Similarly, Jeremy Noakes argues that the Nazis won much of their support from the ‘most rooted and traditional section of the German population- peasant farmers, self-employed artisans, craftsmen and small retailers.’ The Nazi regime attempted to fulfil some of its election pledges. The establishment of new department stores were banned this was beneficial to the middle class as department stores threatened the businesses of many German shopkeepers. This returned some business confidence in the middle class. The Nazis also made a series of measures to protect rural trade, which appealed to middle class farmers. This is because the peasant farmer was seen to be the ‘backbone’ of German society and incorporated the Nazi ideologies of the Aryan race. Due to this Hitler and the Nazis were committed to saving farmers from ‘economic extinction’. This in turn led to the Reich Entailed Farm law, which was designed to protect the traditional ‘small farm’. The benefits for farmers were that for those in debt, farms were saved from foreclosure.
In contrast, J. Falter argues that just to look at the class system to see who voted Nazi is too simplistic and other factors may need to be taken in account.
Firstly, religion is an important factor to take into consideration when deciding who voted Nazi and this can be incorporated with region. According to Jeremy Noakes the Nazis did best in, ‘rural areas and small towns of protestant parts of Germany, particularly the north and east’. As Noakes mentions Protestants from the north and east were likely to vote for the Nazis as they were on the border with communist countries. Due to the fear of communism they were likely to vote Nazi. According to historian R. Geary the Nazis did best where they didn’t have to cope with ‘strong pre-existing ideological and organisational loyalties’. This applied to the Protestants because unlike the Catholics the Protestants were not represented and therefore had no loyalties to a particular party. The Catholics on the other hand were represented in the form of the Centre Party and had strong loyalties to the Catholic Church. Geary goes on to say that the Nazis enjoyed success in ‘Protestant rural and middle class Germany’.
Secondly, social class can be incorporated with background/history when considering whom the Nazi base of support was. It can be argued that, Germans who witnessed the end of the 1st World War were more likely to vote Nazi than others. This is because many German people thought that Germany was winning the war and were shocked by the sudden defeat. The consequences of the war such as the Treaty of Versailles and the terms of the Treaty left Germans humiliated and ashamed. Reparations left Germany economically ruined and the War Guilt clause caused embarrassed to the country. Germans then associated the loss of the war to the Weimar Republic civilian politicians signed the Treaty of Versailles and the myth of the ‘stab in the back’ emerged. This left people with negative feelings towards the Weimar Republic and voted for a party that could regain Germany’s pride and greatness. The Depression lost the savings of many businesses such as the small shopkeepers, businesses etc. This lead to them voting for a party that could offer economic stability and good standard of living. Therefore, it can be argued that the idea that the middle class was the Nazi base of support can be incorporated with their history and background.
Finally, Conan Fischer argues that the enjoyed some success in, ‘crossing class, regional, confessional, gender and age barriers’. This therefore provides support for the argument that the middle weren’t the base of Nazi support. Conan goes onto state that 40% of Nazi voters and members were working class and that they made up 60% of the SA. This again provides more evidence against the idea that the middle was the base of Nazi support.
In conclusion, it can be said that the middle class was Hitler’s most committed group of supporters. However, to say that the petty bourgeoisie were the Nazi base of support is simplistic. This is because we should also consider other factors such as religion, age, sex, occupation and history. In order to establish whether the middle class was the Nazi base of support; can be summed up by historian J. Falter who states the Nazis were ‘socially balanced’.