The Effect of the Great Depression on Hitler's Power Essay

Hitler came to power in 1933 when Germany was recovering from its recession as well as depression from World War I. Similar to any other leader, Hitler had one motive, and that was to rebuild the lives and the entire country to give them confidence and believing they were a phenomenal group of people. In order for Hitler to make sure his goal was accomplished, he

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

Paul Von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor on the 30th January 1933. The Depression did play a vital role in this, however other factors such as the Nazis propaganda, the resentment of the Weimar republic and the political situation of 1932-1933 also contributed to his success.

One of the main factors in Hitler’s rise to power was the Economic Depression of 1929. After the Wall Street crash, the U.S. called in its loans to Germany thus increasing both poverty and unemployment levels. The Weimar government did not understand how to reverse the situation so the general public became angry and lost confidence in the relatively new democratic system. During a depression, political trends become extremist and so the Nazis flourished; Hitler offered both a scapegoat and himself as a strong leader to look up to. The depression gave Hitler the edge he needed to gain ninety-five[1] seats in the Reichstag and ultimately progress from the leader of a minority party to the Dictator of the Third Reich.

“Hitler soon emerged as a charismatic public speaker and began attracting new members with speeches blaming Jews and Marxists for Germany’s problems and espousing extreme nationalism and the concept of an Aryan ‘master race’.” (History.com Staff, 2009). Since Germany was in such a grave state many people backed him and his views up because it was their way out of their tough times. “In July 1921, he assumed leadership of the organization, which by then had been renamed the Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party” (History.com Staff, 2009). His fiery, compelling speeches were key elements for his gain of power.

This period of time produced political and economic issues for several nations, including the United States and Europe. This put countries in weak positions and this led to governments power thinning. This new loss of power prompted groups to rise to their own power such as Nazi’s in Germany. After Hitler was suppressed for a long period of time and was residing in jail previous to his dominance over political parties, the Great Depression provided the perfect opportunity to seize the power he so desperately wanted and helped the Nazi party suppress the government. Political parties at this point of the Great Depression were doing the opposite of what they should have been doing which is working together in an effort to repair these immense economic problems many people were suffering from. The chancellor at the time, Hindenburg, eventually gave the position to Hitler and his rising Nazi party. Without the devastating economic problems that were associated with the Great Depression it would have been even more difficult for Hitler to become such a strong figure at this point in time. If Hitler would have never come to power a second world war may have never

Jobs were lost, manufacturing levels decreased, and banks failed. By 1932, unemployment in Germany reached more than six million. The entire country was cast into poverty and The Great Depression had just begun. The people were desperately seeking a solution, and Adolf Hitler decided to take this opportunity. The depression gave Hitler exactly what he needed to easily rise to power. The Nazi party was barely known before this depression, receiving only three percent of the vote to the German Parliament in 1924. Gears quickly shifted, and in 1932 Hitler and his colleagues won more than thirty-three percent of the votes. President Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, convinced he could control his “extremist policies”; however, Hindenburg was completely mistaken. Elections were set for September 14, and the Nazi party took action. Adolf Hitler intentionally said things that the people wanted to hear, hoping that eventually he would gain the support needed to win the election. The people of Germany were tired of suffering from a collapsing economy, and were willing to put anyone into control, even Adolf

One of the main reasons Hitler was abloe to come to power was the bad economy. “Stock market crash...banks failed,factories closed, and millions of people lost their jobs.” (Smith, 5) People had little money, not enough to buy food, but Hitler promised everyone would have food and jobs

