Hitler And The Economic Recovery Of Germany

Essay, Research Paper

In1930, Germany’s manufacturing had fallen 17% from that 1927 level. Bankruptcies were increasing, unemployment was rising and farmers were hurting. Some in the middle class feared sliding into the lower class. And some in the middle class blamed the economic decline on unemployed people being unwilling to work.

In 1930, the parliamentary coalition that governed Germany fell apart, and new elections were held. The biggest winner in these elections was Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party. From twelve seats in parliament they increased their seats to 107, becoming Germany’s second largest political party. The largest party was still the Social Democrats, and this party won 143 seats and 24.5 percent of the vote. Communist Party candidates won 13.1 percent of the vote (50 times better than the U.S. Communist Party did in the 1932 elections), and together the Social Democrats and the Communists were large enough to claim the right to make a government. But Communists and the Social Democrats remained hostile toward one another. The Comintern at this time was opposed to Communists working with reformers, and the Communists believed that a collapse of the parliamentary government would hasten the revolutionary crisis that would propel them to power.

Instead of a socialist government, the president of the German republic, Hindenburg, selected Heinrich Br ning of the Catholic Center Party to form a government. This Party had received only 11.3 percent of the vote — less than the Communists. And Br ning did not have the majority parliamentary support needed to rule. As chancellor, Br ning ruled under Hindenburg’s emergency powers. It was the beginning of the end of democracy in Germany, with Hindenburg willing to do anything but give the government back to the Socialists.

Br ning attempted to restore economic equilibrium by a balanced budget, high interest rates and remaining on the gold standard — no emergency deficit spending. And the economy continued to slide. Hitler, meanwhile, was looking good to many Germans because he seemed to be a man who believed in something and wanted radical change that differed from the alternatives offered by the Socialists and Communists. Many people in Germany lacked the sophistication needed to see what Hitler was. They did not have the hindsight that would come in later years. They did not understand that Hitler’s view of World War I, including his stab-in-the-back theory and view of much else in the past, was nonsense. Germany was an advanced industrial society and was as advanced in education as other industrial societies, but in their potential for judging candidates for office the common people of Germany can be said to have been no better or worse than common people in other advanced societies. The times and place, and the lack of sophistication among common people made too many of them vulnerable to Hitler’s arguments. They were poor at choosing a leader for a dangerous world.

Hitler found his greatest support in the traditionally conservative small towns. He campaigned with attacks on Marxism, making it clear that by Marxism he meant the Social Democrats. Hitler appealed to morality, attacking free love and what he inferred was the immorality of Berlin and some other major cities. He promised to stamp out big city corruption. He called for a spiritual revolution, for a “positive Christianity” and a spirit of national pride. Hitler repeatedly called for national renewal. He and his National Socialists benefited from the recent upheaval in the Soviet Union and the rise in fear and disgust for Bolshevism. “If you want your country to go Bolshevik,” his party’s posters read, “vote Communist. If you want to remain free Germans, vote for the National Socialists.”

Hitler called for a strengthened Germany and a refusal to pay reparations. He promised to restore Germany’s borders. He appeared to be for the common man and critical of Germany’s “barons.” To the unemployed he promised jobs and bread. His party had the appeal of being young and on the move. Disillusioned Communists joined his movement, as did many unemployed young men and a variety of malcontents. In addition to finding support in small towns, he found support among the middleclass. He found support too from some among the newly rich and among some aristocrats. He found support among a few industrialists and financiers who wished for lower taxes and the arrest of the labor movement. From wealthy contributors, Hitler was able to set up places where unemployed young men could get a hot meal and trade their shabby clothes for a storm trooper uniform.

Hitler’s call for more territory for Germany did not win him many votes, for the country was in no mood to consider adventures and risking war. Appeals to anti-Semitism had not been much help to conservative candidates before the depression, and conservative governments after the arrival of the depression were making no moves to rescind the rights of Jews. But Hitler’s continued verbal attacks on Jews had some appeal. Not one prominent industry in Germany had a Jew as an owner or director, but Hitler continued to hammer away at what he described as the Jewish aspect of capitalism, appealing to those who believed the myths about Jews and believed in the socialism of his National Socialist German Workers Party.

The depression had been worsening in Germany, and