The Collapse of Democracy 1928-1933 (section10)

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The appeal of Nazism

Twenty-five Point Programme 1920

Mein Kampf = most complete statement of his ideas / aims , they were not coherent or original

Power of the will, strength & determination to succeed = qualities personified by Hitler presented image of discipline & unity

Struggle & Power

  • War - would reconstruct German society & create a new German Reich
  • Subjugation of ther races

National Socialism

  • Points laid out = economically radical
  • Simlar to of anti-capitalist policies
  • Confiscation of war profits
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The appeal of Nazism

Anti-Semitism

  • Responsible for evils of capitalism
  • Held responsible for Germany's defeat

Racial Community

  • Key element in nazi ideology
  • Only Aryans could be citizens of the state Aimed for social & cultural revolution
  • 'Volksgemeinschaft'
  • Racial purity & traditional values
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The appeal of Nazism

Fuhrerprinzip

  • Set out to destroy WR because of PD
  • Germany = authoritarian gov
  • PD = growth of communism
  • Basis on which nazi party had been run

Aggressive Nationalism

  • Reverse humiliation of TOV
  • To establish a Greater German Reich live within border of the state
  • To secure for Germans its lebensraum to settle its people & provide it with food & raw materials needed to sustain it as a great power
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Appeal of Communism:KPD

2 mil votes in the Reichstag elections between 1928 & 1932

  • Significant force in German political life
  • Street & neighborhood level in large industrial cities
  • 'Committees of the unemployed' staged hunger marches
  • 'Working men & women unite' / 'we must destroy this so called democracy'
  • 1920s KPD = concentrated on building a strong presence in factories & workshops
  • Trade union membership was well established
  • Election platform reflected its revolutionary communist ideology
  • Demanding an end to cuts in unemployment benefits & wages & legislation of abortion
  • Advocated close co-operation with the USSR & end of military spending
  • Aim to overthrow the WR
  • Workers revolution - result of depression
  • Replace SPD as leading party on the left
  • Damaging WC interest
  • Labelled SPD as 'social facists'
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Strengths of KPD

Strengths

  • Propaganda helped to attract membership = posters & speeches - Thalmann
  • Emphasised class struggle & smashing of capitalist system
  • Links with USSR & its belief in internationalism
  • Projected an image which would appeal to its committed followers & many of those who were desperate from the depression
  • Electoral support grew through 1930-32
  • Success in attracting votes & organisation at street & neighborhood level
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Weaknesses of KPD

Weaknesses

  • Never came close to launching a successful revolution
  • More than 50% of its new members left within a few months
  • Failed to gain support outside main industrial areas
  • Limited appeal amongst women
  • High proprtion of supporters = unemployed = short of money
  • Concentrated fighting on 'social facists' which blinded them from threat of Nazi party
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