Failure of the Weimar Republic and Rise of the Nazis Historiography!
Legacy of the War
“There is little doubt that the stigma of the so-called “November Criminals”
hung like a giant shadow over the period of Weimar Germany.” (Jim McGonigle)
“The Lament of so many decent… Germans about the burdens and cruelties
inflicted by the allies on an innocent Germany… undermined democracy…and
facilitated the rise of Hitler.”
(Hugo Preuss)
Many Germans saw the Treaty of Versailles as “a vindictive Allied plot to
humiliate Germany.” (McGonigle)
“A republic nobody wanted” (Finlay McKichan)
Political Weaknesses of the Weimar Republic
“The effect of governing under Article 48…..was to put effective power into the
hands of the President and the group of right-wing politicians and army officers
which surrounded him.” (McKichan)
The Economic Problems Faced by Weimar Republic
“…to ordinary German, it {Hyperinflation of 1923} was the fault of a government
that had accepted reparation payments….and appeared to have played no active
part to prevent the crisis…deepening.” (McGonigle)
“..The whole structure of the German economy was unhealthy. An over-reliance
on foreign investments left the Weimar economy subject to the fluctuations of
the international economy”. (McGonigle)
The Great Depression
“The NSDAP was in the fortunate position, unlike almost every other party in
the Weimar Republic, of appealing to different groups for different reasons.”
(David Welsh)
“.. a disastrous economic blizzard…” (McKichan) on the Great Depression
“Hitler would almost certainly have remained on the fringes of politics had it not
been for the Great Depression…and the hardship if brought.” (McKichan)
“There is no doubt the Germany suffered much more than Britain and France
during this period and Hitler exploited this misery to the full.” (McGonigle)
“Only the Great Depression put the wind in the Nazi’s sails” (AJP Taylor)
The increase in electoral support for the Nazis after 1929 “was directly related
to the growth of mass unemployment and the growth of political instability in
this period.” (Mary Fulbrook)
Attractions of the Nazis
“{Goebbels’s} brilliant propaganda techniques played a large part in exploiting
the Depression to win mass support...” (McKichan)
“The NSDAP was the fortunate position, unlike almost every other party in the
Weimar Republic, of appealing to different reasons.” (David Welsh)
Divided and Ineffective Opposition
The crushing of the Spartacist revolt “destroyed any hope of cooperation
between the different wings of the socialist groups…” (McGonigle)
Hitler’s Leadership
“{Hitler’s} ability to work a crowd, his sense of timing, his feel for their mood
cannot be doubted. He was their greatest electoral asset”.
(Cameron, Robertson and Henderson)
“The Fatal Error”
“….Hitler came to office in 1933 as the result, not of any irresistible
revolutionary or national movement… but as part of a shoddy political deal with
the “Old Gang” whom he had been attacking for months past.” (Alan Bullock)
“Without the Depression, Hitler would not have been able to build up mass
support. However, without the help of right-wing politicians who thought they
could use him for their own ends, he could not have won power.” (McKichan)