Nazis in American Consciousness Senior Scholars · Ernst Thälmann HISTORY DEPARTMENT Rise of NSDAP • Presidential Election 1925 – Before runoff, Paul von Hindenburg persuaded

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Fall 2019Prof. Kenneth F. [email protected]

Senior Scholars:Interwar Europe: Working Out Modernity in the Midst of Crisis

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Nazis in American Consciousness

• What do we know about Nazis?• What shapes our image of Nazis?

HISTORY DEPARTMENT HISTORY DEPARTMENT

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Powerful counter-voice to economic, political, and cultural change– National Socialist German Workers’ Party

• Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei, NSDAP

– Founded January 5, 1919, by Anton Drexler– Party Member 7:

• Adolf Hitler of Braunau am Inn in Austria

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Hitler, 1923

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Early history of party gave no hint of great success– Its charismatic leader, Hitler, developed an ideology that was basis for

appeal to German people• Adopting tactic of legality after 1923, languished until Great

Depression • Understanding of political developments 1929-33 crucial to

understanding how NSDAP came to power

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• NSDAP began as inconspicuous member of vast array of racialist, nationalist, militarist groups that sprang up in Munich in early 1919– Founded January 5, 1919, by wood-turner Anton Drexler– Hitler joined in September 1919 as party member 7

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Hitler born in Braunau am Inn in Austria– Son of lower civil servant, customs collector Alois Hitler on April 20,

1888– Indifferent student, sought admission to art academy in Vienna but

denied admission after failing admission exam several times– Lived dissolute life in Vienna 1907-13– Absorbed antisemitism of Christian Social movement of mayor Karl

Lueger– Struggled to support himself, rejecting, violently, appeals of organized

working class– May 1913 moved to Munich to avoid military service

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• In August 1914, Hitler volunteered for Bavarian Army and entered service at front in France on October 23, 1914– Served as message runner and rose to rank of corporal– Service in army was meritorious, not as valiant as he made it out to be

• Won Iron Cross, First Class

– October 14, 1918, hospitalized near Stettin, allegedly because of a gas attack, but really because of PTSD

– December 1918 returned to Bavaria to guard POW camp, experienced excitement of revolutionary events of April-May 1919

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Initially, Hitler shared spotlight with other leaders– In 1921, formed Sturmabteilung (SA) under leadership of Captain Ernst

Röhm– Heavily influenced by antisemitism of Dietrich Eckart and Julius

Streicher– Heavily influenced by geo-racial teachings of Prof. Karl Haushofer of

University of Munich– Fell into company of General Erich Ludendorff

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Ernst Röhm

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Hitler and SA in 1926

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Gottfried Feder Dietrich Eckart

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Prof. Karl Haushofer

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Attempted famous Beer Hall Putsch on November 8-9, 1923– Failed– Convicted of conspiracy to overthrow republic– Sentenced to 5 years Festungshaft in Landsberg Prison– Released after 9 months– While in prison, dictated his great ideological thesis Mein Kampf (My

Struggle) to his secretary, Rudolf Hess– Developed his ideological blueprint to which he remained remarkably

true for the rest of his career

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

NSDAP Rally, Bürgerbräukeller, Munich

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Beer Hall Putsch, November 9, 1923

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Beer Hall Putsch, November 9, 1923

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Beer Hall Putsch, Odeonsplatz and Feldherrnhalle

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Hitler and Ludendorff after trial 1924

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• National Socialist ideology– Anti-modern– Replace economics with biology as key to understanding existence– Stress on will– Lessons of World War I

• Lebensraum and Volksgemeinschaft

– Übermensch and Führerprinzip

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Key points of NSDAP Program:– Restoration of German greatness through elimination of limits of

Treaty of Versailles– Antisemitism, hostility to Jews as immutable bearers of modernism,

capitalism, Marxism, and racial impurity– Opposition to capitalism and replacement of capitalist individualism by

submission of interests of individual to greater good of racial community (Volksgemeinschaft)

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Charismatic leader, der Führer, the leader– Organizing principle of Führerprinzip, based upon Führerbefehle

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Two key concepts of “race” and “space”– History is biological struggle of races organized as nations– Struggle is over space, meaning agriculturally productive land– Agriculturally productive land in Europe viewed as existing in East– Populated by hated and inferior races

• Slavs and Jews, whom Hitler often equated• Ruled by Communists, whom he also equated with Jews

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Hitler drew 3 lessons from failure of Beer Hall Putsch– Abandoned idea of Putsch for idea of achieving power through legal

means• Did not entail abandonment of force

– Party thus needed to diversify in both constituency and geography– Both Party and SA had to be firmly subordinated to obedience to will

of Führer

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• But electoral progress slow during the years of stabilization of the Weimar Republic– May 1924 6.5% 32 deputies– December 1924 3.0% 14 deputies– May 1928 2.6% 12 deputies

HISTORY DEPARTMENT


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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Patiently expanded organizational basis– To create “alternative culture,”, a “socio-moral environment” for

members• 1926 – National Socialist German Student’s Association• 1926 – Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth)• 1928 – Lawyers’ Association• 1929 – National Socialist Union of School Pupils• 1929 – Medical Doctors, Teachers, other University-educated people

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• February 28, 1925, President Friedrich Ebert died– Hochverrat (High Treason) trial in Magdeburg

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Death of Ebert, 1925

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Presidential Election 1925– First Election, March 29, 1925: 7 candidates, no majority

• Karl Jarres, DVP and DNVP 10.4 MM• Otto Braun, SPD 7.8 MM• Wilhelm Marx, Zentrum 3.9 MM

• Ernst Thälmann, KPD >2.0 MM

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Wilhelm Marx, Center Party, 1925

