Germany 1919-1934

2.
2 The Impact of Nazism on

German Foreign Policy: the
Origins, 1918-1933
What was the impact of the First World War
and defeat on Germany?
• The failure of the Schlieffen Plan ended the
Kaiser’s plan for a swift victory.
• Most fighting was NOT in Germany until very
late in the war; German manufacturing
basically untouched
• However, General Ludendorff found it
necessary to surrender. Why?
• “stab in the back theory”
• widely believed in right-wing circles in Germany after 1918, that the
German Army did not lose World War I
Dolchstosslegende • instead betrayed by the civilians on the home front, especially the
republicans who overthrew the monarchy in the German Revolution
of 1918–19.
• Advocates denounced the German government leaders who signed
the Armistice on November 11, 1918, as the "November Criminals"
(German: Novemberverbrecher)
What was the impact of the Treaty of
Versailles? When asked how he thought he had done at the Versailles Conference, Lloyd
George replied:
"Not badly, considering I was seated between Jesus Christ and Napoleon."
• Different goals of Allies
Lloyd George Georges Clemenceau Woodrow Wilson
• Wanted justice, not revenge • Revenge • Make a fair peace
• The peace must not be • Punish Germany • League of Nations
harsh or another war would • Weaken Germany to never • Self-determination for
come in a few years time invade France again Eastern Europe
• “halfway point” • Very idealistic / niave
• Expand the empire • See 14 Points
• Control the seas
What was the impact of the First World War
on Hitler’s foreign policy?
• Hitler writes Mein Kampf in prison after the failed Beer Hall Putsch
(November 8-9, 1923)
• Gross Deutschland—Pan-Germanism; unite all German-speaking peoples;
Anschluss one component
• Lebensraum—Pure Germans would take the land of other “inferior” races;
social Darwinism
• Natural enemies and allies—Enemies: communists, Jews, France; Potential
allies: Britain (racially similar, imperialist) and Italy (ideologically sympathetic)
German Hyperinflation (1921-1923)
• Reparations and the (unwise)
decision print more money to
pay them led to massive
hyperinflation, making the
Papiermark virtually worthless.
• German economy collapsed,
individual & business savings
wiped out
• France and Belgium refused to
accept payments in the currency;
occupied the Ruhr and took
payments in the form of coal and
other materials
What was the Munich / “Beer Hall” Putsch of 1923?
• Unrest inspired Hitler’s small Nazi party to plan a coup mirroring
Mussolini's 1922 March on Rome
• Hitler teamed with General Erich Ludendorff to kidnap Bavarian
commissioner during his speech in a large festival / beer hall in
Munich and force government to cede control to Nazis
• Kidnapping made on Nov 8 but gov would not yield
• 3000 Nazis marched on Bavarian Defense Ministry the next day,
stopped by police, gunfight erupted, 16 Nazis killed, Hitler hid
• Coup fizzles; Hitler and Ludendorff arrested
What was the impact of the
Munich Putsch of 1923 on the
success of Nazism?
• Massive publicity for the
relatively unknown Nazis
• Hitler uses trial as platform for
his ideas
• In prison he writes Mein Kampf
• Hitler decides to use legal means
to gain power once released
• The party is reorganized to
include youth and women’s
groups
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Gustav Streseman, Chancellor and/or
Prime Minister of Germany ,1924-1929
• Ends hyperinflation, stabilized
economy
• Dawes Plan is negotiated;
cooperation with France and Britain
• Extremist groups lose support in face
of Weimar Republic’s success
• Died of a sudden stroke in October
1929
Impact of the Great
Depression on Germany
• The US calls in its loans
• Unemployment reaches 30%,
highest of any Western country
• Chancellor Bruning’s deflationary
policies cuts wages
• Food prices fall, hurting farmers
while still too high for
unemployed
• Banks close, industrial production
drops 50%
What was the impact of the Great depression
on the Nazi Party?
• Both communist and Nazi groups gain support from
desperate Germans. All in all, a good time to be an
extremist group
• Hitler repositions the Nazis:
• Providers of jobs
• Reinvigorates “stab in the back” theory
• Streseman’s policies blamed for economic downturn
Steps to Dictatorship
1. Hitler is appointed by Schleicher and von Papen
2. The Reichstag fire, February 27, 1933 becomes a pretext to suspend
freedom of speech, press and association
3. The Enabling Act (March 24, 1933) A four year law that gave Hitler
legislative powers independent of the Reichstag
4. State parliaments abolished, trade unions shut down, all other parties
banned.
5. Night of the Long Knives (June 30-July 2, 1934) Ernst Rohm, leader of
the SA and 200 of his supporters are purged.
Reichstag Fire (February 27, 1933)
“The Reichstag fire was set by Communists, police promptly
charged. Over a nationwide radio hookup the Minister of Interior for
Prussia, blustering Nazi Captain Hermann Wilhelm Göring, cried:
"The Reichstag fire was to have been the signal for the outbreak of
civil war! ... The Communists had in readiness 'terror squads' of 200
each ... These were to commit their dastardly acts disguised as units
of our own Nazi Storm Troops and the Stahlhelm ... The women and
children of high Government officials were to have been kidnapped
as hostages and used in the civil war as 'living shields'!...”
-Time Magazine

Germany 1919-1934

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2.

2 The Impact of Nazism on

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

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