Economists view the economic conditions as the major reason for the downfall of the Weimar republic and the rise of the Nazis but political scientists like to point out the constitutional structure of the Weimar constitution. According to some it is one of the great ironies of history that Hitler came to power through legal means. One way Hitler managed his dictatorship was through the appointment as Chancellor in 1933. This helped establish a dictatorship because it helped Hitler and the Nazis gain support. I know from my background knowledge that once Hitler was named Chancellor big bankers and industrialists, including Krupp and I. G. Farben, had lobbied Hindenburg and schemed behind the scenes on behalf of Hitler because they were convinced he would be good for business.
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.
This gave Hitler tremendous power within the organization as they knew they could not afford to lose him. The Party Gets a New Name In April, 1920, Hitler advocated that the party should change its name to the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP). Hitler had always been hostile to socialist ideas, especially those that involved racial or sexual equality. However, socialism was a popular political philosophy in Germany after the First World War. This was reflected in the growth in the German Social Democrat Party (SDP), the largest political party in
Also, the weakness and exploitation of the Weimar Constitution played a similarly important role as proportional representation and article 48 both created a path for the Nazi Party to gain influence in the Reichstag. Overall, however, the rise of the Nazi Party must be considered as the main reason for the failure of the Weimar Republic, as the Nazi’s electoral success eventually led to the political intrigues which oversaw Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in 1933 which ultimately led to their success in the March 1933 election and the passing of the enabling act in 1933, which ultimately confirmed that the Weimar Republic had failed. During the period of 1924 – 27 the Nazi party was banned as result of the Beer Hall Putsch. The dramatic increase in votes from 0.8 million in 1928, to 17.3 million in 1933, highlights just how rapid the rise of the Nazi Party was after their emergence from the ‘quiet years’ in 1927. It can be argued that this was down to the popularity of Adolf Hitler and thus led to the failure of the Weimar Republic, as his popularity paved the way for his invitation into the chancellorship, from which he was able to manipulate his way to the presidency.
Modern History Essay Question: Assess the extent that nationalism was a cause of the failure of democracy in Germany in the period of 1918 – 1933 Nationalism was an important and integral factor in the downfall of the Weimar Republic and in turn, the ensuing failure of democracy in Germany in the period of 1918 – 1934. Nationalism is the desire to have your own country. The sense of loyalty and devotion to one’s nation, which the German’s had felt in their militaristic past, was ultimately, devastated by World War 1 and its consequences. In Germany, from 1918 onwards, nationalism was one of the main driving forces for the German people to make Germany a dominant power again by ultimately destroying the Treaty of Versailles. Several attempts from both the left and right sides of government tried to imbue the nationalistic beliefs that were embodied in Germany before they were destroyed by their humiliating defeat in WW1.
This propaganda continued even once they had won the election. Furthermore, once the Nazi’s had gained power, they began to push anti-Jew and other very racist and fascist propaganda on the people of Germany. Hitler was shown in newspapers and presented on the radio as a strong and just leader; with the Jews being represented as evil. Propaganda was therefore crucial to the maintenance of power by the Nazis as it meant when they began their attack on the Jews, they had the support of their people. Furthermore, it can be argued that propaganda was crucial to the maintenance of power by the Nazis as they portrayed Hitler as powerful and showed him to be good for the country, making sure people continued to show support for the Nazis and it portrayed Hitler as above all party politicking and as a figure for national focus and loyalty.
Question 21A. The maintenance of power by the Nazis 1933-45. Asses the view that the most important element in maintaining Hitler’s regime in power between 1933 and 1945 was the consent of the German people. Word count: 516 Hitler’s and the Nazi’s regime may have only been a short and violent one spanning just over the decade mark, but in this short time many methods were implemented by ruthless officials such as Goebbels and Goering and initiatives by Hitler to ensure this power and reign was sustained. The most popular methods were propaganda and some forceful coercion and many historians see these as the most significant factor with Hans Rothfels stating “hundreds of thousands were defenceless and without legal remedy” suggesting that many Germans had succumbed to the regime purely down to fear and not due to them believing in the viscous Nazi policies, other historians justify this view such as Hinton and Hite they argue that “the night of long knives showed how brute force was used to maintain power by eliminating the potential threat of the SA leaders" this is pointing to that if a threat was seen it was eliminated before it could grow and challenge the regime which is showing how effective coercion and force can be in maintaining power.
Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP [Name of the Writer] [Name of Instructor] [Subject] [Date] Abstract This paper discusses the various events and circumstances that allowed Hitler and his Nazi Party NSDAP to come to power. Germany was plagued by many problems at the end of war and most of them were attributed to the then German government. Taking advantage of the problems Hitler offered solutions that he would implement once he came into power. The masses were very captivated by the style of Hitler’s leadership and so they chose him as their leader. Table of Contents Abstract ii Introduction 1 Discussion 1 Problems that Germany faced during 1919 to 1932 1 The Solution Offered By Hitler and NSDAP 2 The role and significance
His powerful speech was influential and enabled the German public to feel more optimistic within the war as well as regime. Another reason why the Nazis proclaimed to total war was because Hitler was keen on establishing Germany as a strong nation. The defeats
In Europe, the Great Depression strengthened extremist forces and lowered the prestige of liberal democracy. Economic distress directly contributed to Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933. The Nazis' public-works projects and their rapid expansion of munitions production ended the Depression there by 1936. Hitler adopted policies that were more interventionist, developing a massive work-creation scheme that had largely eradicated unemployment. Also rearmament, paid for by government borrowing, started in earnest.