailles
Sheet – The Treaty of Versailles...Content recap
Occupation and Resistance:
The French occupation was often brutal while German opposition ranged from non
cooperation to violent resistance.
The Behaviour of the Germans
Germany was in no position to respond militarily to the French invasion. It could so
little but watch as French and Belgian troops marched into their country. The German
people felt a mixture of shame, anger and humiliation. However, the Weimar
government was able to capitalise on the resurgence of patriotism that bean to envelop
the nation.
On 16 January 1923, the German Chancellor, Wilhelm Cuno, called upon the people
of the occupied areas to pursue a policy of ‘passive resistance’. Cuno discouraged any
violent action against the French as he know the French would retaliate in an
extremely forceful way. Instead, he urged the people to refuse to cooperate in anyway
with the invading forces. Reparation payments of any kind ended immediately. Public
officials, mine workers and transport workers refused to help French troops.
Spontaneous strikes broke out all over the Ruhr. German industrialists who had at first
shown some wllingness to cooperate with the French joined in the passive resistance.
One leading German industrialist, Fritz Thyssen, and some of his colleagues were
arrested by the French for their noncooperation. The British ambassador at the time,
Lord D’Aberon, commented about the French decision to arrest Thyssen and his
associated.
Lord D’Aberon, writing in 1923:
“The French, by their invasion of the Rhur, and by their imprisonment of mine
directors have done more to bring together all parties an all classes in Germany than it
was possible to effect by any other means. The mineowners and minedirectors who
have been imprisoned are becoming national heroes.”2
The actions of the industrialists were not simply due to ‘noble patriotism’. The Cuno
government continued to help heavy industry by supporting the exchange rate and
paying a large part of the industrialists’ wage bill. These actions had a disastrous
impact on the German currency during 1923.
Not all Germans backed the government’s call for passive resistance. Hitler, who at
this time was a minor figure of little importance, could see that the occupation and the
passive resistance was rallying the German people behind the republic. This was not
1
Tampke 1989, p50
2
McKay, M. Germany 191945, Longman, Harlow, 1989, Pg. 18
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what Hitler wanted. Hitler wanted to remove the democratic republic first and deal
with the French later. He said at the time:
“No not down with France, but down with the traitors of the Fatherland, down with
the November criminals! That must be our slogan.”3
There were isolated attacks on occupying troops. Several groups, often Freikcorps (ex
WWI servicemen), engaged in acts of sabotage. This might involve blowing up bridges,
derailing trains or destroying communications equipment.
The Behaviour of the French
Conditions under the French occupation were tough. The French imposed a strict and
sometimes brutal regime on the Germans in occupied areas. The French government
was not going to allow the Germans to get away without paying their reparations. If
force had to be used to get Germany to pay its debts, then so be it. There was
a mutual hatred between the French troops and the Germans and this often resulted in
violence.
Many incidents occurred between the French and the Germans. Sometimes incidents
were of a minor nature for example, a German could be pushed over for not taking
his hat off as a French soldier passed by. In some areas the French imposed curfews.
German workers who went on strike could be deported. Several Germans were executed
for actions against their French enemy. Another method used by the French were
strafexpeditions: French troops would descend on an area where some alleged
sabotage had occurred and punish the whole area by confiscating or destroying
property.
The French occupation created unlikely heroes. A member of the Freikorps, Leo
Schlageter, who had led a group to blow up a railway bridge, was caught, tried and
executed in Dusseldorf on May 26, 1923. He immediately became a nationalist hero!
German government report, 13 March 1923:
“In the neighbourhood of Essen, Josephine Mlaker was violated by six French
soldiers. At Langendreer the railway offices have been looted. At Buer two security
police officials were summarily shot.”4
An Eyewitness Account:
March saw a long record of French brutality: shootings, thrashings and terrorisation.
Yet by the end of the month, at huge expense, they were getting only 1% of the coal
that they had previously enjoyed from the Rhur, They were quite unable to make
anything run
Extract from the Weimar Chronicle by A. de Jonghe:
The Ruhr territory and the Rhineland have suffered under heavy oppression. Over
180 000 German men and women, old people and children, have been evicted from
house and home. Millions of Germans no longer know what personal freedom is.
3
Shirer 1960, p88
4
McKay, M. Germany 191945, Longman, Hatlow, 1989, p. 16
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Countless acts of violence have accompanied the occupation, more than One hundred
compatriots have lost their live, hundreds are languishing in prison…
Hyperinflation
The most dramatic impact on Germany of the events of 1923 was the hyperinflation.
Inflation occurs in all countries. In most countries it varies from 320%. However, in
1923, Germany experienced inflation beyond all imagination. If an inflation rate could
be calculated for November 1923, it would be in the region of 1 000 000 000%.
Germany’s currency ceased to have any value at all. It became impossible to change it
into other currencies as nobody was willing to accept the ruthless mark. Workers were
paid two or three times a day. Prices doubled every few hours. Faced with demands
from industrialists and workers to maintain support for passive resistance, the
government continued to print more and more banknotes. However, the French
believed that the German government was deliberating printing masses and masses of
banknotes to deliberately bankrupt the country so that reparations could not be paid.
Look at the Table so that you can have an idea of how dramatic the rate of inflation
was in Germany.
A Standard Bank Letter 1923:
“The bank deeply regrets that it can no longer administer your deposit of 68 000
marks, since the costs are out of all proportion to the capital. We are therefore taking
the liberty of returning your capital. Since we have no banknotes in small enough
denominations at our disposal, we have rounded out the sum to one million marks.”5
There was a cancelled 5 million mark stamp on the envelope.
Inflation in Germany in 1923:
Date The price of a loaf of bread (marks)
1918 0.63
1922 163
January 1923 250
July 1923 3 465
September 1923 1 512 000
November 1923 201 000 000 000
The Effects of Hyperinflation:
“About the sole ones who rejoiced were those deeply in debt who could pay off their
obligations with worthless paper. But the greatest beneficiaries were the exchange
barons, the profiteers and opportunistic foreigners who bought up jewelry and real
estate at ridiculously low prices. Large estates and buildings went to vultures for a few
hundred dollars. Family heirlooms were exchanged for enough to feed a family a few
weeks. There were scenes beyond belief: a woman who had left a basketful of money
on the street, returning a moment later to find the money dumped in the gutter and the
5
McKay, M. Germany 191945, Longman, Harlow, 1989, p.21
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basket stolen; a worker with a salary of two billion marks a week able to buy his family
only potatoes.”6
Bartering began to take the place of normal monetary transactions. If a man wanted a
haircut it might cost him two eggs. People would go shopping with a suitcase of money
rather than a wallet. Those who could buy assets were the lucky ones. They could buy
up valuable goods with useless money and then wait until it was all over. The group
that suffered most was the lower middle class. These were people who were probably on
fixed incomes, people living on their savings after a life of thrift, and people on
pensions.
They were ruined by 1923 and they would never forgive the Weimar Republic for what
happened. It was among this group that Hitler was to gain so much of his support
during the Depression.
Sheet − Economic Problems
6
Toland. J. Adolf Hitler, Doubleday, New York, 1976, p 1489
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The Political Impact of the Occupation
Threats to the Republic:
As the Weimar Republic went from one disaster to another during 1923 it faced many
threats from both leftwing and rightwing groups. These attacks gained pace
following the establishment of a coalition government led by Gustav Stresemann. The
government of Cuno, which had ordered passive resistance in January, collapsed in
August. In its wide place came a coalition government made up of a wide range of
political parties. Gustav Stresemann off the German People’s Party became the
chancellor. He realised that things could not continue as they had through 1923 and
so, in late September, he ordered the end of passive resistance and told workers and
businessmen to cooperate with the French occupiers.
Though the end of passive resistance was a commonsense move from Stresesmann’s
standpoint, many in Germany saw it as a betrayal. In the weeks that followed, the
Republic was to face a series of threats to its very existence.
Threat Number one
Source Bavaria
Leaders General State Commissioner von Kahr, General von Lossow, Police von
Seisser
Purpose Organise a coup against Stresemann
Result Stresemann managed to prevent this action but the Bavarian government
continued to plot against him
Threat Number Two
Source The Black Reichswehr secret volunteer army units that had been created
against the rules of the Versailles settlement.
Leaders Major Buchrucker
Purpose Seize forts east of Berlin as a prelude to a coup against Stresemann
Result Revolt ended by regular army forces
Threat Number one
Source Saxony and Thuringia
Leaders Erich Zeigner, prime minister of Saxony
Purpose Protect the two states against rightwing forces in Bavaria, though
Stresemann feared communist revolution
Result The government of Zeigner was overthrown by General Müller
Sheet – The challenge of the right
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Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch (November 1923):
In November 1923, Adolf Hitler led his small and relatively unknown Nazi Party in a
shortlived and pathetic attempt to seize Power. This attempt to grab power, or putsch,
was a laughable failure. However, Hitler was able skilfully to turn the episode to his
own ends. He emerged from this failure as a national figure and indeed, in the eyes of
many people, a true portrait.
In his biography of Hitler, John Toland sets the scene for the attempted takeover:
“It dawned bitter and windy. The cold had come early to Bavaria that year and snow
was already falling in the hills south of the city. On the most important day of Hitler’s
life he had a headache and a throbbing toothache. His colleagues had urged him to see
a dentist but he said he ‘didn’t have time’ and that there was going to ‘be a revolution
which would change everything’”7
On the evening of 8 November, the Prime Minister of Bavaria, von Kahr, was giving a
speech in a Munich Bier Keller. Hitler had his ‘brownshirts’ surround the building.
He burst in jumped onto a table, fired a pistol and said:
“The national revolution has begun. This building is occupied by 600 heavily armed
men. No one may leave the hall. The Bavarian and Reich governments have been
removed and a provisional formed…”8
Hitler pulled von Kahr and his associates aside and demanded that they join him in
proclaiming a new government and then march on Berlin to challenge the Weimar
government. Hitler was supported at this stage by the WWI hero, General Ludendorff.
Von Kahr pretended to agree to Hitler’s demands. However, as soon as he was able to
escape, he turned against the Nazi group. The next morning, 9 November, Hitler and
Ludendorff led a march of over 2000 followers to the centre of Munich. Hitler was
certain that the army and the police would not fire on them but would probably join the
marchers. However, von Kahr had had a chance to make preparations against the Nazis.
Hitler’s group found itself confronted by armed Munich police. The police opened fire,
leaving sixteen marchers dead. Ludendorff was arrested, as was Hitler two days later.
Hitler was charged with high treason. Goering, who had been wounded, received help
from a Jewish shopkeeper and then fled to Austria, as did Rudolf Hess. Ernst Rohm
surrendered to authorities a few hours later. William Shirer sums up the Munich
Putsch in the following way:
“The Nazi Putsch had ended in a fiasco. The party was dissolved. National Socialism,
to all appearances, was dead. Its dictatorial leader, who had run away at the first hail
of bullets, seemed utterly discredited, his meteoric political career at an end.”9
Hitler was put on trial for treason. Treason demanded a 25 year prison sentence but
Hitler received only 5 years. Of this, he was to only serve 9 months. His time in prison
7
Toland, 1976, p.153
8
Toland, 1976
9
Shirer, 1960, p75
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was served in some comfort in Landsberg prison. He was allowed company and indeed
Rudolf Hess soon joined him. It was Hess to whom Hitler dictated his book, Mein Kampf
The Putsch may have been a failure but Hitler turned this failure into a great success.
