Analyse the extent the conditions in the 1920s and the 1930s were perfect for the rise of extremist political parties in Germany? Evaluate the impact of the extremist political parties on people or groups in Germany, Europe and the world?
The Germany that history recalls of the 1920s and 30s is one very much at the mercy of political and financial strife, which ultimately led to the rise of the right-wing extremist Nazi Party. The instability of the Weimar Republic and their association with previous traumas coupled with the onset of the Great Depression signaled the shift in Germany's direction. Such desperate circumstances became the perfect means through which Hitler gained control of Germany's government, ergo its people. One cannot avoid talking about the rise of Hitler and Nazi extremism in Germany without addressing it's undeniable effects on various groups: Germany, the rest of Europe and the world.
The crux of Germany's tragedies are underpinned by Gustav Streseman's quote:
"The economic position is only flourishing on the surface. Germany is in fact dancing on a volcano." |
Responsible for transitioning Germany from the horror of the three year Hyperinflation to the Weimar Republic's supposed "Golden Years", from 1924-1929, was Stresemann.
It is important to note that during this time, NSDAP fell to 2.6% of the Reichstag, an all time low. Political recovery was apparent while Stresemann had rebuilt Germany on short-term credit via the Dawes Plan which channelled money from the US government to prop up the German economy, therefore making Weimar particularly vulnerable to any downturn in the US economy. That downturn was right around the corner.
The Great Depression struck in 1929, Germany withered in the following years; thus the Weimar Republic's precarious political and financial viability incubated the Nazi Party's rise. By 1931, nearly five...