Explain why the depression of 1929 was a godsend for the Nazi Party

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. This situation was a godsend for the Nazi Party as it enabled them to gain public support. Having lost faith in what they already felt was an indecisive Government, and after the 'stab in the back' myth having been circulated throughout the country, Germany became increasingly hard to govern. Hitler, an inspiring and energetic speaker, took this opportunity to present himself and the Nazi party to the German people. Showing himself as a strong leader, he promised to abolish the Treaty of Versailles and restore Germany to power. This was one of the ways in which the Great Depression aided the Nazis. Because of the people of Germany falling into poverty and despair and being eager for help, Hitler's talk of a new Germany and his

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Was Nicholas II responsible for his own downfall?

Was Nicholas II responsible for his own downfall? Nicholas II acted as an autocratic monarch rather than a constitutional leader, and this was a factor in his eventual downfall and abdication. Other factors included, him leaving Russia in the incapable hand of his wife, Alexandra, who herself was greatly influenced by Rasputin. The 'Holy Man' Rasputin was becoming more and more popular with Alexandra for helping their only son, Alexis's with his haemophilia, and his strange but powerful brand of spirituality certainly affected both Alexandra and Nicholas. It could be argued that Nicholas was himself responsible for allowing the power of Rasputin to extend so far and to influence his political decisions. Historians are in agreement that Nicholas lacked the necessary skills and qualities to rule a rapidly changing country. There were however factors outside of Nicholas' control, including his son's illness, that he could not be held directly responsible for. Indeed Russia was a huge country which was very hard to govern even for the most competent Tsar. One of the first factors which Nicholas was responsible for was his weak character and the fact that he allowed Alexandra to be so dominant. She encouraged him to hold on to his absolute power when a change in his style of leadership may have been a more politically useful tactic. A very significant contributing

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Catholic discrimination in Northern Ireland in terms of Housing and Employment

There has been a long history of violence, prejudice, and discrimination between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, particularly highlighted throughout the 1960s, when Catholics were discriminated against by the Protestant Stormont Government in both employment and housing. Hence, in order to understand in what ways and how much it occurred, both these areas must be investigated. Firstly, one must look at how the Catholics were discriminated against in terms of employment, and to what extent this occurred. In the public sector, Catholics suffered great difficulties being employed, as there appears to have been some bias towards employing Protestants, especially in senior levels of the civil service. For example, in a report by the Cameron Commission in 1969, it is stated, "[As of October 1968] In County Fermanagh, no senior council posts, (and relatively few others) were held by Catholics" and according to the Sunday Times, in the same county, in 1961 "322 of the [370] posts, including the top ones, were filled with Protestants. This shows how during the 1960s, the Catholics in Fermanagh did not have many jobs at a high level in the public sector. This is particularly interesting because the majority of people in Fermanagh were Catholics, hence highlighting the extent of their discrimination. The Sunday Times also wrote that in Derry "of 177 salaried employees,

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Does General Haig deserve the title Butcher of the Somme?

Does General Haig deserve the title 'Butcher of the Somme'? In this essay I will discus whether General Haig deserves to be remembered as 'the butcher of the Somme'. General Haig's title of 'the butcher of the Somme' originated after the First World War, when, due to large number of casualties Britain suffered from the war and mostly the Somme. The people of Britain wanted someone to blame. This was a coping mechanism in which people could deal with the loss of the 'lost generation'. Arguably Haig does deserve his nickname. This is because Haig sent thousands of men to their deaths continuously after his war efforts seemed not to be working. For instance 60,000 soldiers died in the first day alone in the battle of the Somme. The reason that so many people died was that Haig ordered his men to walk across no-mans land. They were easy targets for the German machine guns. However Haig assisted Britain in winning the war and although he did so with tremendous loss of life, these men did not die pointlessly. They died to protect their families and everyone else on the home front, and they died to prevent Britain from becoming a German Nation. Haig was also faced with an almost impossible task of winning the war in the quickest means possible. Haig was under constant pressure from the government to have a large victory to boost morale. This factor as well as the fact that

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Why did the Germans hate the treaty of Versailles?

Why did the Germans hate the treaty of Versailles? Germans hated the Treaty of Versailles because they did not understand they were responsible for starting the war neither they felt as they had lost. Another reason that the German hated the treaty was the terms of the treaty, which created political and economic problems. This includes territorial restriction on Germany, military Restrictions on Germany, territorial losses, reparations, League of Nations etc. As a result, a piece of land was split in centre of Germany for Poland to have a coastline, which weaken Germany from East Prussia (East Prussia had been a source of great revenue and the political elite for Germany). Another territorial restriction on Germany that the Germans did not expect was that the Saar coal fields were to be given to France for fifteen years. This was a great source of coal for the Germans and losing it meant that the Germans didn't have a supply of coal and raw materials for its industries. There are many more reasons that the Germans hated the treaty of Versailles. When the treaty was announced on the 7th May 1919, Germans were horrified. One of the reasons why they were horrified was Germany had been blamed unfairly for starting the war. However, the allies could blame Bosnia for killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo. Germany was not allowed to

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To what extend do you agree with Rhodes view that the British Empire was beneficial to both Britain and the colonies?

