The Depression which began in 1929 was a great mean for Hitler to come to his power. During the Depression (1929-33), the Weimar Republic was seriously undermined by the social and economic conditions, which were also exploited by the Nazi Party. The Nazi ideologies appealed to those people who had seen no hope on the Republic. The Party promised people jobs, money, and homes, plus, they also wanted to abolish the Treaty of Versailles so there wouldn’t be huge reparations. That’s what German people want; they liked to be reminded of the humiliation caused by the War, and they wanted to get it back from the Republic.
This was shown by Kaiser Wilhelm in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 1908: “You English are like mad bulls: you see red everywhere! What on earth has come over you, that you should heap on such suspicion?” Despite Kaiser Wilhelm denying there was competition between them, both countries, paranoid the other would attack, sought to seek alliances with neighbouring countries. These alliances were a crucial factor to all aspects of the war. If Germany hadn’t been so power hungry, the war may not have been the same war, we know of today. Germany seem to have believed that war was best way to solve conflicts between nations.
The Treaty of Versailles Was an Unfair Settlement I believe that the Treaty of Versailles was an unfair settlement. The Treaty of Versailles was not a treaty, but instead a surrender document that the defeated Germans had to sign or face the risk of invasion. I believe the Treaty of Versailles was a series of penalties and punishments imposed on Germany. Rather than seeking ways to prevent future wars, the victorious allies decided instead to weaken the Germans by hurting their national pride. Both the Allies and Germany wanted to expand their territory.
The communists disliked the Weimar’s democratic government, and wanted to follow Russia and become communist, even if they had to seize Germany by force. On the right-wing were the supporters of the Kaiser who enjoyed the success brought to Germany by a dictatorial government. This group consisted mostly of former soldiers who were highly anti-communist. Thus, when the left-wing spartacists led an attack on the Weimar government, Friedrich Ebert, head of the Weimar, had no difficulty negotiating for the FREIKORPS, the band of right-wing former soldiers, to step in and eliminate the communists. This smart move may well have saved Weimar, as Ebert had very little military support at the time.
Hitler captured people in his speeches with his promises of a better Germany, but he also taught his hatred of Jews in the process. “It was Hitler’s belief that the Jews had too much money, land and the power of the press.” (library.thinkquest.org) Hitler caused mass hysteria against Jews by creating this frame of mind that they were the cause of all things bad just like Abigail and her posse did to Salem. Unfortunately, the people who are completely innocent in these cases get punished the most. In both the Salem witch trials and the Holocaust many people were killed who were not
ADJUSTMENT AND STEREOTYPES AGAINST JEWISH IMMIGRANTS 1 Insight on Hardships of Jewish Immigrants Matt Fischetti Union County College Professor Cohen; Minorities in America, Sociology 206 ADJUSTMENT AND STEREOTYPES AGAINST JEWISH IMMIGRANTS 2 In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s the world was falling into despair and chaos. Some European Countries, especially Germany were staging a genocide of an entire ethnicity. At the helm of all these horrific actions was a man named Adolph Hitler. He still could not get over the mortifying truth behind the World War I. He tried so desparately to create a total blonde-haired, blue eyed poplation and anyone who wasn’t of that demographic was to be executed.
This angered the German public as they thought that the government’s plan would just make living harder if they did increase the taxes. Taking advantage of this, Hitler told the public that the reparations and the Treaty of Versailles was to blame for Germany’s hardship. When America recalled all the loans that they gave Germany, Germany was left in immense debts. This proved Hitler’s point that the reparations and the Treaty of Versailles were wrong. After that the people of Germany began to vote for Hitler because the Weimar government had proved itself useless and Hitler was the only one offering a way out.
During the 1940’s horrible crimes and tortures were committed by the Nazis. The Nazi’s led by Hitler were trying to complete their goal known as the final solution. This goal was to entirely eliminate the Jewish race. The Nazi’s saw them as inferior people who didn’t deserve to live. They looked at Jews as animals not people.
Hitler was to blame is the common answer. By attacking Poland on all fronts, instead of occupying Danzig and the corridor, showed that Hitler was intent on conquering non German's, not simply to recover the German's lost as a result of the Versailles Treaty. Martin Gilbert ("The Appeasers," p.112), argues that Hitler's motive was to remove the stigma of Germay's defeat in WW 1. Hugh Trevor-Roper ("The failure of Appeasement", p.188) says that Hitler intended on a major right from the start because he hated communism and wanted to crush the USSR so the destruction of Poland was only the preliminary to his main goal. His non-aggression pact with the USSR was a fraud.
They did this through aggressive policies, which they hoped would achieve their aim and build up their empire. In 1897 Germany introduced Weltpolitik (World policy). This was a militaristic strategy and the aim of it was for Germany to become a world power and to create an empire to rival Britain’s. They tried to build up their empire but only managed to gain minor colonies, which offered little gain to Germany and did little to assert their authority in Europe. They clashed with the main powers of Europe over territory like morocco, which ultimately strengthened Franco-Anglo relationships.