He became a national figure and used the nation’s attention to announce his
nationalist views and his plans for Germany’s future, and to attack his judges. For, as
Hitler said to the judges after the sentence had been pronounced:
“…it is not you gentlemen, who pass judgment on us. That judgement is spoken by the
eternal court of history… You may pronounce us guilty a thousand times over, but the
goddess of the eternal court of history will smile and tear to tatters the brief of the state
prosecutor and the sentence of the court. For she acquits us.”10
As Shirer says: The Putsch… made Hitler a national figure and, in the eyes of many, a
patriot and a hero. Nazi propaganda would make sure this episode was never
forgotten.
The End of the Occupation:
The year 1923 had been very bad for the Weimar Republic, to say the least. The list of
disasters is a long one: failure to pay reparations, French invasion and occupation,
hyperinflation, economic collapse, threats from left and right and, finally, Hitler’s
attempted Putsch. however, 1924 and the years immediately after were to be much
better.
The brief period of Stresemann’s chancellorship (AugustNovember 1923) saw the end
of passive resistance and the gradual revival of the economy. The debased currency
was called in and destroyed and a new currency was created, called the Rentenmark.
One Rentenmark was to be worth 1000 million marks. Strict controls were placed on
the printing of banknotes.
The United States became involved in the affairs of Germany. In 1924, it sponsored the
Dawes Plan, named after the American, Charles S Dawes. A more reasonable scheme
of paying reparations was devised and a twoyear moratorium on reparation payments
was introduced; that is, Germany would not have to pay reparations for two years. An
$800 million loan was granted to Germany. During the next few years, loans of
millions of dollars poured into Germany and helped to build up prosperity.
Sheet – Weimar Success 19241929
Sheet – The Stresemann Years
Sheet – Paul von Hindenburg
10
Shirer, 1960, p.75
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Hindenburg and Germany
• During the Great War of 19141918 there were very large statues raised to General
Hindenburg in Berlin and other cities of Germany.
• These great statues were made of wood so that the German authorities could use the
image as a means of encouraging the population to lend money for carrying on the
war. However important he was as a military figure during the war years, there is no
doubt that the role he played in the complicated politics of the early 1930s in
Germany was crucial and ultimately disastrous for democracy in that country.
• By late 1924 moderate conservatives had begun to see that there was no future in
always opposing the Weimar republic, either by organized putsches (1920 Kapp,
1923 Hitler) or by excluding themselves from coalition governments. A group of
moderates began to form around Freiderich yon Loebell with two main aims. Firstly,
they wanted to create a grand coalition of conservatives, Catholics and democrats
to elect a conservative as President in the elections that were due in mid1925.
Once this aim had been achieved they wanted to use the powers of the conservative
President to change the nature of the democratic state, to achieve a revolution from
within the state rather than its overthrow by external force.
• The proWeimar forces reorganized themselves and chose a new candidate, Wilhelm
Marx, who looked likely to win the necessary majority. The conservatives looked
around to find another candidate with the national profile and status that they could
secure their aims. They had rejected the idea of calling Hindenburg a few weeks
earlier and some nationalists were still unhappy with his canditure. How could they
drag such a heroic figure into the dirty political games of the Weimar republic?
Others were terrified he might stand as candidate and lose! Hindenburg, for his part,
had to be persuaded that it was his patriotic duty to stand. Such as idea was always
the way to win him round to a particular position or course of action. He was
certainly not the ideal candidate for the conservatives. They wanted a clever
politician who could manipulate his presidential office into a powerful institution that
would undermine the republic. They had chosen a candidate who knew and
understood little about politics someone who would be a figurehead rather than an
active politician.
• Hindenburg, of course, won the second ballot from Marx with 14.6 million votes to
13.7 million votes.
• There has been a lively debate about the shortterm consequences of the success of
Hindenburg.
• Hindenburg was able to influence the formation of governments by his personal
preferences. He wanted to have the Nationalists (DNVP) included in the governments
and the Socialists (SPD) excluded whenever it was possible.
• Hindenburg had been approached about a proposed law concerning the powers of
the President under Article 48 of the constitution. Hindenburg said the new law was
not necessary as it was already covered; anything which limited the President’s
power weakened his authority and endangered the security of the state.
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• Germany had been going through political turmoil since the collapse of the
monarchy in 1918, but some degree of economic prosperity appeared to create
political stability in the late 1920s. This illusion was shattered by the onset in 1929 of
a depression that affected the whole international economy.
• Unemployment was 8.5% in 1929, 22% in 1931 and reached a peak of 29.9% in
1932, or some 5.6 million. The German economy was particularly vulnerable to
financial crisis because of the very extensive shortterm loans secured from the
United States after the Dawes plan was implemented in 1924. Payment of reparations
complicated the financial arrangements, but their negative political impact created
an intolerable burden for any government trying to engage in the democratic
process. There were those contempories who saw Hindenburg as the man who could
be relied on, as before, to ease Germany out of her difficulties.
• It appears that when Bruning was appointed as Chancellor he was not happy about
running a government beyond Reichstag control; he was persuaded by Hindenburg’s
threat to resign as President if he did not accept the position. His cabinet was right of
centre, claiming to be a ‘Hindenburg cabinet’ rather than a party government as
such. Hindenburg was especially anxious to include the DNVP, whose interests were
supported by promises of aid to landowners, some tax relief for property owners and
cutting public spending on social welfare.
• Hindenburg was very willing to intervene in political issues throughout 1930, behind
the scenes wherever possible, on behalf of military and conservative interests. It was
at his insistence that aid to the large landowners of the eastern provinces was given
priority, the measures being pushed through by April 1930. Then there was the
assistance he gave to the Stahlhelm, the association of exsoldiers who had fought in
the Great War. Hindenburg was himself a member of the organization. Hindenburg
refused to play any active role in the election campaign for fear of alienating the
conservatives in the DNVP, to whom he felt close by virtue of his background. The
elections, held in an atmosphere of economic and social despair, provided huge gains
for the radicals of the KPD (from 54 seats to 77) and the Nazis (from 12 to 107) at
the expense of the middle parties.
• This is said to be the beginning of the second stage in the destruction of
parliamentary.
• After the results of the 1930 September elections, Hindenburg encouraged Bruning to
negotiate with the DNVP to bring them into government.
• The Nazis and the DNVP tried to influence Hindenburg against various individuals in
the Bruning government, including Groener the Minister of Defence, and Bruning
himself. Three army officers had been arrested on charges of trying to form Nazi
cells in the arm to destroy the state. The Nazis and conservatives claimed,
untruthfully, that these officers had been humiliated by their being arrested before
their men. Hindenburg believed the lies but he also continued to support Groener.
• One of Hindenburg’s greatest fears seems to have been that the divided nation would
blame him for its problems. He spent hundreds of hours in private drawing up letters
that were never posted, defending his position.
Luke Cole Page 15
• Hindenburg’s greatest problem was that he had no vision of his own. He had always
found someone or something to guide him, to use as a prop in the war it had been
Ludendorrf and before 1930 it had been the Weimar constitution. Now that the
constitution was bein sidelined he had to rely on Bruning Schleicher and Meissner,
each of whom had different priorities. Meissner wanted to protect Hindenburg, his
master and friend; Schleicher wanted to avoid possible civil war by hoping to use the
Nazis as supporters. Schleicher therefore wanted Bruning to go easy on them and
Meissner also was willing to see closer contacts between Hitler and the government.
What Bruning Wanted:
There is reason to suggest that Bruning, like others in German political circles, hoped
the recession would end as quickly as that of 1926 had done, since some economic
indicators in early 1931 suggested a recovery was imminent. His main concern
appears, however, to have been to use the economic problems as a lever to remove the
Versailles burden of paying reparations. By making prompt payment of reparation
instalments, Bruning hoped to show German good faith was causing so much damage
to her economy that the payments would be cancelled forever. He was prepared to
accept some years of massive unemployment and economic misery for most Germans
to achieve his aim. The memoirs, however, reveal that Bruning had a more
controversial second aim of changing the constitution to restore the monarchy. He
knew of the plans in military circles and of those conservatives around Hindenburg for
an authoritarian government and went along with them. His economic ideas, however,
were harsh in cutting social welfare and government spending in a ruthless deflation
policy, but they reflected those supporting him and the ‘Hindenburg cabinet’.
• Bruning had an emergency decree passed on December 1, 1930 that cut all
government expenditure, including public service salaries and wages. Hindenburg
was not happy about the cuts to welfare but signed the decree.
• State and local elections were showing the economic crisis was helping the radicals
on left and right.
• Bruning failed when he visited Britain in June 1931 to secure his aim of ending
reparation payments, but the allies in July agreed to US President Hoover’s idea of a
oneyear moratorium, a little too late to prevent the European financial crisis that
struck almost immediately.
• At the same time, Hindenburg was being subjected to serious pressure from right
wing circles.
• A constant stream of letters warned of the loss of Hindenburg’s authority if he
continued his current policy. He also faced hostile demonstrations by Nazis on his
drives through the countryside, including one to the Tannenburg memorial, so dear
to his heart. Hindenburg responded by pressuring Bruning over several issues,
because he hated being involved in the controversies.
• Hindenburg’s suppon for Bruning required changes to his cabinet in October, since
he felt the influence of the Centre party was too strong and the foreign policy was too
Luke Cole Page 16
weak. Bruning took over as foreign minister, as he was expecting some foreign policy
successes and he wanted to conduct the negotiations. His new Minister of the
Interior, responsible for internal police and security, was general Groener, approved
by both Schleicher and Hindenburg. Bruning increasingly felt obliged to Schleicher
in retaining Hindenburg’s support. For his part, Schleicher noted that Bruning was
not capturing the moderate conservatives away from the more radical nationalists
and Nazis. Hoping to achieve a modus vivendi with the Nazis, Schleicher met Hitler
early in October and gained the false impression an understanding was possible.
Bruning disputed this interpretation and arranged a meeting between himself,
Hindenburg and Hitler a few days later. His opinion of Hitler’s intractability was
confirmed and Hindenburg told Bruning that he did not want ever again to meet
“that Czechoslovak corporal”. The brief Reichstag session in October was Bruning’s
last major parliamentary success.
• Schleicher continued to talk with the Nazis, with the full knowledge of Bruning.
• Hindenburg and Bruningdisagreedalso—over another emergency decree, which
was going to include further cuts to wages, salaries and pensions, along with rent
and interest rate reductions. The decree included measures to strengthen law
authorities against the growing anarchy of the streets, including the banning of
wearing political uniforms. Hindenburg postponed signing the decree several times
in December and he compelled the Berlin policecommissioner to abandon attempts
to deport Hitler from Prussia as an ‘undesirable alien’. Another issue between the
two men concerned the end of Hindenburg’s term as President, early in 1932.
Bruning wanted him to stand again, since he saw nobody else likely to defeat Hitler,
but Hindenburg wanted to retire from his responsibilities.
• By midFebruary, with great reluctance, Hindenburg agreed to nominate.
• Meanwhile, Hitler was going through a devious of becoming eligible to stand as a
candidate by being made a German
Luke Cole Page 17
The Fall Of The Bruning Government
When Bruning met Hindenburg the day after the election he faced a cool reception.
Hindenburg remained a victim of the devious trickery of the nationalist rightwing.
The ban on the Nazi paremilitaries proved to be a significant reason for the downfall
of both Groener and Bruning. Schleicher began to intrigue against them because he
wanted the government brought down and replaced by a presidential one further to the
right, supported by the Nazis.
Further elections were held in various states on April 24, with those in Prussia,
amounting to some twothirds of all Germany, being the most important. They led to
further gains in several key states for the Nazis, including their becoming the party
with the largest number of seats in Prussia, but not securing a majority.
