Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1929-1934: The Nazi Rise to Power and the Creation of the Dictatorship - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

19 original exam-style questions - 6 pages of questions with a full mark scheme - free printable PDF.

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This topic is chapter 1 of GCSE History: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39 Practice Book 1.

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5.1 Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1929-1934: The Nazi Rise to Power and the Creation of the Dictatorship

EDEXCEL 1HI0 · about 75 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Question 15 refers to Source A. Questions 17, 18 and 19 refer to Interpretation 1 and Interpretation 2. Write in full sentences for Questions 16, 17, 18 and 19. You are advised to spend about 75 minutes on this pack.

Source A, and Interpretations 1 and 2

Source A was written for Revision Library. It is an original text representative of the style, tone and typical themes of Nazi Party election leaflets during the July and November 1932 Reichstag election campaigns. It is not a reproduction, translation or close paraphrase of any surviving Nazi document, and no genuine slogan or quotation is reproduced. Interpretation 1 and Interpretation 2 were also written for Revision Library, in the style of history textbook extracts discussing why the Nazis were able to establish a dictatorship so quickly after January 1933; they are not the work of any real, named historian.

SOURCE A: an election leaflet written for Revision Library, representative of Nazi Party campaign material distributed during the 1932 Reichstag election campaigns.

Fellow German! Six million of your countrymen stand without work while the parties of the failed republic argue among themselves. Fourteen years of broken promises, foreign debt and a treaty that strangles our industry have brought Germany to its knees. Only a strong national government, united behind one leader, can restore order on our streets, put our people back to work, and win back the respect Germany deserves among nations. A vote for the National Socialist movement is a vote against division, against weakness, and against the men who have governed and failed. Join the millions who have already chosen a new path. Vote National Socialist on election day.

INTERPRETATION 1: from a history textbook written for Revision Library, discussing why the Nazis were able to establish a dictatorship so quickly after January 1933.

The speed of the Nazi takeover between January 1933 and August 1934 is best explained by Hitler's skilful use of legal and constitutional methods. The Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act each gave Hitler's government the appearance of acting within the law, making it far harder for opponents, at home or abroad, to resist or organise against what was happening. By the time many Germans recognised the true scale of the change, the legal framework of the dictatorship was already in place.

INTERPRETATION 2: from a history textbook written for Revision Library, discussing why the Nazis were able to establish a dictatorship so quickly after January 1933.

Legal changes alone cannot explain how completely Hitler secured power by August 1934. What mattered more was his removal of every group capable of physically resisting him. Destroying the leadership of the SA in the Night of the Long Knives reassured the army, whose support was essential, and Hindenburg's death then removed the last figure with the constitutional authority to challenge Hitler. Without securing the loyalty of the army in particular, the legal changes of 1933 could still have been reversed.

Give the year of the Wall Street Crash that triggered the Great Depression and severely damaged the German economy.

(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)

Name the law, passed in July 1933, that banned all political parties in Germany except the Nazi Party.

(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)

Give the name used for the events of 30 June to 2 July 1934, in which Hitler ordered the killing of Ernst Rohm and other SA leaders.

(Total for Question 3 is 1 mark)

Give the date in 1934 on which President Hindenburg died, allowing Hitler to merge the roles of Chancellor and President.

(Total for Question 4 is 2 marks)

Give two reasons why support for the Nazi Party increased between 1929 and 1932.

(Total for Question 5 is 4 marks)

Give two examples of groups in German society, other than the unemployed, who were attracted to Nazi promises in the early 1930s.

(Total for Question 6 is 4 marks)

Give two things you can infer from Source A about the appeals used by the Nazi Party to win votes in 1932. Support each inference with a detail from the source.

(Total for Question 7 is 4 marks)

Explain why the Enabling Act of March 1933 was important in allowing Hitler to create a dictatorship.

(Total for Question 8 is 12 marks)

What is the main difference between Interpretation 1 and Interpretation 2 about why the Nazis were able to establish a dictatorship so quickly after January 1933? Explain your answer, using details from both interpretations.

(Total for Question 9 is 4 marks)

Suggest one reason why the authors of Interpretation 1 and Interpretation 2 might have different views about why the Nazis were able to establish a dictatorship so quickly.

(Total for Question 10 is 4 marks)

Which interpretation do you find more convincing as an explanation of why the Nazis were able to establish a dictatorship so quickly after January 1933? Explain your answer, using Interpretation 1, Interpretation 2 and your own knowledge.

