To what extent did the Depression help the Nazis gain more power?
Even though the Depression in America caused so many problems around the world and so many people were in despair the Nazis managed to take this to their advantage and gained more control over the country. This is shown by the Nazis success in the elections establishing power in Germany in the 1930s, they gained many seats in the elections and were the biggest singe party .Germany was principally badly affected by the depression and the Weimar government could not deal with the great unemployment in the country but this was to Hitler’s benefit now his ideas meant something.
Firstly the Nazis twenty-five point programme (to abolish the treaty of Versailles and for Germany join with Austria etc) seemed very attractive to those who suffered most from the depression such as the unemployed the middle class and the elderly Most, though not all, of the unemployed were male. These men were almost certainly family men who could see no way ahead with regards to providing for their families. Money was required for food, heating a home, clothes etc. With no obvious end to their troubles under the Weimar regime, it is not surprising that those who saw no end to their troubles turned to the more extreme political parties in Germany - the Nazi and Communist Parties.
