Chap 3.

1: To
what extent
was Hitlers
rise to power
due more to
favourable
circumstance
s than his
leadership
abilities?

10 Things about Hitler that I bet you

didnt know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A
64zaFhaK90

A bit about Germany

Background
Similar to Russia
Germany: history of being ruled by
Kaisers (emperors) dictatorship
system.
Kaiser Wilhelm II gave up his rule on 9
Nov 1918 and war ended on 11 Nov 1918
New (democratic) government called the
Weimar Government took over

The Weimar Government

(1918 -1933)
Freedom of speech and religion.
All men and women over the age of
20 could vote in elections and choose
who would run Germany.
The parliament would make
the laws.

Wah!
Weimar Republic (democracy) quite
good mah!!

Then how come the Germans let

Hitler become the dictator of
Germany?

Lets look at Singapore

Political Situation in
Singapore

PAP: more and more unpopular!

Even though they still hold 80 out of
87 seats in the parliament, the % of
votes won by the party is steadily
dropping!

Lets look at Singapore

Strong opposition to the
Population White Paper

16 Feb 2013: Over 4000 people turned

up at Speakers Corner to protest
about the Population White Paper.

 More evidence:
2011 General Election:
PAP lost a GRC for the
first time. Aljunied is
now ruled by Workers
Party.
2013 Punggol East ByElection: PAP lost.
Workers Partys Lee Li
Lian is elected to be its
MP.

Perhaps???
Workers Party could form the
government in a few decades
time???

Moving back to
Post WW1-Germany..

Wah!
Weimar Republic (democracy) quite
good mah!!

Then how come the Germans let

Hitler become the dictator of
Germany?

Why is that happening?

http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=UPOCjkMv_h0

The Weimar Government

sounded good in theory.
However, they had to solve
these post-war problems
which proved to be a
challenge to them..

What happened in Germany

as a result of the TOV?

Recall the terms of

the treaty of
Versailles. What do
you think were the
impacts of these
terms on Germany?

Post-WW1 Germany

Poverty, high unemployment, fragile

economy (burden of reparation
payments)
German businesses depended heavily on
US loans to keep going.

What happened in Germany as

a result of the TOV?
Anger
towards
government

the

Weimar

Weimar politicians seen as November

Criminals for signing the TOV.
Sign of betrayal

How did Hitler rise to

power?
For Hitler (Nazi Party) to
rise to power, the Weimar
Government must fall from
power first!

To what extent was Hitlers rise to

power due more to favourable
circumstances than his leadership
abilities?

Political & Economic

Circumstances in
Germany (Favourable
Circumstances)

Hitlers abilities

Therefore
The
political
and
economic
circumstances in Germany at that
time left Germans searching for a
leader.
Hitlers leadership and personal
qualities allowed him to take
advantage of the opportunity and
emerge as the Fuehrer of the
German people.

Political & Economic

Circumstances in Germany

Weaknesses
of the Weimar
Government

Proportional
Representation
& Coalition Govt

Hyperinflation

Unpopularity

The Great
Depressio
n

Political and Economic

Circumstances in Post WW1
Germany

Circumstance
s

Unstable
Weimar
Government
Unpopular
Weimar
Government
1923
Hyperinflation
1929 Great
Depression

What exactly
happened?

Impact on the
Weimar
Government

Which is most
significant
circumstance
that led to
rise of Hitler?

Political and Economic

Circumstances in Post WW1
Germany

Circumstances What exactly happened? Impact on the

Weimar
Government
Unstable
Weimar
Government

System of Proportional
Representation used to
elect parliament members.
No clear majority in the
parliament
Parties had to come
together to form a coalition
government.
Coalition governments
collapsed very easily.
Frequent changes of the
Weimar governments.

Question: Why was the

Weimar Government
weak?

Political & Economic

Circumstances in Germany

Weaknesses
of the Weimar
Government

Proportional
Representation
& Coalition Govt

Hyperinflation

The Great
Depressio
n

Proportional
Representation
People voted for a party rather than
candidates
Parties gained seat in the parliament
based on the number of votes won
Result high degree of
fragmentation in govt.
Too many small competing parties
without any party gaining majority

Coalition Government
With no party strong enough to get a
majority, coalition governments were set up
Some parties had extreme ideas and
unwilling to compromise
Coalition government kept breaking up
resulting in frequent changes of governments
Eg. 20 different coalition government
between 1919 -1933
Difficult to pass laws and seen as weak and
unable to get the peoples support

Weimar Republic
System of Proportional
Representation used to elect
members into the parliament.

