Why Support the Nazis?

What was the increase in support for the Nazi Party?

Support for the Nazi Party increased because of the effects of the Great Depression on Weimar Germany.

When did support for the Nazi Party increase?

Support for the Nazi Party increased in the early 1930s, during the Great Depression.

Why did the support for the Nazi Party increase in the 1930s?

There were 5 key reasons why support for the Nazi Party increased:

• ❖ Unhappiness with the Weimar Republic's failure to solve the Great Depression.
• ❖ Hitler appealed to many voters.
• ❖ The tactics of the Nazi Party.
• ❖ The impact of the Great Depression.
• ❖ The fear of the Communist Party.

How did the appeal of Hitler help increase support for the Nazi Party?

There were 4 main reasons why Hitler appealed to the voters because:

• ❖ He presented himself as a strong leader who promised to solve the crisis.
• ❖ He promised to restore law and order which was breaking down.
• ❖ He was a powerful speaker.
• ❖ He promised something for everyone.

How did Nazi Party tactics help increase support for the Nazi Party?

Nazi Party used 4 main tactics to increase their support:

• ❖ Propaganda was used to target different groups in society with different election promises.
• ❖ They spent a lot of money on propaganda such as posters, newspapers, rallies and speeches.
• ❖ The SA increased support for the Nazi Party because they were well organised and disciplined.
• ❖ The SA attacked the Communists (KPD) whom the middle class and upper class people feared.

How did the fear of the communists help increase support for the Nazi Party?

The fear of the Communist Party helped increase support for the Nazi Party for 2 key reasons:

• ❖ Some people were afraid of the Communist Party (KPD) because their support had also increased between 1930 and 1932.
• ❖ The Nazi Party was anti-communist so more people supported them.

How did the failings of the Weimar Republic help increase support for the Nazi Party?

The failures of the Weimar Republic helped increase support for the Nazi Party for 4 key reasons:

• ❖ They had failed to solve the crisis of the Great Depression.
• ❖ During the crisis, the weaknesses of the constitution were highlighted as no one party could gain a majority in the elections and the coalition governments kept collapsing on a regular basis.
• ❖ The policies of the Weimar government made the situation worse. For example, Chancellor Brüning had cut unemployment benefit at the same time as increasing taxes.
• ❖ The method of focusing on the problems of the current government, rather than the positive policies of the Nazi party, is known as "negative cohesion".

How did the Great Depression help increase support for the Nazi Party?

The Great Depression helped increase support for the Nazi Party for 3 key reasons:

• ❖ There were 6.1 million people unemployed and 17 million relying on benefits. The Nazis promised them 'work and bread'.
• ❖ The terrible suffering encouraged people to turn to the extremist parties, like the Nazis, as they searched for a solution.
• ❖ The moderate political parties seemed unable to solve the crisis.

Which groups increased their support for the Nazi Party?

Many different groups supported the Nazi Party in the 1930s:

• ❖ Big businesses.
• ❖ Some working class people.
• ❖ The middle classes.
• ❖ Farmers.
• ❖ Young people supported them because the Nazi Party appeared exciting with its rallies and the SA.
• ❖ Some women.

Why did big business increase its support for the Nazi Party?

There were 3 main reasons why big businesses supported the Nazi Party:

• ❖ The Nazis promised to protect them from the communists who would take their businesses away from them.
• ❖ Hitler promised strong leadership.
• ❖ Hitler's plans to use factories to build weapons, battleships and fighter planes meant more money for them.

Why did the working class increase support for the Nazi Party?

Some working class people supported the Nazi Party because:

• ❖ The Nazis promised 'work and bread' for all, which attracted unemployed people.
• ❖ However, working class people tended to support the communists more.

Why did the middle class increase support for the Nazi Party?

There were 4 main reasons why many middle class people supported the Nazi Party:

• ❖ The Nazis promised to solve the crisis of the Great Depression which the Weimar government appeared incapable of doing.
• ❖ The Nazis promised to bring back law and order which they felt had broken down with increasing violence on the street.
• ❖ The Nazis promised to protect them from the communists who wanted to take away their private property.
• ❖ Many middle class people still felt bitter that they had lost their savings in the 1923 hyperinflation crisis and blamed the Weimar Republic for their suffering.

Why did farmers increase support for the Nazi Party?

There were 3 key reasons why many farmers supported the Nazi Party:

• ❖ They promised protection from the communists who they feared would take away their land.
• ❖ The Nazis promised they would confiscate land from Jewish people and redistribute it to them.
• ❖ The Nazis promised higher prices for their crops. Prices had fallen because of the Great Depression, and farmers felt the Weimar Republic had failed to help them.

Why did women increasingly support the Nazi Party?

There were 3 key reasons why some women supported the Nazi Party:

• ❖ They promised to solve the economic crisis.
• ❖ They supported traditional values, such as women staying at home and having children, which appealed to some.
• ❖ Some women felt that over the past ten years the youth had been corrupted by Weimar culture.