Of the close circle around Hindenburg, son Oskar and Schleicher were most
convinced that Bruning had to go.
Oskar had become an essential prop to his father during 1931 as Hindenburg had
become isolated from his military and conservative friends and had turned towards
Oskar to discuss issues and problems. Schleicher, as the Army’s political
representative, used this situation to his advantage.
Schleicehr continued his contacts with the Nazis as part of his policy of moving
govenment to the right, though not wanting to bring them into partnership.
Schleicher’s greatest error was in seeing the Nazis as just another political party
wanting to get into power, not appreciating they were an entirely different species of
political life.
What was so galling for Bruning was that a few weeks after he had been dismissed
from the office the allied powers agreed at the Lausanne conference in July to suspend
all reparation payments. He was to claim later that he had been but one hundred yards
from the finish race before disaster struck. When Bruninq returned from his failed
April meeting at the Geneva Disarmament conference, he agreed with Hindenburg
that the Nazis should probably be brought into sharing government in the state of
Prussia and have a minor role in the Reich government. This had to be postponed until
after the reparations meeting, to avoid frightening foreign opinion.
Although Bruning still had a narrow parliamentary majority when he was forced to
resign as Chancellor on May 29, he had always been reliant on the support of the
president. In accepting the position in a presidential cabinet in the first place, Bruning
had to accept all the limitations, including the inevitable personal intrigue. His
absolute dependence on the President was as much a weakness as it had been a
strength.
Sheet – Weimar Germany and the Depression
Luke Cole Page 18
Presidential Rule Under Papen, JuneDecember,
1932
When Hindenburg returned from two weeks at Neudeck he was told by Schleicher that
the government needed to be replaced by one leaning further to the right, but he was
still in favour of retaining Bruning himself in some capacity. It seems that Oskar had
been willing to bring down Bruning to protect himself and his father, not
understanding the political significance of what he was doing. Schleicher had the
conceit of believing the vague promises of the Nazis and he had already chosen the
next Chancellor. Hindenburg accepted that the selected man, Franz yon Papen had the
necessary conservative qualifications, but he insisted on inviting the party leaders to
visit him before he made a decision.
When Hitler and Goering met the President they argued the ban on the SA and the SS
had to be lifted and new elections should be called before the Nazis could cooperate.
Goebbel’s diary records that both demands were accepted, though the official minutes
drawn up by Meissner say nothing about such a deal.
Papen was a member of Bruning’s party, the Centre. His chancellorship was regarded
as an act of betrayal by most of its members. Elsewhere he was regarded as a political
lightweight, exactly why Schleicher had chosen him, to manipulate him behind the
scenes.
Most of the cabinet had military and landowner backgrounds and they all shared
monarchist and antidemocratic ideas. The government had virtually no support in the
Reichstag and was totally dependent on the President.
Democracy took another beating in the Reichstag elections of July 31. Papen had
virtually no support and the Nazis won a huge total of 230 seats, but no absolute
majority in a Reichstag of 608. Papen declared he would continue in office with
Hindenburg’s support, since there was no conclusive result. Political violence
continued after the elections with arson attacks and deaths in street clashes. It was
obvious that some accommodation between the government and the Nazis would ease
the political situation and Schleicher hoped that Hitler would be pressured by his own
followers into accepting the post of viceChancellor in a new government.
When he met with Hitler, however, he was told the Nazi leader would accept nothing
less that Chancellor, as well as ministerpresident of Prussia, and that the key
ministries of Justice and the Interior for the Reich and Prussia would have to be held
by the Nazis. Hitler also openly proclaimed that he wanted the Reichstag to pass an
enabling act, giving the government unlimited authority in legislation. For his part,
Schleicher was positive in response, believing that if the Nazis could be drawn into the
responsibility of power their excesses would be curbed. Such a gross misunderstanding
of the nature of Hitler and the Nazis was to prove more than foolish it was to prove
fatal, literally, for Schleicher and millions of Germans.
Hindenburg was opposed to Hitler becoming Chancellor, legally or otherwise.
Luke Cole Page 19
Papen and Schleicher arranged for Hitler to come to Berlin to visit them, but they
informed him of Hindenburg’s attitude. Hitler and Schleicher met very briefly at noon
on July 13, with Hitler roundly abusing Schleicher for breaking his promise at their
earlier meeting. Hitler visited Papen immediately afterwards and, in an hourlong
tirade, produced another storm of abuse and verbal cartwheels with the truth of the
situation. Although not authorised to do so, Papen offered Hitler the vice
chancellorship. Papen went beyond that to say that, once Hitler had proved himself to
Hindenburg, he would hand over the Chancellor’s office. Hitler refused to accept the
offer. He despised these people with some justification! Papen insisted that Hitler had
to have a meeting with Hindenburg, who was the only one who could make a final
decision.
Hitler agreed to meet Hindenburg and left to wait at Goebbel’s apartment in Berlin.
He was telephoned at 3:00PM and went along to meet Hindenburg in the company of
Rohm, the SA leader.
The brief meeting was conducted courteously by both sides. Hitler insisted that, as
leader of the largest party, especially one wanting to destroy the constitution he had
sworn an oath to defend.
Hindenburg shook hands with him as ‘a fellow soldier’ before Hitler departed.
Hitler had been restrained, almost overawed, in the meeting with Hindenburg.
However, Papen waiting outside to see how it had gone was verbally blasted for
exposing Hitler to such a humiliation. Hitler returned to Goebbels’ home to discuss
matters after the event, but the talks were interrupted by the news that a government
version of the meeting had just been issued that suggested Hindenburg believed Hitler
was not to be trusted. The Nazis put out their own version of the interview, but he
damage was done there had been a severe reverse for Hitler and the Nazis at the
hands of the President. The editorials of most newspapers on the following day praised
Hindenburg’s leadership, his sense of duty and the importance of his role in the
political system.
Papen’s cabinet began to consider itself a government again, while recognising the
Nazis were not crushed, and suggested economic measures needed to be taken
urgently. Late in August, Papen suggested how they might try to reduce unemployment
by more publicworks projects and a major scheme for repair and maintenance work.
Financing for these schemes was largely to be by employers earning taxcredits for
hiring extra workers.
Rather surprisingly, Hindenburg readily agreed to what was a breach of the
constitution, signing a decree with no date or reason given, leaving Papen to fill in the
details as he saw fit.
The Nazis started talking about impeaching hindenburg on technical grounds. They
were trying everything they legally could to force Hindenburg to let Hitler in on his
terms, but the old man was having none of it.
Luke Cole Page 20
The elections held on November 6 were the fifth major elections that most Germans
had had to endure during 1932. Voter turnout was still remarkably high (80.6%
compared to 84% in July) and the Nazis found their finances were massively depleted
as a consequence of the constant campaigning. they suffered a severe setback in
losing 2 million votes and 34 seats, but he major gains went to the Communist KPD.
Since no working majority was possible for any combination of parties, it was agreed
between Papen and Hindenburg that the current government should continue.
The growth of the Communist vote caused much alarm in business circles, especially
as the extra 700,000 votes in November had come from disillusioned Nazi supporters
as well as the SPD. This helped the Nazis in their pressure on businessmen.
November 19, Hindenburg was still firmly opposed to having Hitler as Chancellor.
Hitler insisted that Meissner was not to be present for the first part of the interview, of
the meeting that was taking place, hoping to influence the 85 year old more easily.
Hindenburg was very sharp and questioned Hitler about Nazi tactics and was not
moved by his claims that the Nazis were all that stood between Germany and a
communist takeover.
He moved his position slightly by accepting that if Hitler could get a majority in the
Reichstag he would accept him as Chancellor, something he had previously refused to
consider.
The man that Hindenburg wanted as Chancellor was Papen, but he was being given
much advice that this was not a wise move.
Hindenburg wanted papen to lead the new government, but Papen would need
emergency decrees from Hindenburg to do so.
Papen called a cabinet meeting for December 2, only to find almost all were against his
becoming Chancellor.
Hindenburg was forced to abandon Papen as head of a presidential government, but
he now insisted that Schleicher himself take on the responsibility of trying to find a
majority in the Reichstag. He also insisted on retaining Papen as a personal advisor, so
that Schleicher was virtually doomed to fail from the start Papen wanted to have
revenge for his overthrow by Schleicher’s intrigues.
When the Reichstag met on December 6, Hindenburg was attacked in the opening
speech from the Reichstag President, the Nazi delegate General Litzmann, for not
appointing Hitler as Chancellor.
This direct attack on the old man was an indication that he could no longer claim to be
standing above party politics.
Confidence was growing in the government that the Nazis were falling apart. Their
financial problems were known and so was the decline in discipline among the ranks
throughout the country. Some groups had mutinied against their leaders and some had
degenerated into organised gangs of thieves. Because it seemed democracy might
reassert itself, the rightwingers were so horrified at the thought that they increased
their efforts to do a deal with Hitler and some industrialists gave more into Nazi funds
Luke Cole Page 21
to keep them afloat. Schroder arranged a HitlerPapen meeting on January 4, 1933
and, although nothing conclusive came out of the meeting, they saw the point of
continuing negotiations. Papen gave his version of events to Hindenburg, who
authorised the meetings to continue, but he had formed the idea that Hitler was
considering working under Papen.
Talks between Papen and Hitler resumed 13etween January 1921 and Meissner
began to support Papen’s push for Hitler. Hindenburg was still opposed, supported by
his son Oskar. Both Hindenburg seemed to be resisting the pressure on personal and
emotional grounds. Papen advised Oskar that he should talk with Hitler and he
eventually agreed to do so, accompanied by Meissner.
Oskar revealed in the taxi homeward that he had been significantly impressed by
Hitler’s dynamic qualities. Hindenburg still wanted Papen as Chancellor, but he
seemed to be wavering in his opposition to Hitler by January 28. Schleicher had now
given up all hope of remaining in power, for he knew Hindenburg would never grant
him emergency decrees to be a presidential Chancellor. So he also began to support
Hitler, rather than see his enemy Papen get the job. Recognising that everyone in his
circle was unanimous, Hindenburg advised Papen on January 29 to secure a
“Reichstag majority” under Hitler. The old man had finally succumbed to all the
influences about him. Papen disguised some of Hitler’s demands and stressed the
‘safeguards’ in place. Such guarantees included the fact that Hitler and his fellow
Nazis were only three among a cabinet government of twelve; Hitler would only see
Hindenburg in the company of Papen; the rights of the Reichstag, Reichsrat and Army
would be respected; above all, President Hindenburg, a man of 85 years, would have
the support of the army to ensure that Nazi ‘excesses’ were contained. Hitler was
sworn in an Chancellor at 11.00am, January 30, 1933.
Luke Cole Page 22
Hindenburg and Hitler’s Dictatorship
The last stages of Hindenburg’s tenure as President reflect his personal decline with
age.
Hindenburg was failing to play the part of the ultimate guardian of the constitution
that Papen had claimed he would. It seems strange that for so long he resisted the
appointment of Hitler, partly out of concern for the constitution, and then became a
passive observer of events.
Very shrewdly, Hitler saw to it that he humoured the ‘Old Gentleman’. He abandoned
for a while his usual habits and took up a regular pattern of meeting with Hindenburg
at 10.00AM and he adopted a deferential manner when in conversation quite a strain,
one images! Within a few weeks, the arrangement that Papen should accompany him
on his visits to the President was abandoned. Another change that was craftily
organised was the appointment of a family friend of the Hindenburg’s, Walter Funk,
also one of Hitler’s men, took over as the President’s pressaide. This meant he
received only favourable information on Hitler’s handling of affairs.
