Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933-39): Path to Power and the Nazi State, ISC Class 11

What Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933–39) is about

Weightage: CISCE gives no Class XI unit weightage for ISC History. Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933–39) is topic 11 of the Class XI syllabus (World History) and can be asked anywhere in the 80-mark Paper I (Theory, 3 hours). Class XI is examined by the school, so your school sets the paper and decides how many marks each topic carries.Source: CISCE ISC History (851) syllabus, examination year 2028, Class XI

Key concepts

Weaknesses of the Weimar Republic

1. Born of defeat: the Republic was declared in November 1918 and its leaders signed the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles. Nationalists called them the 'November criminals' and spread the 'stab in the back' myth that the army had been betrayed at home.
2. Proportional representation produced many parties and short-lived coalition governments.
3. Article 48 allowed the President to rule by emergency decree, which later undermined parliament.
4. Enemies on left and right: the Spartacist rising (1919), the Kapp Putsch (1920) and Hitler's Munich Beer Hall Putsch (1923); political murders. The army, judges and civil servants were often hostile to democracy.
5. Hyperinflation (1923): after France occupied the Ruhr when Germany fell behind on reparations, the government printed money; the mark became worthless and middle-class savings were wiped out.
6. Dependence on US loans: the recovery of 1924-29 rested on short-term American loans (Dawes Plan).
7. The Depression: after 1929 loans were recalled, unemployment reached about 6 million by 1932, and from 1930 Chancellor Bruning governed by presidential decree. Voters turned to the extremes; the Nazi vote rose from 2.6 per cent (1928) to over 37 per cent (July 1932).

Worked example

[4] Explain four weaknesses of the Weimar Republic that helped the rise of Nazism. (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Linked with defeat and Versailles: 'November criminals', 'stab in the back' - 1 mark.
2. Proportional representation: weak coalitions; Article 48 decree powers - 1 mark.
3. Hyperinflation (1923) ruined the middle classes - 1 mark.
4. Depression: 6 million unemployed; rule by decree; voters turned to extremes - 1 mark.

Answer: The Republic was blamed for defeat and Versailles, its founders branded 'November criminals'; proportional representation produced unstable coalitions, and Article 48 encouraged rule by decree; the hyperinflation of 1923 ruined the middle classes and their faith in democracy; and in the Depression, with about 6 million unemployed by 1932, governments ruled by decree while desperate voters turned to the Nazis.

Events from 1932 to Hitler's appointment as Chancellor

1. Presidential election (March-April 1932): Hindenburg was re-elected, but Hitler won about 37 per cent in the second round, showing his national appeal.
2. May-June 1932: Hindenburg dismissed Chancellor Bruning (30 May) and appointed Franz von Papen (1 June), a conservative with little support in the Reichstag.
3. July 1932 Reichstag election: the Nazis won 230 seats (about 37 per cent) and became the largest party. Hitler demanded the chancellorship, but Hindenburg refused to appoint him (August 1932).
4. November 1932 election: the Nazi vote fell (to 196 seats) and the party was short of money, but no stable majority emerged; the Communists gained, frightening the propertied classes.
5. December 1932: General Kurt von Schleicher replaced Papen but could not win a majority or split the Nazis.
6. January 1933: Papen, resentful of Schleicher, negotiated with Hitler (meeting at the house of the banker von Schroder, 4 January). Papen, the army and big landowners persuaded Hindenburg that Hitler could be controlled inside a conservative cabinet.
7. 30 January 1933: Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor, with Papen as Vice-Chancellor; only three Nazis were in the cabinet.

Key point: Hitler came to power legally, through a backstairs intrigue, at a time when Nazi votes had actually begun to fall.

Worked example

[4] Explain the events of 1932-January 1933 that led to Hitler becoming Chancellor. (Recall)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. July 1932: Nazis largest party (230 seats) but Hindenburg refused Hitler - 1 mark.
2. November 1932: Nazi vote fell; no majority; Communists gained - 1 mark.
3. Papen replaced by Schleicher (December), who failed - 1 mark.
4. Papen's intrigue; Hindenburg appointed Hitler on 30 January 1933 - 1 mark.

