Germany 1929-1933

Part A
Controlled Assessment
GCSE History
The role of Adolf Hitler in the growth of the Nazi Party in the years 1925-32
By mid- 1929 Germany was prospering once more. Political stability had been resolved and relations with other countries had improved dramatically. But by the 1930’s things had began to go wrong. The state that the Wall Street Crash left Germany had led to the Weimar government facing difficulties with dealing with the economic crisis. As the government failed to deal with the economic problems support for the Nazis grew. It can be argued that the fall of the Weimar Republic led to the rise of Nazis party, with the strength of the SA and the Nazis appeal to the different groups of society.

The failure of the Weimar Republic[->0] to solve the problems faced by Germany during the 1920's and early 30's is very well documented and the consequences of this failure are well known. The Weimar[->1] Republic was faced with a number of problems from the outset. On 29 October 1929 the Wall Street Crash shook the world. Share prices hit rock bottom on the New York stock exchange and businesses went bankrupt overnight and even millionaires became paupers overnight. German industry could not operate, Factories closed and by 1932 there were six million people unemployed. The parties in the grand coalition of the time could not agree on how to tackle the economic depression. They argued about whether unemployment benefit should be reduced or not. The government fell apart and, in 1930, Chancellor resigned and was replaced by Heinrich Bruning. As they were lacking strong leadership, this led to arguments and people quitting within the government which led to the people of Germany losing faith in them.   Germany was in a bad state and once again the Weimar government was blamed. The crash was felt all over Europe but more in Germany due to the Treaty of Versailles and Germany's debt obligations. As Europe felt the economic pressure from America's markets...