Changes to the Party 1920 22

1. Changes to the Party 1920 -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

2. Changes to the Party
1920 -1922
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 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.

3. Changes to the Party
1920 -1922
LO: To identify
how Hitler rose
to power
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.

4. Changes to the Party
1920 -1922
LO: To identify
how Hitler rose
to power
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.

5. Changes to the Party
1920 -1922
LO: To identify
how Hitler rose
to power
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.

6. Changes to the Party
1920 -1922
LO: To identify
how Hitler rose
to power
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.

7. Changes to the Party
1920 -1922
LO: To explore
the early years
of the Nazi
Party and the
SA
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
Describe the role of the
SA in Hitler’s Nazi Party?

8. LO: To explore
the early years
of the Nazi
Party and the
SA
What do you learn about the SA (Stormtroopers) from the
Source 1
Changes to the Party
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
1920 -1922
below source?

9. Changes to the Party
1920 -1922
LO: To examine
the extent of
Hitler’s role in
the rise of the
Nazis
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.

10. Changes to the Party
1920 -1922
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.
LO: To examine
the extent of
Hitler’s role in
the rise of the
Nazis

11. Changes to the Party
• Hitler was incredibly charismatic. Charisma
• 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.
1920 -1922
LO: To examine
the extent of
Hitler’s role in
the rise of the
Nazis

12. Changes to the Party
1920 -1922
Close
Supporters
LO: To examine
the extent of
Hitler’s role in
the rise of the
Nazis
• 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.

13. Changes to the Party
1920 -1922
LO: To identify
how Hitler rose
to power
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.