Explain why the depression of 1929 was a ‘godsend’ for the Nazi Party
Of all European countries, none was hit harder than Germany by the stock market crash of October 1929. Germany, who was still suffering from the Treaty of Versailles, had borrowed very large sums from American banks, with much of the money repayable either on demand or at short notice. These loans were of course recalled, and bankruptcies in Germany rose sharply from the start of 1930. Unemployment rose sharply, too. The German economy plummeted with the stock market and the situation Germany found itself in resulted in even more faith being lost in the Weimar constitution.
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Peer Reviews
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Quality of writing
The spelling and grammar in this essay was good, an example to others writing a similar essay. I did not spot any spelling errors, or grammatical errors. Extra credit should be given for spelling Bruning’s name with the umlaut, as it demonstrates good knowledge as well as spelling. As this essay answers the question very well and the spelling and grammar was good, it has received full five stars. Personally, adding a sentence of analysis would have made this essay even better.
Level of analysis
The question did not ask for any analysis, as it was merely an explain/ describe question, so the author should not need to do any analysis, however if they were to add point, like ‘the Great Depression was arguably the greatest factor in bringing Hitler to power, as it mobilized the masses to support him and defeated the incumbent government,’ it would surely do better, as it demonstrates good historical skills. Note, however that this should only be a sentence or two long, as the question is a describe question. The explanation is very good, and effectively describes all the impacts.
Response to question
The author answers the question very well, as he/she describes the impact of the Great Depression on Germany, very well, particularly in the first paragraph. He/she then goes on to describe the impact on the Nazi party, very well. The author goes further by explaining briefly Hitler’s ultimate steps to power, although this wasn’t explicitly asked for, it was still a good addition, as it demonstrated good knowledge, which a marker would reward. He/she shows extensive knowledge as well, which improves the standard of the answer, for instance the Nazi soup kitchens.