The next major step was of course the Enabling Act, which would suspend the
Reichstag for a ‘limited period’ of four years. The crucial group was the Centre Party,
now led by Kaas. He was persuaded by the usual false promises from Hitler to bring
the party round to accepting the measure. His reward was to be later congratulated by
Hindenburg for his support for Hitler and a latter which reassured him that Hitler had
promised to consult with the President before using the powers granted to him under
the Act! By the April he had come to accept Hitler completely and he passively allowed
dictatorship to continue. Later in 1933, when his trusted old friends Otto Meissner and
his wife tried to point out the excesses of the Nazis, they were politely told that it was
none of their concern. He raised objections over some trivial issues that were easily
erased by minor concessions, but the big issues eluded him. On August 27, 1933, the
anniversary of the battle of Tannenburg, he was presented with two large properties,
one of them a tract of forest such as had been granted to Bismarck late in his life.
Thereafter, Hindenburg became a cipher, a cardboard cutout. He was trotted out to
give support to Hitler during the plebiscite over whether Germany should leave the
League of Nations, but the result was a foregone conclusion anyway. The destruction
of the political parties and the abolition of the Reichsrat met with acceptance from an
old man now only too happy to allow measures to be taken by somebody he again could
trust. The deal done by the army leadership to halt the threat of the SA was achieved by
their support for Hitler becoming President on the death of Hindenburg. The
annihilation of the SA in the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ at the end of June, 1934 was
accepted by the President in the same way as the rest of Germany. The last great act of
the Hindenburg drama was the staging of his funeral in August 1934, a ceremony of
pomp and pagentry conducted by the master of propaganda and special effects, Joseph
Goebbels, but signifying nothing.
Luke Cole Page 23
Adolf Hitler 18891945
Hitler’s Background and Early Career:
Is it true that Adolf Hitler was not even a German?
This is true. Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in the Austrian town of Branau –am
Inn. He did not become a German citizen until as late as 1932
What were his parents like?
His father, Alois, was a stern disciplinarian. He used to beat Adolf frequently. Hitler
did not get on particularly well with his father and shed few tears when he died in
1903. However, he loved his mother Klara very dearly. She was Alois’ third wife and
was 23 years younger than him. Hitler carried her picture with him every day of his
life after she died.
Did Hitler have any brothers and sisters?
Hitler had three brothers and two sisters. His brothers – Otto, Gustav, and Edmund –
died young, as did his sister Ida. His sister Paula outlived him. Hitler also had a half
brother Alois and a halfsister Angela.
What was Hitler like at school?
At primary school, Hitler was slightly above average as a student. At one time he
attended classes at the Benedictine Monastery at Lambach and even thought of a
cateer in the church. He attended high school at Linz and said later that he
deliberately did not try at school, as he did not want to become a customs official like
his father. He was good at art, though, and he loved history.
What did Hitler do after school?
Hitler left school at age 15 and the first thing he did was to get blind drunk. This was
such an awful experience for him that he vowed never to drink again. For two or three
years he relied on his mother to keep him going and refused to get a job. In October
1907 he tried to gain entrance to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts but was rejected.
He tired again in 1908 and was again unsuccessful.
What was Hitler’s time in Vienna like?
Hitler spent about four years in Vienna, from 1909 to 1913. They were years of utter
misery and at times he was reduced to living on the streets. He managed to make a
meagre living out of selling watercolours and painting houses. Hitler said later that it
was in Vienna that he first came face to face with Jews and began to understand the
importance of racial issues.
How did Hitler end up in the German army?
Hitler was due to serve in the Austrian army in 1913 so he fled to Bavaria. He says he
did this because he could not bear the idea of serving in an army with racial inferiors.
When war broke out in 1914, Hitler volunteered for a Barvarian regiment. He said
later that the day war was declared was one of the happiest days of his life.
Luke Cole Page 24
What Sort of War did Hitler Have?
Hitler was very proud of his war years. He was a dedicated and singleminded soldier.
He was intensely patriotic and did not complain about the terrible conditions that he
had to face in the trenches on the Western Front. He was wounded twice, on the
Somme in 1916 where he received a leg wound and again in late 1918 when he was
temporarily blinded following a British gas attack. Hitler served during the war as a
trench runner, which was a very dangerous job. He earned two medals for bravery, the
Iron Cross 2nd Class and the Iron Cross 1st Class.
How did Hitler feel at the end of the War?
Hitler received the news of German Surrender when he was recovering from the gas
attack which had blinded him. He was totally devastated. He could not believe that all
the suffering and effort of the previous four years had been for nothing. Like many
Germans, he began to believe the idea that Germany had not in fact been defeated at
the front. Rather, the German army had been ‘stabbed in the back’ on the home front
by Jews, communists and democratic politicians.
How did Hitler get Involved in the Nazi Party?
After the war, many small extremists political groups were formed. A major fear a this
time was that a communist revolution might bread out as happened in 1917 in the
Russia. As a precaution against this, the army investigated any group they thought
might be dangerous. In September 1919, Hitler was sent by his army superiors to check
out a small Bavarian group called the German Workers Party. He was not very
impressed with the group at first but later decided to join and became the 7th member of
the committee of the German workers Party. In April 1920, the party became the
Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party, Or Nazi Party.
How did Hitler become leader?
Hitler became party leader in July 1921 following a disagreement with the former
leader, Anton Drexier.
How did Hitler try to seize Power in 1923?
Hitler believed that because of the disastrous events of 1923 the time was right for
taking power. His attempt was made in Munich in November but ended up as complete
failure.
What happened to Hitler after the Failed Putsch?
He was sentenced to 5 years in Prison but he served only 9 months, and that time was
spent in some comfort while he was in Landsberg Prison dictated his book Mein
Kampf, to his secretary and later deputy, Rudolf Hess. This book was to become the
Bible of the Nazi movement.
Sheet – Action Replay
Sheet − People and Events:…
Sheet – Hitler and the beginning of the Nazi Party
Luke Cole Page 25
Sheet – The depression and the nazi rise to power
Sheet – Why was the Nazi Party successful in the Election of March 1933?
Luke Cole Page 26
Hitler’s Ideas And Philosophy
What did Hitler believe?
This is really a big question. Nazi thinking was subject to a whole range of ideas and
influences. At the root of Nazi ideology was a belief in Social Darwinism the idea of
‘the survival of the fittest’. On an international level, this meant that strong nations
would prosper at the expense of weak nations.
What were Hitler’s ideas on race?
Hitler firmly believed that the Aryan race (loosely meaning German/North European)
was the superior race. As such it was destined to rule over other races. Not only that
because it was the superior race it had the right to control other races and use them as
slaves if need be. This is what was planned for the Slavs of eastern Europe and Russia.
As the Aryan race was the superior race, it was important to keep it pure and prevent it
breeding with other ‘inferior’ races.
How do the Jews fit into this?
Hitler viewed the Jews as the lowest form of humanity. In fact, in 1935, his
propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels stated that he wanted to hear no more rubbish to
the effect that the ‘Jew was a human being’. The Jews were not only racial inferiors
but had also been the cause of Germany’s humiliation. The Jew was classed as a
molester of Aryan children, and exploiter of Aryan workers, a purveyor of degenerate
culture from which the Aryan race had to be protected, and was also guilty of a plot to
take control of the world.
Did Hitler intend to exterminate the Jews right from the start?
This is almost impossible to answer. Some historians say this was his ultimate aim
right from the start and that always ‘intended’ to exterminate the Jews. Other
historians suggest that it was the eventual nature of the Nazi regime that led to such
extreme policies towards the Jews being put into place.
How important was nationalism?
It was of major importance. Hitler sought to restore German pride following the
humiliation of the 1919 Versailles Treaty. He believed all Germans should belong to
the German Reich. Having destroyed the Treaty of Versailles and taken over all the
lands containing Germans, Hitler believed that the Aryan race had the right to expand
into the rich territories of the east, in Russia. This area of expansion was referred to as
Lebensraum, or living space.
Apart from race and Lebensraum, were there any other ideas of
importance that Hitler held?
Hitler believed that the German Volk the German race was the foundation of true
civilisation. He also believed that men were biologically superior to women, and that
the real place for women was in the home bearing Aryan children for the fatherland.
Luke Cole Page 27
Sheet – the nasi
Sheet – Hitler and the growth of Nazi Party
Luke Cole Page 28
Hitler’s road to power
How successful was Hitler in gaining support during the 1920s?
When Hitler came out of prison in 1924, the future of Nazism looked bleak.
Membership was low, the party was short of funds and the Weimar Republic seemed to
be prospering. People do not follow radical leaders like Hitler when times are good.
During this difficult period, Hitler concentrated on building up the Nazi Party. He set
up his personal bodyguard, the SS, which in later years would become very powerful.
He defeated the leftwing Nazis from northern Germany and so consolidated his
personal hold on the party. However, in the country at large, the Nazis were still a
minor force. In the 1928 elections, the Nazis gained only twelve of the Reichstag’s
(parliament) 630 seats. For a party that aimed to get power legally, things did not look
promising.
How did the press baron Hugenberg help Hitler?
The rich newspaper man, Alfred Hugenberg, asked Hitler to join him in his campaign
against the Young Plan (a scheme to rearrange reparation payments). Hitler quickly
agreed to do this. Working with Hugenberg gave him national press coverage, money
and the respectability that came from being associated with respected figures.
Why did Hitler need ‘respectability’?
The Nazi Party was made up of various groups. One section of the party was the SA
(the Sturmabteilung, or stormtroopers). These were the brownshirts. The brownshirts
were the ‘bully boys’ of the party. They attacked political opponents and disrupted their
meetings. Hitler praised his brownshirts for their personal bravery but he knew that
they scared off the more middleoftheroad voters; so the prestige of working with
Hugenberg was welcome.
What impact did the Depression have on Hitler’s fortunes?
It is very likely that, without the Depression, the Nazis would have remained nothing
more than a noisy group on the edge of German political life. However, Germany was
hit very badly by the Depression. As American loan money dried up, the economy
collapsed and unemployment rocketed to record levels. The people of Germany became
desperate. Support for the republic began to evaporate. After the Treaty of Versailles,
the invasion of the Ruhr and hyperin~ation, there was now the Depression. Many
people began to see Hitler as the man who might lift their country out of this latest
disaster.
Did more people start supporting the Nazis?
In 1928 the Nazis had only twelve seats and 800 000 votes. In the September 1930
elections, they gained 107 seats and over six million votes. In July 1932 they did even
better, gaining 230 seats, though in November 1932 they fell back to 196 seats.
Luke Cole Page 29
What was the government doing to get Germany out of the
Depression?
In March 1930, President Hindenburg appointed Heinrich Bruning as chancellor.
Bruning followed a policy of deflation that is, he cut government expenditure and
increased taxes. He believed that if the budget was balanced, confidence would return
and Germany could prosper again. He also hoped to convince the victorious allies that
Germany could simply not pay reparations now.
What impact did Bruning’s policies have?
Bruning’s policy of deflation drove Germany deeper into recession. Soon millions were
out of work. Hitler could gain support only when the nation was desperate, and
Bruning certainly helped to make it that.
What events led to Hitler’s appointment as chancellor?
Bruning lost the support of Hindenburg and his advisers and so, in May 1932, Franz
yon Papen was appointed chancellor. Von Papen was equally unable to deal with the
Depression and he was removed in December and replaced by General yon Schleicher,
who said that Germany needed ‘strong government’. Von Papen was not happy with
his removal and so he worked behind yon Schleicher’s back to get President
Hindenburg to accept a rightwing coalition with Hitler as chancellor and himself as
vicechancellor.
