Rise of Nazi Germany

By the 1920's, many Germans were dissatisfied with the depression and thus with the current government, the Weimar Republic. Germans bitterly resented the Versailles Treaty, which blamed their country for World War I. Adolf Hitler took advantage of German anger about this treaty, which stipulated that Germany pay large sums of money (Reparationskosten) to the victors. - These payments, Hitler claimed, were unfair and had led to the current deterioration in Germany's economy. He also made use of propaganda spreading a message of hatred: He blamed Jews for Germany´s troubles. Germany had not lost the war, he said. Rather, Jews and other “traitors” had "stabbed Germany in the back" in 1918. He furthermore claimed that Germans belonged to a superior "Aryan" race with a need of more “Lebensraum” (an area to settle and live in) as a natural right. His cleverly organized political party - the National Socialist German Workers´ Party (NSDAP) or Nazis - helped him win power. Impoverished and confused, many Germans turned to Hitler as a strong leader (Fuehrer) with answers to their problems.