The Great Depression

The Rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party

The world today still remembers the name Adolf Hitler. In any academic forums, where dictatorship is discussed, the name shall seldom appear in the context of the subject (Kershaw 2010, p. 546). Hitler in the first place was not of the German origin. He gained his German-ship through the enrollment in the German army. Hitler is of the Austrian origin and was granted a permission to join the army by King Ludwig III of Bavaria.

Hitler was in the Germany army that fought the World War. At the end of the war, he returned to Munich with no job. Hitler had no extra skills to engage in other civilian activities; he was handed a meagre job during the winter of 1918-1919, but at the end of it was re-absorbed in the army at the Army’s Political department.

It is at this time that Hitler attended classes on national thinking, where he sharpened his oratory skills (Rees 2013, p. 200). He was later appointed to be a trainer, and he further gained more experience on public speaking. Due to his aggressiveness, he was given the membership of the DAP, which he later on changed to the popularly known Nazi party meaning (National Socialist German Workers’ Party)

Using the popularity as the spokesperson of the party, Hitler solicited for the chairmanship of the party, which he was given by the majority of party members defeating the then chairman, Anton Drexler. After the party’s popularity and winning the majority of seats in Germany, Hitler was made a chancellor on the conditions of making Papen the Vice Chancellor of the Coalition government (Evans 2010, p. 321).

Factors that Lead Hitler to Rise to Power in Germany

The Great Depression

According to Horne (2012, p. 78), the economic depression of the 1930s was the severest to have happened in the history of mankind by then. Several nations felt the consequences of the depression, which lasted for almost a decade. Even though the depression sprung from the USA as a result of the fall in its stock prices, it could soon be the problem of the world, and Germany was not an exception. During the onset of the Great Depression, Germany was at its political heights with Adolf scouting for the nation’s power.

As the Great Depression continued to negatively affect the economy of Germany, the Weimer government did not respond to the trend in the required manner. Thus, the then vice chancellor Bruning, instead of increasing the government spending to stimulate and revive the economy, increased the taxes, which impacted the economy even more negatively. As a result, many people became unemployed, many banks were closed, and there was a national outcry due to desperate circumstances that people had found themselves in (Howard 2007, p. 66).

With the rigidity of the Weimer government to introduce the policies that shall reduce the vagaries of the Great depression, it continued to fail, and as such, Adolf Hitler was not asleep (Hedley 2004, p. 87). As a result of a substantial discontent from the public, the membership of the Nazi party soared high, leading to winning of 107 seats in 1930. Even though the Great Depression was a misery to all, Hitler found it to his liking because in 1932, his party won 230 seats, which was even more than a single party ever won during the entire tenure of Weimer. Thus, the depression did not only indicate the Nazi party as the people’s, but also aided Hitler in gaining the top leadership of Germany.

Hitler’s Charisma

According to Collins (2008, p. 167), terming Hitler as charismatic sounds like a political treason, but in the real sense, he was. Adolf rarely built and maintained relationships with people even as evidenced by the fact that he demanded the chairman of the Nazi party, who helped him come that far, to be removed and replaced by him.

Hitler had a vision and determination in his endeavors and managed to convince the considerable part of the German populace to accept his vision and determination. Starting from the beginning, he was able to voluntarily enroll in the German army, even though he was not of the German origin. The act later on shaped his life and politics around him (Marsh 2004, p. 17).

With the humiliating defeat of the German army in the World War, Hitler was able to think and visualize the feelings of citizens, with whom he identified himself. He blamed the Jews for the German’s position in the humiliating loss in the war (Rosenberg 2011, p. 115).

Hitler also had a strong conviction that even after losing the elections in 1928 with a meagre percentage of votes on his side, he still did not give up the battle and got the strength to consistently share his vision and ideas with people through his speeches and books he wrote. After his victory in 1933 with an overwhelming majority, he still proved those, who doubted his might, wrong by establishing a governance system that is still vivid in the minds of many today (Tucker & Roberts 2005, p. 109).

Long-term Bitterness

As Parker (2001, p. 136) emphasized, Hitler had a long-term bitterness of losing the World War. This to his advantage was the private thought of most of the citizens. Most citizens had intrinsic questions on how their strong army could lose such a crucial war in history, and this was the same thinking just as Hitler’s. He managed to convince people that the system was weak, and through his strong oratory skills and propaganda, he was able to punch holes in the Weimer’s governance system enabling him to attract more winning votes in the 1933 elections (Raum 2009, p. 78).