Why was Hindenburg willing to risk appointing Hitler as
chancellor?
Von Papen convinced Hindenburg there was nothing to worry about with Hitler as
chancellor. He said of Hitler ‘we have hired him’ and ‘he is a chancellor in chains’.
He believed this because there were only three Nazis in a cabinet of eleven and the
Nazis did not have a majority in the parliament. So Hitler was appointed Chancellor of
Germany on 30 January 1933.
Sheet – Vote for Hitler!
Sheet – Politics
Luke Cole Page 30
The Reasons for Hitler’s popularity
Why was Hitler so popular?
On a simple level, the reasons for Hitler’s popularity are easy to understand. The
Weimar Republic had a record of failure and had shown that it simply could not deal
with the Depression. Many German people turned to Hitler in an act of utter
desperation.
How important was Hitler’s speaking ability?
Hitler’s speaking ability was of crucial importance. He was a spellbinding speaker. He
knew how to manipulate an audience. He would often arrive late and so add to the
tension. Once on the podium, he might stand for a minute and wait for silence. He
would then start talking in a quiet, almost hesitating manner. Gradually he would
increase the pace and volume until, at the end, he would be roaring at the audience
and they would be on their feet yelling their approval. Hitler was able to play oil
people’s emotions. He did not try to convince them with intellectual arguments. He told
the people what they wanted to hear and he kept his message pitched at the lowest
level. In addition, he kept repeating his message. Whether or not he was telling the
truth did not really matter. Hitler believed that the bigger the lie the better, and the
more likely it would be believed.
How did Hitler manage to win over such different groups to the
Nazi cause?
Hitler adapted his speeches to suit his audience. To the workers he yelled against
Jewish capitalists and foreign exploiters, and promised an end to unemployment. To
farmers he raised the idea of the sanctity of the German soil and the superiority of a
pure rural Germany as against a cosmopolitan urban Germany. Dressed soberly in a
suit, he told. German businessmen and industrialists that he would destroy
communism and keep the unions under control. He told the middle class that he would
not let them slip down to the level of the proletariat (working class). To the army he
talked of the need for rearmament. To everyone, he preached nationalism and
promised an end to the Treaty of Versailles and an end to the humiliation Germany
had suffered since 1919.
From where did Hitler get most of his support?
The bulk of Hitler’s support came from the lower middle classes: small businessmen,
professionals, teachers and farmers. These were the sort of people who had been
ruined in 1923. They turned in droves to Hitler in the early 1930s as he represented
their only hope of not falling into the bottom rank of society, the working class.
Sheet – The Nazi breakthrough
Sheet – The nazis come to Power
Luke Cole Page 31
Hitler’s consolidation of power: January 1933 to
August 1934
If Hitler was only a ‘chancellor in chains’, how was he able to
achieve absolute power by August 19347
The most important reason was that his opponents totally underestimated him. Hitler
was not only popular and a great speaker. He was a clever opportunist, willing to take
any action no matter how ruthless, and willing to sacrifice lifelong colleagues if
necessary.
What was the importance of the Reichstag fire?
At eh end of February 1933, the German parliament, the Reichstag, went up in flames.
Some historians argue this was done by the Nazis. We will probably never know who
did it, but what is important is the use Hitler made of the incident. He had been
warning the country of a communist plot and he used the fire to prove he had been
right. He persuaded President Hindenburg to pass decrees limiting civil liberties and
had thousands of communists and socialists rounded up and arrested. The election of
the following week gave the Nazis 288 seats.
Who was the Enabling Act?
This was a law passed in late March 1933 that gave Hitler absolute power to act in
Germany’s interests for four years. During the passing of this Act, armed
stormtroopers wandered past parliamentary deputies, encouraging them to vote the
‘correct’ way. In this manner, Hitler was given absolute power legally, by act of
parliament.
How did Hitler consolidate his power over the next seventeen
months?
Each potential source of opposition was removed, one after tile other. Any paramilitary
groups were absorbed by the SA; trade unions were abolished on 2 May 1933; political
parties were abolished on 14 July; youth groups were dissolved leaving only the Hitler
Youth Movement; all interest groups were absorbed by party bodies (eg. the Christian
Peasants Association became part of the Nazi agrarian section); the Church was
silenced by the Concordat with the Pope of July 1933 and the setting up of a Reich
National Church; state governments were closed down in February 1934; business
groups were brought under Nazi control in the Reich Economic Chamber in February
1934; the media were placed under the control of Joseph Goebbels.
Who posed the greatest danger to Hitler’s personal power?
The SA, the army and Hindenburg were the biggest threats to Hitler’s personal power.
Luke Cole Page 32
Why were they a threat to Hitler?
The SA was a threat because its leader, Rohm, sought a more radical Germany and
may even had plans of removing Hitler. The army was a threat because it still had the
power to act against the Nazis and threatened to do so if Hitler did not ‘do something’
about the SA> Hindenburg echoed the views of the army.
How did Hitler deal with these threats?
He broke the strength of the SA in the Night of the Long Knives, 30 June 1934. This
removed Rohm and satisfied the army. Hindenburg died conveniently in August 1934.
Sheet – Chancellor Hitler
Sheet – Hitler and the Nazi tighten their grip on power
Luke Cole Page 33
The Maintenance of Hitler’s Power
Popularity
Why did Hitler remain so popular during the 1930s?
The most fundamental reason for Hitler’s popularity during the 1930s was the perception
that he had ended the Depression. Within four years unemployment had almost
disappeared. The United States still had eight million unemployed in 1938. This
success may have been a fraud as much of it was achieved by sacking women and
Jews, bringing in conscription, and rearming. However, the reality for most Germans
living under the Nazis was that the desperate years of the Depression were now a thing
of the past. This new reality was hammered home to the German people in an endless
stream of Nazi propaganda.
What part did propaganda play in Hitler’s continuing popularity?
Propaganda was of crucial importance in maintaining Hitler’s popularity. The
Minister for Propaganda was Joseph Goebbels. He believed the aim of propaganda
was to persuade the people to accept uncritically whatever the regime wanted them to
accept.
Goebbels later stated that his greatest achievement as Propaganda Minister was the
creation of what became known as the ‘Fuhrer myth’.
What was the Fuhrer myth?
Goebbels created an image of Hitler as Fuhrer that enabled the German people to
remain loyal to Hitler personally even if they disliked various aspects of the Nazi
regime itself. Hitler was presented as a modest man who had forsaken all personal
pleasure for the sake of his country. He was shown as unextravagant, with simple
tastes. He was presented as the sort of man most middle class people could relate to, a
man who shared their beliefs and prejudices. Goebbels used the media skilfully. Hitler
was shown with children, with dogs, with workers. Yet complementing this was the
other image of Hitler as the political genius who possessed the gift of extraordinary
statesmanship.
Was Hitler’s popularity simply a matter of jobs and propaganda?
In the days of Ancient Rome, the emperor tried to keep his people happy with a
mixture of ‘bread and circuses’. In some ways Hitler managed to do the same thing.
The workers may have lost their trade unions but in their place they had the German
Labour Front’s organisation Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy). This
organisation provided German workers with a whole range of cheap holidays and
activities. Many workers had the chance to ski, take a Mediterranean cruise, attend
concerts or be entertained at work.
German workers were provided with flee health care and flee education. Nazi
propaganda made much of the continuing poverty in Britain and parts of the United
States.
Luke Cole Page 34
What did the young think of Hitler?
Most German youth found Hitler’s Germany an exciting place. They may have been
regimented, but most responded positively to the camps, the singing, the marches, the
parades, the sport and the camaraderie that they found in the Hitler Youth Movement.
Did women support Hitler as much as men?
Hitler gave women a special place in his Germany. He extolled them as mothers of a
master race. Women were encouraged, sometimes forced, to stay at home and pursue
the three Ks – Kirche (church), Kinder (children), and Kuche (kitchen/cooking). The
Nazis used incentives to convince women of the joys of the domestic life. The Law for
the Encouragement of Marriage gave cash bonuses to women who married and had
children. The birthday of Hitler’s mother, 12 August, was celebrated as National
Mother’s Day when those women who had given birth to many children were
honoured.
How important was Hitler’s foreign policy in maintaining his popularity
in the 1930s?
Few Germans wanted to experience another war. However, nearly all Germans were
proud of Germany’s foreign policy successes in the 1930s. Hitler had promised to
restore the pride of the German people. He had promised to tear up the Treaty of
Versailles and restore Germany to its rightful place in Europe. He promised to end the
years of humiliation and give Germans the chance to hold their heads high again.
For the majority of Germans, Hitler had kept these promises.
What did Hitler achieve in foreign policy?
By 1939 Hitler could claim a long list of foreign policy successes:
• The disarmament provisions of the Treaty of Versailles had been thrown off.
Conscription was reintroduced in 1933; Germany was building an air force and a
fleet; rearmament had been proceeding since 1933.
• In 1936, German troops marched into the demilitarised Rhineland. They were
welcomed by the German population and left unopposed by the French.
• In 1936 and 1937, Hitler forged strong links with Italy and Japan in the form of the
AntiComintern Pact. Later the three nations came together in what was known as
the RomeBerlinTokyo axis.
• In March 1938, Hitler seized Austria unopposed.
• In September 1938, at the Munich Conference, Hitler was given the Sudetenland
region of Czechoslovakia without a fight.
• In March 1939, Germany seized the rest of Czechoslovakia unopposed.
• In August 1939, Hitler formed a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union. This
meant that, when he invaded Poland a week later, there was no opposition from
Stalin.
• Though the war was not well received by the German people in September 1939, the
ease with which Germany defeated Poland and the inactivity of Britain and France
provided further evidence of Hitler’s foreign policy genius.
Luke Cole Page 35
Force:
Was the maintenance of Hitler’s power solely the result of his personal
popularity and success?
Hitler was probably the most popular leader Germany has ever had. However, even his
supporters knew that the price of opposition could be a visit from the Gestapo or a
spell in a concentration camp.
What was the Gestapo?
The word ‘Gestapo’ is an acronym for Geheime Staats Polizei the Secret State Police.
The Gestapo earned a justified reputation for viciousness and brutality. To be arrested
by the Gestapo and taken to ‘estapo headquarters for questioning’ was a notion that
struck fear in the hearts of all Germans. The creation of this fear was enough to keep
most people under control. If opposition to the regime meant a visit by the Gestapo,
then it made sense not to oppose the regime.
Were there really as many Gestapo agents as people believed?
The commonly held view in the Germany of the 1930s was that ‘the Gestapo is
everywhere’. This of course was not true. There were far fewer secret police agents
than the people thought. However, this was the secret of the strength of the Gestapo. If
people believed that the police were everywhere, the fear this created kept people under
control. In some cases it led people to inform on opponents in order to show their
loyalty. There were even cases of children informing the Gestapo of the antiNazi views
of their parents!
What were the concentration camps?
A concentration camp was a specially built prison camp established to deal with
political prisoners. At first the camps were used for housing opponents of the Nazis
who had been arrested in 193334. These included people who were communists, social
democrats and trade unionists. Later, they housed other nondesirables – groups such
as Jews, gypsies and homosexuals. During the war, the concentration camps became
slave labour camps and places of Jewish extermination.
Where were these camps?
The first concentration camp was opened in 1933 at Dachau, just outside Munich. In
1937 another camp was opened at Buchenwald. By 1939 there were many other camps
throughout Germany. At first the camps were run by the SA. They ran a very strict
regime in the camps and entry into a camp quickly became something to fear. Later
on, control of the camps was handed over to Heinrich Himmler’s SS (Schutzstaffel).
