The Changing Attitude of Germans Towards The Nazi Party

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The Weimar Republic was formed on unstable ground, born out of Germany’s defeat in the First World War. The Republic suffered its first major blow when Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, which caused major economic problems for the relatively young country. From 1924 to 28, the Nazi party had little support from the German public. This lack of support was due to the success of Stresemann’s policies and the country was now stable and flourishing, after the events in the Ruhr and hyperinflation. Germany now had a low unemployment rate and had an improved international status. These conditions meant that the Nazi extremist ideologies had little appeal to Germany’s population. However this period of stability has short lived. On 24th October 1929, Black Thursday struck. The American Stock Exchanged crashed and the world rapidly plummeted into the Great Depression, with Germany experiencing the worst effects. In a bid to bring Germany out of the Depression, Bruning was appointed chancellor and introduced drastic policies in an effort to save the German economy. Despite the promise the policies potentially had they failed. Early in 1933, the Weimar Republic was preparing for what would be its last pre-war Reichstag election. When the Reichstag building was razed to the ground by a fire allegedly started by communists, the seeds were sown for Hitler to rise to power and the Weimar Republic had lived its last day.

The Weimar Republic was a direct result of Germany’s defeat in World War I. The German population had endured hardship and starvation as a result of a blockade of their ports, by the British navy. The situation had escalated and conditions became so bad that in October 1918, sailors mutinied in Kiel and Hambu...

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...y Press.

History: Hitler's Rise to Power. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2012, from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/hitlerpowerrev1.shtml

Hyperinflation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2012, from Investopedia: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hyperinflation.asp#axzz1qOCEr6dd

McCallum, A. (1992). Germany 1918-1945 Democracy to Dictatorship. Port Melbourne: Heinemann Education.

The Seeds of Evil: The Rise of Hitler. (2004, June 4). Retrieved March 29, 2012, from Schools History: http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/ASLevel_History/week2_theweimarconsitution.htm

Tonge, S. (2011, January 5). Weimar Germany 1919-1933 . Retrieved March 29, 2012, from European History: http://www.historyhome.co.uk/europe/weimar.htm#collapse

White, A., & Hadley, E. (1990). Germany 1918 - 1949. London: Collins Educational.

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