In addition, it is essential to note the treaty of Versailles, which failed to address the key concerns of Germany and demanded from the country to own up the damages caused in the war and disarm (Simkins et al. 2003, p. 90). The treaty was not effective; thus, Hitler used it to depict the ineffectiveness of the Weimer government.

Availability of Funds

As stated by Lemmons (2013, p. 98), Hitler knew the value of money and recognized that it would purchase the power for him. He struggled through for 14 years before being made the chancellor. The backers of Hitler enabled his finance machinery that propelled the propaganda about the Weimer government. Hitler was sponsored by a rich and powerful secret society, the German’s Jewish industrialist, threatened industrialists on corruption cases and by foreign financing of people, such as Henry Ford, who wanted to spread the anti-Semitic ideology among other numerous foreign financing with different motives, hoping that their key agent would be Hitler (Smaldone 2010, p. 67).

Propaganda

The propaganda was the main machinery of Hitler, which left people thinking that their only hope and liberator would be Hitler (Shubin 2006, p. 48). The propaganda worked to the liking of Hitler because a considerable section of the German people turned to believe that the Jews were to blame for their humiliating loss in the war; and therefore, their remaining hope was Adolf Hitler.

Ineffective constitution

Many people in Germany had resolved to embrace dictatorship, because they thought that democracy had done nothing to them, rather than given them a weaker government that failed to address issues as a government (Biesinger 2006, p. 112). These weaknesses in the constitution included the proportional representation, allocation of presidential power and no threshold to win the representation in the Reichstag. In the view of these weaknesses, Germans turned to Hitler for correction, because the constitution was termed as Weimer’s.

Campaign manifesto

Jarausch (2006) records that Hitler named his manifesto as a 25-point Program and the 25-point plan. The program ranged from the unification of all Germans in the Greater Germany through the state, providing the sources of livelihoods to the formation of a strong central power in Reich. The 25 points worked to the advantage of Hitler, because they incorporated what the Germans really wanted.

The Major Features of Nazi Ideology as Espoused by Hitler

Nationalism

The Nazis as a party had in the nationalist agenda (Showalter & Astore 2005, p. 87). The party believed that Weimer had done little to meet the growing expectations of the German people. The party was not satisfied with how the Weimer administration dealt with the Great Depression by taxing people more, instead of shouldering the very people from the consequences of the economic crisis. The Nazis expressed their beliefs in the German sovereignty and showed distrust towards maintaining international relations, namely the Versailles treaty. Through its 25-point manifesto, the party expressed hope and conviction of better restoring of the economic stability of the country after a deep economic crisis.

Economic sovereignty

As Nawyn (2008, p. 58) puts it, the party supported the authoritarian system of governance, where the government was to dictate and allocate resources for production in the country. The party reported disinterest with the democratic system, whereas they believed that it deprived the powerless in the country the might to develop. The Nazis advocated for the economic sovereignty of Germany and emphasized the need for strengthening the middle class citizens, who were then supposed to drive the economy forward. In its manifesto, the party advocated for a debt free country as the main drive to the economic sovereignty.

Racialism

The Jews were blamed by the party for their loss in the war, and as such, the pact of racialism was introduced to the Germans, who felt that the Weimer government was being too lenient towards the Jews. Thus, throughout their massive campaigns, they showed that the government refused to accept that the Jews were the reason of failure of the country, not the Germans. This by far won the majority of the citizens to the party.

Militarism

The Nazi party sought to prioritize the defense of the country (Buchanan 2008, p. 112). After a humiliating loss in World War I and a substantial suffering from the Great Depression, they wanted to create a sense of security and sovereignty of Germany. Hitler himself massively used a heavy military presence to indicate that they were not weak, but strong. Hitler used parades, visual elements of the flags, large armies and speeches to clearly indicate the military might of the country. This factor popularized the party, since the citizens thought that the Weimer government had failed to deliver on the aspect.

Traditional Values

The Nazis sought to champion for the traditional values, and in its manifesto, the party advocated for the abolition of taxes on land and also the initiation of land reforms, as well as the expropriation of land and control of all speculations. The party also sought for the religion freedom with the main aim of protecting the traditions of the Germans.

