Coursework

QUESTION #2
The treaty of Versailles caused a reaction of horror and outrage to the Germans. They were being forced to accept a harsh treaty without any choice or even a comment. Hitler hated the treaty of Versailles, and he promised to kick out the treaty of Versailles as he had said in the Nazis Twenty-Five Points. People began to believe in Hitler. His Twenty-Five Point programme showed that the treaty of Versailles could be dealt as any other task, and he promised to abolish it right away. The treaty of Versailles was the most important of the Long-term causes because it gave Hitler the opportunity to share the same ideas as the Germans about the treaty of Versailles. So he took advantage in the middle of a politically destabilized Germany.

Short-term causes like the Munich Putsch helped his popularity, which was essential to his rise to power.
The Munich Putsch was a disaster for Hitler. People didn’t t rise to support him. Hitler was arrested and charged with treason. In trial, Hitler gained lots of publicity and his ideas were reported in newspapers. Hitler convinced the judges, and got five years in prison instead of a life sentence, but Hitler served only nine months in prison. This concludes that Hitler gained lots of publicity with the Munich Putsch. His ideas were printed on Newspaper, so more and more Germans began liking Hitler’s ideas and voted for him.
Other Short-term causes like the Enabling law meant that Hitler had total power over Germany. After being elected chancellor there was nothing anyone else could do not even Hindenburg. He was able to pass laws for the next four years without consulting the Reichstag. Hitler used the power of the Enabling Law to get rid of anything or anyone that limited his authority. Hitler made all sorts of laws.
Hitler was completely untouchable. The Weimar Republic was destroyed as an outcome of the Enabling Law.

Both long and short term causes in Hitler's rise to power are important. Hitler's wanted revenge over his hatred of the Treaty of Versailles which he said " must be torn up". Without this Hitler would have no reason to get into politics and start his journey to power.

The economic depression also helped Hitler's rise to power because Germany was vulnerable and the Weimar rebublic had no idea how to solve the problems. People looked for an alternative government that they found in the Nazi party.

≤ Although I have already explained how the depression contributed to Hitler's rise to power he may not have had the political knowledge to succeed if it weren't for the Munich Putsch several years earlier, which had a short term impact on Germany but a long term effect on Hitler's understanding as he now knew how to destroy democracy using democracy.

To sum up, each cause was needed for Hitler's rise to power and many short term causes wouldn't have happened without the long term ones being set in place first.

QUESTION #3
The Treaty of Versailles was important to Hitler's rise to power because, it was the cause of Germany's downfall. Hitler felt very strongly about the Treaty of Versailles and thought the terms were unfair towards Germany. Many German people also despised the treaty, and wanted something done about it. Hitler was there to turn to. He wanted to abolish the treaty and all of it terms. Consequently the Treaty of Versailles helped to cause the Economic depression, in Germany. Meaning that the treaty and theeconomic depression were both linked together strongly, because the treaty told Germany to pay reparation bills, around ?6600 million to the countries they damaged during World War 1. Which meant that Germany did not have much money left for it. This caused the start of the economic downfall, among other issues. This was extremely important to Hitler's rise to power, as it enabled him to help the German people and use his oratory skills to impress people with his words and won the nation's heart.

The economic depression, 1923 & 1929 is linked with Hitler's oratory, personality and leadership. Although it applies more to the economic disaster of '23' because at this time the German people needed someone to turn to for help and Hitler offered to take them over as someone to lead them to a better Germany, Hitler states some ideas for example "the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles" and "the union of Germany and Austria". These were popular as a lot of Germans also agreed.

In my opinion this was the biggest influence to Hitler's rise to power, because all the causes on the list used Hitler's oratory, personality and leadership skills.

Hitler's oratory and personality came in to use most in the Munich Putsch situation, when Hitler used his skills to deal with the mess he got in to. He was charged and arrested for treason after hijacking a government meeting and taking over the government of Bavaria. It is linked because in Hitler's trial he impressed the judges so much they only sentenced him to 9 months instead of the normal life sentence. This was important to Hitler if he wouldn't had have been such a great speaker then he would have never had a chance to rule over Germany as well as all the publicity.

