The Rise of Hitler and the Nazis to January 1933 » The Great Depression and Growing Nazi Support
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, Depth study 3, Key topic 3
- How the Great Depression hit Germany and why Weimar governments failed to deal with it
- How the Nazis used propaganda, Hitler's speeches and promises to win support
- The role the SA played in the growth of the Nazi Party, 1929-32
- How to answer an 8-mark 'two effects' question
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Unlock This CourseThe Great Depression hits Germany
In October 1929 share prices on the New York stock exchange collapsed. American banks lost huge sums and needed their money back fast. Germany's recovery had been built on short-term loans from the USA, and now those loans were called in. The same month Stresemann died, so Germany lost its most able politician just as the crisis began.
Key terms:
- Wall Street Crash: the collapse of share prices on the New York stock exchange in October 1929.
- Great Depression: the worldwide economic slump that followed the Crash, with falling trade, closed businesses and mass unemployment.
- Scapegoat: a person or group unfairly blamed for a problem.
The effects spread quickly. World trade shrank, so German factories could not sell their goods abroad. Without loans, businesses cut production or closed. Between 1929 and 1932 industrial production fell by about 40 per cent. In July 1931 one of Germany's biggest banks, the Danat Bank, collapsed, and people rushed to take out their savings.
Unemployment was the worst effect. About 1.3 million Germans were out of work in September 1929. A year later the figure was about 3 million. By early 1932 it was just over 6 million, roughly one worker in every three. Those who kept their jobs often had their hours and wages cut. Farmers, already in debt, saw food prices fall further. Middle-class families who had lost their savings in 1923 feared losing everything a second time. Many people could not pay rent and ended up in camps of huts on the edges of cities.
The failure of Weimar governments
The Depression needed strong government. Germany did not get it.
- The coalition collapsed. In 1929 Germany was run by a coalition led by Hermann Müller of the SPD. As unemployment rose, the money for unemployment benefit ran short. The parties could not agree whether to raise contributions or cut benefit, and in March 1930 the government resigned.
- Brüning made life harder. The new chancellor, Heinrich Brüning of the Centre Party, feared a return of inflation. So he raised taxes, cut the wages of government workers and cut unemployment benefit. This took even more money out of people's pockets, and he was nicknamed the 'Hunger Chancellor'.
- Rule by decree. Brüning had no majority in the Reichstag, so he asked President Hindenburg to pass his measures using Article 48. In 1930 the Reichstag passed 98 laws and the president issued 5 decrees. In 1932 the Reichstag passed only 5 laws and there were 66 decrees. Germany's democracy had almost stopped working before Hitler came to power.
Millions of Germans decided that the moderate parties had no answers. They turned to the parties that promised to sweep the whole system away: the Communists (KPD) and the Nazis. In the election of September 1930 the Nazis jumped from 12 seats to 107, making them the second largest party. The KPD rose from 54 seats to 77. In July 1932 the Nazis won 230 seats and about 37 per cent of the vote, and became the largest party in the Reichstag.
Nazi methods to win support
The Depression gave the Nazis their chance, but it did not win votes for them by itself. The party worked hard to turn anger into support.
📰 Propaganda
From 1930 Joseph Goebbels ran the party's propaganda. He used posters, leaflets, newspapers, films, mass rallies and parades. Messages were kept simple and repeated again and again. Slogans such as 'Work and Bread' and posters such as 'Our Last Hope: Hitler' promised a way out. Propaganda also gave people scapegoats to blame: the 'November criminals', the Weimar politicians, the communists and above all the Jews.
🎤 Hitler's speeches
Hitler was the party's greatest asset. He was a powerful speaker who seemed to share the anger of his listeners, and he presented himself as the one strong leader who could save Germany. In the election campaigns of 1932 he travelled by aeroplane, in a tour called 'Hitler over Germany', and spoke in several cities in a single day. No other politician had campaigned like this, and it made him look modern and full of energy.
🤝 Promises to different groups
The Nazis offered something to nearly everyone. The unemployed were promised jobs. Farmers were promised higher prices for their food. Small shopkeepers were promised protection from big department stores. Businessmen and the middle classes were promised that communism would be crushed. Nationalists were promised that the Treaty of Versailles would be torn up. The promises were often vague, and they did not all fit together, but they gave people hope.
Fear of communism helped the Nazis too. As the KPD vote grew, business owners, farmers and middle-class Germans feared a communist revolution like the one in Russia in 1917, in which they would lose their property. Some wealthy industrialists, such as the steel owner Fritz Thyssen, gave the Nazis money, which helped to pay for their expensive campaigns.
The role of the SA
The SA grew fast in the Depression. Unemployed young men joined for a uniform, hot meals, comradeship and a sense of purpose. From January 1931 it was led by Ernst Röhm, and by 1932 it had about 400,000 members. It helped the Nazis in three ways.
- Order and strength. Marching columns of SA men in uniform made the Nazis look disciplined and strong at a time when the government looked weak.
- Violence against opponents. The SA guarded Nazi meetings, broke up the meetings of other parties and fought street battles with the communists' own fighting force. Opponents were beaten up and some were killed. This made it harder and more dangerous for other parties to campaign.
- Help for the needy. The SA ran soup kitchens and hostels for the unemployed. This made it look as if the Nazis were acting while the government only talked.
The SA caused much of the disorder on the streets. Yet Nazi propaganda blamed it on the communists and claimed that only the Nazis were strong enough to restore order. How this support was turned into power is covered in How Hitler Became Chancellor, 1932-33.
Common mistakes
Don't write that Hitler was in power during the Depression. The chancellors of 1930-32 were Weimar politicians, and their failure is part of the story. Don't say the Depression alone explains Nazi success. The Communists gained votes as well, so explain what the Nazis did to win more. And don't say the Nazis won a majority in July 1932. About 37 per cent made them the largest party, but most Germans still voted for someone else.
Exam-style question
(b) Explain two effects of the Great Depression on the Weimar Republic in the years 1929-32. [8 marks]
Model answer
One effect of the Great Depression was that democratic government in Germany broke down. As unemployment rose, the money for unemployment benefit ran short, and Müller's coalition could not agree on what to do, so it resigned in March 1930. The next chancellor, Brüning, had no majority in the Reichstag and relied on President Hindenburg's use of Article 48. By 1932 there were 66 decrees and only 5 laws passed by the Reichstag. The Depression therefore led to Germany being ruled by decree instead of by its elected parliament.
A second effect was that voters turned to extremist parties. Unemployment reached just over 6 million by early 1932, and Brüning's cuts to benefits and wages made the hardship worse. Because the moderate parties seemed to have no answers, millions lost faith in them and voted for parties that promised to end the Weimar system. The Nazis rose from 12 seats in 1928 to 107 in 1930 and 230 in July 1932, and the Communists gained seats too. The Depression therefore left the Republic with fewer and fewer supporters.
What lifts this to the top level: it gives two separate effects, supports each with precise dates and figures, and shows step by step how the Depression led to each one.
Exam tip
Write two clear paragraphs, one for each effect. One effect on its own cannot score more than 4 of the 8 marks, however well you explain it. Do not just describe the Depression. For each effect, use linking words such as 'this led to' and 'therefore' to show how mass unemployment produced it, and back it up with a figure such as 6 million unemployed or 107 Nazi seats in 1930.