Article 48 of the
Constitution
Under Article 48, the President could
dissolve the parliament and rule for
six months in an emergency
He could also suspend civil liberties
(right to vote, freedom of speech, etc.)
The problem with this was that it did
not say what an emergency was, and
in the end, it was exploited by Hitler to
take power legally.

Political & Economic

Circumstances in Germany

Weaknesses
of the Weimar
Government

Hyperinflation

Unpopularity of
the Weimar

The Great
Depressio
n

Read textbook p.68 to

find out what the
different opposition
groups wanted

Read textbook p.68 - 69

to find out what the
different opposition
groups wanted

 Opposition from left and right.doc

Unpopularity of the Weimar

Government
Left and right-wing extremists did not
support the Weimar Government.
Left wing: opposed to democracy,
wanted communism.
Right wing: wanted the Kaiser back in
power.
Many violent attempts by both left and
right-wing extremists to overthrow the
Weimar government.
Chaos and instability in Germany.

How did the weaknesses of

the Weimar lead to the rise
of Hitler?

The weaknesses of the Weimar

government was a factor which enabled
Hitler to rise to power. The coalition
governments of the Weimar Republic,
formed out of many different parties,
were weak and did not last long. The
parties often had arguments with one
another and found it difficult to agree
on measures to solve Germanys
problems. This made the Weimar
government seemed incapable. Thus
they lost the support of the Germans.

How did the weaknesses of

the Weimar lead to the rise
of Hitler?

Furthermore, the opposition from the left

and the right further weakened the
Weimar government as they carried out
many violent attempts to overthrow the
Weimar
Government.
Riots
and
assassinations
became
frequent
occurrences in the country. For example,
between 1919 and 1922, there were 376
political murders. Hence, many Germans
were deeply shocked by the level of
violence and instability in the country
and lost confidence and their support in
the Weimar governments ability.

How did the weaknesses of

the Weimar lead to the rise
of Hitler?

In comparison, the Nazi Party was

projected as a strong and united which
could solve the peoples problems.
Many Germans became willing to vote
for Hitler and his party which would
help them out of the dire situation,
thus leading to rise of Hitler.

Political & Economic

Circumstances in Germany

Weaknesses
of the Weimar
Government

Proportional
Representation
& Coalition Govt

Hyperinflation

Unpopularity of
the Weimar

The Great
Depressio
n

1923 Hyperinflation
Weimar government printed money to keep up
with reparation payments.
Dec 1922 Germany couldnt pay up with
payments.
Jan 1923 France and Belgium invaded Ruhr.
They seized German factories, railways and
mines. To retaliate, German workers went on
strikes
German government printed even more money to
solve this crisis.
The more money is printed, the less value it had.
Eventually, HYPERINFLATION developed!

 Situation improved in 1924 when

Chancellor Gustav Stresemann
replaced the currency.

Impact on the Weimar

Government?

Playing
with
money

How did hyperinflation lead

to the rise of Hitler?
Therefore, hyperinflation also led to the rise
of Hitler. It caused the Weimar Government to
become even more unpopular with the
middle and lower middle classes. To make
reparation payments to the Allied Powers and
to resolve the Ruhr Crisis, the Weimar
Government printed a lot of money,
eventually causing prices to spiral out of
control and hyperinflation to develop.
Although the poor were hard-hit, but
wealthier Germans and the middle class were
most bitter as their savings and pensions
became worthless virtually overnight.

How did hyperinflation lead

to the rise of Hitler?
Thus, even though the economy
recovered after 1924, many
Germans remained bitter
towards the Weimar
Government as they felt that it
was incapable of safeguarding
their interests. They therefore
turned to a stronger party like the
Nazi Party whom the Germans
thought could protect them and
their interests.

Somethings not quite right!

Hint: Nazis Popularity
Election

No. of seats won by the

Nazis/No. of seats in the
Reichstag

Dec 1924

14/493

June 1928

12/491

Nazi Party Still a Small Fry

The years 1924 to 1929 were years of

general economic prosperity and political
stability.
Thus the people did not see the need to
vote out the Weimar Government.

