Reasons Behind the Nazis Coming to Power
In January 1933, Hitler became chancellor of Germany, there are many reasons for him and the Nazis coming into power. They are long term and short-term cause, which can be classed under 3 main headings: weakness of opposition, strengths of Nazis and economic factors.
The weaknesses of the opposition helped the Nazis come into power because Hitler took advantage of them. The failure of the Weimar government was a long-term reason. The government had been doomed from the start, when it took over from the Kaiser in 1918, it had many problems to face. Firstly, the Weimar was democratic, it believed the people should have a say in how their country was run.
…show more content…
Germany began to get back onto its feet again when a new currency known as the Rentenmark was introduced under Stresemann and deals were negotiated, but the country was still dependant on the US for money which hit them hard after the wall street crash in 1929.
However, there were also weaknesses within the constitution itself which helped Hitler. Proportional representation meant that there were lots of small parties within the Reichstag this meant that decisions were difficult and slow to make. Germany lacked a strong government, which is what they needed in order to pull them out of the depression. Small parties were weak and poorly organised, they failed to sort out Germanys problems because they were unprepared to work together. This caused people to have little confidence in the democratic system and as a result turned their support to extremist groups such as the Nazis and Communists for help. The chancellors Hindenburg appointed under him had little support in the Reichstag and as a result they were forced to rule by emergency degree.
Support for the Weimar republic began to decreas4 as political uncertainties were created by the failings of Weimar and the short- lived coalition governments, which were not prepared to work together.
The Weaknesses of Communism helped the Nazis to come to power indirectly. Landowners, businessmen, big companies and Middle
After Germany’s humiliating defeat in World War I, Germans had little faith in their government, and in the early 1930s following the stock market crash in New York, Germany was economically struggling . Millions of people were out of work due to the world wide catastrophe making it an opportune time for Hitler and the Nazis to rise into power. Hitler, who was a powerful and spellbinding speaker, attracted Germans desperate for change. He promised to make Germany a better country and promised the disenchanted, a better life. Nazis appealed especially to the youth, unemployed, and members of the lower to middle class. Hitler’s rise to power seemed instantaneous. Before the economic depression, Nazis were virtually unknown, winning less than 3 percent of the vote to the Reichstag, which was the German Parliament. However, in the 1924 elections, the Nazis won a whopping 33 percent of the votes which was more than any other party. In January of 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor, the head of German Government . The Germans were convinced that they had found a savior for the Nation. The timing of his rise made it very easy for Hitler to gain power in a democratic government because people were hopeless and wanted a fast solution to the deficit. He promised things like a stronger economy, prosperity, and anything that they desired . He focused on first getting noticed and then grew from there. He didn’t say anything but what the people wanted to hear. Getting the people of Germany to trust him was how he started to gain so much control. Unfortunately, Hitler’s charm and persuasion was not the sole reason why Hitler gained so much power in a democratic
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
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
After WWI, Germany fell into poverty. Everyday, lines of people were seen in the streets waiting to purchase bread. People were poor and desperate. Hitler saw this and used it. He gave people hope and the economy improved and he was announced chancellor of Germany in 1933. Government suspected he was unstable, but were convinced they could control him if necessary. Hitler secretly made a new police called the Nazis who were Hitler’s supporters and enforced the law at Hitler’s command. Quickly and unknowingly, the government was no longer in control of Hitler. Hitler had full power of Germany.
