This sum was very large and dented the German industry greatly because if they could not meet a certain sum of money by their deadline then the difference would be taken from various industry products. This soon caused inflation that sprouted to hyperinflation and so the Economic depression of the 1920’s in Germany occurred. Germany also had been leant money from America and they found them selves in debt when they couldn’t pay.
I would say that the War Guilt clause was the most damaging term of the Treaty for Germany’s pride. By agreeing to the treaty Germany was made to accept all blame for starting the war.
Although many people in the world believed this was true I think that it was just to cover up the guilt being felt by the representatives of each country involved in the war, for not detecting the instability Germany was feeling and not doing enough to prevent a war that need not have happened. So very imaginably Germany was very resentful of being blamed for all the deaths the terrible disruption, and the damage that had happened in the First World War.
This ongoing long-term cause was the core itself of many more causes in the rise of Hitler. I do not believe that it was a direct link to Hitler, his campaign and reign but the cause of many other events which without, Hitler would never had had the power he needed to be in control.
Another long-term cause of Hitler’s rise to power was the
Munich Putsch. The economic crisis and the French invasion of the Ruhr was causing such discontent between the German people that Hitler decided to attempt a putsch on the conference at Munich in Bavaria, a southern region of Germany. This was organized by the National Social German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) whose leader at the time was Adolf Hitler.
At this point the Nazi’s were only a small party opposed to the Weimar Republic. The putsch took place on the 8th November 1923. There was a meeting in a large beer cellar, von Kahr- Governor of Bavaria- was in the middle of a speech and all attention was poised on him. In stormed Hitler and his fellow party members. The Nazis were supposed to be supported by the Bavarian government when they proposed to seize power and march to Berlin to overtake control of the country.
However their plan failed and the army were surprisingly on command when the party were walking through Munich, Fire broke out and 16 Nazis were killed. The leaders of this deed were then arrested.
I believe that the failure of this putsch only made Hitler stronger. As a person his time in jail allowed him to concentrate on how he would be able to successfully rise to power, but also how quickly he would be able to achieve this. It gave him time to realise the Nazi party’s strong points of reasoning and that they would not just need support from their people but that these people would need to feel that they could die for the cause, Nazi martyrs would need to be born from promotions, propaganda – any tool that the Nazis had available to them.
Most importantly from the time in jail due to the failure of the Munich putsch, the Nazi’s used their trials, especially Hitler, to promote their cause. In the witness box he condemned the 12 men that signed the Treaty of Versailles who were called the ‘ November criminals´ and he condemned the Treaty itself.
A leaflet was published which was a tribute to the honour and bravery of the Nazi members who died during the putsch. The trial and well-stocked propaganda of this quite short period produced much interest and even more support for the Nazi party and therefore helped Hitler in his rise to power.
A short-term cause of the success of the Nazi party is the Enabling Law. When Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933 he felt that he did not have as much power as he could have. He proposed the Enabling act that would reduce the Reichstag’s powers. This change required a two-thirds majority vote in the meeting of the newly elected Reichstag. He achieved this by expelling all communist MP's of the Reichstag. Then made an agreement with the centre party that in return for the Enabling act power the church would have a special guarantee of safety. The Law was passed and Hitler had an ultimate power of the people of Germany. What better and quicker way to rise to the top of the democracy. This was an excellent move by Hitler as this firmly set him on his way to becoming the sole leader of Germany, which ultimately we all know that he did.
Once Hitler had the power within the parliament he had to put it into practice by running peoples lives. This was achieved by his ever-popular propaganda stunts such as, the use of radio and highly charged speeches to the German people across the country, he also wanted to strongly put across his message that he would be the new leader by using police forces that specialized in terrorizing citizens and making them obey Hitler. This may be a reason as to why he gained power people where scared that if they didn’t follow him then they would lose their lives.
