The Weimer republic proved to be an unpopular move in Germany’s politics. Although they were rightfully voted into power the Germans were very suspicious and to some extent afraid of democracy. Unfortunately for the Weimer republic they were forced to sign the Armistice ceasefire at the end of World War One, this meant that the German public felt betrayed by the government. Due to the timings of Kaiser Wilhelm’s abdication and the beginning of the Weimer republic the Kaiser had been associated with ‘pre-war prosperity’. Any government that followed the Kaisers rein that had to deal with the post war crisis were not going to be popular. The German’s felt incredibly humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles and they hated the fact that the Weimar government had signed it. The £6600 million reparations were far too high for Germany to repay and it brought huge economic crisis for the government. Because the Germans craved a strong, firm leader they hated that the government had lost control of the nation resulting in angry Germans staging rebellions and revolts.
In 1923 French and Belgium troops invaded the Ruhr (Germany’s main industrial area). This happened because in 1922 Germany declared they were struggling to pay back the reparations and were going to lower their repayments for three years. France and Belgium were not impressed by Germany’s move and decided to invade the Ruhr in 1923. All the Ruhr workers were instructed by the Weimar republic to carry out passive resistance during this one hundred and forty Germans were killed. Strikers got the full support of the government and remained on full pay. This drove Germany into even bigger economic crisis because their main industrial area was making no money yet they were still paying the workers. The Weimar republic came up with the idea to print more and more money to cover their repayments but it soon got out of hand and led to hyper-inflation. This meant that money became worthless for example one loaf of bread could cost one hundred Marks. The economic crisis affected all areas of German life including the major food shortages leading to deaths due to starvation. There was widespread poverty and this combined with everything else made nearly all Germans turn against the Weimar republic.
In August 1923 it seemed that Germany was going to be saved. Gustav Stresemann was appointed chancellor and immediately called off the Ruhr strikes. He then introduced a new currency (the Rentenmark) to start the economy on a clean slate. Stresemann came to an agreement to borrow the reparation money from America under the Dawes Plan.
Question 2: Hitler was an unknown corporal in the German army at the time of defeat in November 1918. Explain why he was a national figure by 1930.
Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889.He was close to his mother but had a very bad relationship with his father. When he was 16 he went to follow his dream of becoming an artist in Vienna whilst but living a rough life in Vienna between 1909 and 1914 Hitler formed a passionate hate towards ‘Jews’. He served in the German army throughout World War 1 and won the iron cross however he was unable to accept the fact that The Great War was over and that the Treaty of Versailles was forced upon Germany. Adolf continued to serve in the German army after The Great War and shortly after joined The ‘German Workers Party’ in 1919.
The Versailles Treaty was crammed with unfair terms towards Germany. Article 231 (the war guilt clause) influenced the very humiliating and unfair terms so as to follow. Taxes for the German public and risen a lot due to the harsh reparations from the Treaty.
Hitler’s strong beliefs about the Treaty of Versailles proved very popular. The Nazis were very passionate about this and believed that they had been cheated in the treaty. Hitler’s along with the rest of the German population’s pride was damaged due to the war guilt clause of the treaty. Adolf Hitler had a very extreme Nationalist view and believed that only people who were ‘true’ Germans could be members of the German nation this meant that no Jewish people were accepted. Another of the Nazis beliefs was that old age pensions should be generous. This of course proved very popular with the older generation of Germany. One belief that all Germans took to was to unite all Germans in one country this pushed the right buttons because during the time after The Great War Germans remained very patriotic. With this meant that Germans were more than willing to support Hitler’s want to rebuild the German army and invade Eastern Europe. Due to the fact that the majority of Germany were white Europeans Adolf’s view that they were the superior Race went down very well in Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm’s legacy left Germans wanting another strong individual leader with similar characteristics which was exactly what Hitler wanted to bring back to Germany. Like America Germany was almost terrified of Communism. Hitler shared this fear and like many Germans wanted to destroy it.
