Hitler And The Nazi Party

810 Words2 Pages

History Assignment

Hitler attained power in 1933 as the result of a complex set of factors. He was the right man at the right time to take advantage of the problems that had arisen in Germany in the post war years.

In the post war years of the 1920's to the 1930's, the German people had many grievances. The biggest of which was the economy. The hyperinflation of the early 1920's, in January 1921 the German mark was 65 marks to the American dollar and on November 1923 it was worth 4 200 000 000 000 to the American dollar. Over a 12 week period the German currency lost 99.3% of it's value. This meant that the price for eggs was 80 billion marks each. The hyperinflation meant that 90% of people's savings were destroyed.

Germany lacked faith in democracy. The reason being was the corruption and mismanagement, which characterised the Weimar Republic (inflation). The Democrats were reasonable and well-meaning men, representing the inflation impoverished middle class and business. They relied on chronic credit inflation (which put them more and more into debt.

The Germans were also upset by the loss of World War 1, but the thing that made them the maddest, is the punishment enforced on them as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. Such as redistribution of territory, reduction of Germany's fighting power and imposition of harsh conditions, which meant Germany had to pay 6600 million-pound to the Allies in 1921. Germany thought that the punishment was too harsh.

The masses in Germany were crushed by the problems that they had, especially the Treaty of Versailles, which left Germany in debt. The hyperinflation left a lot of people unemployed. People were looking for answers and someone to blame. The Nazi party had the policies that the German people wanted to hear. Hitler offered the easy answer for Germany's problems. The skills that Hitler had were that he was a manipulator, and could trick people into believing his views, which they did. He answered their problems in a way, which left him with advantages.

As I have said, Hitler was a manipulator. What he said, people believed, and those who didn't, were killed. The ideas that he had (quote SOSE textbook page 57) 'to be a strong nation, Germany had to have a strong leader, struggle was the basis of history and struggle occurred between different races and the main struggle for Germany, was with the Jewish race.

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