The German National Socialist Workers’ Party , better known as the Nazi Party , was a political party that existed in Germany between 1919 and 1945.
Originally called the German Workers ‘Party, in 1920 its name was changed to Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers’ Party, whose abbreviation in German was “Nazi”). From the hand of Adolf Hitler , this political party came to power in Germany in 1933.
The party’s platform included the cultural and territorial integration of the German nation as well as the economic recovery and the territories usurped from Germany after the Great War through the “dishonorable and unjust” Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany by England and France ; and it is precisely because of this treaty that the Germans felt humiliated and looked for a new leader with the capacity to lead; that is to say a Führer. This “saving star” was called Adolf Hitler and he was a member of the Nazi party.
Summary
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- 1 History
- 1 Hitler, supreme leader of the party
- 2 Coup d’etat of 1923 in Munich
- 3 Rise to power
- 2 Basic characteristics of the game
- 3 Party Congresses
- 1 History of the congresses
- 4 Structure
- 5 Women in the NSDAP
- 6 Sources
History
The German National Socialist Workers’ Party had its origin in a branch of the Free Committee for the Peace of German Workers, created in March 1918 by Anton Drexler , while still fighting in the trenches of the First World War . After the war, in 1919, Drexler founded the German Workers’ Party, whose name gave the impression of being one more Marxist party of the many that swarmed in Germany at that time. However, it was not.
In July 1919, as a member of the Freikorps , right-wing paramilitary groups, Hitler, a former soldier and veteran of the Somme trenches, was infiltrated in the meetings of this party to detect potential extreme left coup plotters who could take power by force. . Yet he was delighted by the lines that Drexler had imposed on this shadowy new party: nationalist, anti-Marxist, and anti-Semitic.
Hitler, supreme leader of the party
Shortly after the February 1920 rally, the German Workers’ Party was renamed the German National Socialist Labor Party. This new organization developed little by little, especially in Bavaria. Its members were convinced of the value of violence as a means to achieve their ends, so it did not take long to create the Sturm Abteilung (‘assault section’) or SA, a force that was in charge of protecting party meetings, causing riots at the rallies of the Liberal Democrats, Socialists, Communists and Trade Unionists, and persecute Jews, especially merchants. These activities were carried out with the collaboration of some of the Army officers, particularly Ernst Röhm .
Hitler was elected president with unlimited powers of the party in 1921. That same year, the movement adopted as its emblem a flag with a red background in the center of which was a white circle with a black swastika cross. In December 1920, Hitler had founded the newspaper Völkischer Beobachter, which became the official newspaper of the organization. As the influence of the KPD, founded in 1919, grew, the main objective of the National Socialist propaganda was the denunciation of Bolshevism, which they considered an international conspiracy of Jewish financiers. They also proclaimed their contempt for democracy and campaigned for a dictatorial regime .
Program of the German Workers’ Party. 1920.
1. We ask for the union of all Germans to constitute a Greater Germany founded on the right of independence that nations have.
2. We ask for the German people equal rights in treaties with other nations and the abolition of the Versailles and Saint-Germain treaties.
3. We ask for space and territory to feed our people and to establish our excess population.
4. No one, except the members of the nation, may be a citizen of the State. No one except those through whose veins circulates German blood, whatever their religious creed, may be a member of the nation. Consequently, no Jew will be a member of the nation.
8. All non-German immigration must be prevented. We ask that all non-Aryans arriving in Germany as of August 2, 1914 be compelled to leave the national territory immediately.
11. All income not earned through work will be abolished, as well as the easement imposed by interest.
13. We ask for the nationalization of all the companies that are currently in the hands of the trusts.
14. We ask for participation in the profits of large companies.
15. We call for a gradual plan for social assistance in old age to be implemented.
16. We call for the creation and maintenance of a healthy middle class […].
17. We ask for an agrarian reform that serves our national interests, the enactment of a law that orders the confiscation without compensation of land for communal purposes, the abolition of interest on land loans and the prohibition of speculation.
20. […] We demand that the State educate children gifted with superior talent and the children of poor parents, whatever their class and occupation.
21. The State will endeavor to raise the level of the nation’s health by protecting mothers and children, prohibiting child labor, and increasing body efficiency through compulsory gymnastics and sports […].
22. We call for the abolition of the mercenary army and the formation of a national army.
25. In order to carry out all of the above, we call for the creation of a powerful central authority of the State: indisputable powers of the politically centralized parliament over the entire nation and over its organization.
Fragment of the 25 points of the Program of the German Workers’ Party (1920) [1]
1923 coup in Munich
The 8 of November of 1923 , Hitler, with 600 soldiers of assault, went to a Munich beer hall where Gustav von Kahr, governor of Bavaria who had proclaimed general commissioner in October with dictatorial powers, was giving a speech. He seized Von Kahr and his collaborators and, encouraged by General Erich Ludendorff, declared the formation of a new national government in Von Kahr’s name. This, after pretending to accept the post of regent of Bavaria that Hitler granted him, was released shortly after and took action against Hitler and Ludendorff.
The Nazi leader and his companions managed to flee on November 9 after a small altercation with the Munich police, so that the so-called Munich (or brewery) putsch failed. Hitler and Ludendorff were subsequently arrested. The latter was acquitted, but Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison and the party was outlawed. During his imprisonment, Hitler dictated Mein Kampf (My Fight) to Rudolf Hess . This work, which was later developed by its author, was a declaration of the National Socialist doctrine, which also contained propaganda techniques and plans for the conquest of Germany and, later, of Europe. Mein Kampf became the ideological foundation of National Socialism some years later.
