How did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933
22/09/2008 3:12 PM In 1933, Adolf Hitler leader of a party with minority support in the Reichstag came to power as Chancellor. How did this major event in world history happen?In Autumn 1918 the Allies had clearly won the war. Germany was in a state of chaos. On 9 November 1918 the Kaiser abdicated his throne and left Germany for the Netherlands. This was because Kaiser refused to agree terms with the Allies. Sailors in Northern Germany mutinied and took over the town of Kiel which then triggered other revolts which were organised by Kaiser’s old enemies, the Socialists. Subsequent to the resignation of the throne, the Socialist leader Friedrich Ebert became the new leader of the Republic of Germany. Before the war Germany had no real democracy. The Kaiser was virtually a dictator. The Weimar Constitution attempted to set up the most democratic system in the world where no individual could gain too much power. The “New Constitution” gave everyone freedom of speech, travel and religion as well as the vote for any gender above the age of 20. There was a system of proportional representation which meant that if a party gained 20% of the votes, they would occupy 20% of the seats in the Reichstag (parliament). Furthermore all governments had to be coalitions (2 or more parties agree to work together). However these never lasted as it sparked off arguments therefore elections were common causing a lack of stability e.g. Communists quarrels with the Socialists. The Chancellor was responsible for day to day government, but he needed the support of over half the Reichstag. The Head of State was the President. The President stayed out of day to day government. In a crisis he could rule the country directly through Article 48 of the Constitution. This gave him emergency powers, which meant he didn’t have to consult the Reichstag. One can see that from the start it was inevitable that Hitler would come to power.At the beginning of the Weimar Republic’s reign it encountered four influential problems.The first crisis to hit the new Republic cam in may 1919 when the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were announced. Most Germans were appalled by the terms. Supporters of the Weimar felt betrayed by the Allies. The Kaiser was gone, why should they be punished for his war and aggression? Opponents of the regime turned their fury on Ebert. Ebert was extremely reluctant to sign the Treaty but he had no choice, it was a diktat and a “stab in the back” as the German army had apparently “never been beaten.” However, in the minds of many Germans, Ebert and his Weimar Republic were forever to blame for the Treaty. They were now known as the November criminals and a tainted government. The Treaty of Versailles destabilised Germany politically, but Germans also blamed it for another problem –
economic chaos. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay reparations to the Allies. The reparations amounted to £6600 million, to be paid in annual instalments. This was two per cent of Germany’s annual output. The Germans protested that this was an intolerable strain on the economy, which they were struggling to rebuild after the war, but their protests were ignored.In 1921, the first instalment of £50 million was paid, but in 1922 nothing was paid. Ebert did his best to play for time and negotiate concessions from the Allies, however the French ran out of patience. They too had ...
