Why a Dictatorship Emerged in Germany in 1933 and Not Before
The Weimar Republic was bound to fail sooner or later given its
weakness at birth and the values it was associated with however as to
why Hitler was able to take power in 1933 and not before is an
interesting question that requires much thought and attention. It has
being proven throughout history that for extreme parties such as the
NSDAP or the Communist party to gain mass support there has to be an
economic crisis. The Nazi party was the one which eventually turned
out ahead of the others, partly because of their leader, Adolf Hitler
and partly because of their wider appeal and superior organisation.
After it was proven that to rise to power through revolutions and
coups (Spartacist revolt, Munich Beer Cellar putsch) was not
practicable, economic crises offered these groups their only means to
rise to power. There were economic crises in 1923 and during the 1929
- 1933 period, the earlier period was simply too early in the extreme
parties histories for them to gain any serious support however the
later one provided these parties with real opportunities to gain
popularity. Statiscally, Hitler was most popular in 1932, yet it was
in 1933 that he became chancellor, to explain this one must look at
the political context of the time which suggests that Hitler rose to
power not because he was destined to as the Nazi propaganda suggest
but because he was greatly aided by circumstances and other people’s
errors.
The only secure way to power is legal and for a normal political party
to rise to power it must either get a majority in the Reishtag thus
establishing it’s own government and leader or set up an alliance with
other parties so that between them they have a majority; extreme
groups failed to do this in the years preceding 1933 and that is why
no dictatorship emerged in those years. It is a fact that extreme
parties need an economic recession to do well during an election, in
way to go. Really, the parties had no choice as to whether or not they
This essay will examine how the lack of effective opposition and the weakness of the Weimar, was a major factor in the Nazis rising to power between 1919 and 1933.
In Germany at the start of the Nazis regime they had a lot of political opposition who were mainly socialists, but the Nazis never faced serious threats of rebellion in Nazi Germany and the Nazis reign. There are many different factors which caused this to happen; one of these being the propaganda used by the Nazis which was extensive and covered all of Germany; this propaganda was used successfully and made the majority of German people belief what the party was saying, as it gave them a sense of national identity. They did this by focusing on the German youth mainly. Another factor which helped defend the party from the threats of rebellion was the fear and terror which the Nazis bestowed on the people, through the use the SS and the Gestapo. Another key reason why there was no serious rebellion within the concentration camps was because of the disunity within the camps of many of the opposition who tried to cause the rebellion, although in the Jewish camps there was some opposition but none that posed a real threat but still feared Hitler. Also the division within the opposition caused no serious threat because the opposition would not work together as friends.
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.
The conditions in Germany when Hitler came into power were that the Wiemar Republic was weak, they had a democracy and after president Heindenburg died the democracy was even weaker. There was hardly any money, before the Great Depression began. Aldof Hitler promised a better life for everyone in Germany, and with his persuasive speech managed to get what he wanted, power. The treaty of Versailles blamed Germany for the First World War. The Weimar politicians did not seem to have an end to the ongoing crisis so they gave Hitler a spot in politics, his speech soon enough brought him up the hierarchy and lead to his success. The support for the Nazi party was rising every day before the Communists, the Great Depression did much of Hitler’s
Hitler was superb at convincing people to believe everything he said. He promised the people a roast in every pot, security, and many more things. By promising the people security that meant that he would keep them all safe and that he can do a better job than anyone else. Adolf Hitler increased in support from bankers and industrialists. So, pretty much he had most of the people who had higher power on his side durning this time period. The the united States stock market crasedd in October 1929 unemployment in Germany quickly rose to over six million. This opened another window for Hitler to get more peoplewho thought that they had nothing and their life was over to side with him. President Hindenburg did not want for Hitler to become the chancellor so instead he appointed Von Pappen but, Adolf Hitler did not agree nor did the Nazi's. hitler eventually did become the chancellor on January 30th, 1933 Hitler then banned all political parties. In 1934 the president died and Adolf Hitler forced his way into power. Now that he was the president he can change anyhting that he wants.
