During the 20th century, the Germans faced an appalling economic depression and during that time, the people lost trust in their government, and taking advantage of this opportunity, Hitler rose to power. Germany became secluded, and to the German people, Hitler was their ultimate savior. In a matter of years, Hitler rapidly rose to power and boosted the economy. Hitler and his Nazi party rise to power was one of chance and circumstance. His alternative views struck chord with the people; he was able to channel Germany’s disgust for the Weimar Republic, Treaty of Versailles and minority groups into support for his National socialist Party.
Another minor aim was to aid the economic interests of the Mittelstand, which was where Hitler’s strongest opposition lay. It is apparent that although Hitler wished to fulfil the destiny of Germany, this was to be done on his own terms. One of the methods used by Hitler to achieve his economic aims was the creation of employment, which would thereby reduce state benefits, increase public expenditure and investment and stimulate consumer demand; all crucial for a healthy economy. Public Works Schemes were begun which meant the building of Autobahns and
This resulted in risings such as the Spartacist rising where communists fuelled by the success of the Russian revolution almost occupied nearly every major city in Germany. However, the Reichstag led by the SPD had stepped into a power that was left by the Kaiser, and as a result of this it had no real option but to accept the Versailles Treaty. The most irritating part for the German people was the to pay reparations to Britain and France. Germany's failure to pay her debt led to the invasion of the Ruhr, resulted in very little success for France but did succeed in the complete collapse of the German economy. This led to the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 Hitler aided by General Lundendorff and a few hundred supporters marched on the Munich town hall as a pretext to a national revolution, unfortunately for Hitler this attempt failed and he was sent to prison.
There were many attributes that aided Hitler in his rise to power. Since the First World War in 1914 Germany’s government had been very unstable, and of course was not helped by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Due to the reparations evoked by the treaty and the cost of war, Germany experienced hyperinflation that was only solved in 1924 with a series of loans from America. Just as Germany’s economy was improving the Wall Street crash occurred in 1929 where America requested repayment of all their loans. These events created the perfect conditions for a new radical party to rise to power: The Nazis.
Gustav Stresemann’s first achievement was solving the economic crisis, Stresemann called of workers strike in the Ruhr, this was bankrupting Germany. The strike kept on going so long because the German people didn’t want to give into the French. Stresemann then introduced a new currency Rentenmark, by strictly limiting the amount of this currency in circulation the valve of German money was stabilised and in the following year a permanent currency, the Reichsmark was brought in. Stresemann also cut the spending of the government and reduced the number of government workers. In November Stresemann arranged the Dawes Loans in order to pay reparations.
In this essay I will discuss if hyperinflation was completely caused by the Treaty of Versailles (1918-19). The Treaty of Versailles was responsible for thee suspension of the Ruhr, this was a place of great industrial power and brought in a lot of money to Germany. However when it was taken away from the Germans, there was halt in the industrial production which caused the collapse of the German economy. This meant that there were very few goods therefore the government printed the money. This lead to prices rocketing and the savings unfortunately became worthless.
In contrast the Tsar weakened the Duma and a progressive bloc was formed. This suggests that the Tsar is vulnerable to revolution whereas the Communist rule is repressive and very few ever speak out against it. Economically the Civil War had the greatest impact in shaping the Russian Government policies. This is because War Communism was introduced and later fine tuned into the New Economic Policy. War Communism was radical and involved the militarisation of Labour which was disliked by the people and made people focus purely on the needs of the war.
However, despite clear use of his ability as an ideologue, Hitler’s rise to power and popularity is inversely proportional to the economic collapse, unemployment, instability and skepticism over the capacity of democracy to save Germany that did not bear his fingerprints. This clear instability of democratic Germany paved the way for an image of propaganda to be created, promoting the leftist, anti democratic and nationalistic views of the Nazi party that would perhaps solve the burdens placed upon Germany by democracy and ultimately, capture the imagination of millions. , The most important factor that allowed for Hitler’s rise to power was the evident instability of the Weimar republic. The political and economical fracturing of the Weimar republic was not influenced by the appeal of Hitler, instead it reassured understanding in Germany that there was a need to change. A clear economic issue was the inflation the Weimar economy witnessed.
The Versailles Treaty required Germany to pay stiff reparations. The reparations bill totaled $33 billion. Germany faced disastrous inflation.The anger that built up in Nazi Germany - and which was played on by Hitler during his rise to power had long term causes that went back to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles since the patriotic Germans had never forgotten their nation's treatment in Paris. The peace settlements led to the creation of new nations of Eastern Europe. However, the principle of national self-determinations had not always been followed.
How Nazis influenced Germany from 1934 Before 1934, Germany was in turmoil. Unemployment was up at about 6,000,000; inflation caused money to be worthless, the goverment was at disarray, and Germany was at the mercy of the Treaty of Versailles. Once Hitler and the Nazis came to power though, all of this changed. They gave Germany a sense of hope, discipline and leadership. Together they changed Germany from a country that was on the brink of anarchy; to a country with a sense of direction.