The Road to Hitler's Germany



An issue that was particularly compelling for me was the road that was taken that lead from the Weimar Republic’s founding to the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. Throughout my high school and middle school history classes, we would go over World War Two in great depth and study how Hitler was the leader of the Nazis and how Hitler’s power eventually was destroyed.  We would also go over World War One and occasionally hear about the details of the Treaty of Versailles.  However, both were covered in very brief detail, in fact, I had never heard of the Weimar Republic until my sophomore year of college.  What we failed to cover in classes were the economic woes, political tensions, and the German’s worldviews following a devastating loss in World War One which led to the eventual support of Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers Party and his inevitable appointment as Chancellor. 

After the German’s loss to the Allied Powers on November 11, 1918, there was a feeling of shame and defeat like no other.  Unfortunately these feelings would turn into embarrassment and anger as the Allied Powers forced the German government to sign the Treaty of Versailles, on June 28, 1919, which required the Germans to repay the countries involved in the war effort, demilitarize their entire armed forces, and to give the Allied Powers land that was previously considered to be part of Germany. (203). Only two months after the Treaty of Versailles was signed, the Weimar constitution was written on August 14, 1919, effectively bringing in democracy to Germany. (205). For the next couple of years, Germany was in a state of economic hardship unlike any other.  Inflation was one of the biggest problems plaguing the country, and unemployment was at an all-time high.  The Republic wasn’t gaining many supporters in the fact that the solution to the money woes was to print more money which, in turn, caused a higher inflation rate.  One of the first steps on the way to a more prosperous Germany was the Dawes Plan.  The Dawes Plan was signed and enacted on April 9, 1923 and required the Allied Powers to leave German lands and offered an opportunity to explore possible revisions of the reparations policy.  This plan was a step forward to giving Germany back the dignity that was stolen at the conclusion of World War one.  Another big step was the admission of Germany into the League of Nations in September 1926 and the Young Plan of 1930 which granted further reduction in German reparation payments.  Between the years of 1924 and 1930, Germany increased production rates and made headway in exportation.  However, the Weimar Republic was unable to stave off the huge wage costs which reduced the companies’ willingness to invest in the economy and kept unemployment rates at a high level. (218-219). An issue which plagued the Weimar Republic was their apparent lack of attention being paid to the middle class and the rich.  While the Republic was helping to redistribute the wealth among the poor and lower class, the middle class and the upper class began to have a feeling of distrust for the government and as a result, the Republic lost a lot of public support.  In the middle of the growing distrust towards the Republic, Paul von Hindenburg was elected to office.  While Hindenburg had potential, he lost control of the Republic through lack of political knowledge from Hindenburg and Chancellor Hermann Mueller.  On March 27, 1930, the Republic was no more. 

Signing of Treaty of Versailles

The ramifications of Germany’s economic and political woes came to a head soon after the Republic was disbanded as the German Communist Party and Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) gained large numbers of members and supporters in a struggle for power. (230). The NSDAP was growing fast and gaining more support for a couple of reasons:  Hitler was an exceptional public speaker and would play on people’s emotions and lay out a plan of action rather than just state the party’s agenda and Hitler’s party was a huge influence on the younger generations. During the struggle for power, in 1932, the world allowed Germany to rearm itself.  On June 30^th, 1933, after being convinced of a conspiracy against him, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor as Germany.  From this point on, the clouds of war would silently cover the entirety of Europe and dash Germany’s hopes of peace for a long time to come. 


Hitler on night of his appointment as Chancellor