The growth of Himmler's power in the years 1933-39
Uploaded by #26985 on Apr 01, 2005
Note: This Essay also uses additional sources which are not necessarily required to understand this essay.
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Using the evidence of Sources 1, 2 and 3 and your own knowledge, what do you consider explains the growth of Himmler's power in the years 1933-39
With Himmler's appointment to Head of the SS, in order to explain the growth of Himmler's power, we have to ask; 'How did the SS become so powerful?', because essentially the more the SS grew, the more powerful Himmler became. The purging of the SA on the 'Night of Long Knives' and other decrees and acts that the SS used to their advantage and Himmler's personality and characteristics are important factors to look at when answering the question.
At the end of WW1, bitter at Germany's defeat, Himmler joined a nationalist paramilitary group and participated in the Munich Putsch. For the first couple of years he wasn't very active but in 1925 became more active as he was appointed head of the SS; Hitler's personal bodyguard and a part of the SA. It was the SS that catapulted Himmler to the top of the Nazi political ladder. Over the next four years Himmler worked on increasing the membership of the SS and successfully did so, increasing the number of members from 280 to 50,000 by 1933. It is important to note that the tension between the Army and Hitler was always strong even though the former supported the rebuilding of the army and the occupation of the Rhineland. What's more, the SA hadn't always agreed with Hitler and had tried on numerous occasions to rebel against him, for example in March 1931 when, the then-leader of the SA, Walther Stennes and some of his members refused to obey the Law. With that in mind, in addition to the fact that the SS used to be Hitler's personal bodyguard, the latter's trust in the SS would logically be greater than that of the Army and the SA. Thus, by increasing the SS and making it more of a recognised and important organisation in the Nazi state, Himmler was increasing his own power as well as Hitler's trust. Over the next few years Hitler's trust in Himmler played a very important part in his rise to power.
The next move Himmler made was to get into the political scene. Before Hitler's appointment into the office of Reichs Chancellor in 1933 the SS...