But then disaster struck in 1929 as the Wall Street crash plunged the world into a depression and so all loans to Germany were recalled by the USA. The USA was unwilling to support Germany when its own economy was in a mess. Industries suffered and so cut jobs. Therefore all Stresemans work was for nought as Germans only got short-term good economic times.
The Weimar government were now in a dire predicament. It is bad enough for a nation to be struck down by economic depression but to get the blow twice is a lot worse. The great skilful Chancellor Stresemann had passed away and the government did not know how to tackle the problem. They did know that printing more banknotes was foolish as they learnt from 1923. This left only one more thing an increase in taxation and decrease in wages and unemployment benefits this was not going to prove very popular.
Everyone was affected by this second wave of depression and by government policies because of this. Businessmen saw their businesses close or at least a massive loss of income since the great depression meant that people did not have enough to spend money or even buy essentials like food. To make matters worse the government actually raised taxes to pay for the welfare of the worse off. 40% of factory owners were unemployed by 1932. And at the same time state unemployment benefits were cut, with 15% of the unemployed not getting anything at all. Even young people who did not have a job were in a tight spot. 60% of new University graduates could not get a job with already over half Germans aged 16-30 unemployed.
Hitler was using the bitterness of the German people against the Weimar government to his advantage. We can see this through one of his speeches in 1924.
Believe me, our misery will increase. The state itself has become the biggest swindler…Horrified people notice that they can starve on millions …we will no longer submit…we want a dictatorship.
As you can see the Weimar government was very unpopular with the German people because of signing the treaty of Versailles, which would totally attack German dignity and decrease land, military and economy. They also of course criticized for their lack in solving the depression problem in 1923 and stopping it from recurring in 1929. They were also weak in the eyes of the government since there was no leading party since the Weimar government was held in the town of Weimar and not the capital Berlin since it was deemed too politically unstable for them, and Weimar constitution meant that there was a system of proportional representation. This meant that if for example you had 20 votes you got 20 seats. In this period of 1923-29 there were only coalition governments since parties could not get a big enough majority to gain total power.
The German nation wanted an alternative to the irresolute Weimar Republic. So in came the right and left wing extremists to facilitate the opportunity to obtain power.
In 1919 after the signing of Versailles the spartacists a group of communists with the help of soldiers who had mutinied caused a revolt against the newly formed Weimar government. Ex-servicemen known as the Freikorps quashed them. There were another two communist revolts between 1919-20, which was quelled by the Freikorps. But probably the most known revolt was the Munich Putsch of 1923 by the Nazi Party.
By November 1923 Hitler believed the moment had come for him to topple the government. It was an ideal time since the Weimar government was pre-occupied with an economic crisis and the policy of passive resistance in the Ruhr was called off. So on November the 8th Hitler and his followers hijacked a local government conference and announced he was going to take over Bavaria. A veteran, General Ludendorff joined him Hitler said in a speech then:
The Bavarian ministry is removed. I propose that the government be formed consisting of a regent and a prime minister invested with dictatorial powers…the government of the November Criminals and the Reich president is declared to be removed… I propose that, until accounts have been finally settled with the November criminals the direction of National government be taken over by me.
Nazi storm trooper began taking over official buildings. However the next day police began rounded up storm troopers and 16 died. The rebellion was put down.
Hitler miscalculated the mood of the German people. The Munich Putsch though was only a short-term catastrophe for him. The German people did not support him and Nazi leaders were charged with high treason. However in the long-term Hitler gained lots of publicity for his party as his trial was written in the newspapers.
This is what Hitler said in his defence in the trial.
I alone bear the responsibility but I am not a criminal because of that…there is no such thing as treason against the November criminals of 1918. I feel myself the best of Germans who wanted the best for a German people.
Hitler impressed the judges with his ideas so much that he and his accomplices got off very lightly. Ludendorff was freed altogether and Hitler got only five years on a charge, which the sentence is normally life. In the end Hitler served nine months and was in great comfort at Landsberg jail.
