Nazi Germany

After World War I, or The Great War as it was known back then,
Germany was left devastated both financially and, since German
propaganda had not prepared the nation for defeat, emotionally, resulting
in a sense of injured German national pride. But because Germany was
?stabbed in the back? by its leftwing politicians, Communists, and Jews,
or more colourfully known as the ?November Criminals’, it was still
widely believed that Germany had not truly been defeated. When a new
government, the Weimar Republic, tried to establish a democratic course,
extreme political parties from both the right and the left struggled violently
for control. ?The new regime could neither handle the depressed economy
nor the rampant lawlessness and disorder.? Amongst all this confusion and
squabbling, one party and one man seemed to stand out. The man was
Adolf Hitler and the party was the German Workers’ Party (DAP) later to
be called the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) or more
widely known as the Nazi Party’s.

The German Workers’ Party (DAP) was just another party
espousing a right-wing ideology, like many other similar groups of
demobilized soldiers. However this simplicity of the party would have
been the attribute which would have attracted Hitler the most. This
allowed Hitler to pour his beliefs into the party and mold it into his image.

Soon after his joining of the party, Hitler renamed it to the National
Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) but even then it was merely a
gang of unemployed soldiers who’s ?spirits had been crushed and who’s
guns had rusted away.? But after Hitler’s first public presentation, in a
beer cellar, things started to change drastically. With the money from the
first presentation used to buy more advertising and print leaflets, the Nazi
Party was starting to act and look like a real party. Hitler’s beliefs of
national pride, militarism, commitment to the Volk and a racially ?pure?
Germany as well as anti-Semitism soon attracted supporters by the
hundred. Although the German Workers’ Party started out as a small
right-wing organisation, with Hitler’s joining, it gained support.

The German Workers’ Party now featured Hitler as the main
attraction at its meetings. In his speeches Hitler railed against the Treaty of
Versailles and delivered anti-Semitic tirades, blaming the Jews for
Germany’s problems. At this point in time the Nazi Party’s ideals seemed
to attract members who were part of the labour sector in society or
workers. These were the men and women who worked in industrial
institution such as factories. These people were often threatened by
unstable employment and therefore pay, but Hitler offered stable
employment and pay. The Nazi Party’s policies based on anti-Semitism,
Lebensraum (Livingspace), economic and social reforms?including
nationalization of the trusts also attracted the workers. Times were
changing, however, and Hitler was ready to make the next step in
consolidation his power. Hitler’s extraordinary public speaking skills were
utilised to gather supporters for the Nazi Party.

The mid 1920s were a tense and strained period in which much
happened. The SA (Sturm-Abteilung or Stormtroopers) had been well
established and its numbers were increasing steadily. The swastika had
been introduced and was now widely used to represent the Nazi Party. The
Nazi Party, now notorious as being the direct opposite of the Communist
Party, gained the support of many fearful middle-class Germans who
knew of the ever possible threat of a Communist revolution. As
hyperinflation set in Germany, ?pockets of people were empty but people
stood by their government, admiring its defiance of the French.? But in
September of 1923, the German government made a fateful decision to
resume making payments. Bitter resentment and unrest swelled among the
people, inciting extremist political groups to action and quickly bringing
Germany to the brink of chaos. The Nazis and other similar groups now
felt the time was right to strike. The German state of Bavaria where the
Nazis were based was a hotbed of groups opposed to the democratic
government in Berlin. By now, November 1923, the Nazis, with 55,000
followers, were the biggest and best organized. With Nazi members
demanding action, Hitler knew he had to act or risk losing the leadership
of his Party. This was the Munich, or Beer Hall, Putsch. In the 1920s the
Nazi Party became confident enough to attempt a coup.

The Putsch was an utter disaster and after his release from
confinement, Hitler vowed that he would take power legitimately and not
by force. After the ban on the party was raised in 1925, Hitler sought to
consolidated the support from the working class by increasing the
anti-Semitic propaganda and further