Hitler finally decided in November 1923 that he was ready to try and overpower the Weimer Republic. This was named the Munich Putsch. The Weimer Government were busy trying to control hyperinflation and the economic crisis. Nazis went in for action when they took over an official government meeting to declare the take over and shortly after started to invade other important government buildings. Although Hitler had noted correctly Germany’s mood towards the current government he was not supported in his efforts as strongly as he thought he would be. Sixteen Nazis were killed in their efforts to overpower the government but he managed to get away with an extremely light punishment. His accomplice Ludendorff walked away free and Hitler was only sentenced to five years in prison.
Adolf Hitler was an opportunist. He knew what to say and exactly when to say it. He had a strong political instinct. For instance he decided in 1923 that he would March through Munich to gain support. He chose this year because it was the same year that the Ruhr was invaded by French and Belgium troops. Hitler had a very powerful seminar technique. To begin he entered from the rear of the hall to show the fact that he came from the people and to create an atmosphere. He always began his talks with a ten minute silence to show his authority. If people were waiting on Hitler’s word this showed that he was a very strong man at this time. Germany was in a vulnerable state and was craving a leader with qualities such as the Kaisers. He demonstrated this by revealing his determination he was quoted to say ‘Thirteen years ago I was a simple unknown soldier. I went my way. I never turned back. Nor shall I turn back now.’ He became such a strong politician and manipulated people so well that he was referred to as if he were a prophet, a leader of a religion. He became incredibly good at brainwashing his crowd using repetition. He repeated his key ideas in so many different ways that the vulnerable German’s actually mistook them for new and better ideas. He was an ordinary man that was able to get through to stupid people but with such an incredible passion for his beliefs.
In 1929 Hitler used the Economic Depression to his advantage. Due to the war and the Treaty of Versailles Germans at the time hated the Weimar Government. Unfortunately whatever government came to power at this time would have had more or less the same problems because the government were forced to sign the Treaty and deal with the crisis that followed. The Economic crisis at the time did not help their situation as they did not deal with it in the best way that they could have. The Chancellor made a wrong move and drove people to hate the government even more when he cut wages but increased taxes. He also reduced unemployment benefits. This led to the Weimar government being blamed for the economic crisis. Being one of the most democratic governments in the world at the time the Weimar Republic did not take the same shape as the previous Kaiser as in the way they made decisions. Unlike the Kaiser they were not forceful or firm in their decisions, this did not bode well for the government. In 1930 Article 48 was put in place this meant that the president at the time were able to pass new laws with out consulting the parliament. This had a negative cohesion on the German Democracy. Violence was brought upon the nation derived from the Germans bitterness towards the feeble handling of the economic crisis by the Weimar Constitution. All this contributed to Hitler’s rise to power. The Nazi’s saw this as the perfect opportunity to show their campaign. Hitler was given the chance to prove himself by showing his oratory skills and the Germans took an instant liking to him due to the fact that Hitler was incredibly like the Kaiser. Knowing full well the hate that the nation had towards the current government Hitler used them as a scape goat and this helped his campaign greatly. The Nazi’s were very well organised and had very impressive propaganda making radio appearances and showing their solutions to Germanys major problems on millions of posters and through the many rallies they organised at the time. Although Hitler was passionate about his beliefs he was willing to drop ideas if they didn’t go down well with his audience. This was a good method that Hitler demonstrated and gained him much support. Another useful method he used was to organise soup kitchens for the poor. This showed people that Hitler was willing to help people and could solve or make problems better. To create the illusion that Germany was united Hitler lined his S.A together very closely so that they were touching. This gained a lot of support because Germany wanted to become a united nation again and saw that Hitler was able to do that. All this made Adolf Hitler a very popular candidate for Government.
