The great depression was another factor of the Nazi’s rise to power. On the 29th of October 1929, Wall Street, the American stock market crashed. America needed back the loans that they had gave Germany so she could pay back her reparations (negotiated in The Dawes Plan 1924). Not only did Germany had to pay backs her reparations but also the loans to America, the economic depression affected Germany particularly badly because of this. Unemployment was a large problem and rose from 3.5 million in 1930 to 6 million to years later. The great depression focussed the people anger onto the treaty of Versailles, this meant that the people started listening to Hitler. Now people were not happy to follow Stresemann's policy of fulfilment, the people wanted answers and Hitler could give them. Hitler’s support grew as unemployment did this was because the Nazis offered hostels and jobs for the unemployed. Papen and Hindenburg realised that a strong man who was backed with popularity in the Reichstag was needed in such a crisis as the depression, which is why they eventually appointed Hitler as chancellor. This unexpected event was one which if it had not occurred would have effected the chances of the Nazi party coming into power.
On November 9th 1923, about 3000 members of the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler, stormed into Munich’s army head quarters. In the party member’s eyes, unfortunately they met a police barricade which opened fire, killing sixteen Nazis, and the Putsch failed. Hitler gained enormous publicity as he was on trial and was reported in the papers. Though his sentence was not fully served out, for the nine months that Hitler was in jail Hitler did a lot of thinking. Hitler realized the only way to get into power was to do it thought the legal way of elections and not by seizing power (like Mussolini in Italy). He knew that once he had legally got into power he could use its system on its self. He also realized that he had to gain the popularity of the army and business community. Lastly he wrote “Mein Kamph” this was his beliefs and was used as a bible in the Nazi party. If he hadn’t failed the Munich putsch he would have probably tried somewhere else and got a life sentence and there for would not have come into power. Another key event that happened by chance which helped the Nazis party come to power was the burning of the Reichstag. The elections were going to be in a week it was 27th of February and the building was burned down. Since 1930 all chancellors were to rule by decree which was in article 48 in the Weimar constitution. President Hindenburg did not give Hitler the chance to do this, but when the Reichstag was burnt to the ground Hitler declared that it was a state of emergency. Hitler used part of this article so he was able to allow the police arrest innocent people without warrant. Hours after the fire Hitler managed to arrest approximately 4,000 communists. In these last few days of election it was only the Nazis and nationalists who were able to campaign. People viewed Hitler for being a man with action, and thought that Hitler was the man to pull Germany out f the depression. Many people viewed the Reichstag as a symbol of the before greatness of Germany, and the burning of it was an insult to the nationalist and of course democracy. When Hitler said, it was a state of emergency he was also becoming more attractive to some nationalists.
Another major factor which helped the Nazis party come to power in 1933 was the weakness of the Weimar government. This government was often called a “mistaken democracy” and was said to be started in chaos. People were scared that communism which had spread through other places in Europe would seize power in Germany so their solution was democracy. The fact was Germany had never been a democracy before a large reason for its down fall. In the 20's and 30's a large proportion of Germans lived in poverty and they needed a reason for this, their answer was the Weimar government. Hitler was able to offer the answers to these problems. The German army played a large part to how the country was being controlled. The army had not been revolutionised and therefor many members were anti-Weimar, and they selectively chose whether to support their government when situations broke out. The army did not come down on parties such as the Nazis this allowed the Nazis to prosper.
Hitler also used a lot of propaganda and he managed to brain washed millions of German people, because were afraid of groups such as the SS, SA and Gestapo. In his speeches he regularly used attacks on the Weimar for all social and economic chaos in the country at that time and also for signing the treaty of Versailles. He gave people in rural Germany a scapegoat for problems that they were facing in the form of Jews and they believed him. Hitler used people’s fear and terror to gain power from the majority of the population the SS and SA stopped people apposing the Nazi’s rise to power. The Nazis made people believe that Hitler and their party were the only way out of the depression that Germany was in.
The final reason how the Nazi’s came to power was the choice by Papen and hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor in 1933. Though the Nazis had the most seats, this did not mean that Hitler needed to become chancellor In 1932 there were large changes in whom to become chancellor, first there was Bruning but he was dismissed by hindenburg in the May of that year. Then there was von papen but he was dismissed in the same year this was partly because of Schleichers advice. Scheicher then became chancellor, but Von Papen was not pleased by the way that he was treated by Schleicher. Von Papen wanted to see the Weimar government changed but without causing unnecessary uproar and because of Hitler’s large popularity Hitler was an obvious choice. Von Papen believed if Hitler was chancellor and he was vice then Hitler would be the man in front, and people would listen to him and papen could tell him what to do from behind. He believed that he could tame and control hitler by doing this. Hindemburg agreed to this and von papen and hindenburg thought that if there were only three out of 12 ministers were Nazis then they would be drowned out by non-nazi views, they were wrong.
In this piece of course work I have investigated many factors, these all contributed to the Nazi party came to power in 1933. Without one of these it is unlikely that Hitler ir the nazi party would have come into power at all each factor takes a crucial role to the steps in which the Nazis came into power. These factors are: The Nazis had a strong leader with great oratory and brilliant leadership skills, the treaty of Versailles hitler used this in his campaign saying he could reverse it and was able to blame the Weimar to blame it all on. Next there was the great depression where people needed someone new and a plan of action people turned to hitler and associated the old government for the problems. The Munich putsch gave hitler a lot of publicity and tort hitler many lessons how he should gain power. The burning of the Reischtag showed people how hitler showed action and put the blame on the communists. The weakness of the Weimar government was yet another factor which persuaded the people that they needed change and hitler and the Nazis had it. Lastly the decision o von papen and hindenburg to appoint hitler as chancellor, they had no idea how strong a man hitler was and he wouldn’t be influenced by a majority of non-nazis. All these factors pushed hitler into power but if the chance events happened at difference times such as the wall street crash then it is almost certain that the Nazis would not have come into power.