Political & Economic

Circumstances in Germany

Weaknesses
of the
Weimar
Government

Proportional
Representation
& Coalition Govt

Hyperinflation

Unpopularity of
the Weimar

The Great
Depressio
n

The Great Depression as the

turning point!

Election

No. of seats won by

the Nazis/No. of seats
in the Reichstag

Dec 1924

14/493

June 1928

July 1932

12 seats out of 491

seats
107 seats out of 577
seats
230/608

Nov 1932

196/584

1930

Drastic
increase
!
Student
s
calculat
e the
percent
age!!

The Great Depression

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=y26XsANjgjU
Watch from 1.23

1929 Great Depression

Economic downturn worldwide.
US withdrew their investments and
loans from Germany.
Germanys economy collapsed entirely.
Numerous factories closed down.
High unemployment rate, poverty set
in.
By 1932, 1/3 of the working
population were unemployed

1929 Great Depression

Coalition government could not
decide what action to take
No government could get enough
votes to pass laws to improve the
situation
People were angry and wanted
decisive action

How did the Great

Depression lead to the rise
of Hitler?

The Great Depression was also another

reason for Hitlers rise to power. The Great
Depression started in the USA and affected
Germany adversely.
German businesses
were facing difficulties as US loans were
withdrawn. Moreover, other countries had
less money to buy German goods. This
brought about poor economic conditions,
closure of factories and businesses. Due to

the Depression, there was high

unemployment and social misery.
The people blamed the government
for their economic situation.

This highlighted the weaknesses of the

Weimar Government and created the
conditions necessary for Hitler to spread
Nazi propaganda. He promised to
increase government spending so as to
create jobs for the people. The Nazis,
with a promise and a solution for
every problem, appeared to offer
hope of a better future. The Great
Depression hence helped Hitler gain
the support of the people, leading
to his rise to power.

To what extent was Hitlers rise to

power due more to favourable
circumstances than his leadership
abilities?

Political & Economic

Circumstances in
Germany

Hitlers abilities

Fun Facts About Hitler

Hitler the hypocrite?
He was not of true German descent. He
wanted to create an Aryan race of blond
haired, blue eyed "true germanic" people to
carry on the warrior tradition. However, he
was from Austria-not Germany.
Hitler the Prankster?
Allegedly, Hitler was a serial prankster,
often playing jokes on his ministers. This
backfired on him. He once tricked his
minister Hanfstaengl to believe that he was
being sent for a suicide mission which made
him to escape to Switzerland and seek
refuge with the Allies, revealing vital

Fun Facts About Hitler

Hitler the animal lover?
Hitler is said to love animals and made the
decision to become vegetarian
Hitler the vain pot?
The Nazi press secretary Dr. Sedgwick
tried to convince Hitler to get rid of his
trademark mustache or grow it normally.
Hitler answered: "Do not worry about my
mustache. If it is not the fashion now, it
will be later because I wear it!"
His mustache was probably due
to his love of Charlie Chaplin who
is often cited as the chief inspiration.

Fun Facts About Hitler

Hitler the cat with 9 lives?
Hitler was perhaps the most hated
man in history. There were at least 42
attempts to kill him. But they all failed!
Watch some of them here:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/42ways-to-kill-hitler/

Hitlers abilities
He used his abilities and took
advantage of the opportunities
present to rise to power.
Appeal of Hitler
& the Nazi
ideology

Charisma &
oratorical skills

Skilful at
making deals
with politicians

Exploited fear of
Communism to
win support

Reorganised the
Nazi Party

Appeal of Hitler and the

Nazi Ideology

Promised to establish a strong government

Abolish the Treaty of Versailles
Bring more German people into the Reich
Create more living space or Lebensraum
and gain resources for the Germans
through territorial expansion
Solve unemployment and crisis in farming
sector
Used modern and effective campaigning
methods to get their message across

How did the appeal of

Hitler and the Nazi ideology
lead to the rise of Hitler?
Hence, the appeal of Hitler and the Nazi
ideology helped Hitler to rise to power as it
seemed like he could offer something to
everyone. The promises and ideologies that
he presented to the Germans also enabled
him to gain popular support. It appeared
that Hitler and the Nazi party were the
answers to their suffering. In contrast with
a weak Weimar government with no
answers, the people would rather give their
support to Hitler and the Nazi Party. Thus,
this helped him to rise to power.

