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1. The Rise to Power of Hitler & National Socialism in Germany cojs.org/.../4/4f/ Adolf_Hitler_Appointed.jpg

2. Weimar Republic Background • Name of the government after World War One ; set up in town of Weimar • 1919-1933 known as Weimar Germany even though the government soon moved back to Berlin

3. Background Weimar cont’d • 9 Nov 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm 11 abdicated • Civilian government took over, Scheidemann 1st Chancellor • Given powers to rule by decree if Reichstag (German Parliament) failed to reach agreements • January 1919 – people elected an assembly & they were to draw up a constitution

4. Reichstag was to be elected by proportional representation • President would be elected who would have the power to appoint/dismiss the Chancellor (Prime Minister) • June 1919, Friedrich Ebert becomes the 1st President (Socialist but not revolutionary)

5. Factors that led to the rise of Hitler & the Nazis • Weaknesses of the Weimar Republic • Occupation of the Ruhr & hyper-inflation • Munich Putsch • Optimism of the Stresemann era ended by the Great Depression

6. 1) Weakness of the Weimar Republic • 1st five years were chaos as the Communists & the Right wing tried to topple the government • Had the difficult tasks of: • Coming to terms with the Treaty of Versailles b) Maintaining civil order c) Payment of reparations (dealing with the war guilt clause)

7. “Stab in the Back!” A 1924 right-wing German political cartoon

8. Weakness of Weimar, cont’d • Spartacist (Communists) Putsch, 1919; a short- lived Communist regime rule in Munich until bands of war veterans restored order http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob8B5YNG2VE

9. Wolfgang Kapp • Kapp Putsch, 1920; right-wing challenge, initiated by military

10. Result of two attempted putsches • Weimar government forced to use martial law (rule by military force) and run by presidential decree (this became the norm) • 1924 Moderates in dominate and stability returns to the Reichstag

11. 2) Reparations and Hyperinflation –economic woes in Germany

12. Reparations (equivalent to $838 billion US today) • Reparations were the biggest problem for the government; 1st payment (5 billion) came from art treasures, jewelry & the savings of those with property • This drove public support away from the Weimar Government • Subsequent payments were to come from profits made on foreign markets but Germany was not welcome on these markets • United States loaned money to Germany & charged very high interest rates

13. Hyper-inflation • Germany government printed more & more money to pay off its debts • Loss of industrial output (& coal & iron) had damaged the economy • 1921 onwards the value of the mark (German currency) fell rapidly

14. Hyper-Inflation Inflation and food shortages during 1923: German shoppers line up
in front of a Berlin bakery www.missouriwestern.edu/. ../inflation2.html

15. 1922 Germany defaulted on its reparation payments & France occupied the Ruhr in January 1923, determined to take the coal for themselves http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/taylor_map.jpg

16. Occupation of the Ruhr (industrial heartland)

17. A German poster urges passive resistance during the Ruhr crisis, under the motto
"No! You won't subdue me!"

18. Reaction to Ruhr Occupation • German workers went on strike in protest and an already-weak economy ground to a halt • Inflation soared • Cost of bread in 1918 0.6 of a mark • Cost of bread in (Jan) 1923 250 marks • Cost of bread in Sept 1923 1.5 mill marks • Savings of middle- and working-class people were wiped out overnight • Most Germans would never trust the Weimar Republic again

19. Better Economic Times for Germany • Americans convinced the French to evacuate the Ruhr in return for a promise by Germany to resume payments • 1924 Dawes Plan allocated $30 billion in US aid to Germany to assist in reconstruction, Germany to make payments on an ability-to-pay scale • 1929 Young Plan – further modifications to reparation-payment arrangements (spread payments out over 59 years)

20. Munich Putsch (Beer Hall Putsch)1923

21. Munich Putsch November 9, 1923 • Occupation of Ruhr & hyper-inflation convinced Adolf Hitler that the time had come for armed seizure of power (a putsch) • Plan was once the NAZIS (National Socialist German Workers Party) had taken control they would march on Berlin • Hitler & Ludendorff + 3,000 armed & brown-shirted Nazi storm troopers marched from a beer hall towards Bavarian Parliament

24. Bavarian police fired on the marchers; 16 were killed • Hitler was arrested and given a 5 year sentence; released after 9 months • In jail he wrote Mein Kampf and set the plans for a legal take over of Germany

25. 4) End of Stresemann Era-Optimism ended due to Great Depression Leadership of Gustav Stresemann • 1924-1929 “Golden Years of the Republic” • Currency was stable, economy began to prosper • 1925- ordered German workers back to work & French withdrew from the Ruhr • Helped by the Dawes Plan & Young Plan

26. Germany in the international community • 1925 Locarno Treaties (with France) – Germany recognized the border with France and gave up Alsace-Lorraine • 1926 Germany joins League of Nations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFB8X5Jy2ZA

27. Crash of ’29 • Fate of Germany was sealed with the economic crash; US called back its loans from Germany • Government reacted by cutting unemployment & welfare benefits • Centre Party’s coalition partners, The Socialists, withdrew from government in protest • This meant the government did not have majority support in the Reichstag, allowing for opposition parties to get more votes