The Depression and the Nazis

How did the Depression Help the Nazis?

After reading pages 191-194, do you agree with Goebbels' view that people rallied to support Hitler for positive reasons - or do you think that Gordon Craig (bottom, pg. 193"negative cohesion") was right that people supported the Nazis out of fear and disillusionment?

Work through questions 1 - 3 to help you make up your mind.

1. Look carefully at Sources 3-7 and 9. For each source, write two sentences explaining whether you think it is evidence that:

• Supports the view of Goebbels
• Supports the view of Craig
• Could be used to support either interpretation

Source 3:

I believe that this source would support the views od Craig more than Goebbels. Once the people of Germany realized that the economy wasn't changing for the better anymore they sought for Nazis because they hated Communists so much.

Source 4:

I believe that this source could be used for Goebbels' interpretation of positive reasoning. This woman is happy that finally there is discipline and leadership being marched through the streets of her country and the Nazi party will continue this.

Source 5:

Source 5 is an example of the two ideas coming together. For the argument of Craig, since the majority hated the Treaty of Versailles they used that as a common ground and for the argument of Goebbels, it would make Germany a better place without the Treaty.

Source 6:

I believe this is also an example of both. This source just shows how popular the Nazi party was becoming which can make a good argument for both positive followers and negative.

Source 7:

This source is definitely an example of Craig's ideas. Because the bulk of the population disliked the communists, the common ideas of disliking communists was a large point that the Nazis drived off of.

Source 9:

This source could also be an example of Craig's ideas. Showing the negative side of the depression and how the majority of the people were middle class needed the basic necessities that the Nazis promised.

2. Now work through the text and other sources on pages 191-94. Make a list of examples and evidence that seem to support either viewpoint.

• Source 1 - possible Craig viewpoint, negative living conditions may bring the people in the photo to vote with the Nazis for the sake of living standards
• Source 2 - like source 1 in negative conditions (unemployment) could drive people to sway with the Nazi party
• Nazi campaigning - Goebbels - mainly because the Nazis were the ones doing the campaigning but it was so good it may have engulfed people
• Communist hate around Germany - may have forced people into siding with the Nazis for the benefit of the doubt (Craig)
• People who wanted traditional social values may have sided with the Nazis for benefit (Craig)

3. Decide how far you agree with each of the following three statements and give them a score on a scale of 1-5. And then, write a short paragraph explaining your score for each statement.

a. Very few people fully supported the Nazis (Score = 4) Explanation:

I mostly agree with this statement that very few people fully supported the Nazis. I believe that most people saw the Nazi party as a new and promising future that could possibly be the final step in making Germany better. I think many people were merely following the Nazis seeing that they were the closest to their beliefs. For example, with the widely spread ideas of Communist dislike the Nazis played on this and often referred to their dislike with the Communist Party in Germany. I do believe that many people did fully support the Nazi Party at this time because of the failing government and economy on the other hand. I believe many people did support them because they were looking for change that didn't include Communists or people "responsible" for the failure of Germany.

b. The Key factor was the economic depression. Without it, the Nazis would have remained a minority fringe party. (Score = 4) Explanation:

The economic depression was a huge factor and the most prevalent for the Nazi rise to power but I do believe other aspects were responsible for the Nazis rise out of minority. Things like poor political leadership also contributed to the rise of the NSDAP. With Germany being a many party state during the time of the economic depression, this helped them because they were fans of a single party state which is what they sought for Germany to become. But also, the economic depression was a huge help with Nazi propaganda and a driving force for people to start to support them.

c. The politicians of the Weimar Republic were mainly responsible for the rise of the Nazis. (Score = 2) Explanation:

The politicians of the Weimar Republic were somewhat responsible for the rise of the Nazis but not completely. I would argue the conditions of the state to be the most significant way that the NSDAP rised to power. With the prevalent political and economic problems that were adressed by the Nazis, it was clear that this was their biggest help. Although politicians in the Weimar Republic were making the Weimar such a failure which then helped the Nazis, the issues that the state was going through was definitely the aspect mainly responsible for the rise of the Nazi party.