However it turned out that the time Hitler had spent in jail, gave him time to gather his thoughts and put everything into perspective, he realised violence would not work against democracy, and so he set about reforming and organising the party. This included Hitler himself appointing all party officials, the party been organised in 34 gaue, each section run by a gauleiter, the creation of the SS, a more elite form of the SA.
The Nazis now had to gain support from all sections of society if they were to achieve Hitler’s new goal of defeating democracy with democracy. The Nazis did this by creating associated organisations for different groups within society, for example the Hitler Youth was set up to attract the younger generations, and separate organisations existed for students, farmers etc. In times of hardship the Nazis set up soup kitchens, and organised food donations, in hope that the people they were helping out would remember the Nazis in the future. Latest technology such as radio, loudspeakers and films were used to show people the Nazis were organised and a sophisticated party. This was all surrounded by a furious propaganda campaign led by Goebbels, which was powerful and persuasive, and was the key to getting the people to sympathise with Hitler.
Hitler himself addressed mass rallies, he told the crowd what they wanted to hear, he was able to sway the emotions of listeners and appeal to everyone because of his classlessness. He was also able to empathise with each individual member of the audience, and he was admired as a great authoritative leader. Racist groups merged with the Nazis, as well as the DNVP making the Nazis seem respectable. Despite the increased support the Nazis still remained a small, extremist movement whose time it seemed had been and gone, democracy was now restored.
In late 1929 the US stock market collapsed, triggering a severe depression in the American economy, resulting in disastrous effect on world economy. America withdrew all investment from Germany, the depression was re-born, and was worse than before, unemployment rose beyond six million, nobody was willing to trust democracy again. People turned to the Nazis, as they were able, with Hitler at the forefront make themselves appear as the saviors of the nation. The number of nazi votes rose from less than one million in 1928 before the Wall Street crash, to 14 million in July 1932. Membership increased from 100,000 to 800,000 in the same time span
The Weimar republic were faced with a financial crisis, caused by the high levels of unemployment and the falling tax revenues, leaving the government with little income yet they had to spend more on welfare. The safety net created by a welfare system had been destroyed, which left many homeless and starving. As well as the financial crisis, there was a social crisis; millions of working class people were left jobless and homeless, whilst the middle classes were unable to make profit from selling goods and services. There was also a political crisis, because of the death of Streseman who had previously saved them from such a crisis; the government was left without strong authoritative leadership, which was exactly what they needed in this situation. The government failed to take action and this angered many, people became desperate and turned to the extreme parties, and with fear of loosing even more if communists were to take power, they turned to the right wing, finding Hitler and the Nazis. Even the Germans who had previously kept faith in democracy after the hyperinflation weren’t willing to give it a second chance again.
There are many reasons why Hitler and the nazis came to power, for example Hitler’s reforming of the party after his release from prison, but without the wall street crash and the events surrounding it, the Nazis would just never have gained enough votes. The majority of people had forgotten about the treaty of Versailles, they weren’t looking for hope or a saviour, they didn’t need to be saved, they had a good life under the Weimar republic before the events of 1929. Therefore I agree with the assertion that 'Ironically the wall street crash and the subsequent recession in Germany were the salvation of the Nazi party?’ because democracy had recovered and standards of living were improving until the wall street crash occurred leaving Germany with nothing once again. As the historian William Carr said ‘It is unconceivable that Hitler could never have come to power had not the Weimar republic been subjected to the unprecedented strain of a world economic crisis’.
