How did the Great Depression contribute to the rise of Adolf Hitler and/or Benito Mussolini - Essay Example

One of the most important reasons that brought the Nazis to power in Germany was the peace settlement of the Treaty of Versailles. Germans were made to sign it after the termination of the First World War as they had no other option to go with. The German public saw the Treaty as a sign of defeat and insult for Germany, and its terms were totally unacceptable to them. The Treaty compelled the Germans to make up for the losses of the victims as a punishment. The Germans were required to treat their neighbors nicely, get their military handicapped and shut down their industries (Lewis).

Consequentially, the rising tension made the then existing government extremely unpopular among the public and the public generally wanted to get rid of it. The government was being heavily criticized for having signed the disgusting Treaty. The immense anger that cultivated inside the people of Germany because of the First World War followed by the Treaty of Versailles made the circumstances very favorable for Adolf Hitler and the public found his expansionism and brutality very appealing. They finally resolved to support Hitler because he had promised to them that he would abolish the Treaty of Versailles. . The rising tension inculcated an urge in the public to find someone to blame.

Also, they were in search of extreme solutions. Nazis became successful in the elections that followed since Hitler provided the public with both. As a result of this, the desperate Germans accepted Nazism. This can be estimated from the fact that from 1928 to 1932, the Nazi seats in the Reichstag increased in number from 12 to 230. The depression that had blanketed the German people came as a blessing to Hitler as the Nazi Party managed to find explanations for every problem and resolved to fix things as quickly as possible.

Nazis promised the German public that they would throw the Weimer government out of power, and would find the nation a potential leader named Adolf Hitler. They assured the public that there would be rapid construction and development under the leadership of Hitler which would provide the people with lots of job opportunities. The Nazis also promised that they would handle the communist take-over. It was a time of great depression for the German people and a bath in the shower of promises made by Adolf Hitler pacified them for the time being.

They wanted an immediate escape from the darkness, and Hitler seemed to be a ray light. In addition to all these factors, the weak organization of the Weimar government played an important role in empowering Hitler in Germany. “The crisis of the Great Depression brought disunity to the political parties in the Reichstag. Instead of forging an alliance to enact desperately need legislation, they broke up into squabbling, uncompromising groups” (“Great Depression Begins”). By the end of 1923, Adolf Hitler