The horror of the Nazi Party in 1930s and 1940s Germany is one of which many people in this day and age are aware. The tragedy of the Holocaust, along with the racism and supremacist ideas that helped spark it, were the results of the rise of the Nazis and Fascism. In Jeremy Noakes’ article, The Rise of the Nazis, he explains that Nazis gained power due to the mass support that the Nazi Party had, and due to the appointment of Hitler to Chancellor. Prior to 1930, the Nazi Party was just a group of activists fighting for their beliefs - extreme nationalism and anti-Semitism. Those involved with the Party called themselves the National Socialist German Worker’s Party, which was very alienating to most of the middle class; however, they did attract peasant farmers, craftsmen, and other tradesmen as well as many white-collar workers and civil servants. Originally, it was mostly the lower and working classes that supported the Nazi Party, but eventually it attracted the middle and upper classes. …show more content…
For example, the Nazis offered to defend the middle class’ interest as well as the ability to be in charge of the new political order. Many in the German middle class were disgusted at the former government and wanted to have a say in how Germany would be run. Additionally, fascism promotes an extreme view on nationalism, and many people in the upper and middle classes felt strongly about Germany. Furthermore, it was those in the middle and upper classes that helped Hitler become appointed to
Many Northeimers of the working class, usually the lower class and lower middle class, were members' Social Democratic party, Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutchlands, or the SPD. The party and its members were Leftist in every way you can think. This party was made up of people from all different working class organizations. Some examples of these organizations were the Workers' Funeral Savings Association or the Householders Consumers' Cooperative. This ideology gave Northeim training for a democracy and became a way of life for the working class. If you were not apart of the Socialist then you were a Rightist. It was this small group of people that, at the close of the 1920's, would give the Nazi and Nationalist party its greatest support.
In the 1920’s and early 1930’s, the Nazi party appealed to many Germans because of the solutions they offered in times of despair. Their party valued unification under one leader to resolve the German economic crisis, restoring the German military, and abrogating the Versailles treaty. The Nazis appealed to the German people because of their demands in lieu of the Versailles treaty and in response to the economic crisis. The Treaty of Versailles had many consequences for Germans including the regulation of the German army and loss of several colonies.
Why did average Germans support the Nazism? To do so, Hitler gave Germans huge tax breaks and introduced social benefits that even today anchor the society. He also ensured that even in the last days of the war not a single German went hungry. Despite near-constant warfare, never once during his 12 years in power did Hitler raise taxes for working class people. He also — in great contrast to World War I — particularly pampered soldiers and their families, offering them more than double the salaries and benefits that American and British families received. As such, most Germans saw Nazism as a "warm-hearted" protector.
He urged the people, “go into your churches, kneel before God, and implore his help for our brave army.”(25) This moment hinted at a more independent minded approach to traditional authority. When coupled together, the emotions of the crowds and the ability of groups like the Fatherland Party to find a footing in the political arena, gives reason to believe that the German people were ready to make a change that served their newfound interests. Fritzche explicitly makes this point, “the patriotism that Germans displayed was of their own making and suited to new conceptions of nation and citizenship which invited rather than discouraged public participation.” (66) At the conclusion of the war, millions of people were at a loss, and the Nazis stepped in to fill a void left by their opposition who had stoked the flames of nationalism but failed to capitalize on its apparent momentum. This included a strong message that laid blame for the German surrender at the feet of those in charge. Also, previous notions of class were turned upside down or, for the Nazis, right side up, making it possible for an illiberal, fascist community to become the norm. Simply put, “Basic elements of the Nazi message spoke to the political aspirations that burghers had held for more than ten years.” (192) Germans became Nazis by their own choosing, they were not forced to
They wanted the government to own everything, like private land and businesses. Businessmen, landowners and upper and middle class didn't want or like Communism. They didn't want their land or business to be owned by the government. Their reaction was to give support and money to the Nazis party, in hope that they would drive out Communism and get enough votes to take over Germany. With the support and money from the upper class etc, Hitler was given the chance to build up, arms, uniform and publicise the Nazi party with the money and support given in result of the fear that the Communists created.
