Hitler’s Rise to Power

Question 1

The Wall Street Crash and economic depression were major contributory factors in Hitler’s rise to power. The nation was in crisis: the mark became valueless again, as it had done in 1923 during the occupation of the Ruhr, and unemployment was very high as more and more businesses became bankrupt. As the economic situation worsened, the people of Germany largely lost faith in the Weimar government, as they had now proven that they were ill equipped to cope with crises such as the Depression and the occupation of the Ruhr. Instead of looking to the conventional political parties, the people began to look to extremist parties, as they believed they could offer solutions to these problems. These extremist parties were essentially the Fascists and the Communists.

There are also other factors that helped in Hitler’s rise to power that are connected with the Depression. The Treaty of Versailles played a major role in causing the Depression. The Treaty of Versailles demanded that the defeated countries should pay reparations to the victors, especially France and Belgium. Germany was required to pay a total of £6.6 billion in materials and money. This was made even worse, as the Treaty of Versailles had removed many of Germany’s mineral-rich colonies. When, in 1923, Germany failed to make a payment, French troops forcibly seized minerals from Germany’s main industrial area, the Ruhr. This caused hyperinflation in Germany, and so America lent Germany money, in a plan known as the Dawes Plan. Then, in 1929, when Wall Street crashed, America recalled the loan immediately. Germany could not afford to repay the loan, so the government printed more bank notes, eventually rendering the mark worthless.

A major reason for Hitler’s rise to power was his oratory skills. This can also be linked with the Wall Street Crash, as although the Depression encouraged people to turn away from the conventional political parties, it did not directly encourage these people to turn to the Nazi party. What encouraged people to look for answers to the problems in the Nazis, and not the Communists, was Hitler’s great oratory. He could convince people of things far more effectively than the leader of the Communists. This is shown through the election results in Germany at the time: the Communists popularity did initially increase, from 54 seats in 1928, to 77 in 1930 and 89 in 1932, but the popularity of the Nazi party increased far more steeply, in 1920 they obtained no seats, but by 1928 they had 12, and then in 1930 their popularity increased steeply to 107 seats, and then 230 seats in 1932. By 1932 they were the most popular party in the Reichstag, and in 1933 Hitler was appointed Chancellor. In 13 years they had gone from nothing to virtually running the country.

The Nazi storm troopers (SA), who were Hitler’s personal army, were enormously relevant in his rise to power. They assassinated anyone who posed a threat to the Nazi leadership, and they scared the opposition into silence. This is connected with the Depression, because the majority of these storm troopers were the working class men, left unemployed by the Depression, that Hitler and other Nazis had recruited. The main reason for doing this was that they could then show the country that they were going to improve the situation and increase employment, strengthen the country’s army and increase security.

The Wall Street Crash and the Depression are significant in themselves, as the German people lost security and became miserable. After the crisis of 1923, there had been a time of prosperity and success in Germany. In this time, the German people were satisfied with their government, and had no reason to look to extremist groups like the Nazis. After the Wall Street Crash, however, the German economic structure could no longer stand the strain, it collapsed. German industry essentially ground to a halt, as more and more businesses became bankrupt, and unemployment. The cost of buying imports in Germany also went up, as other countries were doubtful whether Germany would ever recover from this second economic crisis. This meant that the German citizens, particularly the working and middle classes could not afford to buy food and other basic requirements. In the face of this disaster, they looked to Hitler, because he offered radical solutions that appealed to most of the people. He offered to rebuild the army, which appealed to those formerly in the military who had been unable to stay after the Treaty of Versailles. He offered a pure and superior race, with a single strong leader, which appealed to the conservatives, nationalists, and royalists. He offered new schemes, like the building of an Autobahn (motorway) system, which offered employment to those that were left unemployed by the Depression. He offered to destroy any hint of a Communist revolution, which appealed to the upper classes, as they would lose their businesses and the money and become equal to the working classes in a communist ruled country.

