How did the Depression help the Nazis? 1929

How did the Depression help the Nazis?

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What was the depression?

• In 1929 the Wall Street Crash forced US banks to recall their loans to Germany.
• German industry was hit by a fall in demand and was unable to pay back loans from the USA.
• Millions of workers were unemployed as factories closed down.
• None of the government's methods to combat the Depression had any effect, which brought out all the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic.
• Coalition Groups were formed as different parties disagreed on how to solve the depression. This lead to it being increasingly hard to setup a coalition government.
• After 1929, a presidential emergency was declared, and Germany was ruled by the President.

How did these problems help the Nazis?

The Depression was a gift to Hitler & the Nazis as for every problem the people had, the Nazis had an explanation or a promise.

• The Weimar government is weak: You need strong leadership. Hitler is your man.
• Unemployment? The Nazis will get people back to work through road-building and public works.
• Worried about the communists? Look at the Nazi's SA, they know how to deal with them.

Summary: How did the Nazis do it?

The Depression was only part of the reason that the Nazis had such success. 

• Organisation
• The Nazis were extremely organised. Most of them had been soldiers in WW1, and carried the same obedience and determination with them into the party. They has skilled leaders at almost every level.
• Propaganda
• The Nazi National leaders were masters at propaganda. They trained their local groups with propaganda skills. They knew all the tricks in the book. They stirred up violence at election meetings, just so the SA could crush it and be seen as crushing the communist threat.
• Support of the Industrialists
• Hitler made sure to become friends with some of the rich right-wing parties in order to gain large amounts of financial support.
• Use of Technology
•  Hitler made the use of radio to make sure he really brought his message home, and every home in Germany could hear him. Furthermore, he made good use of aircraft so that Hitler could give up to 4 or 5 speeches at massive rallies each day. This hugely increased the number of people supporting him.
• Promise to Voters
• Every sector of German society heard what it wanted to hear. Workers were promised jobs, Employers were promised profits, farmers were promised higher prices and shopkeepers were promised protection against competition.
• Flexibility
• The Nazis were extremely flexible with their ideas. If an idea was losing them support, they would simply no longer mention it again. For example, they said they would nationalise industry, but the industrialists did not like that, so they simply never mentioned it again. They realised it doesn't matter what you promise, as long as people trust you. Furthermore, they promised many vague things, such as 'making Germany great again'.
• Hitler
• Hitler was the Nazi's party superman. He was the driving force behind things, and he kept improving and improving. He improved his speech writing, and was displayed in propaganda as a physically strong leader. He refused to wear spectacles in public, so had his speeches written in 12mm high print.
• Weakness of Opposition
• Other parties were very weak and consistently underestimated the Nazis. They often just argued amongst themselves, rather than uniting together to overcome the Nazis.