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economic chaos. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay reparations to the Allies. The reparations amounted to £6600 million, to be paid in annual instalments. This was two per cent of Germany’s annual output. The Germans protested that this was an intolerable strain on the economy, which they were struggling to rebuild after the war, but their protests were ignored.In 1921, the first instalment of £50 million was paid, but in 1922 nothing was paid. Ebert did his best to play for time and negotiate concessions from the Allies, however the French ran out of patience. They too had war debts to pay to the USA so in January 1923 French and Belgian troops marched into industrial Ruhr and began to take what was owed to them in the form of raw materials and goods. The results of the occupation of Ruhr were disastrous for Germany. The Government ordered the workers to go on strike – carry out passive resistance so that there would be nothing for the French to take away. The French reacted harshly, killing over 100 workers and expelling 100,000 protesters from the region. More importantly Ruhr was the major industrial centre in Germany, which was closed for business. This meant that nothing was produced so therefore nothing was sold which caused the collapse of the German currency.As Germany had no goods to trade, the government simply printed money. For the government this seemed an attractive solution. It paid off its debts in worthless marks, including war loans of over £2200 million. The great industrials were able to pay off all their debts as well. This set off a chain reaction. With so much money in circulation, prices and wages rocketed, but people soon realised that this money was worthless. Workers needed wheelbarrows to carry home their wages. Wages began to be paid daily instead of weekly. The price of goods could rise between joining the back of a queue in a shop and reaching the front! Poor people suffered, but the greatest casualties were the richer Germans – those with savings. A prosperous middle-class family would find that their savings in the bank, which might have bought them a house in 1921, by 1923 would not even buy a loaf of bread. This was called hyperinflation. All of the problems the Weimar incountered show that it was deficient in stability. It was clear to all, both inside and outside Germany, that the situation needed urgent action. In August 1923 a new government under Gustav Stresemann took over. He called off the passive resistance in the Ruhr. He called in the worthless marks and burned them, replacing them with a new currency called the Rentenmark. He negotiated to receive American loans under the Dawes Plan. Gustav even renegotiated payments. The economic crisis was solved very quickly. Some historians suggest that this is evidence that Germany’s problems were not as severe as its politicians had made out.I was also increasingly clear, however, that the hyperinflation had done great political damage to the Weimar government. Their right-wing opponents had yet another problem to blame them for, and the government had lost the support of the middle classes. Stresemann’s government succeeded in stabilising Germany. However, as you have already seen, the extremist opponents of the Weimar government had not disappeared. Through the 1920’s they were organising and regrouping, waiting for their chance to win power. One of the most important of these extremist groups was the Nazi Party. The Nazis began as the German worker’s Party, led by Anton Drexler. In 1919 Adolf Hitler had great talent and within months he had put him in charge of propaganda and the political ideas of the party (due to his outstanding ability to dictate). In 1920 the party announced its twenty-five-point programme, and renamed itself the Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s Party, or Nazis for short as this would appeal to variety of different social classes resulting in a large majority of the vote.By November 1923 Hitler believed that the moment had come for him to topple the Weimar government, as it was preoccupied with the economic crisis. Stresemann had just called off Germany’s passive resistance in the Ruhr. On 8th November, Hitler hijacked a local government meeting and announced he was taking over Bavaria. The old war hero Ludendorff joined him. Nazi storm troopers began taking over official buildings. The next day, however, the Weimar government forces hit back. Police rounded up the storm troopers and in a brief exchange of shots 16 Nazis were killed resulting in a rebellion. Hitler escaped in a car while Ludendorff and others stayed to face the armed police.Hitler had miscalculated the mood of the German people. In the short term, the Munich Putsch was a disaster for him, as people didn’t rise up to support him. Many leading Nazis along with Hitler were arrested and charged with treason. At the trial, Hitler gained enormous publicity for himself and his ideas, as his every word was reported in the Newspapers. In fact, Hitler impressed the judges so much that he got off with a light penalty of 5 years even though the legal requirement was life. In the end, Hitler only served nine months of the sentence, which he served in the great comfort of Landsberg castle. In 1929 the American stock market crashed and sent the USA into a disastrous economic depression. In a very short time, countries around the world began to feel the effects of this. Germany was particularly badly affected. American bankers and businessmen lost huge amounts of money in the Wall Street Crash. To pay off