20c - "Lacks Leadership Characteristics:" Rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany (Lesson)
"Lacks Leadership Characteristics:" Rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany.
Germany after World War I
After World War I, Germany became a democracy known as the Weimar Republic. It was headed by a President (with a 7-year term) who oversaw the country but didn't make day-to-day decisions. The President could call new elections at any time. The Chancellor, elected from the majority party in the Reichstag, ran the country. The Reichstag (Parliament) was formed through direct elections where people voted for a party (not for people) and the percentage of votes a party received was the percentage of the seats the party got.
Since the Chancellor came from the majority party, if there was no majority party, the President was allowed to appoint a Chancellor. There were three types of Chancellors:
- Parliamentary Chancellor - the Parliamentary Chancellor could suggest laws, but the laws had to be passed by a majority vote of the Reichstag.
- Presidential Chancellor - the Presidential Chancellor could declare laws by decree unless a majority of the Reichstag vetoed them. To stop a Presidential Chancellor, there would have to be a "negative majority" in the Reichstag.
- Temporary Dictator - the Constitution also allowed for a "temporary dictator" in times of emergency if 2/3 of the Reichstag agreed.
The Republic's first act on November 11, 1918 was to agree to an armistice (which was really a surrender). This armistice was seen as the first failure of the Weimar Republic. After a war that had completely exhausted the country, it was difficult for Germany to bear defeat. The army consequently created a myth about being "stabbed in the back" by people inside Germany. According to them, it was the left-wing politicians (also Jewish people) that caused their loss.
During this time, President Hindenburg and Chancellor Ebert ran the country. The democracy seemed on the right track, even though the SPD (Socialists) had made a deal with the army, which led to the brutal murder of the Spartakus Band (the KPD/Communists). After this, the KPD had no leaders (and was controlled by Moscow) and the left was forever divided. In 1920, there was the Kapp Putsch, in which the right-wing extremist army officers seized Berlin. Although the army would not fire on them, they were eventually forced to withdraw by the left-wing labor unions. This contributed to the instability of the time.
Then in 1923 came ultra-inflation caused by the French occupation of the Ruhr (industrial heartland.) When Germany fell behind in paying WWI reparations, the French seized the German factories. The German workers went on strike, and then, when the government opted to issue more money to pay the French and end the standoff, money became worthless. This was seen as the second failure of the Weimar Republic.
On November 8, 1923, the Beer Hall Putsch occurs, led by General Ludendorff and Hitler, who was unknown at the time. It fails miserably, but Hitler gets national press coverage and writes Mein Kampf while in jail. Mein Kampf, or My Struggle, is Hitler's book that outlined his plan to take over Europe.
Once he is out, he determines that legality is the way to go and that one must work from within the government to destroy it.
The next couple of years, the Republic does really well. The economy has recovered to an extent, and led by Gustav Stresemann (foreign minister) Germany is admitted into the League of Nations and welcomed back into the international community. Moderate parties are doing well, the Nazis have fallen in popularity. In 1929, everything changes. The Great Depression hits the US and their private bankers, many of which loaned exorbitant sums to Germany to assist with reparations, begin calling in their debts. Numerous European nations see their economies crumble as well, with none hit as hard as Germany. Now the "misery parties" begin to come into their own.
The Rise of Fascism in Germany
One party that made a spectacular rise with the onset of the depression (along with the KPD and SPD) was the Nazi party, now led by Adolph Hitler. Hitler took the Nazi party from its "every man" relatively moderate roots and transformed it into the fascist version we are familiar with.
The Nazis attacked democracy, advocated war against Germany's enemies (Jews, Communists, other nations, etc.), and utilized the newly created SA, SS, and propaganda to spread their message. With the depression and the failure of the Republic to solve the problems plaguing it, the Nazis, with their calls for rearmament and stopping the Communists, became more popular.
Because of the depression, in 1930 the coalition government of Social Democrats resigned and the Center party took over. President Hindenburg allowed the new government to enact measures by decree, but there was a negative majority so in effect nothing could be accomplished. Since the 1930 election gave the Nazis more seats, Hitler ran for president in 1932. He knew he would lose against Hindenburg, but he received the press coverage he was hoping for. Hindenburg then picked a new chancellor, Franz von Papen.
