The policies of the Nazi Party

The path to power 1923 to 1933

Aims of the lesson

By the end of this lesson you will

• Describe the main policies of the Nazi Party during the 1920s and 1930

• Analyse and evaluate their appeal to different classes and groupings within Germany

• Understand why the Nazis started to pick up votes from 1928 onwards

Your task

• To look at each different policy of the Nazis and to work out which classes and groups of people they appealed to

• A strong Germany• Aryan superiority• Anti-Semitism• Anti-communism• Women• The Treaty of Versailles• Lebensraum• The Volk

A strong Germany

• The Nazis promised that Germany would be strong again and feared and respected by other nations

• She would get revenge for WW1

• This idea appealed to all Germans who were against the Treaty of Versailles and wanted to make Germany strong again

Aryan superiority

• Hitler believed that all races were competing against each other – the Aryans were the most superior

• The perfect Aryan was blonde haired and blue eyed and of pure blood

• This ideas appealed to all Germans – they felt superior to all other races

Anti-Semitism

• Anti-Semitism is a hatred of Jewish people

• Hitler blamed the Jews for all the problems of Germany on the Jews – they were an easy scapegoat

• This was popular with the German people – they had someone else to blame for their problems

Anti-Communism

• The Nazis enemies were the Communists – they were at opposite ends of the political spectrum

• Both sides used violence against each other

• This appealed to the rich who had the most to lose by the Communists taking over – they gave the Nazis money

Women

• Hitler believed that women were inferior to men

• They were there for Kinder (Children), Kuche (cooking) and Kirche (Church)

• Women should not have jobs and work in the home

• This did appeal to men and women who wanted to return to a traditional role

The Treaty of Versailles

• In the Treaty of Versailles Germany lost lots of land

• It was hated by all Germans and seen as unfair

• Hitler promised to tear up the treaty and get the land back

• This appealed to all Germans of all social classes but many doubted that he could do this

Jobs and bread

• The Nazis promised to give people jobs and to pay them well to end poverty

• They promised to give families bread on the table

• This had a simple appeal to the working classes who needed this security – particularly after the disasters of 1923 and 1929

Lebensraum

• Means “elbow room”• Hitler wanted to take over

land in eastern Europe in order to get rid of its residents and move in Aryans

• Had limited appeal but was tied in with all other Nazi economic and racial policies

The Volk

• Hitler believed that all pure Germans were part of one big family – the Volk

• They should all work together to protect against the common enemy

• This policy appealed to those people who felt left out by the changes to Germany since 1919