Did the Nazis use any other methods to maintain control?
Another propaganda method used by Goebbels was censorship. Not only did he
promote ‘correct’ views but he tried to destroy ‘incorrect’ views. This was done by
controlling radio and film, ordering editors what to print in their papers and burning
books the Nazis disliked, as happened at Berlin University in 1933. Workers were
Luke Cole Page 36
under the control of the German Labour Front following the destruction of their trade
unions. Sometimes, Nazi control could be less obvious. Parents could be threatened
with having their children taken away if they refused to put them in the Hitler Youth.
Luke Cole Page 37
The Night of the Long Knives
The day of 30 June 1934 was a crucial moment in the history of the Third Reich.
Hitler’s actions during June 30 – The Night of the Long Knives – destroyed any
remaining opposition that might have stood in the way of consolidating his absolute
power. The target of Hitler’s attack on this night was the SA and more particularly it
leader, Ernst Rohm. The SA had been among Hitler’s most loyal followers during the
1920s and 1930s. It had been referred to as ‘the battering ram of the Nationalist
Socialist Revolution’. However, once Hitler had been appointed chancellor, Rohm and
the SA became a liability. Facing opposition from President Hindenburg, the army and
big business, Hitler realised that he had to deal with Rohm and his unruly brownshirts.
The murder of Rohm and other leading SA members broke the power of the SA.
Within a month Hindenburg was dead and the army was swearing oaths of loyalty to
Hitler. His power was absolute and he could now get down to business of rearmament
and the long term achievement of Lebensraum.
Sheet – The nazi police state
Luke Cole Page 38
Rohm’s Desire for a ‘Second Revolution’
Rohm and many in the SA were not satisfied with the Nazi assumption of power. They
supported Hitler’s antiSemitism and his anticommunism, but they wanted to go much
further. They wanted the Nazi Party to move in a more radical direction and to put into
practice the socialist element of the National Socialist program. To them, gaining
power was the not end. It was a means to an end. That end was a ‘second revolution’,
the turning of Germany into a pure Nazi state.
Many SA men believed that Rohm had sold out to the traditional politicians and to big
business. Rohm had as little sympathy for the old German capitalist and business
leaders of German as he did for communists. His ideas were vague but involved some
notion of state control of industry.
“He saw the SA and the SS, which was still attached to the SA, as the ‘incorruptible
guarantors’ of the completion of a second and much more radical revolution. Rohm’s
thinking on the social, political and economic aspects of the Second Revolution was
vague and incoherent. He had considerable sympathy with the more socialist aspects of
the Nazi programme.”11
The SA began to try to quicken the pace of economic change. They enforced boycotts
against big department stores. They forced SA members onto the boards of companies
and made them lower their prices. Campaigns were stepped up against Jewish business
owners.
This caused great concern among Germany’s business elites, many of whom had
contributed heavily to the Nazi Party. They began to warn Hitler that Germany’s
economic stability was being threatened by such SA actions. Goring and Reichsbank
President Schacht urged Hitler to discipline the lower levels of the Nazi Party (i.e. the
SA). Hitler know that if his longterm foreign foreign policy goals were to be achieved,
he needed a strong and sympathetic business community. Germany needed to have a
strong and stable economic base. Thus, as early as July 1933, he started making
speeches in which he warned against a second revolution.
Der Führer:
August 2nd 1934, Hindenburg died. Adolf Hitler became President as well as
Chancellor. He was to be known as Der Führer (The leader). He was also
CommanderinChief of the Armed Forces. The SA and the new Gestapo (secret
police) arrested people who might oppose the government. They were sent to the first
concentration camps in Germany. Rohm wanted his SA to be part of the new German
army. This worried Hitler. Hitler needed the confidence of the army and the German
businesses.
11
Williamson, DG The Third Reich, Longman, Harlow, 1982, p.17
Luke Cole Page 39
Ernst Rohm and the SA
During the very early days of the Nazi Party, roughneck exsoldiers were used to keep
opponents quiet at meetings and to throw them out if necessary. In the summer of
1920, the party became more organised. Under the command of an exconvict, Emil
Maurice, Hitler put these men into squads known as Ordentruppe. For a while they
disguised themselves as the ‘Gymnastic and Sports Division’ of the Nazi Party. This
was done to avoid the notice of the government. In October 1921, the Ordentruppe
officially became the Sturmabteilung or SA.
The Sturmabteilung (storm detachments) were also known as stormtroopers or
brownshirts, so called because of the distinctive brown uniforms they wore. They were
recruited mainly from the Freikorps, bands of exservicemen who fought against left
wing groups after 1918. The SA was put under the command of Johann Ulrich
Klintzich.
The aim of the SA became not only to defend Nazi meetings but also to break up those
opponents, using whatever force was necessary. The SA became involved in running
battles with communists. Any stormtroopers who fell in ‘battle’, like Horst Wessel,
became instant National Socialist martyrs and heroes. Hitler himself led an SA attack
in 1921 and was arrested for his trouble. He served a month in prison for this.
In 1922, the air ace hero of the Great War, Hermann Goering, became commander of
the SA. Soon, however, Ethe driving force behind the SA was Ernst Rohm. Rohm had
been an officer in the Great War and after that a Freikorps member. He had even been
Hitler’s boss in the army’s political department.
Ernst Rohm was born in Munich in 1887. He had been a professional soldier and was
commissioned before the outbreak of war. He served throughout the war. He became a
member of the Freikorps and joined the German Workers Party some time before
Hitler.
Rohm proved valuable to Hitler and the party in the early days. He brought into the
party many of the exFreikorps who were to form the nucleus of the SA. In 1920,
Rohm had worked for the military commander in Munich, General yon Epp. In this
capacity, he had been involved in the Einwohnerwehr, an armed group that had been
formed to fight the communists. When the Allies put pressure on Germany for such
groups to be disbanded, Rohm hid many of its weapons. Thanks to Rohm, many of
these were to find their way into the hands of the SA.
The SA contained many of society’s outcasts thugs, criminals, murderers. Many, like
Rohm, were homosexual. Hitler found Rohm’s homosexuality totally repugnant but
tolerated it, such was the value he placed on Rohm’s ability. Rohm shared Hitler’s
hatred for the republic and his bitterness towards the November Criminals who had
‘stabbed the German army in the back’.
Luke Cole Page 40
William Shirer gives this description of Rohm:
“He was stocky, buffnecked, piggisheyed, scarfaced professional soldier the upper
part of his nose had been shot away in 1914 with a flair for politics and a natural
ability as an organiser.”12
John Toland describes him this way:
“He was short and stocky with closely cropped hair and an engaging smile. He was a
walking monument to the war; the upper part of his nose had been shot away and a
bullet had left a deep scar in one cheek… Between Hitler and Rohm were bonds of
blood and suffering since both belonged to the brotherhood of the frontline fighter.”13
Rohm was once heard to have commented: ‘Since I am a wicked and immature man,
war and unrest appeal to me more than the orderly life of your respectable burgher.’
In November 1923 came the Nazis’ failed attempt to seize power in the Munich Putsch.
When Hitler came out of prison in 1924, he and Rohm argued over the future direction
of the SA. Rohm believed that the SA should become the future army of Germany, but
Hitler was not happy with this. He felt that, if Germany was to achieve the territorial
ambitions he already had in mind, it would need the regular army. In 1925, Rohm left
the SA, and in 1926 it came under the command of Franz Pfeffer yon Salomon.
Though no longer in the SA, Rohm still held a great deal of weight in the party. In
1928, he had tried to get one of his former lovers, Edmund Heines, reinstated as head
of the Munich SA. Hitler resisted. Disgusted by Hitler’s treatment of Heines, Rohm
accepted an appointment in a military mission to Bolivia. He left in January 1929.
With the onset of the Depression, however, support for the Nazis grew quickly. At the
same time the size of the SA increased. It was becoming too big and unruly and even
Hitler had trouble controlling it. Hitler persuaded Rohm to return from Bolivia to take
over command. Soon after his return, Rohm had the SA reorganised and had instilled
a degree of discipline. It numbered over 300 000 by 1933.
Why Hitler felt he had to destroy Rohm and the SA:
In the period up to January 1933, the SA had been in the forefront of the Nazi
revolution. Hitler had frequently praised the SA for their ‘years of inhuman struggle’.
He lavished honours on SA men. SA thugs who had fallen during the frequent street
battles with the communists were turned into martyrs by the party and given great
ceremonial funerals.
However, by late 1933 and early 1934, the SA and its leader, Rohm, were becoming
major embarrassments for Hitler. Hitler was being pressured to ‘do something about
the SA’. This pressure was coming from many quarters: big business, the army,
President Hindenburg and other Nazi leaders. In order to understand why this was the
case, it is necessary to examine Rohm’sintentions at this time and why they caused
such an alarm among the groups mentioned above.
12
Shirer 1960, p. 38
13
Toland 1976, p. 98
Luke Cole Page 41
Sheet − The Nazi Revolution
Luke Cole Page 42
Hitler At War
The amount of responsibility Hitler should bear for defeat of
Germany in WWII:
The fundamental reason Germany lost the war was that it could not match the
combined economic and military strength of the Allies. However, Hitler himself still
deserves much blame for decisions he took during the war that contributed to
Germany’s defeat.
The military decisions Hitler made that weakened the German
war effort:
Hitler made several errors in military judgement that ultimately spelt defeat for
Germany.
• Hitler’s first major mistakes came in 1940, in the fight against Britain. In late May
1940, the Germans had surrounded over 300 000 British and French troops on the
French coast at Dunkirk. If Hitler had given the signal, this force could have been
wiped out. It might have been the end for Britain but Hitler held back and allowed
Britain to evacuate nearly all its troops. It could be the case that Hitler was hoping
that Britain might withdraw from the war. The accession to power of Churchill ended
that hope.
• During the Battle of Britain (JulySeptember 1940), the decision to switch the attack
by the Luftwaffe from British airfields to bombing the cities gave the RAF a breathing
space that it was able to use to prevent a German invasion.
• In 1941, Hitler delayed his invasion of Russia by spending several weeks fighting in
Yugoslavia. This delay meant that, once the Germans were in Russia, they were
unable to reach Moscow before the winter set in.
• Hitler was guilty of arguing constantly with his generals and intervening in strategy.
His decision to divert to Kiev during the early campaigns against Russia also had the
effect of delaying the advance on Moscow.
• Hitler gave his generals impossible orders and forbade them to make sensible
tactical retreats. This is seen most clearly at Stalingrad in 1942, where the attempt to
capture the city culminated in a decisive German defeat.
• Hitler’s decision to declare war on the United States in December 1941 was a
disaster. It is probable that the United States would have entered the war against
Germany eventually. However, had Hitler not arrogantly declared war on the United
States, it might well have put most of its war effort into defeating Japan before
attacking Germany.
Did Hitler make any serious domestic mistakes?
Hitler feared that once the war was underway he might lose the support of the home
front. Fort this reason, he refused to place the country on a total war footing until
1942, by which time it was too late. He allowed luxury goods to be produced, would not
Luke Cole Page 43
force women into the factories and ensured the standard of living at home remained
high. With Germany’s relative economic disadvantage during the war, this refusal to
commit the country to total war was a disaster; Germany needed to continue building
up its armaments against its superior enemy.
Did Hitler’s personal behaviour affect the outcome of the war?