The purpose of the Putsch was to put Hitler into power and set out the min Nazi beliefs of National Socialism that everyone was loyal to Germany and that all German settlers were of Aryan Lineage. There was to be equality and that there was to be state control of the economy. The Nazis also believed that all non-Aryans be separated from Germany especially the Jews. There would be strong armed forces and more “Lebensraum” living space for the German people. Also under Nazi policy was dictatorship. Hitler believed that democracy was weak and that an ultimate leader a Führer should rule a Great Germany.
Hitler used his time in prison to air his views in the form of a book, which he called Mein Kampf, My struggle. This shed light on how Hitler was to rule Germany if he had the chance to. In prison Hitler also came up with the supposition that if he was to rule Germany he would have to do it through the Reichstag. Force was not an option. We see this in a piece of writing by Hitler when in prison.
When I resume active work, it will be necessary to pursue a different policy. Instead of working to achieve power by armed conspiracy we shall have to take hold our noses and enter the Reichstag…If outvoting them takes longer then out shooting them, at least the result will be guaranteed by their own constitution. Any lawful process is slow. Sooner or later we shall have a majority and after that we shall have Germany.
As soon as Hitler was taken out of prison he began building up the nazi party so it could win power democratically. He began developing youth movements and local nazi organisations that in turn set up other Nazi supporting organisations. Hitler also enlarged the SA and set up a new group called the SS. He also increased propaganda.
With all this Hitler reached out to the masses of Germany and told them of his plans for Germany.
With the Nazi party you will get a strong leader not some indecisive democracy.
The Nazi party will kick out Versailles.
The unemployed can get a job in the army, build armaments and improve public services.
If Germany was not in such a bad financial state then it is doubtful that the German populace would have voted for the Nazi party. Between the depressions of 1923 and 1929 the Nazi party was very small in 1924 they had 5% of seats in the Reichstag and 1928 2%. They were the smallest party. After the 1929 depression Nazi seat rose dramatically, in 1930 they won 107 seats and 1932 nearly 200. They were the biggest single party.
At this time the communists rose to power. Although this was a hindrance it was a decent help in the end. Many Middle and Upper class industrialists backed the Nazi party to stop the Communist Party in its tracks.
But the main reason for such serge in seats in the Reichstag was the Nazis own policies. To desperate Germans in dire monetary circumstances the Nazi party was a saviour. It was to help everyone. The unemployed would be helped with jobs in the military and public services. The old would be assisted with higher pensions. The Middle and Upper classes with less tax. All this was to be done by abolishing Versailles.
Hitler was proposing to assemble a greater Germany, which would cater for all German needs. By abolishing Versailles he would increase employment the armed forces and land. He would also enhance national pride by uniting with Austria and making a greater Germany. This was hope to a desperate people.
We can therefore see how the Treaty of Versailles helped Hitler into power since it created a forlorn people who would cast their votes to the extreme right to the National socialists. Versailles also indirectly caused the Occupation of the Ruhr, passive resistance and an amplification of the effect on Germany because of the 1929 Wall Street Crash.
Question 2
A long-term cause is an event or cause which can be traced back long before the main event. It may also have long-term consequences. A Short-term cause is a trigger or catalyst, which sparks change.
The rise of Hitler to power was instigated by a combination of long and short term causes. The Treaty of Versailles was a long-term cause happening more then a decade before Hitler even became Chancellor of Germany. Hindenberg and Von Papen’s decision to choose Hitler as chancellor on the other hand was a short-term cause. It happened close to Hitler’s rise in 1933. And was a short and swift decision by the two politicians.
All the causes however are linked in some way making a chain of events. The Economic depression of 1923 made people think that the Weimar Republic was weak and so Hitler thought the time was ripe to revolt at The Munich Putsch. The Economic depressions of 1923 and 1929 also lead to serge in extremist parties especially the communists. Middle class industrialists despised the communist parties because they would take all their wealth. Therefore they supported Hitler and the Nazi Party who were against Communism. If everyone supported Hitler he had to be chosen as chancellor by Hindenberg and Von Papen.
