Hitler's Rise to Power

Hitler’s rise to power
In the years after WWI, Germany faced its worst economic depression along with devastation, defeat, and political division. Many German citizens who eventually came to be known as right wing believed that Germany did not yet lose the war at the time that The Treaty of Versailles was signed. Those who signed the treaty were left wing and were called the Social Democrats. Soon, many German citizens and political leaders such as Adolf Hitler in the right wing began to despise social democrats in the left wing. Social Democrats signed the Treaty of Versailles and many Germans felt as if they had been stabbed in the back. This became known as “Dolstosstheorie” or betrayal felt by the German people. The Treaty of Versailles placed complete war guilt on Germany and forced German citizens to pay reparations to both Britain and France for years to come. The Treaty of Versailles also instituted a new democratic Constitution in Germany called the Weimar Constitution. The Weimar Constitution allowed for universal suffrage, election of the president by the people, and ministers responsible to the Reichstag. However, even with strengths such as these included in the Constitution, the political wedge drawn between the left and the right wing left this centrist government weak from the very start. Soon, German citizens were desperate for change. Inevitably, they turned to Adolf Hitler who persuaded them that “instead of Hopeless unemployment, Germany could move towards economic recovery.” This change was what the Germans longed for, they believed that Hitler “showed a way, the only way left to the ruined people in history.” A mixture of German hopelessness along with weak governing by the Weimar republic paved the path for Hitler’s rise to power. This can be proved by the success of the Nazi organization and its political ideals along with the inability of the Weimar Republic to effectively deal with economic and political chaos prevalent in Germany’s interwar period.
From the beginning, the Weimar Republic was weak; The German citizens along with its political leaders distrusted the new democracy. In view of this distrust, Article 48 in the German constitution gave the government the right to strip citizens of their civil rights in case of an “emergency.” This allowed the new democracy to act as a dictatorship anytime an undefined “emergency” arose. However, the root of the German problem during the interwar period was not trust, it was money, unemployment reached its peak and so did inflation. Germans were suffering and the German government’s uncertainty about how to resolve resentment issues regarding the Treaty of Versailles exemplified its inability to help the country ever recover. One of the major issues that developed during the interwar period was obstruction versus fulfillment. This became a widening debate about whether or not Germany should pay reparations. For some period in German interwar history, Germany attempted to obstruct the treaty’s ruling for repayment. Walter Ratenau, a German citizen who endorsed fulfillment became a target of right wing extremist. Ratenau was assassinated and the German government defaulted on payments. Obstruction had its consequences. As promised, Germany’s Ruhr was invaded by France and Belgium. In an act of patriotism, workers in the Ruhr decided to strike, and the German government decided to show their support for obstruction and patriotism by paying the striking workers. This proved to be a disastrous decision for the Weimar and Germany as a whole as it led to worst bout of hyperinflation seen between the periods of 1914 until 1923. Germans were desperate and workers could not keep up with hyperinflation. The middle class, who supported the centrist party or the Weimar at that time, was hit the hardest, leaving them vulnerable and looking for someone to blame.
By this time, The Weimar had already proved its lack of ability to make effective decisions in pulling Germany through near economic collapse until the emergence of Finance Minister Gustav Stresemann. Stresemann brought some form of stability back to Germany with the creation of The Dawes Plan, The Locarno Act, and The Kellog-Briand Pact along Great Britain and France. As a whole across Europe, all of these acts were an element of what was called “the era of good feeling.” Reparation payments for the Treaty of Versailles were now on a sliding scale and Germany was looking forward to expansion. Taken as a whole, Stesseman helped save the Weimar Republic from economic collapse and things were looking up in Germany during the 1920’s. However, this was short lived. After the crash of the New York Stock exchange in 1929, the German economy finally collapsed. This along with Stresemann’s untimely death, indignations over the plans, and feelings of resentment towards the treaty’s new 50 year repayment plan were widespread throughout Germany. The number of unemployed grew and people starved in the streets. The so-called “era of good feeling” was false. The Weimar Republic had again failed the German citizens and they were left even more vulnerable than the last as they searched for new hope.
As the people of Germany were left in crisis, they looked for someone to blame, they turned to an extreme solution. Adolf Hitler’s ideals were appealing to disgruntled Germans who were eager for economic revival. Hans Frank, who later became Governor General of occupied Poland noted that Hitler “uttered what was in the consciousness of all those present and linked general experiences to clear understanding and the common wishes of those who were suffering and hoping for a programme.” Hitler’s best asset was his ability to speak and win over large numbers of people. Many citizens supported Hitler’s strong militaristic ideology as many of these new right wing supporters believed that this was the only kind of government that could save Germany and correct the wrongs of the “Dolstosstheorie”. Hitler’s patriotism and strong leadership skills allowed him to achieve his goal of taking over the German Government. For Hitler however, it was not always a smooth succession to power. He tried many times to seize power by putsch and failed. He eventually decided that the only way to successfully get power was to do it legally. In his final attempt for power after the crash of the stock market and death of Stresemann, Hitler organized his party and utilized signature symbols such as the swastika and the “heil salute” to unify is growing party supporters. One German citizen describes why he and his mother joined the Nazi party in 1931 by revealing that “the sight of discipline in a time of chaos, the impression of energy in an atmosphere of universal hopelessness, seemed to have won her over also.” He spread his beliefs of pan-Germanism and purity through the use of propaganda and Germans everywhere turned to Nazism because they were desperate. Hitler re-orientated his focus from workers to merchants and farmers in order to earn more money and in effect more followers. With such large numbers of the German population joining the Nazi party, The Weimar republic too became desperate. By this time, the Weimar had invoked the use of article 48 of the constitution and was ruling by decree. As a whole, the majority of German citizens were against a takeover by those who supported communism. In one final attempt to avoid a communist takeover, President Hindenburg agreed to make Hitler Chancellor of Germany. In the end--Hitler did not “take” power at all, he was given it.
By and large, the cause of Hitler’s rise to power can be attributed to a mixture of a weak and vulnerable society and strong patriotic political ideals that created the perfect storm for a vivacious mad man to come to power. Over and over, the Weimar republic failed the German people while Hitler’s Nazi ideals appeared to cater to the masses suffering. Hitler gained their support. He used brain washing and propaganda to instill strong feelings of hate in Germans against those who he believed were the single cause for Germany’s economic volatility. This, along with deep anger about The Treaty of Versailles, weakness in the constitution that crippled the government, and most importantly Hitler’s own belief in himself persuaded people to be believe in him too. Finally, when crisis came in 1929, there was no one equipped or willing to fight Hitler.