Germany and The Great Depression

1. 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.

2. Nazi Election Results before the Great Depression • 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.

3. Seemed that Hitler’s political career was in ruins. • Then in 1929 everything changed. The death of Stresemann and the Wall Street Crash gave the Nazis the opportunity that they were waiting for. • 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.

4. The Wall Street Crash and life during the depression • 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. • 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

5. 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

6. How did the depression weaken the Weimar Government • 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.

7. 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.

8. The Rise of Extremism • To many Germans it seemed that the Weimar government was making a hopeless mess of handling the situation. Something had to be done. • From left and right they could hear the claims of extremist parties who said they could solve the problems. • The Nazis blamed the Weimar Republic, the Treaty of Versailles, the Marxists and the Jews. They promised to get rid of the ‘enemies within’.

9. How did these problems help the Nazis? • The depression was a gift to the Nazis and Hitler. For every problem Hitler had an explanation or a promise: • The Weimar government is weak: You need strong leadership, Hitler is your man. • Unemployment? The Nazis will get people back to work on road building and public works. • Worried about Communists? We will deal with the Communist problem

10. Tasks • 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.