Skip to main content

Was the economic crisis after 1929 a reason for Hitler becoming the dictator by 1933?

By 1933, low economic growth, high unemployment and hyperinflation had many German families on the brink of starvation. The economic growth that came after World War I was a direct result of US loans to Germany that allowed the economy to grow and the country to pay the extremely high reparations payments imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The Dawes Plan provided loans that were to be directly invested in the Germany economy, thus enabling Germany to pay the exorbitant reparations payments. It was a circular plan that looked like this: 


  • The US landed money to Germany

  • Germany paid reparations to France, Great Britain, Belgium, et al.

  • The former Allies paid loans back to the United States for monies lent doing WWI. 

The loans to Germany dried up in 1928 due to the faltering economy in the United States, and when the US Stock Market crashed in 1929, the consequences to all of Europe were extreme. Germany was especially hard hit as the fiscal response of the Weimar Government showed its shocking ineptitude.


Germany fell into a crisis called hyperinflation because the government was printing money to compensate for the faltering economy at the same time they were raising taxes. Unfortunately, this caused families in Germany to fall into crisis as well. Over six million German men were left unemployed as factories/businesses cut their work forces. Upper middle class families were equally hard hit as 60% of new university graduates were unable to find work. 


Because many working families were on the brink of starvation, while the government kept raising taxes and cutting back expenditures, the German people became more and more frustrated with the Weimar Government and looked to the more radical parties, including Hitler’s Nazi Party (the National Socialist German Workers Party).  The NSDAP became the strongest party in the Reichstag by 1932. Hitler, of course, was well pleased by the depression, as it afforded him the path to power. He is reported to have announced, “Never in my life have I been so well disposed and inwardly contented as in these days. For hard reality has opened the eyes of millions of Germans.” (Quoted from: http://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/great-depression/#sthash.eQ2TfbUH.dpuf).


More and more Germans became enamored by the early Nazi Party’s ideology, which included unification of all Germany, repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles, and expulsion of all Jews from German life. Little did they know what would become of Germany under Nazi control.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more