… ich resulted in festering anger and resentfulness. The blame was not laid on the Kaiser’s war government which had started the inflation by its borrowing trend. Instead, they blamed the Weimar government, which had agreed to pay reparations under the Versailles treaty. This exasperation meant that many people were more willing to listen to extremist party’s who called for its over throw. One of the more successful was the and Adolf Hitler.
October 1929 marked a worldwide slide into the ‘Great Depression’ due to the famous Wall Street Crash in the United States. People were cast into poverty and deep misery, and began looking for a solution, any solution. At the same time Hitler was the leader if the seventh largest Reichstag party, with little premonition of coming in power in the near future; by 1933 he was Chancellor. Hitler was ready for an economic crisis, and was opportune in his dealings at the time.
The effects of the ‘Great Depression’ were felt everywhere and even those protected felt the impact. Businessmen saw their business close as there was less money to spend and investments were withdrawn, and by 1933 over half of young German people between 16-30 were unemployed. 1930 led farmers into further debt due to the further price falls, initiated in 1925, and 40% of factory workers were sacked. It is evident that the depression deeply affected all of Germany in various ways, and this economic crisis soon led to social misery. The Depression had a positive effect on the Nazi party through a number of factors, which further weakened the already unconvincing Weimar Republic. Germany was a country judged by its economic success, therefore the Great Depression soon led to doubt of the strength and future of the country.
When it became apparent that the Weimar government had little idea of how to fix the rising unemployment and growing poverty, the credibility of the country’s leaders soon came under question, and people soon looked to other parties who had answers on how to fix these problems. Adolf Hitler recognized this time as being profitable, and made sure he was known as the ‘man for the job’. Bureaucratic policies of presidential rule also influenced the failing of the Weimar government. Through the enactment of Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution presidential decree was initiated, and an 84-year-old war hero, well past his prime, began ruling with special powers. The weakness of the Weimar Republic turned many people to Hitler’s ways, due to this worrying expression of faulty politics. Finally, to the advantage of the Nazi Party, during the Great Depression extremism was on a rise.
Extremist parties who claimed they could solve the problems were rife. The Nazi’s being one of the more dominant, blamed the Weimar Republic, the Treaty of Versailles, the Marxists and the Jews. They also promised to expel the ‘enemy within’ who was destroying Germany. People favoured these views in comparison to other extremist parties and the Weimar government, which aided Hitler’s rise to success by granting him the support he needed to come into power. With the careful employment of propaganda that the Nazi Party was so well known for, Hitler was portrayed as the ‘hand to lift the people of Germany out of the Great Depression’.
With his powerful and dominant personality, Hitler was able to capture the discontent and fears of the nation and transform these into votes, by serving an organised and efficient contrast to the incompetent and clumsy Weimar republic figureheads. Consequently, the swing of voters to support the Nazi Party due to factors of economic instability aided Hitler’s rise to power, hence the rise of Germany towards existence as a fascist state. Hitler and the Nazi’s role as a socially recognized ‘power group’ played a large part in the establishment of Germany as a fascist state during the 1920-30’s. A very prominent factor that influenced their support during this term was the fact that the German volk wished to be dominated. This becomes apparent following a close look at the previous successful leaders of Germany. All had been militarist, authoritarian dictators, such as Kaiser Wilhelm I&II, and to a lesser extent Friedrich Ebert.
Slowly, the people of Germany began looking toward the rising politician, Adolf Hitler, and the growing Nazi movement as the vehicle to hitch themselves to. He was the autocratic leader who would lead them out of these extremely unfavorable times. The German people were tired of the political disputes in Berlin. They were tired of misery, tired of suffering, tired of weakness. These were desperate times and they were willing to listen to anyone, even Adolf Hitler.
He would find in this downhearted people, an audience very willing to listen. In his speeches, Hitler offered the Germans what they needed most, encouragement. He promised to bring order to the chaos, a feeling of unity to all and the chance to belong. He would make Germany strong again, end payment of war reparations to the Allies, tear up the treaty of Versailles, stamp out corruption, keep down Marxism, and deal harshly with the Jews. His chief assets were his speech making ability and a keen sense of what the people wanted to hear, as he was already looking at how he could carry his movement to the rest of Germany. This dominating approach would soon establish him in control of the country, allowing Hitler to achieve sufficient support to guide Germany towards existence as a fascist state.
Although their beliefs were strong on many issues, a very significant reason why they gained such social and political power was due to their flexibility. After many electoral campaigns and carefully planned propaganda crusades the Nazis realized that it didn’t really matter what they promised, as long as people trusted them. Following his imprisonment as a repercussion of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler had a new idea on how to topple the government and take over Germany for himself and the Nazis – He would play by the democratic rules and get elected. For example, at one time the Nazi’s spoke firmly for the nationalization of industry, yet when they realized the alarmed response from the industrialists the idea was dropped and not mentioned again. If all else failed, the Nazis simply made vague promises of how they were going to ‘make Germany great again’. Organization was also a factor in the support the Nazis gained during this period.
Excellent coordination brought to the Nazi group obedience, collaboration and teamwork. They had skilled leaders at almost every level who were well trained and motivated, combining to create a strict and dominant party. The factor of strong organisation was popular among many German people, compared to the weak and insufficient muddling’s of the Weimar government. Propaganda played a large part in the popularity of the Nazi party. Every trick in the book was employed to express their anti-Communist fascist stance. Their use of powerful propaganda messages further influenced hatred of the communist party, and any other potential leader, hence increasing the support of the Nazis.
A Department of Public Propaganda and Enlightenment, led by a prominent figure of the Nazi Party, Doctor Joseph Goebbels, controlled all forms of media. Goebbels brilliantly organized thousands of meetings and torchlit parades, plastered posters everywhere and printed millions of copies of special editions of Nazi newspapers. Non-Nazi newspapers were taken over by a Nazi publishing company. Over two thirds of the press were under Nazi control, hence social support for the Nazis transpired. Campaigns and rallies were also staged to increase the Nazi party’s visibility and loyalty, hence lessening the allegiance towards other groups. Mass rallies held at Nuremberg annually brought together thousands of people for parades and displays in the name of Nazi ideology.
Between rallies, local SA or Hitler youth groups campaigned for the support of Hitler and the Nazi party in addition. Radio stations were also brought under the control of the Nazis. By 1939 ‘the Peoples Receiver’ was sold so inexpensively that seven of every ten households owned one. This was another Nazi scheme used to communicate with the people, consequently expressing their Nazi views and compelling Germany towards becoming a fascist nation.
In summary, the swing of voters to support of the Nazi Party was due to many factors. These included economic and political instability, increasing violence, and a need for an authoritarian figurehead aided Hitler’s rise to power, hence the rise of Germany towards existence as a fascist state. More specifically, the Great Depression, faulty political procedure, the weakness of the Weimar government, Nazi tactics and Hitler’s excellent leadership skills also played a large part in the shaping of Germany as a fascist nation. Once in power, Hitler was able to manipulate the minds and hearts of this disenchanted nation towards anything, once trust was gain.
This is how normal people came to accept the horrific acts of manipulation, marginalization, and finally murder, which came to a rise during Hitler’s term as Fuhrer of Germany, the Fascist state.