Hitler was released within a year. The Nazi party was practically dissolved, largely due to the fact that improving political conditions in the country had created an atmosphere more conducive to moderate political organizations.
Party propaganda in which the party’s ability to provide stability to German society is exalted.
Rise to power
Taking advantage of the economic problems, Great Depression , the Nazi Party finally came to power in 1933. Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor (Prime Minister). Sectors of the marquesita, fearful of a possible communist uprising, supported the rise of the Nazi Party to power.
During this period the great fire occurred in the Reichstag (German Parliament), the communists were accused of causing them. In retaliation, the German Communist Party is placed outside the law. Adolf Hitler persecutes his opponents with Shock Troops (SA), Assault Troops (SS), Political Police ( Gestapo ) and establishes censorship of the press.
With the death of the President of Germany, General Hindenburg, in 1933, Adolf Hitler began to accumulate the positions of President and German Prime Minister. Assumes the title of Führer (leader, guide). This is how Adolf Hitler starts the so-called III Reich (Third German Empire). The first major anti-Semitic demonstration occurred in 1934 on the Night of the Long Knives , where Adolf Hitler’s political opponents were killed off bloodily, commercial establishments and synagogues were attacked by Nazi militias, with the consent of the Nazi government.
Basic characteristics of the match
- Anti-Semitic racism. Only one who bore German blood could be considered a German citizen, a characteristic that Jews were denied.
- Expansive nationalism. Faced with the prohibition of peace treaties, the union of all Germans in one Greater Germany, that is, was claimed. the Anschluss with Austria, in addition to the possibility of annexing areas with a Germanic demographic majority in other nations, and the right to possess enough land for a great people was affirmed.
- Control of the press and of literary and artistic creation, on the grounds that they “fight against political lies.” A corollary to this point was the Party’s monopoly of information and “truth”.
Party Congresses
The national congresses of Nuremberg ( Reichsparteitage ) were the concentrations held between 1934 and 1938 by members of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) or Nazi in the so-called Zeppelin Field . These concentrations gave great publicity to the Nazi German regime , managing to gather around 500,000 members of the Nazi party in the entire period in which these rallies were held.
Congress history
Promotional poster of the Party Congress in 1938
The first concentrations organized by the party took place in 1923 in Munich and in 1926 in Weimar . From 1927 onwards, Nuremberg was the main meeting point. One of the reasons the site was selected was because it was in the center of the Reich .
After 1933, the congresses were held during the first half of September under the motto Reichsparteitage des deutschen Volkes (National Congress of the German People’s Party), which implied the solidarity of the people according to Nazi ideology.
Each congress held by the Nazis between 1933 and 1938 had a motto, which was related to political events of the time:
- 1933 : “Congress of victory” ( Reichsparteitag des Sieges) in reference to the victory of the German people over the failure of the Weimar Republic .
- 1934 Initially it had no motto, but later it was called “Congress of unity and strength” ( Reichsparteitag der Einheit und Stärke), “Congress of power” ( Reichsparteitag der Macht ) or “Congress of the will” ( Reichsparteitag des Willens ).
- 1935 : “Congress of freedom” ( Reichsparteitag der Freiheit). The term “freedom” refers to the rearmament of Germany achieving the so-called “liberation” of the Treaty of Versailles .
- 1936 : “Congress of Honor” ( Reichsparteitag der Ehre). The Nazi occupation of the demilitarized region of the Rhineland , in Hitler’s eyes, constitutes the restoration of German honor.
- 1937 : “Labor Congress” ( Reichsparteitag der Arbeit), for the drastic reduction in unemployment since Hitler’s rise to power.
- 1938 : “Congress of Greater Germany” ( Reichsparteitag Großdeutschland), due to the annexation of Austria to the Third Reich, an event known as Anschluss .
- 1939 This congress had foreseen the motto “Congress of peace” ( Reichsparteitag des Friedens), but it was canceled at the first order because of the planned invasion of Poland by Germany .
Structure
The Nazi party had a vertical and militarized structure of strong militancy. It had two paramilitary groups, the SA ( Sturmabteilung : shock detachment) and the SS ( Schutzstaffel : protection platoon). The first wore a brown uniform and was a group of pressure and intimidation, and the second was the personal guard of Hitler and the party.
Women in the NSDAP
Women as such also played an important role in the Nazi Party; Hitler was concerned about the continuous decline in the German birth rate and the high number of infant deaths, which is why he promoted a Women’s Association of the NSDAP with the aim of increasing Aryan reproduction and extreme social and hygienic care during motherhood.
Excerpt from Adolf Hitler’s speech to the NSDAP Women’s Association:
The expression “emancipation of women” was created by Jewish intellectuals. If the world of men belongs to the sphere of the State, its struggle, its enthusiasm to dedicate its forces to the service of the community, then we can say that the world of women is a smaller world; because the woman’s world is her husband, her family, her children, her home. What would happen in the bigger world if there were no one taking care of the little one? The big world cannot survive without the stability of the little one. We believe that women should not interfere in the world of men. We believe that it is natural for the two worlds to remain different.
Adolf Hitler, September 1934
