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Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated after several insurrections from soldiers and sailors regarding WWI. In the face of defeat in the war, the German government declared a republic, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), under Philip Scheidemann in order to deflect blame for the war. German citizens believed that the SPD betrayed the German soldiers which was the start of the declining reputation of the SPD. The officials that signed the Armistice Agreement were deemed the "November Criminals. -
After leaving the Army in 1919, Adolf Hitler joined the German Workers Party he later renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. This group encouraged anti-Semitism, fueled by their discontent with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and the belief that the Jews were to blame. Hitler became the leader in 1921 and the main public speaker of the group, drawing more members with his anti-Semitic speeches that described the concept of the Aryan “master race."
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Other parties in Germany did not support the Weimar Republic as they believed that Germany's victory in WWI was sold out. As a result, organizations such as the Spartacists protested against the Weimar Republic. The German military was independent of the government which meant that they only chose to bring down the Spartacist but not the Kapp Putsch. These uprises exposed weaknesses in the Weimar Republic as well as tensions between citizens and their government which encouraged the NSDAP.
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After the military realized that defeat was imminent, the German government signed the Treaty of Versailles, agreeing to the conditions of surrender. The SPD gained a terrible reputation since the treaty forced Germany to pay war reparations, accept war guilt, diminish their military, and lose European territory. These conditions set the stage for a political crisis in Germany as citizens saw this treaty as the "diktat," a settlement that was unilaterally imposed thanks to an unpopular party. -
Due to hyperinflation, Gustav Stresemannthe and the German government sought foreign help to stabilize its economy. The Dawes Plan of 1924 gave Germany US loans for reparations while the Locarno Pact reconciled with France and dealt with country borders. During this "golden age" in Germany, support for extremist organizations such as the NSDAP declined as economic growth increased. The NSDAP was reorganized during this time period.
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Because Germany was not acting according to the Treaty of Versailles terms and paying reparations, French and Belgian troops occupied Ruhr Valley for over two years. This occupation outraged German civilians as many living in Ruhr were kicked out and raw materials were confiscated. A strike was issued to hinder the occupation, however, it only prolonged it and damaged the economy with hyperinflation. The NSDAP used the situation and outrage to gain political support.
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Even though the Kapp Putsch had no change in power in 1920, it inspired other revolutionaries to take action against the Weimar Republic, especially after the Reichswehr and Freikorps refused to fight. Led by Hitler in 1932, the Beer Hall Putsch was a failed coup in Munich. Hitler was arrested and charged with treason. He served nine months from his five-year sentence in which he used to write Mein Kampf. At that time, the Nazis increased in numbers and used the putsch for political gain. -
Mein Kampf was a book written by Hitler during his time in prison. The value of this source was that it was written from Hitler's perspective which provides insight for historians studying the ideologies and rise to power of Nazi Germany today. A limitation of this source, however, is that his perspective on subjects such as the ending of WWI and Germany's political and economic situation may be biased based on personal beliefs and theories that may not be accurate. -
After the Munich Putsch, Hitler thought a political victory would be more effective than a violent military victory. Because of the economic distress after the wall street crash, extremist organizations in Germany had the advantage to take over the Weimar Republic. Even though support had declined from the "golden age," the Nazi party remained the largest party in Germany. Because of the Weimar Republic's inability to address the crisis, many civilians decided to abandon democracy. -
One of the values of this NSDAP recruitment poster is that it shows how they attracted middle-class members to join their organization by depicting a content family under the protection of the NSDAP and suggesting that they are the change needed for improvement in Germany. One of the limitations of these posters is that they didn't show the ideals the NSDAP stood for, therefore one cannot know for sure which values middle-class citizens were attracted to from the propaganda alone. -
The value of this poster is that it shows what the SPD stood for in the election of 1932 as the popularity of extremist groups began to increase with the Great Depression. It was their attempt to conserve democracy in Germany by urging people to vote. One limitation of this source is that we do not know what its effect was as the effect of propaganda is difficult to measure and the SPD was losing popularity as the economic and political issues in Germany continued to get progressively worse. -
General Hindenburg was elected president in 1925. When the stock market crashed, Hindenburg ended all democratic accountability by electing Chancellors with Article 48. The elections in July and November of 1932 led to an increase of NSDAP and KPD support which pressurized Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Chancellor at the beginning of 1933. Hindenburg agreed under the assumption that it would be easier to control one man and that Hitler would be the answer to stopping the rise of Communism.