1. Where did we stop?

3. Rise of Hitler
(1) Favourable Circumstances
WR was a coalition government
Opposition from left and right wings
WR made bad decisions
Lost a capable leader/ Great Depression
(2) Hitler’s own abilities
Excellent speaker & charismatic leader
Reorganized the Nazi Party
Used propaganda
Made deals with politicians

4. “Why did the German people
support the Nazis?”
WeimarRepublic…
Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic

5. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(c) WR made bad decisions
WR’shandlingof theRuhrCrisis1923
Printed moremoneytopaydebts
Hyper-inflation

6. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(c) WR made bad decisions
WR’s handling of the Ruhr Crisis
1923 After the 1st
reparation
payment, WR
claimed that it
did not have
money to
make the 2nd
one
France sent
troops into
Ruhr and
take her
resources e.g.
coal

7. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(c) WR made bad decisions
WR’s handling of the Ruhr Crisis
1923 The WR
responded by
instigating a
strike of all
workers in
Ruhr
Production
of coal AND
basic goods
stopped

8. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(c) WR made bad decisions
Printed moremoneytopaydebts
The WR made the mistake of deciding to print more money to
pay the people on strike, but it caused the value of the
currency to decrease drastically and the country spiraled
into hyperinflation.
Hyper-inflation

12.  Prices rose rapidly – pensioners could not afford a cup
of coffee with their monthly pension
 People had to spend quickly after they got their pay
 Why?
 Many saw their savings and pensions wiped out
virtually overnight
 Think about the price of bread!

13. “Why did the German people
support the Nazis?”
WeimarRepublic…
Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic

14. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(d) Lostacapable leader
Chancellor Gustav Stresemann
•Chancellor from August to
November 1923
•Served as Foreign Minister
after that until his death in
1929

15. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(d) Lostacapable leader
 Ended Ruhr Crisis 1923
 Resumed industrial production
 Locarno Pact 1925
 Eased border tensions between
France and Germany
 LON 1926
 How is this significant?
Chancellor Gustav Stresemann

16. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(d) Lostacapable leader
 Helped to solve HYPERINFLATION
PROBLEM
 Replaced worthless currency with
a new currency called Rentenmark
Chancellor Gustav Stresemann

17. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(d) Lostacapable leader
 Inspired the Dawes (1924) and Young
Plan (1929)
 Dawes Plan – USA loaned money
to Germany and reparations
payments stretched over a longer
period
 Young Plan – Reduced further
reparations payments
Chancellor Gustav Stresemann

18. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(e) Lostacapable leader
Under his leadership, the German
people enjoyed a period of
economic recovery and peace.
The blunders of the WR were
temporarily forgotten.
Chancellor Gustav Stresemann

19. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(d) Lostacapable leader
During Stresemann’s leadership of
the WR (1923-1929), the
Nazis did very poorly for the
Elections.
Why?
Chancellor Gustav Stresemann

20. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(d) Lostacapable leader
Does this source help explain the reason why the Nazis
were unable to gain support from the German people? [5]
Stresemann was one of the few really outstanding
political figures of the Weimar period and under him,
the Republic was well on the road to recovery. To the
onlooker, Weimar Germany looked strong and vibrant
and life returned to some form of normality for the
German people.
Extract from a textbook about the situation in Germany from 1924 to 1929

21. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(d) Lostacapable leader
Died of heart attack in 1929
Whatdoyouthink
would happentothe
Germanpeople?
Chancellor Gustav Stresemann

22. “Why did the German people
support the Nazis?”
Weimar
Republic…
Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic

23.  A time when there is a great decrease in business
activities with widespread unemployment
 Began in the U.S.A – 24th October 1929: ‘Black
Thursday’
 1920s: time of prosperity -> buying of shares
 By 1929: many companies were losing money as
they were not able to sell their goods -> selling of
shares
 What happens when too many people sell their
shares at one shot?

25.  Began in the U.S.A – 24th October 1929: ‘Black
Thursday’
 By 1929: many companies were losing money as
they were not able to sell their goods -> selling
of shares
 Those who bought shares on credit had to sell
their possessions to repay banks
 Many tried to withdraw savings but some banks
did not have the money to pay them and had to
close down
 How would you feel if your bank suddenly closed
down?

27.  Loss of life savings
 Increase in number of poor people who were unable to
afford goods
 Companies stop making huge profits
 Wages of workers cut. Many were also retrenched.

28. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(e) TheGreat Depression
What do you
think this
means for
Germany?

29. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
Weaknessof theWeimarRepublic:
(e)ImpactoftheGreatDepression Germany relied heavily
on USA’s loans
USA stopped buying
from Germany
Factories closed
Unemployment
increased

30. “Why did the German people
support the Nazis?”
Weimar
Republic…
Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic

31. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
WR was a
coalition
government
Opposition
from left
and right
wings
WR made
bad
decisions
Lost a
capable
leader
The Great
Depression
Weimar
Republic
could not
manageall
these
problems

32. Reasons for the Rise of Nazis Weakness of the Weimar Republic
WR was a
coalition
government
Opposition
from left
and right
wings
WR made
bad
decisions
Lost a
capable
leader
The Great
Depression
German
people’s
support for
the Nazis
went up
German
peoples’
support for
political
parties of
the WR
went down

33. Germanpeople:
Lost faith in the
Weimar Republic
Became easily
influenced by
extremist
politicians
“WhydidtheGerman
peoplesupportthe
Nazis?”

35. Adolf Hitler:
The Rise of Evil