Unemployment and Nazi success in elections
The Nazis weren't very successful in the late 1920's because this period of time, being prior to the economic crisis, the Weimar Government was doing fairly well under the leadership of Stresemann and Germany's future looked hopeful for a while. But when the economy took a turn for the worse, Germany was desperate, therefore many Germans felt that it was the right time to vote for a different party. The Nazis were quick to take advantage of the economic problems that the Weimar Government faced and started to market themselves as "the party that may have the solutions to Germany's many problems."
After the Wall Street Crash in late 1929, the Nazis gained 107 seats in the Reichstag, 95 more seats than they had gained two years previously and then in July 1932, the Nazis gained 230 seats in the Reichstag. Germany was very badly affected by the depression and since 1929, unemployment had been on the rise. By January 1933 the unemployment figure in Germany had risen to 6,100,000, existing businesses were doing very badly and homelessness and poverty had become very common amongst young people. Taxes were raised and unemployment benefits were cut. The government's failure to deal with the depression left the Nazis with a very disappointed nation, especially the businessmen, workers, young people and farmers (who had been doing badly since 1925.) The economic crisis allowed Hitler and the Nazis to enter Germany's political scene, which is what they had previously been trying to do. If it hadn't have been for this terrible economic crisis then Germany would probably still have been doing reasonably well under Gustav Stresemann's leadership and the Germans would have had no need to re-consider re-electing Stresemann. The Depression helped the Nazis gain much needed support because it meant that Weimar was doing badly. Weimar was no longer meeting the expectations of Germany, which meant that the Germans had to re-consider who they were going to vote for at the next election. This means that the two reasons (The Depression and Weimar) are linked closely, because it was Weimar's failure to deal with the depression that allowed the Nazis to seize their opportunity and put their new, more peaceful and caring approach into action.