Unity and expansionism

According to Stone (2009, p. 60), on the primary aim of the 25-point program was to unite all the states of the great Germany. Hitler’s intention was to unify and expand the territories of Germany to all states that spoke German. In lieu of this, people viewed the ideology as visionary and backed the party to scoop overwhelming 230 seats in the Reichstag.

Just as indicated in the thesis statement, dictatorship is quickly linked to Adolf Hitler. However, as discussed in this paper, various aspects of Hitler present that he was a visionary and determined as well as a leader with conviction. Above all, it becomes obvious that several factors were in play before Hitler won the elections in 1933.

The factors, such as the propaganda, are seen to be the effective tools of campaigns, even in modern politics (Mundey 2012 p 160). The paper also points to the significance of a manifesto that identifies with the people. It also indicates that a political journey is tedious with full of disappointments, but shows how a commitment and persistence can yield. The need for money for successful politics is also emphasized.

The Great Depression was a time of great strife for millions of Americans. Thus, in many people, this period led to the emergence of various sorts of behaviors such as generosity, selfishness, paranoia, despair, resourcefulness, and so on. In other words, like any other event, the Great Depression brought numerous negative as well as positive consequences for the United States. Moreover, it has left such an unforgettable impression on the American nation that its effect is still felt today. This impact is felt in the political (legislation, parties’ division), economic (infrastructural projects, financial development of the country), social (social standards, living and working conditions), and cultural (art, music, photography, cinematography, radio) spheres. The Great Depression has left an unforgettable impression on the American nation, and it should never be forgotten and should be always remembered.

The Impact of the Great Depression

The Great Depression is often associated with demoralizing despair, bear markets, bank closings, and soup lines as well as numerous other aftershocks such as Nazi Germany, Keynesianism, and even WWII. Even though Great Depression was a horrible period of time in national and global history, it also had a positive impact on the life of Americans, consequently helping shape the development of the state to its current level (Robbins, 2009).  Generally, the impact of the Great Depression in the United States can be summarized by an Asian saying – the irritation in the oyster forms the pearl. In other words, despite the fact that many people could not face and manage the hard times of severe economic recession with hunger, unemployment, and hopelessness, thus ending their lives with suicide, the majority of Americans had managed to respond to this challenge, each in their own way. Some people demonstrated negative sides of their character such as selfishness, paranoia, and despair, while others managed to show positive traits of character such as resourcefulness and generosity. While numerous businesses disappeared during the Great Depression, others even remained stronger. People had to use all their creativity and forces to survive, to compete, to learn, and to advance.

Positive Influence of Great Depression

hanks to the people who did not abandon hope and fought for their place in society during that difficult time by manifesting resourcefulness and generosity, the Great Depression became a good opportunity to show their own talents and skills. Their contribution made the Great Depression the Golden Age of film and the radio, the era of social sports, such as softball, Monopoly, and bridge, and the time of the invention of the electronic microscope, nylon stockings, network television, semiconductors, digital electronics, and radar. Moreover, thanks to such resourceful people, the washing machine, the refrigerator, and other similar home equipment turned into the products of the mass market. Roads became wider and smoother, while railroads became faster. Thus, it no wonders that the well-known American historian Alexander Field (2008) described the 1930s as “the most technologically progressive decade of the last century” (p. 1). One can only wonder how much time it would have taken to bring all these discoveries into reality without the government funding, urge for economic transformation that was dictated by the post-war economic conditions, and the simple need to survive.

Negative Impact of Great Depression

At the same time, during hard times, people also show their worst trait of character. For instance, due to the scarcity of practically everything, the inability to support themselves and their family, the impossibility to find a job, and the simple need to survive, many people manifested selfishness, paranoia, and despair. Thus, the level of crime in the country significantly increased (Foner, 2017). In these conditions, the easiest way to get something was to steal. Moreover, many people were afraid to share and help each other, which was crucially important at that time and it could save the lives of many people. Some became alcoholics due to their inability to manage own life. In addition, naturally, for such conditions, people spent less and saved more, which was quite bad for the economy. Unfortunately, the reflection of such traits of character has had a negative impact on the economic and social development of the United States, and it is still felt today in the numerous consequences of the Great Depression.

