Nazi Rise To Power

            After Germany’s defeat in the First World War and the abdication of the Kaiser, a new Republic was established. In November , 1918, a provisional government was formed by the socialist Friedrich Ebert and the new system of government – the constitution of the Weimar Republic – was drawn up. The Republic constitution established a democratically elected main chamber, the Reichstag; a second chamber, the Landrat, to represent the interests of the various provinces; a popularly elected President and an electoral system with proportional representation.

            However, this newly born Republic underwent great difficulties. Actually, this new political order was very weak in its own constitutional order. There were dangers in the system of proportional representation, which could lead to a larger number of contrasting small parties. They would bring instability. This was particularly so when the Weimar constitution was faced with the violent nationalism of the Right and their emphasis on the unity of the German Volk.

            The main parties giving their support to the Weimar Republic were the Social Democratic Party, the Catholic Center and the Liberal Democratic Parities, though, both of the latter slid to the right in the last days of Weimar. The Communists and the national Socialists, the extreme parties of the left and right, openly proclaimed their wish to overthrow the Weimar Republic. A stable alliance of those parties willing to participate in a Republican government could only be reached if either Left or Right, both of which represented very powerful parties in the Weimar Republic, were to be exclude.

            Furthermore, the Germans were furious at the Allies for imposing their harsh Treaty of Versailles and at the Government for having signed such a tough treaty. Germany was forced to pay over 30,000 million US dollars for reparation to France and Belgium as well as loose many of its colonies and territories gained during the war.

            In addition to this, the vulnerable political structure was further weakened by the French and Belgian invasion of the Ruhr in 1923, an action planned to secure reparation payments from Germany in coal and steel. German workers were told to resist peacefully but this policy of passive resistance to the French and Belgians, made German heavy industry almost come to a stand still.

            The German mark, already severely inflated by the Government’s need to pay for the war, due to the new crisis, became even more worthless. In January 1922, the annual inflation rate was 200 %, a year later it was 2000 %. The result was financial ruin of many middle-class Germans.

            Through out this time, the Nazi support was continuously gaining in support. However, in 1929, the turning point finally came. In this year, the American Stock Market collapsed. The whole of the US was in a disastrous economic depression. In a short time, the whole world was affected, especially Germany. American bankers and businessmen, who had lost their money in the crash, asked German banks to repay loans. The result was an economic collapse in Germany as well. Banks failed. Businesses went bankrupt. Factories cut production and fired millions of workers. Unemployment rose steeply. People began to linger in the streets without jobs.

            This disaster was bound to have major social consequences in Germany. When the firs effects of the Depression were felt, the Nazi vote grew rapidly. Propaganda posters continuously stated that the Nazis would bring  Arbeit, Freiheit und Brot (work, freedom and bread). In a short while, they ere seen as the sole answer to everyone’s problems.

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