Hitler And The Nazis example essay topic

Hitler rose to power because of a combination of factors. Some were deep rooted and some were triggers. When asked which reason is more important each factor can be debated for the relative importance. In the end each factor has a relationship to next one and they all interlink. The Treaty of Versailles was a real problem in German society. The Germans disliked it for many reasons such as guilt for the war.

This was simple but harsh. Germany had to agree that it was Guilty of starting the war. The size of the German army scared the Allies but especially France. The treaty then cut the German armed forces to a level way below what they were before. Germany had all of their army and resources taken away from them. They were only allowed: " 100,000 men " No submarines " No air crafts " No tanks " 6 battle ships " Conscription banned " Rhine land demilitarized They did this because France was worried they would attack them and Germany was upset because they were proud of having an army.

The allies agreed that Germany had to pay compensation to France, Belgium and Britain for the damage they had caused in the war. These payments were called Reparations. They were supposed to help the damaged countries rebuild after the war. The exact figure finally set in 1921 was lb 6,000 million, which was an enormous amount.

If the terms of the treaty had not been changed, Germany would not of finished paying reparation until 1984. The allies agreed that lands and territories in Europe would rearranged, and that Germany was going to lose out. Germanys borders were very extensive, and the section dealing with territories was complicated part of the treaty Territory From German control to: Other points Alsace Lorraine France - Eugen, Mores net, Melmedy Belgium - North Schleswig Denmark After a vote West Prussia and Posen Poland Free city controlled by League, to give Poland a port Danzig League of Nations - Memel Lithuania - Saar Coalfields France A plebiscite would be held after 15 years German Colonies France and Britain under League mandates - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania Became independent states Germany had taken these state from Russia in 1918 Previous methods of keeping peace had failed so the League of Nations was set up as an international police force. The League was based on a convent or an agreement.

Germany was not invited to join the League until it had shown that it was a peace loving country. Anschluss This was set up to stop Germany and Austria-Hungry from joining forces together. However in the peaceful years of the 1920's things were quieting down with Stressemann in power However in the peaceful years of the 1920's things were quieting down with Stressemann in power he introduced the Dawes plan in 1924. Also in 1924 Germany joined the League of Nations and the Locarno Agreement was set up in 1925 this all meant that German Society was settling down or was it?

In 1929 when the Wall Street Crash happened Germany had to pay back the loans. This was too much for the German society. The Weimar Republic collapsed and Hitler (who was gaining popularity) brought back the hatred of Versailles and blamed the people who had signed it for example "First the Nazis revived the stab in the back 1918 and betrayal through the Treaty of Versailles" By S. Lee "The peace Treaty that Germany signed is unfair. It must be cancelled and the land which it lost must be returned, France must be destroyed" These were the words of Hitler. The Treaty of Versailles is an important cause because if Germany had not been so dependent on America because of reparations then it would of not mattered so much. However if the Wall Street Crash had not occurred then maybe Germanys democracy would of survived.

Hitler certainly used the Treaty as a weapon to help him to power. Hatred of the Weimar Republic is a factor of Hitler's rise to power and its eventual collapse gave Hitler his opportunity. The Weimar republic formed after the abdication of the Kaiser in 1919 and had to sign the treaty. This act was always held against it. In the 1920's World War I had left Germany with many economic, social, and political problems.

In addition to enduring high inflation and a large national debt, Germans were deeply embittered by the harsh terms of the Versailles Treaty, signed in June 1919, which formally ended the war. Among other things, the treaty called for German disarmament and huge reparation payments to the Allies. Unable to meet the payments, Germany's currency collapsed and the German people suffered large financial losses. In January 1923 French and Belgian forces occupied Germany's main industrial region, the Ruhr, claiming that Germany had defaulted on reparation deliveries. Statesman Gustav Stresemann took over the German government as the head of a broadly based coalition on August 13, 1923, and helped stabilize the country.

In 1924 the Allies made it easier for Germany to pay reparation through the Dawes Plan, which established a more realistic payment schedule. In October 1925, Stresemann signed the Treaties of Locarno, which secured Germany against further incursions on its western frontiers. The allies withdrew their occupation forces and in the following year Germany was elected to the League of Nations, an international alliance for the preservation of peace. A new currency, the Reichsmark, was established with much tighter monetary control, and an impressive economic recovery began. However, the economy was dependent on foreign loans, and government expenditure was dangerously high, with businesses suffering from low profit margins.

In 1925 Paul von Hindenburg was elected the second president of the republic. A worldwide economic depression began in 1929, casting the republic into crisis. In March 1930 Chancellor Heinrich Br " using took over, supported by the emergency powers available to the president. The Wall street crash rocked all democracies but this one had very little chance because it was brand new. There were also 2 flaws in the Weimar constitution, one article 48 that allowed emergency rule and two the voting system proportional representation, which allowed coalition governments.

