Allen- He Was Too Smart For His Own Good.....

Following World War I, Germany was left in a hole. The Weimar government had been backed into a corner and practically forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles with the “Big Four.” This led to bad conditions in Germany, which only got worse as time went on, and Hitler realized when the time was ripe for a new government to come to power. Hitler utilized the conditions present in post-World War I Germany in his methods to rise to power.

The German people were not happy at all after the Weimar government signed and agreed to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Most of all, they were displeased with the signing of the “war guilt clause” in the treaty. This clause put full responsibility of World War I on Germany’s shoulders. The Weimar was stuck between a rock and a very hard place. They could either keep their country in the war and keep the German people happy, or face invasion by the Allies. The German countrymen saw things differently, however. The German people did not see the war as their fault entirely, and they did not see why they were the only country paying the war debts of all the countries of the world. The Weimar government attempted to print more money to pay the huge sum, but instead this only led to inflation, giving the German money no value. The money was better spent being burned to keep the people warm than it was being spent. Nazi loyalty rose during this time. Later, however, the Dawe’s Plan was instated, and the United States stepped in to help the Germans pay their debt. This was a roaring time for the German economy, and Nazi favoritism flat-lined. When the Great Depression hit the United States, and they were no longer able to help Germany, the German economy went back down. This is when Hitler’s voice was widely heard among the German people. The economy was down. Their lives were bad. They needed a new face to turn to and believe in, so they turned to Adolf Hitler. When life is bad in a country, people will often turn towards searching for a new leader. Germany found Hitler more so than Hitler found Germany. He had been well-known in politics for his Beer Hall Putsch. For this, he only received one month in prison and a while on probation. To some this could be seen as hurting Hitler’s reputation. However, this incident seemed to get his name out into the public eye. Even while the economy was good and German life was booming, the name “Hitler” was in the back of everyone’s minds. They all knew the name and all knew that Hitler had stood up for what he would believe. In showing early on that he would stand up for what he believed, even if it meant jail time, Hitler portrayed to the German people that he would stand up for them, and possibly even take a fall for them. This was unlike what they saw in the Weimar government. Hitler was seen as strong for this act, while the Weimar government was seen as weak because they signed the Treaty of Versailles and the war guilt clause. Hitler used the Weimar government’s “mistake” of the signing against them to the German people, showing them that he would not break under pressure as they had.

Hitler used a lot of propaganda against the Weimar government. He reminded the German people that the only reason they were in an economic crisis and living such bad lives was because of the Weimar government. Every person without a job and without enough money to buy food was turned more and more against the Weimar government when they were reminded every day by Hitler that the Weimar government was not strong enough to stand up for their country and give the people what they wanted. He knew that the Weimar government was young and that there had been uprisings against the government since before it was fully formed and properly working. Germany had lost its major trading partners and now had lost much of its working land. Hitler used this to gain support of the people in telling them that they should go get the land they deserved to have back. He encouraged the people to go against the Treaty of Versailles conditions and to rebuild the military and regain the land and trade lost because of the treaty from the countries around Germany. Also, Hitler aligned himself with the Friekorps. This band of military had helped the Weimar government put down a riot; without the Friekorps, the Weimar government would have been overthrown then and there. The Nazi party and Hitler used this as a way to further “prove” to the German people that the Weimar government was weak and could not even control its own country.

The Weimar government continuously made treaties with those countries that Germany had just finished fighting against. Hitler saw this as yet another opportunity to show the German people that the Weimar government was not working in their best interest. He would question the government’s motives in continuously making treaties with the country’s enemies. Though these treaties were meant to help the German people, Hitler turned the reasoning around to turn it against the government. This again made the Weimar government lose its validity in the eyes of the German people. The Ruhr River Valley of Germany was still occupied by France and Belgium, who were still greatly mistreating the German people who lived there. Hitler’s popularity grew as he continuously made points to the German people that the Weimar government could not stop this and protect its people, but it was instead too busy going to its enemies to make more treaties. A treaty was what was seen as to get the German people into the whole mess anyway.

Every move the Weimar government made was turned around by Hitler to make it seem bad and against the good of Germany. He twisted everything to the German people and gained their trust in that way. He would question the government in public and speak out against it. The German people were accepting of what Hitler had to say and followed him. Soon, they believed everything he said and followed him enough to believe he would do good for Germany and get her back to her glory days. By twisting the events of the time and utilizing the conditions within post-World War I Germany, Hitler was able to rise to power in Germany.