So this may not relate directly to "US history," but I knew that the Great Depression greatly effected those in Europe, specifically in Germany. I was curious about how this helped Hitler rise to power and here's what I found:
Prior to the Wall Street crash in 1929, America had been supplying foreign loans to Germany, who was in turn paying off debts from World War One to the Allies. So, when the stock marktet collapsed and the United States stopped supplying Germany with funds, Germany's foreign trade fell dramatically. Even though it was making almost no money because no one wanted its products, the Allies demanded that Germany pay its dues. This further worsened Germany's already instable government, economy, and society.
Similarly to the depressions being faced in the United States and other European powers, German's collapsed economy led to the unemployment of millions. Inflation soared higher than ever before seen, German currency losing nearly all of its value. With the people in such a desperate situation, Adolf Hitler and his followers of the Nazi party saw their opportunity.
The German government, led by President Hindenburg, was already instable after World War One. With the people crying for help from their government, the lack of efficient support put them in a world of discontent. The Reichstag tried to no avail to bring itself together, but the disunity of major political parties eventually proved to be too much for it to handle. Hitler and his Nazis began preaching their political platform: jobs for the unemployed, economic prosperity, and the renewal of German glory. Upset with the political confusion surrounding them, many of the German people pledged themselves to the Nazis by the thousands. In September of 1930, the Nazi party became the second most powerful and populated party in the government. Although Hitler failed to win the presidency in 1931, the Nazi party continued to grow in strength and numbers. In January of 1932, Hitler emerged as the Chancellor of the German Nation, his Nazi party effectively ruling the once democratic government of Germany.
One thing I find interesting about Hitler's rise is how popular he was, and that despite some of the tactics he used against his opponents, he was much loved by nearly all the country. Another interesting note to point out is the similarities in the economic failures in both Germany and the United States, although obviously the US wasn't nearly as bad. I think that the leaders that came to power in these times show a lot about the attitude of the countries. Both Americans and Germans wanted a leader who would fix the problems, which is what both FDR and Hitler promised. However, Hitler's goal was to have absolute power, while Roosevelt, who took some emergency actions not usually allowed, did not use as absolute of power as he could have.
ReplyDeleteThis post relates very much to Wilson's fourteen points that we learned about earlier. Wilson's fourteen points called for a war without victory, because he felt that would be the best way for Europe to recover after World War 1. However, France and England would have none of this because they lost so many young men in battle during the war, so they blamed Germany for the war and made them pay billions in war reparations. This absurd demand led Germany into a massive depression, and eventually caused the rise of the Nazi party and World War 2. If the Allies had listened to Wilson or if he had fought harder for a war without victory, then World War 2 may have been prevented.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how Hitler actually came to power. Like you said, he did not win the presidency in 1931. However the Nazi party gained huge population during this time because Germany's own government was very much on the skids. The German people looked to the Nazis' as their form of government, and Hitler was the leader of the Nazis. So basically, Hitler only came to power because he was the head of the party that all of Germany's people looked to, and that is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis post makes some really excellent points! The collapse of the American economy, I think, directly caused Germany's economy to become even more broken and leaving the government very weak. The German government's weakness and the people's vulnerability did allow Hitler to have the chance to start spreading his ideas throughout the country.
ReplyDeleteThis post is really interesting. The German government appointed Hitler thinking they could control him, but Hitler was able to seize power and make himself dictator or Germany.
ReplyDeleteGermany apparently printed money because they had to pay off war debts and had no other way of generating enough income. If the Allies cancelled war debts, do you think Germany's economy would have crashed? Could WWII and Hitler's rise to power have been prevented if that was the case?
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, Brandon, it is, of course, impossible to know for certain, but I believe that if the Allies did not demand for the debts to be paid back, the economy would not have crashed. And, if economy had not crashed, Hitler would at least have had a much harder, if not impossible, time trying to gain power. Without the crash, the Nazi party would not have grown so quickly and exponentially, and so Hitler would not have such a large power base. However, it is still possible that he may have found yet another to become Chancellor than the crash.
ReplyDeleteOne of the aspects that most characterizes Hitler's rule is anti-Semitism and anti- anything that wasn't "normal", really. Would the Holocaust have gained the support it did in Germany if there had been no Depression? The people who turned Jews in to the authorities or were the soldiers who held them in concentration camps had just experienced a devastating financial crisis, much much worse than what the US experienced at the time. It's hard to believe that humans are capable of these kinds of atrocities, but it makes slightly more sense if you look at this from the point of view that most of the German people had recently been starving to death and now were being told it was all the Jews' fault.
ReplyDeleteAnd if America's Depression caused Germany's... kind of weird how much everything is connected.