Economics During the Years of Hitler
Adolf Hitler became leader of the Nazi Party in 1921; throughout the passing years he made various attempts to overthrow the Government. He became Chancellor in 1933 and his main aims included tackling depression and restoring full employment in Germany. Another key ambition Hitler had was to prepare Germany for a next possible war.
Hitler took position as Chancellor in Germany in 1933, just after the Great Depression between 1929, when the Wall Street Crash hit America’s stock market, until 1932. Therefore he took over at a time when Germany looked economically weak, bitter and still blaming America and Europe for their financial problems. The reparations
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It wasn’t the Nazi Party who initiated Anti-Semitism, for centuries Christians had persecuted the Jewish Religion and it’s followers. Hitler was influenced by the work of Charles Darwin who had a theory that, in a society or environment, the stronger races would dominate but the weaker races would struggle to survive. The Jewish community lost out by Hitler’s rule as SA members were instructed to terrorise individual Jews, damage Synogogs and boycott their businesses.
Another group of Germans that lost out due to the rise and success of the Nazi’s was the Communists. As Nazi opposition, Hitler was eager to promote them negatively, for example the Reich Stag Fire in 1933, as a consequence the Communists were banned and made illegal. As well as showing how the Communists were discriminated against, it also demonstrates how Hitler abused Article 48 to gain power.
Married women also partly lost out due to the repercussions of Hitler’s changes. The wife of the couple was required to give up her job, which would reduce her independence as she relies on her husband for a regular income. On the other hand, it can be said that some married women benefited from Hitler as tax concessions and welfare payments were given to fertile families and a quarter of the loan was cancelled for every baby born but this would only be an advantage if you were fertile and could conceive
Due to the failure of the Weimar Republic and general public dissatisfaction arising from poor economic conditions exacerbated by the Treaty of Versailles, coupled with the 1929 Wall Street Crash, German citizens were understandably desperate for change. Until this point in time the Nazi party, and Hitler, had been essentially unpopular. However, the economic situation ensured Hitler’s increasing popularity as the people looked toward more extreme but non-communist ideals. The initial consolidation of Nazi power in 1933 arose from key events such as the support of the Nationalist Party with the Nazis to form a coalition government, implementation of the Enabling
Superficially, Hitler's economic policies were extremely successful. He appeared to have virtually eradicated unemployment, something no democratic Western power was able to achieve in the 1930s and within three years of gaining office. Yet beneath the "economic miracle", as Ian Kershaw points out, Hitler was pursuing economic policies in those early years which could only lead to war or a loss of power. The reality was that Hitler understood little about economics and seemed to care even less. His aims were to create full employment without inflation, to make Germany self-sufficient and to create Wehrwirtschaft, a defence economy, but in pursuing these policies he created
Hitler also brought his country out of an economic depression. The German depression was caused mainly by the Treaty of Versailles, and its detrimental economic impact on Germany. Basically, Germany was forced to pay for all damages caused by the First World War. Hitler’s policies that helped the German economy were part of his Third Reich. Hitler’s Third Reich led to one of the greatest expansions of industrial production and civil improvement in German history. This success was mainly due to the expansion of the military and the expansion of the money supply through deficit spending.
According to Abc.News, Germany had signed the debts to pay 269 million gold marks and around 96,000 tons of gold in Treaty of Versailles during 1919. The debts were unaffordable for Germans since they had also lost a lot of properties during the Great War. Followed along the debts that they had to pay to the Allies, there were the Great Depression. During 1930, the Great Depression occurs. “The total number of German workers involved in the unemployment easily reaches four million”(20,000,000 Unemployed in World," Revolutionary Age). Germans were frustrated with the government. Germans were ravenous and overwhelmed. Under this circumstances, the hopeless Germans started to believe that Hitler was the man who could bring the glory of Germany back. The propaganda poster below has shown that people were tiresome of trusting the government. The German words translated into English was “Our Last Hope— Hitler”. It indicated that Hitler was the last person as a leader they were going to believe. The poster enlarged the name “Hitler” to emphasize his importance, to attract attention, and to encourage people to join the Nazi Party.
During the 1930’s Germany was at an all time low as the worldwide economic depression hit Germany hard. The confidence in Germany from the people was lacking due to the fresh memory of their defeat in World War I. This caused great need of a new leader, someone who could give the people change, and Adolf Hitler knew he could do just that. His rapid rise to power began when he started to promise things that intrigued the German people. He promised the hopeless and needy a better life, and promised opportunities that were exactly what the people needed. This caught the attention of so many young unemployed and middle class people. His party, known as the Nazi Party, won 33 percent of the votes in the 1932 elections. And by January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor, which was the head of the German government. Germany started to feel like they might've found the leader they'd been so desperate for.
