Hitlers Rise to Power Essay Example

Hitlers Rise to Power Essay Example Hitlers Rise to Power Essay Hitlers Rise to Power Essay The nazi party was non-existent in 1919 after world war one, but in 15 years they became the biggest party in Germany at the time. There were many reasons why this happened. One reason was because Germany had been going through a huge economic slump during those 15 years. The right wing was very strong and as the Nazi party was nationalist they started to rise to power. Hitler was against the idea of the treaty of Versailles, and so was the rest of Germany so when he said that if he rose to power he would get rid of it, people started to vote for him. There was a big threat from communism. This made the entire rich conservative people vote for him, as they would have to give up their wealth to the state. As there were huge arguments in the Reichstag during the economic crisis, the government fell apart. When the new government came to power, and tried to set up a budget, all of the different parties in the coalition disagreed with each other so the government fell apart again. The chancellor was just going to the president so he could pass the budget as an emergency law. After the end of the 1st world war, Germany had to sign a treaty saying that they would not start any other war and also they would have to pay penalties for starting the war. Most of the Germans were against this from the start, including Hitler. Hitler had been blinded from a gas attack during the war. When he finally came round he was told that Germany had lost the war. He was devastated, and confused, as the Germans were so far a head when he was taken to hospital. He thought that the German soldiers had been stabbed in the back by the government which at the time was the socialists. Even though he knew this, he blamed it on the Jews, which becomes a big factor later on in the 1930s. In 1918-19 there was a revolution which was started by the sailors. They were told to go out and fight the allies even though the officers knew that they were going to lose the war. There were many supporters of the revolution such as the communists, the ordinary soldier as they felt that all their efforts fighting in the war and risking their lives was a waste of time as Germany gave up in 1918. The socialist also backed the revolution as they thought that everybody should be equal. The unemployed blamed the existing government for all of their problems and thought that there should be a change in the Reichstag. The government at the end of the war when the Kaiser fled was the SPD (social democratic party). This party made some very controversial decisions. In January 1919 they dismissed a popular police chief who sparked off mass demonstrations by trade unions and USPD. The Freikorps (this was a backup army of ex soldiers) stormed into their parliament building. During the time of the Revolution there were a lot of street battles mainly involving the Freikorps. In the first vote in the Weimar republic saw a small shift to the right wing. This means that there were very early signs of people voting right wing, even before Hitler rose to power. Also field Marshall Paul Von Hindenburg was elected as the new president of the Weimar republic because of his high status from during the war. In 1919 The Germans were told that there was a treaty coming out that would state what Germany would have to do and also what they would have to pay to the allies for the war. They were told none of the details that would be in treaty. On 28th June 1919, two government ministers went to Versailles to sign it. They were made to sign it as if they didnt France would start another war on Germany and wreck them even more. Germany disagreed with the treaty so much that Scheidemann that when the treaty was given to him, he resigned so that he did not have to sign it. He knew who ever signed it would surely be punished for bringing Germany down. Germany thought that the treaty was going to be fare as they based it on the 14 points made by President Wilson of the USA. Germany felt that it was so unfair that they would rather go back to war than follow the treaty. Many people in wanted revenge on England and France for this and some say that this was one of many causes of World War 2. In 1921 the German government was finally given the bill for how much they would have to pay back to France for starting the war. Many disagreed with this. It was 2 years late and the public thought that the idea of reparations was harsh, never mind a bill for i 6600000000 (DM 132000000000). Hitler was against this. The strength of the right wing started to shine through in 1920 when Germany was told that they were not allowed to keep their Freikorps under the treaty of Versailles. This meant that they must no longer be in service. As some of the Freikorps did no like this decision, they stormed upon Berlin and announced that Dr Kapp would be their leader. Dr Kapp was an extreme nationalist. As all the politicians fled, he was able to run the country. At the time people did not want him to run the country, and he realised he could not run the country without their help. He stepped down on the 18 March 1920 and the government returned. Another way that the right wing was so strong is that they had force on their side. As the Freikorps were right wing, they were able to fight the communists and also stop them from making any campaigns. Between 1920-33 the violence of the streets continued to increase between the Nazi party and the Communists. Hitler set an organisation called the S. A. (storm troopers). These were the people, who would fight on the streets, wreck other parties campaigns and intimidate people to vote Nazi. In 1923 after the economic crisis of Hyperinflation, Hitler thought that this was his moment of glory. He thought that the Nazi party had gained enough support to take over Munich. Hitler had a backing of 55000 members. The army secretly backed the Nazi party so that they could fight against the communists. On the 8 November when Hitler started his march on the streets, This was called the Beerhall putsch as it had started in a beer hall and progressed onto the streets. The Army was told to go out and fight them, but they refused. The police were then called out and the march ended up in a gunfight. Field Marshall Paul Von Hindenburg was elected as President. He was a hero during world war one. In July 1932 Hindenburgs son appointed Von Papen chancellor, but in September the Reichstag reject him Hindenburg dissolves government. In October Hitler was offered the role of vice chancellor but he refused, as he wanted to be chancellor, and did not want to be second best. In January 1933 Von Papen approaches Hitler to give him a deal. He would make him chancellor but he would also be in a minority so that he could not make any bad decisions.