Publisher's acknowledgements
Chronology
Who’s who
Glossary of terms and organisations
PART ONE BACKGROUND
1 THE VULNERABILITIES OF WEIMAR DEMOCRACY, 1918–1933 3
Introduction
The Impact of War
The German Revolution of 1918
The Impact of Versailles
The Culture of Violence
The Constitution and the Emergency Powers of the President
The Political Parties
The Anti-Democratic Forces within the German State
Economic Difficulties
PART TWO ANALYSIS
2 ADOLF HITLER: PERSONALITY AND EARLY LIFE
Family Background
Parents
Childhood
Youth
The Death of his Mother
The Vienna Period (1908–1913)
Hitler’s Political Ideas in Vienna
Hitler’s Anti-Semitism in Vienna
Munich(1913–1914)
The First World War
3 THE EARLY GROWTH OF THE NAZI PARTY, 1918–1924
The Birth of the Nazi Party
The Early Programme of the Nazi Party
The Emergence of Hitler as Leader of the Nazi Party
The Growth of the ‘Führer Cult’
The Munich Beer Hall Putsch
4 THE IDEOLOGY OF HITLER AND THE NAZI PARTY
Links with Fascism and Totalitarianism
The Historical Roots of Nazism
The Philosophical Roots of National Socialism
Hitler’s Central Role in Nazi Ideology
The Importance of Foreign Policy
The Centrality of Race
The Function of Anti-Semitism and Anti-Marxism in Nazi Ideology
The Folk Community
The Function of Socialism in National Socialism
5 THE NAZI PARTY: ORGANISATION, PROPAGANDA AND MEMBERSHIP
Organisation
Propaganda
Membership
6 THE NAZI BREAKTHROUGH, 1925–1930
A New Direction
Rebuilding the Nazi Party
The Strange Mystery of Hitler and Geli Raubal
The Emergence of a New Nazi Party Election Strategy
The Impact of ‘The Great Depression’
The Emergence of Hitler on the National Stage
The Nazi Electoral Breakthrough in 1930
Why Did the Nazi Party Appeal to Voters?
The Psychological Attraction of Nazism to Voters
7 HITLER’S INTRIGUING ROAD TO POWER, 1930–1933
The Brüning Experiment, 1930–1932
Hitler Courts Big Business and the Army
Hitler Bids for the Presidency, 1932
Franz von Papen: A Nazi in a Pin-Striped Suit?
The July 1932 Election and its Aftermath
General von Schleicher’s Fifty-Seven Days in Office
Hitler Comes to Power, January 1933
PART THREE ASSESSMENT
8 WHY DID HITLER COME TO POWER?
PART FOUR DOCUMENTS
1 Hitler in Vienna
2 Hitler’s first appearance at a meeting of the German Workers’ Party
3 The twenty-five points of the Nazi Party programme
4 The demands of the Nazi Party
5 Hitler on the leadership principle
6 The Munich Beer Hall Putsch
7 Hitler on the key lesson of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch
8 Joseph Goebbels’ views on National Socialism
9 Hitler on the power of the spoken word
10 The Nazi Party and private property
11 Hitler debates the meaning of ‘socialism’ with Otto Strasser
12 Hitler defines National Socialism
13 The appeal of National Socialism: a pacifist view
14 The Nazi appeal to farmers
15 A schoolteacher describes the atmosphere at a Nazi Party meeting
16 Hitler’s speech to the Dusseldorf Industry Club
17 Edgar Jung on the ‘Conservative Revolution’
18 ‘How do we struggle against a Third Reich?’: the views of a German novelist
19 Joseph Goebbels instructs party workers to tone down ‘radical’ aspects of the Nazi programme
20 Countdown to Hitler coming to power
21 Hitler’s views on anti-Semitism
22 Hitler defines the difference between the Nazi Party and the traditional German Conservative Party
23 Meeting of Hitler and Hindenburg, 13 August 1932
24 The appeal of National Socialism to youth
REFERENCES
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY
INDEX