https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62 Hitler rose to power :O en-us 2023-08-15 13:44:10 UTC 2023-08-24 03:33:14 UTC hello@padlet.com clorenz24 https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662437202   The November Revolution initially began after Germany's loss in the first World War. When mutinies and strikes rose up across the state there was mass revolution among the people of the state and thus the toppling of the monarchy also began. From here the Emperor resigned and gave up the position of Chancellor. It was then announced the creation of a Republic in Germany. Due to the nature of the power vacuum in Germany, multiple groups formed during and before the revolt were trying to grasp for power, even going so far as to have conflict between two of them, led by the Spartacists. This conflict would lead to a group convention being held to decide the nature of the Republic, and would eventually lead to the formation of the Weimar Republic. This event holds significance due to not only it acting as the base for the formation of the all too fragile Weimar Republic, which would eventually be exploited by Hitler, but it also helps to show where the conflict between the ideologies of the multiple parties within Germany began, with multiple different groups wanting differing systems of Government.]]> 2023-08-15 13:51:49 UTC https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662437202 clorenz24 https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662449427   The Treaty of Versailles was equivocal to pinning the blame of the first World War on Germany. It had multiple clauses, specifically Article 231, that effectively atrophied German external and internal defense systems, notley the Military, to sizes that were unusable. Because of this, the German population got mad. Very mad. They saw not only the leadership of the Weimar Republic as traitors, but also saw the Treaty of Versailles itself as proof of that betrayal. This paves the way for understanding how many parties, such as the one Hitler would eventually be a part of, to take advantage of this distrust and resentment towards the Republic and use it to turn people to their side, gaining influence and power. Further, it this event helps to display the growing divide between Government and Citizen, something that is crucial for a dictator to wrest control.]]> 2023-08-15 14:05:39 UTC https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662449427 clorenz24 https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662455122   The economic crisis of 1923 was brought about due to Germany's inability to pay back France reparations that were required within the Treaty of Versailles. Because of this, France began to occupy territory within Germany, the Ruhr area, and stayed there until payments were sufficient. The people of the Ruhr area refused to work, and the Weimar Republic agreed with this stance, continuing to pay the workers wages. Because of the lack of anything being produced here, the government continued to print more money to send to the non-working workers, causing them to resort to inflation and over-printing of currency. This caused global trust in the German currency to plummet, greatly. This is how the German economic crisis began, which would cause even more distrust between citizen and government to emerge, and around the time the above photo was taken. The photo depicts children playing with piles of German currency, establishing just how valueless the currency truly was to the German people, who would have resorted to a trade-style economy, bargaining items for even the essential items, such as food. The photo provides this value to historians who want to understand the significance of Hitler's rise to power because of similar reasons as stated before; it demonstrates a lack of value in German currency, something that would help establish faith in other groups aside from the government. The limitations of this photo are the possibility that it's staged, used for propaganda purposes to push the ideologies of those parties on the German people even more. Overall, while it is possibly staged, the photo provides us with an adequate understanding of the state of German economics at the time. ]]> 2023-08-15 14:12:09 UTC https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662455122 clorenz24 https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662456847   The Beer Hall Putsch, sometimes known as the Munich Putsch, was Hitler's failed attempt at staging a revolution within Germany against the failing government. Hitler gathered his supporters, mostly consisting of NSDAP members, and began to march on Feldherrnhalle. It was here where they were met with police resistance, who at the time were acting in their own interest. After a small amount of resistance, the NSDAP surrendered, and after fleeing for a few days, Hitler was arrested and tried. Unfortunately, this arrest only acted to spring Hitler into the national spotlight, enabling him to voice the platform of the NSDAP to all of Germany, gaining immediate popularity among the divided populous. It was during his time in prison, which could hardly be called a prison, where Hitler would write his best-selling auto-biography, Mein Kampf. Mein Kampf was not very popular at first, acting as more of the ramblings of a distressed jailbird; however, if it had been given proper thought, it acted as an exact outline of every belief Hitler had and could have been used to add hesitation towards his eventual appointment as Chancellor (spoilers, my bad). The photo above was taken as the Putsch was occurring, and details troops in support of Hitler and the NSDAP showing up on the scene. What is of note here, and of value, is the absolute scale of how many were in attendance here. This photo doesn't have much evidence of being staged, with it being incredibly difficult to organize this many people effectively, and as such gives a good idea of not only how much influence Hitler held at the time, but how drastic his eventual growth in power would be. The limits of this photo are the lack of overall details in it. While it does allow us to understand Hitler's influence, it doesn't give us much more info besides that.]]