Hitlers abilities
He used his abilities and took
advantage of the opportunities
present to rise to power.
Appeal of Hitler
& the Nazi
ideology

Charisma &
oratorical skills

Skilful at
making deals
with politicians

Exploited fear of
Communism to
win support

Reorganised the
Nazi Party

Charisma & Oratorical

Skills
Watch Hitlers speech. Observe the
following:
How would you describe the way he
gives his speech?
What is he saying about the Jews?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=_0V_xf3OQgM

Charisma & Oratorical

Skills
Hitler was a true orator who prepared and
practised his speeches
Incredible energy; energetic lively speeches
He could gauge the mood of the audience and
could appear to be very sincere to the people
He also knew the concerns of the people and
made sure he addressed them in his speeches
Take a look at source 3.4 on p75 of your textbook

How did his charisma &

oratorical skills lead to the
rise of Hitler?
Hence, Hitlers charisma and oratorical skills
helped him to rise to power as he could easily
manipulate the crowd to feel what he wanted
them to feel. By addressing their concerns, Hitler
was able to appear as though he understood the
German peoples suffering and he could help
them with their problems. This enabled Hitler
and the Nazi Party to gain support from the
people as the Germans felt that Hitler could
identify with them and would be able to take
them out of their suffering. Thus, this allowed
Hitler to rise to power.

Hitlers abilities
He used his abilities and took
advantage of the opportunities
present to rise to power.
Appeal of Hitler
& the Nazi
ideology

Charisma &
oratorical skills

Skilful at
making deals
with politicians

Exploited fear of
Communism to
win support

Reorganised the
Nazi Party

Exploited the fear of

communism
As the Weimar became more unstable,
the Germans turned to more extreme
parties like the communist party
In the 1928 elections, the communist
party won 4 times the votes of the
Nazi Party
Many groups of people feared the
communist would take over the
country

Hitler speaks out (again)

against the Communists
and the Jews

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=KacBrY0uxtM

Exploited the fear of

communism
Read textbook p75 & answer the
following questions:
1. Who were afraid that the
communist party would take
over?
2. Why were they afraid of a
communist government?

Exploited the fear of

communism
Answer:
Farmers thought that since the
communist believed that the state
should own all lands and assets, their
land would be taken away (like in
Russia)
Owners of big industries afraid that big
businesses would be taken over by the
state (like in Russia). They were also
afraid of strong trade unions

Exploited the fear of

communism
Hitler exploited these fears by giving
them vague promises that he would help
them if he came into power
Some industrialists like Alfred Hugenberg
(newspaper & film studio owner) &
August Thyssen (steel manufacturer)
contributed financially to the Nazi
campaigns
Hugenberg also allowed the Nazis access
to his studio to produce propaganda films

Exploited the fear of

communism
In the 1930s where there were fights
and unrest between the communist
and the police, Hitler used his
personal armed forces to break up
the communist meetings and restore
some order back to Germany

Anti-Communist Nazi
Poster. The caption
reads Bolsheviks
bring war,
unemployment and
famine.

How did the exploitation of

the fear of communism lead
to the rise of Hitler?
Hence, Hitlers ability to exploit the
fear of communism helped him to rise
to power as he could play on the fears
of the farmers and the businessman in
order to gain their support. Through
their financial support, the Nazi party
could also organise mass rallies and
propaganda to influence the people to
support them.

How did the exploitation of

the fear of communism lead
to the rise of Hitler?
Furthermore, by helping to maintain
order in the country in the 1930s,
Hitler was able to portray his party in
a positive light while making the
communist party the bad guy. Thus,
this made the people more likely to
support Hitler instead of the
communist party and allowed him to
rise to power.

Hitlers abilities
He used his abilities and took
advantage of the opportunities
present to rise to power.
Appeal of Hitler
& the Nazi
ideology

Charisma &
oratorical skills

Skillfulness at
making deals
with politicians

Exploited fear of
Communism to
win support

Reorganised the
Nazi Party

After the 1932 elections

July 1932 Nazis won 37.3% of the votes.
Strongest party in the Reichstag.
Hitler was shrewd, refused to form a coalition with
another party UNLESS he was made Chancellor.
What implication does this have on the Reichstag?

