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European and World context: Hitler and Nazi Germany, 1919-1939

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How did Hitler turn the office of Chancellor into total dictatorship by 1934?

The consolidation of power 1933-1934: the Reichstag Fire, the Enabling Act, the banning of opposition, the Night of the Long Knives, and Hitler becoming Fuhrer on Hindenburg's death.
How Hitler turned the office of Chancellor into a dictatorship between 1933 and 1934: the Reichstag Fire, the Enabling Act that gave him law-making power, the banning of other parties and trade unions, the Night of the Long Knives, and his becoming Fuhrer on Hindenburg's death.
12 min answer →

What threats did the Weimar Republic face between 1919 and 1923?

Early threats to Weimar 1919-1923: political revolts from left and right (the Spartacist Revolt and the Beer Hall Putsch) and the economic crisis of hyperinflation in 1923.
The threats the Weimar Republic faced between 1919 and 1923: the Spartacist Revolt from the left, the Beer Hall Putsch from the right, and the economic crisis of 1923 when the occupation of the Ruhr and hyperinflation destroyed savings and confidence.
12 min answer →

How did the Nazis control Germany through terror, propaganda and the young?

Nazi methods of control: the police state of the SS and Gestapo, censorship and propaganda, and the control of education and youth movements to spread Nazi ideas.
How the Nazis controlled Germany: the police state of the SS, Gestapo and concentration camps; censorship and propaganda through Goebbels using rallies, radio, film and press; and the control of schools and youth movements such as the Hitler Youth to shape young Germans.
12 min answer →

How did the Nazis persecute minorities, and who opposed the regime?

Nazi persecution and opposition: the persecution of Jewish people and other minorities, and the opposition to the regime from the churches, socialists and communists, and young people.
How the Nazis persecuted Jewish people and other minorities up to 1939, including the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht, and the opposition the regime faced from the churches, socialists and communists, and some young people, and why opposition was so difficult.
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Why did support for the Nazis grow, and how did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933?

The Nazi rise to power 1929-1933: the impact of the Great Depression, the appeal of Hitler and the Nazis, the weakness of the Weimar government, and how Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933.
Why support for the Nazis grew and how Hitler became Chancellor: the impact of the Great Depression and mass unemployment, the appeal of Nazi promises and propaganda, the weakness and divisions of Weimar, and the political deals that made Hitler Chancellor in January 1933.
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Why was the Weimar Republic weak from the start, and why did Germans resent the Treaty of Versailles?

Weimar Germany and the Treaty of Versailles: the impact of defeat in the First World War, the creation of the Weimar Republic, and the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and German opposition to it.
How defeat in the First World War led to the Weimar Republic and why Germans resented the Treaty of Versailles: the new democracy, the terms of the treaty (territory, army, reparations and war guilt), and how opposition to it weakened the republic from the start.
12 min answer →