The Rise Of Weimar Germany

On April 20, 1889, Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau Am Inn, Austria to Alois Hitler and Klara Pölzl. In the early days of Hitler’s life, he was an unrestrained and carefree child who lived a happy life. His mother was very caring and affectionate towards him while his father spent most of his time either at work or following his hobby of keeping bees. Hitler had an older brother named Alois Hitler Jr. and an older sister named Angela, and a few years after he was born his mom gave birth to another son named Edmund and another sister named Paula. After his father retired and Hitler started to go to school his life began to change. He was no longer able to live his previous carefree lifestyle and now his strict father was going to be watching

The Weimar Republic would have continued to be a functional government far longer than achieved if not for the defeat of WWI, the economic burdens imposed by the Versailles Treaty, and the flawed Article 48 which all contributed to the down fall of Germany’s first attempt at a legitimate Democracy. This paper will argue that the societal, economical, and constitutional aspects all played a role in the hopeless Democracy Germany attempted which ultimately lead Germany into a totalitarian state that would further shake the world with the rise of the NSDAP and Adolf Hitler.

After the Golden Years, which brought great prosperity back to the economy and saw the middle class turn away from the extremists, the Wall Street Crash in 1929 occurred. The middle class turned back to the Nazi’s, especially in the industrial north of Germany. The German

World War II plays a very important part in the history of the world. It still has effects that we deal with today. So, what events could have possibly started such a monumental world war? Well, the events are: World War I, Great Depression, expansion of imperialism, Versailles Treaty, and the rise of Germany. This was a dangerous chain reaction of events that lead to the devastating effects of the war.

During the hardship of the 1920s and1930s, political incompetence was highlighted, the Weimar Government proved its incompetence time and time again. .The instability of the Weimar Republic was so great that the average life-span of Reich cabinets was from 6-7 months. Their incapability of providing justice to outbreaks of violence, such as political assassinations is one example of the incompetence of the Weimar Republic. When Germany found its self in undesirable economical situations due to the Treaty of Versalles, they printed money to pay off reparations, which resulted in super-inflation. During the period of super-inflation people’s life savings became worthless which contributed to the downward circle of a reduction in standard of living. As unemployment rose and people began to afford less and less with their money, people commenced searching for a better alternative to the Weimar Government. Hitler’s ability to build upon these feelings whilst offering security, prosperity and full employment, convinced Germany, in a state of disillusionment, to support the nazi party. The Weimar’s instability contributed to the collapse of the Weimar republic provided perfect conditions for the nazi party to rise to power.

The Treaty of Versailles could be described as a great step for peace by some, but in Germany the people were enraged. The Treaty of Versailles was seen by the German people as a way to take away Germany’s land and make Germany have to pay for the war. Extreme Nationalists like Adolf Hitler had a strong idea on who should be the blame for Germany’s loss of land and the failure at the Treaty of Versailles. Adolf Hitler and the Nazism party blamed the Weimar Republic. “Hitler and the Nazi Party gained power in Germany by exploiting the economic problems and constitutional weaknesses of the Weimar Republic.”

Germany emerged from World War I with huge debts incurred to finance a costly war for almost five years. The treasury was empty, the currency was losing value, and Germany needed to pay its war debts and the huge reparations bill imposed on it by the Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended the war. The treaty also deprived Germany of territory, natural resources, and even ships, trains, and factory equipment. Germany’s population was undernourished and contained many widows, orphans, and disabled veterans living in poverty. The new German government struggled to deal with these crises, which had produced a serious hyperinflation.

1925-1929 as the Time of Economic and Political Stability in the Weimar Republic The years 1925-1929 were described as the Golden Years for Germany. There were no attempts to over throw the government like the Sparticist uprising or the Kapp Putsch, therefore undoubtedly it was the best years compared to the problems before and after the Golden Years. The way the golden years were perceived would indicate to what extent were the years 1925 to1929 a time of economic and political stability for the Weimar Republic. There were developments in Germanyduring the Golden Years in the following essay we will learn where the developments took place and whether they disadvantaged Germany or helped her

was in the summer an they had to pay £50,000. But in 1922 they had

During the Weimar Republic period, the German Communist Party (KPD – Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands) was viewed by many as Nazi Party’s major rival with regards to national power acquisition. The German Communist Party sprang from the Spartacist Movement led by Karl Liebknicht and Rosa Luxemburg. The SA and the Communist Party engaged in several street battles that were especially common during the period of depression that occurred after the 29th of October 1929 Wall Street Crash. The German Communist Party had most of its representation among the Weimar’s working class and this made the Nazis feel threatened.

Imagine that after a lifelong of hard work and saving, you find that your lifesavings will not buy more than one cup of coffee. For a majority of the middle class living in Germany during the early 1920’s this was precisely their experience. Of course, not all suffered during this period of hyperinflation. Those who owed money encouraged their government’s expansionary monetary policies, knowing the resulting inflation would effectively cancel their debt. In fact, it was the Reich itself who had the most to gain from inflation, for it was the biggest debtor of them all.

The 1920’s was the time for expressive art culture, which saw to inspire the nation to become more expressive and revolutionised the way people thought about German life, especially German politics. Having previously lived under authoritarian government, where entertainment and social activities were tightly regulated, many Germans thrived on the relaxed social attitudes of Weimar. The influx of American loans and the economic revival of the mid to late 1920s encouraged celebration among the nation. The Weimar Republic were overwhelmed by this resistance to conformity, however there were many forms of which this new concept could be expressed. Thus showing there was no way of controlling the rapidly growing art culture that provided the freedom of speech the people wanted, but the Weimar Republic were at threat with.

The German army (The Reichswehr) contributed to the considerable social, political and economic changes that took place in Germany between 1919 and 1934. The German army was one of the strongest nationalistic organisations in the country following WWI and became essential in the Weimar Republic, providing defense against revolutionary communist forces in the early stages of the democracy. However, while the German army aided in preventing the success of communist uprisings and the strong right wing situations that prevented the attacks on the right wing assaults, Weimar militarism was a key contributing factor to increasing political chaos surrounding the final moments of the Weimar democracy.

Hitler's rise to power was the result of many factors, but Hitler's ability to take advantage of Germany's poor leadership and economical and political conditions was the most significant factor. His ability to manipulate the media and the German public whilst taking advantage of Germany's poor leadership resulted in both the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler and the nazi party. During the early 1920s, Germany was struggling with economic instability and political uncertainty. Germany, after being defeated in the Great War, was forced to sign the unforgiving treaty of Versailles, which the Weimar Republic was held responsible for. This brought

As much as reparation requirements sparked outrage and called the republican order into question, it was the advent of unprecedented hyperinflation that truly destabilized Weimar’s long-term legitimacy. When Germans across the economic spectrum began to protest for wage increases in 1921, the government had little political support for raising taxes or to counter the demands of labor. Printing currency to meet these demands, Weimar’s government showcased its economic incompetence by creating a vicious wage/price spiral through expansionary monetary policy. By 1923, the German government had created a liquidity trap, where expanding the money supply failed to result in any economic growth. Under these circumstances, hyperinflation ran rampant. In November, the Reichsbank issued a 100-trillion-mark note, which at the time converted to roughly $24. As direct consequence of the government’s policy, currency became worthless and physical goods became king. Peasants, the poorest of the poor, “purchased pianos with heavily depreciated currency” whenever a shopkeeper or merchant was foolish enough to trade. The pocketbook was replaced by the satchel, the wheelbarrow, and the basket as the premier transportation for the worthless Reichsmark. Destabilizing the economic foundation on which Weimar depended, hyperinflation produced widespread disillusionment with the established institutions throughout German society.