With how things had stacked up, it was easy for Hitler to become a new, well-liked leader with his party. Many Germans were defeated and were easily swayed with what Hitler promises to give them. He promised those who were acutely disappointed in their nation a new and better life and a “glorious Germany” “Hitler Comes To Power”. On the 30th of January in 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor that brought an end to the German democracy “Nazi Rule” and from there “many Germans [had] believed that they had found a savior for their nation” “Hitler Comes To Power”. Hitler’s party wasn’t as well known before the depression struck, but the party soon appealed to those who were unemployed, young, and those in the lower-middle-class “Hitler Comes To Power”. In Hitler’s first months of being chancellor, he forced “workers, employees, and employers…into Nazi organizations” “Nazi Rule”. By adding more people and growing his party, Hitler was able to rebuild Germany. He was originally denied many things, due to the Treaty of Versailles. He was limited to only 100,000 men in his army, have six warships max, etc. Hitler ignored the treaty and proceeded to rebuild Germany by having and getting what he needed to reshape Germany in-order to having it become an efficient country. He had factories

Before Adolf Hitler came into power, Germany was a suffering country. Going through the Great Depression in 1929, Germany was struggling with one in three Germans unemployed and needed another option to turn to for help, this became Hitler’s chance. Another factor that contributed to Hitler’s rise to power was the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was unhappy with the Treaty of Versailles at the time because it included loss of land and humiliated the Germans, and Hitler promised to rid of this and change Germany for the better.

As Franklin D. Roosevelt was the right man at the right time for US politics, so to was Adolf Hitler for the German state. Hitler floundered in life prior to joining the Germany army during WWI. There he proved his mettle by earning several distinguished awards for bravery and service to the German war effort. It was through the loud and boisterous ‘Beer Hall’ meetings that Hitler found his voice and joined the Nazis Party. His ability to speak clearly and with authority allowed him to rise in stature within the political party. His use of propaganda played on the fears of the German people. They were stimulated mesmerized if you will by his message. Chamberlain College of Nursing’s (CCN) online lesson illustrates that, at a time when the world was suffering through a global depression Hitler realized that the German peasants feared being stuck in everlasting poverty and the elites feared the loss of the means of production through communism (CCN, 2016).

Hitler was in many ways a great leader and his influence on the German people was immense; he used his motivational and powerful speaking abilities to gain support and popularity. Hitler knew how to appeal to people's baser instincts and made use of their fears and insecurities. He could do that,

To end WW1, the Treaty of Versailles was created and signed by most countries. This Treaty was made to severly punish Germany. The makers of this Treaty were affected almost catostrophically by the War, so this was a way of “getting them back.” As a consequence, Germany’s terrioty and army was taken, expensive reperations had to be payed, and germany had to take all of the war guilt. They were essentially singled out, and were forced to take all the blame. This crippled not only their economy, but their sense of pride. Hitler took this as an oppertunity to gain power and popularity. He spread the idea of German nationalism using his profound speaking skills. He claimed that Germany could top other countries (www.mtholyole.edu), and this eventully lead to the revival of German nationalism. German citizens were also desperate for a change, since the Weimar Republic was not letting them grow as a country and get past the strict regulations the Treaty of Versailles pressed upon them. Hitler was able to not only break the rules, which appealed to the German people, but able to discard the Weimar republic completely and legitmately help the economy.

Hitler had a way with words, he was one of the best public speakers know to date, most said he spoke with such emotion, he was one of the few leaders at the time that could really rally a crowd. He was speaking to masses of people who were economically downtrodden after losing the first world war. People during this era were looking for someone or something to grab hold of, and Hitler appeared to the German people as such a trustworthy and upfront politician, that he became their “Savior.” Thus this horrific man wormed his way into the hearts and minds of an entire nation.

In 1933 January 30th, Adolf Hitler had commenced into being the chancellor of Germany. There had been several of reasons why Hitler became chancellor during that period of time. In 1929, depression was the most important factor, which was good for Hitler and the Nazis as they blamed the Weimar Republic, the Treaty of Versailles, the Communists, and Jews along with the promise to get rid of the 'enemy within' who were obliterating Germany. The German people had somewhat followed the outcome and followed Germany. Hitler along with the Nazis had used the time well whilst good organisation, teamwork and the skills of the propaganda to gain votes.