The Rise of Extremism and the Collapse of Weimar democracy

1. The Rise of Extremism and the Collapse of Weimar democracy HI136, History of Germany Lecture 8

2. Interwar Germany a fertile breeding ground for radical right-wing organizations. • 1919: Anton Drexler founds the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (German Workers Party, DAP). • Adolf Hitler joined the DAP in Sept. 1919, quickly rising through the ranks to become the party’s chief theorist and propaganda officer. • Feb. 1920: Hitler heads a committee which draws up the Party’s ’25 Point Programme’ which remains the basis of Nazi ideology until 1945. • April 1920: The DAP renamed the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP or Nazi for short). • July 1921: Hitler ousts Drexler & is appointed Party Chairman. The Origins of Nazism

3. 1925: Nazi party refounded with a new commitment to achieving power through legal means. • 1926: The Bamberg Conference – Hitler re-established his supremacy in the Party, overcoming the challenge to his leadership from GregorStrasser, but was forced to concede that the 25-Point Programme (with its socialist elements) remained inviolable. • Establishment of new efficient Party structure and youth and women’s organisations led to a growing membership: 27,000 in 1925 increased to 108,000 in 1928. • But still had little popular support – they won only 2.6% of the vote in the Reichstag elections of 1928. The Rise of Nazism

4. Nazism is difficult to pin down: it is easier to say what the Nazis were against than what they were for. • Some have argued that Nazism cannot be called an ideology at all: it lacks coherence & is intellectually superficial and simplistic. • Most of the ideas key to National Socialism were present in Germany in the 19th century. • That is not to say that Nazism is the logical result of German thought: such ideas also found receptive audiences in Britain & France. • Key concepts: • Race • Führerprinzip • Anti-Communism • Nationalism • Volksgemeinschaft • The 25 Points: • Creation of a Greater Germany encompassing all ethnic Germans • Revocation of Treaty of Versailles • Demand for colonies (Lebensraum) • Only members of the Volk can be citizens: no Jew can be a citizens & all non-citizens to be deported • The primary duty of the State is to provide a livelihood for its citizens: introduction of profit sharing & extension of welfare state. The German Ideology?

5. October 1929: the Wall Street Crash led to a worldwide economic downturn. • Germany was particularly hard hit – the German economy was heavily dependent on foreign loans and the banking system was geared towards short-term credit to finance long-term ventures. • As foreign investment dried up and debts were called in, German firms folded and banks collapsed leading to mass unemployment. • 2 million Germans out of work by the winter of 1929-30. • Unemployment reached 3 million in 1931 & had risen to 5.1 million by Sept. 1932. It peaked at 6.1 million in early 1933. • This led to material hardship, but also had an important psychological effect – fear, uncertainty, loss of pride and status, feeling that the fabric of society was unravelling. • The economic crisis quickly became a political crisis as the social insurance system became overloaded. The Great Depression Soucre: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich (1996)

6. Domestic Factors: • Lack of popular support • Constitutional flaws • Role of established elites • International Factors: • Legacy of Versailles • World economic crisis (the Great Depression) • General crisis of liberal democracy Reasons for the Collapse of Weimar Democracy

7. March 1930: Hermann Müller’s Grand Coalition collapsed when the DVP and SPD members of the Cabinet could not agree on how to solve the crisis. • Hindenburg appointed Heinrich Brüning, leader of the Centre Party, Chancellor. His lack of charisma and unpopular deflationary policies (cuts in public spending & tax rises) meant that he was unable to command a majority in the Reichstag. Thus from the summer of 1930 onwards he was forced to use emergency powers to pass any legislation. • But the Depression had radicalized German politics and the parties of the extreme left and right continued to gain support – a very real fear of communist revolution amongst conservatives and the middle classes. • By 1930 the Nazis were the 2nd largest party in the Reichstag. • Oct. 1931: the Harzburg Front – anti-republican alliance between the Nazis, Alfred Hugenburg’s DNVP and the Stahlhelm. • 1932: Hitler confident enough to challenge Hindenburg for the Presidency. • By May 1932 Brüning had lost the support of the President and his advisors – his policies had not significantly solved the problems caused by the Depression or stopped the escalating violence in the streets. • June 1932: Franz von Papen head the right-wing ‘Cabinet of Barons’. The Final Crisis, 1930-33

8. Chancellors, 1930-33 Heinrich Brüning (Centre Party) March 1930 – May 1932 Franz von Papen (Centre Party) June – Dec. 1932 General Kurt von Schleicher (Non party) Dec. 1932 – Jan. 1933