Papen attempted to gain Hitler's support by lifting the bans on the SA and SS and begins to form a right-wing coalition. It didn't work, and instead, Hindenburg called another election. Within this one, the Nazis gained additional seats. But Hindenburg, who didn't like Hitler, continued to refuse to name him chancellor, picking Von Schleicher instead. Papen, in a bid to get back into power, told Hindenburg to appoint Hitler the head of a coalition government, seeing it as the only way to stop the negative majority. Hindenburg agreed on the terms that: there would be no other Nazis in the cabinet, and every time Hitler met with him Papen would be there too.
Papen thought he could use Hitler, but had vastly underestimated the man. Hitler takes the deal in 1933. Almost immediately, he called another election, and through questionable means, the Nazis won an even bigger majority. Much like Mussolini's Black Shirts, Hitler's Brown Shirts (SA) threatened and intimidated many into voting for the Nazi party.
Soon thereafter, the Reichstag building was set on fire. Hitler blamed it on the Communists, declared a state of emergency (which allowed him to issue special laws that ended individual freedoms), and immediately after the election outlawed the KPD so that the Nazi party would then have a majority. Unfortunately, despite all of his machinations, Hitler still did not have the 2/3's majority needed to become a dictator. He turned to the Center party, making promises he never intended to keep in order to be rewarded with the Chancellorship. Once in control, he was then able to pass the Enabling Act, which gave him, as chancellor, the right to enact all laws without the Reichstag for four years.
Germany Under Hitler
Hitler moved to consolidate his power by sending his opponents to concentration camps or placing them in exile. By July, he outlawed all other parties and destroyed the opposition, and by November he had restructured the government, purged the civil service and judiciary, outlawed strikes, and controlled the press.
Then in June 1934, he eliminated all of the other leaders of the party and any opposition leaders who were left in what became known as the Night of the Long Knives. When Hindenburg died in August, Hitler declared himself Führer (uniting the Presidency and Chancellorship) and supported the decision through a vote.
Next, the federal states lost their autonomy (gleichschaltung – coordination) and all government employees were made appointees of Hitler. The Gestapo (secret police) infiltrated all levels of society.
In economics, the Nazi party experienced great success. Public works projects lowered unemployment to a tolerable level, and the government used deficit spending to restore the economy. To pay for this, a system devised by the brilliant economist Hjalmar Schacht required that payments for foreign trade be made with money whose value changed according to the products and nations involved (pretty much barter). This increased Germany's self-sufficiency, but in the end, they paid by printing more money.
During this time, propaganda advertised the benefits of the new government. Women were presented as subordinate members of the family (meant for breeding more Aryans). Also, Hitler began pushing rearmament and gained more direct control of different branches of the government, such as the foreign services. To deal with the church, Hitler made a concordat with the Vatican in 1933, which gave the state a voice in the appointment of bishops, but assured the Church of its authority over Catholic orders and schools. Protestants were given the Evangelical Church under a bishop appointed by Hitler. Most clergy cooperated with the state, and the ones who resisted were arrested.
Then there was anti-Semitism. In 1935, the gov't codified its anti-Semitic beliefs in the Nuremberg Laws. In 1938, Kristallnacht occurred after a Jewish youth in Paris murdered a minor German diplomat: Jews were beaten and murdered and their property was destroyed. Romanians were also attacked.
Document Discussion
It's time to take a closer look at the Nuremberg Laws. Click on the link below and be sure to read it carefully.
As you read, consider the following:
- Why were these written?
- Why are these particular issues of interest?
- What was hoped to be gained out of these measures?
- In section 4 part 2 - why would this be noted?
Click here to download and read the Nuremberg Laws. Links to an external site.
In your notes, respond to the following.
- As you can imagine, Nazi Germany dominates the study of 20th-century Europe. There is no question that Nazism was deeply rooted in German history – an argument articulated by Fritz Fischer, whom you encountered earlier in the discussion of World War I’s origins. That being said, it is dangerous to assume that the course of German history somehow inevitably led to Hitler and Nazism. Read the review of Henry Turner, Hitler’s 30 Days to Power, and respond to the following question: what factors can you identify that made Hitler’s seizure of power unlikely and how might events have developed differently, had Hitler’s drive to power been frustrated?
- Define the concept of “totalitarianism.” What characteristics would you use to argue that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union – despite their professed ideological differences – displayed important similarities? What are the salient differences between totalitarianism and authoritarianism/autocracy?
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