The Treaty of Versailles meant there was a loss of Military strength and German Land. This attacked German pride and power so the German population detested the Weimar republic for signing it and made them look feeble and weak. The damaging cost of reparations to France and Britain lead to Hyperinflation in 1923 and the Invasion of the Ruhr by French and Belgian soldiers. Passive resistance was used and the stopped making The Weimar republic looked weak as well. The economic depression of 1929 was also indirectly because of Versailles since reparations meant Germany had to lean on the US for loans and when the Wall Street Crash happened the USA called back all loans crippling Germany again.
Hitler used all this bitterness to gain power. In 1923 while the Weimar government was getting bad ratings and was trying to quell an economic crisis so in November when Stresemann stopped the policy of passive resistance Hitler thought the moment had come to topple the Weimar republic. On November the 8th Hitler and his storm troopers hijacked a government meeting and took over official buildings in Bavaria. However the Weimar Republic hit back. Armed police rounded up storm troopers. The rebellion was thwarted. In the short term the rebellion was a disaster for him. People did not rise to support him and Hitler and other leading Nazis were arrested.
In the long term however it was a different story. At the trial, however, Hitler gained lots of publicity on the big stage for himself and ideas since every word of the trial was printed in newspapers.
In fact Hitler impressed the judges so much that Hitler was only given 5 year in prison when the punishment for treason was life and of those five years he served nine months in great comfort of Landsberg jail.
Hitler used his time in prison to reform his ideas. He wrote a book Mein Kampf (My struggle) which clarified and presented what he thought would become Germany’s future. Hitler set out the main Nazi beliefs as follows:-
- National Socialism: Loyalty to Germany, racial equality and state control of the economy.
- The Aryan race was the master race. All other races especially the Jews were inferior.
- Hitler believed that war and struggle were an essential part of the development of a healthy Aryan race.
- Lebensraum living space for Germans. This would be mainly at the expense of Poland and Russia.
- Democracy was weak a dictatorship was needed for a strong Germany.
It was also while he was in prison that Hitler came to the conclusion that the Nazis would not be able to seize power by force. He would have to gain power democratically.
When I resume active work, it will be necessary to pursue a new policy. Instead of working to achieve power by armed conspiracy we shall have to take hold of our noses and enter the Reichstag against the Catholic and Marxist deputies. If out-voting them takes longer then out shooting, at least the results will be guaranteed by their own constitution. Any lawful process is slow. Sooner or later we shall have a majority and after that we shall have Germany.
Hitler 1923, while in prison
As soon as Hitler was released from prison he set out to rebuild the Nazi party so it could win power democratically. He introduced youth organisations and recruitment drives. Hitler enlarged the SA and set up the SS a more fanatical group towards Hitler. Hitler also used propaganda through Josef Goebbels to reach the masses.
Due to Versailles being signed the Weimar republic was deemed weak and therefore Hitler decided to start a military coup. This was foiled so Hitler opted to gain power democratically. Since Hitler went against communism many rich and middle class industrialists backed Hitler and therefore Hindenburg and Von Papen had to elect him as chancellor of Germany. As Hitler became chancellor he passed the enabling act and the Nazi party were alleviated to being all powerful.
Another reason why Hitler tried and succeeded to gain power was the economic depressions of 1923 and 1929. The treaty of Versailles destabilised Germany politically but Germans also blamed it for another problem- economic chaos. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay £6.6 billion to the Allies. People were divided as to whether this would cause economic disaster.
Finlay Mckichan
Reparations cost Germany only about 2% of her national output per
Year. This suggests that annual payments were not too harsh…
Historian W. Carr 1972
The republic was burdened with economic problems rising out of the war defeat left her saddled with huge internal debt…
The Germans protested that it would cause an intolerable strain on the economy but it was ignored. In 1922 Germany fell behind on reparation payments. People at the time and historians have disagreed as to whether Germany could actually afford Reparation payments.
French and Belgian troops therefore entered the Ruhr which was legal under Versailles and began taking what was owed to them in the form of raw materials and goods. The results of the occupation of the Ruhr were disastrous for Germany. The government ordered workers to carry out a policy of passive resistance so their would be nothing for the French to take. The French reacted harshly to this killing 100 workers and expelling 100,000 people from the region. More importantly the halt in production of goods in Germany’s most important industrial region meant the German currency collapsed.
