The Weimar republic was very weak, as it had no real support from the majority of the people. No party ever had a majority so everything took along time under coalition governments who found it hard to agree. The government had survived the crisis in 1923-24 but still looked weak. In Germany the general feeling was that a return to a Kaiser figure would be the best idea. These factors were not enough for Hitler to take power, he needed one more;
Germany’s economy was built on loans from the USA. When these loans were called in after the Wall Street crash Germany was in trouble. Thousands of businesses went bankrupt and countries that bought goods from Germany slid into depression. Large amounts of workers had to be laid off and by 1932 there were 6 million unemployed. Many people had to move out of their homes as they could no longer afford the rent and shanty towns sprang up all over Germany. This economic crisis led to a political crisis because the government could not deal with the impossible situation. The coalition disagreed about unemployment benefit and meant that the centre party were in power alone and could do nothing without a majority they did not have. The way round this was for the centre party to ask President Hindenburg to use article 48 to pass emergency laws. Hindenburg was not a supporter of democracy and was more than happy to use these powers whenever he was asked. So the Reichstag sat less and less frequently and became powerless. Article 48, which was supposed to be a tool to save democracy but was now used to destroy it. Hitler was appointed chancellor because Hindenburg thought his support had peaked and that he could be easily manipulated. He could now use article 48 to do whatever he wanted. He ruled that the communists could not take up their seats in the Reichstag and he made an alliance with the centre party. This meant he had a 68% majority and could do anything legally.
Hitler did have some impact on things. He was a mesmerising speaker who could enthral crowds with his ideas. Karl Ludecke describes how “he was holding the masses, and me with them, under an hypnotic spell by the sheer force of his conviction”. His ideas were popular too. In Germany at the time there was a great hatred of Jews as many of them were still doing well in the depression, as they were the moneylenders. Hitler accused the Jews of being communist revolutionaries and was against communism. He guaranteed measures to tackle unemployment, which gained him support from the working class. His decision to achieve power legally was a good one after the failed Munich putsch.
In my opinion Hitler guaranteed the Nazi party more support from voters who would vote for an extremist party. If it wasn’t for him and his ideas and policies then the communists, independent socialists or the national party could have got a bigger percentage of the vote but the Nazis would still have got into power whoever was in charge.
I think that the Wall Street crash and the use of article 48 allowed an extremist party an easy route to power especially with the background of hate against the treaty of Versailles and Weimar republic and the desire to return to a Kaiser figure. Hitler’s clever manipulation of these was the reason it was the Nazi party that came to power. If another extremist party had been anti Semitist and had a leader with speaking powers like Hitler’s then it could have been them and not the Nazi party who came to Power.
Therefore, I disagree with the original statement as I think that there were other factors that were more important than Hitler’s leadership. The Nazi party would have come to power whoever was in charge with the situation as it was in Germany.
