The Rise of Hitler Revision notes.

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The Rise of HitlerModern European and World HistoryThis article is divided into the following sections: The origins of the Nazi Party The lean years 1924-1929 The Great Depression and Nazi electoral success 1929-1932 Hitler comes to power 1933 Hitler’s consolidation of power 1933-1934 THE ORIGINS OF THE NAZI PARTY After the war Hitler was employed by the army as a ‘V’ man to spy on political parties in Munich to find out if they were dangerous.  One small party, the German Workers’ Party, appealed to him and he joined it in 1919. It was at this time he discovered his great gift for public speaking. In February 1920 the party changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei – NSDAP, NAZI for short) and set out its 25-point programme.  Here are some of the points:         1.   We demand the union of all Germans to form a greater Germany…2.       We demand the abolition of the Peace Treaties of Versailles and Saint Germain.3.       We demand land and territory for the nourishment of our people…4.       None but those of German blood… may be members of the German nation.  No Jew, therefore, may be a member of the German nation. Articles 10 and 21 referred to the duty of citizens and state to work for and ensure physical and mental fitness:         11.  We demand the abolition of incomes unearned by work.14.   We demand profit-sharing in the big industries.15.   We demand a generous development of provision for old age.16.   We demand the creation and support of a healthy middle class.25.   We demand the creation of a strong central government in Germany. Quite clearly many of these points were the result of Hitler’s influence (though later he would quietly drop many of the ‘socialistic’ ideas).  What is also striking is that the party was attempting to appeal to a broad spectrum of the electorate, something that most Weimar parties did not do. Following a power struggle in 1921, Hitler became the leader of the party with unlimited powers and in August he formed the SA (Sturm Abteilung –stormtroopers) a paramilitary group designed to keep order and (literally) fight the Communists.  By 1922 he was known as the “Führer”(leader).The Munich Putsch Having established his authority in the party (and no doubt influenced by Mussolini’s successful March on Rome in October 1922) Hitler now decided to challenge the Weimar Republic by mounting a Putsch in Bavaria.  On 8 November 1923, Hitler and the SA burst into a beer hall where the state government was holding a public meeting, and declared a provisional government.  The following morning, Hitler and Ludendorff marched through Munich at the head of 3,000 men, only to be halted by police fire which left 16 Nazis dead and brought the Putsch to a humiliating end. Mein Kampf Hitler was arrested and tried for high treason in February/March 1924.  By the end of the trial Hitler had established himself as a national figure but he was nevertheless found guilty.  However, he was only sentenced to five years in Landsberg prison because of the right-wing sympathies of the judiciary – in fact he only served nine months.  During that time he dictated his book, Mein Kampf (My Struggle), a rambling, long ‘spoken book’ in which he expressed his ideas on history, politics, race and the future of Germany.  Here are some of the main
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ideas: ∙        The Fuehrer principleGermany must be ruled by a single, strong leader who has great power – a ‘Fuehrer’.Lebensraum(living space)Germans need more land to live and work in.  They will get this extra land by taking over countries east of Germany – Poland and Russia, for example.  They will use force to get this land if the eastern countries do not give it up.RaceHuman beings are divided into races.  Some races are better than others.  The best races are ‘pure’ ones which have not interbred with others.  The Germans, who belong to the ‘Aryan’ race must keep themselves pure ...

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