Nazi Growth and the Depression

From twelve seats to 230

On 24 October 1929 the New York stock market crashed. American banks, needing cash, called in the short-term loans that had financed the German recovery, and German firms that had borrowed to expand now had to repay while their customers stopped buying. Industrial output fell by around 40 per cent between 1929 and 1932. Unemployment, 1.3 million in the autumn of 1929, was 3 million by the end of 1930, 4.5 million by the end of 1931, and 6 million by January 1932, one worker in three. The republic could not cope. The coalition under Muller broke up in March 1930 over whether to raise insurance contributions, and no government afterwards had a Reichstag majority. Heinrich Bruning governed by presidential decree under Article 48, cut wages, pensions and benefits to balance the budget, and earned the name Hunger Chancellor. Voters went to the parties that promised to smash the system: the Communists rose from 54 seats to 100, and the Nazis from 12 to 230. The exam asks why unemployment rose, why the government failed, why the Communists grew, and above all why the Nazis grew most. It also asks how far the Depression alone explains it, against the appeal of Hitler, the propaganda of Goebbels and the SA. This module gives you the figures and the shapes.

Five words the examiners use

Each definition ends with the moment it mattered, because a bare definition earns nothing in a 12-mark answer.

From the Crash to the largest party, in order

Put these six events in the order they happened.

• The Wall Street Crash, and American banks begin recalling their loans to Germany
• The Muller coalition collapses over insurance contributions and Bruning begins governing by decree
• The Nazis win 107 seats in the September election, up from 12
• The Danat bank fails and the German banking system is closed for weeks
• Hitler wins 36.8 per cent against Hindenburg in the presidential run-off
• The Nazis win 230 seats in July and become the largest party in the Reichstag

Why did support for the Nazis grow between 1929 and 1932?

The party that took 2.6 per cent in 1928 took 37.3 per cent in July 1932. Which explanation best accounts for the growth?

• The Depression created the voters: 6 million unemployed, a ruined middle class and farmers in debt, all of whom the republic had failed; the rise of the Communists to 100 seats frightened property owners into voting for the party that fought them; and the Nazis alone were ready to harvest the fear, with a national organisation built since 1925, a leader sold by Goebbels as the last hope, a private army that looked like order, and a message of work, bread and national community that promised everything to everyone.
• By 1932 most Germans had become convinced Nazis.
• The army forced voters to support Hitler.
• The Allies demanded higher reparations in 1930.

Who voted Nazi, and who did not

The 16-mark judgement on this bullet is about why the Nazis grew. Knowing who moved to them, and who stayed put, is the evidence that separates the Depression from the appeal.

Question 1: inference from a source

Source A: a description of a Nazi election poster from 1932. It shows a crowd of grey, hollow-eyed men and women in shabby coats, drawn without individual features, staring out at the viewer. Above them in large red letters are the words Our Last Hope, and below, in larger black letters, the single word Hitler. A student infers that the Nazis were presenting Hitler as a saviour to people the Depression had crushed. Tap the TWO details that support that inference most directly.

• The caption reads Our Last Hope, with the name Hitler alone beneath it as the answer.
• The caption is printed in red and black, the colours of the party flag.
• The crowd is drawn grey and featureless, in worn clothes, with hollow eyes, so that they stand for every unemployed German rather than any one.
• The poster was produced in a large format for hoardings and railway stations.
• The poster dates from the campaigns of 1932, when the Nazis fought two Reichstag elections and a presidential election.

Why the republic failed to cope

Select the THREE statements that correctly explain why Weimar governments failed to deal with the Depression.

• The last majority government, the Grand Coalition under Muller, collapsed in March 1930 because the SPD would not cut unemployment benefit and the DVP would not raise contributions, so from then on no cabinet had a majority and every measure needed a presidential decree.
• Bruning chose deflation: he cut wages, pensions and benefits, raised taxes and refused to borrow, because he and Hindenburg feared a repeat of 1923 more than they feared the slump, and the cuts made unemployment worse.
• The Reichstag itself stopped working: it met for 94 days in 1930, 41 in 1931 and 13 in 1932, while the number of decrees rose to 66, so that voters saw a parliament that did nothing and a chancellor who governed without it.
• The government spent so much on public works that it ran out of money.
• Hyperinflation returned in 1931 and wiped out savings again.
• The Allies refused any relief on reparations.

Two interpretations of the Nazi rise

Question 3 gives you two interpretations and asks how they differ, why, and how far you agree. The two below were written for this module to show the shape of the argument; the exam will print real historians. Interpretation 1. The Nazis were made by the Depression. In 1928, with the economy recovering, they were a fringe party of under 3 per cent; four years later, with six million unemployed and a government that had cut the dole, they were the largest party. The voters who moved to them were the ruined and the frightened, and they moved because the republic had failed them, not because they had read Mein Kampf. Interpretation 2. The Depression hurt every country in Europe, and only Germany produced a Nazi majority. What made the difference was the party itself: a leader whom Goebbels sold as the last hope, a message that promised something to every class, an organisation built patiently since 1925 that could put a speaker in every village, and a private army that made the Nazis look like the only force able to stop the Communists. The slump supplied the voters; the Nazis won them. Question 3(c) asks why they differ. The answer is the question each is asking: Interpretation 1 explains why voters left the old parties and reads the unemployment figures; Interpretation 2 explains why they chose the Nazis rather than the Communists or the DNVP and reads the campaigns. This meant that both are needed for a full answer, and the top-level judgement says which question matters more and why.