Answer: In July 1932 the Nazis became the largest party with 230 seats, but Hindenburg refused to make Hitler Chancellor; in November their vote fell, though no majority could be formed and the Communists gained; Papen gave way to Schleicher in December, who also failed; and Papen, plotting his return, persuaded Hindenburg that Hitler could be controlled, so Hitler was appointed Chancellor on 30 January 1933 with Papen as his deputy.

Reasons for Hitler's popularity among different groups

1. The unemployed and workers: promises of 'work and bread'; jobs through public works.
2. Farmers: promises of higher prices, protection from debt and foreclosure, and praise of the peasant as the heart of the nation ('blood and soil').
3. The middle classes, shopkeepers and small businessmen: ruined by inflation and the Depression, they feared communism and resented big department stores and trade unions.
4. Industrialists and big business: Hitler would crush communism and trade unions and rearm Germany; some provided funds.
5. Nationalists and the army: promises to tear up Versailles, rebuild the armed forces and restore national pride.
6. Young people: the Nazis seemed energetic and modern; the Hitler Youth offered belonging.
7. Protestants and rural voters responded more than Catholics, who often stayed loyal to the Centre Party.

Methods that made him popular

• Hitler's powerful speeches and mass rallies; Goebbels's propaganda using radio, posters and film.
• Simple messages: blame the Jews, the Communists and the 'November criminals' for Germany's troubles.
• Image of discipline and order, while the SA used violence on the streets.

Worked example

[4] Why did the Nazis appeal to different groups in German society? (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Unemployed and workers: work and bread - 1 mark.
2. Farmers: protection from debt; blood and soil - 1 mark.
3. Middle classes and industrialists: fear of communism; unions crushed; rearmament - 1 mark.
4. Nationalists, army and youth: overturn Versailles; national pride; energy - 1 mark.

Answer: The Nazis promised work and bread to the unemployed, protection from debt and praise of 'blood and soil' to farmers, and safety from communism to the middle classes and industrialists, who also welcomed the prospect of crushing trade unions and rearming. Nationalists, the army and the young were drawn by the promise to tear up Versailles and restore national greatness, all delivered through Hitler's oratory and Goebbels's propaganda.

The Nazi state: government and the army

Government
1. Reichstag fire (27 February 1933): blamed on the Communists; the next day the Reichstag Fire Decree suspended civil rights such as freedom of speech, press and assembly.
2. Election of 5 March 1933: the Nazis won about 44 per cent, still short of a majority.
3. Enabling Act (23 March 1933): with Communist deputies arrested and the Centre Party's support, the Reichstag gave Hitler the power to make laws without it for four years. Only the Social Democrats voted against.
4. Coordination (Gleichschaltung): state governments placed under Nazi governors; trade unions abolished (May 1933) and replaced by the German Labour Front; all other parties banned, and Germany became a one-party state by law (July 1933).
5. Terror: the Gestapo (secret police) and the SS under Himmler; the first concentration camp at Dachau (March 1933).
6. When Hindenburg died (2 August 1934), Hitler combined the offices of President and Chancellor as Fuhrer.

Army and the Night of the Long Knives

• The SA (stormtroopers), more than two million strong under Ernst Rohm, wanted a 'second revolution' and to absorb the army.
• The army generals and industrialists were alarmed; Hitler needed the army's support.
• On 30 June 1934 the SS killed Rohm and other SA leaders, together with other opponents such as Schleicher.
• Results: the army was reassured; after Hindenburg's death soldiers swore an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler; the SS became the chief instrument of terror.

Worked example

[4] Why did Hitler carry out the Night of the Long Knives, and what were its results? (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. SA under Rohm demanded a second revolution and control of the army - 1 mark.
2. Army and industrialists alarmed; Hitler needed the army - 1 mark.
3. 30 June 1934: Rohm, SA leaders and other opponents killed by the SS - 1 mark.
4. Army's support and personal oath to Hitler; SS strengthened - 1 mark.

Answer: Rohm's SA wanted a 'second revolution' and to take over the army, which alarmed the generals and industrialists whose support Hitler needed. On 30 June 1934 the SS murdered Rohm, other SA leaders and some old opponents. The army was reassured and, after Hindenburg's death, swore personal loyalty to Hitler, while the SS became the main instrument of Nazi terror.