So, to conclude, Hitler used the Wall Street Crash, and the Depression that followed to further his bid for leadership, and increase his popularity, but this alone was not enough, there were many other factors that contributed to causing the Depression, or that Hitler used after the Depression to increase his popularity and ultimately to come to power in Germany. If it were not for all the important and not so important factors alike, Hitler may not have ever come to power in Germany, and then the world would probably be entirely different today. Each factor links with another to ...

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Question 2

Both long and short term causes contributed to Hitler’s rise to power, and each was as important as the other. The long and short term causes interact in order for an event to happen. The Treaty of Versailles had long and short-term effects in Germany that contributed to Hitler’s rise to power, as did the Wall Street Crash and the Depression.

The Treaty of Versailles was humiliating for the German people. They had lost the war, and were in a poor economic state as a result of this, and then they had much of their land taken and redistributed. Between forming new states and the returning land to the victorious countries, they were left with many social and economic problems. For example, the area of Alsace-Lorraine that borders France was returned to French rule. As this was a mineral-rich and largely industrial area, this caused economic problems, for example difficulty to pay reparations payments. Large areas of German land were taken to form Poland, a new state. In order to give Poland coastal access, the Polish Corridor, the Polish Corridor was formed. It gave Poland access to the sea, but split Germany in two. There was the main part of Germany in the centre of Europe, but to the east there was the small, Eastern European region of East Prussia. The Treaty of Versailles also caused military problems. After the war, there was a severe threat of a revolution from the left. When this came, in January 1919, the German people were afraid because the army was so small that there was little protection from such an uprising.

The short-term effects of the military restrictions were that the German government was forced to form the Freikorps, a voluntary army, to fight the Communist revolution in January 1919. The Freikorps mainly composed of soldiers who had fought in World War One, and particularly those extremists that had refused to accept the Treaty of Versailles. The soldiers of the Freikorps went on to form the Nazi party and to perform many political murders in Germany. They were believed to be responsible for 354 political murders between 1919 and 1922. The uncertainty in Germany caused by such a small army increased Hitler’s popularity in Germany in later years, as he promised to overthrow the Treaty of Versailles, and rebuild the German army, air force, and navy.

Germany’s economic problems led to failing to pay reparations to France, and so on 11th of January 1923 the French soldiers marched into the Ruhr valley (Germany’s main industrial area) and seized all the mines. Whilst the government employed a policy of passive resistance, the economic problems worsened, as Germany had no materials to trade, they could no longer afford to import goods. The country was faced with hyperinflation. Germany was forced to borrow money from America, and so in the long term this caused the Depression in Germany, which contributed to Hitler’s rise to power in that in the face of the tremendous problems in Germany, the people generally looked away from the conventional political parties, that had proved that they could not cope, and looked to the extremist parties, like Nazis and Communists.

A short-term cause of the humiliation that the citizens faced was the Munich Putsch. Hitler and the Nazi party were mostly previous World War One soldiers at this time that had refused to accept that Germany had lost the war. They were determined to overthrow the Weimar Republic and the Treaty of Versailles and rebuild Germany into a strong and prosperous nation. Hitler felt that the time was right to try and seize power in Munich, then march on Berlin. The Munich Putsch was a complete failure. The leaders, including Hitler, was arrested and sentenced to five years imprisonment, although Hitler was released after one year. The Failure of the Munich Putsch caused the Nazi party to revise their tactics, and this is when Hitler decided on a policy of Legal Revolution; destroying the Reichstag from the inside. This was what ultimately allowed Hitler to come to power, as his great oratory skills allowed him to convince many people to support his party, and that won him many votes. He was also a very good politician, so his policies were designed to appeal to as many of the population as possible, and this was a far more effective way of winning support than violence.

The Wall Street Crash and the Depression also had short and longer-term effects. The Wall Street Crash caused a loss of security in Germany. When the American economy collapsed, the American government recalled the loans that Germany had taken in order to pay the reparations demanded by the Treaty of Versailles. Germany had had a time of prosperity after the occupation of the Ruhr, but they still could not afford to repay the American loans. In order to repay these loans, the German government printed more marks. This meant that the German mark lost value, resulting in very high inflation. This situation worsened, resulting once more in hyperinflation. Savings increasingly lost their value and business owners could no longer afford to pay as many workers. More and more people became unemployed as gradually more businesses became bankrupt. Relatively well off families were left penniless and unemployed.

