The Depression and the Nazis

How did the Depression Help the Nazis?

After reading pages 191-194, do you agree with Goebbels' view that people rallied to support Hitler for positive reasons - or do you think that Gordon Craig (bottom, pg. 193"negative cohesion") was right that people supported the Nazis out of fear and disillusionment? 

Work through questions 1 - 3 to help you make up your mind. 

1. Look carefully at Sources 3-7 and 9. For each source, write two sentences explaning whether you think it is evidence that:

• Supports the view of Goebbels
• Supports the view of Craig
• Could be used to support either interpretation

Source 3: This source could be used to support either interpretation. The Nazi party and the citizens of Germany were unhappy with the unemployment rate and there was no improvement under a democratic government, so when the Nazis expressed their dislike for this situation, their support went up; this situation also relates to Craig's views.

Source 4: Source 4 supports the view of Craig because Speer is proving Craig's ideas by saying that after seeing Germany is such a horrible state of downfall, he needed to change his support to the Nazi party. He already disliked the democratic government that ran Germany, but seeing the state that Germany was in made him realize he needed to leave.

Source 5: Source 5 supports the view of Goebbels because this poster was used as propaganda and it shows how Germany is tied down (or chained down in this picture) by the Treaty of Versailles and it is ruining the country of Germany. Specifically, the picture shows an Aryan (Nazi's idea of the superior race) man being burned by the Treaty of Versailles, representing the downfall of Germany. This poster also shows that the NSDAP will be the source of saving Germany from the wrath of the Treaty.

Source 6: Source 6 supports the views of Goebbels. The support of Goebbels' views would come from his belief that the way that Hitler would prove himself to be a good leader comes from having a room full of people that support him. This picture displays a large group of people waiting for Hitler to come and speak.

Source 7: The Source supports the views of Craig because it shows the way that the people hated how the Communists were handling situations so the people they turned to instead of the Communists were the Nazis. Craig said that it was because the people shared the Nazi's dislikes that they sided with them, this is a perfect example.

Source 9: This source supports Goebbels because this poster shows that Jews and others were not superior enough to lead and give the people what they wanted. It shows that the Aryan man is stronger and better for the job of giving people what they need, such as freedom, work, and bread.
 

2. Now work through the text and other sources on pages 191-94. Make a list of examples and evidence that seem to support either viewpoint.

Goebbels:

• Nazi party dropping unpopular policies immediately
• SA and SS able to disrupt and stop COmmunist rallies and gain control of the situation at hand while staying more organized
• Hitler was ahead of his time as a communicator compared to the other opponents
• After failure in 1932, he was still able to come back with a lot of support and be seen as having a real understanding of the common people and their problems.

Craig: 

• Jews, Weimar politicians, Communists, and the Treaty of Versailles all caused problems in Germany
• There was a shared dislike of the democratic government between the people and the Nazis
• Politicians were unable to handle the Depression
• There was a common fear of communism spreading throughout Germany

Both:

• There was a large amount of unemployment throughout the country, Nazis wanted to fix it, the people shared the Nazi's dislike of it 

3. Decide how far you agree with each of the following three statements and give them a score on a scale of 1-5. And then, write a short paragraph explaining your score for each statement.

a. Very few people fully supported the Nazis (Score = 2 ) Explanation:
 In the beginning this statement was very true, there was very little support for the Nazis, but eventually the Nazis were able to gain attention and supporters through propaganda and Hitler's ability to grab opportunities and use them to his advantage. When they saw that people were really starting to show the unhappiness for the government and the condition of the country, the Nazis took the opportunity to show how they wanted to change the state and work to get Germany back to the way they thought it was supposed to be. People liked having a plan laid out and change on the table so that they could be reassured that something was being done about the problems that were occurring. The Nazis gained tons of support during this time. 

b. The Key factor was the economic depression. Without it, the Nazis would have remained a minority fringe party. (Score =5) Explanation:
 The Depression proved to be the biggest problem that set the people of Germany over the top. When the government was unable to find a way to fix the effect of the Depression on Germany, the citizens went in another direction to find help to finally bring back the country of Germany to the way they knew originally. When the Nazis stepped in and explained their plan, they gained many supporters, making them a well-known and well-liked political party.

c. The politicians of the Weimar Republic were mainly responsible for the rise of the Nazis 

(Score =5) Explanation: 

The politicians of the Weimar Republic were making multiple decisions that led to the complete downfall of Germany. For instance, one politician deliberately made the economy worse just so the reparations they needed to pay would be cancelled, but that was unsuccessful and led Germany to an even worse economic mess than it had already been in. Also the call for a new election was able to be considered a help to the Nazis because the Nazis were able to step in and prove to the people of Germany that they would be able to fix the problems that had occurred and reassured them out of their fear and unhappiness.