Although it does not seem to be a good way of living the economic crisis had driven people to give up their morals very easily. Hitler had worn them down but in another way had pulled them up so that he could achieve the power that he wanted. This being his final goal. So both the long and short term causes need to be taken in to account as they all contributed to his rise to power.
3.
For me it is impossible to single out one sole reason to why Hitler gained power in Germany. At that time Germany was in such as crisis and there was no politician in Germany posing a real threat to Hitler that it is no wonder he gained power. I believe that every reason is important to the rise of Hitler every cause links in some way to another. For example:
If the treaty of Versailles had never been signed then Germany may not have had to pay huge war debt. Then maybe they wouldn’t have had the economic crisis.
If Hitler hadn’t had gone to prison after the Munich putsch then no one would have heard of him luckily for Hitler the papers reported his every word and his book was a matter of fascination for the German public.
Although Hitler was cruel military dictator it has to be remembered that the German people voted Hitler in to power.
Hitler was a strong man with big ideas for a “better Germany” and at the time of Germany biggest economic depression Hitler must have been seen as a gift to these people.
Some people may argue that the main reason that Hitler gained power was because he was appointed Chancellor in 1933. But I believe that the reason lies much further back with the signing of the treaty of Versailles in 1919 because this was something that Germany didn’t want. They didn’t want to give in. They then had to pay for war loans the amounted to over £2200millon and this lead to the economic disaster. Hitler promised the German people that he would stop them paying off this debt. I think that Hitler took this so seriously because he fought as a soldier in the First World War.
Hitler’s personality and leadership must not be forgotten. He was a man with a voice, and a manner, that when he spoke people sat up listened. He was the best form of propaganda the Nazi party had.
Hitler had magnetism. He spoke with a brilliant surging passion at huge rallies all over Germany whipping the crowds into hysteria.
The Nazi party’s tactics were very good and effective in their rise to power. However the success was really thanks to Hitler and the character that in the beginning I believe he was portraying but later became.
I believe that if there had not been an economic disaster after the wall street crash of 1929 when America could no longer financially aid Germany to pay back its war debt then the country might not at that time, stumbled into a state of hyperinflation, Hitler would never have successfully raised the amount of strong morale that he did, mainly due to pure human conscience. Not many people believe in the majority of the Nazi party’s actions and politics but there was usually one or two points mostly of un-employment or the stabilising of money; that no one else had offered the German sufferers until then. But I think that he wouldn’t have even became chancellor if the depression had never had happened.
Hitler was years ahead of his time as a communicator. Using films, radio and records he bought his message to millions. He travelled by plane on a hectic tour of rallies all over Germany. This made people think ‘ If he can be bothered to travel to see us then he must care about the German people’.
In a way Hitler did care about the German people he wanted his country to prosper as they had done in the past. However his own selfishness blinded him and he led Germany into some of its darkest days. Hitler was a man that made himself and eventually destroyed himself. Not caring who he took with him. His death caused many of his own beloved people to die with him. A good example would be his wife Eva Braun.
Incidentally Hitler didn’t care about the Jewish that had made huge contributions to the German nation. He was fully prepared to kill every Jewish person in Germany. He led the German people to believe that it was the Jews who had made their lives like this and his one of his goals that he managed was too kill as many Jewish citizens as possible. 6 million was the estimated total at the end of the war.
In conclusion if you look at all the noted reasons you will understand that they all play an important role in Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. Every one of these reasons links to another.
Another good move for Hitler was taking Germany out of the league of Nations in the early 30’s he was ready to take the world into his own hands.
Hitler’s power in Germany was obvious. He was what Germany wanted needed at that time they needed some one strong to rule their motherland that was in so much crisis during that period. If things had been different in Germany then maybe Hitler would have never rose to power. If he didn’t though then inevitably some one else would have done and toppled the weak Weimer government. Even if Hitler never became powerful then I still firmly believe that World War 2 still would have taken place. Germany still would have broken out against their treatment after the First World War making the war that succeeded inevitable.