But Hitler was not made Chancellor because

President von Hindenburg distrusted him.

He appointed Franz von Papen and later Kurt

von Schleicher as Chancellor instead.

Skillful at making deals

with politicians
Von Schleicher had no support in the
Reichstag, unlike Hitler.
Von Papen persuaded Hindenburg
that:
as long as there were no more than three Nazis in the
Cabinet (that means only three Nazis in the top 12-15
government positions), Hitler could be made Chancellor.
Von Papen would become vice-Chancellor, and
together with Hindenburg, they would keep Hitler under
control (or so they believed)

How Wrong Papan was!

"In two months, we'll have
pushed Hitler into a corner
where he can squeal to his
heart's content."

Franz von
Papan

Er Well.. Okay. Im
sure with us keeping
an eye on Hitler,
everything will go well!

President von
Hindenburg

Skillfulness at making deals

with politicians
July 1932 elections Nazi party won the
most votes in the Reichstag
Hitler wanted to be Chancellor but
President Hindenburg distrusted him; Franz
von Papen appointed to be chancellor but
lacked support in the Reichstag
Nov 1932 elections, Nazi votes dropped by
2 million & they lost 34 seats, Hitler
realised he had to make a deal with the
conservatives

Skillfulness at making deals

with politicians
Von Papen replaced by Kurt von Schleicher
but lacked support in the Reichstag
Von Papen and President Hindenburg had
no choice but to invite Hitler to be
Chancellor
They thought that they could control the
cabinet and control Hitler
In his 1st year, Hitler ruled in a coalition
government and he made deals with
politicians who underestimated him

Skillfulness at making deals

with politicians
When he eventually got enough
support, he quickly acted and took
complete control over the
government

How did his skilfulness in

making deals with
politicians lead to the rise
of Hitler?
Hence, by making deals with the
politicians, Hitler was able to rise to
power as he could manipulate them into
voting for him and supporting him in the
Reichstag. Through the deals with the
other political parties, Hitler was also not
seen as a threat and this helped him to
slowly rise to the top. Eventually he was
able to garner enough support to take
complete control of the government.

Hitlers abilities
He used his abilities and took
advantage of the opportunities
present to rise to power.
Appeal of Hitler
& the Nazi
ideology

Charisma &
oratorical skills

Skillfulness at
making deals
with politicians

Exploited fear of
Communism to
win support

Reorganization
of the Nazi Party

Reorganization of the Nazi

Party
After a failed coup (Munich Putsch)
Hitler realised that he had to gain power
legally
The Nazis begin to take part in elections
He reorganised the party to make it
more appealing to the German people
Party membership was increased by
attracting more youths (Hitler Youth
created)

Hitler Youth recruitment poster. The

wording translates to: "Youth serves
the leader. All ten year-olds into the
Hitler Youth."

Every Girl Belongs to Us

Recruitment Poster of
League of German Maidens

Reorganization of the Nazi

Party
Stormtroopers (SA) and Defence
Corps (SS) formed which helped to
maintain order by breaking up
communist party meetings and
strikes
Nazi propaganda used which
portrayed the Nazis as a strong party
united behind one leader

SA Uniform

SA Logo

SA Recruitment Poster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfGZHHXiUYQ

Stormtroopers take on the

Communists!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=y26XsANjgjU
Watch from 5.33

How did the reorganisation

of the Nazi Party lead to
the rise of Hitler?
The reorganisation of the Nazi Party was
another factor for Hitlers rise to power. For
example, he increased Party membership by
establishing local Nazi parties. He also set up
youth organisations. The Strormtroopers (SA)
and the Defence Corps (SA) were also
established and were portrayed as militaristic.
In this way, he raised the profile of the Nazi
Party and made it seem more appealing to
the people.

How did the reorganisation

of the Nazi Party lead to
the rise of Hitler?
By portraying the Nazi party as a strong
vibrant party, it attracted the attention of
many of the German people who were
disappointed with the weak Weimar
Government. Thus, it would help Hitler in his
rise to power as the people attracted to the
Nazi party would support him.