Hitler's rise to power was greatly due the fact he came across as a likeable character to the German people and had shown good leadership skills. Without these the Nazi party may not have been at all as successful as it came to be under the influence of Hitler.
Q2) Using some of the causes in the list explain how both long term and short term causes contributed to Hitler’s rise to power.
Some long-term causes contributing to Hitler's rise in power from the list include the treaty of Versailles and The Munich Putsch.
I think that the most significant long-term cause contributing to Hitler's rise in power was the Treaty of Versailles. This was the focus point of many of Hitler's campaigns as it had a tremendous effect on Germany as a country.
The most crippling of the terms must have been the war reparations as Germany was forced to pay for the damage the war caused France and Belgium. The reparations cost was a massive sum of £6600 million. The treaty also took from Germany 10% of its industry and 15% of its agricultural land, so it was very unlikely that Germany could afford this immense payment. The reparations Germany was forced to pay seriously dented German industry 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 led to inflation and that sprouted hyperinflation which led Germany into a trap of Economic Depression. The Economic Depression then led on to play its part in helping Hitler become the leader of Germany as during the depression the morale’s of the German people were very low. Hitler took advantage of the vulnerability of the desperate public to gain their trust and belief that the Nazi party could turn around Germany for the better.
Another damaging clause of the Treaty of Versailles was the War Guilt term. This did not damage Germany’s economy but it severely damaged German pride. By agreeing to the Treaty of Versailles Germany was accepting the blame for the war. The Germans greatly resented having the blame thrust upon them for a war that they felt they had fought in self-defence. Although the Germans felt outraged by this term many people in the world believed Germany did start the war. I feel that the War Guilt term was merely to cover up guilt being felt by representatives of each country involved in the war by not detecting the instability Germany was feeling and not doing enough to prevent a war that need not have happened. Germans detested being blamed for the deaths of millions and the damage that had been caused by the First World War.
The treaty of Versailles was a very important factor that contributed to Hitler's rise in power but it was not directly linked to Hitler, his campaign and reign. But it was the cause of many events which without, Hitler would never had had the power he needed to be in control.
The Munich Putsch was another consequential factor assisting Hitler's rise to power. 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. The National Social German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) whose leader at the time was Adolf Hitler organized this. 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 all placed under arrest and then faced trial.
In many ways the Munich Putsch was seen as a complete failure on the Nazis part, it was easily crushed and showed how powerless the Nazis really were. But it also provided a very important building block towards Hitler's and the Nazis success. The Munich putsch launched the Nazis onto the national scene and made Hitler famous. It made Hitler stronger as a person and his time in jail provided him time to plan his rise to power. It gave him time to reflect upon the strengths and weaknesses of the Nazis. He realised the Nazis 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 their time in jail the Nazis used their trials to promote their cause. Hitler did this especially well, using his excellent public speaking skills he managed to not only convince the judges of his justification but also a majority of Germany. 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. After the trials had such an effect that a leaflet was published as a tribute to the honour and bravery of the Nazi members who died during the putsch. The trials and propaganda from this short period produced a lot of support for the Nazi Party and therefore the Munich Putsch helped Hitler to gain popularity and helped him in his rise to power.
A very important short-term cause contributing to Hitler's rise in power was the Enabling Act. This was an act that was passed after the March elections in 1933. Hitler felt he did not have as much power as he had expected as chancellor. Hitler proposed an Enabling Law, which would place all power in his hands and allow him to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag and would greatly decrease 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 Hitler 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 over the people of Germany. This was a very quick way to rise to the top of democracy.
Hitler now had the power in parliament so he now had to put into practice running peoples lives. He did this using his popular propaganda stunts. He also wanted to put across his message that he would be the new leader by being prepared to use very inhumane police forces that specialized in terrorizing citizens and making them obey Hitler. Germany had now transformed into a totalitarian state and Hitler was dictator. Hitler had managed to lure people under his leadership because the desperation of the economic crisis allowed people to give up their morals quite easily. Thanks to the Enabling Act Hitler had achieved the power he wanted.
Q3) Was any one of these reasons more important than the other reasons in Hitler’s rise to power? Explain your answer.
I think that the most influential reason for Hitler's rise in power was the Economic Depression. This was not the only significant factor however, The Munich Putsch, Hitler's oratory, personality and leadership, the decision by Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor and The Enabling Act were all especially important in conjunction with the downfall of Germany’s Economy.
I believe that the economic depression sparked off a lot of unwanted controversy within the German republic, the economic depression was a time of deep despair. Germany was in the grip of this great depression with a population suddenly finding themselves in a state of poverty, misery and uncertainty, whilst in the middle of a rapidly growing political instability.
This depression also made the Weimar government appear weak, as they did not know what to do about the rising poverty and unemployment. It also lost them a majority of support from the public due to unpopular decisions made in their methods of dealing with the economic depression. For example they initially raised taxes and lowered wages, which did not help them gain the people’s trust.
This finally gave Hitler the opportunity that he was looking for to win over the German people. In speeches Hitler would emphasise the weaknesses of The Weimar government and explain how Germany needed strong leadership and Hitler was the key to make Germany a great nation again. Hitler's message also included how he would solve the unemployment problem by getting people back to work on road building and public works. He provided a solution to the problem of rising communism with the Nazi’s SA and said that they were the only ones who really knew how to deal with the communists. At this point in the German nation the citizens, downtrodden and tired of their economic situation, were more than willing to listen to someone with ideas or visions of a brighter and certainly more stable Germany.
The main reason why the economic depression was the most influential above all of the others was because it was the ongoing cause of many people’s unhappiness. It was the foundation upon which the Nazi’s built their political messages.
However the Nazis could not have become as popular as they had without Hitler's strong personality and his great skills in oratory and leadership. Hitler's moving speeches played a main part of gaining popularity from the German people, he used his speeches throughout the Economic Depression to raise the morale. Although not everyone agreed with all of the Nazi party’s actions and politics but there was usually one or two points mostly of unemployment or the stabilising of money; that no one else had offered the German sufferers until then.
Their time was that moment; to be the biggest and the best organized and supported party that Germany had had since the war. The people did not know that Hitler’s rise to power could cause another.
The economic depression was not the only important factor and was partly linked to other factors. For example with out the reparations term of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany may not have needed to borrow the enormous sums of money they did from American banks, therefore Germany would not have been as badly affected by the Wall Street Crash in 1929. This also links to Hitler's oratory, personality and leadership as Hitler used the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles as one of the main Nazi’s aims.
The economic crisis also lead on to the Munich Putsch, which gave Hitler the chance to gain popularity and fame throughout Germany during the trials. The Munich Putsch although was itself a failure showed how far the Nazis would go to fight for what they believed in even if the odds were very unevenly against them. All of these events gave Hitler the opportunity to use publicity stunts, to make moving speeches and to use propaganda to gain the peoples trust in the Nazis and Hitler as a leader. This gained a lot more support for the Nazi’s and eventually they became the largest political party in Germany. This meant that as Hitler was the leader of it he should now become chancellor but Hindenburg was reluctant, but after being faced with the alternative of Nazi revolt and civil war there was no other option. Hitler was appointed as chancellor which was a huge step towards Hitler’s rise in power. Hitler now had more power from the inside of the government. This gave him the grounds to be able to have passed the Enabling Act finally giving Hitler total power as dictator of Germany.