The Great Depression was the severe economic downturn that affected western industrialised countries, in particular, Weimar Germany. The infamous Wall Street Crash of October 1929 in the United States had triggered the beginning of the Great Depression as millions of investors on Wall Street were extinguished. Although the effects of the Great Depression had only started after 1929, a few events commencing from 1923 had been as significant in contribution to causing the Great Depression as the Wall Street Crash was. These events are subject to debate as to which were considered more or less significant as they were all influencing factors to the Great Depression that affected Germany and its history. On October 24th 1929, share prices on …show more content…
The people of Weimar Germany were using wheelbarrows to carry their money to go shopping. Pensioners were hit hard by hyperinflation as their fixed income pensions became worthless as well as middle class workers whose savings had become valueless as prices soared. People went to extreme measures to survive such as, during the winter of 1923, many burnt their furniture to keep their fires burning for heat as well as restaurants were unable to reprint menus fast enough to keep up with the ever changing prices.[4] After making devastating choices to sell family antiques to try and keep up with the hyperinflation in order to survive, it became quite apparent why many middle class citizens, who had experience the wrath of hyperinflation, turned away from the Social Democratic Party and started supporting Communist parties like the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD) or the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) which was better known as the Nazi Party. The shunning of the Social Democratic Party eventually resulted in its