The Nazi Party, 1919-29

The Nazis grew out of a small right-wing party, which Hitler took over after 1919.   He developed a Twenty-Five Point Programme based on hatred, and built up a paramilitary group (the SA) to defend his meetings and attack other parties.

The Nazis appealed to a wide range of people, but especially the 'middling' sort of people, and the party grew rapidly in the years of crisis 1919-1923.

After the disaster of the Munich Putsch, and during the prosperity of the Stresemann years, however, support for the Nazis fell.   During this time Hitler believed that he could be elected to power.   He used these years to develop and strengthen the party's organisation.   

Going Deeper

The following links will help you widen your knowledge:

BBC Bitesize on Nazi beliefs & structure and development of the Nazi Party 1924-29

Good notes

The History Place is fantastic - especially on the Formation and the 'Quiet Years'

Nazi propaganda - an old site, but lots of info

Who voted Nazi? - difficult article by Dick Geary

- Giles Hill's overview of Hitler's Rise to Power, 1919-33

- Scott Allsop's overview of Hitler's Rise to Power, 1919-34

Formation of the Nazi Party and its Beliefs and Organisation

1.  Start

The German Workers’ Party, led by Anton Drexler, was formed in 1919.  Hitler joined and soon became leader.

His speeches gave people scapegoats to blame for Germany’s problems:

•   The Allies.

•   The Versailles Treaty and the ‘November Criminals’ (the politicians who signed it)

•   The Communists, and:

•   The Jews.

2.  Twenty-five Point Programme

In 1920, the party renamed itself the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazis), and announced its Twenty-Five Point Programme.

At first, the Nazis were both nationalist (they believed in Germany’s greatness) and socialist (they believed the state should benefit everybody equally).

3.  Mein Kampf

After the failure of the Munich Putsch in 1923, Hitler was sent to Landsberg jail.  There he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) advocating:

• National Socialism – loyalty to Germany, racial purity, equality and state control of the economy.

• Racism – the triumph of the Aryan race by armed force, because all races, especially the Jews, were inferior to the Aryan (pure German) ‘Master Race’.

• Lebensraum  – to expand into Poland and Russia to get ‘Living Space’.

• Strong Government – complete obedience to the Führer.

Hitler decided that he would have to get power by being elected, rather than by rebellion.  However, he was banned from speaking until 1928.

4.  Bamberg Conference, 1926

At first, there were a number of people involved in running the party.  Perhaps most important was Gregor Strasser, whom Hitler had appointed to grow the Party in the north of Germany – Strasser dramatically increased the number of Nazi cells in the north from 71 in 1923 to 262 in 1926.

Under Strasser and Josef Goebells, the northern Nazis formed a 'Working Association' which met twice (in Nov 1925 and Jan 1926) to reshape the Party – they wanted:

• more socialism (eg confiscating the estates of the princes).

• an alliance with Bolshevik Russia.

• a refresh of the Twenty-Five Points.

Hitler saw these developments as a threat. He called a Conference in Bamberg, and gave a long speech in which he rejected all these ideas, and insisted instead on the Führerprinzip – the 'Fuhrer principle': his complete control over every aspect of the Party policy and organisation. 

Source C

This table shows the percentage of each social group in the Nazi Party, compared to the size of that group in the country as a whole.  Which groups did the Nazis appeal to most?

Source A

This Nazi poster, 11 May 1920, advertises a speech by Hitler: "What Do We Want?"  It reads: "Do not believe that other parties can save the Germany of misfortune and misery, the nation of profiteers and debt, the land of Jewish corruption!"

Source C

This poster reads: "National Socialism: the organized will of the nation".
At first the Nazis were just another right-wing terrorist group.  Nazi ‘Stormtroopers’ attacked opposition parties.

Source D

An election poster published by the Nazi Party in 1924.

Decline of the Nazi Party, 1924-9

1.  Elections and decline

At first, the Party struggled to succeed at the ballot box, particularly as Hitler was banned from speaking.

The prosperity of the Stresemann years, particularly, meant that the Nazis' message became less appealing and the party lost support.

The Number of Seats in the Reichstag held by each Party, 1919-33

Copy-&-paste the figures from the table above into an Excel workbook and select 'Insert ' to draw a line graph of party electoral fortunes.  Then write a paragraph in words to explain what the graph shows.

2.  Re-organising the Party

In this period, however, Hitler set about reorganising the Party.  He put in place many of the things which helped it take power after 1928:

•   He reduced the number of Stormtroopers (SA) and set up the SS, a personal bodyguard fanatically loyal to himself.

•   He set up a network of local parties.  He merged with other right-wing parties, then took them over.

•   He set up the Hitler Youth, which attracted young people to the party.

•   He put Josef Goebbels in charge of propaganda.  Goebbels and Hitler believed that the best way to get the support of the masses was by appealing to their feelings rather than by argument.  They waged a propaganda campaign using posters, leaflets, radio and film, and organised rallies.

•   He cultivated the support of wealthy businessmen promising them that, if he came to power, he would destroy Communism and the Trade Unions.  This gave him the finance to run his campaigns.

   

Source G

This Nazi poster c.1927 reads: "Despite the Ban, not dead."  This poster was drawn by 'Mjölnir' (real name was Hans Schweitzer) who set new standards for Nazi publicity.