Failure of the Weimar Republic and Rise of the Nazis Historiography Legacy of the War There is little doubt

that the stigma of the so-called November riminals! hung li"e a giant shado# over the period of Weimar $ermany% ! &c$onigle The lament of so many decent '$ermans about the burdens and cruelties inflicted by the allies on an innocent $ermany'%% undermined democracy'%and facilitated the rise of Hitler%! Hugo (reuss &any $ermans sa# the Treaty of )ersailles as a vindictive *llied plot to humiliate $ermany%! + &c$onigle (olitical Wea"nesses of the Weimar Republic The effect of governing under *rticle ,- '%%#as to put effective po#er into the hands of the (resident and the group of right-#ing politicians and army officers #hich surrounded him%! &c.ichan The /conomic (roblems Faced by the Weimar Republic 'to the ordinary $erman0 it 1the hyperinflation of 23456 #as the fault of a government that had accepted reparations payments'%and appeared to have played no active part to prevent the crisis'%deepening%! &c$onigle %%The #hole structure of the $erman economy #as unhealthy% *n over-reliance on foreign investments left the Weimar economy sub7ect to the fluctuations of the international economy%! &c$onigle The $reat 8epression The N98*( #as in the fortunate position0 unli"e almost every other party in the Weimar Republic0 of appealing to different groups for different reasons%! 8avid Welch 'a disastrous economic blizzard'%! &c.ichan on the $reat 8epression

Hitler #ould almost certainly have remained on the fringes of politics had it not been for the $reat 8epression'%and the hardship it brought%! &c.ichan There is no doubt that $ermany suffered much more than :ritain and France during this period and that Hitler e;ploited this misery to the full%! &c$onigle The increase in electoral support for the Nazis after 2343 #as directly related to the gro#th of mass unemployment and the gro#th of political instability in this period%! &ary Fulbroo" *ttractions of the Nazis 1$oebbels<s6 brilliant propaganda techni=ues played a large part in e;ploiting the 8epression to #in mass support%%! &c.ichan The N98*( #as in the fortunate position0 unli"e almost every other party in the Weimar Republic0 of appealing to different groups for different reasons%! 8avid Welch 8ivided and >neffective ?pposition The crushing of the 9partacist revolt destroyed any hope of cooperation bet#een the different #ings of the socialist groups'!&c$onigle Hitler<s Leadership 1Hitler<s6 ability to #or" a cro#d0 his sense of timing0 his feel for their mood cannot be doubted% He #as their greatest electoral asset%! ameron 0 Robertson and Henderson% The Fatal /rror! '%Hitler came to office in 2355 as the result0 not of any irresistible revolutionary or national movement 'but as part of a shoddy political deal #ith the ?ld $ang! #hom he had been attac"ing for months past%! *lan :ulloc" Without the 8epression0 Hitler #ould not have been able to build up mass support% Ho#ever0 #ithout the help of right-#ing politicians #ho thought they could use him for their o#n ends0 he could not have #on po#er%! &c.ichan