This term in history we have been learning about the British Empire and what impacts the British Empire had on the countries they conquered and on the world itself. The British Empire was the largest Empire in history and for a period of time it was the world's globally strongest countries. By 1921 the British Empire was in command of a population of about 458 million people roughly one quarter of the world's population. The land that Britain had conquered covered about a quarter of the earth's surface area (14.2 million squares miles. The legacy that is the British Empire is well known throughout the world; at the peak of its power, people often said" The sun never sets on the British Empire, "As the sun will always be shining on one of Britain's colonies all over the world." However people had many different interpretations on the empire some say they were positive some say negative. There is evidence to support Cecil's Rhodes view the empire was beneficial for both sides. However there is more persuasive evidence that the empire had negative effects. Furthermore if considering why each gave the interpretations that they did , it is obvious that Cecil's Rhodes interpretation is particularly unreliable .In this essay I will be examine different interpretations on the British Empire to answer the following question "To what extend do you agree with Rhode's view that the

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Why did Alexander II Emancipate the Serfs in 1861?

Why did Alexander II Emancipate the Serfs in 1861? The emancipation of the serfs by Alexander II in 1861 was the inevitable result of a rising tide of liberalism in Russia, supported by the realisation that Russia's economic needs were incompatible with the system, and driven by the fear that that without reform the state itself could be shattered by revolution. Russia's defeat in the Crimean war was also a major influencing factor as "Defeat in the Crimean war laid bare Russia's weakness, so well conceived reforms were set in train and permitted the birth of politics... Russian tsars had learned little during the century: at its end, they were still claiming to be absolute rulers."[1][1] Alexander II came into power in 1855, as the successor of Nicholas I. He started his reign in a difficult position, as the defeat of the Crimean war in 1854 cast a shadow over the beginning of his reign. The peace treaty of Paris finally drew a conclusion to the war in 1856, Russia ultimately being defeated by Britain and France, leaving the Russian state feeling weak and vulnerable. The Russian war effort had been characterised by the bravery of the soldiers, but poor military performance and incompetence in the military leadership "The Crimean war with its record of official incompetence and the heroism of the serf army... put a seal on the matter."[2][2] However, "the

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Why was Hitler able to become chancellor of Germany in 1933?

Why was Hitler able to become chancellor of Germany in 1933? On 30th January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany and Von Papen descended himself to a vice-chancellor position. There was political scheming between the leaders which allowed Hitler to become chancellor. There were factors that helped the Nazis and Hitler to gain recognition and come to power. Some factors were long-term reasons such as the Treaty of Versailles which indirectly helped Hitler to become chancellor because the Weimar Government could not cope with the reparations payments. The weaknesses of the Weimar Republic is another long term reason playing a huge part giving the Nazis opportunities to take action and persuading people to vote for them. Some were short term factors such as the Wall Street Crash which led to a depression. This essay will look at how Hitler achieved his chancellor ship. Germany was never governed by a strong leader who kept serious issues under control. The three main leaders Ebert, Hindenburg, and Stresemann all had problems. Ebert could not deliver his promises because he had to form coalitions and had to agree with the people who joined. Hindenburg was not a good politician; he was 84 years old and was controlled by army leaders and business men. The best leader was Stresemann who was respected within and outside Germany. He died, however, before having a

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Why did Hitler become Chancellor of Germany in 1933?

Why did Hitler become Chancellor of Germany in 1933? Hitler's rise to chancellor came about because of the political problems Germany faced rather than being elected for the position. A number of long-term factors contributed to him becoming chancellor, and were the basis of how he did it. It must be noted that a great deal of why he became chancellor was linked to the problems that existed in Germany in the 1920's as well as the actions taken by. After the 1920's more luck was involved in Hitler gaining steps towards the chancellorship, it was not only his actions but also the actions of others that finalised his plans to the top. His ideas made the people restless and ready for a dictator to come to power, this argument seems to be the most convincing and logical conclusion to reach as to why he became the Chancellor. On the other hand it can be argued that Hitler was in part a product of German culture. German culture at the time stood out as particularly aggressive and racist. The values and ideas found in this culture's history inspired Hitler to do many things that he did and can explain in part why he felt the way he did on certain issues. For example there were talks of the master race in the past history of Germany by philosophers, which might have given Hitler his ideas on the Aryan race. It is believed by some that at the time German culture was going

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Why Did The First World War Break Out in 1914?

Why Did The First World War Break Out in 1914? The First World War was the most terrible war ever known due to the number of deaths that took place each day on the gory battlefields of the war. Altogether eight million soldiers lost their lives fighting in the trenches. The system of trenches stretched across Europe from the English Channel to Switzerland and soldiers faced their foe across a few hundred metres of churned up ground with barbed wire known as 'No Man's Land'. The grounds in and around the trenches were turned into a huge ocean of mud because of the rain and exploding bullets. It was impossible to attack the other side's trenches effectively because they were so greatly secured. Twenty million people were wounded and there was an extensive destruction, which ravaged cities and their civilian populations. The First World War lasted for four whole years and broke out in 1914 due to a number of reasons. The reasons that led the nations of Europe and later the world to go to war in 1914 are complex, and it is impossible to say the war started because of one single cause. There are a series of events, which derived in the early 19th century, which engulfed most of Europe by 4th August 1914. Some causes of the war were long-term whereas others were short term. One reason for the outbreak of the war in 1914 was the competition for colonies between the European

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