impact of the depression C4

Question 1

What was the depression

Answer 1

• from 1924 onwards, foreign banks, especially American ones, lent huge amounts of money to Germany to build factories and businesses. This created more jobs money and a better standard of living
• in October 1929 a financial crisis, known as the Wall Street crash, hit the USA. American companies and banks went out of business, and millions lost there jobs. This became known as the depression.

Question 2

what was the economic impact of the depression on Germany ?

Answer 2

• America had bought many good for Germany including cars, electrical equipment and cars
• they couldn’t afford these any more so German factories shut down
• millions lost there jobs
• troubled US banks requested the money back that they had lent to Germany
• German banks tried to reclaim this money from German businesses
• they could not pay and went bankrupt

Question 3

what was the political impact of the depression

Answer 3

• people listened to different, often extreme political parties that promised radical solutions to Germanys problems and ways of improving their lives
• in the 1930 election, the communists increased their seats in the Reichstag from 54 to 77 and the nazi support went from 12 seats in 1928 to 107 seats in 1930

Question 4

what was the social impact of the depression

Answer 4

• many people were living on the streets
• jobless, hungry and angry at their political leaders who they blamed for their problems

Question 5

give stats for the growth of the nazi party

Answer 5

• in 4 years the nazi party went from being the 8th most popular with 800,000 votes in 1928
• in 1932 they won 14 million votes

Question 6

what were the reasons for the growth of the nazi party

Answer 6

• German unemployment was very high and the Nazis promised to create jobs
• the appeal of Hitler with his charismatic personality he convinced people that he could make Germany a great nation
• discontent of the Weimar government, politicians couldn’t agree on how to help the unemployed and get germany out of the depression. many different chancellors were appointed by president Hindenburg but they made very little impact

Question 7

what were some more reasons why the Nazi party became so popular

Answer 7

• fear of communism: German communists such as the spartacists had tried to take over in the years after the first world war. this alarmed many wealthy germans who didnt want to lose their wealth and position in society.
• communists were also anti religion which worried churchgoers, hitler promised to fight against communism
• after the failed Munich putsch of 1923 hitler changed his tactics to legally win power in elections
• nazi party officers were set up all over the country to recuit more followers
• the SA protected hitlers meetings

Question 8

what 5 types of people voted for the nazi party

Answer 8

• farmers
• youth
• middle class
• wealthy classes
• women

Question 9

why did farmers vote for the nazi party

Answer 9

• the depression hit farmers hard and the weimar government offered little help
• the nazis promised them higher prices for crops, better quality of life and higher status in society
• nazi opposition to communists appealed to farmers

Question 10

why did women vote for the nazis

Answer 10

• the nazis targeted women voters by saying thst family life, good morols and self disapline were important
• some women agreed with hitlers view that weimar culture had been a bad influence on the youth

Question 11

why did the middle-class vote for the Nazis

Answer 11

• small buisness owners, docters, bank workers, and managers feared that law and order might break down durig the depression
• they worried that a communist takeover could ruin their way of life
• the nazis promised to deal with their issues

Question 12

why did the wealthy-class vote for the nazis

Answer 12

• the nazis promised strong leadership to make germany powerful again
• hitler promised to let factory owners run factories how they wanted, and his plan to build more weapons would be good more manufacturing
• the communists wanted to take over many businesses but the nazis opposed them

Question 13

why did the youth vote for the Nazis

Answer 13

• Hitler promised to tear up the treaty of Versailles and make the country strong again
• they wanted to be part of Germanys bright future and get jobs in the armed forces or building new homes, motorways and hospitals