Rise Of Nazism In Germany

In the late 1920’s, the Nazi party had little success but in 1933, Hitler and the Nazis came to power. Hitler was the leader of a small right-wing party with very extremist ideas. Within a couple of years this party was in control of Germany. The factors that caused Hitler’s success for the rise of Nazism has been studied ever since. Hitler’s organisation skills and personal traits helped to bring the Naizs into power. However, without the socio-economic problems that Germany encountered and the weakness of their political situation, Hitler would not have had the opportunity to come into power and destory democracy in 1933.

In 1918, a republic was announced with the socialist Frederich Ebert as chancellor. Ebert wanted to sign the armistice

Adolf Hitler joined the party as a spy for the German Government. Hitler was fascinated with the politics of the party and soon became a member. In 1920, the party changed its name to Nazis (www.schoolshistory.org, 25-11-15). Hitler became the leader of the party in 1921 and adopted the swastika emblem. Hitler saw the opportunity and tried to seize power when the French invaded in 1923 (www.schoolshistory.org, 25-11-15). He planned to first take down the Bavarian government and march on Berlin. He was supported by a right wing politician Luendoff, and declared himself President of Germany. Hitler could not get enough support and his attempted coup was easily put down. This revolt was called the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. At Hitler’s trial, he made long public speeches which were widely and sympathetically supported as he condemned the Treaty of Versailles which many people agreed with. Hitler’s time in prison gave him time to write “Mein Kampf”. Hitler learnt from this revolt that a violent revolution would not succeed but public speeches and propaganda might (Tonge, 2009

As Chancellor he took the crucial step of ceasing financial support to end the hyperinflation. He introduced a new and stable currency (the Rentenmark). He lasted as chancellor for 100 days but after that he remained as foreign minister. Over the next six years, as foreign minister he sought to improve Germany’s international position. In 1924, the Dawes Plan was set up by Charles Dawes to regotiate the reperations (Carr, 1996 p.278). For the next five years, American loans were put into Germany. The Weimar Republic boomed. In 1929, the Young Plan reduced the reperations even more and extended payments (Tonge, 2009 p.54). Germany, therefore was largely financed by the US. This meant that if something happened to the US economy it also affected the German economy. A business crisis occurred on the New York Stock Exchange which was known as the Wall Street Crash. “Over the course of one week, $30 billion was wiped off the value of shares” (Tonge, 2009 p.54). Economies all over the world crashed. Depression was world wide. It had massive effects on Germany due to reliance on American loans. This gave Hitler an opportunity to come into