In the short term, this caused an enormous drop in the security of the German people, so they began to look away from the conventional political parties, as they could not solve the problems of the nation. Instead they looked to those parties that offered drastic answers to the crises. These parties were the Nazis and the Communists. Support for the Nazi party in particular grew very steeply. In 1928, they had only 12 seats in the Reichstag, but by 1930 they had 107 seats. This rise was because of the depression and the problems it caused. Gradually the situation worsened and as it did so, the support for the Nazis increased, as their policies appealed to those that the Communists could not appeal to.

In conclusion, both long and short-term causes contributed to the Nazi rise to power. The short-term causes affected a change in the Nazi party or caused other situations, which then directly caused the rise of the Nazis. Short and long-term causes interact with one another to bring about a large change such as the Nazis coming to power. Without one another the effects would be completely different, as they are interdependent, showing the importance of each in the Nazi rise to power.

Question 3

Each of the reasons in the list was essential in order for Hitler to gain power in Germany, but I that some of the reasons were more important than others. Some of the reasons caused an immediate and direct change in the Nazi party, and I believe these are the most important, whereas some are small, indirect change, over a long period of time and I believe that these are less important.

I believe that the Treaty of Versailles was a very important reason for the Nazis coming to power in Germany. Many events, whether important or not, that led up to Hitler coming to power were as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. Losing the war was humiliating for Germany, and particularly so for the soldiers that had fought and survived. Many soldiers were so humiliated that they refused to accept defeat, and that the Weimar Republic had surrendered unnecessarily. The Treaty of Versailles angered these people, as it was even more humiliating than losing the war, and the Treaty also made them angry with the new government, as they believed that they had signed the Treaty voluntarily, whereas in fact they had very little choice. This humiliation and refusal to accept the defeat caused the formation of the Nazi party from these ex-soldiers, as they had a common cause. They wanted to overthrow the government and the humiliating Treaty of Versailles. The reparations payments demanded by the Treaty of Versailles initially caused the occupation of the Ruhr, which in turn caused the depression in Germany. The military restrictions left Germany at risk from a Communist revolution, similar to the one in Russia, so the government formed the Freikorps, which became the Nazi party. All of these things were essential in establishing the Nazi party as it was after 1923, which makes them very important factors in Hitler’s rise to power.

I believe the Munich Putsch of 1923 to be less important than other reasons for Hitler’s rise to power. In some ways it was important, in that it changed the face of the Nazi party. It induced a change in tactics, which allowed the Nazis to come to power. The Munich Putsch was an attempt to take power in Munich (South Germany) by force. It was a complete failure and the leaders, including Hitler, were arrested and imprisoned. Hitler was sentenced to five years imprisonment, but was released after only one year. When he reformed the Nazi party, after his release, he decided that taking power by force was not going to be effective so changed his tactics to try and win support through the Reichstag, and gain power via legal means. I believe this is less important as the change in tactics may not have been essential, the Nazis may have eventually won power by force, but it is impossible to see what the effect would have been if the Munich Putsch had never happened, as it did have an effect on the Nazi party. It may also have been more due to Hitler’s political awareness that the change in tactics came about, as other politicians may have continued after an event such as the Munich Putsch without a change in tactics, but again it is impossible to say what the effect would have been.