> 2023-08-15 14:14:11 UTC https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662456847 clorenz24 https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662457094   Germany was in a economic crisis, France was in war debt, and the USA had money to give. As such, the Dawes Plan was set in motion, enabling German economic recovery. In short, the USA would lend money to Germany who would use it to build their economy, and eventually climb out of the pit they had dug themselves into. This finally began a period of growth in Germany, and created a sense of stability among the population, allowing for a calmer more pacified population. During this time the NSDAP's popularity, and in effect Hitler's, didn't grow much, staying mostly stagnant, even atrophying slightly. This isn't to say there wasn't anything happening. During this time the party made preparations and connections so that when the time was right, the eventual rise to power that they desired would be consolidated by numerous allies with a similar goal in mind. Surprisingly, many of said allies were mostly working in their own economic interest, rather than their political interest, such as the printing companies and the radio companies, who sought to seek profit from advertising NSDAP propaganda.]]> 2023-08-15 14:14:29 UTC https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662457094 clorenz24 https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662466857   Unfortunately the Golden Years of the Dawes Plan must end, deteriorating to reveal the fragile shell that was the Weimar Republic behind the golden foil of United States economic assistance. Wall Street crashed in the USA, and in effect the Great Depression began. This meant the USA needed money, fast. Unfortunately for Germany, they were the ones who had been receiving substantial payouts from the USA, and now the money was very politely requested to be returned. Of course, Germany couldn't do this, they couldn't even stabilize their own currency long enough to create any trust in it. As such, another German depression began, and the economy plummeted once more. Where the German population had been basking in the golden sun they were now soaked in a typhoon of debt, strife, and hardship. It was also around now when the NSDAP and Hitler, including other extremist groups, began to rise back into popularity, the people of Germany seeking alternatives to the failing Weimar Republic.]]> 2023-08-15 14:25:25 UTC https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662466857 clorenz24 https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662470778   With the second collapse of the German economy, it seemed that now more than ever that Article 48, the one that allowed the President to consolidate all power in times of crises, should be enacted. Because of this, a major shift in the power balance occurred, moving the Weimar Republic away from a, well, Republic, and instating the new concept of presidential cabinets, giving all power to rule to the President and his chosen circle of trusted diplomats. Because of this, democracy in Germany all but died, giving little to no power to the people in determining who would lead, and instead leaving it up to our favorite airship and looney President, Hindenburg. It was this shift in power that would lead Hindenburg down the bread trail of Chancellors, eventually ending at the whole loaf that was Hitler.]]> 2023-08-15 14:30:11 UTC https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662470778 clorenz24 https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662472379   No one was left. Hindenburg had run through all other possible candidates, and under the assumption he could leash the mad dog himself, Hitler was offered the position of Chancellor. It was at this point that Hitler found himself on the final steps to total authoritarian control. What is to note though, is Hitler was appointed to the position, not elected by the people. Because of this, his actual influence among the average German was still small, with only a minimal percentage of voters supporting his party, the NSDAP. Further, he was appointed to a mixed presidential cabinet, meaning that when decisions were made, it was unlikely that they would go in his favor much of the time. The newspaper above originates from the USA, specifically from San Diego, CA. While small, and taking up only about 3/4 of a column, the paper announces Hitler's appointment to chancellor, also noting the lack of cabinet support. What is of value on this newspaper is how little emphasis there is placed on this, what we now know to be, monumental event. It was the turning point for Germany, the 'no going back' point, and yet the USA seems to not care so much for it. Of course, the limitation is that this is just one newspaper from a single day in history. Hitler didn't rise to power in a day, and as such there were more times for the USA press to report on it in a more potent way. Overall, the paper does provide us a good idea of how the USA, someone who had previously supported Germany, reacted to Hitler's chancellorship, but is held back by it's limited time frame that it can demonstrate.]]> 2023-08-15 14:32:00 UTC https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662472379 clorenz24 https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662484910   The burning of the Reichstag was a ploy set about by Hitler in order to gain the support of the voters, who at the time still hadn't given their full support to Hitler. The Reichstag burned down, and the blame for it was pinned on the rising Communist opposition. It was this burning that also allowed Hitler to talk Hindenburg into temporarily suspending the rights of the people through emergency decree, and as such was another one of the cornerstones of Hitler's rise to totalitarian control over Germany.]]> 2023-08-15 14:44:45 UTC https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662484910 clorenz24 https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662486297   The Enabling Act does as it name suggests, enables. It gave Hitler equal, if not greater, power as the President, and is what can be considered the final downfall of the Weimar Republic as a whole. Hindenburg at the time did not put up much of a fight, possibly due to health reasons considering he died less than a year later, and as such the act passed through the German government very quickly. Because of all the pre-planning the NSDAP had done, gaining allies in propaganda, fear-mongering, and bribing, they were able to wrest majority control within the Reichstag and were able to give their full support to the newly risen totalitarian dictator, Hitler]]> 2023-08-15 14:46:29 UTC https://padlet.com/clorenz24/o6284c09b2ghux62/wish/2662486297