In 1923 Hitler saw and ceased the opportunity to invade the government. Hitler and his S.A broke into a Bavarian government meeting and declared the revolt against the Weimar republic. Hitler explained to the Bavarian Prime minister that he was becoming the new leader of Germany and gave him a chance to become part of his party. Hitler began to appoint more and more people in his party and became confident beginning to arrest Jews and socialists. It didn’t take long for the Berlin Government to find out about Hitler’s revolt and began to destroy his rise to power. As the Nazi party made their way through Munich and when fire opened Hitler lost all confidence and ran away. His party followed him and after only three days on November 11th 1923Hitler and the Nazi party were defeated. Although Hitler failed to destroy the Weimar Republic in this event – The Munich Putsch worked in favour for him. He gained very important publicity from his trial of which he was sentenced to five years in prison. This was great for Hitler because it gave him a chance to show his leadership skills and he also revealed a strong belief of his which happened to be a popular belief of the general public at the time. His revelation that the Versailles Treaty teamed with the Weimar republic was the cause of Germanys problems at the time went down well with people and therefore meant Hitler served only nine months of his five year sentence. Whilst in jail Adolf Hitler wrote his famous book Mein Kampf. Defining his plans for Germany in the next few years. Hitler’s sentence worked very well for him giving him time to plan his campaign for power. But he also developed a hate for the Jews during his time in prison which led to the horror of the Holocaust.
Question 3: It was the Enabling Law that allowed Hitler to dominate Germany by the end of 1934. Explain how far you agree with this statement, concentrating on 1932 to 1934.
The great economic depression of 1929 had a big effect on Hitler’s rise to power. The Weimar had the prefect solution to the reparation situation they were in with France and Britain. The Dawes plan, which involved America lending Germany the reparation money which would effectively end back in America due to the debts they were owed by both France and Britain. This plan could have turned things around for the Weimar government but the Wall Street crushed all the dreams of Germany being debt free. America had to pull out of the Dawes plan due to the depression leaving Germany’s industry destroyed. The depression began to take effect in Germany with homelessness soaring and unemployment rose. This was a disaster for the government because they were forced to raise taxes and cut wages which obviously angered the German public. It was the perfect time for other parties to put the Weimar republic down, putting the devastation down to the government being unable to cope with such money problems. Unlike the actions the Kaiser would have taken the government did not take authority and in the eyes of the public failed as a government. This had a very positive effect on the Nazis. The Nazis were one of the parties that found fault in the Weimar republic; Hitler also got the chance to show that he and the Nazis were much more disciplined and effective like the Kaiser. The Nazi party also had incredibly good propaganda, using posters, radio and public rallies.
At first President Hindenburg refused to appoint Hitler as Chancellor because he found him untrustworthy and really disliked his radical ways. Instead he opted to place his good friend Franz Von Papen as Chancellor defying democracy. This was a bad idea and an even worse action. Franz Von Papen was doomed from the start. This was because he had ineffective policies. Not long after being appointed Chancellor Von Papen was forced to resign and still Hindenburg chose to appoint another friend over Hitler. Kurt Von Schleicher was the new Chancellor. But again he was forced to resign after only living out a very very short time as Chancellor. Now President Hindenburg had no choice but to give the title to Hitler. He did this on one condition, that Von Papen was vice president. Hindenburg and Von Papen had the false illusion that they could control Hitler but they were very wrong and he used his position to his advantage. It didn’t take long at all for Hitler to soon gain total control.
When Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933 he saw a way to get the Nazi party into power. Adolf Hitler made even more speeches and started great rallies. On 27th January 1933 the Reichstag building was set alight. The Nazi party insisted that the fire was down to the Communists and claimed it was the beginning of the Communists coming to power. Hitler used the perfect scapegoat: the Communist party. It gave Hitler a great chance to achieve emergency powers. On 28th January 1933 the Emergency decree was passed. He used the act to his great advantage and went about arresting suspected members of the Communists.