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
In order to grow more popular the National Socialist German Workers Party had to get the support of other groups who were also influential at the time in Germany. In 1930 The Nationalist German Workers Party had gained the support of many wealthy individuals and the entire military order members. By 1933 the Nazis had even gotten closer and had made connections with the President of Germany, who at the time was Paul von Hindenburg. This led to Hitler receiving titles such as the Personal Commander of the Army, Supreme War Lord, and later Chancellor of Germany (“Adolf Hitler”). While Hitler was gaining titles and prestige, he also had to make sure that the party he had worked so hard to build would not fall down, under any circumstances.
In 1933 Adolf Hitler was chosen as Chancellor of Germany by president Paul von Hindenburg. With this, the Nazi party came to power. Originally called the National Socialist German Workers party (Nazi for short), the Nazi party emphasized how Laissez-faire capitalism, economic liberalism, and democracy failed in government. The National Socialists stressed the importance of the impeccability of the German race. Although they had very determined ideas, The Nazi party began as a relatively small group in 1918. But coming into the 1930’s this was not the case. The widespread use of propaganda and radio broadcasting were instrumental to the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party.
The Wall Street Crash was another important reason or the Nazi Party gaining support in the years 1923-33. The Wall Street Crash happened in 1929 and left Germany’s economy crippled. As Germany was dependant on loans from America, when America stopped giving these loans to Germany the
While the Nazi party attracted little attention in the early years following the Great War, Hitler was able to establish a totalitarian dictatorship by the late 1930s. How were the Nazis able to gain a dramatic amount of support so fast? Prior to World War I, Germany was one of the fastest growing industrialized and most educated nations in all of Europe, but their humiliating defeat in the war hurt the country’s economy, politics, and national pride (Watson 8). The country lost its faith in the current system, the Weimar Republic, at this time of financial and political difficulty in Germany.
After World War I occurred, many Germans were still upset. Germany was burdened with many war reparations that they couldn’t pay. Many of these upset Germans helped to form the Nazi party- or the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (“Nazi”). They called for strong militarism, nationalism, and wanted to expand Germany’s
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 leaders of the Nazi party made it one of the most infamous groups to lead a nation in history. The horrible things done under their rule and with their stamp of approval has made the term Nazi one of the worst possible. The amazing thing about the Nazi party is that many of the main aspects of their ideology existed in Germany even before they formed or came to power. Some of the major aspects of Nazi ideology such as antisemitism, the desire to expand the German empire, and the belief in the strength of the Aryan race existed in Germany years before Adolf Hitler was a name anyone in Germany would recognize.
From 1933 to 1945, Germany was under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and the Nationalist Socialist German Party, or Nazi Party. The group promoted German pride and Anti-Semitism, hate towards Jews, and expressed disgust towards the Treaty of Versailles, a peace document signed between Germany and the Allies at the end of World War 1 (History.com Staff). In order to grow his movement, Hitler recruited Germans for his armies, his factory workers, and his death camp guards. Because of this, it was easy to assume that all Germans supported the Nazi dictatorship and the ideas they preached. However, throughout this time period many Germans of different political and religious beliefs came together to protest against the regime.
In 1930, because of the Nazi Party’s good fortunes and careful planning, their votes increased from 12 seats to 107 seats. One of the factors that helped them captured more votes was because they mainly targeted on people who were affected worst on the Great Depression like the farmers and small businessmen. He promised to cut taxes, protection on food prices for the farmers, and making policy of making trade unions powerless and stopped communisms to the small businessmen. It appealed them. Many male Germans also supported Hitler because of the military appearance. Female German also supported him because he made them feel very important as he wanted them to bear lots of Aryan children to serve the country. Hitler also made a point to declare through his speech that he detests the Jews, and naturally, those Germans who are mostly Protestants, too, blamed the Jews. In brief, Hitler appealed to a wide range of people in voting for him.