Hitler himself played a major role in the Nazis coming to power. His oratory, personality and leadership were very important reasons that the Nazis came to power. Hitler affected a major instant change in the German Workers party. He joined in 1919, but by 1921, he was the leader. When, in the summer of 1921, some members of the party revolted against Hitler as leader, he resigned. It was then that the Nazi party realised that without Hitler, they were finished. Hitler held the party together. This was due to his oratory and leadership. His oratory was effective in convincing people to join the party, and his leadership kept the party effective in Germany’s political climate. He changed tactics when the ones previously employed were no longer effective. This made an enormous difference to the Nazi party’s rise to power, as the changes in tactics meant that they were increasingly popular. For example, changing from revolution to legal tactics meant that they were considered respectable and more and more people voted for them. The time when the number of Nazi-held seats in the Reichstag was highest was during in the crises. During the Depression, Nazis became hugely popular, because they offered drastic answers to the problems. At this time, Hitler’s oratory and personality made a great difference. The Communist party was also offering drastic answers at this time, but Hitler’s oratory and personality convinced the people to support the Nazis instead of the Communists, as Hitler was convincing, and his leadership and political awareness meant that he offered policies that appealed to all of the population, instead of the narrow spectrum that the Communists appealed to. I believe that Hitler’s oratory, personality and leadership were essential in the Nazi rise to power, as without Hitler, I believe that the Nazi party would have been destroyed.

The Wall Street Crash and the Depression were also vital factors in Hitler’s rise to power. When America’s economy crashed, the government recalled loans from Germany that Germany could not afford to pay. The government printed more bank notes to pay the loans. This made the mark lose value, resulting in high inflation. The government printed more and more bank notes, and consequently Germany was hit by a second wave of hyperinflation. Businessmen struggled against bankruptcy, and their employees faced unemployment. The people in Germany increasingly lost faith in the current, conventional politicians and so turned to unconventional, extremist parties, like the Nazis and the Communists, as they offered answers. The Nazi party had Hitler, a strong leader and great orator, which convinced the people to look for answers in the Nazis. The Nazis offered answers to as many of the people as possible. They aimed to appeal to the whole spectrum of citizens: the upper, middle and working classes. The Depression was an essential reason for Hitler coming to power, as it gave him an opportunity to gain support very quickly, and legally.

The decision by Papen and Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Chancellor seems a very important reason for the Nazis coming to power, but I believe that it is actually comparatively insignificant. At the time when Hitler was appointed Chancellor, the Nazis had the most seats in the Reichstag but not an overall majority. This meant that they were still forced into a weak coalition government, but had the most power. Hitler had run for President in that election, and had only narrowly lost to Hindenburg. Hitler was essentially the most powerful man in the Reichstag. He could force elections, and he had already forced out two previous Chancellors. Hindenburg was left with little choice but to appoint Hitler as Chancellor. He was on the verge of winning a majority vote and disposing of his weak coalition partners altogether and forcing the next Chancellor to resign as the previous two had. If Hitler had not become Chancellor, he would only have found a way to force the majority vote that he needed to dispose of the weak coalition partners. This means that this decision to make Hitler Chancellor was relatively unimportant, and that the Nazis would still have come to power even if Hitler had not been made Chancellor.

The Enabling Act of 1933 was important in the final rise of the Nazi party. Previously, German presidents had had emergency powers. This was the power to, in an emergency, suspend the Fundamental Laws and pass new laws without consulting the cabinet or the Reichstag. This gave the president enormous power, but Hitler took it one stage further. He wanted to pass an Enabling Act, which allowed the Chancellor to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag. This would give the Chancellor almost complete power. In order to pass this, Hitler needed a two-thirds majority vote in the Reichstag. Hitler used an emergency decree to expel all Communists from the Reichstag, and made a deal with the Centre party: in return for voting for the Enabling Act, the church would be given special guarantees. This meant that only socialists were voting against the Enabling Act. Hitler had his two-thirds majority, and the act was passed. Hitler had almost succeeded in gaining supreme power over Germany. The Enabling Act was vital in the final stages of Hitler’s coming to power, as he could pass laws without consulting anyone.

In conclusion, I have established that every reason for Hitler’s coming to power, whether large or small, was essential for him to be able to attain supreme power, but that some reasons had a greater impact than others. The Treaty of Versailles, for example, had an enormous effect on Germany that led to the formation of the Nazi party and many things that followed; the Depression had a great effect on the Nazis popularity, as the people lost faith in the conventional government. On the other hand, the Munich Putsch itself was less important, but still essential in the Nazi rise to power. Without each cause, and there are many more than I have mentioned, the Nazi party may never have come to power, and there may never have been a Second World War. History may have been completely rewritten.

Hitler’s Rise to Power