- Hubert Walas
Marching toward war.
How was one of the most criminal regimes in the world created? Did Adolf Hitler and National Socialism fall out of heaven? What was the phenomenon of Nazism and why was Germany in the 1920s and 30s a fertile place for this ideology to grow?
Post-war crisis
The great economic depression of 1929, which started in the United States, spread not only throughout the American continent but also to Europe. It reached Germany in 1930, deepening the already difficult situation of the state, initiated by the adoption of the extremely strict Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War. War reparations for damage caused during World War I were set at 132 billion marks paid in gold. It was equal to $ 33 billion, which accounted for 3% of Germany's GDP paid over 50 years. It was a surrealistically high amount, intended to inhibit German imperialism and counteract the growth of Germany's economic power. The treaty also included a number of restrictions in other areas, including numerous territorial losses or reducing the size of the army, navy, and air force. The main advocate of tightening the restrictions was France.
The main effect of the crisis at the turn of the decades was the fall in prices of industrial and agricultural products - with reduced demand, thus causing overproduction. The decline in the value of production resulted in the reduction of enterprises' income, and even the bankruptcy of some of them. The crisis seriously affected economic relations with foreign countries - a significant drop in trade turnover was visible. The unemployment was becoming more and more visible, in January 1928 it amounted to 1.862 million unemployed, while in 1929 it was as high as 2,850. In the following years, this number began to increase drastically: 1930 - 3.218, 1931 - 4.887, 1932 - 6.042, 1933 - 6.014. The situation was worsened by the banking crisis. On July 14, 1931, one of the largest German banks, namely Darmstadter Und National Bank, collapsed.
National Socialist German Workers' Party
The German state was hard hit by the crisis. The difficult situation had an impact on the political situation: spending on the unemployed caused a severe budget crisis. On March 27, 1930, the Social Democratic government of Chancellor Hermann Muller collapsed. He was replaced by a centrist government of Heinrich Bruning with 130 deputies. The main task of the new government was to initiate the Osthilfe program - the aid to the East, which was part of an intervention package aimed at leading the country out of the economic crisis. It was about introducing a deflation policy and patching the deficit in the state budget. The government did not have a parliamentary majority, so in July 1930 elections were called. However, they did not bring about any major changes, apart from the great success of the NSDAP National Socialist party, which won as many as 107 seats, i.e. 18% of the total number. It is worth noting that so far they had only 12 of them. The National Socialists won such a large number of seats mainly at the expense of other right-wing parties.
Despite the lack of parliamentary support, the Bruning government continued to rule until 1932. During this period, despite numerous economic problems, several successes of Germany in the international arena can be noted. In the spring of 1930, the French, Belgian and British troops occupying the Rhineland were withdrawn, although these were to remain there until 1935.
The SA - Sturm-Abteilungen militias grew rapidly, and in 1930 they numbered 400,000. members. Nazi organizations were mainly supported by petty-bourgeois groups: shopkeepers, craftsmen, officials. Universities also joined in, becoming the center of German chauvinism.
Ministry of Propaganda
The National Socialists won obedience not only with their fists but also with propaganda. Radio and cinema were cleverly used, ceremonial marches and parades with banners and torches were organized. Public appearances by leading NSDAP figures - mainly Adolf Hitler - were also important. The narrative of the speakers was exceptionally simple - as it was supposed to appeal to the lower class. The leaders of the NSDAP did not have factories, banks, or large land estates. Their recipient was also deprived of similar capital. With the rise of the NSDAP, everyone who was dissatisfied with the previous governments began to see their chance.
The Nazis gained more and more success in elections to national parliaments. In 1930 a member of the NSDAP became a minister in Thuringia, in 1931 the National Socialists became the most numerous faction in the parliaments in Oldenburg and Hesse. In the elections to the Prussian Seym on April 24, 1932, the NSDAP obtained 162 seats out of a total of 420, previously having 9 seats. Similar successes can also be noted in other parts of Germany. Alongside the parliamentary campaign, the fight for the presidency began. Hindenburg's term was ending, and in the elections on April 10, 1932, he won 19.4 million votes, followed by Adolf Hitler with 13.4 million votes, which clearly testified to Hitler's accession to the elite of German politicians.
Bruning's government collapsed in May 1932. In its place, the government of Franz von Papen came into existence, composed of representatives of the German-National Party and non-partisan Prussian Junkers. Yet soon Papen disbanded the Reichstag, and on July 31, new elections were held, which brought another, even greater success for the NSDAP - the party won 37% of the vote, which gave 230 seats. Papen offered Hitler to participate in the government, but Hitler refused, demanding full power. The request was not complied with, and the Papen government quickly collapsed. On November 6, other elections were held, in which the NSDAP suffered minor losses, receiving 33% of the seats. General Kurt von Schleicher became the new chancellor, who offered Hitler the position of vice-chancellor, which he again refused.
