Nazi Germany Essays - Adolf Hitler, Weimar Republic, Nazi Propaganda

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