Although
Hjalmar Schacht had performed the seemingly impossible task of stabilizing the
German currency and financial system (and thus the economy) during the inferno
of the hyperinflation, not even “the Old Wizard” could take away the fear that
the hyperinflation and the chaos would return.
The fear, more than the actual economic conditions, was probably more
responsible than any other single thing that gave Hitler and his followers the
opportunity to consolidate power.
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| The Second Largest Party in Germany |
The Nazi Party
was reorganized as a mass movement following the Crash of 1929, which had no
significant direct effect on Germany, and Hitler gained financial backing from
business leaders by promising to put an end to labor agitation and give them
immunity from confiscation of their assets.
By 1930 the Nazis were the second largest party in Germany.
Hitler
challenged Hindenburg for the presidency, but was defeated briefly by an
anti-Nazi coalition. The nearly senile
Paul Hindenburg made Hitler chancellor in an effort to appease him, and —
hopefully — control him, but Hitler was able to whip up anti-communist hysteria
over the Reichstag fire and called for a general election.
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| Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering |
Hermann Goering intimidated the
opposition before the election, and the Nazi organization voted early and often, preventing
others from voting by the effective use of shoulder strikers. This gave the Nazis a majority, and Hitler
retained the chancellorship, which he was able to combine with the office of
president by forcing through the “Enabling Acts.”
The combined
office of president and chancellor under the new title “Führer” gave Hitler
dictatorial powers, which he used to good effect to eliminate all rivals, even
in the Nazi Party. Many were arrested
and executed, especially during Nacht der langen Messer, the “Night of
the Long Knives,” June 30 to
July 2, 1934. Estimates of the number of
people killed range from eighty-four to several hundreds. An exact count is impossible, as many simply
“disappeared.”
A new State leader cult became the
quasi-official religion of Germany, with the strengthening economy contributing
to people’s confidence in Hitler. This
was due primarily to the soundness of Hjalmar Schacht’s reforms, even though he
had retired in 1930.
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| Hitler and Schacht |
Knowing who was responsible for stabilizing
the currency, Hitler called Schacht out of retirement and made him Reich
Finance Minister, a position in which he immediately got into confrontations
with the Nazis, Goering especially.
Schacht approved of rearmament up to the point of equality, but opposed
it when it became obvious Hitler was not arming for defense, but for
conquest. He also was at constant
loggerheads with Goering over treatment of the Jews, believing that stripping
them of their civil rights was sufficient to remove any Jewish influence from
the State.
Originally
supporting the Nazis due to the weakness of the Weimar Republic and what he
believed to be the necessity of a strong leader at the helm, Schacht was
gradually disillusioned with Hitler, although it was also evident that to show
this after 1936 would probably be a quick way of committing suicide. It is not clear at what point Schacht began
assisting some Jews and collaborating with Hitler’s enemies, but by 1937 he had
been removed as Finance Minister and was a Minister Without Portfolio,
evidently more useful to Hitler as window dressing than in helping create the
Reich war machine.
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