Sample Answer for How did the Nazi party rise to power in Germany 1920-39?

Essay Plan

INTRO:

• Gradual rise to power from 1920-1939, influenced by WWI loss.
• Treaty of Versailles and Weimar Republic failure.
• Rise of Nazism leading to Hitler's fascist dictatorship.

BODY PARAGRAPHS:

1. Failure of Weimar Republic.
2. Post-WWI German economy and inflation.
3. Hitler's rise to Chancellor.
4. Dictatorship through fear and terror.
5. Nazi state and elimination of political opponents (Gestapo, SA).
6. Control over youth and women.
7. Church-state relations and Reichskirche.
8. Anti-Semitism and Kristallnacht.
9. Propaganda and Nuremberg rallies.
10. Hitler's foreign policy.

CONCLUSION:

• Weimar Republic's weakness led to Hitler's rise in 1933.
• Enabling Act established Nazi power, exploiting economic downturns.
• Anti-Semitic dictatorship resulted in WWII and the Third Reich's collapse.
• Global focus on Stalin over Hitler had major consequences.

Sample Essay

It took many gradual steps for The Nazi Party & Hitler to secure absolute control over Germany from 1920-1939. After Germany lost WW1, the Weimar Republic was born out of defeat and political and economic instability. The Treaty of Versailles cast doubt on the "democratic" German state. All these factors enabled the Nazi party and Hitler to seize control over the country and conduct a fascist dictatorship.

The factor that kickstarted the rise of the Third Reich was the disastrous Weimar Republic. People blamed the Weimar Republic for accepting the Treaty of Versailles, which ruined the German economy, and people had little to no loyalty to the new state. The lack of definite leadership was a catalyst for Hitler's rise to power and The Nazi Party's rise to popularity. Hitler promised to return Germany to its former glory. Because of the inefficient coalition governments, the impact of reparations, unemployment rose, and hyperinflation occurred: this made people lose faith in democracy and begin to side with the Nazi Party and Hitler, which was the first of many steps to gain control.

The Republic faced two major economic failures, the first being hyperinflation. This price rise was caused by the demand of £16.6 billion in reparations to the Allies. The government could not pay the reparations and defaulted on the payments in 1922. Since they could not pay, the French and Belgian troops occupied the Rhineland, Germany's industrial heartland. The intent was to seize the area's coal and goods produced by factories in compensation. Strikes by workers occurred, and the German government printed more money to pay them. Hitler promised to restore Germany's economy.

After Article 48 was introduced by President Hindenburg, Hitler had already given himself the title of Der Führer. The Nazi party had also promised to dismantle the Treaty of Versailles, unite all German-speaking countries, destroy communism & socialism and replace democracy with a dictatorship. As further doubt was being cast on democracy, more people supported Nazi ideals. In July 1932, Nazis won most seats in the Reichstag, but then their seats fell in another election in November of the same year. Hitler was not going to let Nazis lose power, so he forced a coalition with Von Papen, who had sway over Hindenburg. Hitler was then appointed Chancellor, and Von Papen was Vice-Chancellor. This was called the Seizure of Power by Nazi propaganda and was another step in the direction of Hitler gaining absolute control over Germany.

While Hitler was now appointed chancellor, his next order of business was to establish a dictatorship. He did this by introducing terror and fear to the people of Germany and his party. The SA were now permitted to attack the Nazi party's political opponents like the communist party and the social democrats. Their offices were raided, newspapers closed, and members attacked. In order to gain support from the Army, Hitler once again promised to tear up the military clauses of the Treaty of Versailles. After Hitler gained the support of both the SA & the Army, the Nazis blamed the fire of the Reichstag building on a communist revolt, which enabled Hitler to pass an emergency law, the Reichstag Fire Decree. It suspended fundamental human rights and made it easier for police to make arrests and send suspects to concentration camps like Dachau. Now, having terrorised any possible opponent, Hitler was well on his way to establishing a totalitarian state.