9. July 1932: Preussenschlag – The illegal constitutional coup in which the elected SPD government of Prussia deposed by the army on the orders of von Papen. A Reich Commissioner was installed and Social Democratic and liberal officials were replaced by conservative civil servants. • Nov. 1932: Papen replaced by General Kurt von Schleicher. • Papen enters into secret negotiations with the Nazis, big business and large landowners designed to bring about his return to power with a majority in the Reichstag. • Jan. 1933: Hindenburg reluctantly agrees to dismiss Schleicher and replace him with Hitler. • The Conservatives convinced that they would be able to control Hitler and the Nazis – Papen was Vice-Chancellor and their were only 3 Nazis in the Cabinet. The Final Crisis, 1930-33

10. Hitler’s first Cabinet, 30 January 1933: Seated (left to right): Hermann Göring, Hitler, Franz von Papen Standing (left to right): Baron Konstantin von Neurath (Foreign Minister), GüntherGereke (Commissioner for Job Creation), Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk (Finance Minister), Wilhelm Frick (Interior Minister), General Werner von Blomberg (Defence Minister), Alfred Hugenberg (Minister of Agriculture and Economics)

11. The Nazis had the greatest support in Protestant rural North Germany, and did badly in Catholic areas of South Germany and in the big cities. • This was at least in part because Catholics and urban workers had their own well-established political parties and social organizations. • Traditional view = the Nazis a party of the disaffected middle class. • But close analysis reveals that support was much broader (though not deep). • By 1932 the Nazis could claim to be a Volkspartei (People’s Party) – they became a universal party of protest. Who Voted for the Nazis? Source: G. Layton, Democracy and Dictatorship in Germany (2009)

12. Soucre: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich (1996)

14. New elections called within 24 hours of Hitler becoming Chancellor. • The election campaign took place in an atmosphere of violence and intimidation. • The Nazis used their access to the organs of the state to get their message across & intimidate their opponents. • 31 Jan. 1933: Hitler’s ‘Appeal to the German People’ – blamed Germany’s problems on the Communists and presented his government as a ‘National Uprising’ that would restore German pride & unity. • As Minister of the Interior of Prussia Göring recruited 500,000 extra police in Germany’s largest state, most of them drawn from the ranks of the SA and the SS. • Violence & intimidation of political opponents – SPD and KPD meetings broken up, voters intimidated etc. 69 people killed during the 5 week campaign. The 1933 Election

15. 27 Feb. 1933: The Reichstag burned down. • An unemployed Dutch bricklayer named Marius van der Lubbe arrested. • The Nazis claimed this was part of a Communist plot. • ‘Decree for the Protection of the People and the State’: suspended civil liberties & increased the power of central government – the Nazis rounded up political opponants. • Van der Lubbe & Bulgarian Communist GeorgiDimitrov put on trial for the fire. • But on-going debate about who was responsible. The Reichstag Fire

16. Election Results, 5 March 1933

17. Without the two-thirds majority in the Reichstag necessary to change the Constitution, Hitler proposed an ‘Enabling Law’ that would enable him the government to pass legislation without the approval of either parliament or the President. • 23 March 1933: ‘Law for the Removal of Distress from People and the Reich’ • Article 1: In addition to the procedure prescribed by the constitution [i.e. decision by parliament], laws of the Reich may also be enacted by the government of the Reich. This includes laws as referred to by Articles 85 sentence 2 and Article 87 of the constitution. • Article 2: Laws enacted by the government of the Reich may deviate from the constitution as long as they do not affect the institutions of the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The rights of the President remain undisturbed. The Enabling Law (Ermächtigungsgesetz)

18. After the passage of the Enabling Law the Nazis acted to ‘co-ordinate’ as many areas of German life as possible and bring them into line with Nazi ideology. • April 1933: Laws passed enabling Nazi-dominated State governments to pass legislation without the approval of provincial parliaments. • Jan. 1934: State parliaments abolished & local government subordinated to the federal Minister of the Interior. • 2 May 1933: Leading Trade Unionists arrested & workers’ organizations merged to form the DeutscherArbeitsfront (German Labour Front, DAF). • 22 June 1933: The SPD officially banned. • June-July 1933: Other political parties dissolved themselves. • 14 July 1933: The Nazi Party proclaimed the only legal political party in Germany. Gleichschaltung

19. Pressure from the party rank-and-file (and particularly from within the SA) for a ‘second revolution’. • Fears that the radicalism of the SA would bring about a military coup against the Nazis. • This led to a purge of the party on 30 June 1934 – the SS carried out raids against targets across Germany. Critics of the regime such as Vice-Chancellor Papen were arrested, while old enemies such as GregorStrasser & Gustav Ritter von Kahr were summarily executed. Over 1000 people were arrested & at least 85 killed. The Night of the Long Knives,30 June 1934 Ernst Röhm (1887-1934)