Even though Hindenburg was in Hitler’s way of gaining the Chancellorship, there were many other factors that lead to Hitler becoming Chancellor in January 1933 and not just because he was leader of the most popular Party in Germany. For example, the Weimar Republic was suffering from the political polarisation between nationalist and communist’s parties and the economic crisis caused by the Great Depression. These two issues put pressure on the governing coalition and it was beginning to break up. Furthermore political intrigue and the self interest of political parties, along with the inherent flaws of the Weimar constitution and the weakness of government by coalition, all played into Hitler’s hands. These factors caused the loss of public support for the grand coalition of the Weimar Republic and the German people subsequently looked for a new style of leadership.
Also, the music included in the film. As far as I know the film is historically accurate. According to history this kids wore their hair long to identify themselves, listening to swing music, playing it and dancing it. In addition, most of the German parents wanted their kids to be part of the Nazi Youth Organization, but their kids being part of the "Swing Kids" it was impossible, most of them would break the country rules and steal, until they got catch by the police which would give them two options, send them to work camps or join to the Nazi Youth Organization. This project would be based on the point of view of the film and the research of history in order to find out if this film is completely accurate and find out if the directors left something behind.
This was due to events like the devastating 1923 hyperinflation, and of course the Treaty of Versailles, which had tainted Weimar’s reputation from its inception. The Reichstag was in a constant state of flux as the parties struggled to create and maintain coalition governments, and this added to the public’s negative perception of a democratic republic. The economic slump from 1928-32 was undoubtedly responsible for the NSDAP’s rise in support, as it was the cause of social and political problems within Germany. Even prior to the Wall Street Crash in October 1929 the economy was in trouble – economic growth was uneven throughout the 1920s. Trade was in debt as imports exceeded exports; this was because Germany was
By 1936, the German economy had recovered to the extent that Hitler’s main long term aim of creating an economy which could support sustained rearmament was possible. Throughout the period of 1933-36, this was the recovery period for Germany in order to make a more stable Germany and resolve economic problems and unemployment. Unemployment was a very big concern in Germany. When Hitler went into power in 1933, 5 million people were unemployed. Hitler had introduced many different schemes in order to decrease unemployment such as Battle for Work which was set up to help unemployed people find work.
Germany then fell into a deep economic depression. Some people would agree that the ‘Wall Street Crash’ was the most important reason for the increase of support for the Nazis because the depression was a bad time for Germany and its people and Hitler said he could fix it. Germany’s “last hope”. He used this to gain the Nazis some support from the people. The depression made people bankrupt and lose their jobs; Hitler and the Nazis promised people that they would get them jobs and solve unemployment.
The Great Depression was mainly in America but it also had effects on the German economy too. Between the years 1929 and 1932 the amount of world trade fell by around 70 per cent. The unemployment levels rose and wage cuts were made and many people were made homeless due to this, they were unable to pay their rent or their mortgages so many were reduced to instant poverty. Welfare was a problem with the depression, the right wing didn’t like the idea of welfare but some of the left wing parties did. This meant they were arguing over welfare, the fall of Muller government and what they would do with the benefit system.
All of these terms are what led Germany to economic and political instability in the years 1919-23. One of the terms of the treaty, which caused economic instability, were the reparations Germany had to pay for the war. The figure was set at £6.6 billion and undoubtedly Germany would not be able to pay this figure. The English economist, John Maynard Keynes, feared in 1919 that the reparation set would fundamentally weaken the economy of Germany with consequences for the whole of Europe. George Clemenceau aimed to cripple the German economy with the high reparations figure.
These countries were also arguably the European countries that got impacted the most by the Great Depression. “In Germany, unemployment rose sharply beginning in late 1929 and by early 1932 it had reached 6 million workers, or 25 percent of the work force.” (About the Great Depression). Germany had a huge amount of debt they owed following World War I. As Germany had a hard time paying its debt to get out of its economic crisis, the Nazi party saw its rise not long after. Adolf Hitler, the creator of the fascist and Nazi party, promised to lower the unemployment rate during this period of time.
Hitler deliberately expressed his hate toward Jews and gave ample warnings, as it was all written down in his autobiography “Mein Kampf”. In 1935, the introduction of the Nuremberg Laws stripped German Jews of their citizenship and civil rights. Jewish rights were steadily restricted, as in many cases Jewish political and intellectual leaders were the first to be sent to concentration camps. The Night of Broken Glass, on November 9, 1938 lead to the death of approximately 100 Jews, while other 30,000 were sent to concentration camps. Jewish businesses along with almost every synagogue in Germany were damaged or completely destroyed.
The economy was already in a depression because of the World Wars. They say the only reason that Hitler came to power is because the Germans were starving and fighting to survive between the two wars. Hitler offered the sick and tired a way to bring back Germany, but what they didn’t know is what it entailed. During the holocaust the economy kept going down hill. At the beginning of 1933 the Jewish population in the 21 countries of Europe was nine million people.