THE RISE OF HITLER ESSAY
Economic problems were crucial to Hitler's rise to power. I agree with this statement because if you look at the key economic problems facing Germany at the time, you couldn't blame the people of Germany for looking for someone to save them. These problems included an unemployment rate that peaked at 33% in 1933, which Hitler capitalized on by promising more jobs and a prosperous future for the population; the German people were angry at their current Government for signing the Treaty of Versailles, which gave Hitler something to fight against with the rest of the country and the German people were angry at the Weimar Government for their poor handling of the economic depression, which would make Hitler a better alternative in the public's eyes. All of these issues during the 1930s in Germany contributed to the deaths of thousands of starving, homeless, and jobless people and this sparked a revolution that would not only change Germany but the world forever. The anger and emotion that swept the German people because of the suffering during the Depression made the population vulnerable to corrupt and greedy minds, of which included Hitler and his Nazi Party.
With the German unemployment rate sky-high and seemingly no end in sight for the suffering and pain that the population of Germany endured during the Depression, this set the stage for an uprising. The current Government couldn't cope with the terrible circumstances the nation was under, making the foundations the government rests upon shaky and uncertain. There were six million unemployed workers in Germany in 1933, which was thirty-three percent of Germany's labor force. The Weimar Government couldn't handle the pressure of the people and the destruction of their country before their eyes. Three years before, the Chancellor of Germany at the time, Heinrich Bruning, increased taxes on the public in order to reduce the budget deficit. An increase in taxes during a time when money is scarce and people are dying of starvation because they cannot afford to eat would not be a popular move, no matter how charismatic a leader you are. This played a key role in the loss of public support for the Weimar Government as anger turned to hatred for the politicians that were running the country. Nazi membership grew and grew after these policies were enforced, building the Nazi Party into an unstoppable force within German politics. Adolf Hitler found the Great Depression helpful to his cause, even stating, "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." This shows that Hitler used this economic downturn to his advantage and to transform the German people through their search for vengeance against the Weimar Government for the hardship they bestowed upon them. The unemployed became part of the Nazi Party because the group provided a role and a purpose for them.
When World...