In the lead up to the depression the Nazis had 12 seats and just two years later in the peak of the economic crisis the Nazis had 107 seats. This reflects the dissatisfaction that was shown in the present government and the fact that Hitler was the only person who promised the solutions that they people wanted. Many historians have stated that if Stressman had not died in 1929 then Germany may have recovered to its former strength and Hitler may never had the chance at gaining power. From 1930 onwards the country is being ruled by presidential decree through the use of Article 48, so therefore no party could gain a majority for the German economy to get back on its feet. Hitler took advantage of these times of hardship and promised these desperate people what they wanted, employment and a way out of these poverty times. Hitler was the only option left, and is desperate time people look for desperate politics to solve these problems. Weimar
The weaknesses of the Weimar Republic helped Hitler’s leadership become significant. It first started when Germany lost World War One. The government had to take the blame and lost followers. It also weakened when the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were announced. The German army was reduced to almost nothing. There were no tanks or aircrafts allowed for their military. The Rhineland was taken away from Germany and was demilitarized to nothing. And Germany had to take the blame for World War One and pay reparations for it. Since Germany had to pay reparations, their economy crashed and money was worth very little then to nothing. Then in 1929, America’s stock market crashed and countries around the world felt the impact, especially Germany. The Great Depression was a worldwide problem. Then the Nazis created
The Depression also drew attention to the weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution; as poverty and unemployment increased, respect for the democratic system drastically decreased. The German population did not want to
German citizens were angry and lost confidence in the Weimar government. During the depression, they turned towards the extremist political parties such as the Communists and Nazis. The Weimar government did not know how to react, and in desperation, Chancellor Brüning cut government expenditure, wages and unemployment pay, to stop money from being spent on less necessary things. Unfortunately, this was a very poor decision and led to several riots in Germany. The Reichstag were completely against his actions, so he used Article 48, which allowed him to change these laws under an emergency. The citizens of German complained that the Weimar government did not have to ability to cope with the Great Depression and the low unemployment. Hitler’s Nazi Party had only won 12 seats at the 1928 Reichstag, but after the Great Depression, Hitler’s Party won 107 seats in the 1930 Reichstag, after a rise of 691% of votes over the two years. This was because many lower-class workers turned to communism. This was such a large majority that several wealthy businessmen also decided to finance Hitler’s campaigns. Many middle-class people, who were alarmed by the obvious failure of the Weimar Republic to bring in democracy, decided that the country needed a newer, stronger government. They decided that the Nazi party was the right choice for them. And so, after the elections of 1932, the Nazis emerged as the largest political party in Germany, obtaining nearly 14
The collapse of the Weimar Republic did not transpire from one sole reason, but from numerous short and long term factors. The immediate impact of the Great Depression definitely catalyzed the demise of the Weimar constitution, however the social, political, and economic instabilities built up the tension that triggered the initial collapse. These underlying issues fuelled governmental weaknesses, encouraging the psychological discontent with the Republic. This atmosphere of disarray enabled the NAZI party to gain power, as they took advantage of the democratic flaws. With each incident that occurred accumulating tension within the republic, the Great Depression was ultimately the final event that the government could not withstand, causing the collapse to occur.
The Nazi Empire was pure evil organization that's only goal was to exterminate anyone who didn't fall under hitler's aryan race and anyone who opposed hitler. while in power they went through with the biggest mass slaughter of people mainly of jewish descent in human history. Hitler's plan was to eliminate all jewish people and bring germany's greatness back. i will be covering the reasons why the Nazis fell.
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
The collapse of the Weimar Republic was a prime contributor to the Nazi party. Weimar suffered from economic issues and was unstable because the terms issued by the Treaty of Versailles. Many citizens loathed the Republic were happy that it was gone. Shortly after the Republic’s collapse, Hitler rose to power. As Hitler rose to power, he used propaganda and speeches to gain voters and supporters (Darby).
A significant cause of the fall of the Weimar Republic was the political instability and weakness of the government. The negative response to the government started from its very inception in 1919 when the monarchy of Kaiser Wilhelm II was replaced with a democratic Republic. Many Germans did not welcome this change to democracy and did not like the new parliamentary government, preferring to have one strong leader rather than an elected President, Chancellor and Reichstag. The government was also associated with the surrender of the Allies in World War 1 and was criticized for accepting the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which was one of the most important treaties which to end the war in peace. This was an action that many Germans believed to be unfaithful. The Treaty of Versailles was harsh on Germany, and politicians were termed to the ‘November criminals’ for their actions. After World War 1 the ‘stab in the back’ myth plagued the Republic throughout its existence. Many Germans had not forgotten or forgiven the November Criminals and wanted the Treaty overturned. This is where the extremist parties waited for an opportunity to attack the Weimar Government. The weak Constitution was also a weakness within the government, Proportional Representation. This meant that it was hard for ant political party to ever have a majority in the Reichstag. The government had to be made up of different parties (coalition governments). The republic was usually governed by coalitions
The Great Depression in the 1930 's hit the whole nation hard. From Germany 's perspective, the economic fall hit them the hardest out of everyone. This economic depression did not help the subtle humiliation they had from losing the war 15 years prior. If anything, this worsened Germany 's state, making them lack self-confidence and become a very weak government. "This gave way for a new leader to arise into power, who everyone knows as Adolf Hitler and his party was the National Socialist German Worker 's Party, or Nazi Party." (Hitler Comes to Power) Hitler had an advantage on Germany and wining them over, the advantage being that the Germans were vulnerable. He was a very powerful speaker and he was compelling to many of the people because he spoke with the desperation for change. Adolf promised the people a new life and a better Germany. The Nazi Party 's rise to power was quick and record breaking. "They would on average win 3% of the vote 8 years
The Weimar Republic failed as a result of many significant and underlying factors. The problems included politics, economics, and the popularity of the Nazis along with the effect of the Great Depression. However, besides all these faults that appeared after the establishment of Germany’s first Democracy, Weimar was handicapped from the beginning due to the effects of the First World War. Alongside the repercussions of the war, the Treaty of Versailles further lowered the chance of success for the Weimar Republic.