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On 22 April 1933, the British Minister to the Vatican recounted what the Vatican Under-Secretary of State had told him: "The Holy See is not interested in the Centre Party. We are more concerned with the mass of Catholic voters in Germany than in the Catholic deputies who represent them in the Reichstag." [40] Previously, as part of the agreement surrounding the 1929 Lateran Treaty with the Fascist government in Italy, the Vatican had consented to the dissolution of the Catholic political Partito Popolare party [46] which dissolved in 1926. Whilst Hitler was in prison following the Munich Putsch in 1923, Alfred Rosenberg took over as temporary leader of the Nazi Party. Rosenberg was an ineffective leader and the party became divided over key issues. President Hindenburg was a right-wing conservative politician and therefore disliked having the left-wing SPD in power. He refused Müller‘s request. Müller resigned on the 27 March 1930. As Hitler controlled the masses support for the political right, the conservative elite believed that they could use Hitler and his popular support to ‘democratically’ take power. Once in power, Hitler could destroy the political left. Destroying the political left would help to remove the majority of political opponents to the ring-wing conservative elite.

Franz von Papen – Wikipedie Franz von Papen – Wikipedie

The notes of the meeting do not record any response by Berning. In the opinion of Martin Rhonheimer, who cites the above transcript, "This is hardly surprising: for a Catholic Bishop in 1933 there was really nothing terribly objectionable in this historically correct reminder. And on this occasion, as always, Hitler was concealing his true intentions." [45] Saul Friedländer interpreted Hitler's comments as an attempt to "blunt possible Catholic criticism of his anti-Jewish policies and to shift the burden of the arguments onto the Church itself. [47] Article 6 Clerics and religious are exempt from the obligation to undertake public offices and such obligations as are incompatible with their clerical or religious status. This applies particularly to the office of magistrate, member of a jury in law courts, membership of taxation committees or membership of the fiscal tribunal. [68] In 1930, the Nazis attracted eight times more votes than in 1928. They managed to secure 18.3% of the vote, and 107 seats in the Reichstag. The continuing failure of the government to stabilise the situation only increased the Nazis popularity. A Nazi Party poster, reading ‘The Struggle for Germany’. Posters like this one were key in creating the Hitler myth, portraying Hitler as a strong and patriotic leader who would save Germany.

Article 1 The German Reich guarantees freedom of profession and public practice of the Catholic religion. It recognizes the right of the Catholic Church to regulate and manage her own affairs independently within the limits of the law applicable to all and to issue – within the framework of her own competence – laws and ordinances binding on her members. [69]

Hitler cabinet - Wikipedia

One of the factors that helped the Nazis rise to power was propaganda. The Nazis used propaganda throughout the late 1920’s and early 1930’s to boost Hitler’s image, and, as a result of this and other aspects, he became extremely popular. In this image, Hitler can be seen crowded around by a group of young men. Article 14 specified appointments of a bishop by the Pope was subject to mutual agreement and communication with the regime that no [general] political impediment existed, [70] while affirming appointments may be made without any co-operation on the part of the state or civil corporations. [68] Article 22 Mutual agreements shall be arrived at between the bishops and the governments of German states (Laender) with regard to the appointment of the teachers of religion. Teachers who have been declared by the bishop unfit for the further exercise of their teaching function, either for pedagogical reasons or on account of their moral behavior, must not be employed as teachers of religion as long as the obstacle remains. [68] A formal realignment of Church and state relationships was considered desirable in the aftermath of the political instability of 1918 and the adoption of the Weimar constitution for the Reich along with the new constitutions in the German states in 1919. [13] Key issues that the Church hoped to resolve related to state subsidies to the Church, support for Catholic schools, the appointment of bishops and the legal position of the clergy. [13] The Reich government, in turn, wished for reasons of foreign policy to have friendly relations with the Holy See. Also, Germany wanted to prevent new diocesan boundaries from being established which would dilute Germany's ties to ceded German territories in the east such as Danzig and Upper Silesia. [14] On 22 July 1933, von Papen attended a meeting of the Catholic Academic Union during which he first made the connection between the dissolution of the Centre Party and the concordat. He said the Pope was particularly pleased at the promised destruction of Bolshevism and that Pius XI had agreed to the treaty "in the recognition that the new Germany had fought a decisive battle against Bolshevism and the atheist movement." [53] Papen noted that there was "an undeniable inner connection between the dissolution of the German Center party that has just taken place and the conclusion of the Concordat" and ended his speech with a call for German Catholicism to put away former resentments and to help build Nazi Germany. [54] Abbot Herwegen told the meeting:

Hitler Personally Presented Papen with the Knight’s Cross of the Military Merit Order.

This poster is also from the 1932 Reichspräsident elections. This poster states ‘Mother, think of us! Vote Hitler!’. This poster is a good example of how the Nazi Party tailored their propaganda to different societal groups. Meanwhile, although the Protestant churches, being local congregations, remained unaffected by restrictions on foreign support, Hitler's government negotiated other agreements with them which in essence put Nazi officials, most of whom were Catholics, into positions of influence or outright authority over Protestant churches. Foreseeing the potential for outright State control of their churches which these agreements portended, many Protestant church leaders simply reorganized their congregations out of the agreements, causing a schism within the Protestant Churches. These Protestant resisters attempted to rally Catholic prelates to the dangers portended by these agreements, but were simply rebuffed when the Reichskonkordat was ratified. Many of the Protestant clergy who opposed the Nazi religious program ( Bekennende Kirche or Confessing Church) later suffered imprisonment or execution. Gauleiter for Berlin in 1926. Goebbels used a combination of modern media, such as films and radio, and traditional campaigning tools such as posters and newspapers to reach as many people as possible. It was through this technique that he began to build an image of Hitler as a strong, stable leader that Germany needed to become a great power again. Text je dostupný pod licencí Creative Commons Uveďte původ – Zachovejte licenci, případně za dalších podmínek. Podrobnosti naleznete na stránce Podmínky užití. In the nine years between 1924 and 1933 the Nazi Party transformed from a small, violent, revolutionary party to the largest elected party in the Reichstag.

The role of the conservative elite in the Nazi rise to power The role of the conservative elite in the Nazi rise to power

Article 8 The official income of the clergy is exempt from distraint to the same extent as the official salary of the civil servants of the Reich and of the states. [68] Before and during World War II he was an ambassador, from 1934 to 1938 in Austria, and from 1939 to 1944 in Turkey. At the 14 July cabinet meeting, Hitler brushed aside any debate on the details of the concordat, expressing the view "that one should only consider it as a great achievement. The concordat gave Germany an opportunity and created an area of trust which was particularly significant in the developing struggle against international Jewry." [51] Saul Friedländer speculates that Hitler may have countenanced in this "area of trust" what he perceived as the Christian Church's traditional theological antipathy towards Jews (see Hitler's comments above to Berning on 26 April) converging with Nazi aims. [51] Hitler "underlined the triumph" that the Concordat meant for the Nazi regime. Only a short time earlier he had expressed doubts that "the church would be ready to commit the Bishops to this state. That this has happened, was without doubt an unreserved recognition of the present regime." [52]exchanged the handshake of trust with you through the concordat – the first foreign sovereign to do so. ...Pope Pius spoke high praise of you. ...Millions in foreign countries, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, have overcome their original mistrust because of this expression of papal trust, and have placed their trust in your regime. [50] On 24 July, Cardinal Faulhaber sent a handwritten letter to Hitler, noting that "For Germany's prestige in the East and the West and before the whole world, this handshake with the papacy, the greatest moral power in the history of the world, is a feat of immeasurable importance." [56]