The Enabling Law was an act which allowed Hitler to pass laws without consulting the other members of Reichstag. The act was passed on March 23rd 1933 due to Hitler and the Nazi party wining two hundred and eighty eight seats (52% of the vote) in the March 1933 elections. This led to the Nazi party wining 100% of the votes in the November 1933 elections. This meant that no one could stop Hitler from passing any law he pleased. Although Adolf Hitler had gained such great power over the past few months he had not achieved ultimate power. He was not ‘Der Fuhrer’: the ultimate ruler of Germany. He began to wipe out any part of society that may one day become a problem to the Nazi’s this included removing Jews from courts and schools. Trade Unions were banned soon after and Hitler’s party opponents were also slowly wiped out. Hitler soon showed how far he would go for total power by destroying his loyal S.A. because the current army leaders thought they were to bullying and held there reserves against the Nazi party for it. This was referred to as ‘The night of the long knives’. On June 29th-30th 1933 Hitler’s S.S. murdered Rohm (the S.A. leader) and as many as four hundred other S.A. soldiers. Hitler then used the excuse that Rohm was planning to kill him and it worked. He soon after gained the trust of the German Army.
On July 14th 1933 the Law against the Formation of New Parties was passed. This meant that no new parties were able to form. Also the Social Democratic Party and Communist Party were banned. Therefore the Nazi party had no opponents. They were the only political party in Germany.
Following President Hindenburg’s death on August 2nd 1934 Hitler became the Fuhrer. Adolf Hitler was now supreme leader of Germany and the German army swore an oath of loyalty to him. The German army agreed in the oath to stay out of Hitler’s political affairs and in return Hitler promised to put more money and power behind the army making them once again a military state.
The Nazi party had something very strong going for them and this was the Germans fear of communism. Germans feared that like in the USSR there would be state power over all businesses and the power of the trade unions. Hitler had said he would not stand for communism and had the financial support of the German public because they thought he would oppose the threat of communism. Just like the communist party the Nazis fought with violence and they often faced each other on the streets. The Nazi party also agreed to help out the peasant farmers in Germany therefore gaining their support as well.
Hitler did very well in becoming a dictator. It took him only eighteen months from becoming chancellor in a weak position to having total control of Germany. This happened because of long term and short term factors. In the short term was the Reichstag fire which led to the Emergency decree which was absolutely vital to Hitler’s rise to power. There was also the new elections in March 1933, there was very strong pressure put upon Hitler’s opponents forcing them to vote for the Nazi party. Then came the Enabling Law allowing Hitler (as chancellor) to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag. This was followed by the unions being taken over and all other political parties being banned. In 1934 came the Night of the Long Knives which led Hitler to gain military support. And finally the coincidental death of President Hindenburg on August 2nd 1934, this left Hitler with one hundred percent control over Germany and the army then swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler.
Long term factors included World War one, Hitler was angered by the armistice and because the German public were too he found it very easy to blame it on the Weimar Government. The Kaisers flee also helped Hitler because they were both so similar that the public were comfortable if not very happy to accept Hitler as a leader. The economic crisis helped the Nazi party greatly and Germany’s fear of communism also helped Hitler along the way. Hitler’s personality also plays a massive role in his rise to power. His organisation over the Nazi party was key, he was incredibly good at getting funding for his campaigns, he kept discipline within the party and the S.A all had the same perfect uniforms and stood united. Hitler held very strong leadership skills. He always entered the hall from the back to show he was speaking from the people; he created a strong atmosphere at his meetings incorporating a ten minute silence at the beginning of a speech to show his authority. Hitler had the loudest voice in history and this caught people’s attention. He was seen as the leader of a religion, he had brainwashed many people. Hitler repeated his ideas in so many different ways that people believed they were different and better.
In conclusion I feel that Hitler was amazingly successful in his achievement of power. He had a great deal of coincidental factors like the economic depression to help him along the way but without them he may have been just as powerful due to his determination and fantastic leadership skills. I think that the most important factors in Hitler’s achievement of power were World War One and the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler was incredibly lucky that the Weimar Republic were so weak. I think that the Munich Putsch was absolutely vital for Hitler’s rise to power and I believe that he learnt a lot about leadership and was able to make such great elaborate for Germany’s future from the time he served. I feel that Hitler was remarkably determined to become President/ a dictator of Germany and he succeeded. All in all I think all both long term and short term factors played a huge role in Hitler’s achievement of power and he was a very strong leader.
