How far do you agree that the traditional stress on the Petty Bourgeoisie base of Nazi support need not be discarded but instead incorporated into a broader picture?

Authors Avatar

Sharon Chahal

How far do you agree that the traditional stress on the Petty Bourgeoisie base of Nazi support need not be discarded but instead incorporated into a broader picture?

The Petty Bourgeoisie included groups in society such as small business owners, traders, craft-workers and shopkeepers. The established view is that the Nazi vote was primarily that of the middle class. The middle class was seen to be Hitler’s most committed group of supporters. However, it still needs to be established whether the Nazis were only supported by the middle class, or whether the middle class base of support should be incorporated with other factors.

Some historians would argue that the middle class was the base of Nazi support. The middle class had not benefited from the Weimar Republic and lost much of their savings due to the Wall St Crash and the Depression. The middle class were left with negative feelings towards the Weimar Republic and looked to a party that could offer economic and political stability. In support of this is historian Alan Bullock who states that people ‘overwhelmed by the depression’ appealed to the Nazis because of ‘material interests’. It is argued Hitler shared the fears, hopes and prejudices of the middle class such as Anti-Semitism as it was believed that the Jews were at fault and had enjoyed economic success at the expense of the middle class. According to William Shirer, Hitler appealed to the middle class as he had experienced the problems of the Weimar Republic that ‘had roots that lay deep in German experience and thought’.

Join now!

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 ...

This is a preview of the whole essay