Essay About Economic Factors And Middle Class

How Nazis Gained Power in Germany 1933?
Essay Preview: How Nazis Gained Power in Germany 1933?
Report this essay
There were many factors that contributed to the Nazis rise to power in Germany in 1933. Among the many economic factors the main ones were the period of hyperinflation and the Wall Street Crash. The economic factors helped contribute to the rise to power of the Nazis by making the German public disillusioned with the Weimar government. The economic factors especially during the period of hyperinflation caused those in charge to have an exaggerated fear of a recurrence of inflationary crisis which led to poor decision making during later economic crises. The economic factors generally aided the downfall of the current government allowing the Nazis to gain popularity and seize power.

The treaty of Versailles signed in 1919 required Germany to pay reparations. In order to pay the reparations, the German Central Bank decided to print out more money. The “government printing presses could not keep up” (K. Heiden) which led to the continuous devaluation of the Germany currency affected everyone in the German Society. The middle class was hit the worst as their savings became worthless as the exchange rates of the Mark to the US dollar rose from 98,000,000 in September 1923 to 200,000,000,000 in November. This contributed to the rise of an authoritarian state as many Germans became disillusioned with the Republic as many (especially the middle class) never forgave the Government for causing the inflationary crisis. Although this undermined the Republic, right-wing radical groups such as the Nazis did not gain mass support from the resentment over the inflationary crisis.

In 1928 the agricultural industry in Germany was hit severely by the falling food prices due to a world grain surplus. This helped the Nazis to gain power as many farmers voted for the Nazis in what had been called ‘the farmers’ revenge’. This happened because in Hitler’s speeches to the farmers he promised to raise agricultural prices. The votes from the farmers did help