During the later stages of the war, Hitler became more and more a recluse. He spent a
great deal of time in his headquarters known as the wolfs lair in east Prussia. He
became divorced from reality. As he gradually became sicker in both mind and body,
Hitler was unable to accept the truth of Germany’s military and economic situation. As
Hitler became even more reclusive, the Nazi leaders vied for his favours. Hitler began
to rely more and more on his personal attendant, Martin Bormann. No one could get
to Hitler unless Bormann gave permission. Next to Hitler, he was the most powerful
man in Germany.
How did Hitler die?
Just before 3.30pm on Monday, 30 April 1945, Hitler said his farewells to Goebbels
and Borman who were with him in his berlin bunker. He and his wife, Eva Braun,
went into a room. Hitler then shot himself in the mouth while Eva Braun took poison.
Their bodies were later burned.
Sheet – Hitler becomes dictator
Sheet – German opposition to hitler
Luke Cole Page 44
Rohm and The Future Of The Army
In January 1933, the SA numbered 300 000. By the beginning of 1934, it numbered
about three million! This was an extraordinary organisational achievement. However,
there was a major problem with all this. The SA’s main purpose had been to get Hitler
into power. This had been achieved. What, then, was the purpose of the SA now?
Rohm was in no doubt. He believed that the SA should become the basis of a new
national German army. He wanted hid tough, streetbattlehardened SA officers to
replace the stuffy upperclass Prussiah officers of the regular army (the Reichswehr).
Rohm dreamed of a ‘sea of brown engulfing the rock of field grey’. He, Rohm, would
be the head of a new national, people’s army. The Reichswehr was to be absorbed by
the SA.
This idea horrified the officers of the regular army. They despised the brutish, crude
SA, and Rohm in particular. Defence Minister Blomberg made it clear that the army
would not allow Rohm to achieve his aim. President Hindenburg was equally insistent.
In fact, Hitler was warned that if he did not rein in the SA, he might face the prospect
of an army coup against him! In 1934, Hindenburg warned Hitler that if the SA was
not controlled martial law could be declared.
Hitler was thus under a lot of pressure. His hold on power was in danger. Maybe even
his life was threatened. Hitler also had to think of his longterm foreign policy goals.
He knew that if the Treaty of Versailles was to be overturned and Lebensraum
achieved, he would need the professionalism of the regular army. Hitler was being led
to an inescapable conclusion Rohm was expendable, the army was not. Rohm would
have to go.
Luke Cole Page 45
The Pressure On Hitler Mounts
Hitler’s need to act against the SA was not due only to army pressure and the influence
of Hindenburg. It was also tied up with the position of the president. Hindenburg was
84 and in failing health. Hitler aimed to combine the posts of chancellor and president
when Hindenburg died. However, Hitler would need the army’s backing for this,
especially as there were rumours floating around of a possible restoration of the
monarchy. However, as Williamson puts it:
“…provided that Hitler could control the SA, the Reichswehr at least would hesitate to
support a restoration, as both Blomberg the defence minister, and Fritsch, the new
commanderinchief of the army ... were impressed by Hitler’s determination to rearm
Germany.”14
The army generals believed that the issue of rearmament was ‘too serious a business to
be put into the hands of drunkards and homosexuals’ (i.e. the SA).
When Hitler visited Mussolini in Venice, the Italian dictator advised Hitler to get his
left wing under control. Party leaders also urged Hitler to deal with Rohm. Men like
Goring, Goebbels and the upcoming Himmler all knew that, if Rohm succeeded in his
aims, their power would also be lost. They were becoming accustomed to power and
knew that they relied on the traditional German public service to exercise that power.
This would go if Rohm had hid second revolution.
By June 1934, the pressure was really on Hitler, Vicechancellor von Papen gave a
speech at Marburg where he openly criticised the idea of a second revolution and the
rule of the Nazis. A few days later, Hindenburg summoned Hitler and ordered him to
deal with the SA or face the consequences.
14
Williamson 1982, p. 18
Luke Cole Page 46
Rohm’s View Of The Situation
Rohm made it clear that he and the SA were not finished several occasions he made
his views crystal clear.
The views of Ernst Röhm:
In June 1933, he wrote: ‘The SA and the SS will not tolerate the German revolution
going to sleep… we will continue our struggle’.
On 6 August 1933, he stated: ‘Anyone who thinks that the task of the SA has been
accomplished will have to get used to the idea that we are here and that we
intend to stay here, come what may.’
On 5 November, at the Berlin Sportsplast, he said: ‘One often hears voices in the
bourgeois camp to the effect that the SA have lost any reason for existence, but I will
tell these gentlemen that the old bureaucratic spirit must yet be changed in a gentle or,
if need be, an ungentle manner.’
Thus, by 1934, Hitler’s hold on power was being threatened by business, Hindenburg,
the army and, of course, the SA. The achievement of his longterm foreign policy goals
was in jeopardy. There was one way out of his dilemma: destroy Rohm and the SA!
Luke Cole Page 47
The Night Of The Long Knives
In April 1934, Hitler paid a visit to the pocket battleship Deutschland, which was on
manoeuvres in the Baltic Sea. It is impossible to be certain about what transpired at
this meeting between Hitler and the army leaders. However, it seems likely that the
army would support Hitler’s aim of combining the posts of chancellor and president
when he had dealt with the SA.
The plan for elimination of the SA was called Operation Humming Bird. The term
‘Night of the Long Knives’ was the invention of English journalists. The plannerin
chief of this operation was Goring; the executioner was to be Himruler. Hitler himself
would personally arrest Rohm.
Hitler faced a dilemma. He had to sanction the bloody murder of many of his closest
and most loyal supporters, and he also had to justify this action to the German nation.
Hitler was told by Goring and Himruler that Rohm was planning a coup. There was no
evidence that this was true, though Rohm would doubtless have considered such a
possible action in the future. As a further justification, Hitler presented the actions
against the SA in moral terms. Great emphasis was placed on the ‘disgusting and
degenerate homosexual behaviour of the SA leaders’. For months Rohm had collected
young boys to join him privately. Hitler was well aware of this and had not objected.
However, he now had Himruler collect information on Rohm’s behaviour that could
be used to present the Night of the Long Knives as an act of moral cleansing.
To compound things even further, Hitler had to carry out this act of treachery without
giving any prior warning to the SA.
In December 1933, Rohm had been given a cabinet post as Minister without Portfolio
(ie without any specific area of responsibility). Rohm was not satisfied and continued
to call for more radical action. In June 1934, a national holiday for the SA was
announced. Rohm again warned against writing off the SA, but time had run out for
him. The intelligence services of the SA totally failed to pick up on the action that
Hitler was about to take against them.
Luke Cole Page 48
Operation Humming Bird
During the night of the 2930 June 1934, Hitler was staying in Godesberg. He received
a phone call from Goring in Berlin regarding ‘suspicious SA activity in Munich’. This
would seem to have been the result of Rohm’s order to the SA to return arms taken
from illegal army stores in the old Freikorps days. Rohm had even informed Himmler
of this action in his capacity as Chief of the Bavatian Police. Goring clearly chose to
give Hitler his own version of this.
Hitler and Goebbels flew from Bonn to Munich at 2 am on 30 June. When Hitler
arrived at Munich airport, he was met by army troops. Munich’s SA leaders had
already been arrested and Rohm’s deputy in Bavaria, Schneidhuber, was brought to
Hitler immediately. No sooner had Hitler stepped of the plane, than he ripped off
Schneidhuber’s insignia.
Just before 6 am, Hitler left Munich’s Schleissheim airport and headed off towards
Bad Wiessee in an SS convoy of cars and lorries. Rohm and other SA leaders were in
Bad Wiessee ‘taking a cure’. They had no inkling of the disaster that was about to
befall them. Once the convoy reached Rohm’s hotel, SS men dived out of their cars
and raced into the hotel. Several rooms were unlocked. Several SA men were arrested,
caught in bed with their male, lovers. There was only one summary execution and that
was of Edmund Heinnes. Heinnes, who was found in bed with his lover, was taken out
to a waiting car and shot. Hitler allegedly whipped a friend of Rohm’s, Count Spreti.
He dared Rohm to commit suicide as he lay in bed. Hitler apparently screamed at
Rohm and his colleagues, raving about their disgusting behaviour. Hitler later, liked to
present his actions at Bad Wiessee as an act of great personal heroism. Eventually, the
Rohm circle were packed into cars and driven to Stadelheim prison.
Hitler’s chauffeur describes the scene:
“I run quickly up the stairs to the first floor where Hitler is just coming out of R6hm’s
bedroom… Rohm comes out of his room in a blue suit and with a cigar in the corner
of his mouth. Hitler glares at him but says nothing. Two detectives take Rohm to the
vestibule of the hotel where he throws himself into an armchair and orders coffee from
the waiter ... Meanwhile, upstairs in the corridor thin are getting quite lively. 5A
leaders are coming out of their rooms and being arrested... Hitler shouts a[ each one:
‘Have you had anything to do with Rohm’s schemes?’… he asks Coebbels and Lutze a
question. And then comes the decision: ‘Arrested’”15
While Hitler had been busy in Munich, Goring and Himmler were dealing with the
situation in Berlin. Death lists had been drawn up and over the next few days up to a
thousand people were executed, though the official figure was much less. Many others
ended up in concentration camps. When Hitler arrived back in Berlin on the morning
of 30 June, he was presented with the death lists by Himmler and read them ‘while still
on the runway’.
15
McKay, M. Germany 191945, Longman, Harlow, 1989, p. 70
Luke Cole Page 49
“The victims were rushed off to the cadet school at GrossLichterfelde where the
executions were carried out by the Leibstandarte companies attached to Goring’s
Landespolizei force… it is not known what officer was in charge of the executions,
which were said to have been horribly amateurish.”16
Rohm did not die until a few days later. Hitler ordered that a pistol be left on the table
in Rohm’s cell. About ten minutes, two SS men returned to find Rohm had not used it.
He was stripped to the waist and was about to say something when one of the SS
officers indicated he should stay quiet. He was then shot at almost point blank range.
16
Reitlinger, G. The SS: Alibi of a Nation, Book Club Associates, London, 1981, p. 67
Luke Cole Page 50
The Afiermath
Within a month of the purge of the SA, President Hindenburg died. Effortlessly, the
posts of chancellor and president were fused into the position of Fuhrer. Hitler’s
power was now assailable. The army kept its side of the bargain and swore an oath of
loyalty to
Hitler personally.
The Night of the Long Knives had destroyed the power of the SA and rid Hitler of his
most dangerous opponent. Low’s cartoon of the time summed up Hitler’s victory.
However, it was not only the SA that had been removed in the blood bath of June 30.
Goring, Himmler and some less important Nazi leaders had used the opportunity
provided by Operation Humming Bird to remove many other rivals. Included in the
executions and murders at this time was General von Schleicher, once the most
powerful man in Germany as chancellor from December 1932 to January 1933.
Another army general who shared von Scleicher’s fate was Kurt von Bredow. Gregor
Strasser, once a leading personality in the Nazi movement, was shot by the Gestapo on
Goring’s personal orders. Colleagues of yon Papen, such as von Bose and Edgar Jung,
were murdered. Erich Klausener, leader of the Catholic Action, was killed.
On 13 July, Hitler addressed the Reichstag to justify what he had done. He argued that
the Reich was faced with a crisis and that he dared not use the normal procedures of
state justice. He alone was the law of Germany at that time. He accused Rohm,
StrasSer and von Schleicher of treason and conniving with a foreign power (France).
Hitler addresses the Reichstag, 13th July 1934
When three traitors meet with the ambassador of a foreign power and conceal the fact
from me, then I give orders to have these men shot, even should it be true that at such
a meeting only the weather, ancient coins and similar objects were discussed.
