How far was unemployment the most important reason for the rise of the Nazis in Germany between 1918 and 1933?
Hitler joined the German workers party in 1919 and after becoming leader in 1922 renamed the party National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Hitler hated democracy and in 1923 the Nazis tried to overthrow the government by force. This failed and Hitler was imprisoned by the German government. When he was released in 1924 he decided on a change of tactics. The Nazis would win power through the popular vote. To begin with they were not very successful but from 1929 their popularity dramatically increased. In my answer I will try and explain this by evaluating four factors that might explain why the Nazis eventually became the biggest power in Germany. I will also consider some of the evidence that could be used to justify these reasons.
Hitler always made a big deal of how bad he thought democracy was. The way a lot of Germans actually saw it was that ‘he dislikes what I dislike, he can’t be that bad’ in terms of democracy causing a lot of Germans to vote for Hitler and his way to take Germany forward in its future. German politicians seemed unable to tackle the problems the depression caused. When the depression came into full flow in 1930, the chancellor, Heinrich Brüning, pursued a tough economic policy. He cut government spending and welfare benefits. He constantly urged the German public to make sacrifices. Some believe he was trying to make the countries situation worse so that they didn’t have to make reparation payments anymore. Some however, think he was afraid of hyperinflation recurring like it did in 1923. In protest, the social democrats (still the biggest party in the Reichstag) pulled out of the government causing distress amongst the German public. Brüning and Hindenburg decided to call new elections in 1930. This turned out disastrous as it gave the Nazis the opportunity to exploit the fear and discontent in Germany and make the gains that got them to above the communists in the political standings. The new elections resulted in another divided
Hitler always made a big deal of how bad he thought democracy was. The way a lot of Germans actually saw it was that ‘he dislikes what I dislike, he can’t be that bad’ in terms of democracy causing a lot of Germans to vote for Hitler and his way to take Germany forward in its future. German politicians seemed unable to tackle the problems the depression caused. When the depression came into full flow in 1930, the chancellor, Heinrich Brüning, pursued a tough economic policy. He cut government spending and welfare benefits. He constantly urged the German public to make sacrifices. Some believe he was trying to make the countries situation worse so that they didn’t have to make reparation payments anymore. Some however, think he was afraid of hyperinflation recurring like it did in 1923. In protest, the social democrats (still the biggest party in the Reichstag) pulled out of the government causing distress amongst the German public. Brüning and Hindenburg decided to call new elections in 1930. This turned out disastrous as it gave the Nazis the opportunity to exploit the fear and discontent in Germany and make the gains that got them to above the communists in the political standings. The new elections resulted in another divided