Nazism was so radically different from the Weimar Republic, so why were Germans so attracted to it? Unlike the Weimar Republic, Nazism appealed to every class and age, its social Darwinist approach allowed anyone to rise up in the ranks, and the Gau made people feel in power. Hitler took any flaw of the Nazi Party, and blamed the current government for being unstable. Hitler made the German people feel like they mattered by offering stability in a time of chaos. In sum, The Nazi Party prospered from the failure of the Weimar Republic. The Nazi Party was founded in 1920, one year after the end of world war two, and one year before the hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic. The Nazi Party was a dictatorship, while the Weimar Republic was a democracy. The time in which the Nazi Party was …show more content…
In a time of such chaos, the Nazis presented themselves as defenders of Germany. The Nazis took advantage of everything that was occurring, and wanted to and eventually succeeded in making themselves patriots. Hitler wanted a revolution, but the Beer Hall Putsch of November 8-9, 1923 had failed. Hitler, however, took this failure and turned it into success. Hitler had gained fame from his trial from February to April of 1924, his speech during the trial made him seem brave and patriotic, “He ranted against the treaty (Versailles) as ‘a law which advocated immorality in 414 articles.’ To violate its provisions was an act of patriotism. Hitler did not deny his militias’ treasonous intent but rather enveloped their crimes in rhetorical clouds of ‘honor, liberty and fatherland’”. Hitler made his actions honorable, and made the Weimar Republic seem unpatriotic. Hitler highlighted the Weimar Republics’ instability. He succeeded in using the flaws of the Weimar Republic, to make himself more well-known. Although Hitler had served a small sentence, his time in prison did not stop him from taking control of the Nazi Party.
The Weimer Republic, is the democratic government established in Germany in 1918 that ruled for fifteen years after the collapse of the German empire after the First World War.The republic consisted of moderates from the Social Democratic Party as well as their liberal allies, which included the German Democratic Party, and the Catholic Center Party. The Weimer Republic sought political democracy, which they believed was attainable by the elimination of war, revolutionary terror, and capitalism. Despite their clear goal, the Weimer Republic faced backlash by the radicals of society, which included communists, National Socialists, and the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler. THESIS: The Weimer Republic’s instability in the period of 1918-1933 is
(Doc 5) This proves that overall, the conservative values were quite popular and gave the Weimar republic a lot to keep up with. In conclusion, the Weimar Republic of Germany ended up collapsing and giving way to Nazi rule because of the lack of popular support, the lack of organization within the party, and the fact that it had to compete with other, stronger forms of government.
I feel the unprecedented rise of the Nazi party was partially due to the circumstances in Germany after the collapse of the Weimar Republic. Many people in Germany were living in crippling poverty and the strain of the and the country was trying to find stability after World War. Moreover, many people were still angry about the way Germany was treated by the allies in the treaty of Versailles. Hitler and his Nazis seized the opportunity and presented a united and organised front that promised to make Germany a great and powerful nation once more. By blaming Jewish people and other sections of society as for all the country’s problems Hitler united the Germans by giving them someone to blame. This lead to the youth of Germany being caught in the middle of following the Nazi cause or opposing it.
After the First World War Germany recognised her first ever democratic government, the Weimar republic lasted from 1918 – 1933 an astonishingly long time given its turbulent start. The November revolution saw the election of soldier and worker councils similar to that of the Russian revolution in 1917, it spread across Germany like wildfire and in turn split the country before a democracy could even be instated nevertheless on November 9th 1918 the German republic was established. From then on The Weimar Republic was set on unstable and insecure path and this is why it is one of Germanys most important historical periods; it was Germanys earliest form of non-imperial government and rule and its collapse in 1933 paved the way for the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. For these reasons there have been endless works published on the Weimar republic and the outpouring of literature post world war two focuses on the collapse of the Weimar republic and how the Nazi party came to power. However, to understand why the debate surrounding the Golden Era in the Weimar Republic is an interesting one and lacking in historical works, it is key to examine the historiography of the Weimar republic as a whole. Furthermore, to understand why historians focus on other periods in the Weimar’s history in particular the consequences of the treaty of Versailles and the consequences of the Wall Street crash in 1928 which led to its collapse.