their debts they asked German banks to repay the money they had borrowed. The result was economic collapse in Germany. Businesses went bankrupt, workers were laid off and unemployment rocketed!The depression was a worldwide problem. It was not just Germany that suffered. Nor was the Weimar government the only government having difficulties in solving the problem of unemployment. Nevertheless, because Germany had been so dependant on American loans, and because it still had to pay reparations to the Allies, the problems were most acute in Germany.Hitler’s ideas now had a special relevance: “Is the Weimar government indecisive? Then Germany needs a strong leader! Are reparations adding to Germany’s problems? Then kick out the Treaty of Versailles!” Therefore Germany’s economy would boost. “Is unemployment a problem? Let the unemployed join the army, build Germany’s armaments and be used for public works like road building!” This meant that unemployment would drop. Introducing conscription (Rhineland) and implying that they wanted to expand their empire was a major plus point for the Nazis party and helped gain popular support.The Nazis’ Twenty-five-points were very attractive to those most vulnerable to the depression – the unemployed, the elderly and the middle class. When a country has severe economic problems, its population often looks for extreme solutions. Hitler offered them culprits to blame for Germany’s troubles – the Allies, the November criminals and the Jews. None of these messages was new and they had not won support for the Nazis in the Stresemann years. The difference now was that the democratic parties simply could not get Germany back to work. In 1930 elections the Nazis got 107 seats. In November 1932 they got nearly 200. They did not yet have an overall majority, but they were the biggest single party.There is no doubt that Nazi campaigning methods were modern and effective. They relied on generalised slogans rather than detailed policies. They talked about uniting people of Germany behind one leader. They also talked about going back to traditional values, though this was never clearly set out. This made is hard to criticise them.The Nazis repeated at every opportunity that they believed the Jews, Communists, Weimar politicians and the Treaty of Versailles were the cause of Germany’s problems. They expressed contempt for Weimar’s democratic system and said that it was unable to solve Germany’s economic problems. Their posters and pamphlets could be found everywhere. Their rallies impressed people with their energy, enthusiasm and sheer size yet we know this was all propaganda. At this time, there were frequent street battles between Communist gangs and the police. Everywhere large unruly groups of unemployed workers gathered on street corners. In contrast, the SA and SS gave an impression of discipline and order. Many people agreed with this. The SA were better organised and usually had the support of the police and army when they beat up opponents and disrupted meetings and rallies. The Nazis also organised soup kitchens and provided shelter in hostels for the unemployed.In 1932 Hitler demanded the post of Chancellor from the President, the old war hero Hindenburg. In spite of this, Hindenburg was suspicious of Hitler and refused, allowing his current Chancellor Franz Von Papen to continue. He then used his emergency powers to pass measures that Von Papen had hoped would solve the unemployment problem. Conversely, von Papen was soon in trouble, as he had virtually no support at all in the Reichstag. This led to yet another election in 1932. The Nazis came out on top again but their share of the vote fell. Hitler regarded the election as a disaster a he had lost more than 2 million votes along with 38 seats in the Reichstag. The signs were that Hitler flood tide had finally turned. The Nazis started to run out of funds.Hindenburg again refused to appoint Hitler and in December 1932 he chose Kurt von Schleicher, one of his own advisors and a bitter rival of von Papen. Within a month, Schleicher too was forced to resign. By this time it was clear that the Weimar system of government was not working. In one sense, Hindenburg had already overthrown the principles of democracy by running Germany with emergency powers. If he was to rescue the democratic system, he needed a Chancellor who actually had support in the Reichstag.Through January 1933 Hindenburg and von Papen met secretly with industrialists, army leads and politicians. On 30 January to everyone’s surprise they offered Hitler the post of Chancellor. With only a few Nazis in the Cabinet and von Papen as Vice Chancellor, they were confident that they could limit Hitler’s influence and resist his extreme demands. So Hitler ended up as Chancellor through a behind-the-scenes deal by some German aristocrats, not through the will of the German people. Both Hindenburg and von Papen were sure that they could control the monstrosity that was Hitler, both were very wrong!In conclusion I believe that Hitler became Chancellor through a sequence of events. Propaganda works on the basis of already existing prejudices. The Weimar Republic was weak and Hitler capitalised on this increasing his chances of becoming Chancellor. All Hitler did was exploit people prejudices, which is based on a quote by Aldous Huxley; he told the German population what they wanted to hear such as re-introducing conscription (which gained him popular support). The weaknesses of the Weimar Republic in 1918 foreshadowed the fact that Hitler would come to power, which was reinforced by the Nazis strengths.By Josh Leader 3205 Weymouth