Hitler never has an out right majority but still came to power in a situation where no one could control the Reichstag. The perfect democracy plus the chaos caused by the crash gave him an opportunity and is therefore an important cause but it links with losing the war and the reparations bill if not for that the wall street crash would have not effected Germany so badly. In Brovman's book it says "The weakness of the Weimar Republic was obvious. There were too many political parties and they were unable to form an enduring majority in the Reichstag that could back a stable government" Hitler was very anti-communist and of this because the rich supported him. T. Childers said, "The middle class supported Hitler.

It was amongst there groups that the fear of economic security and hatred of communism was most common" Communists in Germany in 1919 were known as Spartacists. These people wanted a revolution the same as Russia and this worried Hitler because Russia was very close to Germany. The First World War left Germany in a political and economical mess and it seemed the communists would take control. January 1919 communist activates led by Karl Liebinednt and Rosa Luxembourg seized power in Berlin and the Baltic parts and in Bavaria, an independent socialist state was created under the leadership of Kurt Eisner The Communists were soon stopped by the German army called 'Friekorps' the two leaders of the group were killed and if it wasn't for the 'Friekorps' Germany could of become communist, as did the Weimar republic did not have the strength to stop them.

So the attempted revolution had been stopped for the time being, but the communists still proved a threat to the Government of Germany. Hitler gained his support from the Government which were mostly made up of the middle class, he was able to take advantage of people fears of communism and gain support for himself especially for the rich business men and middle classes The SA beat up the communists and banned their meetings this making in impossible for them to campaign freely at the elections. The Passage below shows just how the Nazi's crushed the communists "Walking along the pavement ahead of me were three SA men, they all carried Nazi banners on their shoulders. All at one the three SA men came face to face with a youth of seventeen or eighteen... I heard one of the shout "that's him!" and immediately the three men flung themselves on the young man. He uttered a scream and tried to dodge them, but they were too quick for him.

In a moment they had jolted him to the side of a house entrance and were standing over him, kicking him and stabbing him with sharp metal points of their tanners. All this happened at such incredible speed that I could hardly believe my eyes - already the three SA men had left their victim and were barging there was through the crowd 'Good Bye' Christopher Isha wood This pleased the rich of Germany. Speer "the perils of communism which were on their way were halted by Nazis" Previously, respectable, middle class Germans had seen the Nazis as nothing more as hooligans but because they had stopped the communists they were seen as heroes. They saw the Nazi as the best way of the communists from gaining power. R. Very "Above all Nazism was violently anti communist. It was the only party visibly combating the treat of communism on the streets. Although the violence put many respectable Germans off, they hated communism" The fear of communism gave a major boost to Hitler's Support In the 1920's things started to improve again but the Wall Street Crash soon stopped it.

The money the Americans had loaned them to pay reparations with was wanted back and communism became very popular again. The rich persuaded Hindenburg to let Hitler be Chancellor in January 1933, the Reichstag building was burnt down and the Communists were blamed. This discarded the Communist party again and the support went to Hitler. It was suggested that Hitler did this in his order to dis-credit the Communists. In difficult times support goes to extremists and Hitler backed by the well off used his propaganda and his skills as a way to spread the message. By a Hamburg School teacher recalling a Nazi meeting 1932 "It was nearly 3 pm.

The Futirer is coming; a ripple went through the crowd... When the speech was over there was a roaring enthusiasm and applause. How many look up to him touching faith as their helper, their savior, their deliverer from unbearable distress" However if prosperity had continued it would have not been an issue. It only became an issue after 1929 when poverty loomed again. Therefore this was a direct link between the Wall Street Crash and Communism. Weimar Germany faced political as well as economic troubles in this period.

In 1923 a new nationalist leader was called Hitler came to power. In November 1923 Hitler and the Nazi's tried to seize power of the Bavarian government. The plan was to capture Munich and from there march to Berlin. Hitler was convinced people would join him in overthrowing the failed Weimar regime. On November 9th, Hitler forced members of the Bavarian government to join him. The Nazi plan soon began to go wrong.

Bavarian police opened fire on the Nazi Storm Troopers in Munich and 16 Nazi's were killed. Hitler was arrested along with Ludendorff and they were charged with high treason. This was a very violent attempt to take over Munich, but he was treated well in prison and soon got out and he made a decision to get in legally, so that when he was there they couldn't get him out. He got in by proportional representation so he didn't have to have a clear majority. This reason is important but less important than the Wall Street Crash and reparations issue because if he did not have this opportunity then Hitler would have remained fringe. In 1928 he had 12 seats in the Reichstag and in 1930 he had 196 this shows how his popularity grew.

