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Nazi Rise to Power
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Which of these factors was the most important reason for the Nazis coming to power in 1933? * The weaknesses of the constitution; * The events of 1923 * The depression 1929-1932 *The strengths of the Nazis The Nazi Party’s rise to power was not simply due to luck. There were many key events and factors involved that were all partly responsible for the Nazis coming of power in 1933. A fragile democracy, an economy in tatters and an humiliated people all played into the hands of the Nationalists. The weakness of the Weimar Republic played a major role in Hitler’s rise to power. By 1923 the majority of Germans had lost faith in the new democracy. The people were already bitter over the government’s signing the Treaty of Versaille on June 28th 1919. They felt they had been betrayed, or “stabbed in the back” by their government. They reasoned that Germany should not carry the blame for the war, and should have fought on. Hitler encouraged these theories claiming that he would rebuild Germany and lead his country to glory. The new republic faced crises on a number of fronts, but it was severely handicapped by a new constitution which was based on “proportional representation.” This system of voting meant that often the government was unable to pass laws in the Reichstag. Frequently the Chancellor would discard democracy and fall back on Article 48, which enabled him to rule singly. It was clear that the democracy was not successful, and the government was incapable of ruling the country. The Nazis used the constitutional weaknesses to great advantage, attacking the government and offering themselves as an alternative. The Nationalists could improve on the mess that democracy had made of Germany, they said. There was great appeal in this message for the majority of the population, who were delighted at the thought of restoring their country to greatness. The events of 1923 too, greatly weakened the Republic and created more support for the opposition, the Nazis. It was in 1923 that the Republic had started to fall behind in their reparation payments to France. The French responded by invading the Ruhr, Germany’s most important industrial region and freely taking their payment in the form of raw materials, like coal.
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