Example research essay topic: Weimar Government Term Causes - 1,646 words

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HOW AND WHY DID HITLER BECOME CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY IN 1933? The reason why Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, were because of many reasons; long term causes like World War One, treaty of Versailles, fear of communism, the November criminals, the early nature of the constitution 1923 crisis. The economic depression 1929 - 1933; failure of the Weimar government; political crisis 1930 - 1933; role of the traditional elites and Hitlers action, skills and leadership. I believe that all these point are equally important because, if one of them had not of occurred then I do not think that another point could have taken place, all of the points links to each other.

The Germans were very proud people, they were proud of their country they were proud of their army. Their army was very important to the Germans, so when they lost the First World War they found it very hard to except. This could be because of the masses of propaganda Germany printed out; therefore, the people were very convinced that they would win the war. Even during the last week of the war, Germany still printed propaganda. Some of the generals still had hope that they will win because they were still on French land when they signed the Armistead. However, others Generals and politicians knew there were no chance of them winning, and if they did not sign the Armistead then Germany would be taken over by the Allies.

Therefore, the left wing politicians had to make a huge and very important decision, whether to carry on with the war and hope they would win or they would have to sign the Armistead and come to some kind of agreement. The group of left-wing politicians who had to make this choice were, Friedrich Ebert, Hermann Miller and Matthias Erzberger, they were seen as anti-patriotic because they signed the Armistead. General Hindenburg accused them of stabbing the nation in the back, by signing the Armistead. They were also called the November criminals because they signed the treaty of Versailles, the German people and army would have preferred to die in battle then to give up. Yet again, the public was not happy by the decision of their leaders. This was extremely useful for the anti-republic right, like General Hindenburg who always undermines the new government and its potential abilities.

The Constitution was made in Weimar because the Spartacist revolt which was taking place in Berlin at that time. Therefore, some articles made in the constitution were to protect the country from an extreme party revolution, especially from the communist party. Communism was spreading very quickly and Germany did not want to a communist county, they were very more scared that they would become a communist country because they are next to Russia. Then there was the 1923 crisis, Germany could not pay the Allies reparations because, they just did not have the money to give them. Therefore, France with support from the Belgian took it upon them to get the reparations, so they invaded the heart of Germany's industries, the Ruhr. This came as a great shock to the Germans because they were trying their best to pay the reparations on time, but they just did not have the money.

In retaliation, the German government ordered the Ruhr workers to go on strike, passive resistance. This idea hit Germany's economy really badly; Germany was not making anything so they did not have the goods to back up the mark, therefore the value of the mark dropped. The Government had to pay the striker on strike because they asked them to stop working, yet again the Government was spending money they really did not have. The governments way around this problem was to produce more and more money. The more money the Government produced the less it was worth, they were printing money out in billions. However, they needed the money to pay the striker.

This caused the hyperinflation in 1923. Because of the hyperinflation in 1923 all the banks in Germany went bust, therefore anyone who had their lifesaving in the bank was gone. The worst hit were the middle class, who were saving up to buy a house or some other reason, and the old people would affected to because they would not be able buy anything with the money they get from the Government. All confidence in the financial system has been lost because of the collapse of the currency. All these long-term causes had a great impact on the German people, and they did not want to go through that again. When Hitler and the NSDAP want to make the Weimar Government look bad then they would remind the people what they went through, and if they want to go through that again.

And if they carried on supporting the socialist then hat is what is going to happen, what the German people need is a strong leader and he can give that to them if they supported him. Many people found the thought of a one-man leadership very appealing, and then it would be as it was before the world war. There was a great economic depression 1929 - 1933. The agricultural slump happened much before the great depression and it was world wide too. Then there was the wall start crash, which caused the great depression, unemployment, banks closing, loan were being called in. The agricultural slump happened much before the great depression, this was because of new machinery and equipment that big and rich countries like USA have that cause the agricultural slump.

These big farms would sell all their harvest for very cheap prices, so therefore it would be cheaper for poor countries like Germany to by the product they get from abroad then to buy them from the farmer in their country. So the Farmers would soon become bankrupted, because no one is buying their goods. However, some farmers would still try to compete with the big farms. Germany was just starting to settle after the crisis in 1923, when the Wall Street crash happened.

The stock exchange collapsed in America, October 1929. This effect many countries in the world but it would hit Germany the most because its loans are from America. When America was going through the depression, it needed all the money it can get from different countries it had loaned out to, including Germany. Germany was in no state to give back all the money it had borrowed, Germany was just recovering from its last depression. When Germany was forced to give back all the money that they had borrowed, many businesses became bankrupted because it had no money to borrow to put in the businesses. Therefore, many people were left unemployed.

By 1932, nearly 30 % of the labour force was unemployed, that is around 12 million people unemployed. And the Government is spending a lot of money from banks to pay them the unemployed benefits. Because money is being taken away from the banks, the five biggest banks in Germany had to close because it went bankrupt. When the main banks start to close down ten there are huge problems, it will affect nig business, all the people who have invested in the back, people who saved money in the bank. Yet again, the German economy failed the German people; people were just getting over the crisis in 1923 and the hyperinflation when they lost all their money again in the great depression. The economy crashing the first time was good source for Hitler to use against the Weimar Government.

Now that it has happened the second time, this just show and proves how incompetent the Weimar government really is and he was right about them along. Hitler would of said that, the Weimar government have failed them once and now the second time, the who is to say they would not do it again. Hitler would made out that the Weimar Government is doing all of this on purpose because they are anti-patriotic people. This would help the Hitler to convince the people of Germany that what they need is a strong figure like him.

There were many failures from the Weimar democracy. They had a minority government, people started to lose faith in the Government, Article 48 and 25 gave the president too much power. There was a political crisis 1930 - 1933. It was very hard to have a stable government because, at times there could be up to four or five different parties in the coalition government, this made it very hard to run a government.

All the different parties would have different ideas and they would not be able to agree on anything. The more parties there are in a coalition government the harder it is to solve problems, and the shorter time the government would run the country, before it collapses and another government is elected. In about 5 years, they could of when through around 5 to 7 different governments. This just shows who unstable the country is. This concept must be very hard for the more mature German citizens, because they were used to having strong leadership all their lives and now they have been through into a very unbalanced leadership. There was a political crisis 1930 - 1933, where the coalition government failed to work together and to make new laws.

So Hindenburg used his power to dissolve the Reichstag and then to hold another election in July 1932. In this election, the NSDAP had 37 % of the votes, which was the most individually, but they did not have enough voted to be a majority Government. Article 48 and 25 gave the president many powers; the president has more power then the Reichstag. The presidential election takes place every 7 years, and he has strong power again...

Research essay sample on Weimar Government Term Causes