Nazis believed in complete loyalty and obedience. One of the major tools for this was propaganda. Hitler made Joseph Goebbels Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda Goebbels job was Nazi ideas and encourage all Germans to be loyal to Hitler. Goebbels (a former journalist) used his new powers to control all information that reached the German in the following ways; . All German newspapers were censored by the government and were only allowed to print stories favorable to Nazi's. Radio was all controlled by the government.

Cheap radios were manufactured, so most Germans couldn't afford one. Goebbels made sure that all radio plays, stories and news were favorable to the Nazi's. The Nazis took control of the German Film industry. German films of the 1930's often showed great German heroes defeating their enemies. Cartoons were used to show Jews as weak and devious... Goebbels often organized mass rallies.

The most spectacular was held in Nuremburg. At the rallies hundreds and thousands of Nazi supporters listened to choirs, sang songs and watched sporting events and firework displays... The Nazis used sporting events to spread their propaganda. The 1936 Berlin Olympics was used by the Nazis to suggest the superiority of the 'Aryan race' The main aim of propaganda was to provide the German people with the Nazi view of events. However, another aim was to target certain groups inside and outside Germany. These included; .

Anyone who supported the terms of Treaty of Versailles. Foreigners who criticized Hitler and the Nazis. Communists and socialists. Democrats and liberals. Jews This reason is not as important as some other factors like the Wall Street Crash and the support of the rich because in the 1920's no one was listening and only when they were desperate did they listen. Hitler used terror to keep his opponents quite.

As well as sparking off violence he carried out a highly organized terror campaign. The SS (schutzstaffel / stormtroopers ) became the main force for carrying out terror. After the Reichstag fire SS set up concentration camps where they could keep prisoners. The most important of these camps was Dachau, near Munich. Prisoners had to wear triangular pieces of cloth, which was colored on their uniforms. The colour showed hat sort of prisoner they were.

The Nazis arrested anyone who opposed them. They jailed the Nobel Peace Prize winner Carl Von Ossietzky. A representative of the Red Cross who reported after visiting a concentration camp 'He hardly seemed to be alive. He was shaking and deadly pale. He did not seem to feel anything.

One eye was swollen his teeth had been knocked out and his leg was broken' Estimated number of prisoners in concentration camps Year No. They in fact gained quite a reputation in the late 1920's for thuggery. Between 1225 and 1930 24 Nazis were killed in street fighting and hundreds were seriously injured. Most of these casualties occurred in clashes with German Communists and the Para-military force, the Red Fighting League. Clashes with the social democrats were also common. This violence was not mindless it was planned and encouraged by Nazi leaders.

They welcomed the publicity which violence attracted. They also believed that violence helped to convince middle class voters that the nazis were the most toughest and determined anti communist. Source 52 - New States man, British newspaper, 27 September 1930, on the 1930 election 'The worst enemy the Socialists had to face was the Communists. Between the two parties there was no argument or debate, only hatred and physical violence. In the us of the latter the communists usually took the offensive.

Socialists meetings could hardly be held at all unless there were stalwarts present to throw out Communist hecklers, interrupters, and even raiders armed with sticks and stones. The Nazis by the way were the most violent of all. Their attacks were directed against all parties... Fights between the Nazis and communists occurred almost daily' Terror was a factor and people supported Hitler because they afraid but, terror always went on.

It didn't translate into seats until the Crash. Therefore it is relatively less important. In 1922 Hitler was the undisputed leader of the party. He had a powerful, dominating personality. He was intelligent and decisive.

Although he was a small man he had great physical preference. He has piercing blue eyes, which he would fix on his listeners, and he was a charismatic public speaker. When giving a speech he would often turn up late at a meeting, then stand silent for several minutes. He would start softly then gradually build up to a furious finish, driving the audience wild with enthusiasm. He rehearsed carefully for important speeches, even practicing his hand gestures and posture. The stab in the back theory was very important because the Nazis had not done well before 1929.

This was because Stresemann had calmed down German resentment against the Allies. By reviving the demands for revenge the Nazis undermined the moderate feeling that Stresemann had helped to create. Hitler exploited the Great Depression and the suffering it has caused. He blamed the polices of the Republic for bringing it about and put across the Nazi Party as Germany's last hope. In doing this, he emphasized that, under his leadership, the Nazi Party would unite the German people in this time of crisis, whereas the other Parties would only divide them. He continued to accuse the Jews of being responsible for all of Germany's problems.

He managed to associate them with the extremes with communism and capitalism. In this way he aimed to direct the anger of German's of all social classes against a vulnerable minority or scapegoat. The working class. The very name of Hitler's movement, the National Socialists German Workers Party shows how important Hitler considered the working class.

After all, if was the largest single sector of German people. Hitler promised to reform the economy so as to end exploitation by capitalists. He also guaranteed measures to tackle unemployment. At the same time, he made it clear that solutions to the workers problems could be found only through the discipline of the Nazi Party, and not through trade unions and other workers organizations. The middle class. There were really 2 layers in them middle class what historian called old and new.

