Germany After WWI

Why Is This Important? To analyse how Hitler came to power

and why World War II broke out, it helps to understand the conditions in Germany between 1918 and 1932

There are FOUR major reasons why conditions were perfect for a man like Adolph Hitler to take power

1. Economic Problems:Inflation

Instead of taxing people to fund WWI, the German Gov’t borrowed money

As a result the country was left with a huge debt To pay off the debt, the Germans printed more

money which caused inflation The government had 300 paper mills working 24

hours a day to make more money The country was not generating any real wealth

so prices of goods and services rose astronomically

Inflation A brief explanation

1. Economic Problems:Inflation Inflation example:

In spring 1922, 300 marks would buy an American dollar

By early 1923 it took 50,000 marks to buy an American dollar

Soon it took billions of marks to buy a stamp

A shopping bag full to pay a streetcar fare People carried wheelbarrows full of money

Cost of bread in Berlin

1923: Selling money by weight at the height of hyper-inflation

A German young lady using

worthless paper money to heat her

home in 1923.

Children playing with stacks of worthless currency, Germany 1923

German Marks

1. Economic Problems:Inflation A lifetime’s savings could become valueless in a

matter of weeks People started to barter or trade goods rather than

use money People would spend their money they earned daily

so it wouldn’t devalue over night Some jobs paid 2 times a day to accommodate

inflation When the new currency, the Rentenmark, replaced

the worthless Reichsbank marks on November 16, 1923 and 12 zeros were cut from prices, prices in the new currency remained stable

2. Political Instability After WWI, Germany had more than

12 political parties None was strong enough to take

control and help the country There were three groups:

Communists, Social Democrats, and National Socialists (Nazis)

National Socialists (Nazis) Gov’t should be run by the army and

wealthy Industry should be privately owned Power of the military increased No democratic government Activities of Jews and foreigners should be

restricted because they are responsible for problems

Supporters: army, unemployed, big business, land owners, aristocrats

3. Treaty of Versailles People of Germany were humiliated and felt

it was unjust (War Guilt) Hitler promised to:

Rearm Germany Get revenge on enemies Cancel the treaty Expand the army Restore German honour Win back by force German territory

Question Who is Hitler appealing to when he’s

promising these things? Military? Big Business Owners? Middle Class? Working People? Nationalists?

4. Depression and Unemployment Americans didn’t buy German

manufactured goods, banks didn’t lend to Germany to rebuild after WWI

France and Britain put large tariffs on German goods

Many people became unemployed Workers saw their wages decrease Germany was hurt by Stock Market

Crash

Depression and Unemployment People lived in forests, farmers used weapons

to protect crops Starving people came to the city to try to find

food One news item reported 30% of Germany

was unemployed People were deliberately getting arrested to

get food Hitler used this to blame the gov’t and

encourage people that they wanted a dictatorship

Germany was in a desperate state and Hitler

took advantage of it to further his dream