Germany and the Nazis
In 1918, for the German soldiers out the front lines during WW1 it seemed
like the war just stopped and some how they had lost. Many Germans believed
that they were in fact winning the war. They believed that they were stabbed in
the back by the marxes and the Jews. Anti semitic views had a strong hold in
Germany and were thought of as being all that was wrong in Germany. The German
government had become a democracy as a result of the Treaty at Versailles. All
of Germany was in turmoil, the economy was horrible and the newly formed
democracy was failing. It didn't take long for a small political party to
capitalize on hardships of post World War 1 Germany. The effects of the
economy, the feuding political parties and the surrounding turmoil of that era
creating a melting pot just perfect enough for the small party growing in
southern Germany.
In the town of Baveria the allies continued to blockade and millions of
people were starving and thousands more were dying from tuberculosis as well as
influenza. The political parties became polarized, with conservatives on the
right and socialists on the left, in the face of crisis. In 1919 the Munich
Soviet Republic tried to create a Soviet styled government called the
Raterepublik. The Raterepublik was the start of the communist movement in
Germany. The controlling board was made up of mostly Jewish members. It
became a widespread belief that communism equaled Judaism. Goverment troops
came in to try and squash the rebellion which resulted in a fire fight in the
streets. The troops were supported by Feikorp, a right-wing mercenary group,
and there are cases of Feikorp members executing members of the Raterepulik. It
was in this town of Baveria that the National Socialist German Workers Party, or
Nazi for short, began.
In 1919, many exsoldiers found it hard to keep a steady job and the treaty
of Versaille forced Germany to give up land and pay reperations to the Allies.
By 1920 inflation spiraled out of control, this was mostly due to the fact that
the German government just started printing off money to pay the reperations.
In some places a sausage and bread costs a billion Reichmarks. People were
unable to live like this and the cry for change grew larger. All the different
political parties in Baveria were basically saying the same thing. Versaille
was a crime and the Jews were to blame. The Jews had become a scape goat for
the rest of the German people.
January 1923, French troops marched into the Ruhr demanding reperations but
only suceeding in alienating the already down trotted German people. There was
widespread hunger and poverty but the humiliation that the Germans suffered from
the French was the worst part of all. As a result the Nazi party joined forces
with the rest of the right wing parties to march on the left wing controled
Berlin. The Nazis believed that the police would join their cause and march on
Berlin as well. This was not the case and a fire fight between police and the
Nazis.
In the mid 1920's the economy recovered and and inflation was reduced to
single figures. By 1924, the Nazi party was irrelevant. The government of
Weimar borrowed money from the U.S. to pay off the reperations owed to France
and Great Britian. This was really a small band-aid on a deep gash. Instead of
owing three governments money they now only owed one. This also allowed people
a small economic relief and they could afford to go out party and have a good
time. Many, though, wanted to Germany to go back to a simplar way of life
instead of the "Weimar decadense". A movement started that was called
Wandervogel, they were young "protesters" against the middle class way of
living. The Nazis recognized this young movement and the two became one which
began Hitler Youth, a training program for future storm troopers. The Nazis
were never quiet about their plan to get rid of the german jews. They believed
that there was a conspiracy that the Jews were trying to take over the
world.
Even with this support the Nazis recieved less than three percent of the
votes in the 1928 election. Meaning ninty-seven percent rejected the Nazis
views. A government report gathered right before the election claimed that the
Nazi party has "no noticable influences on the great masses of Germany." Five
years later Hitler would be Chancellor and the Nazis would rule all of Germany.
This would not be though if they didn't get some help from a serious crisis on
the way.
A sudden drop in world agriculture prices dropped and poverty swept through
the country side. On top of that the Great Depression occurred and Germany
quickly became the worst hit country in the world. The U.S. called in their
loans and unemployment grew to 5.5 million in 1931. Every friday everyone would
stand at the unemployment office to get five Reichmarks to feed their family
with. Needless to say many didn't have food. Then in 1931, as if things
couldn't get any worse, the five major banks in Germany crashed and more than
twenty thousand buisinesses went under. With all this happening people began to
listen to the radical parties such as the Nazi and the Communists.
In Neidenburg the Nazi party only got two percent of the votes, while in
1930 they got twenty-five of the votes without any visits from Hitler and
without a Nazi organization in the city. The Communists were also gaining votes
and the new democracy seemed to split in two. You had the radicals on the right
and the radicals on the left. Fist fights began to break out in the streets,
typically around the unemployment office, between Communist and Nazi
supporters. And Hitler went on a a twenty city in seven days campaign spree.
People came to think that he would deliver them into salvation from the woes
that ailed them. Although Hitler lost to President Hindenburg in the election,
it was believed that Hitler was a credible alternative leader for
Germany.