The old mittel stand consisted of small-scale farmers, artisans and shopkeepers. The new mittel stands was composed of office workers, civil servant and teachers. Both groups feared that they would be trapped between capitalists on one side of them and the communists on the other. Hitler therefore addressed a special appeal to them, promising to rescue them from their position. The upper classes.

These had always despised Hitler as a vulgar upstart. Former aristracrats, estate owners and wealthy businessmen proffered the move conservative policies of the National Party. But Hitler played skillfully upon on their fears of the working class and communism. He also stole the main policy of the DNVP, which was to end the negative impact of the Treaty of Versailles. Women. Women formed slightly over half electorate.

Many would vote accordingly to their class connections, but Hitler aimed a special appeal on the basis of family and moral values. There were three parties that lost support to the Nazis: . The Social Democrats lost support, but did not collapse. Many working class voters switched to the Nazis. But some also turned to the Communists, while most remained with the Social Democrats.

Many workers saw through the Nazi promises and were concerned about the treat to their freedom as trade unionists. The Democrats (DDP) and the People's Party (DVP) had been supported almost entirely by the middle classes. By 1932 support for both had collapsed. Their votes almost went entirely to the Nazis. This was strange, since liberal people are not usually attracted to the extreme right. Yet the effect of the Depression had been so severe that the normally moderate middle classes turned to extremists...

The National Party (DNVP) was normally supported by the upper class and part of the middle classes. Many of the votes went to the Nazis. Hitler had obviously been very successful at stealing their policies. There was, however a two-way relationship. The Nazis and the DNVP began to co-operate closely. In the 1932 election Hitler stood against the aging President Hindenburg for the position of President...

In his speeches he blamed the 'November Criminals' and Jews for the problems Germany was facing. He Promised to build a better Germany, and many people believed him Hitler did not win, but he only lost to Hindenburg on a second vote. The Nazis felt they were close to success. The 1932 general election campaign was very violent. Nazis and Communists fought each other in street battles and nearly 100 people were killed. The Nazis became the largest party in the Reichstag and Hitler demanded to be made chancellor.

However, Hindenburg was suspicious of Hitler and refused. Instead he a moderate, Franz von Papen (leader of the social democrats), as chancellor. To achieve his aims von Papen needed to increase his support in the Reichstag so he called another election in November 1932. The Nazis lost seats in the election, but still remained the largest party. Von Papen did not get the increase support he needed. It was becoming increasingly clear that President Hindenburg could not continue to work with a chancellor who did not have support in the Reichstag.

He simply could not pass any of the measures he wanted. Hindenburg and von Papen decided to make Hitler Chancellor. They believed they could control him once he was in power. On 30 January 1933 Hitler became Chancellor and Hitler Vice Chancellor As soon as he was appointed Hitler tired to find a way of increasing the number of Nazi government. He pursued his colleges there should be another general election. During the election campaign the Reichstag was burnt to the ground.

A communist, Marian us van der Lub be, was arrested for the crime. It presented Hitler with an excellent opportunity: . The Nazis were quick to blame the communists. Hitler persuaded President Hindenburg to pass an emergency law restricting personal liberty.

Using the law thousands of communist supporters were thrown in prison and the Nazis increased their control in the Reichstag in the election. Despite increasing their share in the vote, the Nazis still did not have overall majority in the Reichstag. They were forced to join together with the 52 Nationalists members to create a government. Hitler still did not have enough support to have complete control over Germany.

An Enabling Act would give him the right to pass laws for the next four years without having to obtain the support of members in the Reichstag. In order to pass the enabling act Hitler needed to obtain the votes of two thirds of the Reichstag members, but he only had the support of just over half. This is what happened: . Hitler ordered his SA (storm troopers) to continue intimidating the opposition.

The 81 communist members were expelled and the enabling act was passed by 441 to 91... Hitler was given power to rule with consulting the Reichstag In July 1933 Hitler increased his grip on power even further. Using the powers on the Enabling Act he outlawed all other parties and Germany became a one party state. The democratic Weimar Republic had been destroyed and Germany had become a dictatorship. If they had not lost the war however and the reparations crisis hadn't occurred the Wall Street Crash wouldn't have bothered them so much. The recovery of the German economy was fragile.

It depended heavily on American money. In 1929 disaster struck with the Wall Street Crash. Many American banks were forced to recall their loans. German companies were unable to pay and hundreds of German businesses were forced to close and millions lost their jobs. There was worldwide repercussion but Russia were not involved. It was Germany that it had the biggest effect on because they depended on America so much.

The link between voting and unemployment was if they had a job they wouldn't need extreme measures and the link with reparation was that if they didn't have to pay reparations then they wouldn't be unemployed.