One way the Nazis kept control was through their achievements, some of which were necessary if the Nazis were to keep the German public on side. One of these achievements was how the Nazis tackled and defeated the unemployment that had gripped Germany since the Wall Street crash. When Hitler came to power, over six million people were unemployed. Through ‘till 1939, Hitler managed to make these numbers drop. The figures went down as the following:
January 1933 6,014,000
January 1934 3,773,000
January 1935 2,974,000
January 1936 2,520,000
January 1937 1,853,000
January 1938 1,052,000
January 1939 302,000
The decrease in unemployment, however, was not due to there being new jobs completely. One of Hitler’s beliefs was that women should stay at home having children, instead of being out working. Once Hitler came to power, he put this belief into action. He sacked all women from the workplace, and any other people he disliked (e.g. Jews, Negros, Non-Germans). Once they were sacked and forced to live at home, the unemployed were then allowed to take their jobs. Though some of the decrease in unemployment was due to the creation of new jobs, most of these new jobs were made by the building up of a new German army. The idea to join the army was put across in the Nazi use of propaganda. In speeches Hitler put forward the idea and posters everywhere showed men in uniforms. The building of the army however, was not the only way the Nazis managed to break the Treaty of Versailles and win popularity at the same time.
In 1936 Germany recaptured the Rhineland and built a military border line called Die Westliche Wand, or in English; the west wall. These actions were very popular with the German public but strictly against the Treaty of Versailles, yet no one even attempted to stop Hitler and the Nazis. In 1937 the German armed forces aided the Spanish rebels in the Spanish civil war and made military alliances with Japan and Italy. Yet again no one stood up to them. In 1938 Germany united with Austria (also forbidden in The Treaty of Versailles) and took over half of Czechoslovakia. In 1939 the Nazis invaded the other half of Czechoslovakia. This was hugely popular with the Germans back at home and the events were soon used as propaganda. Posters said the Germans were unstoppable, some were to persuade people to join the army with phrases like “imagine what we can do with your help…”
Every event including the Germans was turned into a propaganda showing in some way that the Nazis were the best. Also in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland
This was forbidden by the Treaty Of Versailles (1919) but Hitler did it anyway as one of his beliefs was to abolish the Treaty. The building of this new army was seen as the first step towards this goal.