The Nazi state: culture, education, economy and religion

Cultural life

• Joseph Goebbels's Ministry of Propaganda (1933) and the Reich Chamber of Culture controlled the press, radio, films, books, music and art.
• Books by Jewish and 'un-German' authors were publicly burnt (May 1933); 'degenerate' modern art was banned and mocked.
• Cheap radio sets spread Hitler's speeches; rallies (Nuremberg) and the 1936 Berlin Olympics displayed Nazi power.

Education and youth

• Teachers had to join the Nazi Teachers' League; textbooks and the curriculum stressed race theory, German history and physical fitness.
• Hitler Youth for boys and the League of German Girls; membership was made compulsory (from 1936).
• Girls were prepared to be mothers; women were urged towards 'children, kitchen, church'.

Economy

• Hjalmar Schacht (Economics Minister and Reichsbank president) financed public works and rearmament; motorways (autobahns) were built; the Reich Labour Service gave compulsory work.
• Unemployment fell from about 6 million (1932) to very low levels by the late 1930s, helped by rearmament and conscription (1935).
• Goring's Four Year Plan (1936) aimed at self-sufficiency (autarky) and readiness for war.
• Workers lost their unions and the right to strike; the Strength through Joy organisation offered cheap holidays.

Religious life

• Concordat with the Pope (July 1933): the Church would stay out of politics in return for freedom of worship; the Nazis soon broke it.
• Protestant churches were pressed into a single Reich Church; the Confessing Church, led by Pastor Martin Niemoller, resisted and he was sent to a concentration camp.
• The Pope's encyclical 'With Burning Concern' (1937) criticised Nazi violations.

Worked example

[4] How did the Nazis control education and young people? (Understanding)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Teachers in the Nazi Teachers' League; dismissal of opponents and Jews - 1 mark.
2. Curriculum: race theory, German history, physical training - 1 mark.
3. Hitler Youth and League of German Girls; compulsory from 1936 - 1 mark.
4. Girls trained as mothers; loyalty to the Fuhrer above family - 1 mark.

Answer: Teachers had to join the Nazi Teachers' League, and Jewish or disloyal teachers were dismissed; the curriculum taught race theory, a nationalist version of history and physical fitness; boys joined the Hitler Youth and girls the League of German Girls, compulsory from 1936; and girls were trained to be mothers while all children learnt that loyalty to the Fuhrer came first.

Escalation of the campaign against the Jews

Nazi ideology held that 'Aryan' Germans were a superior race and that Jews were an enemy race responsible for Germany's troubles.

Stages
1. 1933: boycott of Jewish shops and businesses (1 April); a law dismissed Jews from the civil service; Jewish lawyers, doctors and teachers were pushed out.
2. 1935: the Nuremberg Laws took away German citizenship from Jews and forbade marriage and sexual relations between Jews and Germans.
3. 1938: Jews were excluded from more professions and businesses were seized ('Aryanisation'). On 9-10 November, Kristallnacht ('Night of Broken Glass'): synagogues were burnt, Jewish shops and homes smashed, many Jews killed and tens of thousands sent to concentration camps; the Jewish community was fined for the damage.
4. 1939-41: after the conquest of Poland, Jews were forced into overcrowded ghettos (such as Warsaw and Lodz), where many died of hunger and disease. After the invasion of the USSR (1941), SS killing squads (Einsatzgruppen) shot hundreds of thousands of Jews.
5. The 'Final Solution': at the Wannsee Conference (January 1942) Nazi officials co-ordinated the plan to murder all the Jews of Europe. Jews were deported to extermination camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka and killed in gas chambers.

About six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, along with Roma, disabled people, Soviet prisoners and others.

Worked example

[4] Trace the stages by which Nazi persecution of Jews escalated between 1933 and 1938. (Recall)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. 1933: boycott of Jewish businesses; dismissal from civil service - 1 mark.
2. 1935: Nuremberg Laws: citizenship removed; mixed marriages banned - 1 mark.
3. 1938: exclusion from professions; seizure of businesses - 1 mark.
4. Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938): synagogues burnt; mass arrests - 1 mark.

Answer: In 1933 the Nazis organised a boycott of Jewish businesses and dismissed Jews from the civil service; the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 took away their citizenship and banned marriage with Germans; in 1938 Jews were driven from more professions and their businesses seized; and on Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938) synagogues were burnt, shops wrecked and tens of thousands sent to camps.

Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933–39) in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• The Persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust
• The Nazi State: Government, Army, Culture, Economy and Religion
• Weimar Weaknesses, Hitler's Appointment and Popularity

Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933–39): key facts

Weimar crises

Kapp Putsch 1920; Ruhr and hyperinflation 1923; Munich Putsch November 1923

Article 48; proportional representation.

Elections of 1932

July 1932: 230 Nazi seats (37 per cent); November 1932: 196 seats

Nazi vote 2.6 per cent in 1928.

Path to power

Papen (June 1932); Schleicher (December 1932); Hitler Chancellor 30 January 1933

Only three Nazis in cabinet.

Dictatorship

Reichstag fire 27 February 1933; Enabling Act 23 March 1933; one-party state July 1933

Unions abolished May 1933.

Army and Fuhrer

Night of the Long Knives 30 June 1934; Hindenburg died 2 August 1934

Army oath to Hitler.

Against the Jews

Boycott 1933; Nuremberg Laws 1935; Kristallnacht 9-10 November 1938; Wannsee January 1942

About six million murdered.

How the school exam asks Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933–39)

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933–39)

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Weimar weaknesses: 'D-P-A-H-D'

  Defeat (Versailles), Proportional representation, Article 48, Hyperinflation, Depression.

  Use it when: Background to Nazism.

• 1932-33 ladder

  July (230) - August (refused) - November (196) - December (Schleicher) - January (Hitler).

  Use it when: Events from 1932.

• Anti-Jewish stages: 'B-N-K-G-F'

  Boycott 1933, Nuremberg 1935, Kristallnacht 1938, Ghettos 1939-41, Final Solution 1942.

  Use it when: Escalation in order.

Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933–39): exam-level solved questions

Ordered from exam level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section D style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In a school exam set on the board pattern this is a 8-mark question split into 1 + 2 + 2 + 3 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933–39)

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Saying Hitler was elected Chancellor

  Chancellors were appointed by the President.

  Wrong working

  Hitler won the 1933 election and became Chancellor.

  Right working

  Hindenburg appointed him on 30 January 1933; the March election came after.

  ✓Do this: Use 'appointed'.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Starting the 1932-33 account with the Munich Putsch

  The syllabus asks for events from 1932 onwards.

  ✓Do this: Begin with the 1932 presidential and Reichstag elections.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing up the SA and SS

  Both were Nazi formations.

  ✓Do this: SA: brownshirt stormtroopers under Rohm, purged 1934; SS: elite guard under Himmler.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Skipping stages in the anti-Jewish campaign

  The syllabus asks for escalation 'in some detail'.

  ✓Do this: Use B-N-K-G-F with dates.

  Usually costs: 2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: One-sided reasons for acceptance

  Acceptance came from both consent and fear.

  ✓Do this: Mix benefits (jobs, pride) with control (propaganda, terror).

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

Practice questions on Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933–39)

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   What was the 'stab in the back' myth?

   Hint

   Who lost the war?

   Answer

   The false claim that Germany's army had not been defeated in 1918 but betrayed by politicians, socialists and Jews at home.

2. Q2 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   What did the Enabling Act (March 1933) allow?

   Hint

   Laws without parliament.

   Answer

   It allowed Hitler's government to make laws without the Reichstag for four years.

3. Q3 · 1 mark · MCQExam level

   The SA leader killed in the Night of the Long Knives was:
   (a) Heinrich Himmler
   (b) Ernst Rohm
   (c) Joseph Goebbels
   (d) Hermann Goring

   Hint

   Wanted a 'second revolution'.

   Answer

   (b) Ernst Rohm.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · Very short answerHarder exam level

   Which pastor led the Confessing Church?

   Hint

   Sent to a concentration camp.

   Answer

   Martin Niemoller.

5. Q5 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] How did the hyperinflation of 1923 weaken support for the Weimar Republic?

   Hint

   Ruhr, printing money, savings.

   Answer

   (1) France occupied the Ruhr when Germany fell behind on reparations. (2) The government printed money to pay striking workers, and the mark became worthless. (3) Middle-class savings, pensions and fixed incomes were wiped out. (4) Many lost faith in democracy, and the experience made them receptive to extremists later.

6. Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] Explain the importance of the Reichstag fire.

   Hint

   Blame, decree, election, Act.

   Answer

   (1) On 27 February 1933 the Reichstag building burned; the Nazis blamed the Communists. (2) The Reichstag Fire Decree suspended civil liberties. (3) Communists were arrested, helping the Nazis in the March 1933 election. (4) With Communist deputies absent, the Enabling Act was passed in March 1933.

7. Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] How did Goebbels control cultural life?

   Hint

   Ministry, chamber, books, radio.

   Answer

   (1) His Ministry of Propaganda (1933) directed the press, radio and films. (2) Artists, writers and musicians had to join the Reich Chamber of Culture. (3) 'Un-German' books were burnt and modern art banned as degenerate. (4) Cheap radios, rallies and the 1936 Olympics spread Nazi messages.

8. Q8 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   [4] Compare the rise to power of Mussolini and Hitler.

   Hint

   Elections, violence, appointment.

   Answer

   (1) Both exploited post-war discontent and fear of communism, and used paramilitary violence (Blackshirts, SA). (2) Hitler built a mass electoral party and became the largest party (1932); Mussolini had only 35 seats in 1921. (3) Both were appointed legally by the head of state (King in 1922, Hindenburg in 1933) on the advice of conservatives. (4) Both then turned constitutional office into dictatorship.

9. Q9 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   [4] Why did the churches fail to resist Nazism effectively?

   Hint

   Concordat, divisions, fear.

   Answer

   (1) The Catholic Church signed the Concordat (1933), hoping to protect its institutions. (2) Many Protestants supported the 'German Christians' and the Reich Church. (3) Resisters such as Niemoller and his Confessing Church were imprisoned. (4) Many churchgoers shared Nazi anti-communism, and open protest was dangerous, so protests remained limited.

10. Q10 · 8 marks · Long answerHarder exam level

    [8] (a) Explain the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic. [4]
    (b) Explain why the Nazis were popular among different groups. [4]

    Hint

    (a) D-P-A-H-D; (b) four groups.

    Answer

    (a) (1) Born in defeat; signed Versailles; 'November criminals'. (2) Proportional representation and unstable coalitions; Article 48. (3) Putsches and hostile army and judges; hyperinflation of 1923. (4) Dependence on US loans and collapse in the Depression. (b) (1) Unemployed and workers: work and bread. (2) Farmers: protection from debt; blood and soil. (3) Middle classes and industrialists: fear of communism, crushing unions, rearmament. (4) Nationalists, army and youth: overturning Versailles and national pride, through Hitler's oratory and propaganda.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.What did Article 48 allow?Show answer

   The President to rule by emergency decree.

2. 2.How many seats did the Nazis win in July 1932?Show answer

   230 (about 37 per cent).

3. 3.Who was Vice-Chancellor in Hitler's first cabinet?Show answer

   Franz von Papen.

4. 4.What replaced trade unions in May 1933?Show answer

   The German Labour Front.

5. 5.What was the Concordat of 1933?Show answer

   An agreement with the Pope: the Church stays out of politics in return for freedom of worship.

6. 6.What was decided at Wannsee in January 1942?Show answer

   The co-ordination of the 'Final Solution', the murder of Europe's Jews.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Weimar: defeat and Versailles; proportional representation; Article 48; putsches; hyperinflation 1923; Depression.
• ☐1932: Hindenburg re-elected; July 230 seats; November 196; Papen, Schleicher; 30 January 1933 Hitler Chancellor.
• ☐Appeal: workers, farmers, middle classes, industrialists, nationalists, army, youth; propaganda and oratory.
• ☐Reichstag fire; Enabling Act 23 March 1933; one-party state; Gestapo; Long Knives 30 June 1934; Fuhrer August 1934.
• ☐Goebbels; book burning; Hitler Youth; Schacht; autobahns; rearmament; Four Year Plan 1936; Concordat; Niemoller.
• ☐Jews: boycott 1933; Nuremberg 1935; Kristallnacht 1938; ghettos; Einsatzgruppen; Wannsee 1942; six million murdered.

Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933–39): frequently asked questions