The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was an important long term cause to Hitler’s rise to power – but it was also an indirect one. The Treaty helped create bad feelings towards the Weimar Republic – the government in Germany before Hitler (1919 to 1934). It made Germany accept the war guilt clause, meaning that Germany was held fully responsible for World War. It also made them pay £6,600,000,000 in reparations which Germany stood little chance of paying. The German government could not pay the reparations so tried to print more money. This led to hyperinflation and the economic depression in Germany (1923 onwards). These events made the German population angry, blame the Weimar republic, and give more support to extremist parties, such as the Nazi Party and the Communist Party. The Nazi party especially stood out with Hitler as their leader and his speeches on rebuilding a powerful Germany. The Wall Street Crash (1933) added to Germany’s economic problems and caused great unemployment.
If Germany had not had to pay the reparations outlined in the Treaty of Versailles, then Germany could have coped better with the economic depression and unemployment. This would have meant that there would have been less support for the extremist groups, so Hitler might not have become as popular and won so many votes. However, Hindenburg and Von Papen may still have chosen him as Chancellor as he was going down in popularity when he was made Chancellor. Hitler didn’t directly come to power because of hyperinflation; he came to power directly because of Von Papen and Hindenburg’s decision to make him chancellor.
The decision of Von Papen and Hindenburg to make Hitler Chancellor (January 1933) helped Hitler greatly as it gave him more power – the Chancellor was the most important man in Germany. It allowed him to stop the Communists, by banning Communist election meetings and shutting down Communist newspapers, to call for elections that he could control, and to give more power to the Stormtroopers. He enrolled thousands of Stormtroopers as special constables, who often “overlooked” brutality towards Nazi opponents on the streets. With Stormtroopers standing outside and inside polling stations watching how people voted, it wasn’t hard to see that people would vote for Hitler. Hitler’s power and control of the Government was a large step towards his total Dictatorship of Germany.
The Enabling Law (March 1933) was the final step in Hitler’s rise to power. This law allowed Hitler to make decisions without the Reichstag for four years. Hitler got the two thirds majority he needed to pass the law by banning the Communist Party and by getting the support of the centre party – by promising not to do anything to the Catholic Church. Just to make sure the law was passed he put Stormtroopers around the building to intimidate the voters. The law was passed by 441 votes to 84, which meant the Reichstag effectively voted itself out of existence. After this Hitler had total control of Germany and led as a dictator.
Question two
Although the economic depression after the Wall Street Crash in 1929 played an important part in Hitler’s rise to power, it was only one of 4 main reasons for this. Without any of the others he wouldn’t have come to power. The three main other reasons are the economical depression which happened six years earlier (1923), Hitler’s charisma and skill at speaking, and the general political crises at the time due to the first past the post system in Germany.
The economic depression caused by the Wall Street Crash (1929 onwards) played an important part in Hitler’s rise to power as it caused bad feelings towards the Weimar republic. This meant that there was more support for extremist parties, such as the Communists and especially Hitler’s Nazi party with his dramatic speeches on rebuilding a strong Germany.
Without the earlier hyper inflation and depression (1923) Germany would have been able to cope better with the unemployment, and Hitler would not have gained as much popularity. Hitler also may not have staged the Munich Putsch (November 1923) without the impetus of the economic crisis. Without the publicity he got from the Putsch, and from his subsequent trial, when he was able to make a lot of speeches to raise his profile, he would not have been taken seriously. As a result of the Putsch he was sentenced to five years in prison, and although he served only nine months of the sentence, he used his time in prison to write his book “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle). He might not have had the time to do this if he had not been in prison.
Hitler’s skills in public speaking and his charismatic personality made people listen to him, and turn to the Nazi Party with a hope of rebuilding a great Germany. The Nazi Party would have been unheard of, and he would not have become the party leader without his skill. When he became leader of the Nazi Party, he was able to put it in order and get much more support for it.
Political crises and lack of alternative political leadership helped Hitler’s rise to power. Without these he would not have been appointed Chancellor by Von Papen and Hindenburg. They thought that he was popular and that they could manipulate Hitler into doing what they wanted. However, they underestimated him. Even though he was actually going down in popularity at the time, and had Nazis in only 3 of 12 government posts, he made the Reichstag effectively vote itself out of power in the Enabling Law (March 1933). Without this law Hitler may never have got control of the whole country.
Some people think that the Treaty of Versailles was another factor in Hitler’s rise to power, but I think it was not as important as the other factors. He would have been able to rise to power without it, as most of his ideas expressed in Mein Kampf were about taking over Eastern Europe, and only a small part of it related to taking back the Treaty of Versailles. I think it may have helped indirectly, but that Hitler could have taken power without the Treaty. It just helped in creating more bad feelings towards the government who signed the treaty, and helped him to get the Nationalists on his side, as they also wanted to get back Germany’s land and national pride.
In conclusion the economic depression after 1929 was very important to Hitler’s rise to power but it was one of 4 main parts and without the economic depression before 1923, Hitler’s skill at speaking, his charismatic personality, and the general political crises at the time he wouldn’t have risen to be the dictator of Germany.