One of the key criteria of a totalitarian government is that there is complete control over the economy. However, within Nazi Germany there was never all-encompassing state ownership over the economy. In fact, Hitler never placed importance on the ‘socialist’ aspect of NSDAP ideology. He did not believe in state ownership or redistribution of wealth, and he allowed capitalism and big business thrive in the Third Reich, as they were necessary for the revitalisation of Germany’s economy. Moreover, the Nazi State was not the extremely rigid political structure it appeared to be. While, Hitler himself was very secure in his position as Fuhrer, below him the political structure was quite chaotic. In terms of government agencies, there was not much direction from the top, as they were instructed to interpret the will of the Fuhrer and then enact it. Moreover, there was a large amount of overlap and inefficiency, while solidifying Hitler’s position, generally weakened the ability to rule over people. Finally, below Hitler, there was a lot of infighting in attempt to gain greater power and favor from Hitler. Similar to the inefficiencies created by overlap, this created inefficiency and weakened the ability to have totalitarian
Hitler’s rise to power can be attributed to a series of events occurring both in Germany and the rest of the world in the mid 20th century. In the year 1929, due to the collapse of the American Stock Exchange the economic situation in Germany terribly worsened. “’I see myself as Chancellor and I will be Chancellor,’ Hitler told Hans Frank, who by then had become his lawyer.” (P.64) Hitler believed in himself and eventually received the power he aimed for. Unemployment was at around 6 million and people were desperate for a quick ...
The Holocaust was the great plan to make Jews to become instinct and other people that Hitler considered inferior to him. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in Germany led this great plan from 1933 to 1945. Approximately twelve million people had their lives taken, half being Jews. Everything changed and became impacted all around the world when Hitler took over Germany, he had a strong prejudice against the Jews. His goal was to create the perfect race of human, blonde hair, blue eyed Germans. The soldiers in Hitler’s camp was his followers, the Nazis, which did all of his dirty work for him. There were also many other people that contributed to his massive event. There became different clans and groups of people going out on their own and doing the killing also, not only Jews. For example, the doctors that ran test on people and experimented on the people didn’t care about their patients wellbeing or health
Adolf Hitler came to power on February 28, 1933 (Rossel). He rose to power using inflammatory speeches and inspiring hope for the defeated Germans. He constructed a system to empower the German people and allow them to thrive in the period after the Great Depression (Noakes). Using keen acumen and decisive moves, he was able to turn Germany into a war machine bent on the creation of an Aryan utopian society, at the cost of all inferior races, especially the Jews ("The Period between 1933 and 1939"). At this time Germany was a defeated country. They had recently had numerous humiliating defeats in WWI, and the Germans no longer had the pride they once had celebrated (Laurita). Augmented by the fact that the Great Depression had ravaged the country and left many in a state of penury and impoverished, the Germans were desperate. As well, Germany was currently a country without any source of stability without a generally supported constitution. When Hitler promised a utopian society filled with hope and where the Germans would be exalted as the superior race, the Germans listened and obeyed his every word (Noakes). Hitler fed on the desperation and hopelessness of these German people to make a society driven by fear; this state of pity allowed Hitler to convince the Germans that he could provide a better future.
The Weakness of the Weimar Republic and Hitler's Rise to Power The question directly relates to the idea that the political power of a country can be taken over by ambitious people in different ways. From our knowledge we know there is three ways this can be done…by take over by force, also known as a 'coup d'etat', in a more democratic and just way or by a political deal. In the 1920's and the 1930's Hitler led a right wing political party and was seen by many as a dictator. He wanted to overthrow and control the German government and he tried all three of these ways in an attempt to do so, some methods were more successful than others.
was not allowed to put any defences or troops on the east bank of the
With a combination of poor leadership on the Weimar Government’s behalf, the signing of the hated Treaty of Versailles and an unattractive economic situation, Hitler, using his charismatic personality, was able to convince the majority of the public to resort to the extremist nazi party. There are many other factors that influenced the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism; In every case, however, Hitler’s manipulative skills and sophisticated behavior towards circumstances lead to the success of the Nazi Party. By successfully manipulating the above set of circumstances, Hitler was able to cause to the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazi Party.
Reasons Behind the Nazis Coming to Power In January 1933, Hitler became chancellor of Germany, there are many reasons for him and the Nazis coming into power. They are long term and short-term cause, which can be classed under 3 main headings: weakness of opposition, strengths of Nazis and economic factors. The weaknesses of the opposition helped the Nazis come into power because Hitler took advantage of them. The failure of the Weimar government was a long-term reason. The government had been doomed from the start, when it took over from the Kaiser in 1918, it had many problems to face.
Another key factor that played a role in Hitlers rise to power was after World War one as the treaty of Versailles took away Germanys colonies and forced them to pay 33billion dollars, to Britain and France. This debt in return completely bankrupted Germany and economically enslaved the people of Germany. Unemployment and inflation at the time was out of control. Ther German currency lost so much value that people were struggling to buy a simple loaf of bread. The reason the great depression helped Hitler was because he promised the people of Germany that he would rebuild Germany to its former self. He promised jobs which mainly came through the army, this in affect helped Hitler realise one of his other promises which was to take Revenge on those who left Germany crippled after the war. This made him and the Nazis wildly popular in Germany during the 1930s. In just a few short years,...