Using the economic crisis and threat of communism as excuses, Hitler passed the Enabling Act, which was the legal basis of his dictatorship. It was made permanent in 1943. The Process of Gleichschaltung was then put into motion, and further Nazi terror occurred. Its purpose was to establish a one-party state. All political parties were targeted, and the Communist Party was banned. Additionally, all trade unions were disbanded. As a result, in 1933, the NSDAP became the sole legal party in Germany. The dictatorship received support as it seemed to tackle the chaos associated with the Weimar Republic. The Gestapo replaced the police force, and it was tasked with imprisoning political opponents (protective custody), torturing them and detaining them in concentration camps. Hitler & the Nazis fought hard to remove any threat to their newly established control of Germany.

With his political enemies subdued, Hitler turned to controlling his people. Young people were heavily encouraged to attend groups like The Hitler Youth and the League of German Maidens. Kids in these organisations were taught loyalty to the Reich and Hitler. Boys were trained to be future soldiers, and girls were taught the virtues of motherhood and home life. Women in Nazi Germany were discouraged from working, and their role boiled down to "Kinder, Kirche, Küche". Large families were encouraged, and financial incentives were offered for women who left their jobs. Using propaganda, Hitler now had control over the next generation of German citizens.

One organisation that still held power was the church. Each of the 28 regions of Germany had its own self-governing Protestant church. These were replaced by the Reichskirche, which was much easier to control. It was also known as the German Evangelical Church, and it combined Christianity with racism and antisemitism. As Jews began to be oppressed, the church did nothing, as they feared persecution by the Nazis. In 1933, a concordat was agreed to by the Catholic Church & the Nazis, which had the underlying aim of gaining even more control, as it separated the church from state politics.

Hitler focused on continued and increased oppression of the Jews. He wanted Germany to consist of Aryans and sought to remove anyone he deemed untermensch. At first, Jews were excluded from German life, and emigration was encouraged. Then, Jews were no longer protected by the law, which led to violence like Kristallnacht, and then finally, Hitler planned to destroy Jews in all of Europe. During Kristallnacht, Jewish shops and businesses were damaged, and synagogues were burned. 91 Jews were murdered that night. Hitler & the Nazis would stop at nothing to achieve their goals, even if there were no threat posed to their power.

In order to enforce nationalistic ideals and cover up mistakes & wrongdoings, the Nazis resorted to many forms of propaganda. The medium with the most impact was arguably the Nuremberg Rallies. They aimed to pose as a festival that glorified military values and political meetings. They were held annually in the city of Nuremberg in September. A theme of the rallies was that Antisemitism justified the extermination of Jews and untermensch. Hitler had developed a cult of personality, and the rallies centred on the impression that the Nazi regime was successful, both at home & abroad. This was propagated by the fact that the 1936 Olympic Games were set in Germany.

Once Hitler removed immediate threats at home in Germany, he moved to develop a foreign policy. He pledged to create a united Germany with a policy called Lebensraum that would create an empire for the Aryans. He then dismantled the Treaty of Versailles, as 70% of the Saarland voted to be back under German control. The Allies did little to stop Germany from re-introducing conscription and developing the Luftwaffe. Britain limited the German navy to 35% of the Royal Navy, but no limit was placed on how many submarines could be built. By breaching the Treaty of Versailles and getting away with it, Hitler now achieved his goals and had total power over Germany.

In conclusion, the path to power from 1920-39 was gradual for Hitler and the Nazis. However, due to fear, terror, propaganda and Hitler's opportunistic actions, the Nazi state became very powerful compared to the Weimar Republic. Hitler took advantage of the crisis of the Republic and used his and the people's opposition to the Treaty of Versailles to establish a hateful, antisemitic and xenophobic dictatorship. He promised to return Germany to glory, and many believed he did. However, his extreme actions would soon lead to the start of WW2 and the Holocaust, the fall of the Nazi autocratic regime and malignant nationalism.