Germany Issue 5 (mr hitler)

Question 1

What is the context and background of this issue? (1)

Answer 1

• After Kaiser’s reign had ended in 1918 because he was an incompetent leader, the Weimar Republic was set up the following year.
• The Weimar Republic was a flawed republic, although it was described as the ‘world’s most famous democracy’, it had many social and economic flaws, and groups who wanted to destroy the Republic could exploit them.
• Although this government lasted until 1933, it ended with the Nazi Party being elected with Hitler as the leader with many Germans previously blaming the Republic for the problems after the First World War.

Question 2

rate this a 5

Answer 2

don tneed

Question 3

What are the factors of this essay?

Answer 3

• In this 14-year period, there were many reasons why the Nazi Party grew to how big it was in Germany.
• These reasons were the Weaknesses of the Weimar Republic, The Appeal of Hitler and the Nazis after 1928, Economic Difficulties and the Resentment towards the Treaty of Versailles.

Question 4

What is the essay arguing?

Answer 4

• This essay will argue that the Appeal of Hitler and the Nazis are the main reason why the Nazis achieved power in 1933.

Question 5

What is the first factor of this essay?

Answer 5

• The first factor which caused the Nazis to grow in power was the Appeal of Hitler and the Nazis after 1928.

Question 6

When did Hitler lead the Nazi Party?

Answer 6

• Hitler was able to join the Nazi Party and lead it between 1924-28.

Question 7

What was the main reason why Hitler became the leader of the Nazi Party?

Answer 7

• The main reason why he became a leader was due to his public speaking skills, he was an impressive speaker and used this greatly as he spoke very passionately during political speeches which attracted the people to love and support him.

Question 8

Where did Hitler speak, and what language did he use?

Answer 8

• He spoke at many meetings which he used to tell Germans what they wanted to hear, that their party could solve all their problems.
• He used simplistic language, which everyone could understand, and short phrases with massive energy.

Question 9

What did Hitler’s personality come off as to the people?

Answer 9

• This made Hitler come across as a people person, the person that the people needed through hardship.

Question 10

How did Hitler’s charming personality help to the growth of his Party?

Answer 10

• This led to the growth of the Nazi Party because his style and charisma which nobody at the time had, helped the party get recognition and uniqueness which then increased the support of the Nazi Party.

Question 11

What were the Nazi Policies?

Answer 11

• The Nazi policies were vague ideas, to appeal to everyone, regardless of class.

Question 12

What was the first of the Nazi’s Policies?

Answer 12

• One of their policies was opposition to communism, leading many business owners to support the Party because they were seen as the only credible right-wing party.

Question 13

What was the second of the Nazi’s Policies?

Answer 13

• Another of their policies was better pensions and increased employment, which was supported by commoners and socialists.

Question 14

What was the final of the Nazi’s Policies?

Answer 14

• A final policy was the hatred of Jews, which struck a chord with many Germans as they were seen as a “convenient scapegoat” for many of the problems Germany faced.

Question 15

What is the A+ to the Appeal of Hitler?

Answer 15

• However, the policies of the Nazi Party were very conflicting with the example of better wages for workers, but restricting Trade Union’s powers.
• This meant that many Germans came to see through these unrealistic promises the Nazis were making, which led to the Nazi’s growth becoming limited.

Question 16

What is the second factor of this essay?

Answer 16

• Another factor why the Nazi Party grew is the Weakness of the Weimar Republic.

Question 17

What happened in Germany under the Weimar Preublic?

Answer 17

• In Germany, there were multiple and massive changes in democracy under this new Republic.
• There was a big change, which introduced the Constitution.

Question 18

What did the Constitution provide?

Answer 18

• This change came in two parts, the first which outlined the new government system and the second which stated the rights that Germans had.
• These rights were that all Germans over 20 could now vote, and the first free and democratic elections took place in 1919 where 82% of eligible Germans participated in the vote.

Question 19

What was the disadvantage of the Constitution?

Answer 19

• So, despite this these massive changes, it did not define properly the responsibilities and rights that groups such as the army and trade unions had.

Question 20

What did this disadvantage of the Constitution make, and how did it contribute to the rise of the Nazis?

Answer 20

• This made a common feeling among Germans to dislike the Republic because rights and responsibilities weren’t highlighted for key groups in society which contributed to the support of Weimar being weakened, they felt like they had no obligation to the Republic.
• This made the Nazi Party grow because the people couldn’t trust the Republic, meaning they had to turn to extremist parties, like the Nazis.

Question 21

What was another change that the Weimar Republic made?

Answer 21

• Another change in democracy was the Voting System.

Question 22

What was the Voting System?

Answer 22

• The German voting system was based on proportional representation, which means in elections, there are no clear winners.
• This meant that coalition parties were common, and no single party had a majority which led to coalitions collapsing as agreements between the parties were unlikely.

Question 23

How many Coalition Governments were there, and between what years?

Answer 23

• Between 1919 and 1930, there were 13 coalition governments.

Question 24

What was the bad thing about the Voting System?

Answer 24

• Germans were already used to coalitions; it was deep-rooted in their political system, which can make the government seem weaker.
• This is because the voting system was meant to be fair to all parties, which confused voters and put them off from voting, this led to a lack of confidence in the Weimar Republic.
• This meant that the system allowed extremist parties to enter and gain representation such as the Nazis and the Communists within the Reichstag.

Question 25

What is the third factor of this essay?

Answer 25

• Another factor why the Nazis grew to power was the Treaty of Versailles.

