As unemployment rose in Germany, Hitler used it to offer people a better future and, especially, jobs. He promised a change and a solution for the economical crisis. Hitler’s appeal was based on the problems of the depression: most of his supporters were impressed by the way his propaganda, run by Goebbels, called for ‘Work, Freedom and Bread’. Unemployment strengthened all the hostility against the Treaty of Versailles and the Weimar republic, in general, that had been experienced by the Germans since 1919.
In conclusion, the evidence shows that without the depression Hitler would not have rose to power. He told the Germans what they wanted to hear and offered them a simple explanation for all their problems, the main one being unemployment: “More than fourteen years have passed since the unhappy day when the German people lost everything. Within four years, unemployment must be finally overcome.” (Extract from a proclamation Hitler made on 1 February 1933, the day after he became chancellor)
- Using some of the causes in the list explain how both long-term and short-term causes contributed to Hitler s rise to power.
It could be said that the Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the long term causes. The Treaty of Versailles caused a reaction of hatred and indignation to the Germans which had difficulty coming to terms with defeat after being proud of their army and their leader: they were surprised when Germany was defeated. The Germans who felt that Germany had been betrayed were totally horrified by the treaty. The politicians who signed the ‘armistice’ were called the ‘November criminals’. Ebert, the Weimar’s Republic first democratic president after the Kaiser abdicated, was facing a very hard position related to the treaty. He decided to accept the treaty of Versailles, so the Germans were angry with this idea. The section of the treaty that most angered the Germans was the ‘war guilt’ clause (they felt it was wrong to put the entire blame on Germany) and the payment of reparations.
Hitler took the opportunity from this because, as he also hated the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, he made promises to the Germans that he would remove any sign of the terms of the treaty. People believed in him because of his oratory abilities: he was very strong and very charismatic, he looked very confident of himself and by the way he spoke, he made people believe in him.
The treaty of Versailles was the most important of the long-term causes because it gave Hitler the chance to exchange the same ideas he had with the rest of the Germans about the treaty of Versailles.
