Germany and The Great
Depression
The crash of 1929 was the first such
catastrophe to touch households across
America. By the summer, more than a
million Americans had borrowed money
to play the market. Stories of mass
suicides among bankrupt brokers are
largely legend. But the psychological
impact of the crash, eradicating
the sunny optimism of the 1920s,
had a profound effect. This had a
particularly profound effect on the
German people as their economy was
based on American loans.
Nazi Election Results before the
Great Depression
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As we are aware, Hitler and the Nazis changed their
tactics after the Munich Putsch. Hitler had decided to
go down the constitutional road and tried to get elected
into power.
However, the election results were not favourable. In
1924 election the Nazis had received 3% of the vote.
In 1928 they were worse receiving only 2.6% of the
vote.
At the same time the moderate political parties in
favour of the Weimar received 30 % of the vote. This
showed that the people of Germany were relatively
happy with the stabilisation period under Stresemann.
Seemed that Hitler’s political career was
in ruins.
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Then in 1929 everything changed. The
death of Stresemann and the Wall
Street Crash gave the Nazis the
opportunity that they were waiting for.
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Also the Nazi Party was now
reorganised and therefore better placed
to take advantage of the republic’s
problems. The Nazis were now
established all over Germany and Hitler
was ready to exploit the opportunity.
The Wall Street Crash and life during the
depression
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In October 1929 the Wall Street Crash
was the beginning of a worldwide slide
into the Great Depression. The effects
were felt everywhere but Germany was
hit particularly badly because
American banks recalled the loans
which were the lifeblood of German
industry. Businesses had to close. As
world trade declined, German exports
slumped. Millions of people lost their
jobs.
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The depression affected in different
ways. For those who had lost their jobs
there was poverty, hunger and
homelessness. Of course not all
Germans suffered equally, but even
those who were protected from the
worst of the Depression felt its impact
in different ways
Who
Suffered?
Businessmen- Businessmen saw their business
close. If they did manage to survive they saw their
income fall-because in the Depression people had
less money to spend, even on essentials like food and
clothes. To make matters worse the government
actually raised taxes to pay for looking after the increasing
number of poor people. However, business owners were not
hit as badly as either their workers or farmers
Young People- In 1933 over half of the Germans
between the ages of 16and 30 were unemployed.
60% of the new graduates could not get a job
Farmers had not done well in the 1920s. Prices had
been falling since 1925. In the 1930s farmers slipped
further into debt
Factory Workers
40% of all factory workers were unemployed by 1932.
At the same time the government cut unemployment benefit to
save money. For the unemployed this was a time of extreme
poverty
How did the depression weaken the
Weimar Government
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1.
There were a number of issues that weakened the Weimar
Government
Unpopular Economic Policies: For half a century or more
Germans had judged their country by its economic success. So
if the economy was failing then the country must be going
down the drain! The Weimar government seemed to have no
idea what to do about the problems of rising unemployment
and growing poverty. The government did of course try to
get Germany out of depression, but with little success.
However, the chancellor raise taxes, cut wages and reduced
unemployment benefit- hardly the policies to win the support
from the German people.
2.
Presidential Rule
These policies also caused
the collapse of the
government because the
Social Democrats withdrew
from the coalition. In order
for the his government to
survive the Chancellor fell
back on Article 48 of the
Weimar Constitution.
However the President was an
84 year old war hero,
Hidenburg. He was
apparently controlled by
business and army leaders
and was well passed his best.
The Rise of Extremism
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To many Germans it seemed that
the Weimar government was
making a hopeless mess of
handling the situation. Something
had to be done.
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From left and right they could hear
the claims of extremist parties who
said they could solve the problems.
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The Nazis blamed the Weimar
Republic, the Treaty of Versailles,
the Marxists and the Jews. They
promised to get rid of the ‘enemies
within’.
How did these problems help the
Nazis?
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The depression was a gift to the
Nazis and Hitler. For every
problem Hitler had an explanation
or a promise:
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The Weimar government is weak:
You need strong leadership, Hitler
is your man.
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Unemployment? The Nazis will get
people back to work on road
building and public works.
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Worried about Communists? We
will deal with the Communist
problem
Tasks
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Read Pages 19-22 and your notes and answer
questions 1-3 on page 22.
Homework- Read pages 22-25 and answer
questions 1-5 on page 25.
The next day we will look at how Hitler actually
became Chancellor.