The refusal was dictated by the desire to gain as much power as possible. It came into reality on January 4, 1933, during which Hitler secretly met Papen at the villa of the Kiel banker Kurt von Schroder, who was a liaison between the NSDAP and great German capital. During this time, Schleicher struggled to hold onto the government, eventually resigning on January 28, 1933. Two days later, President Hindenburg entrusted the mission of forming a new government to Adolf Hitler.
The New Chancellor
The appointment of Hitler as chancellor was a turning point in the history of not only Germany but also the world. The goal he pursued over the last dozen years finally came into reality. On the day Hitler took over the chancellor, a great parade of the SA and Stahlhelm divisions in Berlin near the Brandenburg Gate was held. So far, a coalition government has been created, yet still, it was a considerable success for the NSDAP. Strong power enabled Hitler to implement his plans.
On the night of February 27-28, 1933, the Reichstag fire broke out, which the Communists were accused of. The fire was an NSDAP provocation to crack down on the left. The aftermath of this event was the issuance of the decree "On the protection of the nation and the state", which made it possible to abolish civil liberties. Even before its announcement, about 4,000 to 10,000 communist activists were unlawfully arrested. This significantly facilitated the conduct of the election campaign before the new elections scheduled for March 5, 1933. The NSDAP obtained as much as 44% of the votes, i.e. 288 out of 647 possible seats. The German-National Party, allied with the NSDAP, won 8% or 53 seats. However, it was not enough to pass a power of attorney for the government, which required two-thirds of the votes, so the mandates of communist deputies were invalidated. Eventually, the NSDAP gained the support of the Catholic Center Party, and the Power of Attorney Act passed in March 1933 gave the government the right to issue laws and repeal the constitution for a period of four years, which was extended in 1937 for another four years.
The next step for Hitler was issuing on the merger of the presidential government with the office of the Reich Chancellor. It was an executive order abolishing the title of president and ordering the chancellor to be called "Fuhrer", that is, Leader. In this way, Hitler took over as head of state, also being head of government with full legislative power.
Meanwhile, other political parties continued to be marginalized. After the Reichstag fire, the communist parties were basically outside the law. Conservative groups favoring Hitler unknowingly committed suicide. On June 27, 1933, the German National Party was dissolved, and on July 5, the Catholic Center was dissolved. The next elections on November 12, 1933, were held for only one NSDAP list. The Reichstag has become a façade institution. Due to the increasing power, most of the administrative and communal posts were held by party functionaries; in 1935, as many as 3 out of 5 positions were filled by members of the NSDAP.
More and more control was spread over education. Male youth aged 10 to 18 had to belong to the Hitlerjugend and girls to the Union of German Girls. The expansion of the police apparatus became an important tool of the Hitler regime. On April 26, 1933, the symbol of Nazi Germany was created - the Secret State Police (Geheime Staatspolizei), in other words - Gestapo. The first concentration camps were also established during this period, incl. Dachau near Munich, where political opponents were imprisoned, as well as ordinary criminals, alcoholics, homosexuals, and Jews. In April 1939, the number of those imprisoned reached about 300,000.
The Jewish Question
At the same time, it should be remembered that the National Socialists considered Jews to be the main opponents of Germany, also on economic grounds. They were blamed for all the misfortunes of Germany, ascribed above all responsibility for the shape and acceptance of the provisions of the Versailles Treaty. Immediately after Hitler came to power, anti-Semitism began to be surrounded by the majesty of the law, and new laws were issued that limited the rights of the Jewish population. As a result, attacks on Jewish shops, synagogues, and apartments became regular. On April 1, 1933, a mass boycott of Jewish shops and enterprises was announced. Two years later, on September 15, 1935, the Reichstag passed two more laws that forbade marriage and sexual relations between Jews and Germans and regulated who could have full political rights, while those who only "belong to the state". Jews began to be removed from cultural life, offices, the economy, and liberal professions (Jewish lawyers could only defend Jewish clients).
On October 28, 1938, Jews of Polish citizenship were ordered to immediately leave the Reich, which, moreover, was met with a firm refusal to accept them by the Polish side. As a result, Jews were camped on the border. During that time the secretary of the German embassy in Paris was murdered by the son of one of such families - Herszel Grynszpan. This event then became a pretext for organizing the so-called Kristallnacht, that is, the pogrom of Jews throughout the Reich. Many Jews were murdered and numerous synagogues, shops, and apartments were demolished. Subsequently, a contribution was imposed on them. The use of theaters and cinemas, driving cars was forbidden, and on November 12, 1938, their industrial, commercial, and craft companies were closed. In fact, they were removed from the political, economic, and cultural life of Germany. In 1933, Germany was inhabited by over half a million Jews, six years later it was over two times less.