Luke Cole Page 51
Hitler was most gratified by the congratulations he received from President
Hindenburg. Hindenburg’s view was that sometimes blood is shed when history is
being made. the army was ecstatic after the purge of the SA. The fears they had about
Rohm’s idea of the SA supplanting the regular army were now gone. The serious
business of rearmament and expansion could now proceed. However, their success was
not as real as they thought. They had allowed ‘their own’, yon Schleicher and yon
Bredow, to be gunned down without a comment. In 1938, Hitler would effortlessly
purge the army of men he did not want. Hitler gradually grew to despise the army.
Worse still, the fear that the army had of the SA was in fact realised, but in eh form of
the SS. Alan Bullock describes the situation below:
“What the army leaders did not foresee was that within less than ten years of Rohm’s
murder the SS would have succeeded where the SA failed in establishing a party army in
rivalry with the generals’ army, daily encroaching still further on their once proud but
now sadly reduced position.”17
The SS was to become a real force in Nazi Germany. They were given control of the
concentration camps, Himmler was given control of the police and, during the war,
Waffen SS forces were to fight alongside the Wehrmacht (army). Himmler was
eventually able to turn the SS into a ‘state within a state’, complete with its own army,
schools, factories and, of course, the camps.
Sheet − The SS
Sheet − The elimination of the opposition
Sheet − German Society
17
Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, Pelican, Harmondsworth, 1962, p. 280
Luke Cole Page 52
Nazi Youth Groups
The youth of Germany played an important part in Nazi thinking. A great deal of time
and effort was devoted to developing the minds and bodies of Germany’s young people.
They had to be both physically and mentally prepared for the roles they were to play in
the future Reich,, the Nazi’s aim was to keep young people occupied with party
activities and thinking along the correct lines. Though most young people went along
with participation in Nazi youth groups, there was some dissent and the authorities did
their best to straighten this out. However, for most young people of nonJewish
background, Nazi Germany was a place of drama, excitement and power.
Luke Cole Page 53
Nazi Views On The Importance Of Germany’s
Youth
For the Nazis, the development of Germany’s youth was an integral part of their
policies and indeed of their ideology. Hitler believed that he was merely the first leader
of what would be ‘a thousand year Reich’. If this Nazi dream was to come true, the
Nazis needed to mould the minds and bodies of Germany’s young.
Control of German youth would assist the Nazis in three major ways:
1. By the time German youth had turned into adults, they would have become dedicated
followers of the Fuhrer, unquestioningly obedient and willing to lay down their lives
for him; political opposition in the Reich’s future years would not exist.
2. As Hitler’s main foreign policy aims involved war, the emphasis on military training,
drill and fitness would undoubtedly provide the Nazis with a strong, efficient future
fighting force.
3. As the basis of Nazi thinking was racial, it was important to prepare young Germans
as members of the super race; they must understand the need to keep the race pure
and healthy; girls must be taught that their prime purpose was to breed future
members of the Aryan race.
Hitler on the purpose of youth organisations:
“The weak must be chiselled away. I want young men and women who can suffer pain. A
young German must be swift as a greyhound, as tough as leather and as hard as Krupps
steel.”
A National Socialist Teachers’ League official, 1937:
“German youth must no longer be confronted with choice… it must be consciously
shaped according to the principles of National Socialism.”
Hitler speaking in the early 1930s:
“When an opponent says ‘1 will not come over to your side’, I calmly say your child
belongs to us already. What are you? You will pass on. Your descendents, however, now
stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new
community.”
“Girls were quickly informed of their position in the Reich. Speaking at the 1934
Nuremburg Party Rally, Hitler made it very clear to the girls of Germany what their
function was to be.
…the world of woman is a smaller world [than a man ‘s]. For her world is her husband,
her family, her children and her house”
Baidur yon Schirach’s (Hitler Youth Movement leader from 1928) view on the Nazi
treatment of youth:
“The success of National Socialism is the success of discipline… the youngster who at
the age of ten enters the movement of Adolf Hitler soon learns to subordinate his own
petty will to the laws which have built states and made whole nations happy… As he
grows older, he learns that discipline and subordination are not arbitrary inventions
called into being by a few powerhungry men to safeguard their own personal position,
Luke Cole Page 54
but that they are, rather, the premises for his own and his nation’s existence… Among
those of his own age, and even in play… he begins to understand that his own blind
obedience gives the will of the group the possibility of success.”18
Hitler speaking in 1941:
“Intelligence in a woman is not an essential thing. My mother for example would have
cut a poor figure in the society of our cultivated women. She lived strictly for her
husband and children. They were her entire universe. But she gave a son to Germany.”
18
Barton, T. (ed.)Nazi Germany, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 1991, p. 32
Luke Cole Page 55
The Hitler Youth
• Hitler and the Nazi’s placed a great deal of importance on the young.
• Though indoctrination they could be turned into loyal Nazi’s.
• Indoctrination took place in schools and in Hitler Youth Groups.
• The Hitler Youth movement was established before the Nazi’s came to power. It
started in SA, youth. In 1933 it had 100 000 members.
• In 1933, the Nazis closed down all Youth organisations connected with other political
parties.
• With no competition, the Hitler Youth grew rapidly. In 1936, there were 4 million
members.
• In 1936 the Hitler Youth Law was passed, membership was compulsory
• Hitler Youth 1018, there were separate organisations for boys and girls.
Age Boys Girls

10
11 Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ) Jungmadel/bund (JM)
12 League of Youth Girls
13 German Youth People
14
15 HitlerJugend (HJ) Bund Deutscher Madel
(BDM)
16
17 Hitler Youth League of German Girls
18
Aims of Hitler Youth:
1. Indoctrination
2. To prepare boys for service in the army
3. To keep watch on society, they were encouraged to report their parents/teachers if
they were disloyal
The Activities of the Nazi Youth Groups:
1. Camp activities were a major part – physical fitness, endurance, teamwork, stamina,
courage, military skills and development of mind that accepted Nazi ideas without
question, they were never allowed to think for themselves. Intellectual pursuits were
frowned upon.
2. They wore uniforms, badges. They had ranks, marching flags, drams, the sweatika
and of course, Hitler’s image everywhere.
Luke Cole Page 56
Sheet – Nazi cultural life
Sheet – Young Germany
Time line of Nazi Youth Groups
1922 Hitler established the first Youth League of the Nazi Party – encourage
patriotism and correct thinking on racial matters. No Jews accepted.
1923 Failure of Munich Putsch led to collapse of first group
1925 The Nazi Party regrouped
1926 A new organisation created, Hitler Youth, Youth leader Kurt Gruber.
192628 Under Gruber, girls section formed and groups for all ages
1928 Baldur von Schirach leader of the National Socialist Students League.
1930 Girls section known as the League of German Maidens
1931 Shirich gained the position of Reich youth leader membership – 20 000
1933 Schirach became Youth Leader of Germany membership – 3½ Million
members at the end of 1933
Girls in the Nazi Youth Movement:
Hitler was convinced that women were to play a secondary role in the Reich
Purpose
To keep healthy in order to breed future members of the master race
Place
In the home
Education
Children, church and kitchen
Education in the third Reich:
Nazi totally dominated education − from kindergarten to university. Books into ideas
that they did not approve of or books written by Jews were burnt. New subjects were
introduced e.g. German physics, German chemistry, Racial science (to proof the
Aryans were the mater race). All textbooks had to be approved. Teachers need to
belong to the National Socialist Teachers League.
The Future Generation of Nazis:
Hitler boasted that his empire would last for 1 000 years. Hitler’s government took
over all schools and university’s.
Luke Cole Page 57
Opposition to Nazi Youth Groups:
Year Boys Boys Girls Girls Total Total aged
1418 1014 1418 1014 aged 1018 in
1018 in Germanys
Hitler population
Youth
1933 568 288 1 130 521 243 750 349482 2 292 041 7 529 000
1936 1 168 734 1 785 424 873 127 1 610 316 5 437 601 8 656 000
1939 1 723 886 2 137 594 1 502 571 1 923 419 7 287 470 8 870 000
• The numbers increase
• However, there is still 1½ million youth who are not in the German youth groups
even though it was compulsory.
• This shows that there is opposition. Parents who refused to let the children join were
sent to concentration camps
• 80% join the Hitler youth
Swing Movement
• They lesson to jazz music
• Jazz was banned by Hitler, because its roots in Negro background.
• They wore checked sports jackets, ‘showy’ ties and hats and hair below the collar.
Edelweiss Pirates
• They would time camping and hiking, and attacking Hitler youth groups.
Sheet − The Nazis and education
Sheet − The Hitler Youth: A Source Material Colleciton
Sheet Hitler youth and the totalitarian state
Luke Cole Page 58
The Jewish Community in the 1930s
The Nazis believed in racial superiority. They believed that the Aryan race was destined
to rule while lesser races were destined to serve. At the bottom of the racial ladder came
the Jew. Debate continues about whether the Nazis aimed at the total destruction of the
Jews from the start, or whether their policy became as extreme as it did because of the
war situation.
The Nazis never hid their hatred for the Jews. Within weeks of taking power, antiJewish
measures were being enacted. At first these measures were minor and irritating rather
than lifethreatening. Gradually they became codified into law. Any doubts about what
the Jews' destiny was to be were removed after the events of Crystal Night in 1938.
Following Crystal Night the camps began to fill up with Jewish inmates. Hitler's famous
pronouncement to the Reichstag in January 1939 was to become horrifying true.
Background: The Growth of AntiSemitism:
The Nazis actively pursued antiSemitism. Put at its simplest, antiSemitism is a violent
and irrational hatred of Jews. It was not an idea invented by the Nazis. Ironically, one of
the less antiSemitic countries in the 19th century had been Germany. Jew received there
most treatment in Poland and Russia.
• AntiSemitism became the official policy of the Nazi state Hitler blamed the Jews for
every problem Germany faced.
• Hitler believed the Jews were the mastermind behind world communism.
• The Jews were taking over world trade and finance
• 1933 − Boycotts on Jewish shops and businesses. Hitler sacked Jewish civil servants,
judges, teachers, Journalists.
• 1935 − Hitler took away all citizenship rights from Germanys Jews and banned
marriages between Jews and Germanys.
• 1938 − A young Jew shot and killed and official of the Germany embassy in Paris. As
a result, Hitler blamed all the Jew of Germany, making them pay a huge fine and
banned there newspapers.
• 910th November 1938 − Goebbels organised gangs of SS and SA all over
Germany to attack Jews and their property. It was called the 'Crystal Night'
because of all the broken glass. 100 Jews killed, 30 000 arrested and sent to
concentration camps.
• The German Aryan was genetically, physically and mentally superior to any other
race on earth.
• What followed was a nation wide orgy of violence.
• The terrible night was known as 'Crystal Night'.
• All over Germany, synagogues were burnt down, shops were looted, house were
smashed up.
Luke Cole Page 59
• Hundreds of Jews were attacked and put into concentration camps.
• As Jews were herded into concentration camps the Nazi government ordered the
Jews to pay for the damage
• November 12, a new law passed "The Decree on the Exclusion of Jews from
Economic Life". Jewish properties and businesses were taken over by Aryans.
From Kristallnacht to WWII:
On the, 30th of January, 1939, Hitler tells the Reichstag about his plans to annihilate the
Jews if a war broke out.
• Einsatzgruppen (execution squads) followed and started the mass killing of the Jews.
At the Wannsee conference the decision was taken to eliminate the European Jews in
an orgainised and systematic way.
• 1942 the death camps were in action.
• By May 1945 about 6 million Jews had died in the gas chambers
Luke Cole Page 60

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