(Total for Question 11 is 16 marks)

State the approximate number of unemployed people in Germany by 1932.

(Total for Question 12 is 2 marks)

Give the approximate number of seats the Nazi Party won in the Reichstag election of July 1932, when it became the largest single party.

(Total for Question 13 is 2 marks)

Give the date on which Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany.

(Total for Question 14 is 2 marks)

Name the President of Germany who appointed Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933.

(Total for Question 15 is 1 mark)

Name the man the Nazis blamed for starting the Reichstag Fire on 27 February 1933.

(Total for Question 16 is 1 mark)

Name the emergency decree, issued immediately after the Reichstag Fire, that suspended civil liberties such as freedom of speech and assembly.

(Total for Question 17 is 1 mark)

Give the date, in March 1933, on which the Enabling Act was passed.

(Total for Question 18 is 2 marks)

State what the Enabling Act allowed Hitler's government to do.

(Total for Question 19 is 2 marks)

Mark scheme · 5.1 Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1929-1934: The Nazi Rise to Power and the Creation of the Dictatorship

Question 1

B1 1929
Answer: 1929

Question 2

B1 the Law Against the Formation of New Parties (accept a clear description, e.g. 'the law banning all other political parties')
Answer: The Law Against the Formation of New Parties (14 July 1933)

Question 3

B1 the Night of the Long Knives
Answer: The Night of the Long Knives

Question 4

B1 2 August
B1 1934
Answer: 2 August 1934

Question 5

B2 mass unemployment following the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression made voters more likely to turn to extreme parties promising radical solutions
B2 effective Nazi propaganda and campaigning, directed by Joseph Goebbels, and Hitler's own image as a strong, decisive leader (e.g. his 1932 'Hitler over Germany' flying campaign) reached voters across the country
Answer: Mass unemployment after the Depression, and effective Nazi propaganda/campaigning built around Hitler's image as a strong leader.

Question 6

B2 middle-class savers and small business owners, who feared a repeat of the 1923 hyperinflation that had destroyed their savings and blamed weak Weimar governments for economic instability
B2 some industrialists and business leaders, who feared a communist takeover and saw the Nazis as a way of protecting private property and defeating the political left
Answer: Middle-class savers/small business owners fearing renewed inflation, and industrialists/business leaders fearing communism.

Question 7

B1 inference 1, e.g. the Nazis appealed to voters' anger about unemployment and economic hardship
B1 supporting detail for inference 1 from the source, e.g. the leaflet states 'six million of your countrymen stand without work'
B1 inference 2, e.g. the Nazis presented themselves as offering strong, unified leadership as an alternative to a divided, failing political system
B1 supporting detail for inference 2 from the source, e.g. the leaflet calls for 'a strong national government, united behind one leader' against 'the men who have governed and failed'
Answer: The Nazis appealed to anger over unemployment, and offered strong, unified leadership as an alternative to a divided political system.

Question 8

Level 1 (1-3): Identifies one or two general reasons why the Enabling Act mattered, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (4-6): Identifies and begins to explain one or two reasons, supported by some accurate detail.
Level 3 (7-9): Explains two or three reasons for the Enabling Act's importance, each supported by accurate and relevant detail.
Level 4 (10-12): Explains three or more reasons in a well-developed, logically structured way, supported throughout by precise and accurate detail, showing how the reasons connect.
Indicative content:
- The Enabling Act allowed Hitler's cabinet to pass laws without the Reichstag's approval for four years, removing Parliament's ability to block or amend Nazi policy.
- It gave a legal, constitutional appearance to what was in effect the end of German democracy, making it harder for opponents at home or abroad to challenge the change as illegitimate.
- Passing the Act required a two-thirds majority; the Nazis achieved this by having Communist deputies already arrested under the Reichstag Fire Decree excluded, and by persuading the Centre Party to vote in favour with promises later broken, showing how earlier steps enabled this one.
- Once passed, the Act allowed the Nazis to quickly follow up with further measures consolidating one-party rule, such as banning trade unions in May 1933 and other political parties in July 1933.
- Without the Enabling Act, Hitler would have remained constrained by needing Reichstag and presidential approval for new laws, so the Act is usually seen as the single most important legal step in creating the dictatorship.
- The Act's four-year time limit also mattered: because it required periodic renewal, the Nazis had a continuing legal incentive to consolidate one-party control (e.g. banning rival parties) so that no future Reichstag vote could ever threaten to withdraw the power it granted.