'Nazi Germany ' represented the period from 1933s to 1945s, which played an important role in prosperous German history and the modern European history. After Germany participated in First World War in the first half of the 20th century, the whole society was glutted with unemployment, poverty, hunger, inflation and moral corruption. The public couldn’t feel the republican democracy benefits.
Hitler was their "last hope". We can see clearly a distinct link between german unemployment figures and a rise in nazi seats in the Reichstag. People turned to Hitler for help due to the depression and the failure of the Weimar republic to cope with the ongoing problems in germany. In my opinion this is the main factor to why Hitler finally came about to doing a political deal.
After World War I, the social climate in Germany was depressing. The German people were humiliated by their country's defeat and by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The financial depression that resulted left millions of individuals out of work. The German government was weak, and the people sought new leadership. These conditions provided an opportune setting for a new leader, Adolf Hitler, and his party, the National Socialist German Workers Party. Hitler, reckless and powerful, was able to fan the flames of an ancient hatred into a wild and out of control holocaust (Altman 12).
...Republic was marked by failure. The inflation in 1923, caused in part by the Versailles settlement, drove people away from democracy and towards Nazism. Socially, the Nazi movement had taken root with many conservatives as a way to unify and oppose the treaty. Books and literature written by Nazi leaders such as Hitler himself were propaganda to the movement and allowed for the party to solidify its goals. Politically, the republic was fractured and messy allowing for many parties to rise and fall out of favor. The early Nazi movement was based off the popular notion of oppression created by the Treaty of Versailles. Thus, the Treaty of Versailles fostered a political and social environment for the Nazi Party to grow and eventually seize power. It is ironic that this treaty ended the “war to end all wars,” while also inadvertently started yet another world conflict.
In the 1920's, Germany encountered a great mired in an economic depression. Millions of citizens suffered hunger and many remained out of work. The national spirit of the once-proud people became low. The Germans became enraged by their loss of World War I and stood humiliated by the terms they had to accept in 1919 the treaty of Versailles. The War had a destruction of millions of deaths. Germany had to give up territory, slash its military, and pay billions of dollars in reparations for the damaged it caused during the war. Hitler used his nation's despair and humiliation as fuel for a new political monument, which took shape as the Nazi party (Schoenbaum 8).
Exploring the Reasons Behind Public's Discontent with the Weimar Government There were a number of reasons why the German people were unhappy with the Weimar government. One of the main reasons for this was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The result of this was that Germany has to take the war guilt, Germany had to pay reparations of 6,600 million marks to the allies in particular France, Germany lost its colonies, it lost its air force & tanks, and its soldiers were restricted to 100,000. The Ruhr was demilitarised. Also they lost their colonies and its land was cut up such as the Polish Corridor and Alsace Lorraine.
2. What were weaknesses of the Weimar Republic? How did different political groups seek to remedy these weaknesses?
They were the ones who carried out the war, they were cut down to size
During the Holocaust, around six million Jews were murdered due to Hitler’s plan to rid Germany of “heterogeneous people” in Germany, as stated in the novel, Life and Death in the Third Reich by Peter Fritzsche. Shortly following a period of suffering, Hitler began leading Germany in 1930 to start the period of his rule, the Third Reich. Over time, his power and support from the country increased until he had full control over his people. Starting from saying “Heil Hitler!” the people of the German empire were cleverly forced into following Hitler through terror and threat. He had a group of leaders, the SS, who were Nazis that willingly took any task given, including the mass murder of millions of Jews due to his belief that they were enemies to Germany. German citizens were talked into participating or believing in the most extreme of things, like violent pogroms, deportations, attacks, and executions. Through the novel’s perspicacity of the Third Reich, readers can see how Hitler’s reign was a controversial time period summed up by courage, extremity, and most important of all, loyalty.
The Extent to Which the Weimar Republic Recovered after 1923 In the period after 1923, under Gustav Stresemann, Germany was able to stand back on its feet and overcome many of its difficulties. Weimar Republic was created in 1919 to govern a defeated Germany after World War One. Germany was facing many social, political and economical problems while the new constitution laid open for the seizure of power. There were many rebellions and attempted revolutions making the country very unstable. Situations were made worse by the harsh terms of Treaty of Versailles, causing hyperinflation and a huge amount of national debt.
Germany's defeat in World War One created political, economic and social instability in the Weimar Republic and led to the rise of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) or Nazi party.