In the shoes of Bruning and Goebbels

Four decisions between 1930 and 1932. Choose what was actually done, and notice what each choice led to.

• July 1930. You are Bruning. The Reichstag has rejected your budget of cuts and tax rises. Hindenburg will sign it as a decree under Article 48, but the Reichstag can vote to cancel a decree. What do you do?
• September 1930. You are Goebbels, in charge of Nazi propaganda. The election has been called at six weeks notice and the party has more energy than money. How do you campaign?
• Summer 1931. The Danat bank has failed, the banks are closed, unemployment is past 4 million and rising, and you are Bruning. What do you do?
• Spring 1932. Hitler is standing against Hindenburg for president and the run-off is in April. The party has money now. What do you do?

From cause to consequence

Because the German recovery had been built on short-term American loans, the Crash of October _____ brought the loans home and closed the factories. Because the Grand Coalition could not agree on insurance contributions, it collapsed in March 1930 and no later cabinet had a _____. Because Bruning cut benefits and wages to balance the budget, unemployment rose to _____ million and voters called him the Hunger Chancellor. Because the Communists rose to 100 seats, the middle class and the farmers looked for a party that would fight them. And because the Nazis alone had a leader, a private army and a message for every class, they rose from 12 seats in 1928 to _____ in July _____.

Measure the Nazi surge

The Nazis won 12 Reichstag seats in May 1928 and 230 in July 1932. How many times larger was the July 1932 total, to the nearest whole number?

Question 3(b): the main difference

Question 3(b) asks: What is the main difference between the two interpretations on the callout card? Explain your answer using both. Which answer would score all four marks?

• The main difference is that Interpretation 1 explains the Nazi rise by the Depression, pointing to the six million unemployed and the failure of the republic that drove voters away from the old parties, whereas Interpretation 2 explains it by the Nazis themselves, pointing to Hitler, the propaganda, the organisation and the SA that made voters choose them rather than another party.
• Interpretation 1 says the Depression caused the rise and gives the unemployment figures.
• I agree with Interpretation 2 because other countries had a Depression without a Hitler.
• They differ because one is about the economy and one is about politics.

A 12-mark paragraph, marked

Question 2: Explain why support for the Nazi Party grew in the years 1929 to 1932. One reason support for the Nazis grew was the failure of the Weimar governments to deal with unemployment. After the Grand Coalition broke up in March 1930, Bruning governed by presidential decree and chose to cut spending rather than borrow, reducing wages, pensions and unemployment benefit while unemployment rose from 3 million at the end of 1930 to 6 million by January 1932. This meant that millions of Germans saw a parliament that met for only 13 days in 1932 and a chancellor whose only answer to the slump was to make it worse, and they concluded that the republic itself was the problem. The Nazis grew because they were the loudest party promising to replace a system that had visibly stopped working, and Bruning had given them the evidence. What earned the marks: a cause named in the first sentence; specific support (March 1930, the decree, the cuts, the figures, 13 days); the link phrase this meant that; and a closing sentence that returns to the question. Two more paragraphs, on the fear of the Communists among the middle class and farmers and on the appeal of Hitler, the propaganda and the SA, and the answer reaches the top level.

Write the 12-mark answer

Explain why support for the Nazi Party grew in the years 1929 to 1932. You may use the following in your answer: unemployment; the SA. You must also use information of your own.

• Support that counts: a date, a figure, a name or an election result
• Causes of your own: the failure of Bruning and government by decree, the fear of the Communists, or the appeal of Hitler and the propaganda of Goebbels

Question 3(d): how far do you agree?

Question 3(d) asks: How far do you agree with Interpretation 1 about the growth of Nazi support? Use both interpretations and your own knowledge. A student has written the case FOR Interpretation 1. Which is the strongest point to set AGAINST it?

• The Depression was necessary but not sufficient: Britain and the United States had the same slump and produced no Nazi party, and inside Germany the unemployed themselves went more often to the Communists than to Hitler, while the Nazi vote came from farmers, shopkeepers and first-time voters who were frightened rather than jobless, so the slump explains why the old parties collapsed and the Nazi campaign, with Hitler over Germany, a message for every class and 400,000 SA men on the streets, explains why the Nazis rather than anyone else collected the wreckage.
• Hitler was a brilliant speaker, so people voted for him.
• The Crash happened in America, not Germany.
• The Nazi vote fell in November 1932, so the Depression cannot have caused it.