Wehrwirtschaft, the fight against unemployment and the four-year plan
On July 14, 1933, a law was passed according to which the formation of any other party was subject to up to three years in prison, which was also extended to trade unions. On May 2, 1933, trade unions were dissolved and their property was taken over. Under subsequent laws, entrepreneurs gained complete power over their workers. Statism flourished under the guise of the private economy, and the Third Reich put more and more emphasis on heavy industry - the Wehrwirtschaft, serving the military plans of the Fuhrer.
The intensification of the road and bridge construction program in 1929 and the development of the automotive industry also remained significant. Fritz Todt became the organizer and manager of the motorway construction. Full employment in Germany was mainly driven by the motorway construction program (in relation to the group of unskilled workers), as well as increased employment in the armaments industries, primarily in the shipbuilding and aviation industries. The increase in the size of the armed forces was also significant - it grew from 100,000 to about 1 million in 1939.
However, reducing unemployment in this way had its price. After almost four years of the National Socialist armaments economy, raw material and food reserves were almost completely exhausted. Foreign trade froze due to export difficulties. So without the influx of raw materials, no further reinforcements were possible, so the Fuhrer's policy began to come to a standstill. Consequently, at the party congress in 1936, Hitler announced the introduction of a four-year plan called Improving the Living Standards of the German People. Due to the fact that all forces were directed towards armaments, the nation was required to temporarily give up consumer goods. It met with criticism.
The president of the Reichsbank and the minister of economy, Hjalmar Schacht, was skeptical about further expansion of arms and believed that the possibilities of the German economy were exhausted and that he saw further development by including Germany in the world trade system and abandoning the concept of economic self-sufficiency. As president of the central bank, Hjalmar Schacht made it possible to put into circulation the so-called Mefo-Wechsel bills of exchange, aimed at financing job creation and armaments programs. These promissory notes issued by the fake company Metallurgische Forschungsgesellschaft m.b.H and guaranteed by the state in 1934–1938 covered approximately 30% of the arms expenditure.
To implement the 4-year plan, a separate office headed by Herman Goring with far-reaching powers was established. In this way, the armed forces gained significant influence on the German economy. Hitler set the following tasks: the German army must reach combat readiness within 4 years, the German economy must be ready for war within 4 years. The rearmament of the armed forces was to enable local military operations to obtain territorial gains. Hitler's notes on the key issues of the 4-year plan envisaged an increase in the extraction of iron ore regardless of the iron content and neglecting the issue of profitability for the sourcing of raw materials and substitute materials, which caused a serious conflict with the steel industry and Minister of Economy Hjalmar Schacht. Hitler, of course, ignored these objections, which led to Schacht's resignation in November 1937. As a result of measures taken by the authorities, unemployment dropped to less than 1% in 1939, the saving rate increased from 11% to 18% in the 1932-1938 period, industrial production doubled and agricultural production increased by almost 10%. At the same time, real wages decreased by 25%, and the increase in production took place mainly in the areas of the armaments industry.
Highway to Hell
German society was hit hard by the financial crisis at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, which aggravated the provisions of, clearly, unfavorable to Berlin, the Treaty of Versailles. Poverty and unemployment were common. The proud Germans, descendants of the victorious junkers from Sedan, were humiliated. Toxic ideologies thrive on toxic soil. The imperialist actions of Hitler and the National Socialists, in turn, were very well thought out. The gradual unification of the German nation with the Nazi ideology took place on many levels, from ideological, political, to economic. Restoring the sense of national pride, limiting the rights of minorities, and reducing unemployment made almost every German more and more accepting the policy of the NSDAP. Brainwash succeded. At the same time, the policy of draining domestic resources in the 1930s made war the only solution. It seems that in the minds of the Nazi elite, war has always been the goal, but ordinary Germans started to support this criminal ideology only at the time of poverty and national shame. This does not explain the German crimes, but it shows that the deep humiliation of the opponent after the victory does not always turn out to be the optimal solution in the long term. The fetters imposed by the French on Germany in the form of the Treaty of Versailles returned with redoubled strength after 20 years.
Mainly based on 2 books:
The Third Reich: A New History First Edition, Michael Burleigh
Political history of the world of the 20th century 1901-1945, M. Bankowicz