Because it had no goods to trade the government simply printed more money. For them it was an attractive solution. Germany paid off its debts in worthless marks. People soon realised however that this money was worthless it could buy nothing of value. Hyperinflation set in.
Poorer people suffered, but so did many rich Germans did so too. A prosperous middle class middle class family’s savings which could have bought a house in 1921 would not even buy a loaf of bread in 1923 which cost a staggering 201,000,000,000 marks in Nov 1923.
It was clear that hyperinflation had done great damage to the Weimar government. Their right wing opponents had another problem to blame them for and they had lost middle class support.
Adolf Hitler 1924
Believe me, our misery will increase. The state itself has become the biggest swindler…Horrified people notice that they can starve on millions…we will no longer submit…we want a dictatorship!
In October 1929 the Wall Street crash Ws the beginning of a catastrophic World wide slide into the great depression. The effects were felt everywhere but Germany was hit particularly hard since American banks recalled the loans which were the lifeblood of German industry. The depression affected everyone in Germany. Businessmen in Germany saw their businesses close or at least their income fall. To make matters worse the Weimar government actually raised taxes to pay for the increasing number of poor people. 40% of all factory workers were unemployed by 1932. To top that the government cut unemployment benefits to save money.
Too the German people the Weimar government seemed to have no idea what to do about the problems of rising unemployment and growing poverty. The government did of course try to get Germany out of the depression but with little success. The Weimar government to be fair did as well as other governments around the world to control the effects of the depression on their country. The Weimar government however faced particular problems. For example one way of getting out of a depression is to print more money and increase government expenditure. Yet all Weimar leaders were conscious of the devastating effects of hyperinflation in 1923 was due to the policy of printing more banknotes. What if the same thing happened again? The Weimar government was more scared of hyperinflation than unemployment. So instead the chancellor raised taxes, cut wages and reduced unemployment benefits these policies most definitely did not get the support of the German people.
These policies also caused the collapse of the government since the social democrats did not want anything to do with imposing vote-losing policies so they withdrew from the coalition. In order for the government to survive this blow the chancellor fell back on article 48 of the Weimar Constitution which gave the President Hindenburg special powers in an emergency. Germany was now ruled by an 84 year old war hero well past his prime who was apparently controlled by business and army leaders. This was very humiliating to the Weimar Republic.
To many Germans it seemed that the Weimar Government were making a hopeless mess of handling this state of affairs. Many people because of this got more into politics to get a party in power that would fix the situation.
Extremist parties rushed to the scene claiming they would settle everything. The Communists said that the depression showed capitalism did not work and so only communism was the answer. The Nazis blamed the Weimar Government, the November criminals, Versailles, the Marxists and Jews and said he would get rid Germany of these enemies from within.
Hitler’s ideas now had special relevance:-
- Make Germany a dictatorship and stop the weak Weimar republic.
- Abolish Versailles to stop having to pay reparations
- Let the unemployed join the army and build Germany to be militarily strong.
The Nazis 25 point plan was very attractive especially to the most vulnerable to the depression. It gave the unemployed jobs, the elderly pensions etc. Nazism also appealed to the rich and middle classes since they were against Communism and the Nazis were against communists. The difference now was that the Weimar government good not control Germany and so Germans were looking for an alternative. On its own the 25 point plan wouldn’t get Hitler into power he needed the depression and the Weimar government looking weak. The Treaty of Versailles managed to do both. With reparations making the Weimar government making more banknotes causing hyperinflation in 1923 and leaning on the US, so when they collapsed it caused economic crisis in 1929. These decisions by the Weimar government and policies of signing Versailles in the first place and calling and stopping passive resistance in the Ruhr made the Weimar government inadequate in the eyes of the German Nation.
Hitler was a great speaker. We saw this at his trial after the Munich Putsch saying words like There is no such treason about the traitors of 1919 who signed Versailles. Hitler used this to a great effect especially at times of economic crisis in Germany since he had a big platform on which to air his views. But what really helped Hitler to gain power democratically was the skill of the Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda Dr Josef Goebbels. His mission was to make all “the Masses” believe Hitler was Germany’s saviour. Goebbels constantly kept his finger on the pulse of public opinion and decided what the German public should and should not hear. He used every resource possible to make Germans back the Nazis. Goebbels organised huge rallies, marches and meetings to bring in the German crowds. These rallies brought excitement to people. They also convinced Germans that the Nazis would bring discipline to Germany.