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Otto Braun

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Ernst Thälmann

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Presidential Election 1925– Before runoff, Paul von Hindenburg persuaded by DNVP to become

candidate of united right• First got permission from Wilhelm II in exile in Doorn

– SPD backed Marx of Zentrum– KPD refused and ran Thälmann– Second Election April 26:

• Hindenburg 14.6 MM 48.3%

• Marx 13.7 MM 45.3%• Thälmann 1.9 MM 6.4%

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Hindenburg Election Poster 1925

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Hindenburg, 78 when elected, favored keeping DNVP in coalitions and SPD out

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• SPD won great electoral victory in May 1928– SPD returned to Reich government under Hermann Müller as

Chancellor– Replaced a bourgeois bloc with a Grand Coalition– After Depression began, cooperation between SPD and Center-DDP-

DVP broke down over how to cover budget deficit


Rise of NSDAP

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Hermann Müller (SPD), Chancellor 1928ß30

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Müller Cabinet, 1928

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• DNVP under Hugenberg cooperated for NSDAP and Hitler for first time in Young Plan referendum in March 1930

• Failed, but campaign provided Hitler a platform for propaganda and respectability

• NSDAP met greater success in state elections– Entered state government coalition in Thüringen in 1930

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Alfred Hugenberg, Anti-Young Plan campaign

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

SA as part of Harzburg Front, Anti-Young Plan campaign

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Crushing budget question was how to pay for unemployment benefits during mass unemployment– Led to collapse of Müller government on March 27, 1930– Replaced by “presidential” government led by Heinrich Brüning on

March 28– Brainchild of General Kurt von Schleicher

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Heinrich Brüning

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Brüning in Reichstag 1932

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Unemployment 1929-32

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Brüning Cabinet 1930

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• July 1930, Brüning introduced special tax and cut in unemployment benefits by Emergency Decree under Article 48 of Weimar Constitution– Rejected by Reichstag under Article 48– Brüning called new elections for September 14, 1930

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Presidential re-election campaign of Hindenburg– First ballot, March 12, 1932

• Hindenburg 49.6%• Hitler 30.1%• Thälmann 13.1%• Düsterberg 6.8%

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Anti-Hitler Election Poster 1932

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Hindenburg Election Poster 1932

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

SPD Election Poster 1932

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Hitler Presidential Campaign Posters 1932

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Presidential Election 1932– Presidential Runoff, April 10

• Hindenburg 53.0%• Hitler 36.8%• Thälmann 10.1%

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Two-round presidential election campaign a great propaganda opportunity for NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Ballot 1932 Presidential Runoff

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• May 29, 1932, Hindenburg asked for Brüning’s resignation– Replaced him with a “Cabinet of Barons” under Franz von Papen– No party ministers at all– Again brainchild of General Kurt von Schleicher

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

von Papen “Cabinet of Barons” 1932

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Franz von Papen

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

General Kurt von Schleicher

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Von Papen and Schleicher

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Presidential Cabinets under Article 48

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• July 20, 1932, coup d’etat against elected government in Prussia by von Papen and national government– Preußenschlag– SPD and Prussian government sued in Supreme Court– SPD lost its power base in government and control of Prussian police

force

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• Reichstag elections of July 31, 1932– Showed that parties supporting von Papen enjoyed minimal support– Support for liberalism entirely gone– Majority of vote cast for anti-republican parties on right and left

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Rise of NSDAP

• Papen’s cabinet defeated on September 12 in Reichstag by enormous majority– New elections set for November 6– Nazi vote declined


Rise of NSDAP

• Papen and Schleicher argued with Hindenburg to domesticate Hitler by bringing him into the cabinet– Done on January 30, 1933– Presidential cabinet like Brüning, von Papen, von Schleicher, since

1930– Soon to show that it was different

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Kurt von Schleicher 1933, Defense Minister then Chancellor

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

SA Fackelzug Brandenburg Gate January 30, 1933

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

SA Marching Brandenburg Gate 1933

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• “Who Voted for Hitler?”


Rise of NSDAP

Vote Trend NSDAP 1919-33

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Vote Trend KPD 1919-33

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

Vote Trend DDP 1919-33


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Who Voted for Hitler?

• Electoral Turnout in Weimar Reichstag Elections– Jan. 1919 83.0 %– June 1920 79.2 %– May 1924 77.4 %– Dec. 1924 78.8 %– May 1928 75.6 %– Sept. 1930 82.0 %– July 1932 84.1 %– Nov. 1932 80.6 %– March 1933 88.7 %

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Who Voted for Hitler?

• Electoral Turnout in Weimar Presidential Elections– 1925

• First Round, March 68.5 %• Second Round, April 77.0 %

– 1932• First Round, March 85.6 %• Second Round, April 82.9 %

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• “Who Voted for Hitler?”– Lower middle-class of farmers, shopkeepers, handicraft artisans formed

steady base– Augmented by protest voters from white-collar new middle class,

retirees, those living off investment incomes– More support that previously supposed from higher social groups– After 1930, inroads into blue-collar working class

• Not workers in Catholic unions and subcultural milieu

• Not workers in Socialist free trade unions and SPD subcultural milieu

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HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Rise of NSDAP

• “Who Voted for Hitler?”– Nazi vote varied inversely with size of community

• Higher percentage in rural areas rather than in cities

– Nazi vote disproportionately Protestant– Largest segment of population not voting for Nazis voted for left, SPD

and KPD– Did not attract votes of unemployed– Did win majority of new voters energized in 1930 and 1932– A majority of Nazi vote came from women

• Kinder, Küche, Kirche

Documents

Nazis in American Consciousness Senior Scholars · Ernst Thälmann HISTORY DEPARTMENT Rise of NSDAP • Presidential Election 1925 – Before runoff, Paul von Hindenburg persuaded