Question 9

B2 Interpretation 1 argues the main reason was Hitler's use of legal, constitutional-seeming methods, such as the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act, which prevented effective resistance
B2 Interpretation 2 argues the main reason was the removal of physical threats to Hitler's power, such as destroying the SA leadership and securing the army's loyalty, then Hindenburg's death, without which the legal changes could have been reversed
Answer: Interpretation 1 sees legal/constitutional methods (the Fire Decree, Enabling Act) as decisive; Interpretation 2 sees the removal of physical threats (the SA, then securing army loyalty) as decisive.

Question 10

B2 the authors may emphasise different types of evidence: Interpretation 1 focuses on legislative and constitutional documents (the Fire Decree, the Enabling Act), while Interpretation 2 focuses on the political and military elite (the army, the SA, Hindenburg)
B2 the authors may hold different general views about what makes political power secure, e.g. one emphasising legal legitimacy and formal authority and the other emphasising control of armed force, leading them to weigh the same events differently
Answer: They may draw on different types of evidence (legal documents vs the military/political elite) or hold different general views about what makes power secure.

Question 11

Level 1 (1-4): States a simple preference for one interpretation, with little or no supporting reasoning or own knowledge.
Level 2 (5-8): Describes the content of one or both interpretations and gives a limited reason for a preference, with some own knowledge.
Level 3 (9-12): Explains reasons for a preference between the interpretations, using relevant own knowledge to support or challenge each one.
Level 4 (13-16): Evaluates both interpretations critically, using precise own knowledge to reach a sustained and well-supported judgement about which is more convincing, or how far each is convincing.
Indicative content:
- Evidence supporting Interpretation 1: the Reichstag Fire Decree (February 1933) and Enabling Act (March 1933) gave Hitler's actions a legal appearance very quickly, within weeks of becoming Chancellor, and prevented the Reichstag from being able to block later measures such as the ban on other parties in July 1933.
- Evidence supporting Interpretation 2: the Night of the Long Knives (June-July 1934) was necessary because the SA, with several million members by 1934, was a potential rival power base, and securing the army's loyalty, confirmed by its personal oath to Hitler after Hindenburg's death in August 1934, was essential to prevent a military challenge to the regime.
- A convincing answer might note the two views are complementary rather than contradictory: the legal changes of 1933 created the framework for dictatorship, but the elimination of the SA leadership and the securing of army loyalty in 1934 removed the last groups who might have used force to reverse it.
- Own knowledge of the sequence of events, legal changes first in 1933, violent consolidation in 1934, completed only after Hindenburg's death, could be used to argue that both factors were necessary and neither alone was sufficient, though a judgement could still be reached about which was more decisive.
- A full answer reaches a supported judgement, drawing on the order and dependency of events to argue for one interpretation over the other, or for their combination.

Question 12

B1 around 6 million
B1 correctly links this to the Depression following the Wall Street Crash
Answer: Around 6 million, as a result of the Depression following the Wall Street Crash.

Question 13

B1 230 seats (accept a figure in the range 225-235)
B1 correctly identifies the Nazi Party as the largest party in the Reichstag after this election
Answer: 230 seats, making the Nazis the largest party in the Reichstag.

Question 14

B1 30 January
B1 1933
Answer: 30 January 1933

Question 15

B1 Paul von Hindenburg
Answer: Paul von Hindenburg

Question 16

B1 Marinus van der Lubbe (accept 'a Dutch communist')
Answer: Marinus van der Lubbe

Question 17

B1 the Reichstag Fire Decree
Answer: The Reichstag Fire Decree

Question 18

B1 23 March
B1 1933
Answer: 23 March 1933

Question 19

B1 it allowed Hitler's government to make laws without the approval of the Reichstag
B1 for a period of four years, effectively ending parliamentary democracy in Germany
Answer: It let Hitler's government make laws without Reichstag approval for four years, ending parliamentary democracy.

Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1929-1934: The Nazi Rise to Power and the Creation of the Dictatorship - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

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5.1 Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1929-1934: The Nazi Rise to Power and the Creation of the Dictatorship

Source A, and Interpretations 1 and 2

Question 1

Question 2

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Question 19

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