Hitler: Rise to Power: Account for Hitler’s Rise to Power. Intro/ Context: In the early 1930s, the mood in Germany was grim. The worldwide economic depression had hit the country especially hard, and millions of people were out of work. Still fresh in the minds of many was Germany's humiliating defeat fifteen years earlier during World War I, and Germans lacked confidence in their weak government, known as the Weimar Republic. These conditions provided the chance for the rise of a new leader, Adolf Hitler, and his party, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi party for short. Scope: 1918 (End of WWI) to 1933 (His Rise) Thesis: Instability in Germany allowed for the rise of Hitler. Arg 1: Resentment in the German people. Deep anger about the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles created an underlying bitterness to which Hitler’s viciousness and expansionism appealed, so they gave him support. -Of course, I was ripe for this experience. I was a man of 32, weary with disgust and disillusionment, a wanderer seeking a cause, patriot seeking an outlet for his patriotism When he spoke of the disgrace of Germany, I felt ready to attack any enemy. - Karl Ludecke (1924). JUNE 28, 1919 TREATY OF VERSAILLES ENDS WORLD WAR I In the Treaty of Versailles, which followed German defeat in World War I, the victorious powers (the United States, Great Britain, France, and other allied states) impose severe terms on Germany. Germany, under threat of invasion, is forced to sign the treaty. Among other provisions, Germany accepts responsibility for the war and agrees to make huge payments (known as reparations), limit its military to 100,000 troops, and transfer territory to its neighbors. The terms of the treaty lead to widespread political discontent in Germany. Adolf Hitler gains support by promising to overturn them. -The War Guilt Clause: Clause 231 Field Marshall von Hindenburg said that the Weimar Republic politicians had “stabbed Germany in the back” by agreeing the Paris Peace. Nationalists labeled the politicians who signed Versailles as the ‘November Criminals’. -WWI Reparations In April 1921 reparations were set at 132 billion gold marks. French occupation of the Ruhr, despite British opposition. German government printed money. This resulted in hyper-inflation and by August 1923 the mark was virtually valueless; One dollar was worth 4.2 trillion marks in October 1923.
