History 101:
Why did Hitler become chancellor in January 1933? Part 2
This is the second part of the big question where we explore how the mistakes of the Weimar contributed to Hitlers rise:
The Weimar government eventually became a Key factor of why Hitler became Chancellor. Weimar's first mistake was how it relied too much on America. The Weimar had taken huge loans (Dawes plan 1924 of 800 million marks) which tied Germany's economy to Americas'. Although there were no immediate negatives at the time because America was thriving, it was seen as risky. If Americas' economy was to crash, Germanys' would have followed however ten times as worse because it relied on America so much. In 1929 the wall street crash came and plunged America into poverty and unemployment. Germany followed but the impact was ten times as worse.
Weimars second mistake was how its handled the depression. Instead of pumping money into keeping the economy running and keeping unemployment low they did the exact opposite. The Weimar increased taxes and cut public workers jobs to try and pay for the depression. This angered millions and by 1932 six million were unemployed and many were left homeless and reliant on charities or soup kitchens. This is where Hitlers 'Arbeit und brot' slogan went down well. German people just wanted the essentials! This anger generated by the governments actions simply added to the Nazis votes. People needed a new radical change to the Weimar and Hitler came as one of the only options!
Weimar's third mistake was its own political system. In the Reichstag from 1924 to 1933 there were 8 main parties in the Reichstag; DNVP, DVP, Centre, BVP, DDP, SPD, KDP and the NSDAP (Nazis). This meant that no party had an overall majority, so no parties could pass laws on their own. Governments were constantly formed and dissolved between different parties who had tried to make coalitions. These Governments never worked out because they could never agree on controversial topics. This meant that key issues, like unemployment, couldn't be tackled. The main Governments eventually collapsed which meant that the president could use emergency powers due to the triggering of article 48 in the Weimar constitution. However this wasn't a good thing. President Hindenburg was old and senile and started passing laws on his own that many disagreed with. The chaos of the Weimars' political parties and the government kept adding to Hitlers overall popularity because he promised for this chaos to stop. This is another key reason why Hitler became Chancellor in 1933.
The Weimars' Main and maybe final mistake, also their worst, was the deal between Von Papen and President Hindenburg. In 1933, the Nazis were by far the largest party with 33% of the vote however they still needed to reach 50% to be able to form a government. This meant by law Hitler wasn't entitled to become chancellor on his own. However seeing as the Nazis were the largest party, it only seemed logical for the Nazis to at least have some sort of representation in government. After all Hindenburg had blocked Hitler from forming a government for a year now. So Von Papen (ex chancellor) came up with a compromise. Von Papen had the backing of Hugenburg who was leader of the German National Peoples Party. The deal was; Hindenburg would make Hitler chancellor, which was what the majority of the public wanted, and Von Papen as Vice Chancellor. Papen, Hugenburg and Hindenburg's plan was to control Hitler by only allowing three out of the thirteen spots in government to be taken by a Nazi. This completely failed (i will explain how in future blogs) as Hitler completely bypassed them and went on to become dictator.
Without This deal being made Hitler may have never become chancellor and this in my opinion is the most important reason as to why Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933.
Thanks For reading! bit of a long one however thats the bulk of my argument as to why Hitler became Chancellor in 1933! Part 3 coming soon.
History 101
Enquiries: theverybesthistory101@gmail.com
Twitter: @TheVBHistory101
[i do not own these photos]
Why did Hitler become chancellor in January 1933? Part 2
This is the second part of the big question where we explore how the mistakes of the Weimar contributed to Hitlers rise:
 |
| Unemployed line up for "Free coffee and Doughnuts" |
Weimars second mistake was how its handled the depression. Instead of pumping money into keeping the economy running and keeping unemployment low they did the exact opposite. The Weimar increased taxes and cut public workers jobs to try and pay for the depression. This angered millions and by 1932 six million were unemployed and many were left homeless and reliant on charities or soup kitchens. This is where Hitlers 'Arbeit und brot' slogan went down well. German people just wanted the essentials! This anger generated by the governments actions simply added to the Nazis votes. People needed a new radical change to the Weimar and Hitler came as one of the only options!
Weimar's third mistake was its own political system. In the Reichstag from 1924 to 1933 there were 8 main parties in the Reichstag; DNVP, DVP, Centre, BVP, DDP, SPD, KDP and the NSDAP (Nazis). This meant that no party had an overall majority, so no parties could pass laws on their own. Governments were constantly formed and dissolved between different parties who had tried to make coalitions. These Governments never worked out because they could never agree on controversial topics. This meant that key issues, like unemployment, couldn't be tackled. The main Governments eventually collapsed which meant that the president could use emergency powers due to the triggering of article 48 in the Weimar constitution. However this wasn't a good thing. President Hindenburg was old and senile and started passing laws on his own that many disagreed with. The chaos of the Weimars' political parties and the government kept adding to Hitlers overall popularity because he promised for this chaos to stop. This is another key reason why Hitler became Chancellor in 1933.
 |
| Von Papen and Hugenburg far right, Hitler in centre |
Without This deal being made Hitler may have never become chancellor and this in my opinion is the most important reason as to why Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933.
Thanks For reading! bit of a long one however thats the bulk of my argument as to why Hitler became Chancellor in 1933! Part 3 coming soon.
History 101
Enquiries: theverybesthistory101@gmail.com
Twitter: @TheVBHistory101
[i do not own these photos]
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