Managing the Negative Impact of the Great Depression

In order to fight the above-mentioned negative traits of the Great Depression and help people fight despair, selfishness, and paranoia as well as achieve stability in society, the government established numerous important projects. Among the most important measures implemented during the Great Depression that can still be felt today, one should mention the implementation of the National Pension System, the oversight of labor practices, the support of agricultural prices, the protection of people’s savings, the stock market regulation, and the improvement of communication (Bovenzi, 2015). In addition, other important measures were implemented in the course of the Great Depression. In particular, the 21st Amendment was ratified, thus prohibiting alcohol on the national level. Generally, this measure allowed to reduce alcohol consumption in the country and to avoid all social problems related to it. At the same time, as a response to the challenges of the Great Depression, people determined the five-day workweek and the maximum working hours, the right to a collective bargain, minimum wages, and the insurance for federal homeowners (Foner, 2017). In addition, thanks to the implementation of the New Deal, the federal government took direct responsibility for the well-being of people and for the protection of their welfare by serving school lunches, making relief payments, and numerous other responsibilities (Foner, 2017). Finally, all the above-mentioned measures became the foundation of economic growth after the First World War, making life much less risky for regular Americans.

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The Great Depression as a Foundation of American Values

The Great Depression established the foundations of American values. In particular, it has formed the notion of American freedom in the form that is common for society today, such as the synergy of respect for cultural pluralism and civil liberties, and has established the free expression of opinions and progressive belief in the socially and economically conscious country (Foner, 2017). In other words, the Great Depression has formed the new type of liberalism that still exists today. The world-popular notion of the American Dream was also invented during the Great Depression. This phrase first appeared in the book Epic of America in 1931, written by the well-known historian and writer James Truslow Adams. In this book, Truslow Adams described it as the dream of a land where life would be richer and better for everyone. Since that time, both pessimistic and optimistic people, or those who reflected despair and those who showed resourcefulness during the Great Depression respectively, wanted to achieve the American Dream by all means, but only the strongest had managed to reach it.

The Great Depression and Art

Art (in all its possible forms) reacts quite quickly during the time of any social upheaval. For instance, thanks to the Great Depression, the genre of blues acquired great popularity in the United States. Some musicians reflected the negative sides of the times, which manifested themselves in people’s despair, paranoia, and selfishness, with the well-known songs such as “Brother Can You Spare a Dime” by Rudy Valle, “NRA Blues” by Bill Cox, “Gloomy Sunday” by Billie Holiday, and “Detroit Moan” by Victoria Spivey. At the same time, despite numerous challenges, many people remained positive about the times and reflected their generosity and resourcefulness in their songs such as “There is a New Day Comin” by Ted Lewis, “Whistle While You Work” by Artie Shaw, and many others. This music became the foundation for other genres, leaving an unforgettable mark on American music.

Moreover, many infrastructure and art projects implemented in the times of the Great Depression are still beneficial for Americans today. The analysis of history also demonstrates that the Great Depression has significantly influenced other spheres of arts. For example, during their public works, hundreds of artists worked on the decoration of the public buildings with murals. They reflected their positive and negative feelings about the Great Depression in their art. The majority of these buildings still exist today. Finally, the Great Depression developed significant resourcefulness among film directors. The classics of American cinematography, such as Gone with the Wind (1939), It Happened One Night (1934), Frankenstein (1931), and many others were produced in these years. Similar productivity and resourcefulness were also common for photographic art. Thus, the works of Dorothea Lange, Arthur Rothstein, Theodor Jung, Ben Shahn, Walker Evans, Carl Mydans, Russel Lee, Marion Post Wolkot, Jack Delano, and John Vachon are still quite popular today. All these examples demonstrate the positive impact of the Great Depression on art. However, numerous artists who felt despair and even paranoia could not develop and show their skills in difficult times. Therefore, the Great Depression became the barrier but not the opportunity for them.

Conclusion

Considering the above-mentioned facts, one can conclude that the events of the Great Depression have inevitably impacted the nowadays life of Americans and left an unforgettable impression on the nation. During these difficult times, the USA significantly expanded the intervention of the government into the new areas of economic and social affairs and contributed significantly to the establishment of effective social assistance agencies that helped society in general, regardless of gender, social background, race, profession, or any other characteristics. Moreover, the Great Depression encouraged significant technological advancements, the low cost of living, responsible social behavior, and new forms of entertainment. The analysis of the Great Depression has demonstrated that even though it happened more than 80 years ago, its outcomes are still felt today. Its evaluation becomes especially actual and relevant nowadays in the context of recent financial crises and recessions. It is necessary to learn the lessons of the past and to adapt the experiences to the modern requirements and conditions.