4.3 The path to power

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4.3 The path to power

At the end of this lesson...

• You will be able to explain why people were drawn to Hitler and the NSDAP.

But first...

What do you remember?

Explain in your own words what the Dawes Plan entailed.

What is the Wall Street Crash?

• Overproduction in the agriculture sector (WW1)
• Much is bought on credit (debts)
• Lots of trust in stocks/investments.

Black Thursday (October 24th 1929)

Companies and banks go bankrupt

Poverty

Decline in trade causes a global economic crisis

New subject matter

Make notes IN YOUR NOTEBOOK

Opportunity

• Germany was hit hard by the Wall Street Crash.

• Most of Germany became unemployed.

• The Germans started to wish for a more powerful leader who could help them get out of the crisis...

The NSDAP

• After his release from prison, Hitler manages to make the NSDAP (=National Socialist German Workersparty) one of the biggest parties in Germany. 

• Many people feel drawn to his ideas.

The ideas of the NSDAP:

• Getting rid of the Treaty of Versailles: It was humiliating and a disgrace.
• Getting rid of the Weimar Republic: The stab-in-the-back-myth. The government has betrayed their people during WWI.
• Getting rid of the unemployment: The NSDAP helps people find a job and get and back on their feet.

But what is the NSDAP exactly?

• A nationalistic party: Hitler wants to make Germany powerful again. A country to be proud of.

• An authoritarian party: They don't believe in democracy.

Propaganda

• People weren't just drawn to Hitler's appealing campaign promises. Propaganda played a major role as well.
• Hitler himself became part of the propaganda. People are impressed by his speeches and are drawn to him.
• Hitler's colleague (and later ''minister of propaganda'') Joseph Goebbles becomes head of this propaganda campaign. 

Violence

• The Nazis use violence  to intimidate their opponents.
• They use the SA (Sturmabteilung) for this. 
• Their leader is called Ernst Röhm

Why were people drawn to the NSDAP?

Homework

Paragraph 4.3 exercise 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6