Goebbels also controlled the Media. No books were published without his permission. Goebbels also controlled Newspapers so no Anti-Nazi articles were printed. All films had to carry a pro-Nazi message. Posters all about the success of the Nazis and attacking opponents were plastered everywhere. The radio was also used to convey Hitler and the Nazis as a great thing and any other parties evil and corrupt. The SA also helped promote Hitler and the Nazis showing discipline in the streets and routing out all anti Nazi publications. Because the German people were bombarded with pro Nazi slogans, articles and rallies it is no wonder the Nazi party got such massive support. This we can tell is a long cause since Hitler used this all the time from his trial till he became the Leader.
Hitler’s growing popularity due to his leadership coupled with economic problems helped the Nazis into power in the Reichstag greatly. This is a short term cause since it happened in 1933 the year Hitler became Chancellor and it happened in a short period of time. In July 1932 the Nazis were the largest party but not a majority. Hitler demanded the post of Chancellor but Hindenburg the president refused. He kept the chancellor at the time in his position. He was Franz von Papen. Von Papen had virtually no support in the Reichstag so another election was called. Again the Nazi party was the largest party even if they lost 2 million votes. Hitler again pleaded for the chancellorship but Hindenburg appointed Kurt von Schleicher instead. He though was force to resign after a month. It was clear that the Weimar system was not working. There was not much democracy either with Hindenburg needing to resort to emergency powers a lot of the time to pass laws. If Hindenburg wanted to keep this democratic system working the Weimar government needed a leader who had support from within and outside the Reichstag.
Through January 1933 Hindenburg and von Papen met secretly with industrialists, army leaders and politicians and on January 30th Hitler was offered the chancellors position. If it was not for economic crisis then Hitler may not have been given the chancellorship since industrialists would not have to be worried about the communists so would not back the Nazis. Hitler wanted a stronger Germany with a bigger army the only way he could do this without uproar was to say it was because he needed to create jobs. Army leaders than backed him because of his military plan. Politicians did not have much choice with hardly any strong leaders apart from Hitler if any. Hindenburg and von Papen thought they could control Hitler since there were not many Nazis in the cabinet and von Papen was vice chancellor. The idea was to get support in the cabinet and control the Communists. Therefore we can see this incident at a different angle calling it long term from Versailles. Versailles caused reparations which caused the Weimar government making a mistake leading to hyperinflation which led to Germany being reliant on America for money which led to a massive depression when the Wall Street crash happened. These economic crises instigated the rise of extremist parties like the Nazis and Communists. The rich did not want communists in power so backed the Nazis so Hitler came into power as chancellor.
Although Hitler was chancellor and the Nazi party was the biggest single party they did not have a majority in the Reichstag. What Hitler needed was an act which would give Hitler the power of passing laws without consulting the Reichstag and basically make Germany dictatorship. Hitler would not have the votes to pass this law without making radical changes to government. The first step was to ban the communists. He managed to do this when the Reichstag building was burnt down. Hitler blamed the communists and declared that this fire signalled communist uprising. He was given emergency powers by the president and so Hitler started arresting communists, broke up meetings and frightening voters. No one actually knows how the fire was started but one of the theories was that it was the work of the Nazis. Hitler then called another election on 5th March 1933 but again did not get a majority getting 288 seats to 359 by all other parties in total. Therefore to gain power he intimidated the Social democrats and coaxed them into voting for an enabling act which gave Hitler the ability to create laws without the approval of the Reichstag or the president. The Reichstag was basically voting themselves out of existence and make a Nazi dictatorship. Since Hitler had managed to oust the communists out of government and coerce the Social democrats the enabling act was passed with 444 votes to 94. This is a short term cause since it triggered Hitler’s rise and caused the Nazis through Hitler to become all powerful. It also occurred in a short space of time.