Thursday, January 7, 2010

Muse- Verbeugen Sie sich vor meinen Fähigkeiten

Many instances and situations led to economic instability within Germany, most of which came from the effects of WW1. As the economy weakened and Germany began to lose its self-control the citizens began to lose patience with their government (weimar). The conditions of WW1 and its aftermath in Germany led to Adolf Hitler's methodical approach to gain power.
As the war concluded the Weimar gov't signed the Treaty of Versailles and later the War Guilt Clause declaring that they were responsible for the cause of the war and would accept full blame(Belk Notes). Whether or not Germany was willing to sign can be debated. On one hand they had the 'Big Four' on their back forcing them to dign or be invaded, while on the other hand the Weimar government could have wanted to try and keep whatever dignity they could salvage and exit the war with grace...no matter how painful or embarassing.
This first condition led to an opening in which Hitler saw as an opportunity to put down the Weimar and promote some of his ideals. Along with rejecting the country's signing of the TOV Hitler's main ideal he wanted to establish for the country was Facism. Within Facism he wanted to unite the country for its betterment. In order for the people to unite Hitler focused on doing so by directing their attention to a kind of "big picture": "Germany First!"(Belk Notes/documentary) This way not only would the pepole come together under one common belief but Hitler would at the same time be expanding his group of followers, since he was being looked up to as a leader. Also it seems as though he was able to influence the people more and more as the weimar angered them.
Anotehr condition that affected the mood in gov't was the economic inflation. As the value of a single German dollar decreased so did the number of available jobs. Along with the inflation came one of the biggest economic struggles Germany faced: the bank crash.(documentary) This not only caused more unemployment but also caused the rise in Nazi support. The largest problem it created was Germany not being able to pay off/keep making payments in order to alleviate the war guilt clause fee.
This brings in some of Hitler's ideology. Noticing all of the multiple back to back crises, Hitler saw yet another opportunity to expand his support group. Mainly he promised to rid Germany of unemployment which can be seen as a part of his "platform." Although it was a minor point of interest to address it still gave Hitler more support from the people. Also it helped create a snowball effect for his rise to power.
In conclusion multiple conditions prompted Hitler to create methods in order to gain power in Germany. Most of which came from the effects of WW1. What really helped Hitler rise to power was the loss in trust of the weimar and his strategic propoganda of his platform. Many other issues also assisted in his rise.

1 comment:

  1. It seems to me that you do not address the proposed question explicity. There are more facts than analysis in this post. You focused on two conditions: Weimer govt signing TOV and economic inflation. This is not a problem, but when focusing your essay on a little amount of information like only two conditions, it would probably have been better to analyze the heck out of the two conditions explicity. When addressing Hitler's methods there is little analysis again. And rather than really talk and analyze his methods, you explain how the conditions worked as a "platform" for his rise. So in conclusion the analysis could be more explicit and more existent.

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