After the First World War, Germany signed a humiliating treaty of Versailles, according to which, not only did it have to pay for the war losses, but also lose much of its moral and military strength. In just four years (1914-1918), Germany almost won and completely lost its pride. Enter Adolf Hitler. It took one man to turn the world on its head. It took a nation to raise one man to the pinnacle of power. One of the most powerful beings on Earth- Hitler’s power isn’t a mystery to any. However, his rise to power is a part of history that still leaves many rubbing their chins. Here are 4 reasons behind Hitler’s rise to power.
Bitterness against the Treaty of Versailles
Image Source : encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com
At the end of the First World War, Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles. In this, the nation had to sign a ‘War Guilt Clause’, which stated that the four-year long war was the country’s fault alone. Germany went on to lose most of its territory, military and money – almost 10% of its annual national income. These loses and restrictions left Germany a crippled nation in a world full of able countries. The Nazis were bitter against this treaty since the very beginning. However, most of the nation hadn’t still come to terms with the brutal reality of the treaty. When the dreary consequences surfaced, the Germans had to open their eyes to the disappointment that this treaty was.
Once they realized it, their bitterness against the Allied powers and the German government only increased. When Hitler entered the political picture, the bitterness had multiplied tenfold. Hitler soon became the voice for those Germans who were deeply disappointed with their destiny and those wanted to change their lives. It was this anger and resentment of the German folk against the world, which turned into the primary reason for Hitler’s rise to power.
The Great Depression of 1929
On the fateful day of October 29 in 1929, the stock market in the US crashed. The Great Depression had knocked on American doors. For the first time, some of the American states were suffering as badly as Germany. After the First World War, Germany relied on loans from the US to pay off its debt. With Great Depression, these loans did not come to Germany anymore. To top that, the US wanted its money back. German economy fell flat. From 1929 to 1933, 7.5 million German people were jobless. This was the failure of a democratic German government. The Germans lost their faith in democracy. Eventually, Hitler rose to ultimate power when his fellow citizens reinstated their belief in Nazism.
Extreme Bankruptcy
Image Source : encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com
In 1923, the French and Belgian troops marched into Ruhr – a major source of coal, steel and iron production for Germany – and seized it. Although the troops left two years later once the Germans began to balance out their debt that they owed to the Allied Powers, inflation struck Germany. In 1914, 1 USD was worth 4.2 German marks. By 1923, when 1 USD equaled 4.2 trillion marks, the German economy had completely collapsed. Germans were starving. Their savings meant nothing. When they had no money to pay for things, they began to pay with food. It was in this bleak scenario that Adolf Hitler started amassing support for his openly Fascist and Anti-Semitic Party. It is no surprise as to why the Germans saw a new ray of hope in Hitler’s words and ideas.
The German hatred of the Jews
While the Germans starved for every bite of food, the German Jews were not facing trouble with food, clothing and shelter. Though the Jews consisted of only 1% of Germany’s population, approximately 16% of all lawyers were Jews, 10% of all doctors were Jews, and 5% of all editors and writers were Jews. This was a big reason why the Germans hated the Jews. The Nazis played with that emotion. Hitler promised to snatch away from the Jews their livelihood and give it to the starving, unemployed Germans. Hitler, in other words, promised to destroy those whom most of the Germans despised. This ensured nationwide support to Adolf Hitler.