Choose any one reason from the list and explain how it contributed to Hitler's rise to power.
The economic depression 1923 & 1929 contributed to Hitler's rise to power in many ways.
The first thing that led to the economic crisis was when the German economy collapsed, as a result of the depression and low employment. This was a result of the Treaty of Versailles that forced Germany to pay reparations to the allies. The German people protested that it was an intolerable strain on the economy, but the German government ignored it. The German government did their best to play for time and to negotiate concessions from the allies, but because the French were quite impatient and also had to pay war debts to the USA. They wanted their money back, so French and Belgium troops invaded the Rhur, in the Rhineland to take German goods and raw materials. This made the Germans very angry and because of this as well as the strikes where the German people refused to work, money became useless and there was chaos round the whole country. Hyperinflation then set in. At the same time America wasn't helping much because of the 1929 Wall street crash that didn't make it any easier for Germany. Eventually a new right wing Prime Minister called Stressman came into power and called off passive resistance in the Rhur. People then started to work again and Stressman brought in a new currency. Things were looking a bit better than before. In this situation Hitler's ideas were becoming relevant to the times, because the German people were unemployed and in a depression, they were venerable to Hitler and his strong power. The German nation was scared and apprehensive about the future of their country. The League of Nations then tried to help by making their whole society a safe place where wars were only things of the past. The League held a disarmament conference, but like most things the League did it was a failure, which people were not satisfied with.
