Reasons for Success of the Nazi Party
- Created by: Vader26
- Created on: 14-03-22 10:01
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- Reasons for Nazi Party Success
- Bamberg Conference
- Occured in 1926
- Hitler continued to strengthen his position
- Possible rivals such as Gregor Strasser and Josef Goebbels were won over
- Hitler forced Rohm to resign as leader of the SA as he was concerned they would continue to be violent
- New leader was Ernst von Salomon
- Great Depression
- Political and economic choas drew people to the Nazis
- General election in Sep 1930 made Nazis 2nd biggest party in the Reichstag
- Communism
- Germans feared a Communist takeover
- The KPD gradually recovered from the Spartacist Uprising and the death of Liebknecht and Luxemburg
- The new leader (Ernst Thalmann) abandoned the prospect of immediate revolution and entered into elections, with some success
- The KPD was the 'leading party' of Communism outside the Soviet Union
- It usually polled more than 10% of the vote
- In the Presidential election of 1932, Thalmann took 13.2% of the vote, as opposed to Hitler's 30.1%
- Use of propaganda
- During the years 1929-33 the Nazis increased support through propaganda
- Goebbels was skilled in propaganda and ensured that the Nazi message was simple yet persistent
- By the early 1930s the Nazis owned 120 daily or weekly newsapers that were regularly read by hundreds of thousands of people across the country
- Success in the Elections
- When Chancellor Bruning called the general election in 1930, he was hoping to secure the Centre Party a majority
- However, the Wall Street Crash disrupted the political situation
- Unemployment had affected all areas of society so the Nazis appealed to every area
- The Nazi message was that weak coalition governments had caused the economic crisis and the coalitions had nothing to offer
- Unemployment had affected all areas of society so the Nazis appealed to every area
- However, the Wall Street Crash disrupted the political situation
- If anyone doubted his message, he offered another scapegoat: the Jews. He blamed them for:
- Communism and evils of capitalism
- Unemployment
- WW1 defeat
- Bolshevik Revolution
- A potential revolution that would lead to property being seized
- When Chancellor Bruning called the general election in 1930, he was hoping to secure the Centre Party a majority
- Presidential Election 1932
- Hitler stood against Hindenburg
- The Nazis were quick to use modern technology
- Hitler flew around Germany in his plane and could speak at 5 cities in a day
- Goebbels organised mass rallies to spread the Nazi message and get Hitler recognised
- Goebbels mastered propaganda and the message was spread through films, radio and records
- Hindenburg just failed to attain 50% of the votes so there was a second round
- Hitler was quite disappointed
- Goebbels painted the loss and a victory thanks to the overall high number of votes for Hitler
- Tactics used paid off and there was greater success in the July 1932 Reichstag elections
- Goebbels continued to paint a positive image, and played on Germans; fears (especially of communism)
- Financial support
- Hitler could not have campaigned without financial backers
- For example, the Nazis printed and distributed 600,000 copies of the economic programme in the July 1932 election
- The Party received backing from industrialists like Thyssen, Krupp and Bosch, who were terrified of trade union growth
- By 1932, the Party had developed close links with the National Party (DNVP)
- The leader, Alfred Hugenberg, permitted the Nazis to attack Chancellor Bruning in their newspapers
- Hitler could not have campaigned without financial backers
- The SA
- Hitler claimed in his speeches that parliamentary democracy did not work and only the NSDAP could provide strong government
- The Nazis used their private army, the Sturmabteilung, to provide protection for Hitler and disrupt rivals' meetings
- Hitler re-appointed Ernst Rohm head of the SA in Jan 1931 and membership went from 100k to 170k
- These 'bully boy thugs' loved to engage in street fights with the opposition
- The communist army, the Red Front Fighters, fought often with the SA and there were many fatalities
- Hitler sought to show Germany that he could stamp out the violent communists
- The communist army, the Red Front Fighters, fought often with the SA and there were many fatalities
- Bamberg Conference
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