IGCSE REVISION - GERMANY: THE ROOTS OF THE NAZI PARTY. Hitler joined the Nazi Party in 1919 and was influential in defining its beliefs. He also led the Munich Putsch in 1923. However, from 1924 to 1929 the unpopular party gained little electoral success.

1. DEPTH STUDY
REVISION GERMANY
THE ROOTS OF
THE NAZI PARTY
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2. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
INTRODUCTION
• The Nazi Party was a small organisation in the 1920’s – but it had
big ambitions.

3. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
HITLER WAS THE LEADER
• Born in Austria in 1889, Hitler had lived in Germany from 1912
onwards.
• He had been a brave soldier on the Western Front in World War 1,
winning the Iron Cross twice.
• He could not accept that Germany had lost the war.
• In 1919, he joined the German Workers’ Party, led by Anton Drexler.
• It was a small party, with Hitler being the 55th member.
• In 1920 the name was changed to National Socialist German
Workers’ Party (Nazis).
• Hitler was a charismatic speaker and attracted new members. He
took over the leadership. The party’s own armed group was the SA.

4. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
HITLER AND THE MUNICH PUTSCH
• In 1923, things were going badly for the Weimar Republic – it
seemed weak.
• Hitler planned to overthrow the Weimar government – starting by
taking control of the government in a region called Bavaria.
• Hitler’s soldiers occupied a beer hall in the Bavarian city of Munich
where local government leaders were meeting.
• He announced that the revolution had begun.
• The next day Hitler marched into Munich supported by
stormtroopers. But the revolt collapsed when police fired on rebels.

5. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
HITLER AND THE MUNICH PUTSCH
• Hitler was imprisoned for his role in the Munich Putsch.
• He wrote a book in prison describing his beliefs and ambitions.
• The title Mein Kampf means My Struggle.
• Believed Aryan races were Master Race.
• Would join Austria and Germany in Anschluss.
• Would reverse Versailles Treaty.
• Would create a Greater Germany.
• Germans had a right to Lebensraum.
• He believed other races were inferior.

6. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
HITLER AND THE CHANGE OF TACTICS
• The Nazi party was banned after the Munich Putsch. After Hitler was
released from prison, he re-established the party with himself as
supreme leader.
• By the mid-1920’s, the German economy was starting to recover
under Stresemann. As a result, general support for the Nazis
declined and overturning the government through a coup no
longer seemed realistic.
• Hitler changed tactics – he now tried to gain control through the
democratic system.
• The Nazi party network was extended nationally, instead of it being
a regional party. Propaganda was used to promote the party’s
beliefs.

7. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY – MR. D
READY TO SWEEP TO POWER
Very few people supported the Nazis at this stage. There were fewer
than 30,000 members by 1925, and in the 1928 elections the Nazis
had 12 Reichstag members, compared with communists and 153
Social Democrats.