changes to the party 1920 to 1922

Learning Objectives:

• To identify how Hitler rose to power

• To explore the early years of the Nazi Party and the SA

• To examine the extent of Hitler’s role in the rise of the Nazis

Changes to the Party 1920 -1922

In 1919 Anton Drexler created the

DAP (German Worker’s Party) in

Munich, Bavaria. The party believed

in a “pure German” people and

were very nationalistic (patriotic). In

1919 they only had 6 members.


LO: To identify how Hitler rose to power

Use the information on the next few pages to build a timeline

of the development and changes in the Nazi Party between

1919 and 1922. This can be added to your existing timeline that

you have already created.

In September 1919 Adolf Hitler

attended a meeting and was so

angry at one of the speaker’s

comments he made a powerful

speech in reply. Drexler was so

impressed with his speaking skills

that he asked Hitler to join the

party.

In the DAP Hitler realised he was

talented at public speaking and

was soon put in charge of

recruitment and propaganda.



In February 1920 Hitler and the then leader of the party

Anton Drexler wrote the 25 Point Programme. A political

manifesto of the party’s (then known as the DAP) ideas.

Hitler kept to these ideas most of his life. These ideas

included all non Germans having to leave and scrapping

the Treaty of Versailles. Many of the ideas were anti-Semitic

(anti Jewish).

In 1920 the party grew massively (largely thanks to Hitler’s

public speaking skills) and becomes known as the Nazi

Party. The increased membership to the party meant that

they could publish their own newspaper (The People’s

Observer) where they could advertise their ideas.



In 1921 Hitler became leader of the party. He had the role

of “Fuhrer” (leader) and developed “Fuhrerprizip” which

meant he had absolute power in the party and was

answerable to none. This was a warning of how he planned

to rule Germany in the future.

In 1921 Hitler also started to use the swastika as the symbol

of the Nazi Party and the one armed salute.

The Sturmabteilung (SA) were also created and led by Ernst

Rohm in 1921 to protect Nazi speakers. They were bully boy

thugs and used violence. They were known as “the brown

shirts” because of the colour of their uniform.



Hitler used the SA to disrupt meetings of his opposition

parties (the Communists and the Social Democrats).

His speeches criticised the Weimar Government (the

November Criminals) and their mistakes (the Treaty of

Versailles) but also contained hate for Jews and emphasis

on the purity of the German race (an need for an Aryan

race). He used the Jews as a scapegoat for all of

Germany’s problems.

He used lots of publicity and membership of the party grew

to 55,000. However, the majority of his support was in the

area of Bavaria.



Sturmabteilung (SA) or storm troopers

• They were the Nazis’ private army

• They were recruited from demobbed soldiers, the unemployed & students

• These ‘Brownshirts provided security at meetings & bodyguards for Nazi leaders

• They broke up meetings of opposition groups

• Hitler put Rohm in charge of the SA

• Many of the SA were thugs & difficult to control so in 1923 Hitler selected trusted members of the SA & formed his own personal bodyguard – the Stosstrupp or Shock Troop


LO: To explore the early years of the Nazi Party and the SA

Describe the role of the

SA in Hitler’s Nazi Party?

Source 1

The trouble had not begun when my storm troopers attacked. Like wolves, they flung themselves in packs of eight or ten upon the enemy. After only five minutes, I hardly saw one of them who was not covered in blood. The hall looked as if a shell had struck it. Many of my supporters were being bandaged, others had to be driven away, but we had remained the masters of the situation.

Adolf Hitler, 1925


LO: To explore the early years of the Nazi Party and the SA

What do you learn about the SA (Stormtroopers) from the

below source?

There were four main ways in which Hitler was able to rise

to power.

• The creation of the SA

• The designing of the Nazi Emblem

• Hitler’s own charisma

• Hitler gathering close supporters

You have already learnt about the role of the SA. Now

read the next the slides. In your pairs, discuss how all these

factor helped Hitler rise to power. Make bullet point notes

as you go.


LO: To examine the extent of Hitler’s role in the rise of the Nazis

Nazi Emblem • As a self-proclaimed artist, Hitler gave a lot of

thought to the Nazi symbology.

• He recognised the need for the Nazis to have a

memorable emblem, and designed the now

infamous flag.

• The colours of the flag red, black and white

were the same colours as the flag under the

Kaiser

• Red represented the socialist ideas of the

movement, white the nationalist and the

swastika the mission for the victory of the Aryan

man

• The flag and swastika emblem essentially

turned the Nazis from a political party into a

household brand.

• As a result, Hitler propelled the party in the

popularity stakes, and membership rose quickly.



Charisma• Hitler was incredibly charismatic.

• He was also an excellent orator

(public speaker) and drew huge

crowds to his Nazi speeches and

rallies.

• This increased the Nazi

audience, and allowed them to

convey their ideas to the

masses.

• No other party at the time had

such a ‘hypnotic’ speaker.

• As a result, support for the party

greatly increased.



Close

Supporters• As soon as Hitler took the leadership in

1921, he surrounded himself with loyal supporters.

• He rewarded these men with positions of power in the party, and many went on to become top Nazis in later years.

• By surrounding himself with these supporters, he ensured his own position was safe, whilst being able to delegate most of his dirty work to them.

• This created competition within the Nazi party itself, with several prominent supporters vying for power, which essentially caused the party to escalate its policies and become more and more extreme.



Review Source 5 on pgs. 34-35 in your text

books.



Using your own

knowledge and

Source 5 create a

spider diagram that

outlines what the

Nazi’s stood.

changes to the party 1920 to 1922

Education