The economy played a very big part in the starting of the War. Had the people of Germany not been in a state of commercial disaster, they would have had no reason to turn to the ways of the NAZI party, they wouldn’t have needed to find someone to blame for their hardships.
It wasn’t only the fact that people had no money, jobs or homes that they turned to the NAZI party. The Political situation in Germany at the time was awful, and Hitler made his campaign appealing to the people when no other parties did.
Hitler was very clever, he used peoples’ emotions and fears to win votes, this made him an ingenious politician. His campaigns focused in on the suffering of the German people, and promised things that he knew people would want. He drew up a 25 point programme for his campaign, the majority of the points were intended to bring the German people closer together, and make all German peoples’ lives much easier. Obviously this is what the people wanted, and needed.
Within his points he also made it clear that he disliked Jewish people, and that any person that wasn’t of German blood would be treated less favourably then a German person.
‘4. …Only those who have German blood, regardless of creed, can be our countrymen Hence no Jew can be a countryman.
5. Those who are not citizens must live in Germany as foreigners and must be subject to the law of aliens.’- Program of National Socialist Party.
If it had been at any other time, the majority of people would have thought Hitler was crazy. But it seemed that just at the right time, things started to go wrong for Germany, therefore, well for Hitler.
Ever since the end of World War 1, Germany hadn’t been the same, economically, socially, and especially politically. Between 1918 and 1924 Germany didn’t have a consistent government.
Kaiser Wilhelm (the Emperor of Germany from 1888-1918) couldn’t control the country when the German people were unhappy about the War. He was forced to give up the throne, and flee to Holland. This left Germany with no leader.
The Social Democrats soon took over and Friedrich Ebert, their leader, took the Kaiser’s place. His first action was to sign an armistice with the Allies. This played a major part in Germany’s political problem as many German’s despised this decision. It was because of the armistice that Germany had to sign the Treaty of Versailles. Many people lost faith in Ebert and the Social Democrats as the years went on, and life in Germany became hard.
In 1919 the Weimar Republic was formed after Spartacist and Communist revolutions. This was to prove to be the downfall of Germany. It was the first democracy Germany had ever had, and people weren’t sure what to think. Not many people trusted the Republic as Ebert was still in power, and people resented the fact that he had surrendered, and put their lives in a state of misery. After the hyperinflation crisis it was clear that the Weimar Republic was a complete failure. The people of Germany were let down once again.
Also Germany still had the Treaty of Versailles to deal with. The Treaty contained harsh rules concerning land, armaments, reparations and political procedure.
As you can see Germany didn’t have very good luck.
Finally, a man came to power who actually helped Germany. As I have mentioned before Gustav Stresemann led Germany in her ‘Golden Years’. But after he died, and the Wall Street Crash ruined what Stresemann had built, Germany was yet again in a state of chaos. After all the German people had been through, now, there seemed to be no hope of getting better.
Politically, there were many parties for the German people to support. Traditionally particular social classes and groups had supported particular political parties, for example middle class Germans tended to support right wing parties. However, after the Wall Street Crash, the middle class of Germany suffered a great deal. Many had savings in the bank which they depended on, they lost all of this. Many middle class citizens owned their own small businesses which had to be closed down due to lack of money and customers.
So when Hitler realised that focusing his campaign only on the working class wasn’t gaining him votes, he turned his focus to the middle class.
When the usual party people voted for didn’t provide the same kind of options as the more extreme NAZI party, people left their old ways, and turned to Hitler and his unheard of ideas and promises.
In Germany a system called proportional representation had been introduced to the Reichstag (part of the German parliament.) This meant that if you got 10 out of 100 votes, you would get 10% of the seats in the Reichstag. This was one of the reasons why Germanys’ government was so unsettled. In order to get a motion passed in the Reichstag, you had to have majority votes. If your party only had 10% of the seats, you couldn’t get a majority vote.
But after the collapse of the economy, the bad leadership and the many other problems in Germany, people started to switch their votes to the NAZI party.
What really helped Hitler was his propaganda. He gave the German people confidence and pride, he helped them to forget their troubles and start a new. Each piece of propaganda targeted a particular type of person. Hitler used anti-Communism and anti-Semitism as a focal point of his campaign.
Hitler was also very clever with his strategies, and gained the support of powerful industries. He joined forces with another right wing party, the Nationalists, which gave the NAZI party a lot of power.
Radio had just been introduced, and so a lot of Hitlers’ propaganda was broadcast on radio stations. Also mass producing of posters and fliers had just been introduced. Hitler played the technology ‘boom’ to his advantage.
He made a lot of promises to the public. Workers would be offered jobs, working on building new roads and railways. The homeless would be found homes, and the hungry would be able to eat again. Profits would be restored, farmers would get higher prices for their stock, the competition between shops would be kept to a minimum, and women would even be given medals for having Aryan children (the perfect German- blonde hair, blue eyes). He thought of something to help everyone.
Hitler focused in on the social situation in Germany. People were obviously depressed, deprived and disheartened.
Hitler started rallies to get people excited about the election campaign. He made people hope for the future, and really take an interest in their rights as German citizens. He especially targeted the German youth. These were to be the people of the future, the people that would continue in the Aryan traditions, and help Germany thrive as the ‘superior’ race. He started special youth groups in which children were taught about Hitlers’ beliefs and campaigns.
‘…I wanted to be in a boys’ club with a nationalistic aim. The Hitler Youth had camping, hikes and group meetings. There were boys from all kinds of families…’
It seemed that with Hitler in power, everyone would have happier lives. Except if you were a Jew.
As I have said, Hitler used anti-Semitism as a campaign strategy. He knew that people would want to blame their problems and failures onto others. Who better than the Jews?
Anti-Semitism has existed ever since the Jewish people existed. Hitler himself had stumbled across this in the earlier years of his life. He enjoyed reading, and had come across a book by an anti-Semitic author, and had liked what he read so much, he started to be anti-Semitic. Other factors that turned him against Jews, were; the man that turned him away from the art school he wanted to go to, was Jewish and also the man that signed the Treaty of Versailles was a Jew.
So he killed two birds with one stone. He devised a way of getting votes, but also of getting rid of the Jews.
Many of the important jobs at the time were taken by Jewish people. For example lawyers, doctors, teachers, most of the professional jobs. This meant that they had a lot of power, and many were well educated. They earned a lot of money, and this was a good point for Hitler to play on. The fact that the Jews were doing all right when the majority of non Jews were doing awfully.
There were many reasons for the success of Hitler and the NAZI party. Obviously if they hadn’t of been successful, Hitler would have never come to power, and the Holocaust would have probably never happened. But it seemed that everything was happening just at the right time for Hitler.