* All of the reasons on the list were important for Hitler to rise to power in the way that he did. However, even then some reasons are more important than others. Therefore, it is necessary to see which factors were important not only in the way in which he did rise to dictatorship, but also whether Hitler could have risen to power in any other way either with or without some of the factors on the list.

Therefore, the Treaty of Versailles was the most important reason on the list to explain why Hitler rose to absolute power in Germany, when he did, how he did, and above all that without it he would have gone into politics but remained a fringe party. The desire in Hitler and others around him was one of the most important reasons why Hitler joined politics. He felt that his country had been betrayed by the 'NovemberCriminals' and that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh and unfair considering many believed that the German army was still unbeaten. Despite all of this, the Treaty of Versailles was also the most important reason on the list because it was so unfair and because of some of the terms for peace which it stipulated. The main problem was the great loss of German land to other countries and the loss of Germany's industrial heartlands in addition to the great level of reparations. The reparations, which were a result of the Treaty of Versailles and the 'War Guilt clause', started all of the other factors on the list.

If the German people and the army had not felt angered by their treatment under the treaty, they would not have been dissatisfied with the victors of the war, and would not have felt so great a desire for revenge. The Weimar Republic's weakness also stemmed from its link to defeat and never had enough power or support to succeed. If the Weimar Republic had not been so weak, hyperinflation would not have occurred and the reparations would have not affected them as much. Without the hyperinflation and the inability to pay reparations, France would not have invaded the Ruhr, which sparked off the Munich Putsch. Furthermore, without reparations the depression would not have hit Germany so badly because they would have been less dependent

* The Treaty of Versailles was important to Hitler's rise to power because, it was the cause of Germany's downfall. Hitler felt very strongly about the Treaty of Versailles and thought the terms were unfair towards Germany. Many German people also despised the treaty, and wanted something done about it. Hitler was there to turn to. He wanted to abolish the treaty and all of it terms. Consequently the Treaty of Versailles helped to cause the Economic depression, in Germany. Meaning that the treaty and the economic depression were both linked together strongly, because the treaty told Germany to pay reparation bills, around ?6600 million to the countries they damaged during World War 1. Which meant that Germany did not have much money left for it. This caused the start of the economic downfall, among other issues. This was extremely important to Hitler's rise to power, as it enabled him to help the German people and use his oratory skills to impress people with his words and won the nation's heart.
The economic depression, 1923 & 1929 is linked with Hitler's oratory, personality and leadership. Although it applies more to the economic disaster of '23' because at this time the German people needed someone to turn to for help and Hitler offered to take them over as someone to lead them to a better Germany, Hitler states some ideas for example "the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles" and "the union of Germany and Austria". These were popular as a lot of Germans also agreed.
In my opinion this was the biggest influence to Hitler's rise to power, because all the causes on the list used Hitler's oratory, personality and leadership skills.

* The causes in Hitler’s rise to power may be established in terms of importance, that is how much they contributed to the eventual result. I shall start by choosing a particular reason which I feel to be most important and establish links with other causes from this, although my analysis could change my outlook on the idea of superiority of one cause over another.

I have chosen Hitler’s oratory, personality and leadership (OPL) to be the most important cause. Hitler’s OPL was both long term and sustained consistency and were often used to great effect for varying situations. In court, following the Munich Putsch, Hitler was on the sidelines, and seemed inevitable to a heavy prosecution, although a determined oratory along with a characteristic personality won many over and Hitler was significantly let off the hook. Similarly, before many of the ‘causes’ expressed for his rise, had it not been for a rallying personality, and a strong-minded personality during his first meeting with the German Workers Party, Hitler would never have created the future of events, such as the Munich Putsch, and the future of Germany could have been very different.

Had it not been for many of these skills, he would not been able to capitalise on opportunities in the unique way that he did, for example, a determined personality with an interest for the country following the economic depression allowed propaganda to gain him vast support, and were it not for an oratory in his style, many of the arguments could have sounded feeble and unconvincing; as emotions were commonplace in speeches. Thus, the point made is that the very means, by which Hitler tackled situations and the outcomes it gave, are central to these skills in oratory, personality and leadership, and without them, Hitler may never have seriously been considered the dictator he became.

Hitler’s oratory, personality and leadership may be linked to theeconomic depression, as they have strong connections.