The Nazi group had a major impact on the government and influenced the decision for the next Chancellor of Germany. “...Paul von Hindenburg, had appointed Hitler Chancellor. Having won more than 37 percent of the vote in the previous year's legislative elections, Hitler's Nazi party had enough power to effectively paralyze Germany's democratic government, which had been in place since 1919,” Smith says (pg.15). This shows that Hitler's Nazi group was extremely powerful and explains how Hitler arose to power. This quote reveals that Hitler had the most power since 1919, which demonstrates how powerful Hitler will become in the future. “By the early 1930’s, Germany was in desperate shape. Its defeat in World War One and the harsh conditions imposed by the United States, Britain, and France in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles - included debilitating reparation payments to the victors - had left Germany humiliated and impoverished, with ruinous inflation eating away at its economy. The worldwide Depression that followed the 1929 U.S. stock market crash exacerbated the situation as banks
Historian Carr writes "It is inconceivable that Hitler could have come into power had not the Weimar Republic being subject to the unprecedented strain of a world crisis", thus he thinks that the Wall Street Crash was the cause of problems in Weimar leading to the rise of the Nazis. In 1933 the Nazi party took control of Germany, installing Hitler as chancellor. Evidence would suggest that the Wall Street Crash was a major factor in the Nazi's rise to power, however there were other factors such as the fall of the Weimar Republic and the attraction of the Nazi ideal. Historian Conan Fischer says that "The worsening economic situation triggered the slide
Even though Germany was left in a period of struggle and economic weakness after WW1, Adolf Hitler would take a stand by creating a party that would help refine the structure of the economy. This party, when abbreviated, was called Nazi, would also create harsh laws and unrelentless punishment. Due to the Nazi party’s quick growth, there was an immediate impact on lifestyle and politics for the people of Germany. The long term impact brought forth by the consequences or legacy of the Nazi party included a population decrease and an increase in deaths. To make both of these impacts, Hitler had to overcome many hard challenges.
The Great Depression played a big role in helping the Nazi Party capture power. Many nations were suffering from the Great Depression in 1930, including Germany who had to pay for the war reparations. During this period of economic and politic crisis, the country had been easily influenced by the politics parties. They wanted someone who is capable and had what it takes to be their leader to lead them through the huge crisis that they were facing. Most Germans who are in desperate state as they wanted Germany to be like once, able to be proud of and not in such a state where they had to struggle to fulfill the almost impossible terms of the Treaty of Versailles. They considered that period as a disgraceful decade in their history. Due to
Hitler can reduce the number of unemployment from 6 million in 1933 to 2.6 million in December 1934. Additionally, women are encouraged to venture into businesses.
In the following investigation, the following question will be addressed: In what ways did economic and political issues in Germany between 1922 and 1932 contribute to Hitler's rise to power? The scope of my research will fall between the years of 1922-1932, the start of Hitler’s attempt to run for office. A variety of primary and secondary sources will be used to answer the question. The bitterness caused upon the change of government systems in Germany will be analyzed, along with his childhood that all primarily drove Hitler to run for power. Then, the harsh effects World War I had on Germany along with the Great Depression that followed as a result will also be looked at. Finally, a conclusion will be reached.
<br>The stock market crash of 1929 effected practically every nation in the world. Germany was already suffering a post-war depression and was greatly effected. Hitler used the suffering of the masses to gain political support. He gained a strong following from the
How and Why Hitler and the Nazis Came to Power in Germany Before the Great War in 1914 Germany was a rich and prospering country. The end of the war in 1918 and between 1933 reduced Germany to a weak and struggling country. There are many reasons for the fall and rise of Germany during this time, which ultimately results in the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. After the war Germany found defeat in the First World War difficult to accept. Their did not accept that they had been truly defeated: they thought their government had been 'stabbed in the back' by left-wing Germans who lacked patriotism.
Reparations? Just the term stirs up controversy, along with endless amounts of questions that are still to be answered. Should reparations be awarded? Is it feasible? Who should receive it? In what forms should it be given? These are only a few of the most important questions that need to be answered. To answer these questions, I will draw on the research conducted for my country study and the panel debates that were conducted over the past weeks. To fully understand my reasoning you must be informed of the approaches discussed on both sides of these debates.
The Effect of the Great Depression on Hitler's Power There is no simple answer as to why Hitler became chancellor in January 1933. There are a number of causal factors which all contributed to his rise into power. Any of the factors, on its own, however, would not have resulted in his appointment. They are all linked in a web of causation and if any of the factors were missing, Hitler would not have been appointed chancellor. Of the factors I would say that the Great Depression was the most important.