Question 26

When was the Treaty of Versailles created, what was it referred as and why?

Answer 26

• It was created on the 28th of June 1919 and referred to by Germans as a ‘diktat’.
• This is because it was a dictated treaty which was forced on them, which the German government had to accept by the victorious powers of WW1.

Question 27

How was Germany impacted from the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 27

• Germany was impacted in five main ways;
• They were forced to accept blame for causing the war and the death and destruction.
• They lost all their colonies and some industrial resources
• They lost lots of territories and severe cuts to their army which was an insult to German pride and left them weakened.
• They had to pay compensation which was called ‘reparations’, which then damaged their industrial power further.

Question 28

What were the conditions of the Treaty seen as?

Answer 28

• The conditions of the Treaty were seen as unfair and humiliating punishments, and many Germans resented the Weimar Republic for accepting this Treaty.

Question 29

What was the theory?

Answer 29

• There was a theory of ‘stab in the back’ where if Germany did not sign this treaty, they would be invaded, so the Republic signed it to stop the threat.

Question 30

How did the Treaty of Versailles lead to the growth of the Nazis?

Answer 30

• This led to the growth of the Nazis as they promised to reverse this Treaty to their voters and held onto this stab in the back theory and how it was unacceptable for Weimar to accept this as it hurts its people.

Question 31

What is the counter-argument against the Treaty of Versailles (A+)

Answer 31

• However, there is another argument which suggests that this treaty did not impact the Weimar Republic as much as it was publicised, as the most challenging time for the Republic was between 1919 and 1923, and the Nazi party posed they would eradicate this, but only got into power in 1932 so the time gap would mean that Germany could live with this Treaty, limiting the effectiveness as a factor of why the Nazis came to power.

Question 32

What is the final factor of this essay?

Answer 32

• Another factor which caused the Nazis to grow in power was the Economic Difficulties in Germany.

Question 33

What did Germany have to pay, and how much?

Answer 33

• Germany had to pay ‘reparations’ because they signed the Treaty of Versailles, for losing the war.
• She had to pay 132 billion Marks which she struggled to pay.

Question 34

How did Germany struggle to pay the reparations?

Answer 34

• This was because Belgium and France invaded Ruhr to take resources that they needed such as coal.

Question 35

What did many workers do as a result of the invasion, and what did the Government do in return?

Answer 35

• Many workers went on strike due to this which led to the Weimar Republic had to pay their wages, as a result, they printed more money.
• In 1921, the government continued to do this and in return, prices started to increase making it hard for many people to afford basic items.
• By 1923, it caused hyperinflation and caused the money to be worthless.

Question 36

What was the specific example of hyperinflation?

Answer 36

• For example, in January 1922 $1 equalled 80 German marks and by 1923, only a year later $1 equalled 4,420 million marks.

Question 37

How did the hyperinflation weaken the Weimar Republic and gave support for the Nazis?

Answer 37

• This further weakened the Weimar Republic because it appeared a democratic government could not even deliver a stable economy, which led to people blaming the government for their economic problems.
• This led to more support for extremist parties such as the Nazis as they could be able to challenge Weimar, and if the people could not trust Weimar, then could extremist parties do it better?

Question 38

What did the hyperinflation cause?

Answer 38

• The hyperinflation caused the 1929 Depression, where banks and factories closed, and unemployment rates rose, which led to Germany being unstable.

Question 39

What did Dawes and Stresemann do that saved Germany?

Answer 39

• However, due to the work of Stresemann and Charles Dawes which was: sorting out the economy with the German Reichsbank being reformed and money being burnt,
• Dawes sorted out a plan for Germany where the victorious countries would give Germany longer to pay reparations and America lending Germany 800 million gold marks.

Question 40

How did the Nazis lose support after the work of Dawes and Stresemann?

Answer 40

• This led to the Nazis Party losing support because now there was a stronger economy, which means the Nazis were not needed as the Weimar Republic had already solved the problem.

Question 41

What is the line of argument for the conclusion?

Answer 41

• In conclusion, the Appeal of Hitler and the Nazi Party is the main reason why the Nazis achieved success in 1933.

Question 42

What is the first relative rating?

Answer 42

• Although there was a common dislike among the Germans towards the Weimar Republic which made it weak,
• the Appeal of Hitler and his party were more important as they managed to grow more support for the Nazis through their policies such as the hatred of Jews and opposition to communism which made the Republic weaker as the Nazis were becoming more of a likeable option.

Question 43

What is the second relative rating?

Answer 43

• Even though the Treaty of Versailles was important in growing Nazism as they took the side of the reversal which people wanted, they eventually just learned to live with it which reduced growth,
• but the Appeal of Hitler was more important because his policies were more than just the reversal of the Treaty, they were to help Germany’s economy and way of living, which Germans loved to hear.

Question 44

What is the third relative rating?

Answer 44

• Although there were economic difficulties which the Nazis could challenge, it wasn’t very effective as they were able to get over these difficulties due to the work of both Dawes and Stresemann,
• but the Appeal of Hitler is something that kept this issue prominent, that even though it had been fixed,
• Hitler portrayed it as a big issue with his simplistic body language and his charisma, meaning he was able to exaggerate this issue.

Question 45

What is the final sentence of the conclusion?

Answer 45

• Overall, the Appeal of the Nazis is the most important reason why the Nazis achieved power in 1933,
• this is because of Hitler’s strong and charismatic personality to the public, and his policies which were able to appeal to everyone in society,
• not just the upper/lower classes which increased the party support and therefore gaining them more power.