GCSE coursework Germany 1919-1945 depth study
Short term causes are directly linked to the event while long term causes are indirectly linked; long term causes usually start some time before a particular event and take a long time to take an effect, while short term causes start nearer the event and have a rapid effect.In the list the short term causes are: the economic depression, Von Papen and Hindenburg’s actions, and the enabling law.
These are all short term because they directly lead to Hitler’s gain of power; they have quick effects and were caused by long term causes.The long term causes are the Treaty of Versailles, the Munich putsch and Hitler’s public speaking and leadership skills. These are long term causes because their effects carry on through the whole campaign and they started off a chain of events.The Treaty of Versailles helped Hitler gain power because it was resented by Germany and Hitler wanted to get rid of it, the treaty disgraced and humiliated the proud nation of Germany. This made Germany be supportive of Hitler’s cause because he wanted to get rid of it, so it was beneficial to join him.The Treaty of Versailles is linked to everything on the list and is at the start of Hitler’s aim for power, it was Hitler’s first step to power so everything else he did links back to the Treaty.
The Treaty led on to the Munich putsch, because it gave Hitler a cause that people could identify with and it helped gain him followers to march on Munich, people felt so strongly about the treat, that they were willing to risk their own lives to see it end.It is also linked to the economic depression because Germany wouldn’t have been hit so hard if it weren’t for the reparations and the Dawes loan. This is because with the reparations they had to give money to the Allies regularly, and during the depression Germany had less money to give. With the Dawes loan Germany borrowed 800 million gold marks to help pay the reparations and restore Germany’s economy, and when the depression struck the loan was withdrawn by the USA.The Treaty is linked to Hitler’s speaking skills and leadership because without it he wouldn’t have an aim to base his speeches on and he wouldn’t have had any strong evidence to base his criticism of the government.
This would have meant that he wouldn’t have gained so many followers.The treaty is linked to Von Papen’s and Hindenburg’s actions because the treaty combined the depression put pressure on von Papen and Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor, because the depression sparked the spirit of revolution in the hearts of the Nazis and the communists. Von Papen and Hindenburg feared an uprising from one of the two. So they needed to appoint a strong Chancellor to stop any uprising. Also the treaty gave Hitler more seats in the Reichstag during the election due to his aim of stopping it: people voted for him because he was a different solution to the problem and might succeed where the current government was failing so this meant that Hitler was the most obvious choice as chancellor.The treaty also affected the Enabling Law because, firstly it allowed him to become chancellor, because of his policy against it and Germany’s resentment of it, and it put him in a position to introduce the enabling law, and, secondly, it, combined with the depression, gave Hitler the opportunity to persuade the Government that making him the Fuhrer would get Germany out of the financial trouble caused by the depression.
The Munich putsch contributed to Hitler’s rise to power because after the failure of the Munich putsch Hitler decided to turn the Nazi party into a national party, and to gain power not through force but through politics. To make the Nazis a national party he set up the SS and the Hitler Youth. The SS made the party look more organized and the Hitler Youth hooked followers while they were young.In addition, the Munich putsch showed Hitler’s speaking skills and leadership because he inspired people to march with him on Munich, and he also convinced the judge in his trial to let him go with just a 9 month sentence. It affected the actions of Von Papen and Hindenburg because it convinced Hitler of his inspirational speaking skills, so he used them at speeches and Nazi parades to motivate people to follow the Nazis.
This in turn showed Von Papen and Hindenburg that Hitler would be a great asset to the government because Hitler’s effective speaking had been clearly demonstrated for years.The economic depression aided Hitler because it reopened Germany’s eyes to the problems it was facing and made people reconsider listening to and following Hitler. It also made people appreciate the fact that the Weimar government was not effective as a government because it was fairly new and was ineffective against major crises. Hitler had already said this in the early 1920’s.Hitler offered the prospect of jobs and hope to Germany so this gave him popularity from the workers. Hitler promised to protect business owners from communism during this time; this meant that he got a lot of donations, so that he could run expensive campaigns as well as popularity from the middle class.
Around this time when everyone was looking for someone to turn to, Hitler seemed to come out of the gloom with hope so people turned and followed him.The actions of Von Papen and Hindenburg helped Hitler gain power because they gave him the ability to stop the Communist party having meetings and campaigning in the general election. This and joining with the centre party gave Hitler the majority in the general election, and thus the ability to put the Enabling Law into effect; this gave him the powers of the Reichstag.Hitler’s rise to power was dependent on both long term and short term causes: if Germany’s situation hadn’t been so bad due to the treaty and the depression then it wouldn’t have needed to turn to Hitler for help.
