Establishment of Hitler and the
Nazi Party
Themes: Emergence of Leader: aims,
ideology, support
Ideology of movement. (52, 117)
Role of the leader112-113
The nature of support for the movement
(farmers, rural 117)118-123
Themes cont.
Methods: force or legal
Changing the system from ‘within’ 126 – strong
economic platform, non anti Semitic 127
Establishment of party system 114-116
The use of violence to establish single party state
(53- 55, 116)
Unwilling to share power with others
A period needed to consolidate
Establishment of Hitler and the
Nazi Party
Timeline overview (110-111)
Ideology of movement.
Twenty Five Point Programme of 1920 had
clauses that could be classified as racist,
socialist, anti-democratic, and nationalist
(52)
Classify each of the clauses into
one of the four categories above
Ideology of movement
Nationalist socialism
Social Darwinist theories of natural competition
applied to human society. Fundamental
difference between Communism and Nazism
here – the former based on class differences
(economic differences) and the other based on
racial difference
Master Race or Herrenvolk
“Nutrition is not a
private matter!”
“Your body belongs
to the Fuhrer”
Hitler Youth Manual:
Health through
Proper Eating
Nazi were advocates of “the
'natural' diet for Germans, free of
over-processed, preserved food”
Master Race
"(The state) must see to it that only the
healthy beget children; that there is only
one disgrace: despite one's own sickness
and deficiencies, to bring children into the
world; and one highest honour : to
renounce doing so. And conversely it must
be considered reprehensible to withhold
healthy children from the nation."
Ideology of movement
Pan-Germanism
Unification of all German people into one state
Anschluss (386-389)
Sudetenland
Memel -Lithuania
Danzig and the Polish Corridor
Ideology of movement
Lebensraum
Germany must expand to take over more
territory (living space) to feed population
Lebensraum
The term Lebensraum was coined by the German
geographer, Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904). The theory states
that the development of all species, including humans, is
primarily determined by their adaptation to geographic
circumstances.
species migration as the crucial factor in social adaptation and
cultural change.
successfully adapted to one location = natural spread to others.
migration is a natural feature of all species, an expression of their
need for living space
Healthy species must continually expand the amount of space they
occupy
To discussion
How does this theory fit in with the idea of
Social Darwinism?
Why was expansion targeted to the East of
Germany?
Ideology of movement
Authoritarian state
Anti-democratic/Fuhrerprinzip
Democracy provides for weak government
Replace with single party state with an all
powerful leader
Methods: Force or Legal
Main Questions
Did the Nazi Movement attempt to change the
system from ‘within or through force?
To extent were the Nazis’ successful in the
establishment of party system?
How did Germany change from a multi-party
system to a single party system?
Force: 1923 Beer Popular Will: Creation
Hall Putsch of party system and
elected
Establishment of party system
Read pages 114-115
Selective evidence that shows organizational
strengths and weaknesses of the Nazi Party
Establishment of party system
Pages 114-115
Strong, locally organized party structure
Gaue
Use of local leaders
Nazi Welfare organization
Use of the last campaign techniques with
simple messages
Changing the system from
‘within’
After 1923 Putch, use of the democratic
system to try and achieve power legally
Use of alliances with other parties gives
access to resources and political legitimacy
Nationalist alliance of 1929 gains access to
Hugenberg’s media empire
Changing the system from
‘within’
Achieved electoral success- 37% second highest
vote total of any party in the WR
Had electoral success because of clear economic
plan that appealed to German voters (126)
During the elections, extreme philosophies were
moderate – i.e. did not emphasis their anti Semitic
views (127)
Appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg
with the urging of the Junkers and key industrialists
(142)
Changing the system from
‘within’
Debate: Proportional representation or
Hindenburg Talking Point 1 on Page144
Legal or illegal? Read page 144 and analyze
the two cartoon
Methods: force or legal
The use of violence to establish single
party state (53- 55, 116)
Methods: force or legal
Hitler and the Nazi Party were not opposed
to the use of violence as a means of
achieving political goals.
The SA (Brown shirts) had a huge
membership of around 400,000 in 1933 (4x
times larger than the German army) while the
NSDAP had a total membership of 800,000
(120, 110-111)
Use of intimidation against other political
parties in an attempt to influence elections
Methods: force or legal
Propaganda of the deed” = communist threat
and military order (116)
Historical Interpretations
Pages 154-155-Match differing historical
interpretations with quotes.
Complete the source activity on page 156
Using the quotes on page 158-159, classify
each statement into a historical interpretation
category
Role of the Leader
Role of the leader
An inspiring leader , successful orator (112-113)
Party adopts Fuhrerprinzip -gives Hitler massive
power to control party (113)
Ideological/Political flexibility
Central rallying figure of the Nazi Party – the main
symbol
Extent of personal appeal (during elections)
disputed (113)
Nature of Support
Nature of support
Support from a range of socio-economic
groups e.g.
unemployed,
manual labourers,
lower-middle class
business owners,
professionals
large industrialists.
Nature of support
The Nazi Party was the largest political
organisation in Germany
July 1932 - 37.7% of the vote
Largest party membership
Nature of support
Protestant and Northern (121)
Young but equal gender appeal (120)
Clear economic plan and effective propaganda
appealed to those looking for a change in
government
Not anti-Semitic
Case Study:
Pastor Martin Niemoeller
Protestant
Late 30’s
Recent rural to
urban migrant
Lived in an
affluent suburb
of Berlin
Order and stability
Nationalism
Fear of
Communism
Assignment
Historical debate: Complete the chart and questions
on page 122
Analyze the posters on pages 124-125 and examine
the graph on page 128– Write a summary of the
target group(s) of the Nazis