# Why was Hitler the alternative to Weimar republic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 12, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641 "2013-09-12T07:08:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmirily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@elmirily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmirily)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/1 "2013-09-12T07:08:04Z")
Why was Hitler the alternative to Weimar republic? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/2 "2013-09-12T07:16:34Z")
In bite size form: > **[The impact of the Depression on Germany - Hitler into power, 1929-1934 - OCR B...](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zwmdfrd/revision/1)** > > Learn about and revise how Hitler got into power between 1929 and 1934 with this BBC Bitesize History (OCR B) study guide. > [@](#): > > In 1929, the American Stock Exchange collapsed, and caused an economic depression. America called in all its foreign loans, which destroyed Weimar Germany. Unemployment in Germany rose to 6 million. > > The government did not know what to do. In July 1930 Chancellor Brüning cut government expenditure, wages and unemployment pay - the worst thing to do during a depression. He could not get the Reichstag to agree to his actions, so President Hindenburg used Article 48 to pass the measures by decree. > > Anger and bitterness helped the Nazis to gain more support. > > Many workers turned to communism, but this frightened wealthy businessmen, so they financed Hitler’s campaigns. > > Many middle-class people, alarmed by the obvious failure of democracy, decided that the country needed a strong government. Nationalists and racists blamed the Treaty of Versailles and reparations. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/3 "2013-09-12T08:19:46Z")
Hitler came to power with a larger vote than any of the other parties. He had 33%. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/4 "2013-09-12T08:50:35Z")
Seems the internet has an answer: > **[German Bundestag - Homepage](https://www.bundestag.de/en/)** > > Homepage of the German Bundestag, the national parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/5 "2013-09-12T12:52:47Z")
Don’t know if it’s true, but I read another explanation, releated to both the international economic collapse and the Treaty of Versailles. German currency became essentially worthless (one of those time when you needed a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread), but the repayment schedule of the Treaty did not adjust payments for inflation. So Germany was able to pay off the bulk of its Treaty debt for next to nothing, because that’s what its money was worth at the time. Somehow the Nazis got “credit” for this “genius”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/6 "2013-09-12T13:37:11Z")
He was the only Lizard Person on the ballot. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/7 "2013-09-12T13:52:34Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Don’t know if it’s true, but I read another explanation, releated to both the international economic collapse and the Treaty of Versailles. German currency became essentially worthless (one of those time when you needed a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread), but the repayment schedule of the Treaty did not adjust payments for inflation. So Germany was able to pay off the bulk of its Treaty debt for next to nothing, because that’s what its money was worth at the time. Somehow the Nazis got “credit” for this “genius”. The German hyperinflation was not solved by the Nazis, it was solved in 1925 by the introduction of a new currency. The reparations had to be paid in currencies backed by gold. The mark was not backed by gold and could not be used to pay for reparations. The german government printed huge amounts of money to buy other currencies and then used those currencies to pay the reparations. At one point French soldiers occupied part of Germany so reparations could be paid in goods and not worthless currency. The hyperinflation of the era led people to lose faith in the Weimar Republic. It made the government seem ineffective and weak. When the great depression hit Germany people were ready to give fascism a try because democracy seemed incapable of solving problems. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/8 "2013-09-12T13:56:48Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Don’t know if it’s true, but I read another explanation, releated to both the international economic collapse and the Treaty of Versailles. German currency became essentially worthless (one of those time when you needed a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread), but the repayment schedule of the Treaty did not adjust payments for inflation. So Germany was able to pay off the bulk of its Treaty debt for next to nothing, because that’s what its money was worth at the time. Somehow the Nazis got “credit” for this “genius”. I don’t believe that is the case. The amount of reparations Germany had to pay was in German gold marks and I believe the language was such that it had to be equivalent to a certain amount of gold (by weight) so simply inflating away the reparations wasn’t possible. Germany actually paid the reparations with a mixture of different things, some natural resources and such actually went to the Allies as part of reparations in lieu of cash. There were also schemes where Germany received foreign currency from outside lenders and used that foreign currency to pay some of the reparations. In any case, the reparation terms were modified several times, becoming increasingly liberal for Germany and making it so the payments were really based on Germany’s ability to pay and not a strict payment schedule. By 1931 the worsening economy led to a one year moratorium on all reparations. The Allied powers met at the Lausanne Conference and came to a tentative agreement to suspend the reparations essentially forever. However, France and Belgium were also doing very bad economically and struggling to pay American loans they had taken out during WWI. So for them to get on board, they stipulated they would only let Germany off the hook if the United States agreed to forgive its loans to France and Belgium. The United States President was on board with that, but the Congress wasn’t, without loan forgiveness the French and Belgians wouldn’t agree to end German reparations so the deal fell apart around the time the German’s one year moratorium ended. At that point, in 1932, Germany would have technically been legally obligated to continue paying reparations. However the German economy was in even worse shape then than it had been a year earlier when the moratorium started. Consequently, they simply stopped paying the reparations due to economic crisis, and the Allies didn’t really push the issue. In 1933 when Hitler took power one of the things he did was basically made it known the reparations were considered null and void by Germany, and that they would not be paying them ever again. So in that sense Hitler did get a political bump most likely from sticking it to the Versaille reparations regime–which had always been very unpopular in Germany. But he was already Chancellor at that point. After WWII there was a negotiation and West Germany actually resumed paying reparations, and later unified Germany continued paying them. The reparations were finally paid off around 2010. [While over a much longer period, this is similar to the British lend-lease payments, which continued up until relatively recently before being fully paid off.] ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/9 "2013-09-20T08:55:25Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > In bite size form: > > [The impact of the Depression on Germany - Hitler into power, 1929-1934 - OCR B - GCSE History Revision - OCR B - BBC Bitesize](http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/hitlerpowerrev1.shtml) I agree wholeheartedly. There were may factors at work in the Weimar Republic, that Hitler,–weird as this may seem to us now–seemed the lesser evil to those who were in charge in Germany (i.e. the industrialists). The Big Guys were terrified of Communism, felt they could control the fascists. They grossly underestimated Hitler, his power, his strength, his ambition. The man meant every word he said, and he was bent on world domination. The Krupps and their kind just wanted to keep the Reds in check. Things didn’t work out as planned. It was a terribble miscalculation, and Europe, not just Germany, suffered horribly as a result. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/10 "2013-09-20T10:45:13Z")
Hitler and his Nazis were an extremist group and when things go well no one cares to support them but when things are bad then the general populace tends to vote for the extremist groups. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/11 "2013-09-20T11:27:31Z")
If this isn’t a homework assignment I’ll eat my shorts ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hitler-the-alternative-to-weimar-republic/668641/12 "2013-09-20T12:38:23Z")
Mmmmm… shorts!