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Nazi Party The Early Years
Nazi Party The Early Years
Learning Objectives: To explore the early years of the Nazi Party and the SA To identify how Hitler rose to power To examine the extent of Hitlers role in the rise of the Nazis
January 1919
February 1920
June 1920
August 1920
September 1919
Mid-1921
Hitler pushed Drexler Aside & became party Fuhrer, or leader
Hitler first attended a DAP meeting. He shared the partys main views in rallying against; the communists & socialists for bringing down the Kaiser the Weimar Republic for accepting the Treaty of Versailles the Jews, whom they blamed for undermining the German economy
Hitler was an energetic, passionate speaker & his public speaking began to attract larger numbers to the meetings. He exploited the fact that so many people were dissatisfied with the Weimar Republic. Membership grew rapidly to 1100.
Evidence
Source 1 The trouble had not begun when my storm troopers attacked. Like wolves, they flung themselves in packs of eight or ten upon the enemy. After only five minutes, I hardly saw one of them who was not covered in blood. The hall looked as if a shell had struck it. Many of my supporters were being bandaged, others had to be driven away, but we had remained the masters of the situation.
Hitlers Rise
There were four main ways in which Hitler was able to rise to power:
The creation of the SA The designing of the Nazi Emblem Hitlers own charisma Hitler gathering close supporters
In your group, discuss how your factor helped Hitler rise to power.
Hitler initially faced a great deal of opposition both from opposing parties and from fellow nazis. To deal with this opposition, Hitler set up the SA, which was essentially his own private army. The SA was made up of violent exsoldiers with an axe to grind. Their reputation grew very quickly, with repeated shows of violence at political events. As a result, Hitler was able to remove an opposition he faced swiftly, and opposition quickly faded away anyway due to the culture of fear the SA created.
The SA
Nazi Emblem
As a self-proclaimed artist, Hitler gave a lot of thought to the Nazi symbology. He recognised the need for the Nazis to have a memorable emblem, and designed the now infamous flag. The flag and swastika emblem essentially turned the Nazis from a political party into a household brand. As a result, Hitler propelled the party in the popularity stakes, and membership rose quickly.
Charisma
Hitler was incredibly charismatic. He was also an excellent orator (public speaker) and drew huge crowds to his Nazi speeches and rallies. This increased the Nazi audience, and allowed them to convey their ideas to the masses. No other party at the time had such a hypnotic speaker. As a result, support for the party greatly increased.
Close Supporters
As soon as Hitler took the leadership in 1921, he surrounded himself with loyal supporters. He rewarded these men with positions of power in the party, and many went on to become top Nazis in later years. By surrounding himself with these supporters, he ensured his own position was safe, whilst being able to delegate most of his dirty work to them. This created competition within the Nazi party itself, with several prominent supporters vying for power, which essentially caused the party to escalate its policies and become more and more extreme.
Hitlers role
1919
1921
Draw the graph above. (Use a whole page!) Cut out the events that led to the rise of the Nazis cards, and stick them on your graph according to how much involvement Hitler had.
Exam Practise
How far was Hitler responsible for the rise of the Nazi Party between 1919-21?
(6 marks)
Hitler renamed the DAP the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party for short).
When Hitler first attended a party meeting there were only 23 people present.
At first the DAP was only a small & little known group.
The party adopted the swastika as its emblem & began to use the raised arm salute.
Hitlers group attracted support from the army, the police & small businesses.